SAIGE Continues a Tradition of Advocacy

The Society for Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities (SAIGE) is a division of the American Counseling Association. SAIGE’s history goes back to 1975, when it began as the Caucus of Gay Counselors. SAIGE has had a number of name changes since then, being most recently known as the Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling (ALGBTIC) before adopting its present name in April 2020. SAIGE has branches in 20 states.

To learn more about SAIGE and its current work to oppose discriminatory legislation, we recently spoke with Public Policy Committee Chair Gene Dockery, PhD, NCC, CCMHC, LPCC (they/them). 

How would you describe SAIGE's overall purpose and function?

SAIGE is the division of ACA that focuses on LGBTQ populations and mental health. We are advocates for the inclusion of queer folks in counseling. Some of the work we do is more focused on higher education because a lot of the counseling organizations are filled almost entirely with academics.

When we make spaces safer and better for LGBTQ people, we are able to address barriers because a lot of the time the people who are motivated to create change are the people who are most impacted by it.

We do a lot of things, but our big focus is making sure that all counselors are trained to effectively provide ethical, inclusive care to LGBTQ clients and recognize intersectionality and liberation as important aspects of care provided to all clients. 

Why is public policy a concern for counselors?

Public policy is how we get a lot of things done in the world and in the field, right? Our licensure is tied to public policy and legislation. The Counseling Compact is tied to that as well. When we're talking about some of the anti-LGBTQ legislation, there are a lot of reasons why counselors should be concerned. A big part of that is the impact that makes on both marginalized counselors and clients. Imagine living somewhere where someone is trying to outlaw your health care. Americans are experiencing that right now based on gender or sexuality or all sorts of things.

Sometimes people think of this as a niche issue. They don't have to care because they don't have a marginalized identity. It's really, really important for counselors to care about this because it's also impacting the counseling profession, right?

I have testified in front of a state legislature about gender-affirming care and I was, I would say, verbally attacked, treated hostilely by sitting legislators asking questions that are not even slightly connected to the issue, questioning the Tarasoff ruling—things that are well established and respected—simply because I cared about the human rights of trans people.

So, I think that it's really important that we highlight the ways that this is going to impact public perception. We already have a lot of stigma around mental health care. Creating stigma for the profession is not going to aid in that, and it's a really dangerous issue. 

Do counselors have a responsibility to engage in advocacy?

Yes, the ACA ethical code is quite clear about that, as is the ethical code for every mental health care profession. Advocacy is an imperative; it is not optional. We are obligated to do advocacy work. You don't have to try to address every single inequality in the system, but you need to be doing some kind of advocacy work to fulfill your role as a counselor. 

What are some of SAIGE’s current initiatives?

I lead the Public Policy Committee, and some of the things that we do are tracking legislation, compiling resources, providing training and support for people on the ground, and writing statements to help folks do the advocacy work that they need to do. And we do it in a lot of different ways and a lot of different avenues. We are well supported by the SAIGE Board in a lot of really meaningful ways.

Our annual conference is coming up in October with the theme “Elevating Advocacy.” We have a lot of exciting people presenting. This will be in Golden, Colorado, the first weekend in October, and registration is available.

We are also working on engaging more with counselors in practice. We love our academic members. We absolutely adore our student members. But we've noticed a gap where we don't have a lot of members who are in private practice, community mental health, all of those things.

We are also working to elevate the voices of the most impacted in another way. SAIGE as an organization is not attending the upcoming ACA conference in Florida because we're worried about how the legislation in that state might impact our members if they attend. There's legislation that if something were to happen, our folks could be refused care at hospitals; bathrooms might not be available for our trans members—issues like that. What we are doing is giving the time that we would have been given by ACA as a division to our folks at the state chapter of SAIGE in Florida. We are giving them the opportunity to speak about their experiences, to gain support, to be understood, while also making sure that we are not putting our other members in danger.

We will also be holding some trainings and the sorts of events that we would usually hold at the conference virtually for folks who still need those CE opportunities but can't go to Florida. I'm really proud of how we're approaching that and how we're using this as an educational opportunity as well. 

You can read the ACA 2025 SAIGE Statement sent to our members from Past-President Dr. Rob McKinney on April 4, 2024, here.

What are some of SAIGE’s recent successes or accomplishments?

Something that I've been working on for years, since I got this position, is getting ACA to address, at least in a statement, the anti-LGBTQ legislation and its impact. And that happened very recently.

These are statements that my committee wrote that were approved by the SAIGE board and are now officially endorsed by the American Counseling Association. There is a broad one about anti-LGBTQ legislation. Another is about legislation that's trying to curtail inclusive curricula. And then another one is on gender-affirming care bans.

It’s really exciting that ACA has endorsed these statements, and we're really proud of that. I have a very wonderful committee that is full of very dedicated people, and we work together to do this stuff.

Our members are also doing things on a state level. We have somebody who's doing advocacy work in Iowa, in Florida, in Pennsylvania, even in Texas. I think that is really important because it's easy for national orgs to get divorced from what's happening at each state level. I'm very, very proud of those folks and their accomplishments. 

How can counselors get involved with SAIGE?

Our website has information about becoming a member of SAIGE. You don't have to be an ACA member to be a SAIGE member. Our student rates are great, and we love our students. In fact, I think over half of our members are students.

Members get access to our journal and our LISTSERV, and all of the CE opportunities that we offer, which happen at least monthly, are at a discounted rate for members. The Journal of LGBTQ Issues in Counseling is a great journal. It's really fantastic and a great resource because a lot of institutions don't pay for their library to get SAIGE's journal.

I know most of the committees are always looking for people to join, as long as they are willing to commit time to it. However, members aren’t obligated to do additional work or join any committees.

I do also want to say that most of the committees would be excited to have folks involved even if they weren't members. You can't be in a leadership position, but you can be involved with various initiatives or various committees. Our site lists all of the committees and who's in charge, along with their email address for folks to reach out.

I really recommend joining as a member, especially for folks who are students or who want to be more engaged in the profession. There's a lot of opportunities within SAIGE for networking and community, which can be hard to find for queer folks in some geographic areas.

Gene Dockery, PhD, NCC, CCMHC, LPCC, is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Counseling at Seattle University. They are a recognized expert in LGBTQ legislative and policy advocacy in counseling, and they have done this work at both national and state levels. Dockery’s clinical specialties are queer neurodivergence and gender-affirming care. Their research is focused on trans and queer liberation, advocacy, and disability justice.

**Opinions and thoughts expressed in NBCC Visions Newsletter articles belong to the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or practices of NBCC and Affiliates.