Coming out – the predominant interpersonal communication challenge among Croatian gay, bisexual and queer men?

This paper provides a concise overview of the development of the rights of LGBTQ+ people in Croatia and attempts to clarify the specifics of counselling work with such clients. It also provides an overview of the primary motives and reasons for the need for psychotherapy among gay and bisexual men conducted in the Psychological Counselling Centre of one of the oldest associations for the rights and protection of LGBTQ+ people in Croatia, the Iskorak. Founded in 2002, Iskorak is a civil society association whose mission is to promote and protect the human rights of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia, especially the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons people, as well as to advocate for their equal participation in civil society. As part of its programme objectives, Iskorak also offers psychological counselling. This paper attempts to answer questions regarding the extent to which coming out is perceived as a communication challenge among gay, bisexual, and queer men in Croatia in comparison to other difficulties, and understand how many GBQ+ men have joined the therapeutic process in the past five years. The aim is to create space for a better understanding of GBQ+ clients and promote further empirical research on such topics in Croatia.