SPECIALTIES: GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, & TRANSGENDERED
POPULATIONS
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Transgendered Populations
Across the globe, individuals enjoy life as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered
individuals. In the midst of discrimination and homophobia, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgendered people thrive and live lives that are healthy, productive, and important.
Growing up as a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered individual is not without its share of
difficulties, however. While in recent years the world has come to realize that being gay,
lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered is not disordered but rather natural, expected, acceptable,
and appropriate, many individuals grew up in places and times that held different views. And
while in many cities the importance of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered
populations is acknowledged and embraced, there are geographical, political, and religious
differences across the globe that continue to dismiss, reject, and limit the freedoms and rights
of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people. For these reasons, being a person who
is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered can be challenging indeed.
Social ills, problems, and prejudices related to what it means to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or
transgendered often trickle down from the societal level to the GLBT person themselves. And
while it is the unaccepting and ignorant society that has the problem (due to its own lack of
understanding and information, among other things), and the society itself that precipitates
and exacerbates these problems (through legislation, hate crimes, discrimination, etc.), it is
unfortunately the gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered individual who is left to experience
and navigate the understandable results of being poorly treated (depression, anxiety, trauma,
stress, internalized homophobia). It is the GLBT individual who is left trying to cope
individually with the problems of society as a whole.
It is therefore integral and essential that those individuals who bravely live being the gay,
lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered people they are gain appropriate, informed, and empathic
support from a psychologist who can understand these issues as a person and professional.
Individuals who identity as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered can benefit from the
support of someone who understands how society's issues are complexly intertwined with
those experienced by the individual.
Being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered is something of which each individual can and
should be proud. And learning to live with pride despite a world that is only beginning to
understand its errors is not only a significant accomplishment, but one that holds great
reward.
DR. ART BOWLER
NYC PSYCHOLOGIST
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138 W. 25th Street #618
(Bet. 6th & 7th) NYC, NY 10001
(646) 823-5080
DrArt@DrArtBowler.com
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