Marriage Equality for Same-Sex Couples: Counseling Psychologists as Social Change Agents

The denial of civil marriage rights is a specific example of minority stress that can negatively affect the psychosocial well-being of self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals in same-sex partnerships, their families, and their allies. Counseling psychologists have an important role in addressing the minority stress that same-sex couples experience as a result of the lack of marriage equality. In the service of social justice, counseling psychologists can use their training as practitioners, advocates, and researchers to effectively intervene at multiple levels of the ecological system. The purpose of this practice forum is to suggest interventions at the micro, meso, and macro levels that support the goal of social justice for same-sex couples and their families.