Pride Month in June is a great time for you to update your LGBTQIA25+-related social work resources, earn required LGBTQIA25+ CEs, and refresh your clinical knowledge and understanding about working better with the ever-changing LGBTQIA25+ population. Here’s what you can do to commemorate this important month:

1. Explore the practice resources of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and its Virginia Chapter on the dedicated LGBTQIA25+ microsite and elsewhere to update your practices for such clients across the lifespan. An NASW toolbox will help you
   

   1. serve LGBTQIA25+ youth; 

   2. download “A Guide for Understanding, supporting, and Affirming LGBTQI2-S Children, Youth, and Families;  

   3. find recommended books to support trans families; 

   4. skim the latest Glossary of LGBTQIA25+ terms and language by PFLAG; and

   5. access a Gender Identity and Expression Map from Northwestern University.  

2. Learn about and add your voice to NASW’s strong opposition to anti-LGBTQIA25+ legislation, which has grown from 300 proposed bills in 2023 to nearly 500 in the first quarter of 2024, according to NASW CEO Dr. Anthony Estreet. Among the most common bills are efforts to redefine gender-affirming care as “child abuse,” ban trans student athletes, require trans students to use birth-given gendered bathrooms and locker rooms, and severely restrict or ban LGBTQIA25+ books from school and public libraries. Visit the Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity section for a list of actions such as sign-on letters and policy statements by NASW. (Members can sign up for advocacy alerts here to keep up with current advocacy efforts.)
   

3. Earn CEs about serving LGBTQIA25+ clients better for your license renewal by June 30. Easy ways to do so include registering for the NASW Virginia and Metro DC ON-DEMAND Conference running now through June 22. The event, which earns you up to 76.5 CEs, offers several LGBTQIA25+ sessions. You can also access the NASW Online CE Institute’s catalog, which offers a range of relevant on-demand trainings.

4. Listen to one of several NASW Social Work Talks podcasts about pride issues, including “How Social Workers Can Help People Who Are LGBTQIA+ Overcome Addiction.”  

Per the Code of Ethics, social workers are responsible for promoting policies, laws, and programs that affirm, support, and value LGBTQIA2S+ individuals, families, and communities. 

“Pride Month is the perfect opportunity to polish your practices for best serving the LGBTQIA25+ population,” says NASW Virginia Executive Director Debra Riggs. “The chapter has been fighting anti-trans legislation and other discriminatory bills for the entire past General Assembly session and for years, so we all know that efforts continue to retain and sadly strengthen systemized discrimination against these individuals. However, as social workers who see the mental and behavioral health impacts of such discrimination and abuse firsthand, we will do all we can to prevent and counter these extreme actions.” Learn more here.