Lesbian and Gay Psychology Section

Meg Barker (Honorary Secretary, Lesbian and Gay Psychology Section)

This year has been an exciting one for the Lesbian and Gay Psychology Section with the publication of the book Out in Psychology including chapters by many section members. Edited by Victoria Clarke and Liz Peel, the book contains 21 chapters on work taking place in the UK, Australasia and the US, Many of these push the field of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) psychology forward and broaden the perspective from the usual middle class white lesbian and gay focus of research and theory. The book won the American Psychological Association Division 44 Prize for Best Book in Lesbian, Gay and/or Bisexual Psychology 2007, and its publication was celebrated by a successful event at Aston University in June where several contributors presented their work.

Liz and Victoria also published a book on British Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Psychologies with American psychotherapist Jack Drescher, which was co-published as an issue of the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy, ensuring that British theory and research in this area becomes known by a wider audience. Also, in the area of psychotherapy, Committee member Lyndsey Moon published an edited collection Feeling Queer or Queer Feelings? which brings together innovative ideas for therapists and psychologists working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) clients. Our journal, Lesbian and Gay Psychology Review, has published two editions of peer-reviewed international papers covering topics as diverse as migrant gay men, the teaching of LGBTQ psychology, and the experiences of non-monogamous women. Additionally, committee members Darren Langdridge and Meg Barker published an edited book Safe, Sane and Consensual which presents international cutting edge research on sadomasochism and challenges the prevailing pathological psychiatric perspective on such identities and practices.

Following our successes within psychology in 2006 (including the special issue of The Psychologist and the conference at the very end of the year), section and committee members have looked beyond the discipline in an attempt to bring psychological perspectives to other fields and to incorporate other disciplinary approaches into psychology. Examples of this include the Queer(y)ing Psychology group, the Critical Sexology seminar series, the International Network on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns, the British Association of Sexual and Relationship Therapy, and the London Sexuality Forum all of which section members lead or are heavily involved with. Members have also been involved in the running of community events such as BiFest, BiCon and Polyday.

We have also influenced and reflected on policy in 2007. One of the committee members, Christina Richards, wrote non-pathologising policy on trans and polyamory for Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, the section on polyamory being the first of its kind within the NHS. The first edition of Lesbian and Gay Psychology Review in 2007 was a special feature by guest editors Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger, which reflected on the continued battle for same sex marriage following the court decision that their Canadian marriage would not be recognised under UK law. In 2008 the committee plan to contribute to the consultation on the forthcoming Mental Health Act (2007) Code of Practice to ensure that sexual and gender minorities are not pathologised on the basis of being that minority within the statutory mental health system.

Overall 2007 has seen a positive continuation of the expansion of the field to include sexual and gender minorities beyond lesbians and gay men. Simultaneously, unique British perspectives have reached wider international and interdisciplinary audience. This is reflected in the diversity of our committee which includes academics and practitioners from various branches of academic and applied psychology, researching and publishing on a wide range of sexuality and gender-related issues which impact on LGBTQ and heterosexual people. It is also reflected in the student prizes we have awarded this year, one of which went to Adam Jowett for his undergraduate dissertation ‘A Critical Analysis of the Discursive production of Gay Men's Masculine Identities’ and the other of which went to Carly Guest for her graduate diploma dissertation: ‘(Hetero)sexual Bodies: Women's discussion and construction of (hetero)sexualities’. Many congratulations to Adam and Carly.