Dr. Dawn Szymanski (Assistant Professor, UT Department of Psychology) will provide the audience with a critical base of information about the constructs of external and internalized heterosexism, including the historical context from which they emerged, theoretical approaches used to conceptualize them, unique issues for women, men, and bisexuals, and the empirical research on psychosocial correlates of external and internalized heterosexism. In addition, it will provide suggestions for future research and implications for working with LGB individuals at micro, meso, and macro levels.

Suzann Pharr's work of several decades has been focused on building a broad-based multi-racial, multi-issued movement for social and economic justice in the United States. Starting out as a white Southerner on the fringes of the Civil Rights Movement, she has worked in the anti-Vietnam War Movement, the Women’s Movement, the Women’s Anti-violence Movement, and the LGBT Liberation Movement. Major themes of her work are the connection of oppressions, anti-violence, anti-racism, gender equality, democratic participation, economic justice, and human rights based on equality and justice. More about Suzanne Pharr.

"Barriers to Mental Health Access for Sexual Minority Individuals"
Speaker: Dr. Gina Owens, Dept. of Psychology
February 8, 12:40-1:40
UC 220

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) individuals in need of mental health care may face challenges in finding appropriate affirmative service providers, making mental health care functionally inaccessible or under-utilized by this population. The goal of the current study was to assess potential barriers to seeking mental health services and, specifically, the relationship between the perceived availability of affirmative providers and mental health services utilization by GLBT individuals. Participants were recruited via email announcements sent to listservs that serve primarily GLBT individuals. Participants completed information regarding demographics, health insurance coverage, utilization of mental health services in the past year, and several mental health symptom measures. Two hundred twenty-six individuals completed the online survey. A logistic regression was conducted to determine what factors were significantly related to participants' likelihood of seeking treatment. A summary of main findings will be presented and implications will be discussed.

"Discrimination and Harassment Laws in the Work Place"
Speaker: Dr. Hendricks, UT College of Law
March 11, 12:40-1:40
UC 220

-isms in the Classroom
April 8, 12:40-1:40
UC 220

This discussion will continue the initial discussion held in August of 2007 called oUT in the Classroom: Integrating LGBT Topics in the Curriculum. In that session, we discovered that many issues relating to racism, sexism, heterosexism, ageism, and religious intolerance were “hot button” issues in the classroom. Please join us for this ongoing sharing of experiences of how to fairly and most effectively handle topics such as these in the UT classroom.

Have research that you would like to present at a Brown Bag session?
Contact the UT Commission for LGBT People, lgbtcom [at] utk.edu