Lys Friedrich from MindOut on the Importance of Mental Health Awareness in the LGBTQ+ Community
December 14, 2022Lys Friedrich, Training Programme Manager at MindOut, spoke with myGwork about providing mental health support for members of the LGBTQ+ community. She describes the importance of allyship, and advises how to overcome discrimination in the workplace.
Could you tell us a little bit about your charity and the work that you do?
MindOut is a mental health service run by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer people. We work to improve the mental health and wellbeing of all LGBTQ+ communities and to make mental health a community concern. We recognize that our communities are wonderfully diverse and welcome all LGBTQ+ people including those who identify as asexual, aromantic, pansexual, non-binary, genderqueer, genderfluid and intersex.
Our services are also available to those who may not identify under the LGBTQ+ umbrella, including straight people who have sexual and/or romantic relationships with LGBTQ+ people, men who have sex with men, women who have sex with women, people who previously identified as LGBTQ+ and those who are questioning their sexual and/or gender identities. Our services are for LGBTQ+ people aged 18+ who are based in Brighton and Hove, with the exception of our Online Support service which is available globally.
We provide peer support groups, befriending, low-cost counselling, and one on one advocacy services to our service user population. MindOut is also passionate about helping organizations and professionals to become more confident in supporting LGBTQ+ people, may they be clients, customers, service users or staff. With this aim in mind, MindOut has been providing LGBTQ+ Inclusion and Awareness and Affirmative Practice Training across public, private and the third sectors for the last 13 years.
What advice do you have for those who want to support LGBTQ+ rights?
Allies can leverage their power by listening to LGBTQ+ people with mental health challenges and advocating for the specific care and needs of this population. We can disrupt homophobic, biphobic and transphobic discrimination when we see it, but we can also work on a systemic level to undo the conditions under which LGBTQ+ people currently suffer.
What are the challenges you face at work?
LGBTQ+ people face specific mental health disparities when compared to our cisgender and straight counterparts and these need to be addressed in workplaces, as well as in social and support structures. LGBTQ+ folks face unemployment, underemployment, housing insecurity, barriers to accessing health care, in addition to facing the daily stigma and discrimination of being LGBTQ+ and having a mental health condition. For all of these reasons and more, MindOut runs a peer support group called 'Work It Out' for LGBTQ+ people in paid employment to come together and support each other with these challenges.
How can the workplace be more supportive of LGBTQ+ employees?
First, be aware of the assumptions made about people, and how that often leaves LGBTQ+ people in the margins, i.e. make sure language you use in forms (and verbally by staff) do not assume people are heterosexual or cisgender. Ask for a client’s pronoun and preferred named when they first access your service. Use gender neutral language when asking about relationships and living arrangements e.g., refer to partners instead of boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands or wives. Do not assume that you know someone’s sexual orientation, pronouns, gender identity or trans status based on the way they look, their name or the sound of their voice. Create a culture/space where language and gendered stereotypes are consistently challenged. Recognise diversity in LGBTQ+ communities, we are not a monolith – avoid assumptions that what worked for one individual will work for another! Always ensure LGBTQ+ people are fairly compensated for their contributions to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work, which can easily be (unfairly) added on to marginalized people's workloads.
Also, workplaces can protect LGBTQ+ through policies - Display a clear non-discrimination policy (as you would do with your Health and Safety policy in order to make your clients feel safe). Do you have a Zero Tolerance policy for discrimination? Is it attached to disciplinary measures or HR/management processes? Does it specifically acknowledge biphobia, homophobia, transphobia? Do you have a trans inclusion policy or LGBT policy? Does your EDI policy include the Equality Act w/ explicit reference to trans status, sexual orientation & gender identity. Does it include the GRA 2004? Where legislation refers to binary genders, does it include a footnote to explain that the company includes all genders? Clearly communicate your confidentiality policy in order to make your clients feel safer about disclosing aspects of their identity. Ensure all staff and service users know there is a zero-tolerance to discriminatory language and enforce disciplinary consequences for intentional breach of this policy.
MindOut provides excellent training on LGBTQ+ inclusion, we are here for you! Ensure your staff induction training includes a policy on discrimination and awareness of LGBTQ+ issues and is required for all new starters or offered annually. Ensure there is bystander training and support for staff to challenge discrimination and include reflection on LGBTQ+ work/issues on staff meeting and supervision agendas.
Additionally, workplaces can be more supportive through greater LGBTQ+ visibility and investment in LGBTQ+ leadership; Include LGBTQ+ imagery in posters/magazines/leaflets to show that you recognize the importance of specified care for this particular group. Have leaflets and details of local LGBTQ+ services available and be upfront about your strengths or weaknesses in providing LGBTQ+-specific services. Be interested in and focused on wellbeing, resilience, and the positive aspects of being LGBTQ+ and gender variant, not merely on LGBTQ+ pain and suffering. Celebrate and lift up moments of gender euphoria and queer joy in your workplaces, not just in Pride season.
Lastly, a workplace can become more supportive of LGBTQ+ people through community networking - Where possible, consult with your LGBTQ+ service users, staff and volunteers about your LGBTQ+ initiatives; the best ideas for serving this group will come from them! Build relationships with local LGBTQ+ organizations and engage in mutual referrals. Consult with your local LGBTQ+ community and organizations on strategic development. Attend LGBTQ events and engage with LGBTQ+ communities when you are welcome to do so; while Pride season activity is great, true allies do this work all year round and not only when its visible or self-beneficial! Develop specific LGBTQ+ safe spaces, groups, services, or activities that are led by.
What is your next course of action as a charity to improve the life of LGBTQ+ individuals?
MindOut serves and responds to local Brighton & Hove LGBTQ+ communities by providing life-saving counselling, peer support groups, peer mentoring, befriending and personalized advocacy services. We are still finding out about the effects of the pandemic on LGBTQ+ mental health; our primary aim will continue to be as responsive as possible to emerging mental health needs of our community.
In my role as the Training Programme Manager, I support a team of trainers to design, sell and deliver bespoke LGBTQ+ inclusion training to local and international training clients. It is an honor to do this work, as providing LGBTQ+ specific training to clients can assist them in creating safer workplaces, implementing more inclusive services, and making LGBTQ lives more livable.
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