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.

Lighthouse Learning Series

The Lighthouse Learning Series is back in 2025!

The Lighthouse Learning Series is a series of trainings focused on the intersections of queer identity and harm reduction.

You can access previous sessions via our YouTube channel. Although we were unable to record each session, you will be able to access some amazing content on things like chemsex, sex work, and the queer history of harm reduction!

 

Register for our upcoming series:

February 14Care as Movement: Reimagining Organizing through Harm Reduction & Collective Support

March 14Chemsex 201

April – TBD

May 16Sex Worker-Centered Harm Reduction Frameworks & Practice

Publications

Gender Affirming Harm Reduction Toolkit

 

Gender Affirming Harm Reduction: A Toolkit for Syringe Service Programs is the culmination of over a year of collaboration with our partners at Trans Equity Consulting and the invaluable support of the National Harm Reduction Coalition.

 

We dedicate this resource to the late trans visionary and founder of Trans Equity Consulting, Cecilia Gentili, who supported the project from its inception until her passing earlier this year.

 

This toolkit is designed to serve as both a roadmap and a means of accountability for organizations committed to enhancing their service delivery to TGNCNB communities.

 

Watch the recording of our webinar which was held on 9/25!

 

The toolkit was designed to be viewed as a website, but you can also view it as a PDF to the left!

 

Lighthouse offers technical assistance to help programs and organizations effectively integrate these practices and ensure their services are affirming and inclusive. Please feel free to reach out to us for more information or to schedule a consultation.

Navigating Access to Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy

 

This guide blossomed from a conversation during a Lighthouse Learning Collective meeting last year concerning websites scamming folks trying to purchase hormones.

 

Whether you’ve encountered barriers such as online scams, struggled to find supportive providers, or are seeking legal guidance on GAHT, this resource is tailored to you.

 

Lighthouse developed this guide in collaboration with the Alyssa Rodriguez Center for Gender Justice, Miss Jai, G Wallner, Sruti Mohan, Ray Stevens, and Dana Fleetham. Special thanks to Han Hamel for formatting and graphics. It’s truly a testament to collective advocacy and support.

 

View the webinar discussing the guide. (5/8/24)

 

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

 

We are currently working on translating the guide into Spanish, Haitian Creole, and ASL, so we will be sure to share once those are available!

Our Lives, Our Care:

The Report & Recommendations of the Re-Queering Harm Reduction Project

 

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.

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.

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.