SPECIAL TOPICS PAPER #1 1
Special Topics Paper #1
[Student Name Omitted]
[INSTRUCTOR NOTE: While this is a great example of the Barbershop Project, it is not
considered a perfect paper in terms of APA formatting, mechanics, and writing style. It is
provided to demonstrate the various cultural experiences you are free to write about, as
well as the depth of reflection and analysis expected in your own paper.]
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Abstract
There are many different cultures in this world that an individual can observe and study. It takes
real courage to step outside of your comfort zone and drop yourself in the middle of someone
else’s world. In doing, the biases you have and the stereotypes you have believed are consciously
called into question and placed under a microscope. For this paper, I did just that, and I feel that
I learned a great deal compared to what I thought that I would learn. The LBGTQ culture is more
substantial than I initially believed. The things that I learned have made me more understanding,
compassionate, and empathic to those in the LBGTQ community; which is necessary to in order
to be a culturally competent therapist. Therefore, in this paper, I will cover and discuss the
following things with regard to the LBGTQ community/culture that I observed: my personal
self-awareness, understanding others, and professional development.
Keywords: lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, questionings, drag-king, drag-queen
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Introduction
When growing up, an individual takes on different biases and learns different stereotypes
regarding other cultures and races, both consciously and unconsciously. In Sue and Sue (2016),
there is a discussion about “White Racial Identity Development,” and I have found that those
stages apply not only to racial identity but sexual orientation identity and gender identity also. As
noted in Sue and Sue (2016) it is not possible for an individual to come of age in this world
without taking on racial (in this case of this paper gender and sexual orientation) biases,
prejudices, misinformation, deficit portrayals, and stereotypes of their ancestors. This realization
became very apparent when I stepped outside my comfort zone and dropped myself into the
middle of the LBGTQ (lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, and questioning) culture. In this
paper, I will analyze my experience observing the culture of the LBGTQ community in the
following ways: my personal self-awareness, understanding others, and professional
development.
Self-Awareness
In preparing to observe the culture of the LBGTQ, I was extremely nervous and excited
at the same time. I did not know what I was going to really expect; this is because even though
my sister is bisexual, the only knowledge I have of the LBGTQ community is what I have seen
in movies and television shows. Movies such as To Wong Foo- Thanks for Everything, The
Birdcage, RENT and the television show Will and Grace is where I learned about the LBGTQ
community growing up. There are a lot more movies and television shows for those coming of
age to watch and develop more understanding of the community.
In addition to what I saw on television and in the movies, I grew up in a non-
denominational Christian household which influenced my viewpoints. Even though my parents
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were not as strict as the parents of my Baptist or Methodist friends and cousins, they still held
tightly to fundamental Christian beliefs such as abortion is murder, pray about everything, God is
always watching, and relations between those of the same sex is wrong. I remember my parents
talking to me about Studio 54 and how the reason so many people contracted HIV and AIDS is
that they were bisexual or homosexual. Furthermore, many women that contracted the disease
often got it because the men they were intimate with was on the “down low.” “Down low”
meaning, he is interested in both men and women (bisexual), but he hides it and pretends that he
is only interested in women. It was a common thing when we were dating, and our boyfriends
would do something I parents thought was odd they would question if he was gay or on the
“down low.”
During this observation, I went to observe a drag show at an LBGTQ Bar. As noted
earlier, I was both nervous and excited at first. When I got in, there were a good number of
individuals there but not so many that I had a hard time moving throughout the bar. My sister
went with me to the bar so that I would not feel so anxious. I do not drink, so having her there
helped me to deal with any anxiety that I had. However, as I stood against the wall where I could
observe the entire bar, I realized that as more people trickled in the more my fist tightened up.
The more I saw same-sex couples dancing and kissing, the more uncomfortable I felt; I even had
to catch myself and stop staring at individuals I perceived as transgender. Furthermore, at one
point, I felt so overwhelmed watching the individuals I became nauseous, and I wanted to cry. I
felt so out of my element, not knowing what to do or what to say. After a few minutes, I took
some deep breaths and began to focus on the atmosphere. I realized that besides how I was
feeling internally, the atmosphere of the bar itself was relaxed (not hostile or wild), but it also
had a large amount of high energy (a lot of dancing, laughing, and mingling). When individuals
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spoke to me, they smiled and were very kind. The more I relaxed, I realized I began to compare
the individuals in the bar to the people I saw on television shows Pose and Will and Grace. I
recall even turning to my sister and telling her that I had already found a “Will” and “Jack” from
the show Will and Grace.
Understanding Others
When observing the individuals at the LBGTQ Bar, I realized their body language and
style of communication is not as extreme as what I have observed in movies and television. With
the exception of a small percentage, the majority of those that I observed looked, moved and
spoke in a way that I would consider significantly different from anyone else outside of the
LBGTQ community. I noted that if I were to see those individuals in the church, at a restaurant,
or in the local Wal-Mart, I would not know that they are a part of the LBGTQ community.
However, the drag show that I observed was much more extreme than I anticipated
(outfits, language, make-up, dancing, and overall performance). I watch the show Pose, and I
have seen the show RuPaul’s Drag Race, so I went in thinking I had a good understanding of
what to expect. I learned that I knew the basics of what drag-queens (men that dress as women)
and drag-kings (women that dress as men) are all about. It is more to it than an individual that
simply dresses up like an individual of the opposite sex. The individuals that dress up do so for a
couple of reasons: 1) they really enjoy entertaining others and being someone completely
different than who they are every day of their lives, and 2) They have a deep passion for being a
part of this form of entertainment.
Before my observation, I thought drag queens felt they were women but did not have the
courage to go through the steps to transition into a woman. I learned that there is a difference
between a transgender individual (someone who identifies as a sex different from what they are
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born with) and a drag-queen or drag-king. Although there are transgender individuals that are
drag-queens and drag-kings, they are not interchangeable. When a person is a drag-queen or
drag-king, they are portraying an entertainment persona; they are putting on a show for a crowd
of people for entertainment reasons. A person that is transgender is not doing it to entertain
others; he/she does not feel a connection emotionally, mentally, and spiritually to the sexual
identity the individual was identified by at birth. Basically, how the person feels on the inside
does not match what is physically on the outside.
When individuals spoke to one another at the bar, it was not as exaggerated has what I
have seen on the screen (in movies and on television). They communicated with each other no
different than any other group of people. They talked about how their week or day went, about
things they watched on television, and how good or bad something looked. When they agreed
with each other, it was a calm “I see what you mean” kind of atmosphere. If they had a heated
discussion, they would raise their voices, and there would be body language to show agitation,
yet, it was not any different than what I have observed of any other group of people having such
a conversation at a bar. They did not throw things, slap each other, or take out weapons
(hammers, knives, switchblades, etc.) like what I thought they would. Again, I am basing this off
the assumption of what I learned about them from the screen over the years. However, the “Drag
Show” communication was a lot more extreme than I thought, as I mentioned earlier. The
vocabulary that was used in the show was very vulgar, and the show was as well (the dancing
and overall performance). Seeing a “Drag Show” in person is a shock to the system. What is
placed on the screen to portray the world of “Drag Shows” is very watered down compared to
what really happens at a “true” show.
Professional Development
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This experience helped me to realize how much those that are a part of the LBGTQ
community are like myself or any other individual outside the LBGTQ culture. The majority
communicates the same way anyone else does (verbally and nonverbally), there is a small
percentage that exaggerates when communicating (similar to what is on the screen). Overall,
they have issues with discovering who they are and being comfortable with that person like the
rest of us. They are attracted to whom they are attracted to; they do not choose to be lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, or questioning any more than I chose to be an African American. They do
not like being judged or stereotyped, just like Hispanics, Asians, Jews, Muslims, or anyone else
that is a part of a different culture or race than the majority.
This will help me to be more compassionate, understanding, and empathic to the clients
that come to me with issues they are having with their families, work, neighbors, and society.
Furthermore, there were individuals that were a part of all age groups, races, and cultures at the
LBGTQ Bar and “Drag Show.” This realization helped me to understand better and that each
culture has its own way of viewing relationships, so there are individuals that deal with a clash
between his/her racial and/or religious culture and the LBGTQ culture. This part of the
experience will enable me to be an empathic therapist and communicate in a way that will build
the therapist-client relationship that will be beneficial to my clients’ success and well-being.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I learned a great deal about what I thought I knew and what I did not know
about the LBGTQ community from this experience. This experience has motivated me to step
outside of my comfort zone more and venture out to learn and get a better understanding of
different cultures. It is essential that I do in order to be a culturally competent therapist because
watching things on the screen (in movies and on television) is not sufficient in any way. I will
have clients that have all different backgrounds and sexual orientations; it is important that I get
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out there and learn as much as I can to become the best competent therapist I can for my clients.
My self-awareness of my limited knowledge of other cultures encourages me to work hard to
become more understanding of others in order to develop more as a professional.
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References
Sue, D. W., & Sue, D. (2016). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice. (7th ed.).
Wiley and Sons.
