LGBTQIA+ Behavioral Health: SAMHSA Listening Session
|
| |
|
There are many changes this year for LGBTQIA+ people. Some of them are terrifying and life-threatening. Some are joyful and life-affirming. And then there is everything in between. All of them are important and result from a famous speech by Harvey Milk - called the Hope Speech, or the Gay Freedom Day Speech, that he delivered on June 25, 1978, in San Francisco. In his speech, he appealed to the gay community to come out of the closet and be visible. He thought it would change the world and make us less hated and feared because we would be known, loved, and cared for. I think he would be proud to see this meeting I’m about to tell you about happen. We have so far to go, yet we’ve come so far. Today, I acknowledge how far we’ve come to remind ourselves that there is much to be hopeful about, even in the middle of change.
|
|
|
This year, I was part of a planning committee convened by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Office of Recovery. We planned the first-ever LGBTQIA+ behavioral health SAMHSA listening session. The meeting was a two-day in-person conversation organized by the Office of Recovery to address the recovery needs of the LGBTQIA+ community. The primary purpose was to bring together individuals with lived experiences as members of the LGBTQIA+ recovery community and our allies to share their perspectives on recovery from mental health and substance use issues for the community. The discussions focused on systemic barriers to recovery, the impact of stigma and discrimination, and identifying gaps and scalable solutions to enhance recovery support. We know that the LGBTQIA+ community is underserved and under-resourced, and the meeting aimed to explore innovative approaches to meet our unique needs.
I want to be clear that I wasn’t attending the conversation in San Francisco because I was getting married!!! What??? Yes! I got married. When I came out of the closet at 19, getting married was an impossibility for LGBTQIA+ people. It was a right that LGBTQIA+ people didn’t have until 2015. Only nine years ago, my now wife and I were “allowed” to get married - to stop going through hoops to be committed to each other in the eyes of the law, to stop fighting to be seen as each other’s significant other in the eyes of the medical profession, our employers, our families of origin, our banks, shoot - every area of modern life was closed to us as a couple unless we chose to take extraordinary measures to be seen and taken seriously. Today, that’s not the case because people before us fought for their rights and spoke up for themselves and, by default, all of the other LGBTQIA+ folx in the USA. Work like this Office of Recovery led listening session will support LGBTQIA+ people even more.
|
|
|
|
Adam Viera, the Co-Director of the Peer Recovery Center of Excellence, attended the two-day meeting. How’s that for representation? SAMHSA was listening to the LGBTQIA+ community for the first time ever and funds the PRCoE, which has visible LGBTQIA+ leadership, steering committee members, and staff members. Health equity is happening; progress is being made. Okay, I digress… back to my story about the meeting!
|
|
|
On the first day, participants engaged in a series of sessions addressing various topics, including the impact of coming out on recovery, supportive treatment and recovery environments, the role of religion and spirituality in recovery, and connections to LGBTQIA+ communities. Discussions were non-judgmental, inclusive, and collaborative, ensuring a safe and respectful dialogue. The second day included reviews of previous talks and focused on LGBTQIA+ rights, social support and visibility, and the intersectionality of identity and power. The meeting concluded with a wrap-up session, highlighting the follow-up steps and encouraging participant feedback to improve future initiatives.
This historic meeting provided SAMHSA with helpful information they will use to support our community at the systems level, which will make its way to organizations (RCOs, addiction and mental health treatment providers, insurance companies, and state and local governments) and individual providers (peers, doctors, counselors, case managers, etc.), to ultimately improve the quality of care that LGBTQIA+ people receive around the country.
|
|
|
So, if you’re LGBTQIA+ and you’re thinking about giving up - don’t. Stick around; things will get better. We can’t give up. If you need help, contact the Trevor Project or the Trans Lifeline. If you are a recovery organization that wants to be more LGBTQIA+ inclusive right now and you want an idea of the scope of the challenge but don’t want to wait for the SAMHSA report from this meeting, read this article from the Human Rights Campaign. If your organization wants to make moves towards Health Equity for all people, the PR CoE has SAMHSA-funded technical assistance available.
|
| |
|
As I said at the beginning of this article, we have a long way to go. AND. We’re right in the middle of the change process. It’s exciting and scary all at the same time. But there’s hope coming from all directions - keep moving forward, and together, we’ll make recovery possible for all of us! Thank you to the leadership at the Office of Recovery. The work you did to hear from the LGBTQIA+ community will reverberate for years, opening doors for people nationwide. The work you did to be inclusive, starting with the planning committee, is an example for others. Thank you. It means more than you know. I can’t wait to see the report!
|
|
|
|
Funding for this initiative was made possible by grant no. 1H79TI083022 from SAMHSA. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
|
|
|
Manage your preferences | Opt Out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.
|
5100 Rockhill Rd. | Kansas City, MO 64110 US
|
|
|
This email was sent to christyc@umsystem.edu.
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
|
| |
|
|