WONG, Michelle Ann Q.

2013-59347

Psych 195: Ch. 4/Intersectionality Reflection

All Kinds and Colors

In society today, most people generally view diversity as a good and beneficial thing because it
gives people the chance to experience different things outside of what they are normally accustomed to.
However, diversity as a wide component is tricky to use and understand because it has both negative and
positive effects on society such as education, violence and employment. People have to dig deep to figure
out what exactly the effect will be in the end and be patient to wait and see.
In Psychology, LGBTQ Psychology to be specific, focusing on the diversity of communities
allows us to understand limitations of applying one particular model of psychological research and
practice across a range of groups of people (p. 81). Diversity, even in the LGBT community, can actually
come in many forms, from Gender, Social Class, Race, Rural Life, Ability, Sexuality (bisexuality, Trans
and queer, lesbian, gay) and the like. The talk we had with the Deaf sector of the LGBT community is
evidence of this. Not only were our speakers LGBT, they were also hard of hearing. Although this
supposedly increases the stigma that they may experience, they talked (signed and interpreted) about
how they are generally as a community and how being Deaf and/or LGBT do not hinder them in honing
specific abilities, like being good in multi media arts, and in achieving their dreams, like being a beauty
pageant queen.
The speakers were actually very open and funny people, and I really enjoyed their talk. When
they started discussing about how deaf people acted as a community being open about even their
personal experiences, being introduced in length before actually giving their name, or how their goodbyes
are actually long and not actually goodbyes until later, and the likereminded me more of a family than
being with complete strangers with similar characteristics, something I found very charming overall. Race
didnt seem to be an issue in their community, as they said they had sectors/sister organization in different
countries, nor do social class seem to be a problem to them as they believe that being LGBT and Deaf has
already somewhat separated themselves, as their own community, in society and they dont want to add to
that with social constructs like class privilege and the like. Deaf and LGBT as they are, I find it beautiful
that sectors like these exist to help everyone from all walks of life and with any baggage they may carry.
Diversity can be defined as people coming together from different races, nationalities, religions
and sexes to form a group, organization or community. A diverse organization is one that values the
difference in people. It is one that recognizes that people with different backgrounds, skills, attitudes and
experiences bring fresh ideas and perceptions. Diverse organizations encourage and harness these
differences to make their services relevant and approachable. Diverse organizations draw upon the widest
possible range of views and experiences so it can listen to and meet the changing needs of its users. The
encouragement of diversity and the results of these such as sectors and communities for example, the
Deaf sector of the LGBT community, benefits and livens society.