Resources

Besides the programs offered at the IYG house, Indiana Youth Group offers a wide variety of resources and referrals to youth and their families. This ranges from LGBT friendly counseling referrals to health services. Please contact us for more information. Email us at info@indianayouthgroup.org. Or call us at: 317-541-8726

The following are lists with more information on:


Good web sites

Movies

Indianapolis LGBT bookstore

National LGBT Religious Organizations

Inclusive churches in Indiana

Good web sites

Books



Good web sites:

www.TheTrevorProject.org A suicide prevention hotline specifically for LGBTQ youth. It offers advice to both LGBTQ teens and their straight friends and loved ones, including tips on recognizing the signs of suicidal thoughts and where to get help locally. They also have a safe chat space for teens at www.trevorspace.org.


www.YouTube.com: search for It Gets Better.



Movies:

Both of these documentaries are excellent. They show how families have dealt with the coming out of their child. Copies are available for purchase on their website.


For the Bible Tells Me So, www.forthebibletellsmeso.org

Anyone and Everyone, www.anyoneandeveryone.com


Other great documentaries for LGBTQ youth discussion:

    • It’s Elementary
    • It’s STILL Elementary
    • Straightlaced
    • Transgeneration
    • Bullied (available for free at www.tolerance.org)


These movies are fun mainstream movies that in some way involve the LGBT community. You can probably find them at most video rental stores. All are appropriate for teens.

    • Big Eden
    • Brother to Brother
    • But I’m just a Cheerleader
    • If These Walls Could Talk 2
    • Imagine Me & You
    • Outing Riley
    • Loving Annabelle
    • Prom Queen
    • Kinky Boots
    • Beautiful Thing
    • Were the World Mine
    • Edge of Seventeen
    • Shelter
    • D.E.B.S
    • Latter Days
    • The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love
    • Ma Vie en Rose (French with subtitles)
    • Camp (2005)
    • Saved!
    • Happy Texas
    • Billy Elliot
    • Ready? OK!
    • Connie and Carla
    • To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
    • In and Out
    • Prayers for Bobby (Lifetime)
    • The Truth About Jane (Lifetime)
    • Transamerica
    • Looking for Langston


Non-fiction for LGBT teens and young adults:

Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence edited by Marion Dane Bauer**

Free Your Mind: The Book for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Youth And Their Allies by Ellen Bass (designed to make everyone feel empowered about his or her or another’s sexuality and achieve understanding and tolerance.

GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens by Kelly Huegel

The Little Black Book for Guys: Guys Talk About Sex by St. Stephen’s Community House

The Little Black Book for Girlz: A Book on Healthy Sexuality by St. Stephen’s Community House

Gender Identity: The Ultimate Teen Guide by Scarecrow Press

Full Spectrum : A New Generation of Writing About Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Other Identities by David Levithan (Edt)


LGBT fiction for teens and young adults: (*=1st choice, **=2nd choice)

    • 21 Proms by David Levithan
    • Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden*
    • Are We There Yet? by David Levithan
    • Beyond the Wind by Rob N. Hood
    • Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan*
    • Deliver Us from Evie by M. E. Kerr
    • Down to the Bone by Mayra Lazara Dole
    • Empress of the World by Sara Ryan*
    • Far from Xanadu by Julie Anne Peters
    • Freak Show by James St. James
    • Geography Club by Brent Hartinger
    • Getting It by Alex Sanchez/ Michael Frost
    • Girl from Mars by Tamara Bach / Shelley Tanaka
    • God Box by Alex Sanchez
    • Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger**
    • Hero by Perry Moore
    • Is He or Isn't He? by John Hall/John Scognamiglio
    • Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters
    • Last Chance Texaco by Brent Hartinger
    • Luna by Julie Anne Peters*
    • The Misfits by James Howe**
    • My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr**
    • My Tiki Girl by Jennifer McMahon
    • Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger
    • Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky**
    • Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez*
    • Rainbow High by Alex Sanchez
    • Rainbow Road by Alex Sanchez
    • Realm of Possibility by David Levithan
    • Rules for Hearts by Sara Ryan
    • So Hard to Say by Alex Sanchez
    • Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
    • Straight Road to Kylie by Nico Medina
    • Swimming in the Monsoon Sea by Shyam Selvadurai
    • This Is Push: An Anthology of New Writing by David Levithan (Edt)
    • Totally Joe by James Howe
    • The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd
    • Where We Are, What We See by David Levithan (Edt)
    • Wide Awake by David Levithan
    • The Year They Burned the Books by Nancy Garden


General non-fiction books on LGBT issues that may be helpful:

Gay America: Struggle for Equality by Linas Alsenas (detailed work covers more than a hundred years of LGBTQ history)

Is it a Choice? Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Gay and Lesbian People by Eric Marcus

Something To Tell You: The Road Families Travel When a Child is Gay by Gilbert Herdt

What if Someone I Know is Gay: Answers to Questions About What It Means to be Gay and Lesbian by Eric Marcus

A Place at the Table: The Gay Individual in American Society by Bruce Bawer

A Journey to Moriah (a remarkable story of the mother of a gay son and her journey of loving him) by Gary Pool

Coming Out As Parents: You and Your Homosexual Child by David K Switzer

50 Ways to Support Lesbian and Gay Equality: The Complete Guide to Supporting Family, Friends, Neighbors-Or Yourself. By Merdith Maran

Loving Someone Gay by Don Clark



Gay and Lesbian Religious Organizations

(much of this information taken from the Liberty Education Forum’s web site)

Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists (AWAB); www.bpfna.org/

Dignity USA; www.dignityusa.org/ Through their national organization and many local chapters, Dignity works for education, for the reform of the Roman Catholic Church's teachings and pastoral practices toward sexual minorities, and for the acceptance of all people as full members of the Church.

Emergence International, www.emergence-international.org/, is a world-wide community of Christian Scientists, their families and friends providing spiritual and educational support for LGBT people.

Evangelicals Concerned, www.ecinc.org/, is the national network of gay and lesbian evangelical Christians and friends.

Gay, Lesbian and Affirming Disciples Alliance, www.gladalliance.org GLAD’s mission is to be a safe and faithful place for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Affirming community. Relying on Holy Spirit, we speak truth to power, advocating for inclusivity, diversity, and justice in all manifestations of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Integrity, www.integrityusa.org, is a nonprofit organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Episcopalians and their straight friends.

The Interfaith Alliance, www.interfaithalliance.org/. Founded in 1994 by a diverse group of religious leaders, The Interfaith Alliance works to promote interfaith cooperation around shared religious values to strengthen the public's commitment to the American values of civic participation, freedom of religion, diversity, and civility in public discourse.

Keshet Ga’avah: www.glbtjews.org/. The World Congress of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Jews consists of around 50 member organizations in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Mexico, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The World Congress holds conferences and workshops representing the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual, & transgender Jews around the world.

Lutherans Concerned North America, www.lcna.org, stands as a community of faith, modeling the gospel with the church and within the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered communities. They seek to employ the Gospel's principles of inclusiveness and justice, celebrating God's gifts of sexuality and diversity.

Lutheran Lesbian and Gay Ministries; www.elm.org/

Rainbow Baptists, www.rainbowbaptists.org, is a website providing support, information and advocacy for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer identified Baptists, their family and friends.

Seventh-day Adventist Kinship International (Kinship), www.sdakinship.org/, is a nonprofit support organization which ministers to the spiritual, emotional, social, and physical well-being of Seventh-day Adventist lesbian, gay men, bisexual, and trans-gendered individuals and their families and friends.

Soulforce, www.soulforce.org, is an interfaith movement committed to ending spiritual violence perpetuated by religious policies and teachings against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

United Methodist Reconciling Ministries Network, www.rmnetwork.org/, is a national grassroots organization that exists to enable full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the life of the United Methodist Church, both in policy and practice.

Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches: www.mccchurch.org. All are welcome in the Metropolitan Community Church; a worldwide fellowship of Christian churches with a special outreach to the world's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.

www.eskimo.com/~rmisaac/gayjews.html This site has many resources for Jewish gay and lesbians. It includes many other related websites, email lists, and information on Judaism and homosexuality.





Inclusive churches in Indiana

(These are member organizations of the Interfaith Coalition on Nondiscrimination and are just a sampling of the inclusive churches in the state):


Books on the topic of Sexuality and Religion:

Children are Free: Re-examining the Biblical Evidence on Same-sex Relationships by Jeff Miner (excellent for answering questions about the Bible—highly recommended)

Homosexuality and Christian Faith: Questions of Conscience for the Churches by Walter Wink

Anything but Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth by Wayne Besen

Is the Homosexual My Neighbor: A Positive Christian Response by Letha Dawson Scanzoni and Virginia Ramey Mollenkott

What God Has Joined Together? A Christian Case for Gay Marriage by David G. Myers and Letha Dawson Scanzoni

Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church by Jack Rogers

The New Testament and Homosexuality by Robin Scroggs

A Time to Embrace: Same-Gender Relationships in Religion, Law, and Politics by William Stacy Johnson

What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality by Daniel A. Helminiak

Their Own Receive Them Not: African American Lesbians & Gays in Black Churches by Horace L. Griffin

A Whosoever Church: Welcoming Lesbians and Gay Men into African American Congregations by Gary David Comstock

Talking about Homosexuality, a Congregational Resource by Karen P. Oliveto

Exile or Embrace? Congregations Discerning Their Response to Lesbian and Gay Christians by Mahan Siler

Here I Stand: My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, Love & Equality by John Shelby Spong of Integrity, Love & Equality by John Shelby Spong