About Us

Publications

YouthLine 2023: Coming Home Anthology

Image Cominghome Cover

One of the achievements of the 2023-2024 YouthOrganize program is the Coming Home anthology, which “focuses on the exploration of self-discovery, centering on the journey of personal growth.” 36 youth in the Peel and Halton Regions contributed art and stories that share their 2SLGBTQ+ experiences. This is the culmination of many months of community engagement work by the YouthOrganize team, which consists of 2 staff facilitators and a 6-member Advisory Committee. 

Local artist Pardis Pahlavanlu created the front and back covers, as well as the inner spreads. Check out her work here: https://www.pardispahlavanlu.com/ 

The YouthOrganize team collaborated with Eva’s Phoenix to print these beautiful, 72-page books! Check out their work here: https://www.evas.ca/what-we-do/print-shop/ 

View and download the digital version of Coming Home here, or make a donation for a physical copy on our Square shop: https://lgbtyouthline-shop.square.site/ 

PYAP 2021 Projects

Affirm, Honour, Express was created to highlight the many ways that 2SLGBTQ+ youth affirm, honour, and express their individual identities when they do not feel safe to be out. Submissions to the zine were open to all 2SLGBTQ+ youth in Ontario.

View the zine here: https://anyflip.com/bktrb/pwsa/

Or grab a physical copy on our Square shop: https://lgbtyouthline-shop.square.site/
The Healing Space Zine was created to prioritize 2SLGBTQ+ Black and Indigenous youth who have faced increased isolation due to the pandemic. Through these Healing Spaces, we helped reconnect participants to their culture and heritage while decolonizing gender and sexuality. The pieces created for this zine are reflective of participants healing journeys, dreams, and hopes for a decolonized future. 

View the zine here: https://anyflip.com/bktrb/gxcm/

Or grab a physical copy on our Square shop: https://lgbtyouthline-shop.square.site/

Learning, Grounding, Growing: Practical Tools for 2SLGBTQ+ Youth 

We developed the following tools as part of our Learning, Grounding, Growing Project in 2021 / 2022, generously funded by the City of Toronto. 

Zines

It’s important to find opportunities to talk about and explore your emotions. Talking about emotions with other people can help you identify your deepest needs and find ways to get those needs met. 

This tool will guide you through the process of noticing and describing feelings in your body so you can find balance and calm after talking about difficult emotions. 

Connecting with and resourcing your body is a really good way to practice self-care.  

This is a great tool to use if you feel interested in establishing new ways of relating to your body or if you want to learn how your emotions are connected to your physical sensations. 
This tool will guide you through the process of labelling and exploring your emotions so you can feel more comfortable with talking about the way you feel. 

Exploring your emotions and sharing them with others is a really good way to practice self-care.  

This tool will show you how to use metaphors to talk about emotions. This is a great tool to use if you are a visual thinker, like to think about metaphors, or interested in exploring your emotions without feeling overwhelmed by feelings! 

Writer – Ronnie Ali / @leavesonastream 

Illustrator – Alejandra Higuera / @ale_higuerat 

Graphic Designer – Magda Arturo / @magda_arturo_936traveler 

Boundaries are Beautiful

Boundaries are important to share because they let other people know how to be with us respectfully. It takes the guesswork out of relationships. When we can talk about boundaries, we can find the safety we need to engage our relationships in a healthy way.  

This video was produced by LGBT YouthLine and Leaves On A Stream as part of the Learning, Grounding, Growing Project in 2021 / 2022, generously funded by the City of Toronto.  

Writer – Ronnie Ali (@leavesonastream)
Visual Design and Animation – Alejandra Higuera (@ale_higuerat) 
ASL Translation – Sage Lovell / Deaf Spectrum (@deaf.spectrum / @color.me.bai) 
Creative Producer – Gavrel Feldman  
LGBT YouthLine Creative Team – Minna Frederick and Saadia Khan  
Music – fishdinner 

Climate Despair

Here at YouthLine, staff started to prioritize talking about their thoughts, experiences, and feelings in regard to climate change once we realized how many of us were feeling anxiety about the earth. The term “climate despair” came up, so we wanted to unpack that a little bit, and offer some resources in case climate despair is something that’s been on your mind, or something you’ve been experiencing. 

We thought that if so many of us were having big feels around what’s been happening with the climate, other 2SLGBTQ+ youth must be, too! 

We’ve compiled these resources in the form of a webpage, which you can view here.

YouthLine’s Big 2SLGBTQ+ Colouring Book: The ABCs of Being 2SLGBTQ+

LGBT YouthLine’s first colouring book features beautiful, creative, and heartwarming artwork created by YouthLine staff, HelpLine volunteers, Youth Ambassadors, and some friends of YL. You can print and share pages (or the whole book!) by accessing a digital copy here.

So much love and care has been put into this project and we hope that you smile, giggle, and colour until you can colour no more!

PYAP 2020 Projects

The Prism Zine
The Prism Zine is a collaborative art zine focusing on the experiences of 2SLGBTQ+ youth in Brantford, Brant, and Six Nations of the Grand River. Youth submitted pieces based on their interpretation of the Pride flag’s colours’ meanings: red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunshine, green for nature, blue for magic, and purple for spirit. Destiny Pitters, the Youth Ambassador of PYAP 2020 who led the project and designed the zine, shared her thoughts on why she wanted to create The Prism Zine:

When I had learned about the flag’s symbolism myself, I knew it could make for a great art project that showcases and celebrates how 2SLGBTQ+ folks experience these things in our day-to-day lives, and I’m so happy the youth got the chance to do just that!

You can view and download:

The Affirmation Project Card Deck
PYAP’s 2020 North East cohort started The Affirmation Project because communities in the North are widespread and occasionally isolated. They wanted to address those feelings of isolation and not having community by creating something tangible that could easily be given out – a reminder to 2SLGBTQ+ youth that they are not alone and that they are loved. The cohort created a survey to collect affirmations from North Eastern (Ontario) 2SLGBTQ+ youth, which were then printed into cards to form a deck for 2SLGBTQ+ youth. This project serves as a tangible reminder that 2SLGBTQ+ youth are not alone.

You can either:

#DoBetter: 2SLGBTQ+ Youth Recommendations for Change in Ontario

After much anticipation, we are excited to announce the release of “Do Better: 2SLGBTQ+ Youth Recommendations for Change in Ontario.” This report draws from LGBT YouthLine’s Needs Assessment, “We’re Here: 2SLGBTQ+ Youth across Ontario Assert Needs and Experiences,” where almost 1,200 2SLGBTQ+ youth from across Ontario shared their experiences, dreams, and demands for change (view below).

The report details seven recommendations calling on organizations, government, service providers, educators, health care professionals, and community leaders in Ontario to #DoBetter to support 2SLGBTQ+ youth in Ontario.

For more details about each of these recommendations and how you can take action, visit dobetter.youthline.ca.

Summary Report & Snapshots

We’re Here: 2SLGBTQ+ Youth across Ontario Assert Needs and Experiences
LGBT YouthLine’s Provincial Youth Ambassador Project (PYAP) brought together 18 2SLGBTQ+ Youth Ambassadors from across Ontario to lead an assessment about the experiences and needs of 2SLGBTQ+ youth in Ontario. Check out the Summary Report and 5 Snapshot Reports below.

All Report covers illustrated by Melisse Watson @coyotewatson, featuring work by:

Graphic design by Anchor Points Design @anchorpoints.design

Lead Research Consultant: Anu Radha Verma

For print-friendly download of the Summary Report, click here

For print-friendly download of the Trans+ Youth Snapshot report, click here

For print-friendly download of the Under 18 Youth Snapshot report, click here

For print-friendly download of the Racialized Youth Snapshot report, click here

For print-friendly download of the Indigenous Youth Snapshot report, click here

For print-friendly download of the Northern Youth Snapshot report, click here

PYAP 2019 Projects

Created by 2SLGBTQ+ youth from the Grey-Bruce region of Southern Ontario as part of the Provincial Youth Ambassador Project. Approximately 10 youth participated in creating messages of love and support to other rural youth from Grey-Bruce, and beyond.

Interested in receiving a copy? Email us at info@youthline.ca.

Created by 2SLGBTQ+ youth from Northern regions across Ontario in 2019 as part of the Provincial Youth Ambassador Project. Approximately 50 youth participated in creating messages of love and support to other northern youth :heart:

Buy a physical copy here!

YouthOrganize Resources

In 2019, YouthOrganize launched as an online platform to support 2SLGBTQ+ youth in Ontario to build skills and support each other to better organize in their communities. 2SLGBTQ+ youth in partnership with LGBT YouthLine created resources to support youth looking to start something new for the first time as an organizer in their communities. Check out the resources below!

If there are issues with any of the publications or you have questions, contact us at info@youthline.ca