ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Community health centers across North Carolina meet the medical needs of a diverse population, many of whom aren't finding adequate care elsewhere.

One such group is the LGBTQ community, and Western North Carolina Community Health Services, or WNCCHS, has just received a $10,000 grant to help serve this population.

It's from the Campaign for Southern Equality (CSE), and Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, the group’s executive director, says the need for these health services is great.

"LGBTQ people, unfortunately, continue to be second-class citizens under the law, and also continue to experience disproportionate health disparities in a number of different areas – including mental health issues, including depression and anxiety, and then oftentimes, just access to care where people will be treated with cultural competency and respect," she states.

WNCCHS runs the only Transgender Health Program in the region, serving more than 200 patients a year.

This fall, WNCCHS and CSE will run a series of free clinics on topics ranging from safety concerns to legal issues.

Buncombe County has a higher percentage of same-sex couples than any other county in the state. Charlotte, Durham and Raleigh already offer similar resources.

Scott Parker, WNCCHS director of development and collaboration, says it serves 18 counties in western North Carolina, and this collaboration is just the beginning.

"Our hopes are to help other community health centers, especially in the deep South – offer them best practices for how to make your health center a very welcoming place for the LGBTQ community, and that it doesn't need to be a secret,” he states. “You need to be able to promote that, so people will see that and know it."

Beach-Ferrara maintains teaching other health centers across the state can make a big difference.

"What's often missing, though, is the access to the kind of training and support that can allow a clinic to go from saying, 'Hey, we're open to this and we're ready to do this,' to saying, 'We're going to institutionalize these practices, so from the second an LGBT person walks in the door of this clinic, they know that they're welcome,'" she stresses.

According to The Williams Institute, more than 336,000 LGBTQ people call North Carolina home, including 38,000 transgender individuals. They also are more likely to live in poverty and without health insurance.

Reporting by North Carolina News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the Park Foundation.


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Some New Hampshire businesses and educators say legislation targeting LGBTQ+ students is harming both kids and the state's economy as it faces a critical worker shortage.

More than two hundred businesses recently signed on to a letter to Gov. Chris Sununu saying the steady drumbeat of bills targeting transgender youths in particular is tarnishing the state's reputation.

Michelle Veasey, executive director of New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility, said the bills are shortsighted.

"When our families don't feel comfortable and aren't happy, our employees are moving to other areas," Veasey pointed out. "We felt it was important to help them to understand the economic side of these decisions."

Veasey argued discriminatory policies make it harder for companies to recruit new workers to the state or convince young people to remain in New Hampshire to pursue their careers.

The New Hampshire Senate has advanced legislation to ban transgender girls from playing on girls' sports teams as well as a measure requiring teachers to inform parents about their child's behavior at school.

While the bill does not single out LGBTQ+ students, educators say it would require them to share information regarding a student's gender identity or sexual orientation.

Linds Jakows, communications and digital director for Granite State Progress and 603 Equality, said too often, such students are forced into homelessness by disapproving parents.

"This bill could have really dangerous consequences for students for whom home is not a safe place right now," Jakows emphasized.

Jakows pointed out it meant the world to have a teacher in high school to come out to when it wasn't possible at home and schools should be a safe space for all students. Jakows added forcing teachers to record what they see and hear in the hallways erodes trust among students and could drive more teachers from the profession.

A new study suggests laws in New Mexico and 22 other states to protect school-aged LGBTQ youth are having a positive impact.

According to research by the Trevor Project, suicide attempts in states with specific protections for LGBTQ youth were 18% lower, and physical violence reported by those youth was 3% lower.

Katalina Hadfield, a member of Equality New Mexico's board of directors, said she believes the state's progressive protections are due to a community-centered culture.

"Where folks are really willing to help each other out, and look out for one another," said Hadfield. "And I think that is part of what helps students in a lot New Mexico schools feel more included."

In recent decades, New Mexico has seen prominent advances in gay and lesbian rights, where same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 1975.

Last year, a bill passed in the New Mexico Legislature to remove loopholes - and explicitly include local entities and counties to prevent discrimination and human rights violations.

The Human Rights Campaign says in 2023, more than 550 - a record number - of anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced across 43 states, and more than 80 were passed into law.

Both Florida and Texas are among the top ten for introducing and passing hostile laws.

Hadfield, who grew up in New Mexico, knows several people who have left those states because they feel unwelcome and scared.

"And when you travel there," said Hadfield, "even if you run into some nice people - if you get for some reason wrapped up in the criminal justice system there, or even something as simple as a speeding ticket, you get sucked into this government system that has legislated and made a policy choice to not respect trans people."

Results from the Trevor Project were published in the online journal LGBT Health. The findings are based on responses from more than 27,000 students ages 13 to 24, in 44 states.

After 30 years of championing the rights of LGBTQ+ people, Equality New Mexico has its finger on the pulse of supportive legislation and has made its earliest endorsements ever for the 2024 election.

Marshall Martinez, executive director of the group, said the advocacy organization has come out early for candidates he calls equality "rock stars," those who have demonstrated proactive leadership in the fight for LGBTQ+ issues. He believes New Mexico and a handful of other states serve as models in supportive legislation.

"Queer and trans people deserve to be happy and healthy in the community they live in," Martinez pointed out. "But until we can make that happen at the national level, we want to make sure that those in New Mexico can have that life, and that others folks could consider coming to New Mexico for that life."

Last year the New Mexico Legislature passed the Reproductive and Gender Affirming Health Care bill, protecting individuals who seek such care from discrimination by public bodies.

In addition to LGBTQ+ issues, Martinez said Equality New Mexico also makes endorsements based on legislators' positions on economic policies such as paid family and medical leave. Another issue is abortion access, which he noted has become especially important since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned abortion as a constitutional right in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision.

"First and foremost, we can't rely on the federal government to uphold our protections," Martinez contended. "We will continuously point to the Dobbs decision as an indication that the federal judiciary is no longer the backstop that we used to think it was."

Martinez added the LGBTQ+ rights organization has endorsed 15 candidates for New Mexico's House and Senate seats and expects a second round of endorsements before November.