LGBTQ Support
LGBTQ Support
LGBTQ Support Services for children and young adults in Northamptonshire
Confidential helpline service for 12-25 year olds : 01604 622223
• Available for 12–25 year olds who would like to speak with someone in confidence about their situation. Answered by trained counsellors, during our opening times. If you are short on mobile phone credit – if you give us your number when you call, we will be happy to call you back to save your credits.
Weekly LGBTQ Youth Support Group for 13-17 year olds – the OUT THERE Group
Is a weekly youth support group for 13-17 year olds.
We meet up every Friday from 6-9pm and play games, discuss issues, have guest speakers, feed into positive changes within the NHS and local authority to support the LGBTQ community, and enjoy lots of activities such as film nights, visits to local parks, cake decorating, scrap heap challenge, games nights, theatre trips, prom etc.
We also take part in the Northampton Carnival, the lowdown lantern parade, and one of the annual national PRIDE events. The OUT THERE Group is a great way to meet like-minded people in a safe space and to be free to be who you are → view information flyer.
I'd like to attend the OUT THERE LGBTQ Youth Support Group - What do I do now?
The group meets every Friday at The Bridge, 63c Gold Street, Northampton NN1 1RA (orange door next to Mobile2Computer) from 6-9pm, so please feel free to pop along. The group has members who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, straight and those who are questioning their gender or sexuality
→ view information flyer.
If you have any queries or would like to contact someone first, please ring the lowdown on 01604 634385 or call the OUT THERE mobile direct on 07585 737482 or 07496 314703 or email: lgbtqsupport@thelowdown.info.
Bi-monthly LGBTQ Support Group for 18-25 year olds – the OUT THERE PLUS Group
Our OUT THERE Group is a weekly youth support group for 13-17 year olds.
We meet up the second and fourth Wednesday from 6-8pm to provide support, discuss issues, have guest speakers, feed into positive changes within the NHS and local authority to support the LGBTQ community, and enjoy lots social activities.
I'd like to attend the OUT THERE PLUS Group - What do I do now?
The group meets every second and fourth Wednesday at The Bridge, 63c Gold Street, Northampton NN1 1RA (orange door next to Mobile2Computer) from 6-8pm, so please feel free to pop along.
The group has members who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, straight and those who are questioning their gender or sexuality → view information flyer.
If you have any queries or would like to contact someone first, please ring the lowdown on 01604 634385 or call the OUT THERE mobile direct on 07585 737482 or 07496 314703 or email: lgbtqsupport@thelowdown.info.
I’d like some counselling. What do I do now?
- Please call us on 01604 634385 to make an appointment (or someone can make an appointment for you). Let us know whether you would prefer to see a male or female counsellor. You can choose.
- If you want to speak to a counsellor you can call our crisis line on 01604 622223 during opening times. You’ll get the answer machine when we’re not open, but we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
- Email us at: lgbtqsupport@thelowdown.info
Lets Talk Transgender
Trans is an umbrella term. It includes cross-dressers, transgender and transsexual people as well as anyone else who is in any way gender variant. Before we start it’s important to understand that sex is between the legs and gender is between the ears. Sex is male, female, and intersex, and has to do with your chromosomes, genitalia, hormones, etc. Gender is man, woman, boy, girl, androgynous (gender- neutral), and has to do with your internal sense of self and how you choose to express yourself.
A cross-dresser is someone who likes to wear clothes usually associated with the “opposite” gender. They can identify as their birth sex or as gender-queer and can dress as another gender occasionally or permanently. Some people feel this lets them express another aspect of their personality whilst others just feel more comfortable in these clothes. Cross-dressing is usually quite fun for everyone to try occasionally. Most people try it for fancy dress or similar at some point in their lives. This doesn’t necessarily make them trans though!
Transsexual people are those whose physical and psychological gender are conflicted. This can be quite hard and most transsexual people struggle with questions about the best way to live their lives. Some may decide to live as their biological sex; most however take hormones and/or undergo surgical procedures so they can be seen socially as their preferred gender. Other gender variant people can identify as both sexes and may present themselves in a way that’s unusual for most people of their biological sex. They could be androgynous or enjoy being a masculine female or feminine male.
Trans people can come from all different types of ethnic and faith backgrounds. Different cultural understandings of trans vary and legal statuses differ between countries.
Useful Documents
LGBTQ Support
Useful Links
- The Lowdown
- Coming out as a young person - www.stonewall.org.uk
- lgbt.foundation
- Resources for young people - www.mermaidsuk.org.uk
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Other useful sources of support
www.rucomingout.com - A website that has an archive of coming out stories from people of all ages and backgrounds, as well as tips about coming out and interviews with inspiring LGBT people.
www.fflag.org.uk – Fflag is a registered charity dedicated to supporting parents and their lesbian, gay and bi daughters and sons. The website also has lots of advice on how to come out to parents.
www.genderedintelligence.co.uk – You’ll find lots of really useful resources for trans young people.
Please note that Ask Normen cannot be held responsible for the content of any of the external websites we link to.
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