ABSTRACT

This chapter examines some of the obstacles that may impede homosexual young people's healthy growth and adjustment and suggests how school personnel can ease their way. Counselors should be prepared to advise multiple minority youth on problems arising from stereotype and prejudice within the gay and lesbian community. Educators must remember that problems in counseling areas are commonly the consequence of stigmatization and rejection and not directly of the homosexual orientation itself. Nevertheless, at the same time that schools focus on homophobia they should understand that it is probably not homosexual students' only counseling concern. Comprehensive list of requirements for gay and lesbian youth and other adolescents' survival and healthy development includes the following: safety and structure; belonging and membership; self-worth and an ability to contribute; independence and control over one's life; closeness and several good relationships; competence and mastery; self-awareness.