Issue that LGBTQIA+ youth may face in their lives, abridged version.

I'm a white cis-gender male studying for a retirement career in community services at TAFE, these are extracts from a diversity assignment I did on the issues facing LGBTQIA+ youth today. It takes the form of a training module for the staff at our "virtual" community services centre.
Cultural Awareness, we acknowledge the differences and similarities between cultural groups. By doing so we aim to enhance communication between groups, this is especially relevant to the LGBTQI+ community because it has great diversity within all of its sub-groups.
Cultural Safety, involves actions which reflect and nurture the cultural perspective of other groups.
Cultural Respect, recognizes, respects and promotes the rights and traditions of other cultures and groups.
Cultural Competence, accepts and respects cultural differences without expecting our own behaviours and beliefs to be the norm.
Personal Cultural Competence, means we accept and increase our knowledge of other cultures and to use that knowledge to enhance our service to them.
LGBTQI+ youth soon learn about the homophobia which is a catch all term for prejudice against the LGBTQI+ community. There are various aspects to homophobia including fear, aversion, contempt and ignorance, often related to strong religious beliefs.
In extreme cases this can result in hate crimes which are yet another source of stress and anxiety to the LGBTQI+ youth. No reliable statistics are available for this, the most “at risk” minority group, because these crimes are under reported.
Less immediately threatening are attitudes such as conservatism, corporate attitudes, beliefs that homosexuality is linked to pedophilia that homosexuality is being “promoted” and homophobic rhetoric. LGBTQI+ youth who have parental support are much less at risk of self-harm and suicidal ideation.
Interpersonal homophobia
The overt form of homophobia is a dislike, fear or hatred, it is often expressed through shunning, ostracism, discrimination and harassment or violence towards LGBTQI+ people, most of whom experience some form of verbal abuse or physical assault during their lives.
Institutional homophobia
Corporations, churches and others continue to discriminate against people because of their sexuality. As this is illegal under the Sex Discrimination Act of 1984 they are often cloaked in a set of invisible double standards.
The objective of this proposed program is to draw attention to the issues that the LGBTQI+ youth face, in everyday life and as they develop. It is our intention to help them out from the shadowed world of the closet and into the light where they can see and be seen in a safe manner.
Remembering the term LGBTQI+ is a composite of the various groups who are diverse in their diversity and explaining this is yet another objective to be addressed.
Perceptions and appearances are issues we feel the need to explain, how the LGBTQI+ community sees itself is just the beginning. How mainstream society sees the LGBTQI+ community and how the LGBTQI+ community feels that they are perceived are very different things.
Disaffection, the LGBTQI+ community has historically lived on or beyond the fringe of mainstream society. The roller coaster ride of being LGBTQI+ begins quite early in life when they learn that they are different to the mainstream population. By puberty’s onset the majority of LGBTQI+ youth are becoming aware of their sexuality to some extent, they are also learning that they don’t fit into the binary and heteronormative world. This mostly happens against the backdrop of high school where, as we know, children can be very cruel. They hear the terms “dyke”, “faggot” being used, even before they realise being LGBTQI+ is their reality. Hearing “that’s gay” used as a pejorative term further enforces the view that the world is a homophobic place.
Homophobia, Transphobia, Biphobia and Lesbophobia, there are numerous aspects to homophobia, which are addressed elsewhere, all forms of homophobia are barriers to the LGBTQI+ community participation in the world at large. These phobias range from extreme hate crimes through to invisible prejudice. As a result of these attitudes the LGBTQI+ community is always on the defensive and as a community has issues with acceptance and esteem.
Conservatism, separate to homophobia there are elements of conservatism which are resistant to change. This inertia is a cultural barrier which needs sustained pressure to shift. If we look back over the decades we can see that first there was a push to de-crimininalise homosexuality before it was legalised. Since then we have progressed to the point of legalising same sex marriage.
Bias, there are numerous forms of bias, in this instance I distinguish between prejudice and bias on the basis of intent. Where Given that most of the population are heteronormative it is not surprising that there will be bias against the LGBTQI+ community. The diversity within the LGBTQI+ community is yet another factor which complicates the issues thereby increasing the tendency towards bias, because simply put it is just too hard for many.
The term cross-cultural communication has its origins in the Cold war era as the world’s global markets were expanding, since then it has evolved to include sub-cultures within our own society, in this instance it’s the LGBTQI+ community we’re focusing on. As allies of the LGBTQI+ community we need to address them in the safest possible manner.
A good start is to use the pronouns most preferred by the LGBTQI+ community, which are generally they, them and theirs rather than he, she, his and hers.
Asking questions is also a good approach, firstly questions are an excellent way to establish the pronouns which people prefer to use. It is often said that the only stupid question is the one you didn’t ask. By asking questions it helps to avoid and breakdown stereotyping and assumptions, this is particularly helpful when negotiating the minefield of gender identity.
It is also vitally important not to be judgmental and to be supportive, this is the essence of this proposed support program for the LGBTQI+ community.
Effective communications are enhanced by active listening, which goes beyond just hearing the spoken word but also to observe the body language, tone and general demeanour of the people we’re talking too.

If we set goals for Diversity and Inclusiveness (D & I) we will find that we are going to reap the benefits which come from a having a new set of eyes looking at things as they see them, rather than the same old people doing the same old things in the same old way. In short, we will celebrate and accept change, not fight it.
Cultural Competence must be part of the package of improved D & I, by doing this we will tap into perspectives and practices which are not only new to us but also have benefits we might not have expected. In the case of the LGBTQI+ community they will bring sensitivities which simply do not exist in our hetero-normative cis-gender world.
Just as some workplaces hold regular “Toolbox Meetings” holding meetings or surveying staff views on matters relating to D & I will help to hold a mirror to what is happening in the workplace. There is a truism that a moment’s insight can be worth a lifetime’s experience, so D & I is an asset which can be of great benefit to all.