Education

Education is a critical component of all LGBTQIA+ Advocacy. Stepping in as founding LGBTQIA+ Programs Director at Pacific Pride Foundation in 2015, I jumped at the chance to design a brand new LGBTQIA+ curricula for and with my team.

Utilizing SO/GI (Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity) best practices, dynamic experiential learning, and my skill as a licensed therapist specializing in somatic psychology — I’ve trained diverse audiences across California in the differences between Sexuality, Gender Identity, Medically Assigned Sex at Birth, and Gender Expression, and other related topics.

Whether preschool teachers or parents, doctors or therapists, local or global businesses like Deckers Outdoor Corporation (Makers of Ugg, Teva, Hoka, and Sanuk) my audiences leave knowing how to better welcome LGBTQIA+ people of all ages.

The LGBTQIA+ education I provide isn’t merely a plea for emotional justice or kindness. It’s a direct intervention targeting the higher rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide LGBTQIA+ people face due to social rejection and isolation — with an eye to intersectional realities that find LGBTQIA+ people of color, women/femmes, and transgender folks facing even more complex forms of marginalization.

I love sharing the nuances of our “alphabet coalition” with curious and heartfelt audiences eager to undo their implicit, learned biases. Together, we can open more doors to LGBTQIA+ people everywhere and I’m glad to help. For more on my efficacy as an Educator please see below.

Cheers!
~PatrickLyra