Hey there, Youth MOVErs! Lydia (they/them) and Madeline (she/they) here, working from Massachusettes and Indiana. As LGBTQ+ advocates, this exceptionally vulnerable population has been on our minds through all of this change.
We want to make sure that everyone has the resources they need so we have compiled an awesome list of resources for LGBTQ+ community members and allies. Do you have a favorite resource that you don’t see here? Please feel free to add it to our living resource document.
LGBTQ+ Selected Resources
Implications of COVID on LGBTQ mental health and suicide
COVID-19 has serious implications for the mental health of LGBTQ youth. Although youth and young adults are estimated to have the lowest mortality rates from COVID-19 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020), they are not immune to its consequences, including as it relates to mental health and well-being. Even prior to the pandemic, LGBTQ youth have been found to be at significant increased risk for depression, anxiety, substance use, and suicidality (Russell & Fish, 2016). These risks are even more pronounced among youth who are transgender and/or nonbinary (Price-Feeney, Green, Dorison, 2020). Thus, LGBTQ youth may be particularly vulnerable to negative mental health impacts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The Trevor Project
LGBTQ Cancer Network COVID19 Resources
One hundred and seventy national, state and local LGBTQ+ and allied organizations have joined in a second open letter to health and policy leaders highlighting the importance of measures to prohibit discrimination in COVID-19 treatment and prevention, and clear communication of those measures and policies to better serve the health needs of marginalized communities with histories of discriminatory encounters with the medical and public health systems. The letter also urges medical providers and public health authorities to collect sexual orientation and gender identity data for COVID-19 cases in addition to data on race, ethnicity, age, sex and disability, in order to document, and address the pandemic’s impact on minority communities. The signing organizations also emphasize the urgent need for more robust relief for lower-income individuals and families, and for persons who are dependent on lower-paying jobs in hospitality and other industries which are being decimated by the pandemic.
- National LGBTQ Cancer Network
Gender Nexus support resources
GenderNexus is bringing transgender and nonbinary people together across Indiana to foster a community that is healthy and informed, by increasing access to care in all seven dimensions of wellness.
- Gender Nexus
HRC Issue Brief
As COVID-19 sweeps the world, hundreds of thousands of people have contracted the virus, and every community has been affected. The LGBTQ community in the U.S. — along with many communities around the globe — will face unique challenges.
- Human Rights Campaign
National Center for Transgender Equality What Trans People Need to Know
COVID-19, also referred to as novel coronavirus, is a new virus, and there is still much to learn about the severity of this outbreak. However, we know that transgender people and their families may have a lot of questions about how they can properly face this public health threat.
We want trans people and their families to stay safe—both from the virus and from any unique problems we may face with this new virus.
- National Center for Transgender Equality
NCLR Another Reason to End Youth Incarceration
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has added a new and urgent justification for ending the harmful, ineffective and expensive practice of locking up youth who are in conflict with the law.
Youth in custodial settings are at great risk of exposure to a highly contagious virus. Probation personnel, facility staff, attorneys, youth and others enter and leave these facilities every day, increasing the risk of contagion. Youth detention centers and prisons are notoriously unsanitary environments, and the young people confined in these settings have no means to employ the practices necessary to protect themselves.
- National Center for Lesbian Rights
MA Citizens for Juvenile Justice: Needs of Youth in CW and JJ
There is also a risk of transmission of Covid-19 even if a youth is infected but asymptomatic or with mild symptoms. In South Korea, which has a high rate of testing, 30% of confirmed Covid-19 cases were of young people in their 20’s.
Youth in legal system have high rates of mental health needs, putting them at higher risk of increased stress and anxiety, especially when separated from their families.
Also check out the MA Government Responses from the Department of Children and Families (Child Welfare) and Department of Youth Services (Juvenile Justice)
- Citizens for Juvenile Justice
How Addiction Affects the Transgender Community
With the transition of athlete and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner and the acclaim and attention actress Laverne Cox has earned for Orange Is the New Black and other projects, the United States is more aware of and accepting of transgender people than ever before.
That hasn’t been all good news, however. Traditionalist and confused citizens and politicians have responded by barring them from the military and public restrooms that conform to their gender identity.
- Sunshine Behavioral Health
If you have additional resources you would like to share, comment below or email them to [email protected]
Thank you!
- Lydia & Madeline
