Gay, lesbian community meeting in San Bernardino focuses on mental health care

Members of the gay and lesbian community gathered Thursday with health officials at First Congregational United Church of Christ for the first of several town-hall meetings to be held statewide over mental-health concerns and access to care. The meetings follow a recent report by Equality California and Mental Health America of Northern California titled "First Do No Harm: Reducing Disparities for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning Populations in California." One purpose of the meetings is to further advocacy at the local level "and using the report as a tool to do just that," said Pasha Mikalson, the director of the Sacramento-based LGBTQ Reducing Disparities Project.