Amidst the stress on an election still yet to be called The LGBTQ Center Long Beach offered free post election counseling.
The Center had additional counselors available on Wednesday, Nov. 4th and Thursday, Nov. 5th from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. to anyone in the community who needed someone to turn to following Tuesday’s election. People were able to call The Center at 562-434-4455 to be connected with a counselor who provided support and resources free of charge.
This year’s election cycle has triggered many emotions and fears for the LGBTQ community and their allies as civil rights protections continue to be in peril. The Center is committed to an open dialog with the community on how to impact change at the local, state, and national level to advocate for a nation free from discrimination, oppression, and violence for all LGBTQ people.
The Trump administration has taken many steps to backtrack the progress made by the efforts of the LGBTQ community and its supporters, those steps have been to undermine and eliminate rights protecting LGBTQ people.
The Center understands how important this election is and how stress inducing it has become especially for the LGBTQ community and has tried to ease that stress by making free counseling available to everyone.
A 2019 study in PLOS One showed that engaging in politics can have negative consequences on one’s health and friendships. Those on the political right, the study found, reported fewer negative impacts compared with those on the left.
Researchers found that of the 800 people surveyed, about 18 percent said politics had caused them to lose sleep and more than 29 percent said they had lost their temper because of politics. More than 11 percent said politics had adversely affected their physical health and more than 26 percent said they had become depressed when a preferred candidate lost.
