Hi and welcome to the ready to talk podcast! I am your host the thoughtful beast. Today we are going to be listening to a very dear friend of mine about his struggles with loneliness as a gay asian man @EdrianPenguino . It's pride month, which makes this even more important. Please remember that Pride month isn't just about parades and fun. The first pride was a riot, and our LGBTQ+ community still needs our support.  Statistics from www.americanprogress.org: More than 1 in 3 LGBTQ Americans faced discrimination of some kind in the past year, including more than 3 in 5 transgender Americans. To avoid the experience of discrimination, more than half of LGBTQ Americans report hiding a personal relationship, and about one-fifth to one-third have altered other aspects of their personal or work lives. 15 percent of LGBTQ Americans report postponing or avoiding medical treatment due to discrimination, including nearly 3 in 10 transgender individuals. Statistics from www.stonewall.org.uk Only half of lesbian, gay and bi people (46 per cent) and trans people (47 per cent) feel able to be open about their sexual orientation or gender identity to everyone in their family.  One in five LGBT people have experienced a hate crime or incident because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity in the last 12 months Four in five LGBT people who have experienced a hate crime or incident didn’t report it to the police We need to be able to really listen and see our LGBTQ+ communities as a whole. That means their joys and their struggles.  Find Edrian https://www.instagram.com/edrianpenguino/ https://www.youtube.com/c/EdrianPangilinan Find Me:  https://thethoughtfulbeast.com/ https://thethoughtfulbeast.com/product/ggaffirmations/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ready-to-talk/support