First meeting for LGBT support group

A SUPPORT group for parents, friends and family members of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people will have its first meeting at the Shannon Family Resource Centre on Monday, September 19, from 7pm to 9pm.
The group is being run by Rainbow Support Services, which supports the LGBT community in the Mid-West. Spokesperson Vanessa Buswell said people may be upset after a family member or friend comes out but the group will try and provide assistance.
“It still can be upsetting for some but not for all. The beauty of this group is that it’s for all family members. Even if someone has accepted their son or daughter and understand LGBT issues, they can support other parents and tell them how they coped with it and understood it.
“It’s for mothers, fathers, grandmothers, brothers and sisters, that sort of thing. It’s basically for them to be able to meet and to get support from each other. To help them to understand more about what their son or daughter or brother or sister is going through. Most LGBT people don’t come out to their own families for quite a few years, so they’ve had time to think about it. When they do come out, their families haven’t had that length of time to think about it and absorb it and understand it. They’re thrown right in at the deep end so it’s about trying to provide that support for them.”
She said the hope is that the group will offer a template, which can be replicated across the region. “This will be our first one in the Mid-West. We’re based in Limerick but we cover the whole region and we’re hoping that if it works in Shannon, we’ll be able to set up other ones in other family resource centres around the Mid-West. We’re linked with the national parents and friends of LGBT network. The parents that attend the group will have additional support via that network.”
The first meeting will be all about getting things started and seeing what the participants want. “I’ll be there and so will Regina, the community worker at the Shannon Family Resource Centre. We’ll both be there to give support and it’ll be fairly informal. Everyone will be introduced, they’ll get to know each other. We’ll talk about what they want from the group and how often they want to meet.”
The Community Foundation of Ireland have provided enough funding to allow the group to function for a year.
Anyone who would like more information on the group is welcome to call the Shannon Family Resource Centre on 061 707600.