Discrimination based on sexual orientation

Discrimination based on socio-economic status

Family history of stigma due to race, caste, class, or disability

Parental immigration stress (undocumented status, fear of deportation)

Systemic discrimination of the family based on ethnicity, background, religion

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        🚫&nbsp; What it means to have grown up experiencing discrimination based on sexual orientation
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        <strong>
Did you grow up thinking that who you love or how you express your identity was wrong, dangerous, or shameful?</strong>
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        Does this sound familiar?
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        💎 As a schoolkid, you learned to embrace being different and outside the group rather than trying to fit in and risk more rejection.<br><br>
        💎 Back then, you developed an almost sixth sense for social dynamics, noticing tiny shifts in tone or expression that signaled you were about to be excluded or mocked.<br><br>
        💎 To protect yourself, you've learned to hide parts of your identity or change how you speak and act in different settings—wearing different masks for different worlds.
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        You may have developed a sixth sense for detecting rejection or prejudice, learning to hide parts of your identity or change how you speak and act in different settings—wearing different masks for different worlds. Your survival depended on reading social dynamics and knowing instantly whether you were welcome or needed to protect yourself from potential harm.
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        You may have found safety in belonging to communities that embraced being different from the mainstream, but this protective strategy sometimes means avoiding mainstream spaces entirely or exhausting yourself by pretending to fit in. The belief that only people like you could truly love and accept you became both sanctuary and limitation, shrinking your world to smaller circles of perceived safety.
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        💔&nbsp; The Core Wound
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        "You learned that your authentic self is unacceptable to much of the world, that love comes with conditions about who you can be, and that safety requires constant vigilance about when and where you can be genuinely yourself."
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Tools & Learning

🚫6 Ways Discrimination Based On Sexual Orientation Trauma Affects Your Relationships

Drawn to the Margins

Reading Between the Lines

The Advocate

The Outsider

The Performer

The Social Radar