Anti-LGBTQ policies and rhetoric take heavy toll on Arkansans' mental health

Let’s call her Client A. She is a 59-year-old gay woman, privately secure in her sexual orientation but afraid to come out publicly.

“What if being gay becomes illegal … again?” she said, speaking with the Arkansas Times on the condition of anonymity. “How do I cope with something that I have not chosen — and let’s be clear, no one chooses to be gay — How much more stress and shame can I handle, can my community handle?”

In Trump’s America, Client A fears the threat of discrimination.

“It’s a hard place to be in because I want to fight, be seen and be heard, but I am also terrified to fight, be seen and be heard,” she said. “Not just because I am not fully out, but I am also afraid of backlash from the government.”

Client B, meanwhile, is a 60-year-old transgender woman who feels tar