After a government project officer initiated a request for presenters of a
regional suicide prevention workshop to remove the words "gay,""
lesbian," "bisexual," and "transgender"
from the workshop title in late January, the government agency employing that
officer said the words were "not an issue" and it had no problem
with the presenters using them.
"This whole thing was overblown," Mark Weber, a spokesperson
for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA),
told Psychiatric News. "Because it was not an issue, we have no
problem with the group changing the name of its presentation back to what it
was."
The presenters of the workshop, titled "Suicide Prevention Among
Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transgender Individuals," were Reid
Vanderburgh, M.A., Ron Blood-worth, M.A., and Joyce Liljeholm, M.Ed., all
therapists in Portland, Ore.
In mid-February, a few weeks before the workshop was to be held,
Vanderburgh alerted a number of people via e-mail that he and his fellow
presenters had been asked to remove the words "gay,""
lesbian," "bisexual," and "transgender"
from the workshop name.
The SAMHSA project officer made the request through Lloyd Potter, Ph.D.,
who then conveyed the request to the workshop presenters. Potter is director
of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, the agency that received government
funding to host the conference.
According to Vanderburgh, Potter told the workshop presenters that the
words "gay," "lesbian," "bisexual," and"
transgender" were not consistent with the lexicon SAMHSA had been
using.
Weber confirmed the project officer's request in an interview with
Psychiatric News. He further stated that SAMHSA's position was that
using the words "sexual orientation" in the workshop title in
place of "gay," "lesbian," "bisexual," and"
transgender" would have been "more inclusive."
Under protest, the presenters changed the workshop name to "Suicide
Prevention in Vulnerable Populations."
Vanderburgh's e-mail prompted a flood of criticism directed at SAMHSA and
SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie, M.A., according to Weber.
Weber responded to those who had protested via e-mail that the agency has
no prohibition against the use of the terms "gay,""
lesbian," "bisexual," or "transgender."
Subsequently, the presenters reverted to the workshop's original title.
According to a statement by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who contacted
Curie shortly after learning about the controversy, Curie emphasized that the
agency has no "policy" on the use of the terms "gay,""
lesbian," "bisexual," or "transgender,"
nor does it prohibit the use of those terms.
Frank made public an e-mail to him from Curie in which Curie stated,"
I am still planning to participate in the Oregon Suicide Prevention
Conference, and I will highlight in my remarks our commitment at SAMHSA to
ensure that we reach out to all populations in our efforts to provide
substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health
services." ▪