True Colors

Now in its twenty-sixth year, the True Colors annual conference is the largest LGBT youth issues conference in America. More than 3,500 LGBT and ally youth, educators, social workers, clinicians, health care providers, family members and clergy come together each year to participate in workshops, activities, and programs that celebrate, educate and advocate for the interests of LGBT youth and their families

Youth Leadership Development:  this program focuses on the needs of LGBT and ally youth at school. We provide an on-site, six week Activist Institute, which gives youth the skills to advocate for themselves and others. In addition, we partner with schools and other organizations to offer Gay/Straight Alliance Summits which brings together youth from a regional area. Finally, we provide direct advocacy and intervention with youth experiencing harassment on the basis of actual or perceived orientation or gender

The Safe Harbor Program is a collaboration between True Colors and DCF. We run a statewide task force; provide recommendations regarding policy and programming; recruit foster parents for adolescents of all orientations and gender; train DCF and provider staff; and provide consultation services to staff and providers regarding specific youth and/or their families

True Colors trains more than 2,400 helping professionals across CT and nationally each year. Our curriculum has been adopted as a model curriclum by the Child Welfare League of America, the National Association of Social Workers and Lambda Legal Education and Defense Fund.