Queer and trans joy is revolutionary. It is life-affirming to celebrate existence as an LGBTQ+ person. Pride increases visibility. Pride promotes inclusion. Pride creates community. Pride celebrates human rights and dignity.
Pride celebrations take place each year to commemorate the resistance of the LGBTQ+ community when, on June 28, 1969, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, two young, BIPOC, trans women, led riots in opposition to police raids at the Stonewall Inn in the West Village of New York City (The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, 2026). This event is largely considered the start of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. The site known as Christopher Park was designated as a national park, and the surrounding area, including the historic Stonewall Inn, was designated as the Stonewall National Monument on June 24, 2016, to recognize its historical and civil rights significance.
Pride highlights important events such as the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision which legalized marriage equality in the U.S. and the 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County decision which rules that the Title VII of the Civil rights Act protects employees from discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. Pride events range from large city parades with thousands of attendees to small town family-friendly picnics. Pride festivals frequently serve as grassroots resource fairs where LGBTQ+ inclusive health providers, mental health therapists, churches, community services, local service organizations, small businesses, legal advocacy organizations, and local politicians share information. There are often interfaith services as well as dance parties and drag shows, sober events, and bar crawls.
Pride offers something for almost everyone, although the movement has not been historically inclusive to all thus leading to establishments of community-specific Prides. Events such as Black Pride take place during the year as a movement to build solidarity within Black LGBTQ+ communities, as mainstream Pride events have historically been predominantly white (Center for Black Equity n.d.) and not free from systemic racism. Trans Pride celebrates the dignity of transgender, nonbinary, and other gender diverse people. The LGBTQ+ population is not a monolith, as trans exclusion continues to occur with LGB people who hold anti-trans views. The trans pride global movement honors gender diversity through efforts to fight for healthcare, legal protections, and access to everyday resources such as restrooms.
Systemic Considerations in 2026
Pride month in 2026 hits differently for many members of the LGBTQ+ community and their loved ones. After years of advancements for LGBTQ+ rights, the U.S. has experienced a shift. The federal administration issued statements, executive orders, and policy guidance that undermine the well-being of LGBTQ+ Americans. For example, in February of 2025, the federal administration eliminated references to transgender people on the U.S. National Park Services website and later removed references to bisexual people. In February of 2026, the U.S Department of the Interior issued guidelines restricting non-agency flags from federal flagpoles and subsequently removed the LGBTQ+ Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument. The Pride flag removal sparked immediate protest from political and community leaders who raised their own flag, and several nonprofit and historic preservation groups filed a lawsuit. The federal administration settled the case in April 2026, which allows the Pride flag to fly between the American flag and the National Park Service flag.
The symbolic meaning of removing the Pride flag and erasing website references to transgender and bisexual people is relevant, yet we must also consider the real impacts of social erasure and legislative actions against LGBTQ+ people. There has been an increase in unscientific rhetoric about LGBTQ+ people over the past 2 years, along with increases in LGBTQ-related laws and policies. Government officials are promoting Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) change efforts, practices that have no outcome effectiveness evidence. Medical and mental health professional organizations argue against SOGI change efforts because they are correlated with increasing multiple risk factors, including depression and suicidality (APA, 2026). The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is tracking over 500 anti-LGBTQ bills as of this writing (2026). These legal efforts have real and harmful impacts. The Trevor Project’s 2025 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People surveyed over 16,000 youth ages 13-24 and found that 90% reported stress or anxiety due to recent anti-LGBTQ policies and laws (2026). Over the past month, elected officials have announced June as nuclear family month and fidelity month, while the internet boasts straight pride events, which fundamentally have no basis, as straight, married people’s rights have not been threatened.
As systemic family therapists, we must acknowledge the impacts of the attacks on gender affirmative care and transgender people’s right to exist. Trans Legislation Tracker reports that 797 anti-trans bills have been introduced in 2026 in 43 states (2026). The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to access the protected health information of youth who have accessed gender affirming care, a clear violation of federal and state privacy laws. Systemic family therapists who have followed established guidelines to provide or support gender affirming care for minors have been subject to legal scrutiny in some states. The U.S. Federal Government has forced the closing of gender care clinics throughout the country and have settled with at least 2 major hospitals to establish detransition clinics which stop or reverse gender transition care. Professional medical and mental health organizations question these actions, as the regret rate for gender-affirming care is estimated at less than 1% (Thorton et al., 2024) and access to care decreases depression and suicidality (Torfoff et al., 2022). Further, the U.S. State Department implemented policies that restrict male or female markers based on sex assigned at birth and eliminate the X gender marker on U.S passports and visas (U.S. Department of State, 2026). There are many more federal executive orders as well as legal and policy efforts targeting LGBTQ+ people, primarily transgender people, than I can address in this post.
I was reminded how much work we have yet to do as a field when I read the comments on a recent AAMFT social media post about an LGBTQ-related legal issue. AAMFT took a stance that aligns with established research and best practices, yet members who are practicing systemic family therapists posted anti-LGBTQ comments. I was left wondering how a practitioner who holds anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs can provide ethical therapy services to LGBTQ+ clients and their families? How do family therapists uphold the oath of do no harm?
Affirming Care
Many systemic family therapists are engaging in affirming services with clients who are navigating the erasure of their own identify or fear the consequences for their children based on federal and state action. They are creating spaces of inclusion and safety as affirming care is an approach that actively validates and celebrates identities.
Affirming care requires that therapists center liberation and justice. Many practicing systemic family therapists were not trained to work inclusively or affirmatively with LGBTQ+ clients and have taken steps to seek out trainings and resources. Cultural humility practices call us to engage in ongoing reflection and education. Reflective questions for affirming therapists include: how do you consider your own social location as well as that of the clients you serve? What have you learned about LGBTQ+ people throughout your life? What trainings have you sought out to learn about LGBTQ+ inclusive and intersectional therapy practices, even if you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community? If you are a queer or LGB-identified therapist, how are you exploring gender identity inclusive practices?
AAMFT offers multiple resources to guide therapists seeing to practice affirmatively. The Queer and Trans Advocacy Network (QTAN) offers on-demand Teneo training videos on the AAMFT website that are available for CEU credits. The Clinical Guidelines for LGBTQIA Affirming Marriage and Family Therapy (2022) and Gender-Affirming Care: Guidelines for Working Systemically with Transgender, Nonbinary, and Gender Expansive Clients (2025) to provide family therapists with practical resources. Several ethical considerations are offered in the Systemic Therapy Textbook (Brown, 2022), related to work with LGBTQ+ client, anti-discrimination and social policy in family therapy practice, as well as client-generated prejudice.
Systemic Family Therapists Call to Action
As systemic thinkers, we consider how change can be initiated throughout systems, beyond the walls of our offices. The AAMFT Code of Ethics Preamble states that family therapists are committed to service, advocacy, and public service (AAMFT, 2026). Consider the following actions you can take this Pride month.
Pay attention. What concerns in your local, state, or larger systems impact LGBTQ+ people? Is your school board banning inclusive student clubs? Is your state designated a refugee state where LGBTQ+ people are relocating to? What kinds of needs and actions are LGBTQ+ community members requesting?
Reflect. Interrogate and deconstruct dominant cultural scripts and norms by asking: Where do biased beliefs about LGBTQ+ people come from? Who is profiting and at whose expense? What dominant ideas have you resisted? What have small acts of resistance made possible for you and others? (Tilsen, 2021).
Show up. I know a group of family therapists, most of who are not LGBTGQ+, who organize the mental health providers to walk in their annual community Pride parade. Others sponsor events and promote pro bono services in their practice for LGBTQ+ people. Community matters.
Disrupt. Therapists are aware of how social discourse inform internalized messages that result in mental health distress. When you hear inaccurate or biased messages about LGBTQ+ people, especially by other mental health professionals, ask questions about the origins of these messages and offer reputable sources with accurate information. We can also be responsive to people who are unwilling to reconsider their biased stance by setting boundaries for what language and conversations are acceptable, especially in the presence of other LGBTQ+ people.
Speak up. Call and email your legislators about LGBTQ+ legislation. Attend city council meetings and contact your school board when they are addressing local LGBTQ+ concerns. Ask your state licensure board how they will manage anti-LGBTQ+ politicized complaints. Advocacy is effective.
Engage in community scholarship. My counselor friend is a straight, cisgender man who writes a regular column on mental health in the local newspaper. He uses his platform to address transgender dignity and to promote scientifically and medically accurate information about gender affirming care, and to talk about the importance of Pride. He responds to any backlash, so members of the LGBTQ+ mental health clinicians are not burdened.
This Pride month, let’s honor the importance of queer and trans joy, create inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ families, and advocate for systemic change.
Kristen E. Benson, Ph.D., LMFT, AAMFT Approved Supervisor, is an Associate Professor and Marriage and Family Therapy Program Director at Virginia Tech. Her scholarship and clinical focus centers on LGBTQ+ inclusion in families and liberatory family therapy practices.
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Enhance Inclusive Practices: Recommended Resources
Carrington, A.; Iantaffi, A.; Thomas, M.; Veldorale-Griffin, A. (2025). Gender-Affirming Care: Guidelines for Working Systemically with Transgender, Nonbinary, and Gender Expansive Clients. American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
Hartwell, E.E., Belous, C.K., Benson, K.E., Cox, L., Iantaffi, A., McGeorge, C.R., Shipman, D., & Twist, M.L.C. (2022). Clinical Guidelines for LGBTQIA Affirming Marriage and Family Therapy. American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
Iantaffi, A. (2020). Gender Trauma: Healing Cultural, Social, & Historical Gendered Trauma. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Malone, R.M., Stewart, M.R., Gary-Smith, M., & Wadley, J.C. (2021). An Intersectional Approach to Sex Therapy: Centering the Lives of Indigenous, Racialized, and People of Color. Routledge.
McGeorge, C.; Coburn, K.; Benson, K.; Nguyen, H.; & Walsdorf, A. (2024). Ethics in working with LGBTQ clients. In Brown, K. (Ed.) Systemic Ethics Textbook. American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
Tilsen, J. (2021). Queering Your Therapy Practice: Queer Theory, Narrative Therapy, and Imagining New Identities. Routledge.
QTAN Teno Trainings. American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
References
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (2026). AAMFT Code of Ethics. https://www.aamft.org/AAMFT/web/Action-Advocacy/Code-of-Ethics-New.aspx
American Civil Liberties Union. (n.d.). Mapping attacks on LGBTQ rights in U.S. state legislatures in 2026. https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights-2026
American Psychological Association (2026). The evidence against “conversion therapy” Insights from psychological research. https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/evidence-against-conversion-therapy
Brown, K. (2022). Systemic Ethics Textbook. American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
Center for Black Equity (n.d.) Black LGBTQ+ Prides. https://centerforblackequity.org/black-lgbtq-prides
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. (2026). Stonewall Forever. https://stonewallforever.org/
Thornton, S. M., Edalatpour, A., & Gast, K. M. (2024). A systematic review of patient regret after surgery- A common phenomenon in many specialties but rare within gender-affirmation surgery. American Journal of Surgery, 234, 68–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2024.04.021
Tordoff, D. M., Wanta, J. W., Collin, A., Stepney, C., Inwards-Breland, D. J., & Ahrens, K. (2022). Mental Health Outcomes in Transgender and Nonbinary Youths Receiving Gender-Affirming Care. JAMA network open, 5(2), e220978. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.0978
Trans Legislation Tracker. (2026). 2026 Anti-trans bills: Trans legislation tracker. https://translegislation.com/
U.S. Department of State. (2026). Sex markers in passports. https://travel.state.gov/en/passports/apply/unique-needs/sex-markers.html
