Emergency Help
The Trevor Project – (1-800-850-8078) A national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24; twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Book Lists
Books for Gay Teens – This list was created by YA author Alex Sanchez.
Book Lists for Teens – These book lists, including both fiction and non-fiction about LGBTQ issues, were created by the librarians at the Boston Public Library.
Diversity in YA – Diversity in YA was founded in 2011 by authors Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo to celebrate young adult books about all kinds of diversity, from race to sexual orientation to gender identity and disability. Our goal is to bring attention to books and authors that might fall outside the mainstream, and to bring the margin to the center. We encourage an attitude of openness and curiosity, and we welcome questions and discussion.
Lambda Literary YA Book Reviews – Lambda Literary believes Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer literature is fundamental to the preservation of our culture, and that LGBTQ lives are affirmed when our stories are written, published and read.
Stonewall Book Awards – An American Library Association LGBTQ book award list.
I’m here. I’m Queer. What the hell do I read?, opens a new window – Lee Wind, writer and blogger, reviews books for queer children and teens.
The Gender Book, opens a new window – This free downloadable eBook covers all the basics about what it means to be Transgender and Gender Non-conforming. Many of the infographic pictures are available right on the website as well.
Bullying
It Gets Better Project – The It Gets Better Project was created to show young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach – if they can just get through their teen years. The It Gets Better Project wants to remind teenagers in the LGBT community that they are not alone — and it WILL get better.
StopBullying.gov – A federal government website managed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, that aims to help prevent and stop bullying in schools and online.
Education
Colin Higgins Youth Courage Award – Colin Higgins Youth Courage Award recipients have endured overwhelming hardships due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, yet have handled themselves with the utmost grace. Check the website to nominate someone for this yearly award.
FinAid! – Financial aid specifically for LGBT students.
Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) – At GLSEN, we want every student, in every school, to be valued and treated with respect, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. We believe that all students deserve a safe and affirming school environment where they can learn and grow.
Gay Straight Alliance Network – GSA Network empowers youth activists to fight homophobia and transphobia in schools through Gay-Straight Alliance clubs. GSA Network supports young people in starting, strengthening, and sustaining GSAs by connecting school-based Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) to each other and to community resources through peer support, leadership development, and training.
Human Rights Campaign Scholarship Database – Scholarships for LGBT and Allied students at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Trans Student Equality Resource (TSER) – Trans Student Equality Resources is a youth-led organization dedicated to improving the educational environment for trans and gender nonconforming students through advocacy and empowerment. We believe that trans and gender nonconforming youth achieving educational justice is a matter of civil rights and the success of trans people everywhere is contingent on an intersectional framework of activism.
Gender Identity (Trans* & Gender non-conforming)
Gender Identities Glossary – This glossary was put together by Our Bodies Ourselves (OBOS), a nonprofit, public interest organization based in Cambridge, Mass., that develops and promotes evidence-based information on girls’ and women’s reproductive health and sexuality.
I AM: Trans People Speak – A project to raise awareness about the diversity that exists within transgender communities. It gives a voice to transgender individuals, as well as their families, friends, and allies.
Transgender Oral history Project – A community-driven effort to collect and share a diverse range of stories from within the transgender and gender variant communities. We accomplish this by promoting grassroots media projects, documenting trans people’s experiences, maintaining a publicly accessible digital archive, and teaching media production skills.
Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) – is an advocacy, education, and community-building organization that works to end discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression. This includes working towards the empowerment of all persons who have been, are being, or might be deprived of equal rights and/or fair treatment because of their gender expression or identity. MTPC does not engage in campaign or electoral politics.
Genderqueer Identities – Provides awareness, information, and resources for genderqueer, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people and their allies. ~Marilyn Roxie
NonBinary.org – An education and resources site providing information for and about people who don’t fit the gender binary. This site includes a list of gender neutral pronouns.
DSM on Gender Dysphoria, opens a new window – DSM is the manual used by clinicians and researchers to diagnose and classify mental disorders by The American Psychiatric Association, opens a new window (APA).
General Resources
Boston Alliance for Gay and Lesbian Youth (BAGLY) – BAGLY provides weekly and monthly social activities and special events for people ages 22 and under. (617-227-4313)
Boston Gay & Lesbian Adolescent Social Services (GLASS) –The Mission of Boston GLASS is to improve the well-being of LGBTQQ youth of color and their allies by providing a continuum of services including mentoring, behavioral health, HIV/STI Testing and Counseling, housing support, peer leadership opportunities, support groups and a drop-in center where you can hang out, make new friends and ‘Be here, be you!” GLASS serves young people ages 13-25 from Boston and the surrounding metro areas. 617.266.3349 75 Amory Street Jamaica Plain, MA, 02119.
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender National Youth Talkline – 1-800-246-7743/ help@GLBThotline.org
Hours: Monday thru Friday from 4pm to midnight & Saturday from noon to 5pm, eastern time. The GLBT National Hotline provides telephone, online private one-to-one chat and email peer-support, as well as factual information and local resources for cities and towns across the United States. All of our services are free and confidential. We speak with teens and young adults up to age 25 about coming-out issues, relationship concerns, parent issues, school problems, HIV/AIDS anxiety and safer-sex information, and lots more!
Greater Boston Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays – www.gbpflag.org – Greater Boston PFLAG offers help for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBTQIA) youth, their families, and communities around the topics of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Legal Help
Lambda Legal – Know Your Rights – If you’re young and LGBTQ, you have the right to feel safe and respected, and to express yourself without fear. Here’s what you and your allies need to know about your legal rights—and what to do if anyone tries to violate them.
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders(GLAD) – Since 1978, GLAD’s bold and effective advocacy has achieved scores of precedent-setting legal victories to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity and expression.
Massachusetts Law, opens a new window – Massachusetts law about gender identity or expression compiled by Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries, opens a new window
Know Your Rights: A Guide for Trans and Gender Nonconforming Students, opens a new window – This brochure was compiled by the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network, opens a new window (GLSEN) and the American Civil Liberties Union, opens a new window (ACLU).
Primary Care
Fenway Community Health Center – The mission of Fenway Health is to enhance the wellbeing of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and all people in our neighborhoods and beyond through access to the highest quality health care, education, research and advocacy. 617.267.0900
1340 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215
Sexual Orientation (Asexual, Bisexual, Homosexual…)
Sexual Orientation an introduction – This introduction was put together by Our Bodies Ourselves (OBOS), a nonprofit, public interest organization based in Cambridge, Mass., that develops and promotes evidence-based information on girls’ and women’s reproductive health and sexuality.
The Asexual Visibility Education Network (AVEN) – hosts the world’s largest online asexual community as well as a large archive of resources on asexuality. AVEN strives to create open, honest discussion about asexuality among sexual and asexual people alike.
