#queer youth

[itgetsbetterproject]

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ GOOD queer news for the TL: a bunch of students across the U.S. are using grants to make their schools more welcoming for LGBTQ+ youth

Queer students deserve to feel safe at school! We're in our third year of giving grants to put the power in their hands to make their schools more welcoming - students know what they need most in their own communities and their own schools.

Through 50 States, 50 Grants, 5,000 Voices, we've awarded over $1.5 million in grants across the U.S. to support student-led projects. Our third season has some of the most badass projects yet, like these:

❤️ “With this grant, we’ll establish an LGBTQIA+ community space in the library, open to all students, with guest speakers, arts and crafts, LGBTQIA+ books and literature, and LGBTQIA+-specific resources.” - Pocatello, Idaho

🧡 “Our project aims to support LGBTQ+ students through teacher training, development of gender-neutral bathroom protocols, and the organization of a district-wide Queer Prom.” - Gypsum, Colorado

💛 “We’ll take students from the 3 middle schools and our local high school to Honolulu Pride to make local LGBTQ+ friends, feel accepted in a large group, and see the community beyond just school.” - Ewa Beach, Hawai'i

💚 “We’re going to increase access to queer literature by working with a local nonprofit to expand our school’s collection, host storytelling events, and foster community connection." - Mobile, Alabama

💙 “Our plan is to create new Inclusivity Zones across the state in critical areas for local GSA clubs to meet, plan shared events, and be their own safe space.” - Charleston, West Virginia

💜 “We’ll host the Rainbow Youth Summit for LGBTQIA+ youth from across southern California to network, learn, and have fun in a safe, judgement free and supportive environment.” - Cathedral City, California

These students are truly the definition of making things better - you can see the rest of the amazing projects lined up across the country on our blog here!

[celinedijjons-blog]

What beauty is, I know not, though it adheres to many things.

[genderqueerdykes]

I Think I Might Be Transgender, a brochure for and by transgender youth

I Think I Might Be Transgender is a short 11 page brochure for trans youth, written by trans youth. it can be used as an introduction to the concept of transness, and contains some information on safe sex as well. quotes and additions made by real trans folk are included throughout.

if you think this may be of use to you, or someone else may find it here, as well as being linked in the title and body of the post:

[jalluzas-ferney]

Sign this if you wanna piss off a homophobe

[queeryouthautonomy]

It's time to fight back!

LGBTQ+ folks and allies, our rights are under attack. The ACLU, which tracks anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the nation, has identified over 400 bills currently making their way through state Congresses and Senates. We must stand together against these horrific policies for the good of all queer people.

On March 31st, 2023, Queer Youth Assemble is planning protests across the nation to center youth voices and allow all queer people and allies to make their displeasure known.

Join us at marches in over 30 states (with more joining up every day!) as well as Washington DC. Turn up in large enough numbers so that legislators know that we will not stand for this.

Read and sign our List of Demands!

Find a march near you! Tumblr masterpost of marches can be found here!

Donate (we are raising money for transportation, organizing expenses, free masks, and ASL interpreters!)

Follow this page for updates and to see state marches featured.

To learn more, send an ask here or email march@queeryouthassemble.org!

Find us on Instagram and Tiktok—@queeryouthassemble!

[soyboyanarchy]

To all the teens with obscure genders, I love you.

The labels man and women are just as made up as stargender. Never let them take it away from you

[peturnagy]

Joe Locke (digital painting) / Artist: Miki Földi - Corel Painter Master

[chris-continues]

Sorry if I act “too political,” I just don’t know if my friends will be safe the next few years. Or if I’ll be able to have contraceptives to help me regulate my anxiety. Or if my loved ones will get retirement.

When someone loses, they storm the White House. When someone else loses, people are figuring out how to leave the country and crying. Alone. Wondering how they’ll live without their identity, or their partner, or their rights.

I’m scared.

[newlevant]

I co-edited a new anthology!!

Becoming Who We Are is a kid-friendly collection of real stories about growing up, based on interviews with cool trans people from many walks of life, drawn by trans cartoonists!

We designed this book with middle-grade readers in mind, because my co-editor is a parent and wanted this book to exist for her own kids. The idea is to give all readers a chance to know and relate to trans people.

Preorder / back the kickstarter now! The book is available as a PDF, softcover, or a kickstarter-exclusive hardcover.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tylerchintanner/becoming-who-we-are-real-stories-about-growing-up-trans?ref=section-homepage-view-more-recommendations-p1

[itgetsbetterproject]

Some proof that there ARE elected officials out there, like Vice Mayor Sean Cummings in Oklahoma, who are standing up for LGBTQ+ youth like Nex Benedict and calling out the fact that our words and rhetoric DO matter.

[Context: In this video, Sean Cummings is seen speaking to Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters referring to the death of student Nex Benedict].

[celinedijjons-blog]

does these panties make me butt look fat?

[our-trans-youth-experience]

Notes from the team :)

Hey kiddos, some of you may have noticed that we aren't the greatest at replying to asks regularly. This is because we are all young trans people too, and are in full-time education. I can speak from personal experience when I say that we also sometimes struggle with our mental health and living with disabilities/being neurodivergent. This means we may have to take breaks quite often, leading to very slow responses and a VERY full inbox (we are sorry loll). On this note, we are attempting to answer as many asks as possible in the following week or so, but we will then likely be removing all asks from the ask box, as the large number can be quite overwhelming, and so starting (again) from a less intimidating number of asks will be very helpful. This means unfortunately we will not be able to answer all of your asks, especially if they are longer or more negative, but it will be A LOT better in the long run. And I am hoping to NEVER close the asks because every trans kid should be able to send something in whenever they need to, and that is very important to me. If this concerns you at all, for example if you really need your ask answered and are worried that it won't be, please message us <3 Also, Kay is unfortunately having some technical issue (drae cannot currently post anything for some reason??) and so we will be attempting to fix the problem asap, however no posts adressed to him will be answered in the near future. Finally, I wanted to thank you all for your support. We now have over 850(??!) of you guys in this community space, and we are so happy and thankful for that and how you all contribute to this wonderful blog. I am so sorry that we cannot answer all of the current asks, however helping out trans kids like you guys means the world to me and you are so very appreciated. Oh, and we have PLANS for when we hit 1000 followers so get excited about that! - Sage [he/neutral], with input from Jon and Kay

[queeryouthautonomy]

We're starting a protest!

Visit queeryouthassemble.org to learn how to join us, and send us an ask or email us at march@queeryouthassemble.org with any questions!

Photo credits and alt text available under the cut:

📸 credits, used with permission: 

All art by the incredible @jesseyoungpaulson 

Slide 6: @cpagsa during their walkout, March 2022

Slide 7: @lgbtatorr during their walkout, as QYA Head of Teams @alia.cusolito gives a speech, March 2022

Slide 8: @briggs_padilla from their walkout, March 2022

Slide 9 and 10: @alia.cusolito from Let Trans Athletes Play, August 2022

Alt text:

Slide 1

A digital art piece showing a diverse group of queer youth is overlayed with text reading, “March for Queer & Trans Youth Autonomy, March 31 2023, All 50 States, Uniting as One.” 

Slide 2

The background is a rainbow gradient with  a digital art piece showing three queer youth. The text reads, “It’s time we create one of the largest queer youth marches in history! Uniting every queer and trans young person under the common goals of safety, autonomy, joy.” 

Slide 3

A rainbow gradient with a small digital art piece in the corner of three queer youth. The text reads, “The queer & trans community has been upended by a series of devastating laws, detrimental legislation, and queerphobic attacks designed to make the lives of queer & trans youth as unbearable as possible. Each and every queer & trans youth serving org has  responded in their own ways, prompting walkouts, protests, legislative challenges, organizational statements, and other rebuttals in an attempt to swing the momentum. Now it’s time to unite our communities powerful work and collectively advocate for youth as one!”

Slide 4

A rainbow gradient overlayed with text reading, “This march will center the voices of queer and trans youth.” This is followed by a bulleted list saying the following, “Marches will be held at capitol buildings & in major cities in all 50 states. Queer & trans youth will share their stories, experiences, and demands to the masses.  Everyone from adults to allies to politicians will march in solidarity. State & national orgs will organize these marches, while students will organize walkouts at their schools.”

Slide 5

A rainbow gradient overlayed with text reading, “Queer and trans youth will receive the spotlight to advocate for their safety, their joy, and their autonomy. The tidal wave that these marches will create, combined with the  political & media spotlight on queer & trans youth, will drown the conservative narratives that have dominated the fight until now. In their place, queer & trans youth voices, stories, interviews, testimony, films, books, will all rise to show the lives and share the stories of queer & trans youth. We will be front and center.” 

Slide 6

An image of students from @cpagsa during QYA’s National Queer Youth Walkout is overlayed with text and a list of checkboxes reading, “Youth! If you are an activist, are in your school’s GSA and/or have been impacted anti queer & trans youth speech, legislation, or laws then we invite you to join our queer & trans youth led march planning committees! Visit queeryouthassemble.org for more information.” 

Slide 7

An image of students at Old Rochester Regional’s walkout, with QYA Head of Teams Alia Cusolito giving a speech, overlayed by text which reads, “ Queer & trans youth listening sessions. January 7th, 2023, 4pm EST, January 11th, 2023, 8pm EST, January 15th, 2023, 4pm EST, and January 21st, 2023, 10pm EST. We invite queer & trans youth across the country to join us at our march listening sessions, where we will be brainstorming a list of demands for the march. Once completed, the list will be circulated across the country, and signed by politicians & organizations to pledge their commitment to queer & trans youth. Register by clicking the link in our bio or visiting queeryouthassemble.org. 

Slide 8

An image of students during the walkout in March, overlayed with text and checkboxes reading, “Adults! If you have an LGBTQ+ kid, support queer & trans youth autonomy, and/or want a safe and loving future for your children then we invite you to donate to Queer Youth Assemble! Visit queeryouthassemble.org to donate.”

Slide 9

An image of queer youth attending Queer Youth Assemble’s Let Trans Athletes Play event in August overlayed with text and checkboxes reading, “Orgs! If you support queer and trans youth autonomy, have BIPOC, trans, or disabled leadership, and/or have experience planning marches or major events, then we invite you to plan a March at your state’s capitol/major city! Visit queeryouthassemble.org to sign your org up. 

Slide 10 

An image of queer youth attending Queer Youth Assemble’s Let Trans Athletes Play event in August overlayed with text and checkboxes reading, “What can I do? Visit queeryouthassemble.org, share this post on your socials, and/or donate to support the march.”