Advocacy in the Human Services Field

The purpose of Human Services professionals is to help out individuals, groups, or families that might be in an unfortunate predicament. Human service professionals try to improve the quality of life of those who need help so that they can either make changes in their lives or learn to adjust and work through any issues that may arise. Often times, Human Services professionals work with others in order to better help their clients. The Human Services field enables a person to work with or as counselors, case managers, behavior specialists, or as advocates, which is what this paper will concentrate on. This paper will focus on the gay and lesbian population, any problems that the population might face, how some challenges can be met, and how Human Service professionals might be able to help as an advocate for this population.

Gay and lesbians are a population that often times find themselves being discriminated against. People will often stereotype them or have preconceived notions about them just because of their sexual orientation. There are many people who believe that one is born gay or lesbian and there are others who believe that one chooses to be that way. The debate can go on and on. Stereotypes can be seen as "beliefs about the characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of members of certain groups" (Hilton & von Hippel, 1996, p. 240). Gay men are often stereotyped as being feminine, flamboyant, and non-masculine what so ever. Lesbians might be stereotyped as butch, non-feminine, wanting to be a man, and somewhat athletic. Being stereotyped is not an easy thing; it is like people already have this belief about a person before even meeting them or giving them a chance. This can be hard on the gay and lesbian community. They often times feel as if they are not being accepted by society and being stereotyped can lead to mental health issues such as anxiety and/or depression among others.

Other issues that the gay and lesbian community might be experiencing might be the fight for equality. Just as others, gay and lesbians want to be treated fairly and equally. This would include the right for them to get married and the right for them to have children and live a life just as any other heterosexual couples might live. The legalization of same sex marriage is something that some people still do not feel comfortable with. Many can debate that marriage should be like it has been since day one, between a man and a woman, and they might see gay marriage as going against natural law. Arguments can be made about how marriage is about forming a family and with same sex marriage such thing might be harder to achieve since they cannot reproduce within their marriage.

Just like heterosexual people, gays and lesbians also see kids in their future. Many might argue that it would not be good for same sex couples to raise children. The only way same sex partners would be able to have children would be through adoption, using a surrogate mother, etc. When having to turn to adoption, same sex couples can be discriminated against just because they are not the typical heterosexual