We form resilient communities.

The importance of forming and maintaining community cannot be overstated in considering resilience and coping. Per Meyer (2015), social support can mitigate the deleterious effects of stressors, helping us ensure better health outcomes; it is thereby crucial for our own communities, as well as mainstream populations and providers, to bear in mind that oppression and social inequalities--racism, sexism, queer- and transphobia, ageism, xenophobia, and so forth--can erect barriers to individual resilience. This is not to say that many individual members of our communities don't demonstrate resilience! But if we expect that everyone can and should demonstrate resilience, we can inadvertently reinforce the old "bootstraps" idea, putting the onus on ourselves and other queer and trans folks to somehow be downright heroically resilient in spite of oppressive social realities (Meyer, 2015) such as persistent and insidious white supremacy.

The construct of LGBTQIA+ community resilience entails the historical inclusion of queer and trans communities coping and thriving on our terms and in ways we find empowering (Bowleg et al., 2010). This can include not only general community participation but use of collective action, in which we act to promote and improve our own social conditions (Breslow et al., 2015).

So let's encourage ourselves, our communities, our clients, and each other to engage in community building to, as Meyer (2015), puts it, "tap into the community to reap the benefits of minority resilience" (p. 211)! Here's a simple tip: find your local LGBTQ+ community center.