Ridgefield Recovery | The 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that 18.7 million people age 18 or older had a substance use disorder in the United States. Furthermore, people who identify as gay or lesbian are more than twice as likely than those who identify as heterosexual to have a severe alcohol or tobacco use disorder.

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program | Since 1991, The Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program (ASAT) of Adolescent Counseling Services has been providing professional assessment and outpatient treatment services specifically designed for youth struggling with substance abuse and/or addiction. ASAT is a harm reduction outpatient treatment program for adolescents that addresses the underlying causes of use/abuse, along with encouraging abstinence and healthy lifestyles. To schedule an appointment, please contact 650.424.0852 x108, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Books for young readers

• It’s Okay to Be Different by Todd Parr
• And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

Middle-grade recommendations

• George by Alex Gino
• Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky
• Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle
• Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #2: The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan (2016 Stonewall Book Award)
• The House of Hades by Rick Riordan
• Drama by Raina Telgemeier

Books for older readers

• Every Day by David Levithan
• Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender
• One True Way by Shannon Hitchcock
• Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg
• Vanilla by Billy Merrell
• A Very, Very Bad Thing by Jeffery Self
• And She Was by Jessica Verdi
• The Porcupine of Truth by Bill Konigsberg

Book lists

• 22 Inspiring LBGTQIA+ Books created by Scholastic editors
• The Rainbow Book List created by the Rainbow Book List Committee of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table of the American Library Association
• Evanston Public Library Pride is Never On Pause: A Reading and Watching List Celebrating LGBTQIA+ for All Ages!

Diversity book finders

• Diverse BookFinder offers a comprehensive collection of children’s picture books featuring Black and Indigenous Peoples and People of Color (BIPOC).
• Embrace Race also has resources for diverse children’s books

StopBullying.gov | Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) youth and those perceived as LGBTQ are at an increased risk of being bullied. Learn how to identify bullying and how to stand up to it safely.

Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits | Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits (BAAITS) exists to restore and recover the role of Two-Spirit people within the American Indian/First Nations community by creating a forum for the spiritual, cultural and artistic expression of Two-Spirit people.

Which faith-based organizations on the Coast are affirming and welcoming of LGBTQ people?

CoastPride invites you to ask whether your congregation is both affirming and welcoming of our LGBTQ neighbors and to share this information with us so that we may list all welcoming congregations here:

• Coastside Jewish Community
• Community United Methodist Church
• Holy Family Episcopal Church
• Lutheran Church
• Unitarian Universalist Coastside Community

What is the history of the Welcoming Faith-based Movement?

There are several Christian denominations that have been engaged in an ongoing effort to create an LGBTQ Welcoming Congregations Movement for over 20 years. In researching the process, they have found several important links between pro-LGBTQ advocacy and religious community vitality. Jane Heckles (1997) found that, during 11 periods from 1981-1995, churches that took on an Open and Affirming (ONA) process experienced increases in memberships. Open and Affirming is the designation for congregations, campus ministries, and other bodies in the United Church of Christ which make public statements of welcome into their full life and ministry to persons of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions.

The Welcoming Synagogues Project was partially developed to conduct a never before assessment of Jewish denominations around LGBT inclusion. As part of the research phase, which began the Welcoming Synagogues Project, every synagogue in the country across denominations (over 3000 synagogues in North America) were surveyed. Of the 760 rabbis who responded, 41% indicated that when their congregations pro-actively reached out to gay and lesbian Jews, they gained members, and only 2% reported losing members (Aviv, Cohen, & Veinstein, 2009)

The research shows that congregations that engage in a Welcoming process actually become involved in and hold more progressive attitudes toward a wider breadth of social justice issues (Schlager, 2004). In fact, in To Do Justice, Voelkel found that over half of the pastors of Welcoming congregations felt that their work on LGBT issues made the congregation more active regarding other social justice issues, such as universal human rights, homelessness, immigration, economic justice, racial justice, environmental justice, HIV/AIDS, health care, hunger, women’s rights, disability rights, and hate crimes. That research shows that these same congregations, while attracting new LGBT members, also attract younger heterosexuals and their families and others who want to support an “extravagantly” welcoming congregation.

1 Open and Affirming is the designation for congregations, campus ministries, and other bodies in the United Church of Christ which make public statements of welcome into their full life and ministry to persons of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. See http://www.ucccoalition.org/programs/ONA/ for more information.

Preparing for the cost of gender transition

Fiscal Tiger | Fiscal Tiger is an online personal finance resource created by a collective of finance authors and researchers. We recognize the distinct financial challenges that people in the transgender community face as they begin their gender transition, so we created a guide that aims to provide readers with detailed information to help them understand the medical and legal costs associated with gender transition.

Why Is LGBTQ Health Important?

Eliminating LGBT health disparities and enhancing efforts to improve LGBTQ health are necessary to ensure that LGBT individuals can lead long, healthy lives. Efforts to improve LGBTQ health include:

• Collecting Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) data in health-related surveys and health records in order to identify LGBT health disparities
• Appropriately inquiring about and being supportive of a patient's sexual orientation and gender identity to enhance the patient-provider interaction and regular use of care
• Providing medical students with training to increase provision of culturally competent care
• Implementing antibullying policies in schools
• Providing supportive social services to reduce suicide and homelessness among youth
• Curbing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted infections (STIs) with interventions that work

What is a Health Disparity?

A health disparity is a health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, or environmental disadvantage.

Where Can I Learn More About LGBT Health Disparities?

Healthy People 2020 – Focus LGBTQ | The Office of Disease Prevention and Health conducts a Healthy People initiative every decade.

Fenway Institute | The Fenway Institute is an interdisciplinary center for research, training, education, and policy development, focusing on national and international health issues. Our mission is to ensure access to quality, culturally competent medical and mental health care for traditionally underserved communities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and those affected by HIV/AIDS.

First Do No Harm – Reducing Disparities for LGBTQ CA Populations (2014) | In collaboration with Equality California Institute and Mental Health America of Northern California, the Strategic Planning Workgroup (SPW) of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQ) Reducing Disparities Project was charged by the former California Department of Mental Health (DMH) to seek disparities across the state of California.

LGBTQ Mental Health Brief (HRC)

Where Can I Find General Health Services?

San Mateo County Coastside Clinics

Where Can I Find Health Resources Specific to LGBTQ People?

Center of Excellence for Transgender Health | Resources on routine care, cultural competency, HIV prevention, mental health, and policies. Some of their resources include:

• T-SISTA Toolkit – Adaptation manual and implementation tools for a prevention intervention for trans women of color.
• Counting Trans Populations – Data collection recommendations
• Assessing Progress, Advancing Excellence: Serving Transgender People in California – Examines current issues and summarizes best practices for transgender HIV prevention.
• Links to trans resources, guidelines, best practices, online training

Jim Collins Foundation |  Jim Collins was an avid trans ally, a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and a clinical instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. The Jim Collins Foundation funds gender-affirming surgeries for transgender people.

National LGBT Health Education Center | Provides educational programs, resources, and consultation to health care organizations with the goal of optimizing quality, cost-effective health care for LGBT people. The Education Center is a part of The Fenway Institute, the research, training, and health policy division of Fenway Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center, and one of the world’s largest LGBT-focused health centers. Some important publications:

• The Fenway Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health
• Do Ask, Do Tell: High Levels of Acceptability by Patients of Routine Collection of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data
• Affirmative Care for Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming People: Best Practices for Front-line Health Care Staff
• Improving the Health Care of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) People: Understanding and Eliminating Health Disparities
• Why gather data on sexual orientation and gender identity in clinical settings
• Study Finds Racial, Ethnic Disparities in Incarceration of Trans Women
• How to gather data on sexual orientation and gender identity in clinical settings
• Do Ask, Do Tell: Talking to your provider about being LGBT

WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health) | International multidisciplinary association that publishes the Standards of Care and Ethical Guidelines, about psychological, medical and surgical treatment.

Why is knowledge About LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS Important?

• Gay and bisexual men remain disproportionately at risk for HIV. In 2016, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that men who have sex with men accounted for two-thirds of new HIV diagnoses.
• Over 70% of 41,000 HIV cases (CA Dept of Pub. Health, 2011) are LGBTQ
• Latino men are almost twice as likely to contract HIV as white men, and black men were more than three times as likely (Center for Disease Control, 2016)

Where can I learn more?

American Psychological Association

California Department of Public Health Office of Aids

Center for Disease Control and Prevention

The Center for HIV Law Policy in California

What Can I Take to Prevent HIV?

• PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) and PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis)
• PrEP and PEP are covered by most private insurance programs, as well as by Medicare, Medi-Cal, and Covered California health plans

Where can I learn more and receive treatment and other services?

San Mateo County Department of Public Health | HIV Positive Services

AIDS Program Prevention | Edison Clinic, San Mateo

Housing Assistance for People Living with AIDS

Hotlines

The Trevor Project | Counseling for young people in distress, via phone or online chat. 24-hour hotline: (866) 488-7386

Transgender Suicide Prevention Lifeline or Trans Life Line | Run by transgender volunteers. 24-hour hotline (877) 565-8860

Suicide Prevention Lifeline | Hotline, chatline, and LGBTQ support services. 24-hour hotline. Dial 988 or (800) 273-8255

Peer Listening Line | Project of Fenway Health Anonymous and confidential help line for accessing support from other LGBTQ youth (not specific to suicide) (800) 399-PEER

Youth and families

California’s Safe Schools Coalition | Resources for understanding school safety for transgender students

Family Acceptance Project (San Francisco State University) | A research, intervention, education and policy initiative that works to prevent health and mental health risks for LGBT children and youth, including suicide, homelessness and HIV—in the context of their families, cultures and faith communities.

Trans Justice Project | Support grassroots, trans justice groups run by and for trans people.

Trans Youth Equality Foundation | Education, advocacy and support for transgender youths and their families.

It Gets Better Project | Collects videos geared toward LGBT youth, and BetterLegal uses the video library to support the efforts of legal services organizations.

Campus Pride | A national student-led organization that offers the Campus Pride Index, a list of L.G.B.T.-friendly colleges and universities.

PFLAG | A national organization for the families, friends and allies of L.G.B.T.Q. people, with many local chapters.

Gender Spectrum | A community for families, schools, professionals and organizations that fosters gender-sensitive environments for all young people.

Live Out Loud | Connects transgender high school students with transgender professionals in their community.

GLSEN: Transgender Student Rights | Provides resources, legal support and a student network for creating safe schools.

GLAAD | Uses media to raise awareness to (1) end HIV/AIDS; (2) accelerate LGBTQ acceptance; (3) advance meaningful representation of LGBTQ Latinx people and (4) promote anti-bullying of LGBTQ youth through spirit day.

GSA Gay Straight Alliance Network | provides resources to start and support existing GSAs in schools.

Law and Advocacy

Equality California | A statewide advocacy group that is the largest LGBTQ organization in the US

The National Center for Transgender Equality | A national advocacy group with a legal document service center.

The National Lesbian Rights Task Force

Transgender Law Center | A national trans-led organization advocating self-determination for all people. Grounded in legal expertise and committed to racial justice. Some important publications include:

• An Ally’s Guide to Talking About Nondiscrimination Protections for LGBT People
• Equality Map provides a snapshot of laws protecting LGBTQ
• Transgender Law 101
• Guidelines for Creating Policies for Transgender Children in Recreational Sports
• Beyond the Binary: A Tool-Kit for Gender Identity Activism in Schools
• Ten Tips for Working with Transgender Patients
• Quick Steps You Can Take to Move Your School Beyond the Binary

Transgender Law and Policy Institute | A national advocacy group

Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund | Offers legal services, test-case litigation and public education.

UNICEF

• Position Paper: Sexual Identification and Gender Identity (November 2014)
• Role of the UN in Combatting Discrimination and Violence Against LGBTQ and Intersex People (June 2018)

American Civil Liberties Union | Updated information about transgender rights.

Human Rights Campaign | A national LGBT advocacy organization.

CenterLink | National coalition of LGBT community centers.

The National LGBTQ Task Force | Trains activists to address a range of issues.

Transgender Law Center | Provides information about relevant laws.

Lambda Legal | A national LGBT advocacy organization

National Center for Lesbian Rights | transgender law

National Center for Transgender Equality

• Know Your Rights: Airports, Employment, Healthcare, Housing and Homeless Shelters, Immigration, Medicare, Military, Passports, Public Accommodations, Schools, Social Security, and Survivors of Violence
• Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (2011)

LGBTQ people of color

Black Trans Men | Provides resources and advocacy, including scholarships.

Trans Women of Color Collective | A national social-justice organizing group.

Honor 41 | A national Latino LGBTQ online community.

Lambda Legal | Resources and Support for Transgender Immigrants

National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance | Focuses on grass-roots organizing and leadership development.

Veterans

American Military Partner Association | Resource and support network for the partners, spouses, families and allies of LGBT service members and veterans.

Palm Center | Sponsors research about transgender people in the military.

Transgender American Veteran’s Association | Advocacy, employment and benefits for open trans service members, spouses and family.

Employment

Pride@Work | Builds ties between organized labor and the LGBT community.

Out and Equal | Workplace-equality advocates for LGBT employees.

Families and allies

Give a Damn Campaign | Resources and information about LGBT equality.

Allyship, Gender Equity Resource Center | Offers resources on a range of issues.

Athlete Ally | Builds solidarity with the LGBT community in athletics.

TransYouth Family Allies | Resources for parents, educators, health care practitioners and youths.

CORA | Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse (CORA) is the only agency in San Mateo County solely dedicated to helping those affected by intimate partner abuse. From counseling, to emergency housing, to legal assistance, our services are designed to provide safety, support, and healing. 24-hour hotline 800.300.1080

Aging

Transgender older adults face profound challenges and experience striking disparities in areas such as quality of health and access to health care services, mental health care, employment, housing and other areas of livelihood. Research reveals that many transgender elders routinely encounter both a health care system and an aging network that are ill-prepared to provide culturally competent care and services and create residential environments that affirm the gender identities and expressions of transgender older people. Residential care facilities must have transgender cultural competency training for administrators in senior care facilities. (See Cal. Health and Safety Code Section1562.3). Licensed health professionals in nursing homes and senior care facilities must receive transgender training. (See Cal. Health and Safety Code Section 1257.5.) Transgender seniors must receive adequate services and protections from discrimination in state-funded programs. All local needs assessment and area plans must consider the unique needs of transgender seniors. (See Cal. Welfare and Institutions Code Sections 9103 and 9103.1.)

Criminal justice

Some transgender people engage in sex work, drug sales or other aspects of the street economy in order to survive. This puts them at a higher risk of arrest and imprisonment. Some transgender people have also been arrested simply because they are transgender because of prejudice on the part of a police officer who believes that all transgender people are engaged in illegal work. Current California laws protect people from discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression. California non-discrimination laws, including hate crimes, define "gender" to mean sex including a person’s gender identity and gender expression. (See Cal. Penal Code Sections 422.55(a)(2) and 422.56(c).)

In a criminal case, a party can request a jury instruction that defines bias: inclusive of bias against the victim based upon gender identity or sexual orientation, thereby judicially limiting a defense strategy, known as the gay panic defense, to neutralize jurors’ transgender bias and reduce a defendant’s culpability for killing a gender-nonconforming individual. Prosecutors must receive training materials explaining how to prevent bias, including transgender bias, from affecting the outcome of a trial. (See The Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act and Cal. Penal Code Section 1127h.)

Employment

Discrimination is a major contributor to the tremendously high rates of unemployment and underemployment faced by transgender people. United States Attorney General Holder announced in December 2014 that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will take the position in litigation that the protection of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 extends to claims of discrimination based on an individual’s gender identity, including transgender status. It is unlawful for an employer to refuse to hire, accept for a training program, or employ a person, or to discharge a person from employment, or to discriminate against a person in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of the person’s gender identity or gender expression. (See Cal. Gov’t. Code Sections 12940(a) and 12926(p).)

Healthcare

Like most people, transgender and gender non-conforming people have great difficulty securing affordable, comprehensive health care. The situation is exacerbated by systemic discrimination and health care providers’ lack of basic cultural competency on transgender issues. It is unlawful for an insurance or health care service plan to refuse to enter into any contract, or to cancel or decline to renew or reinstate any contract, because of a person’s gender identity. The California Department of Managed Health Care has ordered California’s health plans to remove blanket exclusions of coverage based on gender identity or gender expression in compliance with the California Insurance Gender Nondiscrimination Act, passed in 2005. (An insurer is not required to offer a policy that includes coverage for hormone replacement therapy or transition-related surgery. It is currently permissible for an insurance plan to contain exclusions for certain medical conditions, and some insurers consider being transgender a medical condition.) This law does mean, however, that when an insurer offers a plan to a transgender person, the terms of the plan must apply equally to transgender and non-transgender people. (See Cal. Health and Safety Code Section 1365.5(a).)

Housing

Discrimination in housing for transgender and gender non-conforming people often lead to negative housing impacts in other critical areas of life such as employment, health care and criminal justice and, moreover, safety nets meant to help people in a housing crisis often fail transgender people. Federal and state laws prohibit discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming people. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development clarified that the Fair Housing Act (FHA)’s prohibition against “gender discrimination” included protection for transgender people. The FHA is the federal law that prohibits discrimination in federally funded housing properties, as well as with regard to federally funded housing loans. It is unlawful for the owner of any housing accommodation to discriminate against or harass any person because of gender identity. (See Cal. Gov’t. Code Section 12955(a).)

Legal Documents for Transgender Individuals

In order to live safe, full, and authentic lives, it is essential that transgender people have access to identity documents, such as photo ID, that accurately reflect their current name, gender identity, and gender expression. The State Registrar must issue a new birth certificate reflecting the person's correct sex and any change in name without a court order for any person born in California who submits a physician’s affidavit stating that the person has undergone clinically appropriate treatment for the purpose of gender transition. (See Cal. Health and Safety Code Sections 103426 and 103430.)

Public Accommodations

Any place that provides goods and services to the general public is considered a public accommodation. This includes restaurants, grocery stores, health clinics, hospitals, health clubs, homeless shelters and most social services. Transgender and gender nonconforming people often experience discrimination when accessing public accommodations including being refused service, being treated differently than their non-transgender peers, or being victims to harmful verbal and physical violence when simply trying to carry out their daily activities. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigates the reports of discrimination based on gender identity, can arrange mediation, sue an employer, or give the person making the report permission to bring a lawsuit. The EEOC found that "discrimination against a transgender individual because that person is transgender is . . . discrimination ‘based on . . . sex,' and . . . violates Title VII." All persons regardless of gender identity are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever. (See Cal. Civ. Code Section 51(b).)

Young People

Young people, who are perceived as gender nonconforming or who identify as trans or gender queer, regularly face harassment and abuse at school, in group homes, and other settings. In California, they have a right to a safe, welcoming place to learn free of discrimination. A student has the right to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities (lockers and restrooms) consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records. (See Cal. Education Code Sections 220, 221.5, 235, 260, 51500, 66251, and 66270.) The National Collegiate Athletic Association, which organizes competitive sports at over 1,000 colleges and universities, allows transgender student-athletes to participate in sex-segregated sports consistent with their gender identity.

Resources

ACLU | LGBTQ Rights

California’s Safe Schools Coalition | Understanding School Safety for Transgender Students and Safe Schools Resource Guide

Campus Pride's Trans Policy Clearinghouse

Center of Excellence for Transgender Health | part of UCSF

• Routine Care, Cultural Competency, HIV Prevention, Mental Health, Policies
• Highlighted Resources
  • T-SISTA Toolkit | Adaptation manual and implementation tools for a prevention intervention for trans women of color.
  • Counting Trans Populations | Data collection recommendations
  • Assessing Progress, Advancing Excellence: Serving Transgender People in California | Examines current issues and summarizes best practices for transgender HIV prevention.
  • Links to trans resources, guidelines, best practices, online training

courts.ca.gov | Gender Change

Equality California | Transgender Rights

Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network | Transgender Rights

Gay Straight Alliance Network publications

GLAAD Transgender Media Project

International Foundation for Gender Education

Jim Collins Foundation | Jim Collins was an avid trans ally, a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and a clinical instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. The Jim Collins Foundation funds gender-affirming surgeries for transgender people who need surgery to live a healthy and happy life, but cannot afford the surgery.

Lambda Legal | Transgender rights

National Center for Lesbian Rights | Lesbian and transgender law

National Center for Transgender Equality

• Know Your Rights: Airports, Employment, Healthcare, Housing and Homeless Shelters, Immigration, Medicare, Military, Passports, Public Accommodations, Schools, Social Security, and Survivors of Violence
• Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (2011)

National LGBT Health Education Center | part of the Fenway Institute

• The Fenway Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health
• Do Ask, Do Tell: High Levels of Acceptability by Patients of Routine Collection of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data
• Affirmative Care for Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming People: Best Practices for Front-line Health Care Staff
• Improving the Health Care of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) People: Understanding and Eliminating Health Disparities
• Why gather data on sexual orientation and gender identity in clinical settings
• Study Finds Racial, Ethnic Disparities in Incarceration of Trans Women
• How to gather data on sexual orientation and gender identity in clinical settings
• Do Ask, Do Tell: Talking to your provider about being LGBT

PFLAG | Transgender

Susan’s Place Transgender Resources | News and an online forum.

SageUSA | Transgender Elders

TransGuys | An Internet magazine for transgender men.

Transgender Law Center | Highlights from Website

• Updating names and gender markers on federal identity documents
• An Ally's Guide to Talking About Nondiscrimination Protections for LGBT People
• Equality Map provides a snapshot of laws protecting LGBTQ
• Transgender Law 101
• Guidelines for Creating Policies for Transgender Children in Recreational Sports
• Beyond the Binary: A Tool-Kit for Gender Identity Activism in Schools
• Ten Tips for Working with Transgender Patients
• Quick Steps You Can Take to Move Your School Beyond the Binary

Transgender Law and Policy Institute

Transgender Legal | Defense and Education Fund (transgenderlegal.org)

Trans Academics | archived site, but has active listserv/gender identity resources for academia

Trans Athlete Resources

Trans Justice Funding Project

Trans Life Line 

Trans Women of Color Collective (twocc.us)

UNICEF |  Position Paper: Sexual Identification and Gender Identity (November 2014)

World Professional Association for Transgender Health (wpath.org)

Transgender youth

Assembly Bill 2119, authored by gay Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego), and adopted in 2018, requires transgender foster youth receive health care services consistent with their gender identity. It includes interventions to align a patient’s physical appearance with the patient’s gender identity and interventions to alleviate symptoms of gender dysphoria. The California Department of Social Services, in consultation with the California Department of Healthcare Services, is required to develop guidelines by January 1, 2020 on how to identify, coordinate, and support foster youth who wish to access gender-affirming health care.

Assembly Bill 711, authored by Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) and adopted in 2019, ensures that transgender students can obtain their school records and diplomas with their preferred name and gender pronoun.

Assembly Bill 493, authored by Assemblyman Gloria (D-San Diego), the Safe and Supportive Schools Act of 2019, calls on public schools to provide training on LGBT cultural competency and how to address LGBT-based bullying to teachers and other certificated staff members. While the bill takes effect in 2020, it gives the California Department of Education, overseen by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, until July 1, 2021 to develop and update its resources and training materials so they incorporate the LGBT topics. At the request of Governor Gavin Newsom, lawmakers removed from the bill the requirement that the training be mandatory as it was estimated to cost the state’s 343 school districts a combined $3.25 million. In exchange, he promised to work with LGBT lawmakers and advocates on providing funding for school districts to train their teachers in his 2020 budget proposal.

Parental rights of LGBT people

Senate Bill 495, authored by Senator Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles), codifies into state law that a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity can’t be used to disqualify them as being an adoptive parent or legal guardian of a child.

AB 2684, the LGBTQ Family Law Modernization Act of 2018 authored by Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), takes effect January 1, 2020. It ensures that the parentage provisions of the state Family Code treat same-sex parents equally.

Assembly Bill 785, the Uniform Parentage Act Updates, authored by Assemblyman Bloom (D-Santa Monica), will assist LGBT couples and others who use gamete banks when wanting to have children. It requires gamete banks receiving donors’ gametes to maintain the contact information of the gamete bank from which the samples were received. The measure also clarifies health code regulations to include oocyte and embryo donors.

LGBTQ and people-of-color-owned businesses

Assembly Bill 962, co-authored by Assemblywoman Autumn Burke (D-Inglewood) and Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), requires California hospitals to publicly disclose how much they are contracting with LGBT-owned businesses. The reports must also include businesses owned by women, minorities, and other disadvantaged groups.

Senate Bill 534, authored by Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), requires the state’s $310 billion insurance industry biennially report how much it is contracting with businesses owned by women, people of color, veterans, and LGBT individuals. Gay Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara co-sponsored the legislation, as it revives the state agency’s Insurance Diversity Initiative, which aims to see insurers have diverse suppliers and governing boards, and expands its scope to include LGBT- and veteran-owned businesses.

California’s long experience with the utility companies shows that simply requiring firms to report their levels of contracting with businesses owned by people of color, women, veterans and LGBT people leads to big increases in contracting with diverse businesses.

HIV prevention

Senate Bill 159, authored by Gloria and gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), authorizes pharmacies to furnish at least 30 days worth, and up to 60 days, of pre-exposure prophylaxis pills that have proved to be effective at preventing the transmission of HIV. Local pharmacies are required to provide a two-month supply of an HIV prevention medicine known as PrEP to customers without having a prescription from their primary care doctor.

Pharmacies will also be able to supply customers with a 28-day regimen of drugs for PEP, or post-exposure prophylaxis, that has proved to be effective at keeping someone HIV-negative if they have been exposed to HIV through sex.

The legislation also prohibits insurance companies from requiring patients to obtain prior authorization before using their insurance benefits to obtain PrEP or PEP from a pharmacy.

The Board of Pharmacy has until July 1, 2020 to adopt the emergency regulations needed in order for SB 159 to be implemented.

Outlet | Founded in 1997, the Outlet program of Adolescent Counseling Services empowers Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQ+) youth and builds safe and accepting communities through support groups, educational workshops, consultations, and advocacy. Outlet program staff provide a safe environment that is confidential, inclusive, and non-judgmental. Outlet envisions a world that embraces, empowers, and celebrates LGBTQ+ youth. For more information, please contact 650.424.0852 x107, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

LGBTQ Mental Health Brief | HRC

Local Therapists

Briana Carr, Psy.D | Dr. Carr has worked with a diverse range of clients in regard to age, ethnicity, culture, gender identity, sexual orientation and religion/spirituality on a wide spectrum of mental health concerns including depression, anxiety, trauma, parent-child/family issues and adjustment to life changes. She has additional training in LGBTQ mental health issues.

Caroline Morton, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist | Ms. Morton’s areas of expertise include mood disorders, life transitions, relationships, parenting/co-parenting, trauma and grief/loss, with an approach guided by Humanistic Existential principals. Her focus is strength-based, with an emphasis on the body-mind connection, and interventions are eclectic and tailored to the needs of my clients

Ms. Morton is bilingual, speaking Spanish and English.

What are Some Protections for Older LGBTQ Adults?

• Recognizing the Needs of LGBTQ Older Adults – AB 2719 (2018) | This bill ensures that LGBTQ older adults are recognized as a population in need of special attention, and that they can access the services and support they need to maintain their health and live their lives with dignity.
• Cultural Competency Training for Professional Fiduciaries – AB 1247 (2018) | Private professional fiduciaries provide critical services to older adults and people with disabilities, including daily care, housing and medical needs, and financial management services ranging from basic bill payments to estate and investment management. This bill gives professional fiduciaries the training they need to provide culturally competent services for their LGBTQ clients.

What are some of the identified needs of older LGBTQ adults?

• LGBT older adults experience health disparities across four general areas: access to health care, HIV/AIDS, mental health, and chronic physical conditions.
• Extra taxation on retiree health insurance benefits means that many LGBT elders simply cannot afford to receive retiree health insurance. This is especially problematic given that LGBT older adults face a wide range of physical health disparities that are generally unaddressed by governments or health care providers.
• Many LGBT older adults deal with poverty and with reduced economic security. For LGBT older adults, a lifetime of employment discrimination and other factors contributes to disproportionately high poverty rates. One study found that same-sex elder couples face higher poverty rates than their heterosexual peers; 9.1% and 4.9% among elder lesbian and gay couples, respectively, in contrast to 4.6% among elder heterosexual couples.
• LGBT older people deal with significant health disparities across areas related to physical and mental health, including high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, HIV/AIDS and more—as well as with serious mental health concerns. According to a 2011 national health study, more than half of the respondents have been told by a doctor that they have depression; 39 percent have seriously thought of suicide; and 53 percent feel isolated from others.
• Social isolation affects many LGBT older people around the country as they deal with stigma and discrimination in their daily lives and in our country's aging system. The primary risk factors for social isolation affect LGBT older adults in unique and disproportionate ways. For example, one primary risk factor is living alone. LGBT older people are twice as likely to live alone, twice as likely to be single, and 3-4 times less likely to have children—and many are estranged from their biological families.
• Many mainstream aging providers do not account for the unique realities and needs of LGBT older adults, leaving them at risk for isolation, neglect and discrimination. A recent national survey of LGBT older adults in long-term care facilities found that only 22% of respondents felt they could be open about their LGBT identities with facility staff, 89% predicted that staff would discriminate based on their sexual orientations and/or gender identities, and 43% reported instances of mistreatment.
• LGBT-inclusive aging services help offset these problems by providing spaces for LGBT elders to find community and support—but they are sparse and underfunded. A 2010 nationwide survey of 320 area and state units on aging found that less than 8 percent offered services targeted to LGBT older adults and only 12 percent reported outreach efforts to this population.

Sources: One of eleven issue briefs based on the SAGE/MAP report Improving the Lives of LGBT Older Adults. See more at: http://www.lgbtagingcenter.org/resources/resource.cfm?r=24#sthash.lHeSjl4a.dpuf; http://sageusa.org/issues/general.cfm#sthash.DAYUxoxF.dpuf; https://www.sageusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/sageusa-the-facts-on-lgbt-aging.pdf

What are some resources for older LGBTQ adults?

• National Resource Center on LGBT Aging 
• SAGE | The country’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older people. See all their resources including their publications at National Resource Center on LGBTQ Aging – Inclusive Services for LGBTQ Aging Adults: A Practical Guide to Creating Welcoming Agencies
• Lavender Seniors of the East Bay

• Sharing and Caring for lesbians 55+ | Fridays, 3:00 – 4:00 pm.
  

  Meet interesting people like yourself. Build community and make new friends. Understanding and empathy to provide comfort when life gets challenging.

  These gatherings are guided by trained facilitator Roberta Gonzales-Gregg, Outlook Video LGBTQ+ Magazine talk show host and producer. All you need is a computer, tablet or smartphone. Zoom training is provided. For the Zoom link, please rsvp to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Why have LGBTQ resources for schools?

Schools are on the front line of providing a safety net against the effects of discrimination and lack of acceptance for the LGBTQ community, which can result in higher dropout rates, lower economic success, higher rates of homelessness, higher rates of substance abuse and suicide, and all the disparities in health and well-being that LGBTQ people face. If LGBTQ students have support in school, their likelihood of overcoming these disparities and succeeding later in life increases significantly.

What resources are available for LGBTQ History Month in October?

Since 1994, LGBT History Month has been raising awareness of the role of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in American history. By increasing visibility, we build community and underscore the civil rights that must be safeguarded for everyone and highlight the contributions of LGBTQ people and allies.

• Equality Forum coordinates LGBTQ History Month, produces documentary films, undertakes high-impact initiatives and presents the largest annual national and international LGBT civil rights summit. National LGBTQ History Month celebrates the achievements of 31 lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender icons. Each day in October, a new LGBT Icon is featured with a video, bio, bibliography, downloadable images and other resources.
• Los Angeles Unified School District | LGBTQ History
• GLSEN | LGBTQ History
• GLSEN | LGBTQ History Timeline

What resources are available for OUT for Safe Schools Campaign, which coincides with Spirit Day in October?

Spirit Day is a means of speaking out against LGBTQ bullying and standing with LGBTQ youth, who disproportionately face bullying and harassment because of their identities. Pledging to go purple on Spirit Day is a way for everyone to visibly show solidarity with LGBTQ youth.

• GLAAD Spirit Day
• Understanding School Safety for Transgender Students
• 2018 OUT for safe schools K–12 reading list

What professional-development resources are available?

Suicide Prevention Training for Teachers and School Staff – AB 2639 (2018):

• 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 LGBT youth.
• Trevor Project

Anti-Bullying Training for Teachers and School Staff – AB 2291 (2018):

• Stopbullying.gov
• GLSEN Bullying Prevention

LGBTQ Cultural Competency Training for Teachers and School Staff – AB 2153 (vetoed by Gov. 2018):

• GLSEN
• Outlet
• Gender Spectrum

Why is it important to collect SOGIE (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression) data?

LGBTQ communities face disproportionately high rates of poverty, suicide, homelessness, isolation, substance abuse, and violence, and low rates of health insurance. These issues are more prevalent for youth and seniors, communities of color, and transgender and undocumented communities. Unless sexual orientation and gender identity and expression (SOGIE) data are collected, it is not possible to determine if programs are meeting the needs of the LGBTQ community.

There are studies that show integrating sexual orientation and gender identity and expression (SOGIE) data collection into all settings is both acceptable to our community and feasible using existing SOGIE question designs.

Codifying LGBT-inclusive data collection in all settings, at intake and upon evaluation of services, will help us detect and address disparities, while also serving to show that the Coastside is a model for ensuring equal opportunity for all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

What is the best practice in the collection of SOGIE data?

Based on the results of a study the Fenway Institute came up with some best practices for collecting sexual orientation and gender identity data in a clinical setting. The questions include the following:

Sexual orientation

Do you think of yourself as:
☐ Lesbian, gay or homosexual
☐ Straight or heterosexual
☐ Bisexual
☐ Something else
☐ Don’t know

Gender identity

What is your current gender? (check all that apply)
☐ Male
☐ Female
☐ Female-to-Male (FTM)/Transgender
☐ Male/Trans Man
☐ Male-to-Female (MTF)/Transgender
☐ Female/Trans Woman ☐ Genderqueer, neither exclusively male nor female
☐ Additional Gender Category/(or Other), please specify
☐ Decline to Answer, please explain why

What sex were you assigned on your original birth certificate?
☐ Male
☐ Female
☐ Decline to Answer, please explain why

What training is available to learn how to collect SOGIE data?

• SOGIE Learning Modules (from the San Mateo County Department of Health)
• SOGIE Online Training (from the Equity Project)

How can we raise awareness about SOGIE?

• Celebrate International Pronoun Day in October. Since 2018, International Pronoun Day takes place on the third Wednesday of October and seeks to make respecting, sharing, and educating about personal pronouns commonplace. Referring to people by the pronouns they determine for themselves is basic to human dignity. Being referred to by the wrong pronouns particularly affects transgender and gender nonconforming people. Intern celebrate people’s multiple, intersecting identities. International Pronouns Day began in 2018 and takes place on the 3rd Wednesday of October each year.
• GLSEN – Misgendering and Respect for Pronouns
• APA Resources on Sexual Orientation & Gender Diversity

Where can I learn more?

Williams Institute | A research center at the University of California at Los Angeles, focusing on gender identity law.

Sharing and Caring for lesbians 55+ | Fridays, 3:00 – 4:00 pm.

Meet interesting people like yourself. Build community and make new friends. Understanding and empathy to provide comfort when life gets challenging.

These gatherings are guided by trained facilitator Roberta Gonzales-Gregg, Outlook Video LGBTQ+ Magazine talk show host and producer. All you need is a computer, tablet or smartphone. Zoom training is provided. For the Zoom link, please rsvp to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Trans athlete resources | Resources for students, athletes, coaches, and administrators to find information about trans inclusion in athletics at all levels of play.

LGBTQ sports articles

• Sport and Transgender People: A Systematic Review of the Literature Relating to Sport Participation and Competitive Sport Policies
• NWHL Transgender Policy
• How Does Transitioning Affect a Transgender Athlete's Sports Performance?
• Information on Estrogen Hormone Therapy
• Do transgender athletes have an unfair advantage at the Olympics?
• Transgender runners at no advantage, study finds
• Why It’s Fair for Trans Femme Athletes to Compete With Women
• Transgender athletes have to keep fighting for their space in sport:
• Transgender Inclusion in High School Athletics
• ‘I am a girl and I am a runner’: Transgender athletes respond to the discrimination complaint in Connecticut

California summer camps

Camp Tawonga Keshet LGBTQ Family Camp | The first of its kind in the Jewish camping world, Keshet LGBTQ Family camp is a summer weekend designed for non-traditional families to come together and celebrate who they are. Yosemite, CA.

Camp it Up! | The first LGBTQ+ family and allies camp in the United States is a dynamic and diverse community that gathers each year in the summer for a eight-day family-camp program at Feather River Camp in Quincy, CA.

Brave Trails | Brave Trails was formed to respond to the needs of the large and growing population of LGBTQ youth in the greater Los Angeles area, and empower the next generation of LGBTQ leaders and give them the tools to continue in the quest for justice and civil rights, for all. San Bernardino National Forest

Nationwide summer camps

Trans Student Educational Resources | The longest list of LGBTQ+ camps on the internet.