LGBTQ Affirmations

Do you know what affirmations are? 

We’ve talked about them a bit before on the blog. To refresh, an affirmation is just what it sounds like: it’s a thought you affirm to be true. It’s a helpful tool for self care practices! Just as negative thoughts can take root in our minds and warp how we think about ourselves and the world around us, so can positive thoughts with effort and intention! 

We believe the thoughts that are repeated in our heads, and those thoughts become the lens through which we see and interpret the world. So, if you think negative thoughts about yourself (“I’m stupid” “I’m worthless” “No one wants me around”) those thoughts will start to seem like facts, and you will see every interaction through those negative thoughts. If you replace that with something positive, however, the same thing will happen, but in a way that allows you to see yourself as empowered, worthy, and lovable. While it will take time, affirmations can help to override those negative thoughts you’ve been living with. 

Why should queer people use affirmations?

While there is not one singular childhood or adolesent experience for LGBTQ folks, it’s common for them to have not received the unconditional love that their straight peers may have received from their family, friends and community. Instead, they may have grown up afraid of themselves, feeling shame for who they are, and believing that their ability to be seen as lovable and valuable was contingent on them silencing and denying a core part of themselves. 

Affirmations are a small way in which LGBTQ people can begin to give that love back to themselves, and to begin undoing any of those hateful, negative thoughts that may be affecting how they continue to move through the world. 

It also raises the bar from tolerance to celebration of LGBTQ folks! 

Growing up with the shame of wondering whether those you love will truly love all of you exactly as you are is a hard thing to just snap out of. It can leave queer people wondering if they are allowed to expect that sort of excited, unconditional love. So when it comes time to work on self talk, it can be hard for an LGBTQ person to convince themselves that not only are they allowed to (and should!) ask for what they need, they are also allowed to ask for what they want. 

LGBTQ folks shouldn’t have to settle for feeling just okay about themselves–who they are is special and valuable and should be celebrated, not just tolerated. Affirmations can help change the self talk so queer folks don’t just think they deserrve the bare minimum, but should actively believe in their own joy & how they are deserving of it. 

Starting small with affirmations will help you build up your confidence, and get you going, and eventually, you will be able to use more confident affirmations and mantras!

Affirmations for LGBTQ people to try:

1. It is a joy to get to know the true me. 
2. It is a privilege to get to know the true me. 
3. My life has meaning beyond what others think of me. 
4. The people who deserve to love me will be excited to accept the real me. 
5. I deserve love without conditions. 
6. I will give myself love without conditions. 
7. I am queer enough.
8. Others discomfort with who I am says more about them than it does about me. 
9. I am the expert when it comes to my own experience and identity. 
10. I deserve to take up space. 
11. I deserve to be listened to. 
12. My body is my home and I will treat it with care.
13. I find comfort and freedom in my fluidity. 
14. I don’t need others to understand me to understand myself. 
15. I am glad I’m here. 
16. Others are glad I’m here. 
17. My queerness has empowered me to explore & get to know myself better than I ever have. 
18. I will be patient with myself as I learn to accept my own love without conditions. 

Pivotal Counseling Center is now accepting Medicaid including Blue Cross Community Medicaid, Meridian Medicaid, and Molina Medicaid for outpatient counseling.