Every June, Balanced You celebrates Pride Month, a celebration of visibility, connection, and self-affirmation for the LGBTQ+ community. This year, Balanced You is focusing on the importance a sense of community plays in employee well-being by amplifying the King County LGBTQ+ Affinity Group.
King County LGBTQ+ Affinity Group
Affinity Groups provide spaces where employees with shared identity can come together to create community, advocate, and learn. King County’s LGBTQ+ Affinity Group is an employee resource group that exists at the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. While all LGBTQ+ employees are welcome, this group centers the lived experiences of Black and Indigenous people of color and those who identify as Transgender, Non-binary, Two Spirit, and other non-conforming gender identities. If you would like to join more information about the LGBTQ+ Affinity Group, contact lgbtq@kingcounty.gov.
TRANSforming Transportation
King County’s LGBTQ+ Affinity Group, in collaboration with King County Metro, is hosting an event for Pride month: TRANSforming Transportation: A Conversation with Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, Deputy Director of Public Engagement at the US Department of Transportation.
All King County employees are invited to join the discussion with Raffi Freedman-Gurspan to learn about her experience working in government as an out transgender woman of color, her role with the United States Department of Transportation, and the Department of Transportation’s vision of delivering a more equitable transportation system.
Thursday, June 16 from noon to 1 p.m. Join the Zoom Meeting here. Use meeting ID: 861 6669 3965 and passcode: 206206.
Community Pride events
For a list of community Pride events, visit https://www.seattlepride.org/.
LGBTQ+ Mental Health Resources
Balanced You recognizes that LGBTQ+ employees and family members may have unique needs in seeking mental health support. As such, employees interested in mental health resources specific to the LGBTQ+ community can find them on pages 13 and 14 of the Mental Health Benefits and Resources for King County Employees guide.
These resources are also listed below:
- Mental Health America’s Resources for LGBTQ+ Communities: Educational resources, fact sheets, and a resource directory.
- National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI) LGBTQI+ Mental Health Resources: Educational resources, guidance for providing a mental health professional, and a resources directory.
- A List of Organizations Providing Resources & Safe Spaces for the Latinx LGBTQ Community: A nationwide resources directory.
- The Trevor Project: Mental health counselors available to call, text, or chat anytime with LGBTQ+ community members or allies needing support.
- Human Rights Campaign: Information on how to get involved in LGBTQ+ equal rights work in your community.
- Trans Lifeline: Hotline and microgrants offering direct emotional and financial support to trans people in crisis.
- Gaylesta Psychotherapist Association for Gender & Sexual Diversity: Referral service for mental health professionals specialized in the LGBTQ+ community.
- Pride Counseling: Online mental health therapy for the LGBTQ+ community.
- Therapy for QPOC: Mental health therapy exclusively for queer and trans people of color.
- National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color: Directory of queer and trans mental health therapists of color.
- LGBT National Help Center: Hotlines, online chat, and chat rooms to support the LGBTQ+ community.
Questions? Contact balancedyou@kingcounty.gov.