I think people need to accept that with the great effort of our community there are a lot of queer teens, even as young as 13. Tell me why gay bars are one of the only safe spaces for queer people? Tell me why the ONLY youth center for lgbt youth in my city specifically says from 15-26? Tell me why when you check "lgbt shops" on the city website they are all 18+ shops? What's the logic? Don't the young queers deserve a community as well? There is no age too young to start questioning your gender and sexuality, and the younger you are the more people say it's just a phase. It honestly makes no sense to put kids through such an isolating experience.

Advocates fear loss of schools as safe space amid gender pronouns policy

Education advocates are bemoaning the loss of schools as safe spaces for vulnerable kids only weeks after the UCP announced a controversial gender pronouns policy that they say puts a wedge between LGBTQ+ students and teachers. Teachers, parents and academics worry schools are already being enveloped in a culture of fear and mistrust, well before this fall when the policy is implemented, requiring teachers to notify and get consent from parents to alter the name or pronouns of a student under 15 years, and to notify parents of students aged 16 and 17. Even the much-celebrated and protective GSAs (gay-straight alliances) — clubs created by students and led by trusted adults to support LGBTQ+ kids in schools — are at risk of being lost as students question the potential risks now associated with joining them, advocates say.

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Tagging @politicsofcanada @abpoli

YALLS OH SHIT, PLEASE GET IN CONTACT WITH SENATORS TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE BILL. THIS IS LIKE BAD, REALLY BAD FOR MANY PEOPLE OF ALL BACKGROUNDS. WE JUST NEED WON SENATOR TO SPEAK AGAINST IT

HELP CHIP IN AS WELL IF YOU CAN, PLEASE THESE ARE DIRE TIMES RIGHT MOW

Ryan Adamczeski at The Advocate:

Forced outing has devastating consequences for LGBTQ+ people, and queer youth are at an even greater risk. One-third of LGBTQ+ minors who were outed without their consent were more likely to experience depression, as well as face less support from their families, according to a new study from the University of Connecticut. Two-thirds said that the event caused significant stress. Outing is the act of revealing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent. The UConn study analyzed responses from 9,200 queer youth ages 13 to 17 in the Human Rights Campaign's 2017 LGBTQ National Teen Survey which showed a correlation between outing and stress.

The data also showed that LGBTQ+ youth experience stress from outing differently, as transgender, nonbinary, and asexual respondents reported higher stress levels than cisgender gay, lesbian and bisexual participants. In all cases, respondents reported lower stress when they also reported have parents or guardians who are educated on sexuality and gender identity. More than 550 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced across the U.S. in 2023, and 80 were passed into law. In 2024, 487 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced and 20 have passed into law, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. There are currently five states that mandate schools report transgender children to their parents if they request to go by a different name or pronouns. Another six “promote” forced outing, according to the Movement Advancement Project.

A new study from UCONN that came out reveals that anti-LGBTQ+ forced outing policies lead to higher rates of depression and familial rejection among LGBTQ+ youths.

yk being in a relationship with a fellow enby is quite nice actually most chill thing ever you should try it !!!!

I got a joke....

Why do gay people have so many clothes???

Cuz we're trying to find an aesthetic that fits our expression but we SUCK at sticking to a single aesthetic😭

(it isn't really a joke more so a cry for help😞)

Welcome!

This blog is a compilation of resources for queer or questioning youth. Some original posts with advice, some (mostly) reblogs, some links.

Tagging system

All posts will be tagged #queer youth resources unless it's not a resource. In that case, those posts will be tagged #not a resource for filtering.

Other tags include:

#trans youth resources, #homo youth resources, #mspec youth resources, #aspec youth resources, #intersex youth resources, #questioning youth resources, #mental health resources, #ally resources

You can also find upcoming pride events in the tag #pride events

Some posts are sorted by country. Current country tags with content posted include #usa resources, #uk resources, #czech republic resources, #wales resources, #germany resources, #japan resources, #ireland resources, #canada resources

This blog is majority English language, however in country tags you may find posts in the official language(s) of the country.

Most important posts are also tagged as #important as I think they can be very important resources.

All of these are featured tags if you'd like to look through them, however many currently only have a few posts as I'm still gathering resources.

Contribute

This blog is currently run by one person, so I can't be active all the time. If you'd like to help me gather queer resources, here's what you can do.

1, tag me in posts that contain resources so I can reblog it.

2, send me links to resources or your own advice to queer youth in the asks.

3, make posts of your own with resources. If you do so, please tag me!

Even if you can't create/find resources, any interaction is greatly appreciated! Reblogging our posts, sending an ask, etc.

Feel free to request resources on a certain topic or for a certain purpose! I will do my best to find resources that fit what you ask for :)

okay. new post about KOSA.

it just got sent to the committee of commerce, sciences, and transport (i believe.)

this is SUPER early. you should still call your representatives daily, twice a day, hell even every time you eat. make sure they're swamped.

however, it DOES NOT mean you need to work yourself sick right now.

many senators and even members of the committee have no idea what this bill does or means. go to badinternetbills.com for a list of people to call, as well as a script to say if you'd like one, and go to stopkosa.com as well. they will both have petitions and resources so you can help. also, text "STOPKOSA" (all caps) to 68788.

remember that you also need to focus on the earn it act and restrict act, which are just as bad (if not WORSE!).

for those outside the US, remember to spread this information as much as possible and sign petitions- this may affect you too one day. do your best to educate others about this bill and stop the spread of misinformation as much as possible. remember that this bill is being MARKETED as a way to prevent childhood depression, anxiety, and many other mental illnesses, but it is not. many people that believe it is the former are just misguided.

people in the US, sign the petitions, text "STOPKOSA" to 68788, call your representatives, and most of all, make a huge stink about it. family members that aren't really on the internet? tell them that people on the internet will be hurt by this bill and that they should sign it and call their representatives as well, to push for a resounding no when they vote on it. republican family who's just voting red because they think it's better for the lower classes? tell them that this will not only hurt kids in unsafe homes, but it will also make everyone's internet experience much harder.

remember that we can get this bill blocked if we take action.

Transgender rights are still at risk.

Get active in your local government; time: YESTERDAY.

Contact your officials in two minutes.

Send a text to 50409 & put @resistbot to work.

Resistbot home:

My resistbot activity:

Text FOLLOW IVYPETITIONS to 50409 to be notified for new letters.

“Ymir with the Freckles”

1/11/24

***

Most of our cousins grew up in Texas. Several of the youngest are still there, working through middle and high school. Texas isn’t the best place for queer youth—nowhere in the South is, but especially there—but they know my sibling and I are safe people. (We’re both queer, and we’ve both let them know that and cultivated safe spaces for them.) As such, a few of them have come out to us over the years.

When my sibling and I came out, we went through all the stages of “so xyz in our childhood was pretty queer, huh”—recontextualizing and further appreciating everything from TV shows we’d watched to things we went through. If I’m honest, that’s still happening. But I didn’t come out as bi+ until after I had left home for undergrad—didn’t even know myself well enough to do so before then; and I didn’t figure out I was genderqueer until last year—and am still struggling to tell people about it. Meanwhile, my sibling’s wheels started turning a little younger than mine had, them having slightly more access to queer community and education because of the internet and our evolving culture—but they still didn’t make those connections until late into high school, didn’t fully until college, and they still consider themself a work in progress.

Because of subtle (and unsubtle) queer phobia and conditioning, because we didn’t know any safe queer people, because of a lack of education and exposure… Because we didn’t know.

Some people don’t find the freedom and safety to make the discoveries we eventually did until far older than we were—and it’s never too late for that. But as an adult, there was some trauma in realizing my childhood was gone, and during it, I never got to fully experience queer joy or really live as myself.

Our little cousins don’t have many safe people—Texas is Texas. But sometimes, they text us. An account of a debate about trans rights that came up in Model UN at their school; they spoke up for trans people, but were confronted with right-wing transphobia, and they wanted to talk to us about it. A comic book panel or TV show with a queer pairing they love. Pictures of drawings in their journals, of queer OCs they’re writing. A screen-cap from a video game they’re playing, showing off some particularly queer fashion choices. A chart of various pride flags with common misconceptions about different queer identities. Like penguins or crows, delivering us little treasures.

Or precious, precious videos—the resolution blurry, the framing wobbly and Dutch-tilted as they held their phone camera close to an ancient, school-issued laptop—where they leaned into the microphone and said: They wanted to tell us, they went on the Fandom website for “Ymir with the Freckles” from Attack on Titan, and it confirms that she was, in fact, “romantically attracted to Historia.” Like this was our precious secret, now. And we must safeguard it together.

I hope it won’t always be like this. That someday, all kids will be safe and free enough to be as loud and joyful as they like. But even so…

Young queer joy is so special.

gaia!!! they’re based off of flying agaric mushrooms, i love her 🤗🤗

fun fact: gaia is a greek word for “mother of life”. i think it fits them lol

Also do people really believe there are children getting gender reassignment surgery?? Minors can't even get a shot without a parent or guardian present. Like who tf is doing surgery on kids without parental consent? NO ONE that's illegal and you're just transphobic.

The suicide attempt is 78% among LGBT youth, with a suicide rate of 47%, and people will still say that we're broken when they won't help us.

They scream "protect the children" when the children are the ones suffering from the discrimination and hurtful words spat by those same people.

Zaya Wade: trans activist.

There's this *weird* fucking phenomenon I've been seeing. Where I'll be playing an online competitive game (specifically valorant) and some random in the chat will say something homophobic and I'll tell them to shut their fucking mouth. And then they'll be like 'but I'm gay?' And I'm like. Cool? Shut your fucking mouth? Now, most of the player base for this game is young, like teenager young, so i'm pretty sure the people doing this are kids who haven't been outside or interacted with enough actual real life gay people. So, here's a little guideline. 1) when no-one has any idea you're gay and you're posting vile homophobic shit in the chat of a game that has quite a lot of homophobic players you *just* look like one of said homophobes. 2) regardless of your sexuality if you're using homophobic language and slurs to insult and hurt and tear people down (strangers at that) then you're, guess what?! Homophobic. You're not reclaiming shit and the fact that you're gay doesn't give you a free pass to use slurs and be a hateful little cunt. That's not how 'reclaiming' works, you're just a little dick.

My mom just joked about not liking the idea of one of her kids being LGBT. She laughed it off. I felt horrible. I am not even sure if I am or not, but it still stung.