Dr. David Mittleman grew up in White Plains, New York, where he experienced little homophobic discrimination as a youth. He knew he was gay by age 5 and he came out to his parents when he was 20.

“It was no big deal,” he said. “Besides, having a straight younger brother should have taken care of the grandkids issue.”

“But it didn’t,” he said. “No kids from the brother.”

Mittleman earned his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his medical degree from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He did his ophthalmology residency at The Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia.

Mittleman was surprised to observe anti-gay discrimination at Johns Hopkins when he attended in the late 80s to early 90s. “If they knew you were gay you could get a horrible residency,” he said. But he attributed it to the times and society’s mores.

Mittleman moved to South Florida in 1992 and has built a highly regarded practice of more than 45 employees offering a wide range of ophthalmologic services. He lives with his partner of five years, Michael Fowler.

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