Local Resources
The Oakland-East Bay PFLAG Chapter has compiled these additional resources for those living in the Bay Area. We hope they can be of help to those looking for additional support.
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LOCAL GROUPS AND AGENCIES
Here is an alphabetical list of resources for our LGBTQ+ community and those who love and support them. If you are looking for another PFLAG chapter, go to the Find a Chapter page at the national PFLAG site.
Asian and Pacific Islander Queer Women and Transgender Community (APIQWTC)
- Providing opportunities for Asian & Pacific Islander queer women and transgender people to socialize, network, build community, engage in inter-generational organizing, and increase community visibility.
- Bringing the voices of LGBTQ+ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people.
Equality Scholarship Collaborative
- Awarding scholarships to honor and encourage California students for their service to the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender community.
Gaylesta: The Psychotherapist Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity
- Providing mental health services including therapist referrals, education and consultation for LGBTQ communities and the general public.
- Building queer and transgender Asian and Pacific Islander power to amplify our voices and increase the visibility of our communities.
Oakland LGBTQ Community Center
- Enhancing and sustaining the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, our families and allies.
- Advancing equity for the full and expanding spectrum of LGBTQ families and children through support, education, and advocacy.
- Enhancing the mental health and overall well-being of the LGBTQIA+ and QTBIPOC communities by providing culturally responsive therapy, peer to peer support groups, community outreach services, and facilitated workshops.
- Empowering and advocating for LBTQIA+ immigrants
- Providing Evidence-Based Training & Mental Health Services for the LGBTQIA+ Community.
- Working to create a community to support our transgender and gender diverse kids.
- Building leadership in our Latinx families and communities to create a culture where people of diverse genders and sexual orientations can thrive.
TGIJP: Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project
- Challenging and ending the human rights abuses committed against Black, Black/Brown Trans people inside of California prisons, jails, detention centers and beyond.
- Changing law, policy, and attitudes so that all people can live safely, authentically, and free from discrimination regardless of their gender identity or expression.
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OUR BOOK LIST
Here is an alphabetical list of some of the publications that have helped members of PFLAG Oakland-East Bay learn about gender, the journeys of transgender people, and LGTBQ+ lives and history. Titles are linked to isbnsearch.org, a search engine designed to find book information and the best prices for books.
Click here to find many of these wonderful books at an Alameda County Library.
Becoming Nicole, by Amy Ellis Nutt: The inspiring true story of a transgender girl, her identical twin brother, and an ordinary American family’s extraordinary journey to understand, nurture, and celebrate the uniqueness in us all, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning science reporter for The Washington Post
The Daughter We Didn’t Know We Had: The Tears, Fears, and Joys of a Mother of a Transgender Child, by Marilyn Phillips: When your beautiful son comes to you and says he has had feelings of suicide, your heart skips a beat. You do whatever it takes to get him help. When your beautiful son comes to you and says he wants to become a woman, your world is suddenly turned upside down. A million thoughts invade your mind. Fear becomes your constant companion, and tears swell up inside you every time you think of what could be waiting ahead. You can’t help feeling pride in your child for showing the kind of courage that would be needed for their long road ahead. You watch as your family struggles to come together and stay together in what will be the most trying of times.
Far from the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity, by Andrew Solomon: Solomon tells the stories of parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional children but also find profound meaning in doing so. Solomon’s startling proposition is that diversity is what unites us all.
Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel: In this graphic memoir, Alison Bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father. Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of the town funeral home, which Alison and her family referred to as the Fun Home. It was not until college that Alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A few weeks after this revelation, he was dead, leaving a legacy of mystery for his daughter to resolve.
The Gender Book, by hunter rook, Jay Mays and Robin Mack: A fun, colorful, community-based resource, which illustrates the beautiful diversity of gender – a gender 101 for anyone and everyone. Based on countless hours of research, more than 200 questionnaires, and dozens of one-on-one interviews with members of the communities depicted. Many pages available for free online.
A Guide to Gender: The Social Justice Advocates Handbook, by Sam Killermann: Killermann dissects gender using a comprehensive, non-binary toolkit, with a focus on making this subject accessible and enjoyable. Featured as #1 on gender on Amazon, used by Gender Studies and Sociology professors on three continents. PDF e-book available for donation online.
If I Was Your Girl, by Meredith Russo (Young Adult): Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school. Like anyone else, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is keeping a secret, and she’s determined not to get too close to anyone. But when she meets sweet, easygoing Grant, Amanda can’t help but start to let him into her life. As they spend more time together, she realizes just how much she is losing by guarding her heart. She finds herself yearning to share with Grant everything about herself, including her past. But Amanda’s terrified that once she tells him the truth, he won’t be able to see past it. Because the secret that Amanda’s been keeping? It’s that at her old school, she used to be Andrew. Will the truth cost Amanda her new life, and her new love?
Love Lives Here: A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family, by Amanda Jette Knox: An inspirational story of accepting and embracing two trans people in a family–a family who shows what’s possible when you “lead with love.”
A Queer History of the United States, by Michael Bronski: Drawing upon primary-source documents, literature, and cultural histories, scholar and activist Michael Bronski charts the breadth of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history, from 1492 to the 1990s.
A Quick & Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns, by Archie Bongiovanni and Tristan Jimerson: A quick, easy and important educational comic guide to using gender-neutral pronouns.
She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders, by Jennifer Finney Boylan: When she changed genders, she changed the world. It was the groundbreaking publication of She’s Not There in 2003 that jump-started the transgender revolution. By turns hilarious and deeply moving, Boylan – a cast member on I Am Cait; an advisor to the television series Transparent, and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times — explores the territory that lies between men and women, examines changing friendships, and rejoices in the redeeming power of love and family.
Transgender 101, by Nicholas Teich: Written by a social worker, popular educator, and member of the transgender community, this well-rounded resource combines an accessible portrait of transgenderism with a rich history of transgender life and its unique experiences of discrimination.
The Transgender Child, by Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper: This comprehensive first of its kind guidebook explores the unique challenges that thousands of families face every day raising their children in every city and state. Through extensive research and interviews, as well as years of experience working in the field, the authors cover gender variance from birth through college.
Transgender History, by Susan Stryker: Covering American transgender history from the mid-twentieth century to today, Transgender History takes a chronological approach to the subject of transgender history, with each chapter covering major movements, writings, and events. Includes quotes from major texts and speeches in transgender history and brief biographies of key players, plus excerpts from transgender memoirs and discussion of treatments of transgenderism in popular culture.
Two Spirits, One Heart: A Mother, Her Transgender Son, and Their Journey to Love and Acceptance, by Marsha Aizumi and Aiden Aizumi: Mother, educator, and LGBT activist Marsha Aizumi shares her compelling story of parenting a young woman who came out as a lesbian, then transitioned to male. Two Spirits, One Heart chronicles Marsha’s personal journey from fear, uncertainty, and sadness to eventual unconditional love, acceptance, and support of her child who struggled to reconcile his gender identity.
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