This journal of the California Association for Counseling and Development attempts to identify the current issues of concern in the counseling field and share research to help improve the professional learning community. The articles in this issue include: "The Editor's Message" (Pat Nellor Wickwire); "The CACD President's…

Needs assessments require staff with the necessary expertise to design the study, collect the data, analyze the data, and present results. They require money, time, and persistence, because the people one wishes to assess often are difficult to access. This article argues for the centrality of a well-done needs assessment when developing services…

This study examined the coverage of sexual orientation topics within 77 public university secondary teacher preparation programs across seven US states, and represented programs preparing 8,300-11,500 teachers annually. Findings indicated that 40% of programs did not address sexual orientation as a diversity topic. Further, even programs that did…

A study of investigated perceptions of gay/lesbian undergraduates regarding their sense of marginalization or alienation in the college classroom. Two research questions were posed: (1) What, according to gay/lesbian students, are the characteristics of classroom environments that create feelings of marginalization? and (2) What, according to…

Reported rates of recreational drug use among gay and bisexual men are currently rising. Although there has been much empirical research documenting current trends in drug use among gay and bisexual men, little research has empirically contrasted differential rates across urban epicenters, while even less has addressed racial or ethnic variation…

The evolution of queer youth programs from 1966 to 2003 has been influenced by sexual ideologies (essentialism, existential constructivism, critical theory, gay liberation, and queer theory) that shape how groups address membership, participants' roles, understandings of sexual identities, coming-out, and ways of contesting homophobia. Group types…

The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) aims to unite with educators in cultivating an informed citizenry and future generations of children who respect and accept all people, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. By supporting educators in their efforts to build schools where information and expression flow…

A report on hate-crimes in the 1980s in Los Angeles County (California) found that these acts had increased in number. Hate crimes are defined as criminal acts directed at an individual, institution, or business expressly because of race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. Over the period 1980 to 1989, religiously motivated hate crimes…

A report on 1990 hate crimes in Los Angeles County (California) found 275 racially motivated hate crimes, 150 religiously motivated hate crimes, and 125 sexual orientation hate crimes. The data were collected primarily from law enforcement and community agencies. Of the racially motivated crimes, most were aimed at Blacks, followed by Asians. Jews…

This article examines heterosexist assumptions and the role of homophobia in students' experiences in California's public "Single Gender Academies," in an effort to include issues of sexuality in current discourses on adolescent gender identity and public school reform. Interviews with students, conducted as part of the most…

The HIV epidemic is rising in Asian and Pacific Islander men who have sex with men (API MSM), who are often first diagnosed with HIV at a late stage of disease. We investigated the HIV testing patterns, correlates of prior testing, and awareness of HIV infection of 495 API MSM aged 18-29 years recruited from venues in San Francisco, using…

A broader view of literacy has emerged as part of the larger debate about educational reform across the globe. Many now argue that availing children with additional skills in technological and media literacy will foster creativity, motivate youth, and improve their economic opportunities while increasing the core of high skilled labourers…