Here at the Sacred Heart University Counseling Center, we embrace a positive view of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQIA+) identities and relationships by producing a safe space where people are free to express who they are without fear of reprisal.

Research shows that being or feeling different can result in social isolation and exclusion, which in turn leads to being more vulnerable to instigation and continuation of abuse. That cycle stops here at SHU Counseling.

There is no formula when it comes to gender and sexuality. Yet it is often only people whose gender identity and /or sexual orientation negates society’s heteronormative and cis-normative standards who are targets of stigma, discrimination and violence. Our hope at the Wellness Center is that instead of investing in these hierarchies of what’s right and who’s wrong, what’s authentic and what’s not, and ranking people according to these rigid standards that ignore diversity in our gender and sexualities, we give people freedom and resources to define, determine and declare who they are.

For more information on campus and local resources, visit the Sexuality And Gender Equity (SAGE) Center.