Resources For Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Individuals

Self-Care Is For Everyone stands for the mental health of our transgender and gender nonconforming family and friends. We celebrate the courage and love brought forth into the world when anyone is able to live more openly and authentically. This page highlights our recommended resources for transgender individuals and allies. Please know this list is far from exhaustive, and we welcome your suggestions too!

First, we're taking a page out of this article by Dr. ks Stanley and zeroing in on how we communicate with & about one another. Misgendering and miseducation around pronouns can be experienced as a frequent and harmful micro-aggression, and deeply hurtful to mental health.

• Transgender is generally used as an umbrella term for people who are binary female-to-male (FTM) or male-to-female (MTF), nonbinary, gender fluid, and genderqueer.
  
  
• Nonbinary denotes those who identify and/or express their gender outside of the female-male binary (e.g. both, either, neither). Transgender people may or may not feel discomfort with traditional gender norms and roles.
  
  

Definitions credited to Dr. ks Stanley (Licensed Clinical Psychologist & Trans/Queer-identifying Individual specializing in LGBTQ+ mental health)

Supporting Mental Health Needs of Transgender Individuals

Trans-identified individuals have long faced stigmatization and oppression, which can have a powerfully negative impact on one's mental health. Additionally, a large majority of trans individuals (79% according to one survey) have reported experiencing anti-trans discrimination and aggression. This can lead to depression, PTSD, thoughts of suicide, and substance abuse.

The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS)—the largest survey of transgender people in the U.S.—reported that 98% of respondents who had experienced four instances of discrimination and violence within the past year thought about suicide, and 40.4 percent reported attempting suicide at some point in their lifetimes.

Unfortunately, many transgender and gender nonconforming individuals are often denied access to the very things that anyone struggling with suicidation, depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges deserves: mental health resources and professional care.

"Gender minority stress has been shown to lead to poorer mental health outcomes. Suicide among transgender people has been well-documented and established. One particularly unique minority stressor that trans people face is called transgender identity defense stress. Having to defend one’s identity, value, and legitimacy as a transgender person has a damaging cumulative impact on a person’s mental health.

Transgender narratives and transgender communities are diverse. Gender diverse people have multiple identities (both privileged and oppressed) that interact and interplay across different social contexts over time. The experiences of Black trans men differ from their white counterparts because they experience the stigma of being a Black man in America. Transgender women of color are subject to the intersection of racism, misogyny, & transphobia, and are disproportionately murdered and assaulted in America. People can also experience multiple minority stress as a result having multiple, marginalized identities. Carrying these identities has been linked to denial of health care too. For trans people, access to gender-affirming medical interventions is a matter of life and death." – Dr. ks Stanley, PsyD

Resources for Transgender Individuals

Online Hotlines

Trans Lifeline
www.translifeline.org
Call 877 565-8860 (USA) or
Call 877 330-6366 (Canada)
The only peer support crisis line for trans and questioning people, by trans people (that we know of)! It is a grassroots hotline offering direct emotional and financial support for the trans community. NOTE: They DO NOT call the police to report suicidality without consent of the caller

The Trevor Project – Saving Young LGBTQ Lives
www.thetrevorproject.org
Call 1-866-488-7386 or
Text START to 678678
The Trevor Project was created to support youth who need a safe and judgment-free place to talk. You can connect with them via phone call, text message, or online chat. They have many resources about topics like coming out, Trans + Gender Identity, homelessness, Gay + Lesbian experiences, and many others. Click on “Resources” followed by “Trevor Support Center” to view every category

Trans-inclusive Communities & Organizations for Mental Health Support

Note: If you're considering therapy, look for a trans-affirmative therapist who actively pursues training to support trans mental health and offers gender affirmative therapy– not just someone who claims to be trans-friendly.

TrevorSpace
www.trevorspace.org
An affirming international community for LGBTQ young people ages 13-24, run by the Trevor Project

GLAAD – Transgender Resources
https://www.glaad.org/transgender/resources
Full of supportive trans-affirmative organizations

Trans Justice Funding Project
www.transjusticefundingproject.org
A community-led funding initiative founded in 2012 and run by & for trans people to support grassroots trans justice groups in the United States through annual grants

The Okra Project
www.theokraproject.com
A collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black trans people by bringing them cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources wherever they can reach them

National Center for Transgender Equality
www.transequality.org
Offers resources for navigating the stressful process of seeking health care while trans. YouTube channel available too

Tribal Equity Toolkit
www.ncdsv.org
Tribal Resolutions and Codes to Support Two Spirit & LGBT Justice in Indian Country. Provides a brief overview and analysis of legal and policy issues that impact or discriminate against two spirit/LGBT people

Black Trans Travel Fund
www.blacktranstravelfund.com
The Black Trans Travel Fund is a grassroots, Black Trans led Collective, providing Black transgender women with financial and material/literary resources needed to remove barriers to self-determining and accessing safer travel options

Read: A Guide to Mental Health Care for People Who Are Transgender
Dr. ks Stanley, PsyD

Podcasts & Media

Black Trans Lives Matter
Nancy Podcast
Published June 11th, 2020. Featuring an interview with Imara Jones, this podcast episode discusses creating a truly inclusive Black Lives Matter movement, and getting back to the roots of Pride

I AM: Trans People Speak
www.transpeoplespeak.org
Video campaign raising awareness about the diversity that exists within transgender communities. It gives a voice to transgender individuals, as well as their families, friends, and allies. Created by the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) and sponsored by GLAAD

TEDx Talk: Beyond the Gender Binary
Yee Won Chong
Published December 13th, 2012. A story about the challenges of navigating the world while transgender, with suggestions for being an ally

TEDx Talk: Hey Doc, some boys are born girls
Decker Moss
Published December 11th, 2013. What happens when how we look on the outside clashes with how we feel on the inside? Decker Moss explores this issue and more, explaining his struggles with not only one, but two major gender-related transitions in his life

We've Been Around and This is Me
Rhys Ernst
Two GLAAD recommended, award-winning films

Books

Transgender History
Susan Stryker

Resources for Trans/Nonbinary Allies, Friends, and Loved Ones

TransLifeline – Supporting A Trans Loved One
www.translifeline.org/resource/supporting-a-trans-loved-one

GLAAD – Tips for Allies of Transgender People
www.glaad.org/transgender/allies

Send The Right Message – Allyship
www.sendtherightmessage.ca/allyship

The Transgender Training Institute
www.transgendertraininginstitute.com
Offering live classes & educational resources

Family Acceptance Project
www.familyproject.sfsu.edu
A San Francisco State University project utilizing an evidence-informed family support model to help teach diverse families how to support their LGBTQ children

Read: Why to Not Call the Police on Trans People in Crisis

Resources for Healthcare Providers, Law Enforcement & Emergency Personnel, and Mental Health Professionals

Trans Health Consulting
www.transhealthconsulting.com/mentalhealth
List of Clinical Support Mental Health Providers & Resources

Responding to Transgender Victims of Sexual Assault
www.ovc.ojp.gov
A guide to help deliver culturally sensitive, respectful care when working with transgender victims and their loved ones

Sexual Assault Response Teams Toolkit (Section 6.8)
www.nsvrc.org/sarts/toolkit/6-8
Helps educate about victim-centered approaches when working with survivors of sexual assault who are gender non-conforming

Becoming Aware: How May Mental Health for Transgender People be Impacted by Recent Anti-trans Legislation?

Though public support of transgender visibility and rights is higher than ever, there has been a frightening legislative backlash in the US in recent months. More anti-trans bills have been proposed in the first three months of 2021 than in all of 2020! It is clear that this legislation is an intentional attempt by a minority to sow division and hatred, with the HRC noting that in many cases, these legislators (TX, MS, MO, AL, SD, etc.) have targeted trans youth and pushed anti-trans legislation even before COVID-19 response and relief.

We want to believe that this hateful tactic will backfire, as an overwhelming majority of Americans (9 out of 10) oppose discrimination against trans-identified individuals, with about half (49%) criticizing anti-discrimination efforts as having “not gone far enough in accepting people who are transgender”, up 10% from just 3 years before (2017). However, the negative impact that such widespread and discriminatory legislation will have on mental health within the trans community makes the need for trans-affirmative mental health resources and allies more important now than ever.

"In a year that has taken a toll on each and every one of us, it is shocking that anti-equality extremists in state legislatures across this country have dedicated an unprecedented amount of time and energy to attacking the LGBTQ community and particularly LGBTQ youth. The furious pace of these bills shows that hateful anti-equality groups across the country and extremist legislators alike realize that equality is gaining momentum. This is their shameful attempt to throw a wrench into the progress we have steadily made in the fight for equality. Today’s milestone serves as a reminder of the intensity of our opposition and just how hard we must continue to work to overcome discrimination and exclusion. Progress in the fight for equality has always come in fits and starts but nevertheless marches forward. We know we are on the right side of history." – Alphonso David, Human Rights Campaign President

Resources for Understanding This Alarming Political Shift

Read: Large Majorities, including Republicans, Oppose Discrimination Against
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People
A poll published June 24th, 2020 by Employers and Health Care Providers

Read: BREAKING: 2021 Becomes Record Year for Anti-transgender Legislation
Wyatt Ronan

Listen: What's Driving The Spate of Anti-transgender Legislation?
Arfie Ghedi