In today’s American society, there are many social norms that people are expected to live by. Women are the nurturers, caring for and raising children, and also keeping the household. Men are the providers, working long in the day to make sure his family has everything that they may need, they are the protecters, and heads of the household. But with every social norm, there is a group of individuals who challenge those social norms. With every broken social norm, come a great deal of danger, dangers of discrimination, physical violence, and segregation are some of the things that one can expect. One group of individuals that suffers from discrimination is the transgendered community. As defined in Marriam-Webster’s dictionary, a transgendered individual identifies with or expresses a gender identity that differs from the one which corresponds to the person’s sex at birth. As with many areas of social class and standing that is “different”, the transgendered community has had to deal with discrimination, physical violence, and undue stereotypes.
>The customary view among therapists is that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) patients should be helped to improve their self-esteem and to overcome the continuing stigmatization of homosexuality. The American Psychiatric Association,(APA) the American Psychological Association, and other major groups of U.S. medical, educational, and counseling professionals have concluded that there exists, as yet, no scientific evidence that so-called reparative, reorientation, or conversion therapies are effective in changing one's orientation from homosexual to heterosexual ( ). Unfortunately, many counselors and counseling psychologists have received little training with regard to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues. Such therapies are, however, endorsed by a minority of psychiatrists, psychologists, and other professionals and by some religious groups.