Bucks County gave $13,500 in opioid settlement funds to Planned Parenthood Keystone for its Rainbow Room, which bills itself as a club for LGBTQ teenagers. The money is being used to provide transportation for kids attending the Rainbow Room’s new program in Lower Bucks County.
The rides are for students at Pennsbury, Truman, and Neshaminy high schools. Parents must sign a consent form. The new location is in Langhorne, while the Rainbow Room has its main headquarters at a church in Doylestown.
According to its website, the Rainbow Room programs are “free and open to anyone ages 14 to 21. Plus, we just brought a new group into our program. Roy G. Biv in Doylestown is for kids ages 10 to 14.”
Previously, state Sen. Steve Santarsiero (D-Bucks) obtained $630,000 in state funds to add a second Rainbow Room location in Lower Bucks. Those tax dollars were originally given to Pennsylvania as part of federal COVID-19 funding.
Santarsiero said his youngest son had participated in Rainbow Room programs. The Rainbow Room made headlines when it held a queer prom where gift bags with condoms, dental dams, and lubrication were handed out to participants ages 14 to 21.
The new grant application for opioid settlement funds was obtained by the DVJournal.
“The project involves expanding outreach to LGBTQ+ youth and friends in Lower Bucks to connect with education, behavioral health, and empowerment programming offered at the Lower Bucks Rainbow Room in Langhorne, PA,” the grant application reads.
“As awareness about the services and transportation have been identified as two primary barriers to youth engagement with the programs, we hope to hire a qualified bus driver to pick up students from two high schools in the area and transport them to and from the Lower Bucks Rainbow Room on Tuesday evenings. The bus will depart from each school after dismissal and return the students home after the program concludes at 8:00 p.m. Drop-In Hours with food, homework help and a positive peer environment will also be offered on Tuesdays before the 6 p.m. program starts.”
The application also claims studies show “disproportionate misuse of opioids amongst LGBTQ+ youth. One such study demonstrates that “Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other LGBTQ populations (LGBTQ+; e.g., asexual individuals) have higher rates of substance use (SU) and disorders (SUD) compared to heterosexual and cisgender populations. Such disparities can be attributed to minority stress, including stigma and discrimination in healthcare settings. LGBTQ+-affirming SU treatment and related services remain limited.”
“Another important study showed that ‘28.5 percent of gay/lesbian and 25.1 percent of bisexual youth reported misuse compared to 12.5 percent of heterosexual youth. Nearly one in ten gay/lesbian youth reported a history of heroin use compared to 4.1 percent of bisexual and 1.1 percent of heterosexual young people,” the grant application said.
Some local residents don’t believe this is the best use for the opioid funds.
Alix Paul of Langhorne said, “Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was a former heroin addict and is a long-time AA meeting goer, promoted healing farms for substance abuse recovery during his 2024 presidential campaign. It would be great if something like this could come to Bucks County, possibly from opioid settlement funds, to provide a holistic approach for substance abuse recovery and prevention for the entire community and not just catered towards one subset of people.”
“I am confused and concerned why Commissioners Bob Harvie and Diane Marseglia would use taxpayer dollars to fund rides for minors to go a Planned Parenthood-sponsored activity when there are so many other types of activities offered to children throughout the county,” said Chalfont mother Jamie Walker. “I think they are using children’s needs as political favors to gain endorsements for Democratic candidates, including Bob Harvie’s upcoming congressional run.”
Bucks County is holding a community forum on the opioid settlement grants on April 8 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Administration Building in Doylestown. A virtual forum will be held later.
Bucks County will receive about $70 million over 18 years from the settlement, which is supposed to be used to remediate the opioid epidemic.
