In 2021, a 13-year-old queer girl from New Jersey, with a heart of gold and a story to tell, came to It Gets Better with a dream of being a role model for LGBTQ+ POC kids like her. In her application, she wrote: “‘Uplift, empower, and connect LGBTQ+ youth around the globe’ to me meansContinue reading “Our Youngest Member of Youth Voices Is Going To Harvard!”
Learn more about the Summer Reading Challenge and click here to learn more about this year’s featured books. What if finding your soulmate wasn’t romantic at all? What if it was mandatory? That’s the question at the center of Jessica Mary Best’s You Pierce My Soul, a queer dystopian thriller set in a city whereContinue reading “Meet Jessica Mary Best, Author of “You Pierce My Soul””
Learn more about the Summer Reading Challenge and click here to learn more about this year’s featured books. We started with six queer books by six queer authors. Since then, our list has multiplied to more than 30 books you can add to your reading list. It Gets Better’s Summer Reading Challenge helps power theContinue reading “Our Summer It Gets Better 2026 Queer Reading List”
Learn more about the Summer Reading Challenge and click here to learn more about this year’s featured books. The Great Gatsby, but make it queer. Ryan Douglass does exactly that in The Great Disillusionment of Nick and Jay, reimagining the American classic through a Black queer lens and drawing out the longing, reinvention, ambition, andContinue reading “Meet Ryan Douglass, Author of “The Great Disillusionment of Nick and Jay””
Learn more about the Summer Reading Challenge and click here to learn more about this year’s featured books. A legal name change is supposed to be the start of a new chapter. For Jaden, it blows his entire life apart. In Mia Siegert’s The Names We Buried, a routine trip to the courthouse ends withContinue reading “Meet Mia Siegert, Author of “The Names We Buried””
Learn more about the Summer Reading Challenge and click here to learn more about this year’s featured books. What happens when fans of a 19-year-old pop star are obsessed with discovering who inspired her hit love songs, but they’re about her favorite love stories, not her own. In L.V. Peñalba’s Shapes of Love, Sasha isContinue reading “Meet L.V. Peñalba, Author of “Shapes of Love””
By Andrew (he/him), Youth Voices ambassador, Class of 2026 (Content warning: depression, eating disorders) July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. For more information, visit nami.org. For so long, the topic of mental health has been taboo. All kinds of long-dismissed conditions: depression, anxiety, eating disorders (ED’s) have all culturally been neglected over and overContinue reading “For My Mental Health, “Better Than Before” Wasn’t Enough”
Learn more about the Summer Reading Challenge and click here to learn more about this year’s featured books. We didn’t have a Kelly Clarkson lyric inspiring a queer YA thriller about a true-crime podcast on our bingo card, but honestly, we should have known better. Jumata Emill’s I Don’t Wish You Well follows aspiring journalistContinue reading “Meet Jumata Emill, Author of “I Don’t Wish You Well””
Click here to learn more about this week’s featured books. Our summer reading list should come with a warning: Read at your own risk. You might get under the skin of people trying to silence queer voices. You might wind up celebrating LGBTQ+ people living full, joyful, complicated lives. You might discover a story thatContinue reading “It Gets Better’s 2026 Summer Reading Challenge”
Every Pride Month, we celebrate the brands that show up for LGBTQ+ youth. Not just with a rainbow logo. Not just with a post that disappears on July 1. But with real support that helps fund programs, create resources, build community, and remind LGBTQ+ young people that they are seen, valued, and never alone. InContinue reading “The Brands That Are Standing By LGBTQ+ Youth in 2026”
By Annabelle, Youth Voices, Class of 2025 We’re looking for more ground-breaking trailblazers like Annabelle! If you have what it takes to make a better world for LGBTQ+ youth, apply for Youth Voices at itgetsbetter.org/YouthVoices by June 21, 2026. Lilli’s suit seemed to be made of fire ants. My transgender friend shrugged her shoulders inwards and anxiouslyContinue reading “A Queer Prom in Indiana shows student-led change is possible. And powerful.”
CLICK HERE for more resources for LGBTQ+ college students. If you’re searching for an LGBTQ+-affirming college, you’ve probably noticed how often the conversation centers on big-name universities in major metros. Those schools can be great, but they’re not the right fit for everyone, nor are they accessible to everyone. Cost, distance from home, campus size,Continue reading “10 most queer-friendly schools in rural communities”
By Brian Wenke, Executive Director, It Gets Better Read the letter or watch the video below! Something happened to me a few months ago that I haven’t been able to shake. I was wearing an It Gets Better hat, and someone came up to me and said, “I don’t know how you can wear that atContinue reading “Someone asked me how I can wear an It Gets Better hat right now!”
We are looking for art, writing, and photographs from LGBTQ+ youth (ages 13-18) to be featured in special youth-created campaigns for Pride 2026. Our Youth Voices are working on individual projects where they are collecting work from LGBTQ+ youth like them to create something impactful, and they need your help! Extended Deadline: Sunday, May 10thContinue reading “Get featured in our Pride 2026 campaign.”
Queer community shows up all over campus and in the surrounding town if you know where to look.
College can be a reset button. A chance to meet people who get you, try new things, and build a life that feels bigger than high school. But queer community doesn’t always show up in a neat little package on day one. Sometimes you find it fast. Sometimes you find it in pieces. Either way,Continue reading “10 experiences every college student should have”
By Bekah (he/him), It Gets Better Youth Voices ambassador Malcolm in the Middle was one of my pandemic shows. The witty humor gave me a break from the new reality of life during Covid. Like Malcolm, I was feeling short-changed. I never got a proper goodbye to my elementary school class and teachers, many ofContinue reading “The “Them” in the Middle”
Choosing a college is a big decision for anyone. For LGBTQ+ students, it can come with extra layers: Will I be safe here? Will I be supported? Will I be able to be myself and find community? The good news is you don’t have to guess. A campus tour is more than pretty buildings. It’sContinue reading “10 Questions Every Queer Student Should Ask on a College Tour”
“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best is now.” It’s a proverb that our It Gets Better: Changemakers youth leaders take to heart. They are those seeds, planted and nurtured throughout the grant program, emerging as a forest of new leaders adding to the foundation of support built by leadersContinue reading “It Gets Better: Changemakers Grantee Spotlight. Meet Delaney”
By Raelee Sweet Teens today navigate a complex digital world. While the data shows U.S. teens spend an average of 4.8 hours of their day on social media, LGBTQ+ youth spend 3.72 more hours online than their cishet peers, and 41% of teens who spend the most time on social media report poor or veryContinue reading “See a difference in your mental health in just 10 minutes!”
My name is Phi, and I am an alumni of It Gets Better’s Youth Voices program. It Gets Better came into my life at a time when I was still figuring out who I was. My hometown didn’t have its own LGBTQ+ Center and my family wasn’t exactly accepting, but I still wanted to be openly queer, shareContinue reading “Youth Voices Alum Update: “It Gets Better Helped Me Find My Voice””
The news can be heavy. This mental health resource can help.
Small moments of allyship can mean a world of difference to people like me, write 16 year old Youth Voices ambassador Marshall.
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we have a couple of ways you can show your love for LGBTQ+ youth, and it’s all about being a visible and vocal ally. 2. Join the nearly 800,000 who have committed to being an outspoken ally for LGBTQ+ youth and take the It Gets Better Pledge. WhenContinue reading “This Valentine’s Day, Say ‘I Love You’ By Being an Ally”
It Gets Better’s Youth Voices ambassadors have selected their picks for 2025’s Joy Rebels of the Year, two artists who exemplify what it means to use joy as an act of rebellion, whose presence and advocacy resonate deeply with LGBTQ+ youth. This year’s joy rebels are recording artist, actress, and New York Times-bestselling author HayleyContinue reading “It Gets Better’s Youth Voices Announce 2025 Joy Rebels of the Year”
The holidays are right around the corner, and we have a celebration you’re not going to want to miss. Join us December 17 starting at 11:15am PT/2:15pm ET for our “The Bigger Picture: Queer-a-thon” event live on Twitch — more than eight hours of live stream fun and festivities with your global LGBTQ+ family. EveryContinue reading “Join us for Our 2026 “The Bigger Picture: Queer-a-thon’ Celebration”
In a year in which LGBTQ+ youth were treated like talking points in everyone else’s culture war, It Gets Better stayed focused on The Bigger Picture: making things better for LGBTQ+ youth. Scroll any headline and you’ll see what’s stacked against LGBTQ+ youth. Scroll this page and you’ll see what they’re building anyway. From classroomsContinue reading “It Gets Better 2025 Impact Report”
Nashan wrote this during our art-ivism workshop, where we taught youth how art can be used as activism and as a way to advocate for themselves and their communities!
Jay is a 15-year-old transgender, Indian-American activist from the Bay Area, California and a member of the Fall/Winter 2025 class of It Gets Better’s Youth Voices ambassadors. I didn’t start running because I wanted medals. I started running because I wanted to feel like I belonged somewhere. When I first joined cross country, I didn’tContinue reading “Just Another Runner on the Team”
Conversas Que Inspiram (Conversations That Inspire), the groundbreaking series from It Gets Better Brasil, has been nominated for the Prisma Queer Award for its second season at the 49th São Paulo International Film Festival, one of the most prestigious cinema events in the world.
By Ariella Assouline (she/her)Senior Manager of Programs for It Gets Better As someone who works every day with LGBTQ+ youth, educators, and families, I’ve seen firsthand how important it is for young people to have tools that support their mental health on their own terms. That’s why It Gets Better first launched imi.guide, a free,Continue reading “Meet GLO: A Bright New Way for LGBTQ+ Youth to Care for Their Mental Health”
As part of our #Mis15 campaign for Hispanic Heritage Month, Youth Voices alumnus Kiki talks about envisioning a better tomorrow for Latine LGBTQ+ youth everywhere.
By Raelee Sweet, Assistant Manager of Education for It Gets Better Next Saturday is National Coming Out Day, a day to celebrate self-acceptance and finding supportive communities where you can be your authentic self. This annual holiday honors the anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for LGBTQ+ rights. National Coming Out Day means aContinue reading “Bring National Coming Out Day Into the Classroom”
For LGBTQ+ young people, the journey to adulthood can feel like stepping into the world without a roadmap. Many of us are navigating identity, community, and resilience all at once—and when you add money into the mix, things can get overwhelming fast. Studies show that LGBTQ+ youth face higher rates of financial stress and oftenContinue reading “Financial Pride: Building Confidence Through Money”
This year we’re celebrating 15 years of It Gets Better, an anniversary that invites us to reflect on what it means to grow up, to embrace our identities, and to celebrate our stories in community. For many of us in Latin America, a quinceañera is a symbolic milestone: a tradition full of social and genderedContinue reading “#Mis15 Spotlight: CJ García”
From rural Alaska to Miami, Florida, these are the grant projects making waves for LGBTQ+ youth in 2025.
We are so excited to bring on a new cohort of incredible Youth Voices for our Fall/Winter 2025 cohort. But before we formally introduce them to you, they have some thoughts to share for this back-to-school season. Read on for some thoughts from Bekah (he/him) and Nashan (she/her), Youth Voices – Fall/Winter 2025, then checkContinue reading “Back to School with It Gets Better’s Youth Voices”
When New York Times bestselling author Becky Albertalli was growing up in the 80’s and 90’s in the suburbs of Atlanta, her access to queer stories was so limited, “I legitimately didn’t understand that someone like me could be queer.”
The Youth Voices Class of 2025 just wrapped up an unforgettable year, and what they accomplished was nothing short of extraordinary.
Read some amazing queer authors and celebrate queer stories, all while raising critical funds for LGBTQ+ youth.
This year, we sent our Youth Voices alumni and ambassadors out into the world — not just to celebrate Pride, but to live it.
Bravo to the brands that remain standing with LGBTQ+ youth in 2025. Check out our Pride Month brand partners.
It Gets Better: A Digital Pride Experience is back, and this year, we’re doing it loud, proud, and global
Join Us for the 2025 Global Summit on Twitch: Uplifting LGBTQ+ Youth Voices Around the World
If you’re a fan of daytime, you might know me from Guiding Light, The Bold & the Beautiful, or in my current role as Dani Dupree on CBS’s Beyond the Gates. What you might not know is that I identify as queer. And sharing that publicly has taken time, space, and a lot of self-exploration.
We know you’ve got ideas. Well this is your last change. Applications for It Gets Better: Changemakers close Monday, May 12 at 11:59pm PT.
How can LGBTQ+ youth stay safe online? Our Youth Voices partnered up with NoFiltr’s Youth Innovation Council to create digital guides for online safety, made entirely by youth for youth.
On April 15, the UK Supreme Court ruled that under the 2010 Equality Act, the word “woman” refers strictly to biological women—excluding trans women, even those with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), from certain legal protections. In short: a trans woman with a GRC is not automatically considered a “woman” under the law.
Writer Srijani Rupsha Mitra takes a powerful look at how LGBTQ+ women in India are fighting oppression with resilience, sisterhood, and unstoppable joy.
By Violet Chin My name is Violet, I’m a 17-year-old lesbian, and this International Women’s Month I want to celebrate the women loving women. I was in 4th grade when I realized I was a lesbian. Notably, this realization did not come from some poetic young love or joy-filled epiphany, but rather from something muchContinue reading “Challenging Gender Roles, One School Yard Crush at a Time”