LGBTQ Sites

LGBTQ Sites
A preliminary word about “alphabet soup.”
As is explained in some of the literature listed in The Basics, the acronym “LGBT” stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender. You will increasingly see the acronym “LGBTQ” with the Q standing for “Queer.” Although the word “queer” has a somewhat pejorative history, it has been reclaimed to apply to anyone who refuses to conform to any sex-role stereotypes (please refer to the Glossary on The Basics page for a detailed definition).
As groups of individuals discover shared perspectives, more and more letters are appended to this acronym--to the point that many refer fondly to this growing string of letters as “alphabet soup.”
Though each of these lettered groups can be loosely distinguished by sexual orientation and/or identity issues, they are united in a deeper commonality: they all refuse to be confined by a centuries-old binary sex-role system that has been grossly incompatible with the actual diversity of human nature. That is why the LGBTQ population thinks of itself as a community, even though specific perspectives within it may differ quite a bit.

The List
Below is a list of LGBTQ sites that offer resources for transgender education and advocacy. These are presented in alphabetical order. Each site address is followed by the organization’s full name and then a popular name/acronym, if it exists, to the right in purple text. Click on the blue web address to open a new window to that site.
Excerpts from the sites’ mission statements are included below the address line to give you an idea of the basic goals of each. Please revisit this page regularly to learn of any new additions.

www.aclu.org/lgbt/transgender/index.html American Civil Liberties Union ACLU
The ACLU works to include gender identity in nondiscrimination laws and brings impact lawsuits to change biased laws against transgender people in employment, schools and public accommodations.

www.advocatesforyouth.org/about/glbtq.htm Advocates for Youth GLBT Initiative
Advocates for Youth works to address homophobia within communities, sensitize youth-serving professionals to the needs of GLBTQ youth and to encourage GLBTQ youth to become powerful advocates for themselves and other youth by sharing culturally relevant information and access to tailored services.
www.colage.org Children Of Lesbians And Gays Everywhere COLAGE
COLAGE is a national movement of children, youth, and adults with one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer (LGBTQ) parents. We build community and work toward social justice through youth empowerment, leadership development, education, and advocacy.
www.glaad.org Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation GLAAD
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
www.hrc.org Human Rights Campaign HRC
HRC seeks to improve the lives of GLBT Americans by advocating for equal rights and benefits in the workplace, ensuring families are treated equally under the law and increasing public support among all Americans through innovative advocacy, education and outreach programs. HRC works to secure equal rights for GLBT individuals and families at the federal and state levels by lobbying elected officials, mobilizing grassroots supporters, educating Americans, investing strategically to elect fair-minded officials and partnering with other GLBT organizations.
http://hrw.org Human Rights Watch HRW
Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law.

www.nclrights.org National Center for Lesbian Rights NCLR
The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education.
www.lgbtcampus.org/ Nat’l Consortium of Directors of LGBT Resources in Higher Education
LGBT Campus
To critically transform higher education environments so that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students, faculty, administrators, staff, and alumni/ae have equity in every respect.
www.pflag.org Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays PFLAG
PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender 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. PFLAG provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity.

www.sageusa.org/ Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders SAGE
SAGE is the world's oldest and largest non-profit agency dedicated to serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender seniors. Since its inception, SAGE has pioneered programs and services for seniors in the LGBT community, provided technical assistance and training to expand opportunities for LGBT older people across the country, and provided a national voice on LGBT aging issues.

www.soulforce.org/index.php Soulforce
The purpose of Soulforce is freedom for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from religious and political oppression through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance. The mission of Soulforce is to cut off homophobia at its source -- religious bigotry...We apply the creative direct action principles taught by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. to peacefully resist injustice and demand full equality for LGBT citizens and same-gender families.

www.thetaskforce.org National Gay & Lesbian Task Force The Task Force
The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. We do this by training activists, equipping state and local organizations with the skills needed to organize broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and building the organizational capacity of our movement.

www.tavausa.org/ Transgender American Veterans Association TAVA
Founded in 2003, the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) is a 501 (c) 3 organization that acts proactively with other concerned gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) organizations to ensure that transgender veterans will receive appropriate care for their medical conditions in accordance with the Veterans Health Administration’s Customer Service Standards promise to “treat you with courtesy and dignity . . . as the first class citizen that you are.” Further, TAVA will help in educating the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) on issues regarding fair and equal treatment of transgender and transsexual individuals

http://imatyfa.org/ Trans Youth Family Allies TYFA
TYFA empowers children and families by partnering with educators, service providers and communities, to develop supportive environments in which gender may be expressed and respected.