National Resources for LGBT+ Students
Legal/ Civil Rights Support
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
The ACLU is a nonpartisan organization which brings lawsuits on such topics as discrimination,
parenting, etc. designed to impact civil rights and constitutional law in order to
achieve GLBT equality.
- Human Rights Campaign
America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender equality.
- Immigration Equality
Based in New York City and Washington D.C., Immigration Equality is the national leader
in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and HIV immigration rights. They helped end
the HIV travel ban, and they led the successful fight to secure green cards for LGBT
families.
- Lambda Legal
Lambda Legal is the oldest and largest national legal organization whose mission is
to achieve full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender
people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.
- Outserve-Servicemembers Legal Defense Fund (SLDN)
Outserve-SLDN is a non-partisan, non-profit, legal services, watchdog and policy organization
dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel.
Support/ Advocacy Groups
- GLAAD
GLAAD amplifies the voice of the LGBT community by empowering real people to share
their stories, holding the media accountable for the words and images they present,
and helping grassroots organizations communicate effectively. By ensuring that the
stories of LGBT people are heard through the media, GLAAD promotes understanding,
increases acceptance, and advances equality.
- Intersex Society of North America
The Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) is devoted to systemic change to end
shame, secrecy, and unwanted genital surgeries for people born with an anatomy that
someone decided is not standard for male or female.
- Asexual Visibility & Education Network
AVEN hosts the world's largest online asexual community as well as a large archive
of resources on asexuality. AVEN strives to create open, honest discussion about asexuality
among sexual and asexual people alike.
- Bisexual Resource Center
The Bisexual Resource Center is the oldest national bi organization in the U.S. that
advocates for bisexual visibility and raises awareness about bisexuality throughout
the LGBT+ and Allied communities.
- National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC)
The mission of National Youth Advocacy Coalition is to advocate for and with young
people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender in an effort to end discrimination
against these youth and to ensure their physical and emotional well-being.
The National Youth Advocacy Coalition takes a comprehensive approach to improving
the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. The Coalition strongly
believes that to be effective in creating change at the National level, we must work
with and support local community based work as well. The Coalition stresses that the
expertise required to strengthen the LGBT youth services movement can be found among
both youth and adults from around the country.
- PFLAG
Made up of parents, families, friends, and straight allies united with people who
are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT), PFLAG is committed to advancing
equality and societal acceptance of LGBT people through its threefold mission of support,
education and advocacy.
- Services & Advocacy for gay, lesbian, bisexual, & transgender elders
Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) is the country's largest and oldest organization
dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT+ older adults.
- Trans Lifeline
Trans Lifeline is a non-profit dedicated to the wellbeing of transgender people. They
run a hotline staffed by transgender people, for transgender people. Trans Lifeline
volunteers are ready to respond to whatever support needs members of our community
might have. This is a free helpline run by volunteers and supported by the community.
You can reach the Trans Lifeline in the US by calling (877) 565-8860.
- Consortium of Higher Education Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Professionals
The Consortium of Higher Education Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resources
Professionals was officially born at the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force's Creating
Change Conference in San Diego (November, 1997) but the consortium had actually been
working together on an informal basis for several years prior to that. The combined
vision and mission on the Consortium is to achieve higher education environments in
which lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students, faculty, staff, administrators,
and alumni have equity in every respect. Our goals are to support colleagues and develop
curriculum to professionally enhance this work; to seek climate improvement on campuses;
and to advocate for policy change, program development, and establishment of LGBT
Office/Centers.
- National Center for Transgender Equality
The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) is a 501(c)3 social justice organization
dedicated to advancing the equality of transgender people through advocacy, collaboration
and empowerment.
- National Gay & Lesbian Task Force
The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the power of the
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. As part
of a broader social justice movement, they work to create a nation that respects the
diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all.
- Trikone
Trikone is the leading group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender South Asians.
Based in San Francisco, Trikone publishes a regular magazine.
Links to resources and websites are provided as a service to our students, and do
not constitute an endorsement of their organizations or programs. MTSU is not responsible
for the content of the individual web pages found at these links.
NOTE: If you discover a problem with one one of the links on this page, please contact
Intercultural and Diversity Affairs at 615-898-5812 or lgbt@mtsu.edu.
