Navigating the Unique Landscape of Clients Who Identify as LGBTQ+ in Vocational Rehabilitation: A Social Justice Primer

Abstract

Clients who identify as both a person with a disability and a member of the LGBTQ+ community (LGBTQxPWD) present with their own unique worldviews and subsequent needs when seeking Rehabilitation Counseling. It remains the ethical and professional responsibility of the Rehabilitation Counselor to engage in practices which not only further their understanding of the sociopolitical and individual environments which impact these clients, but also to engage in ongoing personal and professional development to ensure that the ethical principles of beneficence and nonmaleficence, as well as the charge to cultural competence, are upheld. In the fall of 2019, the National Rehabilitation Counseling Association held a symposium on social justice concerns in the field of Rehabilitation Counseling. There, the need for an LGBTQ+ repository was identified. This resource would allow for Rehabilitation Counselors/educators to obtain information pertaining to the needs of the LGBTQ+ community and the many other intersecting identities that may also present by a given client. The aim of this article is to examine existing research pertaining to those who identify as LGBTQxPWD, identify gaps in the literature regarding needs of the LGBTQ+ and Disability communities, respectively, and to propose action steps where those in the field of Rehabilitation Counseling and other allied health professions can aid in furthering the social justice movement of this group.