Gender & Sexuality Affirming Resources for Youth, Families, & Clinical Teams
Whether you are a young person exploring identity, a caregiver seeking guidance, an educator supporting students, or a clinician deepening your practice, access to quality information matters.
This resource library brings together trusted organizations, scholarly research, books, and educational tools that have shaped my understanding of gender, sexuality, belonging, mental health, and affirming care.
Resource Library
Trans Legislation Tracker
The 2026 Trans Legislation Tracker is an independent research organization tracking bills that impact trans and gender-diverse people across the United States. They track legislation that seeks to block trans people from receiving basic healthcare, education, legal recognition, and the right to publicly exist.
*Last updated 6.4.26 and built with data from Trans Legislation Tracker, an independent research organization tracking legislation in the United States.
Resource Library
Resources for Youth, Families & School Communities
No one should have to navigate these challenges alone. The resources below were selected to help youth, families, and school communities access trusted information, practical tools, and supportive organizations.
PFLAG NYC is a partnership of parents, allies, and LGBTQ+ folks working to make a better future for LGBTQ+ youth and adults. Caregivers can get involved locally, connect with other parents and resources for kids and families.
The NYC LGTBQ+ Center Youth provide a safe, inclusive, affirming environment where LGBTQ+ youth can connect with peers, build leadership skills, and take care of their mental and physical health. Youths ages 13-22 are welcome to participate in our in-person and virtual programs, services, and events.
The Trevor Project is the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit organization for LGBTQ+ young people. We provide information & support to LGBTQ+ young people 24/7, all year round.
It Gets Better is a nonprofit organization with a mission to uplift, empower, and connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth around the globe. Learn more about our work.
The Door: Adolescent Health Center (AHC)
The Door provides comprehensive youth development services in a diverse and caring environment and their Adolescent Health Center (AHC) offers comprehensive healthcare in an affirming environment. Clients ages 18-24 can receive Transgender Health Services, including hormone replacement therapy.
Callen-Lorde’s Health Outreach To Teens (HOTT) program is a welcoming, non-judgmental, confidential program designed to meet the medical and mental health needs of LGBTQ+ adolescents and young adults ages 13-24. These services are offered at Callen-Lorde clinics as well as a mobile medical units and all services are provided free of charge or at low cost (insurance is also accepted).
Trans Lifeline provides trans peer support for the TGNC and is run by and for trans people. They envision a world where trans people have the connection, economic security, and care everyone needs and deserves—free of prisons and police.
Glisten is dedicated to creating safe and respectful learning environments for youth of all sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, race and abilities. Policy, Supportive Educators, Youth Engagement, and Inclusive Curriculum are pillars of their work.
The Gender & Family Project (GFP) empowers youth, families and communities by providing gender affirmative services, training and research. GFP promotes gender inclusivity as a form of social justice in all the systems involved in the life of the family.
The Family Acceptance Project® (FAP) strives to increase family and community support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer-identified (LGBTQ) children and youth to decrease health and mental health risks and to promote well-being.
Our mission is to create a gender-inclusive world for all children and youth. To accomplish this, we help families, organizations, and institutions increase their understanding of gender and consider the implications that evolving views have for each of us.
From creating an inclusive learning environment for students — whether a student is in the process of transitioning, or she has two moms — to understanding the challenges and resiliency of LGBTQ+ youth, HRC provides a wealth of resources for support.
A 24-hour program, The Ali Forney Center never closes its doors. They provide more than just a bed and food for those in need — from initial intake at our drop-in center to transitional housing and job readiness training, they provide homeless LGBTQ+ and at-risk youth a safe, warm, supportive environment to escape the streets.
Easy to use educational guides built for and with LGBTQ+ teens, Imi Guide can help you explore identity independently or with others. It’s free, accessible, and research-backed support, built in a safe digital space.
Resource Library
Essential Reading for Gender-Affirming Practice
Research has highlighted a dangerous gap in sexuality education within social work programs, leaving many clinicians underprepared to engage confidently with issues related to gender, sexuality, intimacy, and relationships. The books below represent some of the most impactful resources in my own development as an affirming clinician.
The Routledge International Handbook of Social Work and Sexualities
Edited By SJ Dodd, LCSW
This Handbook addresses the dynamic issues related to sexuality from a social work perspective by providing a comprehensive, current and international overview of issues related to sexuality.
It explains how each issue is important and critically discusses the leading views in the area, providing diverse and inclusive perspectives from leading scholars across:
- Structural Context
- Sexual Identities
- Sexuality trough the Lifespan
- Health, Mental Health, and Sexuality
- Sexual Health and Well-Being: Pleasure, Desire, and Consent
- Practice Issues
- Regulating Sexuality: Historical and Contemporary Legislation
SJ Dodd, LCSW
Most social workers in the United States, like most Americans, grew up with the cultural norm that talking about sex is taboo. Sex is everywhere—on television, in movies, on social media, in advertising, and even in politics. Sex and sexuality are central to our lives. Social workers come across them in almost every practice setting and almost every client population. We routinely engage with clients experiencing sexual-and gender-identity issues, reproductive concerns, sexual abuse, sexual violence, troubled relationships, and sexually transmitted infections.
Yet active conversations about healthy sexuality and sexual well-being are missing from social work literature, education, and practice. The “conspiracy of silence” identified by Jean Gochros almost half a century ago is still very much with us.
Monogamous Mind, Polyamorous Terror
Brigitte Vasallo
Monogamy is not a practice, but a system and a way of thinking. The monogamous mind extends from our romantic relationships with our national identities in a historic development linked to capitalism and colonialism. Monogamy is the latest step in the binary sex-gender system and must be observed as a part of it. Following the works of, among others, Michel Foucault, Arthur Evans, and Silvia Federici, as well as Frantz Fanon and Cedric Rodinson in colonialism, we can observe how the implementation of compulsory monogamy took place and where. Also, which are the key points to observe when we analyse forms of non-monogamy in the Occidental context.
Social Work Practice with Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth
Edited By Jama Shelton, PhD, MSW & Gerald P. Mallon, DSW, LCSW
The book explores the childhood and adolescent experiences of transgender persons, providing foundational knowledge for social workers about working with trans and gender expansive youth. Organized through the lens of four distinct forms of knowledge – knowledge of lived expertise, community-based knowledge, practice knowledge, and knowledge obtained through formal/traditional education – this text balances discussion of theory with a range of rich personal narratives and case studies. Updates and additions reflect recent changes to the WPATH guidelines and the NASW Code of Ethics, include brand new material examining the origins of gender identity and non-binary identities, explore intersectional identities, and offer expanded content considering trauma-informed interventions and ethical issues.
Resource Library
Evidence-Informed Clinical Perspectives
Affirming care draws from multiple disciplines, perspectives, and ways of understanding human experience. The resources below represent a selection of peer-reviewed scholarship that informs my understanding of gender, sexuality, mental health, family systems, trauma, resilience, and LGBTQ+ affirming care.
While no single study can capture the complexity of human experience, this body of research highlights many of the factors that contribute to wellbeing, belonging, identity development, and resilience among LGBTQ+ and TGNC individuals, families, and communities.
Mental Health & Well Being
Research examining mental health outcomes, resilience, minority stress, and protective factors among LGBTQ+ and TGNC youth and adults.
Natural Mentoring and LGBTQ Youth: A Systematic Review
Burningham, K. L., & Weiler, L. M. (2021). Natural Mentoring and LGBTQ Youth: A Systematic Review. Adolescent Research Review, 6(4), 391–407. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-020-00146-x
The Gender Minority Stress and Resilience Measure: Psychometric Validity of an Adolescent Extension
Hidalgo, M. A., Petras, H., Chen, D., & Chodzen, G. (2019). The gender minority stress and resilience measure: Psychometric validity of an adolescent extension. Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology, 7(3), 278–290. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpp0000297
Trends in Violence Victimization and Suicide Risk by Sexual Identity Among High School Students — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2015–2019
Johns, M. M., Lowry, R., Haderxhanaj, L. T., et al. (2020). Trends in violence victimization and suicide risk by sexual identity among high school students — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2015–2019. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(Suppl-1), 19–27. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.su6901a3
2025 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People
Nath, R., Matthews, D.D., DeChants, J.P., Hobaica, S., Clark, C.M., Taylor, A.B., & Muñoz, G. (2025). 2025 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People. West Hollywood, California: The Trevor Project. Retrieved from https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2025/
Family Acceptance & Caregiver Support
Research exploring family acceptance, rejection, caregiving relationships, chosen family, and family-based interventions that influence wellbeing and development.
Family matters, but sometimes chosen family matters more: Perceived social network influence in the dating decisions of same- and mixed-sex couples
Blair, K. L., & Pukall, C. F. (2015). Family matters, but sometimes chosen family matters more: Perceived social network influence in the dating decisions of same- and mixed-sex couples. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 24(3), 257–270. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjhs.243-A3
Conceptualizing “Family” and the Role of “Chosen Family” within the LGBTQ+ Refugee Community: A Text Network Graph Analysis
Kim, S., & Feyissa, I. F. (2021). Conceptualizing “Family” and the Role of “Chosen Family” within the LGBTQ+ Refugee Community: A Text Network Graph Analysis. Healthcare (Basel), 9(4), 369. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9040369
Building Connections Between Chosen Family and Kin: A Culturally Adapted Program for LGBTQ+ Children, Youth, and Their Families
Matarese, M., Greeno, E., Weeks, A., Lorthridge, J., Hammond, P., & Deinhart, S. (2024). Building Connections Between Chosen Family and Kin: A Culturally Adapted Program for LGBTQ+ Children, Youth, and Their Families. Families in Society, 105(1), 81–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894231204538
Family of origin, not chosen family, predicts psychological health in a LGBTQ+ sample.
Milton, D. C., & Knutson, D. (2023). Family of Origin, Not Chosen Family, Predicts Psychological Health in a LGBTQ+ Sample. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 10(2), 269–278. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000531
Family-Based Psychosocial Care for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children and Youth
Ryan, C., Barba, A., & Cohen, J. A. (2023). Family-Based Psychosocial Care for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children and Youth. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 32(4), 775–788. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2023.03.002
Family Rejection as a Predictor of Negative Health Outcomes in White and Latino Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Young Adults
Ryan, C., Huebner, D., Diaz, R. M., & Sanchez, J. (2009). Family Rejection as a Predictor of Negative Health Outcomes in White and Latino Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Young Adults. Pediatrics (Evanston), 123(1), 346–352. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2007-3524
Family Acceptance in Adolescence and the Health of LGBT Young Adults
Ryan, C., Russell, S. T., Huebner, D., Diaz, R., & Sanchez, J. (2010). Family acceptance in adolescence and the health of LGBT young adults. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 23(4), 205–213. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6171.2010.00246.x
Schools, Education & Youth Development
Research examining school climate, teacher support, victimization, educational systems, and developmental experiences of LGBTQ+ youth.
The Impact of Positive School Climate on Suicidality and Mental Health Among LGBTQ Adolescents: A Systematic Review
Ancheta, A. J., Bruzzese, J. M., & Hughes, T. L. (2021). The impact of positive school climate on suicidality and mental health among LGBTQ adolescents: A systematic review. The Journal of School Nursing, 37(2), 75–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059840520970847
The importance of teacher support: Differential impacts by gender and sexuality
Dessel, A. B., Kulick, A., Wernick, L. J., & Sullivan, D. (2017). The importance of teacher support: Differential impacts by gender and sexuality. Journal of Adolescence, 56, 136–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.02.002
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adolescent School Victimization: Implications for Young Adult Health and Adjustment
Russell, S. T., Ryan, C., Toomey, R. B., Diaz, R. M., & Sanchez, J. (2011). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adolescent School Victimization: Implications for Young Adult Health and Adjustment. The Journal of School Health, 81(5), 223–230. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2011.00583.x
Gender-nonconforming lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth: School victimization and young adult psychosocial adjustment.
Toomey, R. B., Ryan, C., Diaz, R. M., Card, N. A., & Russell, S. T. (2010). Gender-Nonconforming Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth: School Victimization and Young Adult Psychosocial Adjustment. Developmental Psychology, 46(6), 1580–1589. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020705
Healthcare Access & Gender-Affirming Care
Research examining affirming healthcare, access to services, barriers to care, and healthcare systems.
Cisgenderism in psychology: pathologising and misgendering children from 1999 to 2008
Ansara, Y. G., & Hegarty, P. (2011). Cisgenderism in psychology: Pathologising and misgendering children from 1999 to 2008. Psychology & Sexuality, 3(2), 137–160. https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2011.576696
“I Don’t Think This Is Theoretical; This Is Our Lives”: How Erasure Impacts Health Care for Transgender People
Bauer, G. R., Hammond, R., Travers, R., Kaay, M., Hohenadel, K. M., & Boyce, M. (2009). “I Don’t Think This Is Theoretical; This Is Our Lives”: How Erasure Impacts Health Care for Transgender People. The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 20(5), 348–361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jana.2009.07.004
Disparities in Preventive Health Services Between Transgender and Cisgender Adults by State-Level Policy Environments
Degtiar, I., Kim, J., Michaels, E. K., Huff, I. R., Rudacille, M. E., Clusen, N. A., Ferguson, A., Smith-Howell, E. R., & Gonzales, G. (2025). Disparities in Preventive Health Services Between Transgender and Cisgender Adults by State-Level Policy Environments. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 69(4), Article 107954. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2025.107954
LEGITIMATING TRANSPHOBIA The legal disavowal of transgender rights in prison
Erni, J. N. (2012). Legitimating transphobia: The legal disavowal of transgender rights in prison. Cultural Studies, 27(1), 136–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2012.722305
A conceptual framework for clinical work with transgender and gender nonconforming clients: An adaptation of the Minority Stress Model.
Hendricks, M. L., & Testa, R. J. (2012). A Conceptual Framework for Clinical Work With Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Clients: An Adaptation of the Minority Stress Model. Professional Psychology, Research and Practice, 43(5), 460–467. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029597
Minority Stress & Early Development
Research exploring the effects of discrimination, marginalization, transphobia, systemic oppression, and social exclusion on wellbeing and identity development.
“Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts”: Transphobia, Symbolic Violence, and Conservative Christian Discourse
Blyth, C., & McRae, P. (2018). “Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts”: Transphobia, Symbolic Violence, and Conservative Christian Discourse. In Rape Culture, Gender Violence, and Religion: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (pp. 111-133). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
A Conceptual Framework for Clinical Work With Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Clients: An Adaptation of the Minority Stress Model
Hendricks, M. L., & Testa, R. J. (2012). A Conceptual Framework for Clinical Work With Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Clients: An Adaptation of the Minority Stress Model. Professional Psychology, Research and Practice, 43(5), 460–467. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029597
Beyond Empathic Failures: Cultural Racism as Narcissistic Trauma and Disenfranchisement of Grandiosity
Miliora, M. T. (2000). Beyond empathic failures: Cultural racism as narcissistic trauma and disenfranchisement of grandiosity. Clinical Social Work Journal, 28(1), 43–54. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005159624872
Note: Although this article is about the impact of cultural racism on human development, I found the argument incredibly helpful in understanding the impact of cultural transphobia operating across all ecological levels.
Anti-Black Racism and Its Consequences: A Self Psychology/Object Relations Perspective
Whitsett, D. P., & Whitsett, D. A. (1996). Anti-Black Racism and Its Consequences: A Self Psychology/Object Relations Perspective. Journal of Analytic Social Work, 3(4), 61–81. https://doi.org/10.1300/J408v03n04_05
Note: Although this article is about the impact of cultural racism on human development, I found the argument incredibly helpful in understanding the impact of cultural transphobia operating across all ecological levels.
Community, Culture & Collective Resilience
Research highlighting the role of community, cultural spaces, chosen family networks, and collective care in fostering resilience and belonging.
Constructing Home and Family: How the Ballroom Community Supports African American GLBTQ Youth in the Face of HIV/AIDS
Arnold, E. A., & Bailey, M. M. (2009). Constructing Home and Family: How the Ballroom Community Supports African American GLBTQ Youth in the Face of HIV/AIDS. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 21(2–3), 171–188. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538720902772006
“Family Is the Beginning but Not the End”: Intergenerational LGBTQ Chosen Family, Social Support, and Health in a Vietnamese American Community Organization
Huynh, J. (2023). “Family Is the Beginning but Not the End”: Intergenerational LGBTQ Chosen Family, Social Support, and Health in a Vietnamese American Community Organization. Journal of Homosexuality, 70(7), 1240–1262. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2021.2018879
“We Just Take Care of Each Other”: Navigating ‘Chosen Family’ in the Context of Health, Illness, and the Mutual Provision of Care amongst Queer and Transgender Young Adults
Jackson Levin, N., Kattari, S. K., Piellusch, E. K., & Watson, E. (2020). “We Just Take Care of Each Other”: Navigating ‘Chosen Family’ in the Context of Health, Illness, and the Mutual Provision of Care amongst Queer and Transgender Young Adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(19), 7346. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197346
Leisure as black survival: ballroom, vogue, and black queer and trans+ embodied activism in Canada
Joseph, J., & Bain, N. (2024). Leisure as black survival: ballroom, vogue, and black queer and trans+ embodied activism in Canada. Leisure (Waterloo), 48(2), 315–332. https://doi.org/10.1080/14927713.2024.2308911
‘Ballroom itself can either make you or break you’ – Black GBT Youths’ psychosocial development in the House Ball Community
Telander, K., Hosek, S. G., Lemos, D., & Jeremie-Brink, G. (2017). “Ballroom itself can either make you or break you” – Black GBT Youths’ psychosocial development in the House Ball Community. Global Public Health, 12(11), 1391–1403. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2017.1293123
Relational Ethics & Clinical Practice
Research informing therapeutic relationships, mutuality, ethics, and relational approaches to care.
No Sex in Social Work: (the Lack of) Human Sexuality Courses in US Social Work Education
Velez, C., Sloan, L., Al-Kaabi, I., Cuddy, A., & Kerrigan, J. (2023). No Sex in Social Work: (the Lack of) Human Sexuality Courses in US Social Work Education. Journal of Human Rights and Social Work, 8(1), 2–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-022-00230-3
Caring, Mutuality and Reciprocity in Social Worker—Client Relationships: Rethinking Principles of Practice
Alexander, C., & Charles, G. (2009). Caring, Mutuality and Reciprocity in Social Worker—Client Relationships: Rethinking Principles of Practice. Journal of Social Work: JSW, 9(1), 5–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468017308098420
The nature of practice wisdom in social work revisited
Chu, W. C. K., & Tsui, M. (2008). The nature of practice wisdom in social work revisited. International Social Work, 51(1), 47–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872807083915
Social work as a moral and political practice
Chu, W. C. K., Tsui, M., & Yan, M. (2009). Social work as a moral and political practice. International Social Work, 52(3), 287–298. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872808102064
Professional boundaries: Crossing a line or entering the shadows?
Doel, M., Allmark, P., Conway, P., Cowburn, M., Flynn, M., Nelson, P., & Tod, A. (2010). Professional boundaries: Crossing a line or entering the shadows? British Journal of Social Work, 40(6), 1866–1889. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcq010
Relational ethics in immigrant families: The contextual therapy five‐dimensional framework
Glebova, T., Lal, A., & Gangamma, R. (2025). Relational ethics in immigrant families: The contextual therapy five‐dimensional framework. Family Process, 64(1), e13071-n/a. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.13071
Race, Practice Behaviors and the NASW Code of Ethics
Jayaratne, S., Croxton, T. A., & Mattison, D. (2002). Race, Practice Behaviors and the NASW Code of Ethics. Journal of Social Service Research, 28(3), 65–89. https://doi.org/10.1300/J079v28n03_04
Working in Complexity: Ethics and Boundaries in Community Work and Mental Health.
Shevellar, L., & Barringham, N. (2016). Working in Complexity: Ethics and Boundaries in Community Work and Mental Health. Australian Social Work, 69(2), 181–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2015.1071861
‘You Just Treat me like a Human Being’: Using Lived Experience to (Re)imagine Boundary Practices in mental health settings
Sinclair, A., Mahboub, L., Gillieatt, S., & Fernandes, C. (2023). ‘You Just Treat me like a Human Being’: Using Lived Experience to (Re)imagine Boundary Practices in mental health settings. The British Journal of Social Work, 53(3), 1408–1425. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcad044
MY APPROACH
The CARE Framework
Guiding Clinical Judgement in Gender-Affirming Care
CARE (Contextual Assessment for Relational Ethics) is a framework I developed through my research on gender-affirming care, professional boundaries, and clinical judgment. It is grounded in the belief that meaningful ethical decision-making requires careful consideration of developmental needs, structural realities, client self-determination, potential risks and consequences, and the cultural and community contexts in which people live their lives.
SINGER EQUITY & WELLNESS 