Mindfulness for LGBT People, By Payam Ghassemlou MFT, Ph.D.

Research on the brain has brought our attention to the impact of earlier life experiences on the development of the brain. What occurred in the past can condition our brain to have certain expectations about the future which impacts how we experience our present moment. This raises a concern about the growing up experiences of gay children (Gay here refers to our entire LGBT community) who often experience homophobic mistreatment. Examples of common homophobic mistreatment of many gay youngsters include but not limited to being called derogatory names, being bullied, and becoming subject to physical violence.

LGBT Suicide and the Trauma of Growing Up Gay, by guest blogger Payam Ghassemlou MFT, Ph.D.

As a mental health counselor for the past twenty years, I have listened to many painful stories by some of my lesbian and gay patients regarding growing up in a homophobic and heterosexist world. Many of my gay and lesbian patients, including a number of bisexual and transgender individuals, shared with me that as young as age five they felt different. They were unable to articulate why they felt different, and, at the same time, they were too afraid to talk about it. Many reported that they knew this feeling of being different was related to something forbidden. “It felt like keeping a tormenting secret that I could not even understand,” described one of my gay patients. Others shared with me that the feeling of differentness revealed itself in the form of gender nonconformity which could not be kept secret. Therefore, it made them more venerable to homophobic and transgender phobic mistreatment at school and often at home. They had to cope with a daily assault of shame and humiliation without any support.

Coming Out for Gay and Lesbian Iranians, by guest blogger Payam Ghassemlou, MFT, Ph.D.

As a gay Iranian living in Los Angeles, I would like to do my part in bringing attention to the fear, shame and isolation that many gay Iranians (gay primarily refers to the entire LGBT community) experience living in Iran and overseas. Per my dialogue with other gay Iranians, who are still living in Iran or have recently escaped the country, and as noted in several news articles, countless number of gays have been tortured and persecuted by the Iranian government. It has been reported that undercover Iranian law enforcement has entrapment operations that arrest and execute suspected gay people in secret prisons. Despite extreme violence against gay people in Iran, many still risk their lives by trying to exercise their basic human needs to connect and build loving relationships. They are brave people for jeopardizing their lives this way.