Assessing beginning social work and counseling students' acceptance of lesbians and gay men

This study investigated the acceptance of lesbians and gay men among master's-level social work and counseling students at the onset of their academic programs. Findings show that a small minority (6.5%, n=184) of the 2,837 respondents expressed intolerant attitudes and that predictors of acceptance included religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, and academic degree sought by the student. Attitudes for which at least 15% of the sample expressed negativity are identified and used to suggest teaching strategies that not only help students accept gay and lesbian clients, but also provide further education for practice with this population.