Northern Light Health, a psychiatric hospital in Bangor, Maine, is partnering with The Briar Patch bookstore, a local Bangor business, to distribute more than 100 LGBTQ books to staff, patients and families, according to the Portland-based WCSH TV-6’s News Center Maine. A few other members of the community have also kicked in some funds for the project.
The titles range from picture books to parenting and relationship nonfiction to young adult fiction.
“So many LGBTQ+ people feel alienated by the healthcare system, whether it’s because clinicians and providers or staff members are just not knowledgeable about LGBTQ specific issues, or we’re not comfortable talking about these things,” Ash Cardurns, a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Northern Light, told the TV station.
Folks who pick up the books at the health center can also take them home, where they can read them and share them with family and friends.
“Representation is important not just for queer people to see themselves, but it’s really important for cis, straight, white people to be able to see somebody else on the page,” the bookstore’s children’s books buyer Abby Rice told the station. “Books have the power to create empathy for other people.”
Northern Light Health also launched an LGBTQ+ resource website this month. Says Northern Lights:
At Northern Light Health, we provide high-quality care that is focused on the needs of each person regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) patients have historically been an underserved community with unique health needs. Together, we can help create opportunities for learning and growth, and that is why Northern Light Health has created this resource guide.
We’ve gathered some of the best information recommended by our expert care teams to educate families and allies, those in the LGBTQ+ community, and healthcare providers.
Reach out to us for more information at AcadiaCARES@northernlight.org.
As for The Briar Patch, from their Facebook page:
At The Briar Patch, we celebrate #PRIDE year-round and carry a wide selection of #ownvoices fiction and nonfiction on various LGBTQ+ topics for all ages. It’s important to us that our shelves show an awareness of intersectionality and representation that we can we can share with all readers. Our customers support that mission with their recommendations and purchases.
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