Vanessa Porter

Healing from internalised homophobia can feel like trying to untangle a knot you did not tie yourself. It can show up quietly. In the way you speak to yourself. In the way you shrink around certain people. In the shame that appears when you feel joy, attraction, pride or softness. In the part of you that wonders whether you are “too much”, “not enough”, “too queer”, “not queer enough”, or somehow difficult to love. And before we go any further, I want to say this clearly: Internalised...

Coping with family rejection can be one of the most painful experiences an LGBTQIA+ person goes through. Not because we are weak. Not because we are “too sensitive”. Not because we should just get over it. But because family is often where we first learn what safety, belonging and love are meant to feel like. So when that space becomes conditional, cold, judgmental, or unsafe, it can shake something really deep inside us. At Be/Here, we speak to so many people who are coping with family...

I want to start this gently, because this conversation can feel heavy. When we talk about queer people experiencing higher mental health challenges, we have to be really careful not to make it sound like being LGBTQIA+ is the problem. It isn’t. Being queer is not a mental health issue. Being trans is not a mental health issue. Being non-binary, bi, lesbian, gay, pan, ace, intersex, questioning or anywhere under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella is not the thing that makes someone unwell. What affects...