What is it about?
This commentary explores how today’s hostile sociopolitical climate—including anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and racially coded fearmongering in political campaigns—threatens the mental health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning people of color (LGBTQ+ POC). It responds to a comprehensive review by Ito and colleagues (2025), which synthesized 20 years of qualitative research on the mental healthcare experiences of LGBTQ+ POC. The commentary underscores how discriminatory laws, political narratives, and systemic barriers make it difficult for LGBTQ+ POC to access culturally affirming care. It also calls on clinical psychologists to play a more active role in addressing the stressors these communities face through advocacy, training, and systemic reform.
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Why is it important?
LGBTQ+ POC often face overlapping forms of discrimination based on both their sexual/gender identities and racial/ethnic backgrounds. During the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign, rhetoric that stigmatized queer and trans people became increasingly normalized. Such political fearmongering contributes to real-world harm, from healthcare discrimination to hate-based violence. This commentary argues that psychologists must not only treat the mental health outcomes of oppression but also work to change the systems that produce them. With civil rights and public trust in mental healthcare at stake, clinical psychology cannot afford to be neutral.
Perspectives
Writing this commentary offered me an opportunity to reflect on how the shifting political landscape in the U.S. can ripple into clinical settings—particularly in ways that harm LGBTQ+ individuals and communities of color. As someone who works at the intersection of psychological science and public policy, I felt compelled to respond to Ito et al.’s excellent review by highlighting how systemic discrimination—and the political machinery that fuels it—can intensify disparities in mental health and healthcare access. I hope this piece encourages clinicians, researchers, and educators to stay attuned not only to their clients’ lived experiences, but also to the broader sociopolitical forces that shape those experiences.
Francisco J. Sánchez
Arizona State University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: From campaign rhetoric to clinical practice: Combating the effects of political fearmongering on the mental health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people of color., Clinical Psychology Science and Practice, June 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/cps0000257.
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