LGBTQ+ History as Personal Trauma

Insights from the therapy room on why many LGBTQ+ people feel broken despite supportive environments.

My client, let's call him Marco, fidgeted with his sleeve, eyes fixed on the floor. "I know I should feel lucky," he whispered, "with parents who love me and friends who accept me... but I still feel like something's wrong with me." He looked up, "Why am I constantly on edge when nothing bad has happened to me?"

It's a question I've heard many times in my therapy practice.

Here was a young gay man seeking support. He was born into a world far more accepting than mine, yet inexplicably carrying wounds that mirror those of men who survived the AIDS crisis.

However, when Marco described his constant vigilance and inexplicable sense of shame, I wasn't surprised. I was witnessing again what mainstream psychology still largely overlooks.

When Yesterday's Pain Becomes Today's Reality

Early in my career, I spent time documenting stories from AIDS crisis survivors. They spoke of hospitals refusing to …