LGBTQIA+ Resources
Below are some guides, articles, and resources
for LGBTQ adults, young people, parents, and allies.
General Resources
Explore what coming out means to you with tools and guiding questions.
Psychology Today Article: Should You Come Out to Your Parents
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/gay-and-lesbian-well-being/201103/should-you-come-out-your-parents
LGBTQ Youth Online Resources
https://www.allconnect.com/blog/lgbtq-youth-online-resources
The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998. It focuses on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth. Through a toll-free telephone number, it operates The Trevor Lifeline, a confidential service that offers trained counselors. (Many readable resources are available on this site.)
The Trevor Lifeline 866-488-7386
http://www.thetrevorproject.org
Freedhearts.org
Founded in 2013, FreedHearts reaches into hurting communities with a message of love, inclusion, belonging, and hope — for parents, LGBTQ+, educators, therapists, and the church. We help people deconstruct their faith to free their heart to love and be loved. FreedHearts is in the trenches, providing safe spaces, inspiration, and encouragement. We have dynamic, transformational live, podcast, print, and film resources for LGBTQ+, parents, families, allies, and communities—to free hearts that change the world.
Dr. Kristen Vierregger and her Staff at Metamorphosis Medical Center have been serving the Transgender, Non-binary, Gender-expansive, and gender-diverse community in Orange County, CA - and beyond! - since 2013 providing hormone therapy and other transition-related services.
Resources for Parents
Strong Family Alliance Parent Guide
Strong Family Alliance Support and Resources
PFLAG started with families. For more than 40 years, we have been providing peer-to-peer support, publications, toolkits, and other resources to make sure that the family members of people who are LGBTQ get the support they need in the way that best serves their needs.
This allows families to then further support, affirm, and advocate on behalf of their LGBTQ loved ones.
Guide for Grandparents
https://pflag.org/resource/supporting-your-lgbtq-grandchild/
Faith-Based Organizations
To find a LGBTQ Safe Church/Community of Faith:
Strong Family Alliance: Faith-Based Organizations:
https://www.strongfamilyalliance.org/hopeful-voices/faith-based-organizations/?utm_source=Sumo&utm_medium=Smart
To find a LGBTQ Safe Church/Community of Faith:
www.churchclarity.org
Suicide Prevention/Crisis Lines/Help Lines
The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998. It focuses on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth. Through a toll-free telephone number, it operates The Trevor Lifeline, a confidential service that offers trained counselors. (Many readable resources available on this site.)
The Trevor Lifeline 866-488-7386
Trans Lifeline
877-565-8860
LGBT National Youth Talkline
800-246-7743
www.glnh.org
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Effective July 16, 2022
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is three digits: 988
afsp.org/orangecounty
1800-273-TALK
Or text TALK to 741-741
Be Well OC
OC Warmline – 714-991-6412
Veteran Crisis Line – 800-272-8255, Press 1
Teen Line – 310-855-4673; 6PM – 10PM
Text “TEEN” to 839863, 6PM – 9PM
Didi Hirsch Suicide Prevention Center
24/7 Crisis Line
800-273-8255
Behavioral Health
The Center of OC (LGBTQ)
The Center OC is a welcoming home for LGBT youth, adults, and families, as well as for our allies. We offer a safe space to find friendship, support and help.It provides leadership development and social programs for youth; low cost mental health counseling in several languages; health education; transgender programming; programs for gay, bi and curious men; programs for lesbians and women who are bisexual or questioning; social events that bring us together for friendship and community building; and much more.
(714) 953-LGBT (5428)
• Web http://www.lgbtcenteroc.org/
• Email frontdesk@lgbtcenteroc.org
Community Counseling and Supportive Services (OC Health Care Agency)
Short-term counseling for OC residents of all age groups, who have or at risk of developing a mild to moderate behavioral health condition. The program specializes in providing services to diverse communities, including LGBTQ+, deaf and hard of hearing and underserved ethnic communities.
To connect with the OC Health Care Agency’s Behavioral Health Services Information and Referral Line, call 855-625-4657.
OC ACCEPT provides community-based mental health and supportive services to individuals struggling with and/or identifying as LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex or Questioning) and the people important in their lives. The program specializes in addressing issues that are common in the LGBTIQ community, such as confusion, isolation, grief and loss, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, self-medicating with drugs and high risk behaviors, self-esteem challenges, victims of bullying, trauma, homelessness, and lack of familial support. OC ACCEPT seeks to provide a safe environment with acceptance and compassion for individuals to express their feelings, build resilience, become empowered and connected with others for support. The program also raises awareness and reduces stigma by providing education about the LGBTIQ population to the community at large.
(714) 645-8000 (Monday-Friday 8-5 PM)
Health Care/Medical
Partner Services – How to notify partners they need to be tested and/or treated for STD or HIV.
Free, confidential, private
OC Health Care Agency
www.ochealthinfo.com/STDHIV
Disease Control and epidemiology
714-834-7748
17th Street Testing, Treatment and Care Clinic
OC Health Testing and Treatment for STD/HIV
Pre-exposure and Post-exposure treatment (PrEP, PEP)
714-834-8787 for appointment
HIV Medical Care and Case Management
714-834-7991 for appointment
Radiant Health Centers (LGBTQ+ Health and HIV Care)
RHC provides medical and basic needs services to the HIV-positive community and expanded services to help vulnerable members of the broader LGBTQ+ community regardless of HIV status.
Client Eligibility 949-809-5700
Case Management – call 949-809-5700 and ask for Service Coordinator or Case mangager of the day and asked to be assigned a case manager. Case management is needed to access additional services: transportation, food pantry, registered dietician, housing, benefits counseling, mental health.
Radiant Health Centers Medical Clinic
Call for an appointment: 949-809-8764
Primary care, HIV and STD testing, Women’s breast and pelvic exams, family planning, hormone replacement therapy
UCI Health
Two doctors that specialize in LGBTQ+ Healthcare in the UCI system:
Dr. Shane V. Sheahan, MD 949-238-4100
Dr. Vanessa Wu, MD 949-386-5101
AltaMed Health Services Corp.
AltaMed.org
323-307-0113
AltaMed is on a mission to eliminate disparities in health care access and outcomes by providing superior quality health and human services through an integrated delivery system for Latino, multi-ethnic and often-overlooked communities in Southern California.
Friends of Family Health Center
Provides Affordable, Accessible, High Quality Health Care for All Ages – also welcome uninsured, underinsured, and those with no medical home. Also provides HIV medication and testing
562-690-0400
www.fofhealthcenter.org
LGBTQ+ Health Guide: https://www.drugwatch.com/health/lgbtq/
https://www.retireguide.com/guides/lgbtq-elder-health-care/
- What Health Care Challenges Do LGBTQ+ Elders Face?
- Discrimination against the LGBTQ+ Community
- Mental Health Resources
Recovery & Support Groups, and Related Service providers
APAIT was established in 1987 as a grassroots AIDS service organization (ASO) for Asian and Pacific Islanders (APIs) who were dying alone from AIDS-related stigma and shame.
APAIT’s Orange County location is at:
12832 Garden Grove Blvd., Suite E, Garden Grove, CA 92843.
APAIT historically reaches out to the diverse multi-ethnic communities of LA and Orange counties who identify as LGBTQIA-2S, immigrants, and refugees, at-risk for HIV/STIs, housing insecure, and with behavioral health lived experience.
Spark – The conversation for safer sex and drugs for Gay, Bisexual, and Trans men ages 18-24, for more information contact Hector Villa-Nieves, 714-636-1349, hectorv@apaitonline.org
Reclaim – Conversations on trauma and substance use recovery for transgender individuals (18+) and men who have sex with men (30+) for information contact Brandon Leong, 213-434-1139, brandon@apaitonline.org
Dayle McIntosh Center – serves people with disabilities in Orange County and offers a broad array of services to the community including: advocacy, aging and disability resource connection, aging with vision loss, assistive technology, community transition services, housing assistance, independent living skills for the deaf, independent living skills training, information and assistance, mobility training, peer counseling, personal assistant services, transition services for youth, community services.
Phone 714-621-3300
Video Phone: 657-233-8140
www.daylemc.org
Women’s Transitional Living Center
http://www.WTLC.org
Mission is to help individuals and families escape the depth of domestic violence and exploitation.
714-992-1939
24/7 Hotline 877-531-5522
Confidential Email/Text: Love@WTLC.ORG
To help share more information, we created a comprehensive guide about substance abuse in the LGBTQ+ community, including information like:
- Drug Trends in the LGBTQ+ community
- Gender-affirming treatment guidelines
- How to help an LGBTQ+ person cope with addiction
and more.
Individual Therapists
Ryan Borland Therapy
www.ryanborlandtherapy.com
949-441-2290
LGBTQ+ affirming therapy for couples and individuals
Sadie Hernandez Therapy
LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC Culturally Affirming Therapy
www.SadieHernandezTherapy.com
SadieHernandezTherapy@gmail.com
714-698-9488
Sobia Saleem
Trans, Poly, Kink & Chronic Illness Affirming Therapy
Psychotherapist, M.A. AMFT
SobiaSaleemTherapy.com
SobiaSaleemTherapy@gmail.com
949-228-9719
Kai Lewis
Marriage & Family Therapist Associate, MS, AMFT
A queer-identified affirming therapist with client experience across all LGBTQ identities.
(657) 214-4460
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/kai-lewis-costa-mesa-ca/881631
Brooklynn Kendall, MA, LMFT
949-287-3942
www.BrooklynnKendall.com
Brooklynn@BrooklynKendell.com
Books/Literature
Bold Strokes Books
Quality and Diversity in LGBTQ Literature
www.boldstrokesbooks.com
UnClobber
By Colby Martin
God and the Gay Christian
By Matthew Vines
As a young Christian man, Matthew Vines harbored the same basic hopes of most young people: to some-day share his life with someone, to build a family of his own, to give and receive love. But when he realized he was gay, those hopes were called into question. The Bible, he’d been taught, condemned gay relationships.
Feeling the tension between his understanding of the Bible and the reality of his same-sex orientation, Vines devoted years of intensive research into what the Bible says about homosexuality. With care and precision, Vines asked questions such as:
• Do biblical teachings on the marriage covenant preclude same-sex marriage or not?
• How should we apply the teachings of Jesus to the gay debate?
• Can celibacy be a calling when it is mandated, not chosen?
• What did Paul have in mind when he warned against same-sex relations?
Unique in its affirmation of both an orthodox faith and sexual diversity, God and the Gay Christian has sparked heated debate, sincere soul searching, and widespread cultural change on the issue of what it means to be a faithful gay Christian.
Walking the Bridgeless Canyon: Repairing the Breach between the Church and the LGBT Community
Kathy Baldock
In Walking the Bridgeless Canyon: Repairing the Breach between the Church and the LGBTQ Community, Baldock uncovers the historical, cultural, medical, and political filters of discrimination through which the LGBTQ community is seen. With a foundational context firmly established, she examines the most controversial filter of all: what the Bible says about same-sex behavior.
Hospitality to Strangers: Theology and Homosexuality
By Dr. Thomas Kevin Higgs
Exploring the reality of homosexual people through the lens of each of these authorities: Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience. This book is a defense of the full inclusion of homosexual people at every level of the church. Here are the stories of gay and lesbian people and their struggle in and outside of the church brought into focus through a theology of radical hospitality and prophetic nonviolence in the context of the ministry of an urban congregation.
Homosexuality and Christian Faith
By Walter Wink
Issues surrounding homosexuality threaten to divide the Christian churches and the people within them. This unique resource presents short pieces from some of the nation's most prominent church leaders - Protestant and Catholic, mainline and evangelical - who address the fundamental moral imperatives about homosexuality. Together they invite the reader to open his or her heart to the Spirit, to tolerance, and to Gospel values. Through personal testimony, factual clarification, and moral suasion, they provide much-needed clarity on the biblical witness and biblical authority, the nature or character of homosexuality and sexual orientation, and many related topics. Contributors include Elise Boulding, Ignacio Castuera, John B. Cobb Jr., William Sloane Coffin, Peggy Campolo, Bishop Paul Egertson, James A. Forbes Jr., Maria Harris, Barbara Kelsey, Morton Kelsey, Gabriel Moran, David G. Myers, Richard Rohr, O.F.M., Ken Sehested, Carole Shields, Donald W. Shriver Jr., M. Mahan Siler Jr., Lewis B. Smedes, and Walter Wink.
Homosexuality and the Bible
By Walter Wink
Making Sense of the Bible: Rediscovering the Power of Scripture Today
By Adam Hamilton
Denominations from evangelical to mainline continue to experience deep divisions over universal social issues. The underlying debate isn’t about a particular social issue, but instead it is about how we understand the nature of scripture and how we should interpret it. The world’s bestselling, most-read, and most-loved book is also one of the most confusing. In Making Sense of the Bible, Adam Hamilton, one of the country’s leading pastors and Christian authors, addresses the hot-button issues that plague the church and cultural debate, and answers many of the questions frequently asked by Christians and non-Christians alike
The ABC's of LGBT+: (Gender Identity Book for Teens, Teen & Young Adult LGBT Issues)
By Ashley Mardell
The ABCs of LGBT+ is a #1 Bestselling LGBT book and is essential reading for questioning teens, teachers or parents looking for advice, or anyone who wants to learn how to talk about gender identity.
Radical Love: Introduction to Queer Theology
By Patrick S. Cheng
Queer theology is more than LGBT people talking about God, according to Cheng, professor at Episcopal Divinity School and ordained minister in the Metropolitan Community Church. The real enterprise for queer theology is challenging binary distinctions and erasing boundaries. This erasure is made possible (indeed demanded) by the radical love espoused by Christianity. Through this love, all boundaries (gay/straight, male/female, life/death, divine/human) are dissolved. The first third of the book gallops through the history and method of queer theology. The barrage of snippets from theologians feels somewhat disjointed and overwhelming, but does provide a taste of the breadth of queer theology. Cheng then uses the framework of the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds to show how radical love can dissolve distinctions. Even liberal Christians might be alarmed at some of the explicit images Cheng connects with God and spiritual matters. Such shocks, however, play into the argument that queer theology should trouble assumptions. Cheng's work provides an accessible if somewhat rushed glimpse into how queer theology works; its main benefit is the extensive bibliography for those wanting more.
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What the Bible says...
Clobbering “Biblical” Gay Bashing
by Rev . Mark Sandlin
https://www.believeoutloud.com/voices/article/clobbering-biblical-gay-bashing/
Clobbering “Biblical” Gay Bashing
by Rev . Mark Sandlin
https://www.believeoutloud.com/voices/article/clobbering-biblical-gay-bashing/
Believe Out Loud is for all identities, sexualities, faiths and denominations.”
People come to our platforms from all racial, religious, cultural, sexual orientation, and gender expression backgrounds. We honor and showcase the perspectives of the diverse communities we serve. Believe Out Loud is a program of Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ, a vibrant, inclusive & progressive member congregation, known historically and predominantly as the largest LGBTQ church in the world.
Believe Out Loud is committed to engaging in partnerships across faith traditions and denominations. We are an intergenerational, multiracial, multi-faith, and sexual- and gender-identity-diverse team, committed to expanding the possibility of what a faith community can do in the world.
Clobber the Passages: Seven Deadly Verses
by Mel White
https://www.clgs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/333.pdf
Clarifying the "Clobber Passages"
by Rev. Cari Keith
https://roomforall.com/resources/a-clergy-responds/
10 BIBLE PASSAGES THAT TEACH A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON HOMOSEXUALITY
BY LAYTON E. WILLIAMS
https://sojo.net/articles/10-bible-passages-teach-christian-perspective-homosexuality
Rev. Brandan Robertson is a writer, activist, and public theologian, working at the intersections of spirituality and social renewal.
@revbrandanrobertson on Tik Tok
@brandanrobertson on Instagram