Blog Post
16 years later, meet the kids who are defining better
Christopher
Pronouns: He/Him, They/Them
Location: Virgina
Age: 17
Favorite Song: “Attracted To You” by Pinkpantheress
Christopher Grady is a gay Black teenager fascinated by humanities subjects like African-American Studies, Gender & Sexuality Studies, and Creative Writing. His advocacy for marginalized communities was derived in his navigation of intersectional discrimination, driven by empathy and determination. This is seen in his leadership with Diversity Advocates, the student-led initiative he co-founded to foster allyship and belonging at his school. Inspired by the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities (VCIC) Connections Institute, he has led workshops to faculty and students on dismantling prejudice, creating inclusive spaces, and embracing diverse perspectives. His advocacy extended nationally as a national student council member for Glisten, where he amplified LGBTQ+ voices by co-developing “Queer Youth Voices” anthology under the student-led Dear Queer Youth and speaking at the National Education Association conference on intersectionality.
Christopher believes “anything can lead to big change:” whether through writing, volunteering at the Children’s Museum of Richmond, or engaging with diverse perspectives locally, nationally, and internationally via programs such as FIRE Free Speech Forum, Highschool Diplomats, GSA Network’s Activist Camp, and It Gets Better. These experiences have shaped his communication, emotional intelligence, and leadership, fueling his drive to challenge societal norms and uplift marginalized voices. Additionally, he aims to utilize these lessons to create systematic change, ensuring platforms and resources empower those like and unlike himself. Through his involvement with It Gets Better’s Youth Voices, he seeks to expand his advocacy through collaboration with other changemakers, contributing to a world where every LGBTQ+ person feels empowered and seen.
Daniel
Pronouns: He/Him
Location: Illinois
Age: 16
Favorite Song: “I Saw Your Face” by Malcolm Todd
Daniel Castillo is a driven youth community organizer and educator based on the South Side of Chicago. Deeply passionate about Immigrant rights, mental health services, and LGBTQIA+ youth empowerment, Daniel has served as a teen ambassador and student leader across various citywide advisory councils and community initiatives alongside his own youth-led organization: Trans Rights For Human Rights (TR4HR) Project. His work centers on using public speaking, narrative storytelling, and youth-led programming to bridge social divides and amplify marginalized voices.
Motivated by a vision of a world where LGBTQiA+ youth feel empowered and supported in their communities, Daniel has joined Youth Voices to connect with fellow leaders to continue progressing on queer advocacy. As captain of his school’s debate team, an artist, and a dancer, Daniel aims to share his full, authentic self, his creativity, his work, and his voice to document the unique intersections of struggle and joy as a first-generation Mexican-American transgender man. Inspired by superheroes like Spider-Man and Izuku Midoriya, who are driven by a deep passion to help others and create positive change in the world, he hopes to show youth that inclusive spaces exist for them and that they have the power to build those spaces themselves. Through Youth Voices, Daniel looks forward to growing as a leader while dedicating himself to that same lifelong passion for service, advocacy, and community building.
Onyx
Pronouns: All pronouns
Location: Nevada
Age: 17
Favorite Song: “My Propeller” by Arctic Monkeys
Onyx is an aspiring forensic psychologist, who uses a mix of art and storytelling to support and advocate for others like them. As a second-gen immigrant, he hopes that their voice can impact others to make a change in their own or another’s life. Onyx is the president of Gender and Sexuality Alliance Club and founder of Latino Student Alliance. Also, they make an effort to support art centers, volunteering to help in technical theater. Along with human rights, Onyx is also an advocate for conservationism. With all of these hobbies and aspirations, Onyx hopes that their work can inspire and influence others to speak up for themselves and help their communities.
Rishi
Pronouns: They/Them
Location: North Carolina
Age: 16
Rishi is a poet, journalist, and activist for anti-censorship and access to queer literature. Their work has appeared in the New York Times, Poetry Daily, Sontag Mag, Rust + Moth, and multiple national and international anthologies. They also serve as the Youth Poet Laureate of the South, leading workshops in Title 1 high schools in Nebraska and North Carolina. Though they love performing and writing poetry, they have always felt that being a writer comes with a responsibility to others, to a larger literary space, and they have gone about their laureateship giving back to communities in need. As the Editor-in-Chief of Polyphony Lit, they utilized a $10,000 It Gets Better Changemakers grant to produce a queer youth anthology—managing an eight-person editorial team, printing 75 copies, and distributing to rural schools nationwide. They also served as the managing editor for the yearlong anti-censorship blog series “Love in the Time of Banned Books” that has published art, criticism, and journalism in direct response to the recent rise of book bans in libraries, while their own reporting on queer student safety at their school has prompted administrative action. They are most passionate about expanding access to information and literature, something they believe demands the attention of anyone making art today.
Shailen
Pronouns: He/Him
Location: New Jersey
Age: 16
Favorite Song: “Miracle Drug” by U2
Shailen is a 16-year-old aspiring biomedical engineer who wants to build a more inclusive future in STEM. He’s a mechanical engineering student at a magnet high school. His story began in third grade when he devised a plan to build an Iron Man suit. That ambition remains in everything he does. Now in high school, he designs 3D-printed prosthetics for people who can’t afford traditional devices, and he competed in the MIT Beaver Works Assisted Tech Challenge building assistive devices for people’s daily life.
Coming out as transgender at 12 gave him a clear sense of what it costs to navigate spaces not built with you in mind. He’s taken that into advocacy everywhere he goes: a statewide rally, a panel at the Indian American Impact Capital Summit in DC, and recognition as a Governor’s honoree for his LGBTQ+ equality work. As a member of The GenderCool Project, he helps replace misinformation about trans and nonbinary youth with real stories of them thriving.
His ultimate goal is to create technologies that expand the boundaries of what’s possible, and to ensure every kid – including queer kids – have the ability to pursue their dreams.
Sophia
Pronouns: She/They
Location: California
Age: 17
Favorite Song: “You Get What You Give” by New Radicals
Sophia Wong is a high school senior in Los Angeles and a youth activist passionate about LGBTQ+ rights, educational equity, and international relations. As a first-generation immigrant and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, she is compelled to advocate for the communities that she loves and cares for. Frustrated by the recent surge of legislation that targets LGBTQ+ youth, she founded Dear Queer Youth, an international organization that empowers LGBTQ+ youth through storytelling, civic engagement, and community events. Sophia also serves on GLSEN’s National Student Council, leads GSA Network’s California Organizing Team, and is president of her school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance, where she organizes an annual city-wide queer dance. As an It Gets Better Youth Voice, she hopes to utilize the power of storytelling and representation to help other LGBTQ+ teens know they matter and deserve to be celebrated. Beyond her LGBTQ+ advocacy, she is the founder of Books Beyond Barriers, a local literacy initiative that expands access to diverse books, and serves as a United Nations Youth Delegate for the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, where she advocates for youth engagement in the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals. In the future, Sophia hopes to continue uplifting marginalized communities by pursuing a career in public policy and law.
Vivian
Pronouns: He/They
Location: Plattsburgh, NY
Age: 14
Favorite Song: “WORMS (In My Brain)” by NOAHFINNCE
Vivian is a transgender teen from rural New York. He enjoys kayaking, writing fanfics, and working on makeup art. They are a percussionist in their high school band. This year, he will be traveling to his seventh country and testing for a brown belt in karate. He is also a Junior Master Herpetologist and enjoys watching Doctor Who.
Growing up in a rural area, he knows how hard it can be to find opportunities, health care, and communities, especially as an LGBTQ+ person in a small town. Vivian hopes to be able to help people in rural areas get the information necessary to find and create safe spaces.