Youth Voices Alum Update: “It Gets Better Helped Me Find My Voice”

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, share my art, and find community.

I applied to It Gets Better’s Youth Voices program with an art submission. Once I was accepted, I continued creating work centered on queer identity for It Gets Better media campaigns. 

Youth Voices gave me more than a platform for my creativity; it gave me the confidence, language, and support to speak openly about my experiences and imagine bigger possibilities for myself and my community.

After participating in campaigns like AAPI& and Trans Awareness Week and speaking with news outlets like The 19th during my time with Youth Voices, I started stepping more fully into leadership. I became my university’s GSA President and founded Amplify the Arch, Greater St. Louis’s first regional queer youth conference.

Amplify the Arch was created to bring LGBTQ+ youth across Missouri and Illinois together in one space to connect, be seen, and build community. Two weeks ago, that vision became real when we welcomed hundreds of young people to the conference. We hosted workshops like “Navigating Anti-Trans and Anti-LGBTQ Legislation” and “National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Discussion” and hosted an art exhibit that showcased over 40 pieces of art of various mediums.

In a full circle moment, Amplify the Arch was made possible in part through an It Gets Better: Changemakers grant that I applied for after leaving Youth Voices. 

My art continues to grow with me. Years after first sharing my work through It Gets Better, I submitted some of that same artwork to the Amplify the Arch art gallery, a fundraising effort connected to the conference. Every piece I submitted sold out, with 100% of the proceeds going toward funding next year’s event.

I’m currently a first-generation college student in my second year at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, studying Political Science and Public Health. I’m also considering adding Data Science, because I’m interested in how policy, health, and data intersect.

Outside of traditional organizing, I use art and modeling as forms of advocacy. My recent work has been featured in my school’s Asian identity magazine and exhibited at the MAAY Foundation’s exhibition last fall. I’ve modeled in university cultural fashion shows like the Lunar New Year Festival and Diwali showcase. I’m also an ambassador for both Advocates for Youth and the Human Rights Campaign. I spoke on the queer youth panel at the Asian American Civic Scholars Annual Mental Health Conference, and I even did drag for the first time earlier this year.

Most days, my activism looks less glamorous than it sounds: grant writing, outreach emails, and late-night Google Docs. But it’s also incredibly fulfilling. Youth Voices helped me go from simply telling my story to building something that helps other queer youth feel seen, supported, and inspired to dream bigger.

If you want to support emerging leaders like me, consider a donation to It Gets Better. Every dollar helps fund the next generation of LGBTQ+ leadership.

Phi C. (they/them)
Youth Voices alum (Class of 2025)
It Gets Better