Behavioral & Mental Health Resources for the LGBTQIA+ Community

Community Support and Resources

• National Coming Out Support Hotline: The process of coming out is different for each person, and the LGBT National Help Center can help you to find the right way forward for you.
• The Holiday Checklist for LGBTQ+ People: Seeing family during the holidays can be difficult when your family isn't supportive of who you are. This document offers advice on how to deal with the holidays in a way that doesn't harm your mental health.
• Trans Lifeline Hotline: Whether you're in a moment of crisis or you just really need to talk to another trans person, you can call this hotline for help.
• Get Help From the Trevor Project: The Trevor Project provides crisis counseling 24/7 by phone or text or through online chat.
• National LGBTQ+ Elder Hotline: Older people in the LGBTQ+ community can experience unique challenges, and this hotline is there to help.
• Get Matched With an Inclusive Therapist: Seeing a supportive professional can help you to work through your mental health issues.
• Bisexuality and Mental Health: Bisexuals are the largest group in the LGBTQ+ community, but it's all too common for bisexual people to feel like they don't quite fit in anywhere.
• Honoring Yourself When You Can't Be Out at Home: Sometimes, it's just not safe to be out to your family, but that doesn't make your true self any less valid.
• FAQs for Intersex Adults: Discovering that you're intersex can be overwhelming, but InterConnect exists to provide answers and support.

Education: Resources to Share With Others

• Guide to Being a Straight Ally: Straight, cisgender people are welcome as allies of the LGBTQ+ community, but people with good intentions may cause harm due to misunderstanding. Give this guide to well-meaning friends and family if they need a little help being a good ally.
• Our Trans Loved Ones: Questions and Answers for Families and Friends: Understanding is key to acceptance and allyship, and this guide can help people to better understand their non-cisgender loved ones.
• What Causes Sexual Orientation? An all-too-common misconception is that sexual orientation is a choice, and this assumption is at the root of a lot of harmful beliefs about and actions against LGBTQ+ people.
• An Ally's Guide to Terminology: Learning the vocabulary of the LGBTQ+ community can help people to avoid accidentally causing offense.
• Understanding Transgender People, Gender Identity, and Gender Expression: The American Psychological Association put together this thorough resource to help educate cisgender people about different gender identities.
• Understanding the Asexual Community: Being asexual is commonly met with people trying to "cure" you or people who just don't understand what asexuality is. This page from the Human Rights Campaign explains what asexuality is and some of the challenge that asexuals face.
• The Gender Unicorn: This graphic shows how gender identity, gender expression, sexual attraction, and romantic attraction can vary from one person to the next.
• What We Wish Our Friends Knew About Being Intersex: People can ask a lot of invasive and uncomfortable questions when they find out that you're intersex, and this brochure can help loved ones understand what they need to know and how they can support you.
• Ace and Aro 101: This pamphlet breaks down the spectrum of identities and accompanying vocabulary of asexuality and aromanticism.

Research

• Prejudice, Social Stress, and Mental Health in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Populations: A review of research shows that mental health issues are more common in lesbian, gay, and bisexual people than in heterosexuals.
• Bisexual Adults Are Far Less Likely to Be Out: The Pew Research Center put together this analysis showing that many bisexual people are not fully out to all of their friends and family.
• Mental Health Outcomes in Transgender and Nonbinary Youths Receiving Gender-Affirming Care: A study published in Pediatrics found that trans and nonbinary teens who have access to gender-affirming care have much lower odds of depression and suicidal thoughts.
• Helping Families Support Their Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Children: This guide compiles research on the mental health of LGBT children and offers strategies for supportive family members.
• Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Behavioral Health: Survey data shows that lesbian, gay, and bisexual people are more likely to experience mental health issues and more likely to struggle with substance use.
• Asexual Relationships Need the Same Ingredients as Any Other Relationship: Researchers at Michigan State University conducted this examination of asexuals' romantic relationships.
• Study Unpacks How Medical Systems Harm the Intersex Community: All too often, medical providers have caused trauma to their intersex patients.
• Mental Health and the LGBTQ+ Community: Numerous studies have shown that LGBTQ+ youth are much more likely to have mental health struggles, but research has also found that having a supportive community can make a huge difference.
• Comparing Asexual With Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Gay and Lesbian Individuals in Mental Health: This meta-analysis of scientific data found that asexuals are more likely to have symptoms of depression than heterosexuals but less likely to be at risk of self-harm. It also compared rates of depression across sexual orientations, finding that bisexuals and asexuals are more likely to have depressive symptoms than gay and lesbian people.

Videos and Podcasts

• LGBTQ&A: Host Jeffrey Masters interviews a wide variety of interesting LGBTQ+ people for this podcast.
• The Queer Family Podcast: In a lot of ways, LGBTQ+ parents are just like other parents. In this podcast, Jaimie Kelton talks with other queer people about their families.
• Making Gay History: This podcast tells the story of the fight for equality through the voices of those who have participated in the struggle.
• Gender Reveal: Learn more about gender identity and the lived experiences of trans and nonbinary people by listening to this podcast.
• Cruising: A Queer Documentary Podcast: The number of lesbian bars in America has dwindled to just a handful, and three queer women set out to document the past and present of all of them in this podcast.
• Sounds Fake But Okay: Two asexual women talk about relationships, sex, ace culture, and asexuality's place in the LGBTQ+ community.
• I'm From Driftwood: This podcast features a wide variety of stories about people from all parts of the LGBTQ+ community.
• On Coming Out: Watch this playlist of videos from TED to learn about the range of experiences of LGBTQ+ people who have come out.
• Trans YouTuber Dismantles Hate With Humor: Jamie Raines maintains a popular YouTube channel that includes videos about his transition as well as funny takes on homophobia and transphobia.