Bright Spaces, Welcome Places was born from a community need for queer- and trans-affirming mental health care in New Mexico. Bright Spaces is a directory of mental health agencies that have adopted 3 or more recommended policies to create a welcoming and affirming environment for LGBTQ+ people.

Bright Spaces is designed to increase LGBTQ+ access to mental health services, build partnerships between mental health agencies and LGBTQ+ communities, and promote training and organizational policies that will increase understanding and acceptance of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations.

Bright Spaces brings awareness of health inequities caused by the tobacco industry. As a result, LGBTQ+ folks use tobacco and nicotine at 1.5 times the rate of cisgender heterosexual people.

Bright Spaces recognizes the root causes of tobacco use. Tobacco is used by people as a coping mechanism for stress and oppression. By linking LGBTQ+ people to mental health resources and by equipping mental health agencies with knowledge and training in LGBTQ+ issues and nicotine cessation resources, we hope to reduce the burden of tobacco on our LGBTQ+ community.