Our History

Our Story

LGBT YouthLine grew out of discussions in May 1993 among youth members of a then-forming national lesbian and gay rights group. Over the next year they developed the concept of a toll-free phone line to assist lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and questioning young people across Ontario. While gaylines existed in larger cities, the group recognized the need for a province-wide line that would serve rural and remote areas as well.

YouthLine suspended its service in March 1998 due to staff and volunteer turnover that were affecting the consistency of its service. The organization underwent a restructuring process, which involved clarifying job descriptions, reducing the board size to 11 (6 youth, 5 adults) from 17, reducing line hours to Sunday-Friday 4-9:30 from 3-11pm 7 days a week, and referring crisis calls to address volunteer burnout. The lines resumed service in June 1998 on Pride Day.

To address a declining number of calls and changing technology, YouthLine launched live online chat in May 2009 and text support in 2011 for its peer support services. As of 2018, 53% of service users contacted the line through text and chat. In 2018, YouthLine increased its definition of youth from 26 and under to 29 for service users, board members, and volunteers.

June 1993

First organizing meeting

This meeting included representatives from other queer youth organizations in Toronto.

2005

Organizational Name Change

Originally, the organization was named Lesbian Gay Bi YouthLine, but in 2005 it officially changed its name to Lesbian Gay Bi Trans Youth Line to better reflect the community it represents. The name change was originally prompted by Kyle Scanlon, who served as the organization’s Executive Director at the time, becoming the first out trans man to serve as an Executive Director of a queer agency in Canada. In addition to the new name, YouthLine also changed its logo and launched a new website.