October is LGBTQ History Month, which celebrates the achievements and heroes of the community. It was founded in 1994 by Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher to promote LGBTQ studies across the education system and throughout the US. We want to share a few resources and articles focused on mental wellness for the LGBTQ community.

According to NAMI, “LGB adults are more than twice as likely as heterosexual adults to experience a mental health condition. Transgender individuals are nearly four times as likely as cisgender individuals (people whose gender identity corresponds with their birth sex) individuals to experience a mental health condition.”

Some common challenges that the LGBTQ community face are:

Coming out
Rejection
Trauma
Substance use
Homelessness

Suicide
Inadequate mental health care

The Trevor Project conducted a national survey on LGBTQ Youth in 2021 and found these statistics:

42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth
70% of LGBTQ youth stated that their mental health was "poor" most of the time or always during COVID-19.
Half of all LGBTQ youth of color reported discrimination based on their race/ethnicity in the past year, including 67% of Black LGBTQ youth and 60% of Asian/Pacific Islander LGBTQ youth.
Transgender and nonbinary youth who reported having pronouns respected by all of the people they lived with attempted suicide at half the rate of those who did not have their pronouns respected by anyone with whom they lived.

While LGBTQ History Month is coming to an end, Caminar is committed to addressing these community-specific health disparities in an affirming and supportive way.

RESOURCES

LGBTQ Youth Space, A Caminar Program

LGBTQ Wellness, A Caminar Program

SF LGBT Center

GLAAD Resource List

Trevor Project Resources

Sharing pronouns

LGBTQ CRISIS/SUICIDE PREVENTION RESOURCES

Transgender Community