Resources for supporting LGBT youth

Whether or not your program works directly with young people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or questioning, everyone who works with youth and families has a responsibility to help these young people feel safe and supported. To that end, I recently ran across an excellent anti-bullying curriculum that I wanted to share with you.

Welcoming Schools is a comprehensive LGBT-inclusive curriculum developed by the Human Rights Campaign that addresses family diversity, gender stereotyping and bullying and name-calling in K-5 learning environments. Many of these tools, lesson plans, and resources could likely be adapted for working with small groups and for older youth, as well as to help mentors develop knowledge and skills to help them talk to their mentees about these issues. To learn more, and to download an introductory guide, click here.

In addition, Craig Bowman of Common Ground Consulting has put together a great list of resources on these important issues (including the one mentioned above). I urge you to have a look and to read his passionate statement about the need for us all to do more to help LGBT youth in our communities.