.gay Community Spotlight Spotlight on the LGBTQ Relationship Center of Iowa
This week as part of our ongoing .gay Community Spotlight conversation series we had the chance to catch up with the LGBTQ Relationship Center of Iowa.
Learn more about their work and check out our interview with with Dr. Kait Hutson, PhD, LMFT, below.
How would you describe your organization’s mission?
Our mission is promoting the dignity and wellbeing of queer people in Iowa. We are passionate about queer services by queer providers.
Tell us about how that mission is brought to life through your work.
Our grounding values as an organization are reclamation, connection, community. Our mission is brought to life in our work through putting those grounding values into action. We do that by providing skilled psychotherapy services for individuals, couples/polyamorous partnerships, families, and groups. We provide services in person and via telehealth. For queer and trans Iowans in rural areas (and there are a lot of rural areas in Iowa!), telehealth has become a vital part of providing services to them. We also provide peer consultations for other mental health providers regarding education and practice with the LGBTQ community. We offer consultations to area businesses, other organizations, and schools as well. We provide internships to LGBTQ-identifying psychotherapists in training as well-- offering hard-to-find supervision from queer-identifying therapists. We understand more of their lived experience than others because we know what it's like to be a queer therapist in Iowa. Finally, we have a scholarship program for graduating Iowa high school seniors who are LGBTQ-identifying. We give this scholarship every year. Recipients are selected by an outside committee of queer and trans folks-- so, again, our vision of queer sovereignty comes through there too. I've always believed that education is a process of empowerment. As a queer person who has a PhD, I can't tell you how true that has been in my own life. We're passionate about giving that gift to other queer and trans folks. Angela Davis famously said, "The process of empowerment cannot be simplistically defined by our own interests. We must learn to lift as we climb." The Center really hinges on that kind of spirit.
Founder: Kait Hutson, LMFT - She/Her.
What would happen if your organization suddenly did not exist?
We know that it is really difficult to find quality supervision as a young therapist from someone who is like you-- who is also queer. It's a unique lived experience. We provide that service. It's hard on young therapists in certain areas of Iowa to not have ready access to that-- or access to that without paying an astronomical rate. Moreover, we offer psychotherapy services (individual, relational, and group) informed by queer philosophy and post-modern practice. Research shows us what a difference working with someone who belongs to that identity group can be. We do a lot of pro bono and sliding fee scale work at the Center. If we didn't exist, it would mean less access to competent, skilled therapy for LGBTQ Iowans from queer providers.
What can people do to get involved and help make sure that never happens?
I think one of the biggest things people can do is to let people know we exist. I can't tell you the number of emails I've gotten since we were founded in 2020 in which people tell us they wish they'd known we were here sooner.
Why does LGBTQ+ visibility matter to you?
Representation matters-- Neither of us had that growing up in a meaningful way. A big part of our vision of reclamation is about giving what we didn't have to new generations of queer and trans Iowans.
In your own words, what does “LGBTQ+ safety and support” mean specifically?
Legislation, community open dialogue, accountability.
Who are some of your LGBTQ+ heroes?
Dr. Alex Iantaffi, PhD, LMFT. They were on my dissertation committee-- and in my view, are one of the most important gender theorists of our time. They have a gift for making complex concepts accessible to people from all backgrounds and education levels. Their books on gender and sexuality are texts all schools should have in their libraries.
If you could give LGBTQ+ youth one message, what would it be?
This is an interesting question for me-- in the research study on queer and trans experiences of religious trauma and shame that I completed in December of 2022, I asked a similar question of the participants I interviewed. I'm going to echo what one of my participants said here... My message would be: "Hold on. You're worthy, you're worthy, you're whole."
Tell us about a time when you felt like the work you do at your organization really mattered or made a difference for the communities you serve?
We run psychotherapy groups at the Center. I lead a group that focuses on my specialization area in practice-- queer religious trauma. That has been a transformational experience for me. I would also say being able to offer that scholarship has been very meaningful as well.
Learn more about their work HERE
