LOCAL AND NATIONAL LGBTQ+ MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES

Previously on this column, I have written about mental health resources and where to find them in general. Considering Lincoln Park has a particularly larger population of students a part of the LBTQ+ community, I thought I’d name some resources for people within that community specifically.

First I would like to provide the names and links to a few youth support groups and centers I have found. I have not personally had any experience with them, and there is not much about what the experience is like for each group, so please consider carefully.

The few that I found in western PA are PRISM, Washington County Gay Straight Alliance, Pittsburgh Equality Center, and Dreams of Hope.

All of the groups and organizations mentioned above either directly are a youth group or provide services to local ones. They all also offer support and resources within their own organization as well.

Next, I’d like to move on to crisis services. I would also like to add that the services that I will mention are usually targeted towards youth (13-25), so there may be a more specialized response to what you’re going through if you are a student.

The ones that I would suggest are: The Trevor Project  and Trans Lifeline. Those are the only two that I could find that offer specialized services in western PA, though there are regular crisis services provided by the state as well.

I would also like to specifically mention Project Silk, which is an organization that provides numerous services of support ranging from housing to on-site therapy and so on. It is specifically targeted towards African American and Latinx transgender people.

While this list is a bit short, I do believe there are more resources that one can find within their individual community. For that, I would suggest looking into national organizations or centers to see if they have chapters near you.

A few I would suggest on national levels are The National Center for Transgender Equality, The Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG, and The National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Also: a lot of the groups that I have linked also have focuses on law, advocacy, and education!

I genuinely encourage you to reach out for help to either these resources or perhaps local ones you already know about if you are struggling. The places and names that I have provided are certainly not the only places you can turn to.

Please stay safe and healthy during these times. If there is a problem or something that I was not aware about with one of the organizations mentioned above, please let me know and I will remove it from the list. I want to provide safe and accurate information.