Wave Seminars, Trainings & Events: Past Present Future Heterosexism, Homophobia effects on health and well-being
10 May 2010
by Anup Karia
This is a very brief account of the workshop that Aleksandr Peikrishvili and I did on heterosexism and homophobia; effects on health and well being for gay men-a process oriented perspective at the IAPOP conference on community and global health in Feb 2010 in Portland, USA.
It was an incredible privilege to have the opportunity to do this with a diverse audience.
The workshop emerged from deep and intimate conversations between both of us including studying ourselves in the context of our personal and professional histories as gay men of multicultural backgrounds. In the background is a variety of psychological and medical research from over the last two decades that shows that gay men have dangerously higher rates of alcohol, drug and sex addictions, eating disorders, depression and suicide than their straight counterparts. In the wider background is the experience that for many centuries (and continuing today in many parts of the world) that being gay is a ‘disease’.
On a very personal note we noticed that in our planning as we explored our personal stories of growing up gay in different parts of the world, we touched on small and big moments of trauma and shock that had lain in our bodies frozen in time. We understood how heterosexism (which is as pervasive as the air we breathe in) leads to ongoing traumatization from the very beginning of our lives and that our ‘trauma’ was seeking a witness and awareness rather than just suffering. We realized that stories of the impact of heterosexism and homophobia need to be told and engaged with in community settings as this is a collective story for all of us in whatever sexual orientation we identify with.
We focused on the dynamics and pain of marginalization on individual and collective levels, how this manifests in the horrors of internalized oppression and how Worldwork (including some of the latest developments) gives us tools and ideas to understand our journeys to awareness and directions forward as individuals and communities.
Anup Karia is a process worker living in London and works with individuals and communities internationally in many contexts including conflict awareness, diversity,change and leadership. He co founded Asta Facilitation (www.astafacilitation.net).
Currently he is especially interested in researching in how some of the latest earth based psychology methods of process work are applied in social and political contexts.