Filipino LGBT psychologists brought the rainbow colors at the 11th Biennial Conference of Asian Association of Social Psychology, an international gathering of 1,100 counselors, academics, and mental health professionals from 35 countries. The event was concurrently held with the 52nd annual convention of the Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP).
Delegates from the Philippines presented 16 new LGBT studies in five sessions at the joint conference of the Asian Association of Social Psychology (AASP) and the PAP. Speakers presented research on diverse topics, including workplace lesbophobia, gay men in prison, bisexual coming out stories, and pre/post-transitioning experiences of transgender women.
“We have been organizing LGBT-specific programming at the PAP convention since 2010,” according to Beatriz Torre, co-coordinator of the LGBT psychologists group. “This year, we flew the rainbow flag to elevate the discussion of LGBT rights and well-being beyond Philippine psychology to fellow psychologists from all over the Asia-Pacific.”
The conference also featured a special learning session on three decades of feminist and LGBT-affirmative counseling led by Dr Sylvia Estrada-Claudio of the University of the Philippines. The PAP’s LGBT Psychology Special Interest Group, the first and only collective of LGBT mental health professionals in Asia, also held its annual meet, greet, and mingle session.
