“It Doesn’t Affect Me” Affects You, Actually
Dear nonprofit leaders & professionals,
You may have thought or heard someone say before: “Why do we need to be culturally competent in LGBTQIA+ matters? It doesn’t affect me or my work. I treat everyone the same anyway.”
I want to emphasize that cultural competency and is NOT just about “treating everyone the same.” Everyone deserve a bare minimum – respect, grace, compassion etc. But we want to think about equity here. LGBTQIA+ people experience disparities across all facets of life – whether those disparities are:
social – the ability to walk to your local Pride festival wearing vibrant colors and not getting hate-crimed,
healthcare-related – in PA, according to the PA LGBTQ Health Needs Assessment, a third of respondents stated having received a negative reaction from their healthcare provider when learned they are LGBTQ,
political – more than 500 anti-lgbtq bills have been introduced in the US this year alone targeting the rights of LGBTQ people,
economic – like all minorities, the majority of the LGBTQIA+ community lives below the poverty line,
and professional – LGBTQIA+ people face harassment and obstacles to career opportunities because of their identity.
Because of these experiences and more, the LGBTQIA+ community needs support in many forms in order to receive the same privileges naturally earned by their heterosexual peers. And to be clear, this does not mean that straight people don’t also need help – because they do. We all need support for certain things sometimes or even all the time. What I’m saying is that straight people don’t need the same support as queer people based on the experiences around their sexual orientation, gender identity, or sexual characteristics. Straight people – I’m talking to you directly – if you need help, you should ask for it.
On top of all our issues, the LGBTQIA+ community is a community of communities. As a queer person myself, I often discover new things about my greater community all the time. It’s a lot to keep up with! So if you’re already thinking wow OK this is too much…gurl, me too!
Which leads to my final piece of information for you all — let’s promise to do better at using our critical thinking skills. I can explain all of this to you, but I can’t understand it for you. You have to do that work yourself, and it will be different for each of you.
You can’t instantly believe everything you hear and see and read online – especially on the news – because what you are seeing and hearing (regarding the LGBTQIA+ community) is mostly filtered through the eyes and ears of nonqueer people.
When we think about LGBTQIA+ cultural competency, we are thinking about a specific culture. What if, instead of needing to teach people how to be cultural competent for a certain group, we imagine an understanding that Coming Out is only liberating – that someone comes out, and they can live their life in fullness. It IS like that, sometimes, but not always. In some cases, coming out is both traumatic and liberating. Traumatic because coming out exposes queer people to violence from loved ones and strangers. “Letting people in” is a safer and more comfortable way of “coming out.”
Perhaps we should not cluster sexualities and genders around an idea of normalcy, but instead teach a cultural norm where it is understood that queer and trans people exist, and we don’t know anything about anyone’s identity until they tell us themselves.
It’s important not to assume someone’s sexual orientation or gender even if they are in a committed relationship. Don’t assume anyone’s gender/pronouns just because they look a certain way. Navigate the world in a way of not knowing, until information is shared with you.
Each of us as individuals has an obligation to our brothers, sisters, siblings, friends, family, loved ones, neighbors, and co-workers, to make an effort to be a decent human being. The way we treat each other affects everyone.
Sincerely,
Queers
Queer For Hire provides fundraising support and LGBTQIA+ diversity training for nonprofits, professionals, and corporations.
Learn about our Fundraising Services <here> – we’ll lead or support your fundraising efforts, whether you need general support or want to focus on raising money from and for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Learn about our Fundraising Trainings <here> – we can coach your board, staff, and fundraising team on how to fundraise and how to engage LGBTQIA+ donors.
Learn about our other services <here> or our resources <here>.
