Serving the Needs of LGB/TGNC+ People Who Use Drugs

Queer and trans people use drugs at a proportionally higher rate. They also face higher rates of homelessness, food insecurity, unemployment and underemployment, and inadequate health care.

LGB/TGNC+ people are more than twice as likely to use drugs than those who identify as heterosexual.

The needs of this community are unique and often neither the harm reduction or LGB/TGNC+ support organizations know how to support them.

Enter the Lighthouse Learning Collective. We gather, integrate and support development of collective knowledge around harm reduction care and practices for this community. We are challenging heteronormative assumptions so we can better support LGB/TGNC+ people who use drugs.

The Re-Queering Harm Reduction Project

Read the report!

Our Lives, Our Care examines the state of care for queer and trans people who use drugs and/or do sex work (QT-PWUD/SW) in NYC.

We sat down with several QT-PWUD/SW to answer the following questions:

  1. How do QT-PWUD/SW take care of themselves?
  2. How can NYC harm reduction and addiction treatment organizations empower, expand, and deepen the embedded care practices of QT-PWUD/SW?

View the report via the flipbook to the left. If you’d like to view the report as a pdf, click here.

Lighthouse Learning Series

Lighthouse Learning Series is back for another round of trainings!

From October 2023 to February 2024, we will host a series of trainings that focused on the intersections of queer identity and harm reduction.

Topics included: Chemsex 101, Non-Carceral Peer Support, Sex Work 101, Queer History of Harm Reduction Pt. 2, and Abolition & Harm Reduction (TIME TBA).

If you’re looking for info on the first learning series:

We’ve linked a recording of the last session to the left, but you can also view it here. Although the other sessions were not recorded, you can access the slides for most sessions here.

Monthly Collective Meetings

The Lighthouse Learning Collective hosts monthly collaboration sessions that bring both harm reduction and LGB/TGNC+ support organizations together to develop strategies, build capacity, and create focused initiatives to address emerging needs within this community.

If you’re part of a harm reduction organization or a group that serves the LGB/TGNC+ community, attend one of these valuable sessions to:

Gain a deeper understanding of the needs of LGB/TGNC+ people and how you can better serve them

Learn about evidence-based harm reduction strategies to support people in this community who use drugs

Develop skills to bring back to your organization that can affect real change around the design and delivery of services

Explore drug-related health issues that disproportionately affect these communities including: accessibility, trauma, violence, sex work, incarceration, and houselessness

Build relationships with people working at different intersections of the same movement

Share your experiences and successes or workshop your challenges with fellow organizers working towards the same goals

Join us for the next meeting to help the collective reimagine safety for LGBQ/TGNC+ people.

All meetings are accessible virtually.

Connect with The Collective

Resources We Love Created by People We Respect

Some of our partners are creating amazing resources to speak to the intersections of harm reductions and various challenges for LGBQ/TGNC+ people who use drugs.

Join the Harm Reduction Movement.

Get involved in the Harm Reduction movement.

Become a Harm Reduction Champion.