In 1984, a task force of the American Psychological Association (APA) Committee on Lesbian and Gay Concerns was charged with investigating bias in psychotherapy with lesbians and gay men. The task force surveyed a large and diverse sample of psychologists to elicit information about specific instances of respondent-defined biased and sensitive psychotherapy practice. Open-ended responses were used to separately identify major themes of biased and sensitive practice and to illustrate each with concrete examples. Results suggest that psychologists vary widely in their adherence to a standard of unbiased practice with gay men and lesbians. To bring individual practice into accord with APA policy will require continued and expanded efforts to educate practitioners about sexual orientation.

This article reviews recent court cases (Keeton v. Anderson-Wiley, 2010; Ward v. Wilbanks, 2010; Ward v. Polite, 2012) in which students have sued their educational institutions because of their requirements regarding education and training in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues. The purpose and characteristics of professions are addressed as is the responsibility of the helping professions to train multiculturally competent providers. Finally, the issue of personally held beliefs and client welfare is discussed-including the issue of referring clients to other providers because of one's personally held beliefs.

No abstract

No abstract

The relative unresponsiveness of the news media to the racism and homophobia of the Orlando shootings was deeply disturbing to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. The focus on terrorism and gun control (major topics in the 2016 presidential campaign) neglected the fact that this massacre was a hate crime. This article describes some of the fundamentals involved in the process of reporting the news and decision-making in the media that likely contributed to the narrow reporting of this tragedy. It also addresses heteronormativity, the impact of neglecting to highlight racism and homophobia in this shooting, and what might have been gained by more appropriate interpretation of the shooting as a hate crime. Additional suggestions are also offered regarding the roles that psychologists can play. Public Significance StatementThis article examines the processes that influenced the news media coverage of the Orlando shooting, the failure to focus on the massacre as a hate crime, and the issues associated with reporting LGBT hate crimes. It calls attention to the importance of how a news item is framed and the possible contributions psychologists can make in informing the frame.