Written for you. Staying safe online while you work out who you are, finding genuine community without being exploited, and knowing who to call when things are hard.
This page is written for you, not about you. Working out who you are — your sexuality, your gender, who you fancy, who you do not — is one of the most important things you will do, and the internet can be both the best part of that and the most dangerous. You may find community online before you find it in person. You may also meet people who want to take advantage of how much you need that connection. Both of those things can be true at once. This guide is honest about the risks and about the help that exists.
Being LGBTQ+ does not make you a target — bigoted people make you a target. Research from organisations like Galop and Stonewall consistently shows that LGBTQ+ young people experience more online harassment and are more likely to encounter adults online who try to manipulate them. The same research shows that finding a safe peer community is one of the strongest protective factors. The goal is not to stop you being online; it is to help you stay safer in the spaces that matter to you.