Posts Tagged ‘LGBTQIA+’

June is Pride Month, a time to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and sexual and gender diversity. Members of the community and allies unite in pride and solidarity to recognize, honor, and uplift the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer and/or questioning people.

As we honor the LGBTQIA+ community this month and beyond, we must also commit to better understanding and addressing the issues it faces. One such issue is eating disorders, which affect LGBTQIA+ people at disproportionately high rates.

In this article, we explore eating disorders in the LGBTQIA+ community and offer ways to support affected community members during Pride and throughout the year.

Episode description:

Debbie Seacrest, Ph.D. is a non-binary math professor who is passionate about advocating for mental health and showing that eating disorders affect a variety of people.

In this episode of Peace Meal, Debbie speaks to their eating disorder experience as a non-binary person. They share how negative body image in early childhood morphed into anorexia in adolescence, and how body image continued to be relevant to their gender journey and eating disorder recovery. Crediting karate, self-advocacy, and social connection as important tools in recovering from their anorexia, they reflect on the progress they’ve made and offer strategies for others suffering. They also share how the eating disorder community can be more gender-affirming and competent in the language we use and services we provide—a generous and important contribution given the disproportionate rates of eating disorders among trans and/or non-binary people.

Contact Debbie via email with any questions.

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Eating disorders are disproportionately common in segments of the LGBTQ community. Disproving the myth that these illnesses impact only straight, cisgender people, research and personal accounts show that all sexual and gender identities are affected—and sexual and gender minorities perhaps even more so than non-LGBTQ people.

The LGBTQ acronym encompasses several distinct sexual and gender identities. It is an umbrella term that represents a group as diverse and varied as non-LGBTQ people, though often treated as a singular group. While we cannot generalize eating disorder experiences within the LGBTQ community—or outside of it—here we explore eating disorders in one segment: those who identify as lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB). These terms refer to sexual orientation, while “transgender” refers to gender identity. For more on eating disorders in those who identify as transgender, please read Eating Disorders in the Transgender Community.

In a post earlier this month, we discussed the prevalence of body image issues and eating disorders in the transgender community. Today we’re wrapping up our PRIDE month series with an interview that puts a human face to the issue of body image and identity in the trans community.

TEP: Tell us about yourself!

Sam: My name is Sam Dylan Finch! My pronouns are he/him. I’m a blogger, editor, and media strategist. And a whole bunch of other things — like a drag queen! — but that’s the gist.

Image by Ayush Gupta for Subvrt Magazine. 

Alok (they/them) is a gender non-conforming performance artist, writer, educator, and entertainer. They are known for their sense of style, comedy, a poetic challenge to the gender binary. Alok has been featured on HBO, MTV, The Guardian, National Geographic, The New York Times, and that’s just the beginning. They have also presented their work at over 300 venues in more than 30 countries. You can learn more about Alok here.

Given the lack of diverse voices typically found in discussions of body image, we wanted to interview Alok for our PRIDE month series and ask their opinions on body image and identity as someone who identifies as a South Asian nonbinary person.

What does transgender mean?

According to the American Psychological Association, “Transgender is an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity [internal sense of being male, female or another identity] or gender expression [how gender is communicated through behavior, clothing, body and other characteristics] does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth.” Simply put, it is a term used when a person doesn’t identify with the sex they were given. For example, if an individual is born and deemed male by a doctor but knows that they are female and chooses to present as such, that person may refer to themselves as being transgender. It is important to note that not everyone who appears gender-nonconforming will identify as transgender. In addition, being transgender is not related to a person’s sexual preferences.