Hatching Creativity: Conversations on Success, Innovation, and Growth
Welcome to "Hatching Creativity: Conversations on Success, Innovation, and Growth"! Join us as we dive deep into the world of creativity and explore the minds of remarkable individuals who have achieved extraordinary success in their respective fields.
In this podcast, we believe that creativity is not limited to the realm of art and design; it encompasses every aspect of life and business. Through engaging interviews and thought-provoking discussions, we'll uncover the secrets behind harnessing creativity to drive innovation and fuel personal and professional growth.
Discover the strategies, mindset, and experiences that have propelled our guests to new heights. We'll explore guests journeys, challenges, and breakthrough moments. Be inspired by their stories, learn from their failures, and gain practical insights to apply in your own creative endeavors.
Get ready to tap into the boundless potential of your own creativity, ignite your passion, and embark on a transformative journey of success, innovation, and growth. Subscribe now and join us on this exciting adventure!
Hatching Creativity: Conversations on Success, Innovation, and Growth
Embarking on a Journey of LGBTQ Pride and Activism with Phil McCabe of Rutgers University
Buckle up for a riveting dialogue with Phil McCabe, an esteemed health education specialist at Rutgers University and president of NALGAP. We venture into the rocky terrain of societal prejudices, misinformation, and the stigmatization faced by the LGBTQ community. Phil's impassioned discourse on the power of pride flags as symbols of personal expression, the role of allies in combating prejudice, and the urgency to debunk harmful stereotypes will definitely spark thought and discussion.
Welcome to Hatching Creativity. This isn't just another behavioral health podcast. This is the place where thought leaders converge to talk about real life challenges, breakthroughs and pivotal aha moments. Hey, everybody, welcome. I am really excited to introduce today's guest, Phil McCabe. Phil, would you mind introducing yourself and sharing a little bit about you and your credentials?
Speaker 2:First let me say I am a cisgender gay man, also a person in long-term recovery. My recovery goes is 38 years now of continuous recovery. I am a health education specialist at Rutgers University that's the Scarlett R behind me and I am also the president of NALGAF, that's the National Association Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender Addiction Professionals and their allies. So my background also. I mean I'm basically classified as a public health social worker, since I have both certifications. I also in addictions counseling as certified addiction specialist and my certification addictions actually covers alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, compulsive gambling as well as sexual behavior. So that kind of brought me to being certified then as a board certified sexologist.
Speaker 2:I am known as also have that credential. So that's basically my background. I've been working within the LGBT community even before I came into recovery, going back to 1979. And as I came into recovery I recognized the need for many counselors and therapists and mental health clinicians and even other health care providers to have a better understanding, a broader understanding around LGBT issues. So that has been my personal mission and passion for all these years.
Speaker 1:You know, phil, one of the things that I found really exciting about bringing you on the podcast was your expertise in this area. You know, working in behavioral health, I see oftentimes that there's really not a quite a clear understanding of the differences and nuances in treatment and some of the other clinical issues that may come from being different than what certain aspects of society say is normal, and I think it's really important to address the stigma, and I'm super excited to dig into this with you, phil. You had put together a presentation or some information about the LGBTQ population in recovery and in treatment. I'd love if you can share your screen and just move a little bit of this.
Speaker 2:First, I want to say that you know June is LGBTQ Pride Month, so happy Pride everyone. It's a nice fit to actually be speaking with you today, mike, during Gay Pride Month. Many times we consider the Stonewall Rides in New York City to be the beginning of gay activism. That's actually not true. We actually have a much longer history.
Speaker 1:I just want to give you a few of the highlights as we go forward, and one thing I want to add, but I think this is really important and this is something that I've come across recently on social media. There's not a limit to the amount of pride out there, right, and I think that that's one thing that I come across is people feel that if you are LGBTQ and proud, that it takes away from hetero pride or takes away from anybody else's pride. No, it has to do with being comfortable in your skin and standing up for what's right, that straight people are also very active and stand up for. Really, what's what's going on here?
Speaker 2:Thank you, mike. And yes, you know, june was designated as Got Gay Pride Month because it commemorates the Stonewall Rites of June 26, 1969. However, there are many of us that we feel our pride every day, and then there are also many other populations, you know, who experienced disparity and stigma, who also have pride celebrations. So, you know, gay Pride Month is not meant to take anything away and, just like in the now gap name, we recognize our allies. Allies are really important. Allies are our friends and neighbors, our parents, our children, our co-workers. I mean, there's so many other individuals that recognize the significance and the contributions that gay people have made.
Speaker 2:And also, if we talk about stigma, we need to talk about the harm that is perpetrated against LGBT individuals because of misinformation. Misinformation, basically, it's about ignorance. It's about people who don't fully understand, but they form some ideas or some beliefs we talk about. You know, stigma is founded in prejudice, and prejudice is founded in misinformation and all that can affect the esteem and the self-worth of individuals. If you continually hear these messages, that there is something wrong with you, and that might be another reason why Pride Month is important.
Speaker 2:I just wish we could eradicate the word normal from the vocabulary. But we're talking about individuals. The only thing I know that is normal is the cycle on the washing machine. You know, people are people and we come in all different walks of life. We have all different interests, we have all different beliefs, including religion or our demographics, our race, ethnicity. Everything else comes back to who we are as individuals, but it also includes our sexual orientation and our gender identity. And even when I say sexual orientation, sexual orientation is not limited to lesbian and gay individuals. We all have a sexual orientation. We all have sexual scripts that either we were taught, we follow, we believe and sometimes we also have to challenge. And that's really the other message that I think comes out particularly this time of year, because many individuals still feel the negative effect of being raised or conditioned in a very homophobic or transphobic society, which didn't give them the freedom to be themselves or didn't value them for the individuality that they possess.
Speaker 2:So, mike, I just want to, you know, I think to kind of make that point home not just about LGBT pride. Now, many people are familiar with the gay pride flag, which was originated in 1978 as part of the San Francisco Freedom Day planning. But here we see all these other variations of sexual expression that also could have their own pride flag, and some of them are more visible, some of them are more utilized. But even on the bottom, you see, there's a straight and straight ally pride and there's even a hetero pride flag. So I'm not making any attempt to deny or diminish anyone for being proud of who they are. But of course, you know, when we hear a black pride month or Hispanic heritage month or even, you know, celebrating other racer, ethnicities or religion, we don't see as much pushback. When we talk about sexual orientation or gender identity, then many times you experience a lot of pushback from society again for individuals who have been given misinformation or remain ignorant or uninformed about truly what it means to be LGBTQ.
Speaker 1:I shared a few graphics about Pride Month on social media actually, and it created several conversations. Everything in life is a spectrum, you know. There's nothing that's really linear, and there are so many aspects of this spectrum that could be gender or sexuality or whatever just kind of exactly as you were talking about. In fact, you know, one of the the interesting topics or numbers that I came across was that homosexuality has actually been seen in over 450 species of animals.
Speaker 1:It's not just humans, and oftentimes, when people try to say that it's a choice or it's media or it's something that is creating this in people, you are what you are. You know you're not going to get. The media is not going to make somebody one way or another. What will make somebody one way or another is forcing somebody in the closet and not allowing somebody to be who they are. That is way more damaging than allowing somebody to express themselves in their own way, and I thought that was really interesting in the animals as well. As you know, when speaking of gender, there are many animals, fish included that actually change their gender and are gender fluid, and I found that to be really interesting too, you know, for people who insist that this is really a choice. This is a thing of nature that nature has created and that may also having that understanding may reduce stigma a bit as well.
Speaker 2:What you remind me of. In New York City there's the National Museum of Sex and they have a whole floor dedicated to reviewing and understanding how the animal world does represent sexual orientation and gender identity. And it's been well documented that there are many animals that engage in same-sex pairing and also same-sex behavior. And I think that's also interesting because sometimes when we talk about homosexuality or gay or lesbian, we only think of the sex act and of course sex for many of us is important. But it's also about the relationships that we establish, whether they be in a committee relationship, whether we have a series of relationships, whether we choose one lifetime partner at one time, it doesn't really matter. What's important is that we recognize and understand that being gay is not just about the activity. You know, I always tell my students the act is not the orientation.
