The Public Policy Committee has had a busy and productive start to 2021. On February 17, 2021, the Public Policy Committee (PPC), in conjunction with staff from the APA Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (OSOGD) Portfolio and the Advocacy Office, hosted a webinar entitled Psychology and LGBT+ State Legislative Advocacy 2021. This webinar was the culmination of a year-long collaboration between the Public Policy Committee and APA developing public-facing resources to assist with state-level advocacy efforts. During the webinar, Committee Co-chair Christina Patterson presented to the approximately 500 attendees on legislative advocacy roles for psychologists and how advocacy relates to and is reinforced by the APA ethics code. The resources, housed on the APA website, include talking points and references on several of the most pressing state-level LGBT+ legislative issues, examples of testimony, and skill-building tools for psychologists looking to engage in advocacy work. If you missed the webinar, we encourage you to view the recording on YouTubeopens in new window.
A post-evaluation form completed by 245 attendees indicated that the webinar was useful (rated 4.40 on a 5-point Likert scale), of high quality (4.55), and increased attendee’s willingness to engage in state-level advocacy (4.09). Attendees rated their willingness to use the resources presented as a 4.30 on the same 5-point scale.
The Public Policy Committee is currently connecting with several state psychological associations to offer assistance in state-level legislative testimony. As well, the resources will be expanded in coming months to address additional advocacy topics. We invite Div. 44 members to please reach out to us for assistance connecting your work to public policy, and if you have prior legislative advocacy experience which you would like to share on the resource pages. Testimonials on Div. 44 member’s legislative advocacy experiences are particularly welcomed.
Although we are expanding our scope to better support state-level advocacy, tracking and responding to federal legislation continues to remain a priority. Recently, the Public Policy Committee partnered with Div. 19 (Military Psychology) to write a joint statement in support of the Biden administration’s Executive Order overturning the ban on transgender people serving in the military. This joint statement is the direct outgrowth of Div. 19 and Div. 44 collaborations instituted by former Public Policy Committee Co-chair Nick Grant. The statement is presented in a separate article in this issue of the newsletter.
The Public Policy Committee is also looking ahead to the Equality Act, which recently passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. This landmark piece of legislation would expand the 1964 Civil Rights Act to offer anti-discrimination protections on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity in employment, education, housing, public accommodations, federally funded programs, credit, and jury service. The Equality Act is currently in the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate. Please stay tuned for ways that you can support this vital piece of legislation.