As part of ongoing push for LGBTQ+ resources, Healey launches online hubs

Photo | Courtesy of State House News Service Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey

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By Isabel Tehan

The Gov. Maura Healey Administration has created two new online resource hubs for the LGBTQ+ community, intended to ease access to behavioral and mental health services and support.

These services include substance abuse treatment and resources specifically for LGBTQ+ youth.

“We want LGBTQ+ children, adults, and families to know they are loved, safe, and celebrated in Massachusetts,” Healey said in a Thursday press release. “As other states move to restrict support and resources for LGBTQ+ residents, we are protecting and expanding them. In Massachusetts, we know that love is love, and we will continue to lead the country in the protection and promotion of LGBTQ+ care.”

Healey became the nation’s first openly lesbian governor when she took office earlier this year. She is also the first woman elected governor in Massachusetts.

The newly created resources aim to point Massachusetts residents towards affirming care, such as local groups and providers who offer LGBTQ-specific and LGBTQ-sensitive care, in addition to support groups.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community are more than twice as likely as heterosexual individuals to have a mental health disorder in their lifetime, according to the American Psychiatric Association. According to American Addiction Centers, a Tennessee-based national provider of substance abuse treatment, LGBTQ+ individuals are also almost twice as likely to suffer substance abuse disorder.

The resources for the community and LGBTQ+ youth are intended to help address the historical difficulty individuals have faced in accessing support services.