Pride Beyond June: Creating Year-Round Safety for LGBTQ+ Clients in an Uncertain Time

A few weeks ago, I was looking for continuing education credits on the Veterans Administration’s training website—a resource I highly recommend because it offers free, high-quality courses and a lot of courses on PTSD. The content is generally excellent and trauma-informed.

But this time, something was different. I was specifically looking for LGBTQ+-related courses to meet my DC license requirements, and I could see them listed—they appeared to be available for registration just like always. But when I tried to start any of the LGBTQ+ trainings, I would get a black screen with an error message that said “The Video Cloud video was not found.” Every single LGBTQ+ course showed the same error. Only those courses.

Here’s a platform designed to help professionals better serve veterans, yet they’ve stripped away trainings that would help us support LGBTQ+ servicemembers—the very people who’ve served their country and deserve competent, affirming care.

This experience crystallized something I’ve been thinking about a lot as we move through June: Pride month is meaningful, but our commitment to supporting LGBTQ+ clients can’t be confined to thirty days of rainbow flags and celebration posts. Especially not now, when the ground beneath our community feels increasingly unstable.

Why everyday allyship matters more than ever

Right now, across the country, LGBTQ+ rights are being systematically rolled back through legislation, policy changes, and institutional decisions.

Some of these changes make headlines—the bathroom bills, the restrictions on gender-affirming care, the book bans. Others happen quietly, like training materials disappearing from government websites or funding being redirected away from LGBTQ+-inclusive programs.

For those of us working with asylum seekers, this feels particularly painful. Many of our clients fled countries where being LGBTQ+ was criminalized, where they faced imprisonment, violence, or death simply for existing authentically. They came to the United States seeking safety, believing this was a place where they could finally live without fear.

When federal agencies remove LGBTQ+ training materials, when states pass laws restricting transgender rights, when healthcare access becomes politicized—our clients notice. They watch the news. They see the protests. They understand that acceptance isn’t permanent.

I often find myself sitting across from clients who escaped persecution in their home countries, only to arrive here and witness a different kind of erosion happening. This is why I believe our work as immigration evaluation professionals goes far beyond the assessments we conduct. We’re often the first mental health professionals our LGBTQ+ clients encounter in the United States. The experience they have with us shapes their understanding of what safety looks like in their new country.

4 ways to create affirming spaces every day

When the broader culture sends mixed messages about LGBTQ+ acceptance, our individual actions can carry more weight. Every pronoun we use correctly, every assumption we don’t make, every resource we provide becomes a small act of resistance against the forces trying to push our clients back into invisibility.

Here’s what year-round LGBTQ+ affirmation looks like in practice:

1. Start with your first contact

Safety begins before clients even walk through your door:

• Use inclusive language on intake forms that don’t assume heterosexual relationships.
• Include pronouns in email signatures and train staff to ask for and use correct pronouns.
• Review your website and marketing materials for language that welcomes all identities.
• Train all staff members to use respectful language even when clients aren’t present.
• Offer multiple ways to contact your office since some clients may not feel safe making phone calls.

I’ve heard too many stories of clients overhearing conversations that made them question whether they’d be truly accepted. These seemingly small details send powerful messages about safety.

2. Create space during evaluations

The evaluation itself is where real connection happens:

• Ask open-ended questions about relationships, community, and experiences of discrimination.
• Let clients define their own experiences rather than making assumptions based on presentation.
• Listen for the words they use to describe themselves, and use those same words back to them.
• Don’t assume you understand someone’s identity based on legal documents or initial presentation.
• Normalize the coming-out process and validate that identity can evolve over time.

Remember that trauma manifests differently for everyone. Some clients will have clear narratives about the discrimination they faced. Others may struggle to articulate experiences that were subtle, ongoing, or internalized. Both experiences are valid and deserve our support.

3. Provide comprehensive resources

Go beyond basic referrals to offer meaningful connections:

• Research LGBTQ+-affirming therapists in your area before you need them.
• Know local organizations that provide support specifically for LGBTQ+ immigrants.
• Identify healthcare providers with experience serving transgender clients.
• Keep updated lists of legal resources for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers.
• Connect clients with community organizations where they can build chosen family.

Have this information ready and easily accessible. Finding competent, affirming care can be a significant barrier for our clients, and your preparation can make the difference between connection and continued isolation.

One of the most heartbreaking aspects of working with LGBTQ+ asylum seekers is witnessing their isolation. Many arrived in the U.S. without family support, having been rejected by their communities of origin. They’re starting over completely—a new country, a new language, and a new understanding of what their identity might mean in this context.

Moving beyond Pride month

The removal of those VA training materials was disheartening, but it also reinforced something important: we can’t rely on institutions to maintain their commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion. That commitment has to live in us, in our daily practices, in the small choices we make that collectively create a culture of safety.

This doesn’t mean we carry this responsibility alone:

• Connect with other professionals who share your values.
• Advocate within your professional organizations for inclusive policies and training.
• Stay informed about policy changes that affect your clients.
• Support LGBTQ+ rights financially and politically when you’re able to do so.
• Attend training and education to continuously improve your competency.

But remember that our most important work happens in individual moments—when a client realizes they don’t have to edit their story for us, when they experience unconditional positive regard for the first time, when they begin to imagine a future where their identity is a source of pride rather than danger.

Pride month will end in a couple of weeks, but our clients’ need for safety and affirmation continues every day of the year. In uncertain times, consistency becomes even more crucial.

Our LGBTQ+ clients have already shown incredible courage in their journeys to the U.S. The least we can do is ensure that when they arrive, they find professionals who see their full humanity and are committed to supporting their healing—not just in June, but always.

I often remind clients that their courage in fleeing persecution, in sharing their stories, in continuing to exist authentically despite everything they’ve faced—this courage itself is a form of resistance. In a time when LGBTQ+ rights feel precarious, their visibility matters. Their survival matters.

We may not be able to control the political climate or institutional policy changes, but we can control how we show up for our clients. We can be the professionals they need us to be: knowledgeable, affirming, and unwaveringly committed to their dignity and safety.

That’s not just pride—that’s love in action. And love, I’ve learned, is always a form of resistance. ♥️🧡💛💚💙💜

---

Resources for LGBTQ+ affirming practice:

• Advocates for Trans Equality: Resources for providers.
• Immigration Equality: Legal resources for LGBTQ+ immigrants.
• PFLAG: Support for families and community education.
• The Trevor Project: Crisis intervention and suicide prevention resources.
• Lambda Legal: Know Your Rights resources for LGBTQ+ individuals.

Culturally-Specific Resources:

• Center for Black Equity: Improving Black LGBTQ+ lives globally.
• Latino Equality Alliance: Empowering Latinx LGBTQ+ community.
• Hispanic Federation LGBTQ+ Advocacy: Protecting Latinx LGBTQ+ rights.
• National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA): Empowering LGBTQ+ Asian and Pacific Islander communities.