Haga clic aquí para leer este artículo en español.
This year, during Hispanic Heritage Month, we held our first Summit – entirely in Spanish. It also marked the first time our affiliates have been together in person since our pre-Covid summit at New York World Pride in 2019. On October 6 and 7, the It Gets Better Project’s Spanish-speaking affiliates gathered in Miami, Florida for two inspirational days of networking and learning. Representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Spain, Hungary, Mexico, Panama and Peru attended.
“I confirmed that the love, passion and work of each affiliate is enormous and the importance of joining forces to enhance our work” – Agustina Fuente, president of It Gets Better Argentina.
@Alex_Orue
Our Summits are designed to give affiliates an opportunity to connect with other members of the Global Affiliate Network, attend trainings, and share experiences and best practices from their respective countries. During the summit, affiliates are able to unite and build a coalition across their region. This group spoke to the importance of Spanish language content to engage with LGBTQ+ youth in their own countries, as well as in the United States.
“At the #SummitItGetsBetter I learned how important it is to grow, how beautiful it is to learn and the immense love that exists in this great network of diverse and committed people. Pure inspiration to keep saying #ItGetsBetter!” – Tomás Loyola, president of It Gets Better Spain.
During our first day of the summit, we discussed strategies that the It Gets Better Project has developed to prioritize the accessibility of our programs in Spanish and promote LGBTQ+ Latine representation in our storytelling efforts. Affiliates in Mexico, Colombia, Spain, and Guatemala presented the intersectional approach they’ve taken to developing projects and growing their audience while representatives from Argentina, Brazil, and Peru focused on a more grassroots community effort to accomplish goals, and shared their recent projects.
Day two was dedicated to discussion panels with valued regional and local partner organizations, such as Meta, Homosensual media, the University of Miami, the General Consulate of Mexico in Miami, and Article 19 MX-CA. Throughout the day, panelists covered topics such as: inclusive language, moderation of LGBTQ+ content, safe spaces for the community, and empowerment strategies for young LGBTQ+ leaders.
“The Summit in Spanish allowed me to meet and learn from different affiliates and therefore from various efforts by and for our LGBTQ+ youth. An inspiring meeting with many people and a message: It Gets Better” – Erika Cisneros, coordinator of the Student Council of It Gets Better Mexico.
– @hereisdoug
We are so grateful to everyone who joined us for our first-ever Summit in Spanish! Thank you to the members and friends of our Global Affiliate Network. We are incredibly thankful for the support Converse provided to make an event like this possible. We are energized to continue our work for Hispanic LGBTQ+ youth around the world.
“The Summit in Spanish was a learning space where we exchanged our experience and context in different countries. For Panama it was very important to learn from the representatives of Hispanic countries for the implementation of our project.” – Manuel González, President of the Board of Directors of It Gets Better Panama.
See you in Buenos Aires in 2023!