LGBTQIA+/Queer Issues
Laura A. Jacobs, psychotherapist, psychotherapy, therapy, public speaker, public speaking, writing, activist, LGBTQ, transgender, transsexual, transexual, genderqueer, gender nonconforming, gay, lesbian, BDSM, kink, gender, sexuality, HIV, AIDS, polyamory, poly, counseling, bereavement, grief
LGBTQIA+/Queer Issues
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender nonbinary, pansexual, queer...
“I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness.”
We live in an era of great change. LGBTQIA+ people are receiving unprecedented visibility and respect in some regions yet we are relentlessly targeted as well. Our daily experience can still be fraught with adversity.
LGBTQIA+ individuals are not immune to the same stressors faced by everyone else: the challenges of interpersonal and romantic relationships, complex family dynamics, financial strains, employment demands, feelings of powerlessness, feelings of hopelessness, unwanted aloneness. Even so, our community suffers much higher rates of abuse, trauma, alcohol and substance use, depression, HIV/AIDS, marginalization, and incarceration.
“There are no pronouns in the English language as complex as I am, and I do not want to simplify myself in order to neatly fit one or the other.”
Our identities are multifaceted, sometimes fluid, and not always easily accepted or understood by those outside our community. Even today we still face stigma. We still suffer discrimination. We still suffer violence.
But we still strive for happiness.
Whatever your identity and lifestyle, our mission together will be to make it the most joyful, vibrant, and fulfilling life possible.
Gay Pride Parade, NYC, 2012. Copyright Laura A. Jacobs