The Commission is an independent agency of the Commonwealth and has a mandate to investigate the use of resources from both the public and private sectors to enhance and improve the ability of state agencies to provide services that protect and support the health and safety of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQ) youth in the schools and communities of Massachusetts, with a focus on suicide prevention and violence intervention policies regarding harassment and discrimination against LGBTQ youth. The Commission is also mandated to make recommendations about policies and programs supporting LGBTQ youth to the State government and its agencies, and to ask for adequate funding in the annual State budget for effective programs. The Commission was created by the General Court in an Act of Jul. 1, 2006, ch. 139, §4, codified in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 3, §67 (2006). It succeeded the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian youth that was created in 1992 by Governor William F. Weld in response to an epidemic of suicide among gay and lesbian youth.