The 7 Best Online Transgender Support Groups of 2020

Best Overall: Trans Lifeline

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Trans Lifeline is a peer-support service run by trans people for trans people. All of the operators who work for the hotline are trans-identified.

While it started as a service for people in crisis, that is no longer the case. Trans Lifeline still functions as a crisis and suicide prevention hotline. However, it also serves as a space for trans people who just need someone to talk to.

Trans Lifeline provides live, one-on-one phone support, as well as large numbers of online resources for transgender and gender-questioning individuals. The hotline is open 24 hours a day. It is only guaranteed to be staffed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time, but operators are often also available at other times. 

In addition to information resources, Trans Lifeline offers microgrants to individuals who need financial support when updating their name and gender on their legal documents. They accept a limited number of applications each month. However, they will pay the entire fee for most document changes other than birth certificates. 

Best for Young People in Crisis: The Trevor Project

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The Trevor Project began from a film, the Academy Award-winning Trevor.

When the movie was released, the creators soon realized that there was a need for resources to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. To address this need, they created The Trevor Project.

The Trevor Project offers a number of support resources for LGBTQ+ youth. There is a crisis hotline called TrevorLifeline. There is a secure, instant messaging service called TrevorChat. The site provides access to trained specialists via cellphone using TrevorText. Finally, the Trevor Project offers TrevorSpace, a social networking site for LGBTQ+ individuals under 25, as well as their friends and allies.

In addition to support resources for LGBTQ+ youth, The Trevor Project offers educational resources for teachers and other professionals who work with youth. They also offer materials to help schools develop comprehensive suicide prevention policies that address kids' needs.

Best for Support Around Surgical Transition: Transbucket

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Transbucket is primarily an online resource for learning about gender-affirming surgery. It is restricted to only members of the transgender community. However, it takes a broad approach to defining the trans community, including not only binary and non-binary individuals but also those individuals who identify as agender (without gender). 

On Transbucket, you can find stories about people’s experiences undergoing various types of gender-affirming care. You can learn about different surgeons. You can also see photos that people have shared of their results, and ask questions about their experiences getting surgery. 

Although it is not a traditional support group, Transbucket is a great place to learn about gender-affirming care. While not a substitute for a doctor’s advice, Transbucket can give you a window into what it’s actually like to get different types of surgery. It also may provide a broader range of results, both good and bad, than you are likely to see at a surgeon’s office. 

Best for Teens and Their Parents: Gender Spectrum

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Gender Spectrum is an organization that was built to “create gender sensitive and inclusive environments for all children and teens.”

The service is best-known for both its annual conference and its extensive selection of training and other resources for youth, their families, and the professionals working with them. However, Gender Spectrum also offers online groups for pre-teens, teens, parents, caregivers, and other family members. Even better, Gender Spectrum offers a Spanish-language support group for parents of Latinx trans youth. 

Gender Spectrum primarily offers generalized support groups for transgender youth and their families. However, the organization also occasionally offers topic-specific support groups for caregivers.

In order to participate in a group, you will have to register. Groups are held at specific times and take place over one or more sessions. For some groups, you can attend once or multiple times over the course of a month. For others, you are expected to attend for an entire series. 

Groups are organized by population. They are generally facilitated by one or more trained staffers who may or may not be part of the transgender community. All pre-teen groups are led by trained volunteers or Gender Spectrum staff. 

Best for Seniors: ElderTG

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Transgender elders, and the people who love them, face a different range of challenges than their younger counterparts. They grew up at a time where there was substantially less visibility for transgender people. It was also a time where there was less access to gender-affirming care.

In general, communities made up of older adults are also more conservative, which may make them less accepting. Because of this, the life experiences of, and choices made by, older transgender adults can be hard to understand by younger transgender people and allies. 

Elder TG isn’t technically a support group. Instead, it’s an e-mail list for transgender people, their significant others, friends, families, and allies (SOFFAs). The advantage of this is that it’s low-tech. The only thing you need to participate in this supportive community is an e-mail address.

In order to join the Elder TG list, you must be a transgender or intersex person who is over 50, or the SOFFA of someone who fits in that category. The listserv has a high volume of e-mails, as it serves as the primary support system for many of its members. 

Best for Mental Health: The Tribe - LGBTQ+ Group

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There aren’t a lot of transgender-specific support groups for people looking for help dealing with mental health concerns.

However, lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals face some of the same issues moving through the world, as do their transgender counterparts. Therefore, sometimes an LGBTQ+ support group can be a good option. This is particularly true for individuals whose concerns are less about their gender and more about other types of stress. 

The Tribe offers an LGBTQ+ peer-to-peer support group. Using this site, there are several ways of getting support. You can either post in a group forum, or you can chat live with other members of the group. You can also participate in a range of wellness activities. While not transgender-specific, these activities can help you develop coping skills and otherwise work to improve your mental health and wellbeing.

Most of the resources from The Tribe can be accessed either on a desktop or a mobile device, which makes it a great option for when you’re around and about. 

Best for Partners: Engender Partners

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Individuals who are dating or married to transgender partners can face their own unique struggles and stressors. For example, it is not uncommon for cisgender partners to question their partner’s gender journey, their relationship to it, and what it says about their own sexual orientation.

Additionally, many queer female partners of transmasculine individuals (those assigned female at birth with a more, masculine gender identity) report feeling a loss of queer identity and community as their partners transition to male, and they are perceived as “straight.” 

The Engender Partners' group is designed to provide a “private, supportive forum for the partners of TG/CD people.” (CD stands for “crossdressing.”) It is a Yahoo group, where messages are exchanged asynchronously.

In other words, people send and respond to emails rather than chatting live. It is aimed primarily at female partners of transgender individuals who are assigned male-at-birth, which limits its audience.