By Brian Wenke
The It Gets Better Project exists to uplift, empower, and connect LGBTQ+ youth around the globe, so we were incredibly inspired and moved when we saw the #Letters4TransKids campaign. Ina Fried, a journalist with Axios, launched the campaign to send hope to trans youth, and to let them know they aren’t alone.
To every rockstar trans and non-binary kid reading this — we have a message for you.
Dear rockstar,
Adults seem to have an easy time forgetting what it’s like to be young. I am dumbfounded daily by the vitriol adults are purposely casting at LGBTQ+ youth, particularly our beloved trans community. Despite what may seem like a rising tide of negative sentiment directed at you and your peers, I can’t help but see it as the dying breath of an outmoded form of conditioning. We’ve been here before, it won’t last, but it won’t go down without a fight.
If any of the individuals trying to limit your freedoms met you, they would understand how incredibly important you are. You elevate the world’s understanding of what it means to be truly human – a beautiful sentient being with an inner world so complex modern language cannot describe it. Your value transcends the hateful rhetoric of a loud minority. I promise you, there are more people in this world who will fight for your existence than those who seek to diminish it.
I will fight for you. The It Gets Better Project will fight for you. Countless millions will fight for you without question. Open yourself up to the love coming your way. Be you, unapologetically, and show by the example of your life the joy that can come from it. You are loved – and you are a f***ing rock star!
Brian Wenke
Executive Director
It Gets Better Project