Youth & Young Adult Resources
All in God’s Family: Creating Allies for Our LGBT Families
Giving you opportunities to gather with other members of your congregation to pray, to learn, to share, and to work together to transform your lives, your congregation, and your world into a loving place in which God’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender families can thrive.
Download: All in God’s Family
Companion Resources:
Documentary: “In My Shoes”
Book: Families Like Mine by Abigail Garner
I’m the Scary Transgender Person The Media Warned You About – MEET Rebekah Bruesehoff – the 10-year-old transgender girl ‘the media warned you about.’ Mum Jamie Bruesehoff, from New Jersey, and her daughter Rebekah are spreading awareness of transgender people one rally at a time. Since her transition started over two years ago, the young girl has been campaigning, attending marches and speaking at rallies to stand up for transgender rights. (2017)
Clunky Questions: LGBTQ Lutherans and Pastors Answer Common Questions In our work, we often hear people with good intentions feel they aren’t able to ask questions about what it means to be LGBTQ because they are afraid of offending someone or they don’t have the right words with which to ask. If this sounds familiar, or if your faith community is interested in how to better support LGBTQ Lutherans, then the “Clunky Questions” series is for you.
PFLAG – “PFLAG is the nation’s largest family and ally organization. Uniting people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) with families, friends, and allies, PFLAG is committed to advancing equality and full societal affirmation of LGBTQ people through its threefold mission of support, education, and advocacy.”
The Naming Project – “The Naming Project is a Christian ministry serving youth of all sexual and gender identities. We provide a safe place for youth who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning or allied to learn, grow, and share their experiences. In this way, The Naming Project is a space in which youth can comfortably discuss faith and who they understand themselves to be and how they relate to God and the rest of the world. The Naming Project is a Christian ministry that walks with youth wherever they are on their own faith journey. Youth from around the country attend our summer camp, and we communicate with youth, parents, pastors, youth workers, and others who care for LGBTQ youth.”
Children’s Books Resources
Rhythmic text and illustrations with universal appeal show a toddler spending the day with its mommies. From hide-and-seek to dress-up, then bath time and a kiss goodnight, there’s no limit to what a loving family can do together. Shares the loving bond between same-sex parents and their children.
Rhythmic text and illustrations with universal appeal show a toddler spending the day with its daddies. From hide-and-seek to dress-up, then bath time and a kiss goodnight, there’s no limit to what a loving family can do together. Share the loving bond between same-sex parents and their children.
Every night, Bailey dreams about magical dresses: dresses made of crystals and rainbows, dresses made of flowers, dresses made of windows. . . . Unfortunately, when Bailey’s awake, no one wants to hear about these beautiful dreams. Quite the contrary. “You’re a BOY!” Mother and Father tell Bailey. “You shouldn’t be thinking about dresses at all.” Then Bailey meets Laurel, an older girl who is touched and inspired by Bailey’s imagination and courage. In friendship, the two of them begin making dresses together. And Bailey’s dreams come true! (Ages 5-9)
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
An Ally’s Guide to Terminology
The words we use to talk about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and issues can have a powerful impact on our conversations. The right words can help open people’s hearts and minds, while others can create distance or confusion. For example, the abbreviation “LGBT” is commonly used within the movement for lesbian, gay, bi and transgender equality, but it can be confusing and alienating to people who don’t understand what it means (for many media and mainstream audiences, the term gay and transgender is more accessible without being overwhelming). Designed for new allies who want to support LGBT Americans but often face an array of confusing terminology and language, this short guide offers an overview of essential vocabulary, terms to avoid, and a few key messages for talking about various issues.
Talking About LGBT Equality with Latinos and Hispanics
Extending Hospitality to People of All Gender Identities and Gender Expressions
The 2016 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Churchwide Assembly passed the two following pieces of legislation. This resource seeks to provide guidance to synods and the churchwide organization as it employs more inclusive language.
Asexuality: an Introduction to the Asexual and Aromantic Spectrums
Asexual is a sexual orientation characterized by a lack of sexual attraction toward any gender. This resource explains both the asexual and aromantic spectrums and is designed to work alongside the “Lutheran Introduction to LGBTQIA+ People and Their Families” resource.
Sample Name Tag with Pronouns Template
Extend hospitality to our LGBTQIA+ siblings by incorporating pronouns into your name tags. Perfect for faith communities or special events.
HRC, National LGBTQ Task Force and UNID@S release new bilingual guide on sexual orientation, gender identity and the Bible for Latino/a families and churches.
Download A La Familia
Support for Families
COLAGE
COLAGE unites people with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer parents into a
network of peers and supports them as they nurture and empower each other to be skilled, self confident, and just leaders in our collective communities. Their website offers an array of information including online support groups, print resources, and an online blog for kids of LGBTQIA+ parents.
The Family Acceptance Project™ is a research, intervention, education and policy initiative that
works to prevent health and mental health risks for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
(LGBTQIA+) children and youth, including suicide, homelessness and HIV – in the context of their
families, cultures and faith communities. They provide a research based, culturally grounded
approach to help ethnically, socially, and religiously diverse families to support their LGBTQIA+
children. They have many professional publications and a powerful documentary series
surrounding real life families. They also provide links to many pertinent resources on their page.
Family Equality Council
Family Equality Council connects, supports, and represents the three million parents who are
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer in this country and their six million children. We
are changing attitudes and policies to ensure that all families are respected, loved, and
celebrated—including families with parents who are LGBTQIA+. Their site offers a place for
individuals to share their story, sign up for email alerts, view their upcoming events, and get
resources.
Gender Spectrum provides a wealth of information for parents and families concerning the
complexities of gender, parenting considerations, parenting practices, and transitioning. Other
resource topics on their site include information about education, medical services, mental
health, legal services, social services, and faith.
Healthychildren.org Facts for Teens and Parents
Healthychildren.org provides beginning information for questioning teens and their parents
including definitions of sexual orientation, how to communicate, the coming out process, and
specific parent information. They also provide links to other similar resources.
Human Rights Campaign – Gay Parenting
The Human Rights Campaign’s Gay Parenting page provides a wealth of information and
resources concerning adoption, foster parenting, assisted reproduction, growing up LGBTQ in
America, and how to keep your kids safe at school. You can also sign up to receive the latest
HRC family news delivered to your inbox.
National Center for Transgender Equality – Families
NCTE lists many resources for families including publications, blogs, news updates, and legal
information.