It is important to have a support system when starting to discover and understand your own sexuality. I have compiled a list of online resources and support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered young people to help you along the way.

Lesbian

Lesbian.com
To be an international resource for lesbians, however we define ourselves. Lesbian.com will be an alternative, fun, relevant Internet resource that will reach out to ones both on and off line.
www.lesbian.com

Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
Our primary mandate is to collect and maintain information related to gay and lesbian life in Canada — though we have lots from elsewhere as well. We gather material on people, organizations, issues and events. We arrange that material, record it, store it — and secure it for the future.
www.clga.ca

Lesbian.org
Promoting lesbian visibility on the internet
www.lesbian.org

Lesbian sexual assault – Rape Crisis Information
Many lesbians and members of the LGBTQ community have been sexually assaulted. Here is a place to seek support.
www.ibiblio.org

Gay

Gay & Lesbian National Hotline
1-888-THE-GLNH (1-888-843-4564)

Gay Life
Over a dozen topics and tons of articles on everything from coming out to dating to marriage.
gaylife.about.com

Gay Men’s Counselling
www.gaymenscounselling.com

Canada’s Gay Guide
Know more about local and national community resources for gay, lesbian, bisexual, & transgendered (LGBT) people in Canada.
gayguidecanada.com

Bisexual

The American Institute Of Bisexuality
The American Institute of Bisexuality encourages, supports and assists research and education about bisexuality, through programs likely to make a material difference and enhance public knowledge, awareness and understanding about bisexuality.
www.bisexual.org

Toronto Bisexual Network
The Toronto Bisexual Network’s mandate is to provide a community where bisexuals and people questioning their sexuality can share diverse perspectives on bisexual issues and experiences.
torontobinet.org

Transgender

Transgender Canada Forums
Ask all of your questions (anonymously) here. From a simple introduction to hormone replacement and sexual reassignment surgery.
transgendercanada.com

ABGender.com
A detailed list of support groups across Canada.
www.abgender.com

Transgender Health Program
A variety of organizations offer transgender health programs or transgender health services. Some are stand-alone clinics, while others are part of LGBT or HIV/AIDS organizations; some offer medical services, while others focus on peer-based counseling, advocacy, and education.
www.vch.ca

Queer

Express – Newcomer & Immigrant Queer Youth Project
Express is a safe and supportive space where newcomers to Canada and/or immigrant queer youth find a place gather, share ideas, questions, and have fun!
www.soytoronto.org

Queer thinking forum
A safe, friendly and lively space with active members from over 50 countries. Get help, give advice, debate and enjoy. Specifically not a dating site.
www.queerattitude.com

LGBTQ

Lesbian Gay Bi Trans Youth Line
The Lesbian Gay Bi Trans Youth Line is a service provided for youth, by youth that affirms the experiences and aspirations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, 2-spirited, queer and questioning youth in Ontario.
orgs.tigweb.org

outProud
OutProud, The National (U.S) Coalition for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Youth, serves the needs of these young men and women by providing advocacy, information, resources and support. Our goal is to help queer youth become happy, successful, confident and vital gay, lesbian and bisexual adults.
www.outproud.org

LGBTQ columnist, Aldwin Era discusses the representation of the LGBTQ community on TV, starting with the show that launched it all…

I remember watching the original British version of Queer as Folk for the first time.  I was about sixteen, had already come out of the closet, but really hadn’t any idea what it meant to be gay.  I knew that I was gay, had always known in fact (I have the doodles of hairy-torsoed men in an old colouring book to prove it).  But I had no clue how real gay people lived.  ‘Where did they work?  What did they do?  How did they meet?’  Like the Lochness Monster or Bigfoot, gay people seemed a dreamed up myth to me — until that fateful Friday night.  I had never been more enthralled by a television show in my life.  I sat on the brown laminate flooring of my tiny bedroom riveted by the gratuitous images whirring before me: the gyrating naked male physiques, the Day-glo and sequined hot-pants, the seizure-inducing strobe lighting, the aloofness of one-night chance encounters with very young strangers…

‘This was it,’ I thought.  ‘This was how real gay people, or at least men, lived.’  I had been exposed, for the first time that I could remember, to a representation of myself on TV.  This was how my gay life was going to look, disco ball, feather boa, and all.

Boy, was I wrong.  I could not have been farther from the truth.  Sure, I’ve had my Church Street outings , seen my fair share of leather chaps and denim cut-offs, but my gay life, in terms of television, turned out to be more reminiscent of The Golden Girls than Queer as Folk.  And that got me thinking, more than ten years later as a gay man in my twenties, and with even greater representation of the LGBTQ community in the media, what does it mean to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and/or queer in today’s society? Are we seeing true reflections of ourselves or are we playing into the stereotypes that many of us have struggled to eradicate?

One can’t flip a channel these days without coming across at least one LGBTQ person or character on television.  With the historic outing of Ellen DeGeneres on her mid-nineties sitcom Ellen releasing the proverbial flood gates, there are now a plethora of LGBTQs reaching millions of homes internationally.  From the bisexual hijinks of MySpace star Tila Tequila on A Shot at Love to the antics on the transgendered/transsexual reality competition RuPaul’s Drag Race, one can’t argue that our community has no visibility on television.  In fact, it seems very à la mode these days to have an LGBTQ character as part of one’s ensemble cast.  How could the newly re-launched Melrose Place garner more attention than by writing in bisexual character Ella Simms?  Nothing says big ratings these days than an on-screen girl-on-girl kiss.  Are these characters serving as mirrors for the LGBTQ viewing audience? Is that really me as the recently out, mad for musical theater, Kurt Hummel on Fox’s new hit show Glee?  Are those really my lesbian friends swapping saliva on The L Word?  I asked a couple of my 20-something rainbow flag comrades to find out.

Laura, a dear friend and co-worker, posits that although the heightened presence of the LGBTQ community on television is generally a positive thing, the one-dimensional portrayal of its characters is what bothers her.  “You have to have a balance,” she says.  “What I don’t like is that when we are portrayed on television it’s usually as these promiscuous people whose only concerns are going out, doing drugs, and having sex.  We’re more than that.  We’re real people who want to have normal relationships, normal jobs, and want to lead a normal life.”

Vince, my first gay friend and only other openly gay male at my high school echoes Laura’s sentiments.  “In a post Ellen/Will and Grace era, mainstream TV hasn’t progressed much beyond presenting the token gay characters as mostly just stereotypes.  Characters are usually based on generalized truths that have been boiled down to a couple of signature traits, failing to represent the complexity of who ‘we’ are.”

How many times have I personally been told that I reminded someone of Jack on Will & Grace?  Countless.  Not to say that I’m bothered by such a comparison (I am pretty damn funny) but I am mostly disturbed by the conviction with which many of those who have “complimented” me in such a way believe that, Jack, this caricature, is who I really am.  And so the natural line of questioning ensues: “So, have you seen Cher in Las Vegas?” or “How many people are you seeing right now?”  Actually, a) I don’t like Cher and b) no one.  It’s the categorizing that is at issue, the fitting ideas of people into small, easily contained boxes, with clearly marked labels that is detrimental.

In the end, television will what television wants.  It’s a numbers game and as long as networks vie for viewership the sorts of things one will find on the airwaves will be of that over-the-top, shock-value, and up-to-the-minute kind.  Hopefully one day representation will achieve the sort of clarity Vince describes as “a representation of gay people, as individuals, with individual histories, who function both within and [outside] what you call ‘the [gay] community.’”

The truth is, I do see a little bit of myself in characters like Kurt Hummel.  I see the hiding, the secrets, and the wanting to please one’s parents (particularly one’s Dad) and these are all things I’m sure everyone can relate to.  So, until we get to that place where we are a more “integral” than “visible” community, I don’t feel so bad that I’m singing and dancing along with the cast of Glee from the privacy of my own home.