Life's tough enough. It can be extremely challenging for teens who are gay, lesbian, or struggling with their sexuality. Fortunately, there is lots of information available. Check out these sample sources for GLBT teens & their supporters for a place to start.

For Teens: LOCAL - WEBSITES - NON-FICTION - FICTION
For Parents: RESOURCES

LOCAL RESOURCES

Pride Project
www.prideproject.org
Hang out with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning (GLBTQ) youth in Washington County.

WEBSITES

Advocates for Youth
www.advocatesforyouth.org/glbtq.htm
Has information targeting young people with information, support, and referrals regarding adolescent sexual and reproductive health, including GLBTQ issues.

The Cool Page for Queer Teens
www.bidstrup.com/cool.htm
Created by an individual. Includes helpful information & links, including a section for parents. NOTE: Some links don't work.

Fin Aid
www.finaid.org/otheraid/gay.phtml
Financial Aid resources for GLBT students.

Gay-Straight Alliance Network
www.gsanetwork.org
Gay-Straight Alliance Network is a youth-led organization that connects school-based Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) to each other and to community resources.

Mogenic
www.mogenic.com
"Mogenic is a special place on the net where gay and lesbian youth have the freedom to exchange ideas, share experiences, discuss coming out, make friends, read interesting content and most importantly: make contact."

National Youth Advocacy Coalition
www.nyacyouth.org/index.html
Get involved! The NYAC is a social justice organization that advocates for and with young people who are LGBTQ in an effort to end discrimination against these youth and to ensure their physical and emotional well being.

Oasismag
www.oasismag.com
A site for LGBTQ teens to post poetry & comments, read news, & connect with other LGBTQ youth.

YouthResource
www.youthresource.com
A web site created by and for GLBTQ young people 13 to 24 years old, which takes a holistic approach to sexual health by offering support, community, resources, and peer-to-peer education about issues of concern to GLBTQ young people.

EN ESPANOL

Ambiente Joven
www.ambientejoven.org
Dedicada a la comunidad gay, lesbiana, bisexual y transsexual joven latina en e.e.u.u. y latino America.

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NON-FICTION

Free Your Mind: The Book for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth & Their Allies
Bass, Ellen & Kate Kaufman (305.23 BAS)
“Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” The definitive guide for youth.

The Shared Heart: Portraits and Stories Celebrating Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Young People
Mastoon, Adam (305.235 MAS)
“I am not going to change or apologize for who I am.”

Growing Up Gay in America
Rich, Jason (305.235 RIC)
“Informative and practical advice for teen guys questioning their sexuality and growing up gay.”

Two Teenagers in Twenty:
Writings by Gay and Lesbian Youth
Heron, Ann (J 305.9 HER)
“Everything would have been perfect except for my parents.”

Is It a Choice? Answers to 300 of the Most Frequently Asked Questions about Gays and Lesbians
Marcus, Eric (305.906 MAR)
There are no stupid questions.

GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer & Questioning Teens
Huegel, Kelly (306.766 HUG 2003)
Discovering that you, or someone you love, might be GLBTQ is a revelation. Accepting it is a process. One thing that can help that process is information. You can find it here.

Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss,
and What I Learned
Winick, Judd (YA 362.1969 WIN)
“I’m a big weenie liberal. I’m supposed to be OK with things like this, aren’t I?” Graphic novel.

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FICTION

Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence
Bauer, Marion Dane (YA BAUER)
What if everyone could determine your sexuality by the shade of blue your skin is? How blue would you be?

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Chbosky, Stephen (YA CHBOSKY)
“I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand and didn’t try to sleep with that person even though you could have.”

Lucky
De Oliveira, Eddie (YA DE OLIVEIRA)
"These are the facts. I'm attracted to boys and girls.... I'm just Sam. I was born like this."

My Heartbeat
Freymann-Weyr, Garret (YA FREYMANN)
What happens when you think you like the guy who might be your brother’s boyfriend?

Annie on My Mind
Garden, Nancy (YA GARDEN)
“I’m not proud of it. I make no excuses. I lied to her.”

Geography Club
Hartinger, Brent (YA HARTINGER)
“Why exactly did I feel like the boys’ locker room after third period P.E. was enemy territory?”

The Bermudez Triangle
Johnson, Maureen (YA JOHNSON)
The Bermudez Triangle have been inseparable. But, the summer before senior year, Mel & Avery realize that their feelings for each other may be more than friendship.

Talk
Koja, Kathe (YA KOJA)
People are surprised when Kit gets a leading role in the school play, but Kit’s been acting all his life...as a straight guy. Who will come out when he’s on stage?

Boy Meets Boy
Levithan, David (YA LEVITHAN)
Paul has met THE guy for him. But, then his ex--who dumped him to date girls--has decided he wants Paul back. Now what?

Far From Xanadu
Peters, Julie Ann (YA PETERS)
Mike’s world is turned upside down when Xanadu moves to town. Xanadu’s everything Mike isn’t—cool, complicated, sexy, and…straight.

Luna
Peters, Julie Ann (YA PETERS)
“Yeah, I loved her. I couldn’t help it. She was my brother.”

Empress of the World
Ryan, Sara (YA RYAN)
What do you do when you think you’re attracted to guys, and then you meet a girl who steals your heart?

So Hard to Say
Sanchez, Alex (YA SANCHEZ)
Xio has plans to make new guy Frederick her first boyfriend, but he can’t seem to keep his eyes off his soccer buddy Victor.

A Really Nice Prom Mess
Sloan, Brian (YA SLOAN)
Cam gets coerced into going to the prom with a girl, even though he’d rather go with his boyfriend. What could it hurt, right? Who knew things could spin this far out of control!

Hard Love
Wittlinger, Ellen (YA WITTLINGER)
“And so I became Marisol Guzman, Puerto Rican Cuban Yankee Cambridge, Massachusetts, rich spoiled lesbian private-school gifted-and-talented writer virgin looking for love.”

Check out more GLBTQ titles for teens on our booklist Out on the Shelf: Teen Books with Gay Characters

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RESOURCES for Parents

My Child is Gay! Now What Do I Do?
www.bidstrup.com/parents.htm
Created by an individual, this site includes information and links for parents of gay children. Note: Some links don't work.

PFLAG
www.pflag.org
"PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, their families and friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights."

Loving Someone Gay
by Don Clark, PhD (306.76 CLA)
Offers support and guidance for gay men and lesbians and the friends and family who love them.

My Child is Gay: How Parents React When They Hear the News by Bruce McDougall, ed (306.766 MY)
A compilation of letters written by parents who have a gay or lesbian child.

Straight Parents, Gay Children: Keeping Families Together
by Robert A. Bernstein (306.874 BER)
Explores issues of suicide, including whether or not suicide is ever acceptable and causes of teen suicide.

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