Resources
Allies, friends...familyLocal Organizations
Chase Brexton Health Care provides a range of clinical services from primary medical care and behavioral health services to dental and pharmacy, among others, and welcome more than 30,000 patients annually. Chase Brexton founded the LGBT Health Resource Center which connects members of the LGBT community with critical services, resources, and tools, both at Chase Brexton and across the Baltimore area.
DC Center for the LGBT Community
The Center’s mission is to celebrate, strengthen, and support community among the GLBT residents and organizations of Black Pride and Youth Pride, among others in Metropolitan Washington, DC.
Eshel Baltimore/DC Monthly Support Group for LGBTQ Individuals
A small, private, confidential gathering for people who identify as LGBT and are Orthodox, Ortho-curious or formerly Orthodox. Meetings are usually the first Sunday evening of the month.
Eshel Baltimore/DC Monthly Support Group for Parents of LGBTQ Individuals
A small, private, confidential gathering for traditional Jewish parents of LGBT+ people who may be struggling with their child’s sexual orientation or gender identity and/or wish to connect with other parents like themselves. Meetings are usually the last Wednesday evening of the month.
GLCCB, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland, provides equality advocacy, social events, benefits, support groups, and health forums.
GLOE – THE KURLANDER PROGRAM FOR GLBT OUTREACH & ENGAGEMENT
GLOE, the first and only full-time LGBTQ engagement program at any Jewish Community Center in the world, serves DC’s queer Jewish community (and our friends/allies) through an array of unique and meaningful programs in the areas of arts and culture, community service, holidays and spirituality, social justice, and of course, social events.
Hearts & Ears, Inc. is a non-profit organization in Baltimore for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning, and Gender Non-Conforming individuals with behavioral health issues and concerns.
Jewish Community Services of Baltimore
Through the programs and services of Jewish Community Services, families and individuals will be supported in meeting basic needs for economic sufficiency; in living independently; in achieving mental health and competence; and in feeling supported by and connected to the Jewish community in ways that are meaningful to them.
Johns Hopkins Center for Transgender Health
The mission of the Johns Hopkins Center for Transgender Health is to reduce health care disparities and improve the overall health of the transgender community through world-class clinical care, medical education and research.
J-LINK is a comprehensive guide to Jewish Baltimore resources, including those for LGBTQ.
The Maryland LGBT Chamber of Commerce
The Maryland LGBT Chamber of Commerce empowers and promotes the economic well-being of the LGBT+ community in the Maryland marketplace through education, networking and advocacy.
PFLAG provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity. Keeping families together is the mission of PFLAG. Our family values stress education, understanding, acceptance, and support, but most of all love, thereby empowering our children — straight and gay — to lead happy and productive lives.
Rockville Open House (ROH) is a supervised, safe gathering space for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer, questioning, or intersex (LGBTQQI) Jewish teens, and their straight/non-Jewish friends and allies, between the ages of 13-18 yrs old.
Chapters:
National Organizations
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is a voluntary health organization that gives those affected by suicide a nationwide community empowered by research, education and advocacy to take action against this leading cause of death.
Eshel’s mission is to create community and acceptance for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Jews and their families in Orthodox communities. Founded in June of 2010, Eshel provides hope and a future for Orthodox LGBT women, men, and teens, as well as all kinds of support for their parents.
Eshel’s Welcoming Shuls Project
If you are an LGBTQ person, do you want to know if there is an Orthodox synagogue near you that will open their doors to you, embrace you and include you fully in rituals and the life of the community like they do with all of their members? Do you have children and wonder where you can have a lifecycle event such as a simchat bat or a bris, or a bat or bar mitzvah?
Are you a parent of an LGBTQ child who want to know where your child will be welcome so they don’t feel compelled to leave orthodoxy when they come out? Are you a parent of a trans child wondering which rabbi can help you with your halachik questions of your child; or a synagogue where they can sit on the side of the mechitza that feels appropriate to their gender expression? The Welcoming Shuls Project is designed to help you find those places.
At GLSEN, the goal is for every student, in every school, to be valued and treated with respect, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. GLSEN accomplishes these goals by working in hallways across the country -- from Congress and the Department of Education to schools and district offices in your community -- to improve school climate and champion LGBT issues in K-12 education.
Keshet is a national grassroots organization that works for the full equality and inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Jews in Jewish life. Keshet strives to cultivate the spirit and practice of inclusion in all parts of the Jewish community.
The National Resource Center on LGBT Aging
The National Resource Center on LGBT Aging is the country's first and only technical assistance resource center aimed at improving the quality of services and supports offered to lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender older adults.
PFLAG supports people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer, and those who have LGBTQ kids and loved ones.
Legal Organizations
FreeState Justice provides legal services to low-income lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Maryland residents.
The People's Law Library (PLL) is a legal information and self-help website maintained by the Maryland State Law Library, a court-related agency of the Maryland Judiciary, and supported by Maryland's non-profit legal services providers, Maryland pro bono attorneys, and the legal academic community.
Additional Resources
Baltimore LGBTQ Visitors Guide 2018 (PDF edition)
Request a print copy here
DFI’s Diversity and Inclusion Toolkit
An online toolkit for Jewish professionals to become ambassadors and advocates for diversity and inclusion within their own organizations.
Clergy and Lifecycle Events
Whether you're looking for shuls to attend or clergy who will perform LGBTQ lifecycle events, here are some helpful resources.
JPride Baltimore's LGBTQ-friendly Baltimore/DC Rabbis and Congregations
Note: This does not include orthodox shuls. For information on welcoming orthodox shuls, please visit this link.
Have any clergy to add to the list? Email jpridebaltimore@gmail.com with your suggestions.