Top Resources for Parents & Families To Support LGBTQ+ Children

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June is Pride Month and in an effort to provide the best, most useful resources for parents in 2024, CafeMom spoke with Leo Preziosi Jr., founder and executive director of Live Out Loud, a New York-based nonprofit organization that supports LGBTQ+ youth. Live Out Loud cultivates safe, inclusive, and affirming education environments for LGBTQ+ kids, by connecting them to positive role models, resources, and opportunities in the LGBTQ+ community. 

Live Out Loud is creating tomorrow's leaders of change by empowering today's youth. Here, we're sharing Leo's top recommendations for LGBTQ+ resources including websites, books, and podcasts for children, educators, and families.

Websites for Parents & Educators

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Leo recommended the following websites for parents and/or educators: 

1. Live Out Loud: Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth Coming Out
   Live Out Loud created the Live Out Loud: Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth Coming Out guide to offer advice to help support LGBTQ+ youth in their coming out process. It includes things to say, things not to say, what to do in the moment, as well as key questions to ask.

2. Johns Hopkins Medicine Tips for Parents for LGBT Youth
   This website includes tips from Johns Hopkins pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist Errol Fields, to help parents feel comfortable in this important process and help their child feel safe, happy, and healthy.

3. My Kid is Gay
   My Kid is Gay provides videos, advice, and resources, dedicated exclusively to helping parents understand their lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual children. It includes voices from across the world to help answer the many questions about LGBTQIA young people.

4. PFLAG: Parents, Families & Friends of LGBTQ+ People
   In 1973, mothers and fathers who stood up for their gay children launched PFLAG in New York City. With over 250,000 members and supporters in over 500 chapters throughout the US, it started a national movement. PFLAG NYC is the founding chapter of PFLAG. It is the "nation's foremost family-based organization committed to celebrating LGBTQ+ young people and creating a better future for all."

5. The Family Acceptance Project
   The Family Acceptance Project is a research, intervention, education, and policy initiative to prevent health and mental health risks. It promotes the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer-identified (LGBTQ) children and youth.

6. GLSEN
   Founded by a group of teachers in 1990, GLSEN's mission is to ensure that every member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

7. The Trevor Project
   The Trevor Project is the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit organization for LGBTQ+ young people. It provides information and support to LGBTQ+ young people 24/7, all year round. Their mission is to end suicide among LGBTQ+ young people.

Books & Podcasts

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Leo recommended the following books and podcasts for parents and/or educators:

1. The Conscious Parent by Shefali Tsabary, PhD
   In this book, Dr. Tsabary teaches parents about becoming mindful of behaviors and treating children as individuals. Becoming a conscious parent means getting in touch with your emotions and understanding your past. In turn, it can improve the relationship with your children and empower them to lead happy and healthy lives.

2. The Queer Family Podcast
   With host queer mom Jaimie Kelton, The Queer Family Podcast has weekly episodes that go in-depth with LGBTQIA+ guests about their families. Their mission is to normalize, elevate, and celebrate, while confirming that we're just like other parents — trying not to yell at our kids when they still haven't put their shoes on and we're 25 minutes late for school.

3. Making Gay History by Eric Marcus: LGBTQ+ Oral History from the Archive
   This podcast provides rare archival interviews of both known and long-forgotten champions, heroes, and witnesses of gay history. It's an informative, personal and intimate listen. 

4. Queerology: A Podcast on Belief and Being
   Hosted by Matthias Roberts, Queerology explores the intersection of faith, sexuality, and gender identity. It can be a valuable resource for parents seeking to better understand their LGBTQ+ children's experiences.

5. Pride Connections
   Hosted by Melissa DaSilva, The Pride Connections podcast connects amazing people within the LGBTQQII community who are facilitating change in the world each and every day. 

6. Gender Reveal
   Molly Woodstock is a nonbinary journalist who hosts Gender Reveal and interviews nonbinary and transgender folks. The podcast analyzes current events, answers advice questions, and helps listeners understand what gender is.

7. Outspoken Voices — a Podcast for LGBTQ+ Families
   Family Equality created The Outspoken Voices Podcast. They invite guests and tackle essential topics relevant to LGBTQ+ families and members of the LGBTQ+ community considering starting a family.

Resources for LGBTQ+ Students

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Leo recommended the following resources for students.

1. Coming Out: A Handbook for LGBT Youth
   The Trevor Project created this handbook to help youth explore their identity. It includes information about what it might be like to share their identity with others and provides them with tools and guiding questions to help them think about what coming out means.

2. CenterLink's Q Chat Space for LGBTQ+
   This online community is for LGBTQ+ Teens aged 13 to 19, where they can be themselves and feel accepted wherever they are in their lives and identities. Inclusion is their motto. There is also a Spanish-language site.

3. The Trevor Space
   TrevorSpace is an affirming, online community for LGBTQ young people between 13 and 24 years old.

4. Be True & Be You: A Basic Mental Health Guide for LGBTQ+ Youth
   This is a valuable resource for any young person who identifies as LGBTQ+. It includes helpful information regarding mental health, anxiety, and depression, and what resources and supports are available to them.

5. LGBTQ Community Center Member Directory
   CenterLink's member directory allows youth to connect with LGBTQ+ community centers in their area.

"All parents should keep this in mind: their child may not have the words to describe what they are feeling or going through. It's a parent's duty to figure out the best approach to communicate with their child and uncover what they may be experiencing," Leo told CafeMom.