Hello mobile guy and all,
Thanks for the welcome 🙂
Providing individuals with support in relation to their sexuality has been very important to me for quite some time. I started researching in the area in 1991. Recently in 2006, I published a paper on a project I did called ‘The only queer from a CALD background’. I have also had the wonderful opportunity to work as the counsellor at Twenty10 for a number of years. (As a side note, I used to hear Anthony speak at the AOG youth group I went to in the mid 80’s).
Overall, as an individual my aim is to continue to increase knowledge about the issues and concerns that same-sex attracted and gender diverse people experience as a result of growing up in a society that is largely unaccepting of this normal and healthy diversity. My aim is also to support individuals, their families and friends in the face of these difficulties. I also think it is important to highlight the amazing strengths and resilience that same sex-attracted and gender diverse people develop in the face of these environments.
So, in terms of the project, my aim is to increase knowledge about impacts and the importance of positive social support in assisting with growing up in unaccepting environments. Many people don’t have the support of their families and so social support external to families has been shown to play a really important role in reducing the impacts of homophobia. However, many feel unable to go to groups or link up socially for a whole range of reasons. I aim to look at these reasons and to suggest ways to assist with this. For example, what if you were interested in going to a group but too nervous to go, what if you got to meet with the person running the group before hand or what if there was a buddy system?
I’ve tried to reduce about 5,000 words into a few paragraphs so I hope this reads well. Let me know if not.
My best wishes, Raina
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