LGBTQ+ Relocation Resource Library
This resource library brings together trusted tools, organizations, and community resources for LGBTQ+ people exploring life abroad.
This page is not meant to serve as legal advice, personal immigration advice, or emergency support. Inclusion here is not an endorsement of any organization or service. Use these resources as a starting point, and seek qualified legal or immigration guidance when needed. Laws, programs, and links change often, so please always confirm current details directly with each organization and let US know if there are any faulty links.
How To Move Abroad And Why It's The Best Thing You'll Do
Jessica Drucker’s book on preparing for an international move, understanding your options, and building a life abroad. Also available on Amazon.
Start here.
Our private community for LGBTQ+ folks and families actively building lives abroad, away from billionaire owned big tech. We create our own organized conversations, resources, and real, expert advice.
Personalized relocation planning with Rainbow Relocation Strategies. Start with a one-hour consult, or go deeper with a custom service package.
Free Facebook community of 9,000+ LGBTQ+ people exploring, planning, or already living abroad.
The latest LGBTQ+ expat news.
ILGA World
Global research, maps, and reporting on LGBTQ+ laws and rights. See the ILGA World Maps for an annual global overview of sexual orientation and gender identity laws.
Equaldex
Country-by-country LGBTQ+ rights information, including marriage, adoption, gender marker changes, discrimination protections, and public opinion data. Useful for relocation and travel risk assessment.
LGBTQ+ rights and country research.
Use these resources to understand the legal and social landscape of countries where you are looking to relocate.
ILGA-Europe
European LGBTI rights umbrella organization. Its Rainbow Map ranks 49 countries on law and policy each year.
Outright International
Global LGBTIQ+ human rights organization with country overviews and UN consultative status.
IGLTA
LGBTQ+ travel resources and a global network of welcoming travel providers in 80+ countries. Useful for travel and scouting, not a full relocation tool.
Human Rights Campaign — Global Resources
Global LGBTQ+ rights updates and advocacy resources.
US Department of State — Passports
Official US passport information, renewals, forms, processing times, and passport agency guidance.
Trans and nonbinary passport and ID resources.
For trans, nonbinary, and intersex people, passport and identity document issues can affect travel, visas, residency applications, school enrollment, banking, healthcare, and family documentation. These resources are primarily US based. Each LGBTQ+ friendly where our clients relocate tend to have varying degrees of issues when name and gender does match up exactly across documents. This will have to be dealt with on a case by case basis.
Lambda Legal — Transgender Rights Toolkit / ID Documents
Legal guidance on identity documents, gender markers, and issues affecting transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people.
ACLU — Transgender People and ID
Know-your-rights information related to identity documents and gender markers.
Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE)
Resources on trans rights, identity documents, and policy changes. Formed from the merger of NCTE and TLDEF.
Trans healthcare abroad.
Accessing hormones, adult and youth GAC, and trans-competent providers is one of the most important parts of relocating. Research provider access, prescription rules, continuity of care in your country before you move. Many of these resources are there to help you feel connected and informed, but the work of relocating and getting actual answers is verrrrrrrrry much a grassroots effort of talking to locals, local expats, and making those on the ground connections to understand the lived realities of the care abroad.
WPATH
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health publishes the global Standards of Care (SOC8) and a member directory to help find qualified gender-affirming providers worldwide.
TGEU — Trans Europe and Central Asia
Regional trans rights organization with a Trans Health Map and Trans Rights Index covering 50+ countries on healthcare access and legal gender recognition.
GenderGP
Global private telehealth service offering gender-affirming HRT, counselling, blood tests, and letters via an informed-consent model in many countries.
Anne Health
A not-for-profit (UK-based) offering remote, all-ages trans+ gender-affirming care on an informed-consent model — hormone therapy, counselling, and letters for passport gender-marker changes and surgery referrals, with subsidised care for those who need it.
Rainbow Path New Zealand
A practical resource for LGBTQIA+ / rainbow people seeking safety, especially people researching New Zealand.
LGBTQ+ asylum and seeking safety.
Asylum is serious and should be considered the absolute last resort. Asylum is not a visa pathway. Most Americans considering leaving the United States should first explore other immigration pathways, including work visas, digital nomad visas, student visas, retirement visas, family-based pathways, citizenship by descent, self-employment visas, and other residency options. Asylum is generally for people who can show persecution and who do not have another safe option. The process can be long, difficult, restrictive, and uncertain.
Rainbow Railroad
Supports LGBTQI+ people facing persecution and seeking pathways to safety. This organization gets thousands more applicants than they can even respond to each year.
UNHCR
The United Nations refugee agency. Use this for general refugee and asylum information.
InReach
A resource platform (formerly AsylumConnect) for LGBTQ+ immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and people seeking verified support services.
The Trevor Project
24/7 crisis support for LGBTQ+ young people by phone, text, and chat. Also runs TrevorSpace, a global online community for LGBTQ+ youth.
Trans Lifeline
Peer-support crisis hotline run by and for trans people. US: 877-565-8860; Canada: 877-330-6366. No nonconsensual active rescue.
LGBTQ+ mental health and crisis support.
Relocation is stressful, and support networks don’t always travel with you. These services offer LGBTQ+-affirming mental health and crisis support. If you are in immediate danger, contact local emergency services first.
Switchboard (UK)
National LGBTQIA+ support line, open daily, by phone and online chat.
MindOut (UK)
Mental health service run by and for LGBTQ+ people, with advocacy, peer support, and online chat.
QLife (Australia)
Free, anonymous, nationwide LGBTIQ+ peer support and referral.
If you provide therapy for the LGBTQ+ community, we can add your name here given certain criteria. Please reach out to see how you can be added.
COLAGE
Support and community for people with LGBTQ+ parents and families.
Family Equality
Resources for LGBTQ+ families, parents, and prospective parents.
LGBTQ+ families and parenting.
NELFA — Network of European LGBTIQ* Families Associations
Brussels-based umbrella uniting ~46 European family associations across 33 countries, advocating on parentage and family recognition — important for cross-border recognition of your family.
Council for Global Equality
Policy and advocacy work related to LGBTQI+ rights globally.
ILGA World Member Organizations
Use ILGA’s network to find LGBTQ+ organizations by region or country.
Everywhere Is Queer
Global map of queer-owned businesses and community spaces.
Finding queer community abroad.
Local LGBTQ+ Centers
Search for LGBTQ+ centers, queer community spaces, trans-led groups, and mutual aid organizations in your target city. National laws matter, but daily life is local.
Apostilles and Document Authentication
How to authenticate U.S. documents for use abroad.
U.S. Passports
Applications, renewals, forms, and processing times.
Before you move: practical documents.
These are not LGBTQ+-specific, but they matter for almost every international move.
FBI Identity History Summary Check
Often needed for immigration, visas, and residency applications.
More from the Rainbow Relo blog.
Practical, queer-specific deep dives that come up again and again in relocation planning.
The Ultimate “Go Bag”: What to Pack and Why It Matters
Moving Abroad with Your Pet: A Complete Guide for LGBTQ+ Expats
Bringing Your Business Abroad for Queer Folks and Allies
Work with Rainbow Relocation Strategies.
Rainbow Relocation Strategies helps LGBTQ+ individuals, couples, and families evaluate where they can move, what pathways may fit, and how to build a realistic plan.