Being a Heterosexual Ally to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Community: Reflections and Development

Abstract

SUMMARY The author provides a narrative of his development as a heterosexual ally of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The author uses those parts of his own experience that are consistent with components of existing ally identity development models to provide qualitative evidence regarding the validity of those models. The author goes on to discuss the role of affect components in ally identity development and the implications of these models for training non-LGBT allies to the LGBT community.