If you scroll through social media, you may see people talking about the importance of good mental health. We are no stranger here to why that is important, but have you ever thought about what factors make up good or bad mental health? I will start off here by saying that the factors are many, and are often complex.

Have you ever felt shame, guilt, or negative feelings about your LGBTQIA+ identity? If so, you may have experienced internalized homophobia and/or transphobia. If you aren’t familiar with these the terms internalized homophobia and internalized transphobia, let’s start off by defining them before we jump into learning how to overcome them.