Key Support Organizations

Support, education, and advocacy for families, allies, and LGBTQ individuals. Organizes local support groups for families and LGBTQ youth and has extensive reference and information pages online.

Videos and resources aimed at offering hope to young LGBTQ people that "it gets better." Can be helpful for parents for insights and understanding their child's experience.

The GenderCool Project is a national storytelling campaign spotlighting remarkable stories of transgender young people.

Information, resources, and support groups for parents and their transgender children.

A listing of LGBTQ+ mental health services, why these are helpful, how to prepare for and get the most out of your sessions, and additional helpful links.

An advocacy project working to change laws and legislation, this site also has helpful information about transgender people and some excellent self-help guides.

Outreach and education project created in 2007 by PFLAG National to empower new straight allies who, unlike a more traditional PFLAG member, don’t necessarily have a family connection to the gay community.

Rainbow Families supports, educates and connects LGBTQ families, parents, and prospective parents before, during, and after birth or adoption. They provide information and planning resources through educational programs, advocacy, social events, and discussion forums.

Trans Families provides information and support for families of transgender and gender diverse children. They offer online support groups for adults and transgender youth, activities both online and in person, and guidance on how to address transition stages and challenges.

Research, Education, and Working with Schools

Extensive research on LGBTQ youth and their families, best practices and the importance of family connection.

Championing LGBTQ issues in K-12 education, many teacher/education resources, and annual research reports.

Helps LGBTQ students and allies organize clubs focused on community, support, and safer schools. The student-run clubs are sponsored by a teacher and parent team. (Formerly named the Gay Straight Alliance. The program remains unchanged.)

American Psychological Association's collection of resources and documents to supplement the Respect Workshop, which provides professional development curriculum for pre-service and in-service education for middle and high school counselors, school nurses, school psychologists, school social workers, and other specialized instructional support professionals.

Colleges, Scholarships and Higher Education Resources for LGBTQ

Choosing a college for your child? This comprehensive guide created for LGBTQ students, allies, and other community members offers tips for knowing if a college is LGBTQ friendly and highlights the schools going above and beyond to welcome these students. It also introduces the Campus Pride Index rating schools on their support for LGBTQ students.

A valuable site for general information as well as links to other resources. Includes interviews from LGBTQ students, advice from college counselors, common difficulties LGBTQ students face, things to look for when researching a school, and addresses many other questions students and families should consider.

A listing of 25+ scholarships for LGBTQ students available from several public and private organizations, as well as individual donors. Some welcome all LGBT applicants, while others may focus on specific subgroups of geography, study discipline, etc.

Many youths don't know there are scholarships available for LGBTQ students. This guide provides listings by geography, school, and degree area as well as helpful information for applying. It includes tips on what to look for and avoid in schools.

Many LGBTQ students do not feel accepted in their college community. Here's a resource to find inclusive schools and learn what they do to welcome LGBTQ.

This guide is specifically for transgender students and includes scholarships specific to the trans community, describes how to find a transgender-friendly college and provides a directory for additional resources to help with academic and extracurricular success.

Search LGBTQ. The Pride Scholarship provides up to $2000-4000 merit based scholarships to openly identifying LGBTQ students for the opportunity to study abroad and gain intercultural skills in an international setting. For students ages 15-18.

Information on how to research colleges and including topics such as the unique challenges LGBTQ students face and the resources and legal rights available to them.

Civil Rights and Laws

LGBTQ rights organization focused on media accuracy and fair, accurate, inclusive news media coverage in reporting on LGBTQ issues. Their website has many documents, reports and films positive for this community.

National lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization. Information on many topics, issues and programs worldwide.

Lambda Legal is the oldest and largest national legal organization whose mission is to achieve full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.

LGBTQ rights are one of six focus areas for this group, which highlights recent legal issues and works to remove barriers to equality.

Religions (Please see Faith-Based Organizations for a much more extensive list.)

Support and resources for LGBT Christians and their families. (Formerly the Gay Christian Network)

A Jewish national organization that works for full LGBTQ equality and inclusion in Jewish life.

The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD) works to support, empower and connect LGBTQ Muslims, increase the acceptance of gender and sexual diversity within Muslim communities, and promote a progressive understanding of Islam that is centered on inclusion, justice, and equality.

HAF seeks to serve Hindu Americans across all sampradayas (Hindu religious traditions) regardless of race, color, national origin, citizenship, caste, gender, sexual orientation, age, and/or disability. HAF focuses on the areas of education, policy, and community building and works on a range of issues from an accurate understanding of Hinduism, civil and human rights, and addressing contemporary problems by applying Hindu philosophy.