Hello everyone! I recently spoke to my counselor and she gave me more information about this support group for GLBTQ people on my college campus that she thinks I could benefit from. Honestly, I find this extremely scary as she is the only person who knows that I am gay/bi or whatever it is that I am, so I'm absolutely terrified of any other people knowing. I think the scariest part of it is that my "secret" won't be confined into my counselor's room or on EC and people will be able to identify me for the first time as someone who isn't straight, which has never happened before. And it's still a label that I'm still not entirely comfortable with. Have any of you been to a GLBTQ support group? How are the sessions normally like?Am I gonna have to speak up in front of a group of people and say "I'm here because I'm (insert sexual orientation label)" I'm not even entirely 100% sure of whether if I'm gay (although I do know that I'm not straight) so I would feel extremely strange about having to do that. Also am I gonna have to give long speeches about my life/feelings because public speaking is not my strong suit. I'm gonna ask my counselor more about it but I wanted to hear what you all had to say. Oh and random question that I just thought about: Is the Q in GLBTQ for queer or questioning?
Being scared of going to the LGBT on campus is very common and I think everyone has felt that fear at one point or another. The important thing to always remember is to not allow our fears to stop us from doing anything. The LGBT clubs/groups on campus are really not that much different from any other student club on campus. They are mostly a social club where people hang out and enjoy each other's company. Most meeting will start with introduction/ icebreaker and then it will follow the theme for the day. Might be a discussion, event or an activity. It really depends on the club. Keep in mind that each club changes from campus to campus. Most clubs won't ask you your sexual orientation. Its mostly consider impolite to put people in the spot like that since the people in charge usually know that they might get people who are questioning or aren't comfortable about telling everyone just yet. Questions like your major, name and random fact about yourself are more likely to pop up Usually most LGBT clubs in unis tend to be more geared towards being a social group with some support system in place so instead of speaking about yourself you are mostly just going to go there to have fun doing activities with some people that are either going through the same thing as you or have been in similar situations. Another thing that you can do to find more about the group is to look them up in facebook and maybe even look at some pictures of what they do. If its a big university then they might also have a webiste that you can look for. Also, if you are interested, I've tried to put some pics up of the LGBT club on my campus if you want to try and get some ideas about what you can expect. Best of luck!
I'm actually part of three groups, honestly. I'm part of a small trans support group that's hosted by my therapist. I go to Trans Alliance and LGBT Alliance on campus too. I would suggest looking for the LGBT and asking them when their support groups meet. Probably the best way to do it.
The Q is for queer or questioning; some people put two in for that reason (because lord knows there aren't enough letters in the alphabet soup already--I wish we could agree on a word to represent the lot of us, instead of an ungainly string of letters). Anyway, if it's a support group, rather than just a social group, they might want you to give some idea why you're there. But "questioning" should be fine, just like it is here. I mean, they know that the reason that you need a support group is that you are still struggling with it all. This forum is basically a big, informal support group. Just like here, you'll be just as much helping others with their problems as getting help for yours. And like here, it should be a safe and accepting environment. So if it helps, you can think of it that way.
I haven't been to an LGBTQ support group but I have been to another support group at my university and I think they are awesome safe spaces for you to explore your feelings. It may be a little uncomfortable at first but the person or people leading the group are professionals and know how to ease you in and make sure you get something out of it. I think it's a great place to get comfortable talking about issues that are difficult for you to confront and learning to be open about them with others. I'm sure you'd like to be fully out someday and this is a step in that direction. I wish my school had an open LGBT group. The person who used to run it left. Good luck and i really think you should give it a shot. If you don't like it you can always leave. Confidentiality is stressed in every group and people respect that because they want you to respect their privacy too.
I recently went to a LGBT support group on my campus and I was terrified even sending the email to them about going along. I went last night and it was really good and I felt totally comfortable. There was no pressure to talk about what my orientation was or any of my past experiences etc, in general it was a very welcoming group. Perhaps most importantly, there will be people there who feel (or have felt) exactly the same as you do now, so they will be understanding. I think you'd find it a great support, it made a big difference to me!
I've been to one, and though I didn't stay involved long term, it was a very positive thing for me. It was actually good to appear before a small group of people and talk openly about my sexuality. And as has been said before here, most groups won't ask you to out yourself, no - but even if they do have that sort of moment, you'd be more than welcome to identify as questioning. Not everyone there will be totally comfortable with their sexuality - if they were, there wouldn't be any need for said groups, after all. Go in with an open mind and you'll get as much out of it as you put into it! Good luck!
