Resources

Programs and services for trans youth

Please note: This is a list in progress that reflects the geographic areas of the team who worked on the original curriculum. Please contact us with suggestions relevant to your area!! Some of these organizations are aimed at trans youth specifically, others include services/information for trans people of all ages. Their inclusion on this list is not necessarily an endorsement, and no organization is perfect.

National

Black Trans Advocacy Coalition: improves the black trans human experience by overcoming  violence and injustice in the world through the power, value and  love of all people. Provides grants and care packages to Black trans people across the U.S.

Sam & Devorah Foundation for Transgender Youth: supports trans and non-binary youth by offering safe spaces and programs where they can connect, thrive and be empowered.

The Trans Justice Funding Project: a community-led funding initiative founded in 2012 to support grassroots, trans justice groups run by and for trans people in the United States, including U.S. territories.

The Trevor Project: crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25.

Transgender Law Center: the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures. Grounded in legal expertise and committed to racial justice, TLC employs a variety of community-driven strategies to keep transgender and gender nonconforming people alive, thriving, and fighting for liberation.

Trans Lifeline: a grassroots hotline offering direct emotional and financial support to trans people in crisis – for the trans community, by the trans community.

Massachusetts

BAGLY: The Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth: a youth-led, adult-supported social support organization, committed to social justice and creating, sustaining, and advocating for programs, policies, and services for the LGBTQ+ youth community.

Boston GLASS: provides a continuum of services to LGBTQ+ youth of color and their allies in the Greater Boston and Greater Framingham areas

SAYFTEE: Boston-area socially conscious organization committed to meet the needs of gender expansive and LGBTQI youth and families in Massachusetts.

Transgender Emergency Fund of Massachusetts: critical assistance for low-income and homeless transgender people living in Massachusetts.

Wisconsin

Diverse & Resilient: works achieve health equity and improve the safety and well-being of LGBTQ people and communities in Wisconsin

California

TransLatin@ Coalition: organization formed by Trans Latin@ leaders who have come together in 2009 to organize and advocate for the needs of Trans Latin@s who are immigrants and reside in the US.

Research on trans youth

• Even when family support is lacking, LGBT youth with supportive relationships among peers are significantly less lonely (McConnel et al. (2015). Typologies of Social Support and Associations with Mental Health Outcomes Among LGBT Youth LGBT Health, 2(1), 56-61)
• Social support before, during, and after transition can diminish suicide risk (Moody et al. (2015). “Without This, I Would for Sure Already Be Dead”: A Qualitative Inquiry Regarding Suicide Protective Factors Among Trans Adults. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 2(3), 266-280)
• Increased social support decreases depression and anxiety (Budge et al. (2013). Anxiety and depression in transgender individuals: the roles of transition status, loss, social support, and coping. Journal of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, 81(3), 545-557)
• Peer support, along with family support and identity pride, reduces psychological stress due to stigma (Bockting et al. (2013). Stigma, Mental Health, and Resilience in an Online Sample of the US Transgender Population. American Journal of Public Health, 103(5), 943-951)
• Coping with discrimination through social support reduces likelihood of suidical ideation (Trujillo, et al. (2017) The buffering role of social support on the associations among discrimination, mental health, and suicidality in a transgender sample, International Journal of Transgenderism, 18(1), 39-52)
• Mentoring interventions that seek to support trans youth can fortify strength and resilience (Singh et al. (2014) “I Am My Own Gender”: Resilience Strategies of Trans Youth. Journal of Counseling and Development. 92(2), 208-218)
• High levels of support from family, friends, and general community connectedness leads to lower levels of depression and anxiety symptoms and higher levels of resilience compared to transgender individuals receiving lesser support (Puckett, et al. (2019). Mental Health in Transgender Individuals: What type of support makes a difference?” Journal of Family Psychology, 33(8), 954-964)

Trans pedagogy

coming soon