Virtual Roundtable How We Can Help in Times of Crisis

We know that COVID-19 has brought unprecedented disruption to our lives, and this is especially true for queer individuals. Underlying mental health concerns are exacerbated by conditions around the virus; support people usually turn to has been physically cut off, and the economic impact on LGBTQ+ individuals—especially people of color, transgender, black, and indigenous folks—has been devastating. Queer families are struggling, like so many, in trying to balance their child’s virtual learning responsibilities now thrust upon them along with all the other demands on our time.

Envision:You held a virtual roundtable to address today’s concerns around the community and the virus. Here’s a look at what they discussed.

When asked about gay men of privilege dominating political discourse, Denver City Councilperson Candi CdeBaca replied, “The first step is in electing women of color who are part of the LGBTQ+ family. We have to understand that trans women of color who are part of the LGBTQ+ community have the worst rates of experiences. How do we make better policy for everybody? You have people or representation from the most marginalized spaces to lift the from the bottom up.”

The consensus was that change needs to come from less discrimination from hiring providers, access to care being less discriminatory, and treating the people with the lowest statistics of care first in order to treat the whole community.

Dr. Tara Jae of Youth Seen said it really comes down to representation and “making sure that when we’re accessing different things or different systems, that we have the ability to pick a provider who actually looks like us.

Given that LGBTQ+ youth and adults face an extraordinary elevated risk of suicidal thoughts and suicide completions, mitigating the risk around suicide of young people in general, specifically around queer youth, was a major topic. Rick Padilla, the suicide prevention administrator for the City and County of Denver, had a son who died from suicide in 2019 and offered his perspective on the issue. He feels that one of the biggest issues is tolerance in school and how safe queer kids feel there.

The city is past the point of creating programs, and what needs to happen from here on out is actual conversations with the youth. On the opposite end of the spectrum are seniors within the LGBTQ+ community. Leslie Wright, a Kaiser Permanente Health Research project manager with a focus on seniors, said, “Don’t forget about us.” She feels seniors are not always accounted for when it comes to these conversations.

Queering Mental Health- Envision:You 2020

A big move toward telehealth and telemedicine is what’s coming up for the future. Vincent Achity of Mental Health Colorado wondered if this might serve the LGBTQ+ community going forward. “When we talked about that elevated vulnerability and risk of suicide that’s particularly elevated in rural and frontier communities, where people are likely to experience such isolation, telehealth may be a pathway to having access to support in times of crisis and a general need for ongoing support.”

Everyone spoke on the emotions a queer person encounters when coming out and how to support them during that time.

Daniel Ramos of One Colorado thinks the biggest part is making connections in our community and wants to help immigrants and undocumented LGBTQ+ folks, as, “They are having to come out as queer and as undocumented; that is a reason that LGBTQ+ folks in our community should be talking about immigration and immigration rights. It is a shared experience around who is going to accept us, who’s going to reject us, and what our lives will look like after people know because it’s going to affect nearly every aspect of our own lives. “

Wright added, “The generational piece is really important, especially with seniors. We feel less secure and more isolated, and more and more are going back into the closet because they just don’t trust the system out there.”

According to Steven Haden of Envision:You, “While coping with these micro- and macro-aggressions, LGBTQ+ individuals must also navigate the added stigma that comes from being diagnosed with mental illnesses—doubling the shame and reducing the likelihood that LGBTQ+ individuals will seek out (or be able to find) an LGBTQ+-affirming therapist or culturally relevant resources.”

Dr. Jae stated that, on top of anxiety, they see many other factors come up in their practice. “I pick up on the resentment that happens, and they think they are coming into a community that is going to be more welcoming, and finding out the community is more discriminatory at how they are showing up, and how they are presenting [is difficult]. We should talk more about that.”

It is also extremely important to support POC and youth through education and access, and that they see themselves represented in the healthcare and education system. As far as coming out the other side of COVID-19?

Therapist Darcey Cunningham from the Mental Health Center of Denver spoke out on education. “Teaching kids, and teaching boys in general, how to cope with what it feels like to hear ‘no’ is important. What ends up happening is that sense of rejection just fuels all sorts of things and the way that people learn how to cope with that, and that’s when kids end up running into violence when they’re older. Emotional education around consent, and asking people if things are OK, and also what to do if someone says ‘no,’ and how to cope with those feelings.”

CdeBaca informed us that, “Our motels are not defining family appropriately, so they’re not letting our LGBTQ+ families go into motels. When you’re trying to build a chosen family, and when you experience the rejection of your blood family and you’re building your own resilience, you have government entities and discriminatory zoning codes trying to disrupt that. We need to focus on some of those things that don’t feel necessarily related to LGBTQ+ issues, but we need them in order to really lift up the most marginalized, LGBTQ+ people.” People need to feel safe before there is any getting back to normal.

Haden reminded us, “During this time of unprecedented, global, public health crisis, many people across all communities are feeling the stress of the health threat: concerns about becoming ill, uncertainty about the future, possible financial strain, and dramatic changes in daily routines. That’s why now, more than ever, people should reach out to ask for support.”

If you or someone you know is experiencing an emotional or mental health crisis, please contact Colorado Crisis Services by calling 844-493-8255, or text TALK to 38255.