Allies talk: Siranush Davtyan, psychologist

I love my profession, and one of the reasons is because I often get to listen to stories, which are directly experienced and told by individuals themselves, and not from neighbors, husbands, wives or someone else.

There was an offer from PINK to conduct personal growth groups for LGBT people. And, unfortunately, I’ve heard many negative stories in my personal growth groups.

Negative stories about how the family rejected their children, how they were kicked out from home, how someone attempted suicide – and not only once but several times, how they happened to end up in heavy emotional states.

I realized that the public has a great influence on us, but especially against LGBT people. It is possible that the personal growth group would have been a bit different if the public attitude was more friendly and positive and if each one of us would bear the responsibility that each word we say can hurt.

This experience had a big influence on me, and I came to the idea which is now one of the most important points of my worldview. That is – I believe in equality and respect.

I truly believe that it is possible to reach, and I believe that you and I, that every one of us can do as I think that our society can reach to that point only if each of us sees and does their contribution.

This material was made possible through the support from the “Allies in Action” program by COC Netherlands and ILGA-Europe.