Suicide Prevention: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and/or Allied (LGBTQIA+)

State and national resources for the LGTBQIA+ community.

Massachusetts resources

• The MA Transgender Suicide Prevention Working Group, a collaboration of the DPH, the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, Fenway Health, Samaritans and the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention, was formed in the summer of 2008 to work to make communities safer for transgender people. Two groundbreaking brochures have been created — one for providers and one for the community. The community brochure is also available in Spanish and Portuguese. Please contact Greg for more information at [e-mail].
  
  The Working Group created a skill-building video called "Saving Our Lives" that involves scenarios where someone displays warning signs of suicide and shows how their friends react and support them.
• Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Safe Spaces for LGTBQIA+ Youth Program fosters collaborations with state and community agencies to maximize resources and help achieve program goals relative to the safety and support of LGTBQIA+ youth throughout Massachusetts. Safe Spaces funds 10 programs known for their community-based focus on specific racial, cultural and class enclaves of the LGBTQIA+ youth community, which include homeless LGBTQIA+ youth and transgender youth programs. For additional information, please contact L. Jane Ayers at: [e-mail].
• LGTBQIA+ Support/BrAGLY (a program of Health Imperatives) ensures safe and supportive communities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGTBQIA+) youth adults, and their families. They provide training and on-going support for educators and health and human service providers to assist them in implementing welcoming and appropriate programs, policies and services for young people and their families.
• Greater Boston PFLAG provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and works to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity. Through support, education, advocacy and their Safe Schools Project, they work to create an environment of understanding so that all people can live with dignity and respect. They work to create a safe environment for LGTBQIA+ students in our schools and communities.
• The LGTBQIA+ Aging Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender elders have equal access to the life-prolonging benefits, protections, services and institutions that their heterosexual neighbors take for granted. The Aging Project offers LGTBQIA+ bereavement support groups, caregiver support groups, a speakers bureau, meal programs, community education seminars and cultural competency trainings. Through education, advocacy and outreach, they help LGTBQIA+ elders grown older with the dignity and respect they deserve.

National resources

• Trans Lifeline is a free crisis hotline staffed by transgender people for transgender people: [phone] (Please see website for operating hours).
• The Family Acceptance Project™ (FAP) is a community research, intervention, and education initiative, directed by Dr. Caitlin Ryan, that studies the impact of family acceptance and rejection on the health, mental health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQIA+) youth. Results are being used to help strengthen families and to develop training materials and a new family model of wellness and care to help ethnically diverse families support their LGBTQIA+ children.
  • FAP's research shows that families, parents, foster parents, caregivers, and guardians can have a very dramatic impact on their LGBTQIA+ children. It found that family acceptance promotes well-being and helps protect LGBTQIA+ young people against risk, and that family rejection has a serious impact on a gay or transgender young person's risk for health and mental health problems, such as depression, suicide, substance abuse and HIV.
  • FAP article in Spanish: "La incomprensión familiar daña la salud de los hijos homosexuals"
• Suicide Prevention among LGBTQIA+ Youth: A Workshop for Professionals Who Serve Youth is a free workshop kit to help staff in schools, youth-serving organizations, and suicide prevention programs take action to reduce suicidal behavior among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQIA+) youth.
• The Trevor Project is the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQIA+) youth. The Trevor Project operates the only accredited, nationwide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for LGBTQIA+ youth.