Youth Voices: What Pride Means to Us

To honor Pride Month this year, It Gets Better’s Youth Voices organized and created, from start to finish, a Pride Roundtable discussion about what Pride means to them.

They touched on a number of topics… LGBTQ+ safety in schools, the importance of voting and the next election, and what it means to have a support system at home. But they also had some fun (hello Chappell Roan shout out) and some advice for their queer peers.

Watch their roundtable discuss below and see the full transcript of the conversation after.

Transcript in Full (English)

Jeremy (any) 

Hello, everyone. I’m incredibly excited to be moderating the It Gets Better Youth Voices Class of 2024 Pride Roundtable Discussion. It Gets Better is a nonprofit organization with the mission of uplifting, empowering, and connecting LGBTQ plus youth from across the globe. And my name is Jeremy, and I use any pronouns, and I’m based in Houston, Texas, and I just completed my senior year of high school.

Introductions

Jeremy (any) 

Before we get onto the conversation today, could everyone just introduce themselves? So do you want to start us off, Aaron?

Aaron (he/they) 

Yes. Hello, everyone. My name is Aaron. I use he/they pronouns. I’m currently finishing my senior year in high school and I am from LA.

Ellie (she/her) 

Hi, everyone. My name is Ellie. I use she/her pronouns and I’m from Jersey and I’m going to be finishing my senior year of high school this year.

Fabi (she/her) 

Hey, everyone. I’m Fabi. I’m now a freshman in college going into my sophomore year. I use she/her and I’m from Melbourne, Florida.

Mia (they/them) 

Hello everybody. My name is Mia. I use they/them pronouns and I am currently going into my freshman year of college.

Section One: Nex’s Death and How It Impacted Our Trust In School Safety

Jeremy (any) 

Thank you so much, everyone, and before we discuss our first section, we would like to give a trigger warning for death in school violence. And if this section would be potentially triggering, please feel free to jump to our next section. So we will be discussing events that have happened earlier this year, and we’ll be first discussing Nexus death and how it impacted our trust in school safety. And on to our first question, what was your personal reaction to the news about Nex’s death?

Aaron (he/they) 

Um, I guess I’ll go first. I remember first hearing about Nex through an Instagram kind of, like, post and kind of reading into it but not really being able to get research or read more into it, just because I don’t know, there was like something inside of me that I just couldn’t. But off the bat, I was deeply upset and really saddened for Nex and their family and their loved ones. And it was later where more conversation about Nex started happening that I decided to do a little bit more research about their story and kind of their journey. And I found it extremely difficult to just because I felt reminiscent to my own experience growing up at school and kind of realizing that what happened to Nex was one of my worst nightmares growing up, just being in that situation and again not having any trust in my school kind of to react appropriately and just even reading more and seeing that the staff at their high school not only neglected to call an ambulance, but also failed to report the violence to the local police. And so for me, just reading that and just being extremely saddened and upset that this is still happening and that sadly, Nex’s story is not an anomaly, that it’s really impacting queer youth everywhere.

Jeremy (any) 

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for those words. Mia, Ellie, Fabi, do you have any thoughts?

Mia (they/them) 

Yeah, I just want to reiterate what Aaron said. I mean, again, I also learned about it through scrolling on Instagram and just seeing it like that. And it just brought me back to when a school that one of my good friends went to, the administration decided to ban anything that had to deal with the LGBTQ community. They said if you were to come out as transgender, then they would be able to expel you from school, it was just really, really terrible. And of course, there’s a lot of students and faculty and staff that were very against this new policy, and so they, you know, protested against it. They wrote letters to the school board director. But it just kind of brought me back to how a lot of people try to ignore just like the rights and safety of a lot of queer youth. And it was just very saddening to see this happen to this degree to next.

Jeremy (any) 

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much. Ellie, Fabi, did y’all want to add any comments?

Ellie (she/her) 

Yeah, I think I could bounce off of that just a little bit and just first start off by saying when I first heard the news, I had, I think, a very similar reaction to you, Aaron, and you, Mia. I was just like, my heart kind of broke a little bit inside, because like you said, Aaron, this is kind of all of our worst fears come true. It’s really what you all worry about, think about, and it’s like, this could happen to us.This is happening to queer youth across the country. And it’s just really heartbreaking to see. And I think that just shows why it’s so important for us to, you know, learn about these things and speak about it because if we don’t, it’s just gonna keep happening.

 Jeremy (any) 

Absolutely and moving and jumping on from that, I guess, how has this news, like, personally impacted you in terms of how you view school safety, how you maneuver the way that you sort of move throughout your school and community?

Fabi (she/her) 

I would like to start and I believe like we should especially I believe like teachers and school faculty should start taking action because the pillars of education happen in the classroom you know and it’s about incorporating inclusion in your own classroom and condemning homophobia or any disrespect towards like minorities or any student in general since like equality or equity just comes from within, to be honest. And it’s just to emphasize that school safety comes from within and just ingraining that into the students in each everyday interaction, I believe. Thank you.

Jeremy (any) 

Yeah, thank you so much. Does anyone else have any thoughts?

Jeremy (any) 

I guess I can go in terms of how this news is personally impacting me. I think it’s sort of really obviously echoing everything that everyone has already said, like this has happened to us, happened to our community, this is continuing to happen to our community, especially with, like, the new wave of, like, culture wars and like attacking queer youth. It’s, like, incredibly disheartening to see where I’ve honestly thought about like, since I’m going into college, like, choosing a university or college that would affirm identities that aren’t, like, that aren’t, that are currently being discriminated against, right? Like, I think this is currently sort of affected the way in which we all choose on how to enter this next stage of our lives, like entering college, becoming adults, and finding where we want to, like, continue our lives. So that’s how it’s personally affected me. 

Jeremy (any) 

And I guess moving on, what do you hope to see come out of this tragedy as, like, Fabi has already mentioned, how she wants to see, like, teachers affirming, like, safety within the school communities for like queer youth.

Aaron (he/they) 

I think for me it would be like two major things, which is action and attention. I feel like there’s so many times where personally I’ve heard stories from other queer youth about, you know, being bullied and staff and school administrators seeing this, right, but not saying anything or not doing anything about it. And, you know, even with NAAQS, they were being bullied several months before the incident. Pretty sure that somebody saw something or, you know, things weren’t looking, you know, relatively good, or there’s things that didn’t make any sense. So I would encourage staff, school administrators and school staff, that when they see something, that they do something. Because again, Nex’s story and tragic death, it could have been prevented. And also, attention, right? Benedict’s family claimed that the teen had experienced several months of homophobia before, and it so happened to align with the recent bill that was signed into law in May 2022 Governor the government of Oklahoma that banned trans and non-binary students from using the bathroom that affirms their gender identity. So I think it also really brings into attention to action and also attention to what’s going on politically.

Jeremy (any)

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much. Does anyone else have any thoughts?

Mia (they/them) 

I think

Fabi (she/her)

I think I’m sorry, you can go, it’s okay.

Mia (they/them) 

Okay. Um, yeah, I just want to reiterate again, what Aaron said, I think that it’s so important not to just let this kind of fizzle out. I think that if it makes you feel this way, then like, remember that feeling and use that to power your activism, use that to power your voice and in educating others, because that’s how we can prevent this from happening to someone else in the future. I think if you see this, and you’re like, oh, that’s sad, we don’t take action, and you’re just as like, complicit towards what’s happening. That’s how these cycles keep on continuing, and continuing. So definitely, I want to reiterate what Aaron said, and like, make sure to put action towards what was happening, whether that’s like education, so telling people about that, or that’s educating yourself. So really researching about what happened or, you know, writing letters to your representative about trying to get bills or any, like, laws passed that protect LGBTQ people. But just like having that action plan, like using your feelings to kind of fuel that. So that way it doesn’t just fizzle out and this continues like this harmful cycle.

Jeremy (any)

Absolutely. Thank you so much. Fabi, did you want to add on?

Fabi (she/her) 

Yes, of course. And I think as I wanted to add on the aspect of grief, as Gen Z, we have been victims of so much at, like, such a young age. And through that process, we grieve, like most parts of our childhood to especially for queer youth, we just it’s like an ongoing journey of mourning, like what we could have been in what childhood we could have. And as a generation of like, so much activism, you know, I believe we should embrace that grief as it’s just like loving in another way and use that for activism as much as we can and just try and advocate for what we support, you know? And yeah.

Jeremy (any) 

Thank you so much. And moving on to our final question for this section, how do you personally feel comfort in your own school community? And do you have any advice for queer youth who may feel unsafe in their current school communities right now?

Ellie (she/her) 

I can 100% lead off with this one, because when I first went to my high school, I kind of felt like there weren’t a lot of queer affirming spaces. There weren’t a lot of spaces where I felt like I could be myself or express my sexuality completely. And the way that I kind of found a community without those resources from my school was Kind of just talking with other queer young people and reaching out to the educators that I knew supported me and supported queer rights, and it did take some time to find. I was scared at first to tell my teachers that I was queer. I still get scared telling some of them, because you don’t really know how everyone’s going to react, especially those that may be more vocal about their opinions. So that’s why it’s so important to go to those people that you do know, have your back, and talk to them, because they’re the ones that are going to be there for you, and they’re the ones that can support you in these situations. Finding those people that you know will support you, talking with them, and even educating those people that don’t really understand is so important because they’re setting the next step for the next generation of kids that are coming to your school. And I found that a lot within my own school community that a lot of people just didn’t know anything about the LGBT+ community. And I kind of took it upon myself to talk with them and try and create that space because we didn’t really have it.

Jeremy (any) 

Yeah, thank you so much for those comments and that advice. And also for just being a Trailblazer in your own community. And I would just like to add, if you don’t feel comfort in your own school community, I would just highly recommend looking into those outside communities and organizations that could be affirming. So if your guardians really support you, I’d recommend maybe attending, like, a local PFLAG chapter and finding that community when that isn’t available to you at your school, and if there are, like, structures within the school that really prevent and discriminate against you as a queer youth. Does anyone else have any advice, any thoughts, any comments?

Aaron (he/they) 

I do. Similar to what Ellie said, when I first started as a freshman out in my school, it was the pandemic. And then we started going back to in-person school in sophomore year. And my school started relatively new, so we didn’t have any clubs. So we started as a fresh new slate. So I didn’t really have that strong community at school, specifically with LGBTQIA+ students. So I urge anyone that also that doesn’t really see a community there, that they also build one too, I think that’s an important one. And also finding educators. That, you know, that you trust, that you can share, you know, whatever is on your mind, because I think that’s a really important thing, not only having that safety at home, but also safety at school. You know, I think that if Nex, I don’t know that much about Nex’s, you know, overall experience at school, but I will say that, you know, that if Nex would have had that trusted adult at school, I wonder how different things would have happened. Just because, you know, that one person, it really does make a difference. Or a community or people.

Jeremy (any)

Absolutely. Thank you so much. Does anyone else have any thoughts before we move on to the next section?

Mia (they/them) 

I mean like for me we don’t have an official GSA at my school just due to, like, administration and different things like that but I do find comfort in my theater group. It’s a huge queer community there and it’s just like a place where we can kind of like just unofficially just kind of come together and be able to just kind of express how we’re feeling without having to feel like judged or anything like that. And so that’s what I recommend too is to, like, join, like, extracurriculars or different things like that because queer students are everywhere. So you can meet different people with different like-minded interests through different activities like that.

Jeremy (any) 

Absolutely, like theater can honestly just be your school’s GSA if you don’t have one.

Section Two: Upcoming Elections

Jeremy (any)

But yeah, on to our next section, discussing the upcoming elections and our hopes and fears. For our first question, what are some fears that you have with the upcoming election?

Mia (they/them) 

I can go ahead and start this one. I think currently with what’s happening in the political climate, just with the large amount of violence, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, just like homophobia, just like all the phobias, haha. What’s happening creates just this awful brewing of just hate and just violence. And so I think what my biggest fear, for this election is we have a political leader in power that is just kind of fueling all of this hate and it just kind of bubbles up and it just becomes really unbearable for people who might be of a minority background or LGBTQ folks to just kind of exist. I think that’s like my biggest fear. And so because of that, I think it is so, so important for people to find your community and to find people who you trust and who you can talk to, whether that’s your therapist, your sibling, your friend, a mentor, just somebody who you can just kind of let those feelings out. So that way, you can kind of have a plan of how to cope with everything that’s kind of happening right now.

Jeremy (any)

Absolutely. Thank you so much. Does anyone else have any thoughts?

Aaron (he/they) 

I think just having conversations with other young people, I think the biggest fear for me just coming into the general election is that people are not utilizing their right to vote. I have had so many conversations and debates with other people of “why it’s so important to vote in the first place,” especially as certain communities have had to fight for that right. And I think it’s important to show up to the polls. I mean, Nax’s tragic death is an example of that. You know, if not, not vote for yourself, you know, vote for your friend that is LGBTQ or people at your school that you have a friendship with and are in a minority background and know that if someone is elected or in the power that their rights might be in jeopardy. So I think just utilizing that right to vote, if not for you, then for the people that you know. I think Rihanna said it too. So, you know,  just to show up and vote and not taking that right for granted.

Jeremy (any) 

Absolutely. Thank you so much. And just want to echo all of that, like, as someone who can’t vote and wants to vote and registers people to vote. I’ve been incredibly disheartened by the lack of interest in voting, but also like the barriers in voting and registering to vote. So yeah, absolutely. Does anyone else have any thoughts?

Fabi (she/her) 

Yes! I also wanted to echo that in the sense that I cannot vote either. And people really don’t understand the importance and just significance of voting and especially like acting locally and thinking globally, like, it all starts again from within. And I believe one of my biggest fears, to emphasize Mia’s point, is politicians and how, in the end, they just divide us even more and we forget that we are literally right next to each other for advocacy purposes and we tend to forget that a lot. So I feel like kind of shifting our perspective and realizing that we should form, like, social circles, you know, finding a space, even if it’s your school. And if you don’t, like, even one person can make a difference, and just find, like, a social circle again, or like extracurricular activities, just like GSA was for me, and letting that make our voices be heard in some way. Thank you.

Jeremy (any) 

Yeah, thank you so much. So if you’re listening to this roundtable, if you don’t want to vote, vote for Fabi and I, who can’t vote but want to vote. And on to our next section, or next question, what hopes do you have about the upcoming elections?

Jeremy (any) 

And I can start off. I’ve sort of been really inspired and really hopeful in terms of the ballot initiatives that have been happening over reproductive care and reproductive choice, like with when abortion rights have been on the ballot so far they’ve always been affirmed and having that reproductive choice. I really hope that those waves of people and those initiatives continue to happen, especially as we go into the election. And I really am hopeful about new legislation and new, honestly, just politicians and people being elected that affirm equality and equity and affirm our communities in general. So I’ve been really hopeful and really excited to see those things happening later this year and into next year. And does anyone else have any thoughts?

Aaron (he/they) 

Yeah, I think I saw somewhere in an article that LGBTQ voters are becoming one of the fastest growing populations in the country, and I think that’s so incredibly, kind of, hopeful. I think it’s that by 2030, seven voters will identify as LGBTQI+! And I think that’s extremely powerful because it kind of represents, or not represents, but it shows that we have the power to shape our own future. If we go to the polls and also highlighting kind of, like, the to do your own research also when you go vote, and make sure that you know what’s on your ballot, taking advantage of resources. I know Vote411, League of Women Voters, uses that, and all you do is put in your zip code and it literally lists all the races that you’re eligible to vote for, and I was able to do that with my grandma in the primaries who just became a citizen, and that was like, even though I’m not old enough to vote, I voted with her because I went with her too. So utilizing also the resources and researching what’s on your ballot, because it’s not enough just to vote. You have to make a well-informed vote. And yeah. Yeah, thank you so much.

Jeremy (any) 

Does anyone else have any thoughts?

Mia (they/them) 

Yeah, I just want to say I agree completely with what Aaron said. I think what I want people to know is that your voice does matter. And so many people have sacrificed so much for you to be able to have this opportunity, to be able to have this voice in government. Like what my mom always says is like, you are your ancestors’ wildest dreams. So I just want to say, like, use your voice, use the gifts that the people before you have fought for for you to have and just be able to, you know, go to the polls and vote to create your future. And if you’re confused, you’re like, oh, I don’t know how to register to vote, or I don’t know if I’m eligible to vote, you can always go online and to look it up. And there’s lots of people who want to help you. There’s lots of different organizations who want to help you. To make sure that your voice is heard. So don’t feel like it’s ever too difficult or you’re feeling really overwhelmed, because it can be an overwhelming process if you don’t know what’s happening or what’s going on. So just don’t be afraid to ask for help, because there’s plenty of people who want to help you get you to the polls and to vote to create your future.

Jeremy (any) 

Yes absolutely! Does anyone else have any thoughts? Or we can move on to the next question.

Fabi (she/her) 

Yes, I actually wanted to share about our generation and the impact that social media has on us. I believe we have persevered so much in the sense that everything that has happened especially to minorities and the queer community like, for example, Nex Benedict. And it has happened in every community. As a Latino person, I remember hearing about the murder of, I believe it was Daniel in Chile, I believe. And it was a brutal hate crime assassination, et cetera. And it’s just the way we have persevered amongst every single tragedy that has come. And in each way, we just find more strength and voices to act on the elections so in some way it’s it actually like brings like a sense of perseverance so um it’s just finding your voice finding like a social circle and like a support group that you can um you can come to in times of need but yeah thank you Absolutely.

Jeremy (any) 

Absolutely thank you so much. And on to our last question of this section. What do you want people to know or do going into this next election season?

Jeremy (any) 

I can kind of start this one off.

Ellie (she/her) 

I’m going to echo a little bit of what everyone said. And also, just first, I wanted to thank Aaron for sharing that statistic before about the percentage of LGBT plus people that are voting, because I thought that was amazing. I didn’t know that before. And it was just kind of inspirational to me to kind of hear that people are getting out there and they are voting. And that kind of gets me to what I wanted to say before, which is like, I feel like a lot of people might think, oh my God, I’m just one person. There are thousands, millions of people in this country. My vote is not going to make a difference. But that is the opposite of the truth. Your vote is making an impact. It’s making a difference no matter where you live. Even if you live in a state that always votes one way or always votes another way, you’re getting out there and you’re showing, again, that this is what the people think and this is what they believe in. And that is so important because your voice is being heard. So even if you’re sitting there and saying, my vote isn’t going to matter, I’m just one person. Please go out there, vote, take the time to sign up, take the time to make your voice heard because that is something that we have and that a lot of people don’t have the ability to do. And that’s to show exactly what we’re thinking by voting for the person that we believe best represents our beliefs. And then that person can make the impact and follow up on what we want them to do based on what everyone is saying. So just go out there and vote and, you know, get your opinion heard.

Jeremy (any) 

Yeah, absolutely. Snaps all around. Does anyone else want to go?

Aaron (he/they) 

I think just kind of like, I said it before, just reiterating it, like make sure to do your research, like really see who you’re voting for and who’s on your ballot. Because one thing a lot of people or politicians do specifically is, like, they present one way, but they, like, stand for and believe in a whole different way or their actions kind of say something else. So I really do encourage everyone to go out, and research and see what these people, you know, believe in, “what are they representing?” and “what do their actions tell you?”Because I feel like actions speak louder than words.

Jeremy (any) 

Absolutely. Did anyone else want to go?

Mia (they/them) 

Yeah, I just want to reiterate again what Aaron and Ellie say, like definitely do your research. Don’t just, you know, vote for somebody just because it’s like, your friend told you to vote for this person or you saw a billboard and you’re like, oh yeah, I’ll vote for that person. No, actually do your research because these are the people who are going to represent you. And these are the people who have the power to make a difference in different laws and legislation. So just make sure to know who you’re voting for and just be educated on that. And if that seems like a huge, scary, daunting thing, just go to the internet and research different things like the internet has so many different things of course look for like sources like “.edu” “.net” “.gov” so that way they’re trustworthy instead of like just “.com” but use your resources and be able to educate yourself so that way you can make the best educated vote.

Jeremy (any) 

Absolutely. Thank you so much. And I can conclude this question and section. I would just recommend everyone to, like, vote like that, like actually go vote and make sure you’re registered. Make sure you haven’t been purged from your voting polls, but just go out to vote and also especially vote in local elections. These elections are incredibly important when you’re talking about school boards, Texas, like state races, if that makes sense, because we’re all, like, primed and listening to, like, the national 2024, like, oh my gosh, like this is the presidential election. But like oftentimes you have an election in your city, state, region every single year. So make sure you’re voting in those school board elections, those, like, state, obviously, elections you’re Congressional elections, your judge elections as well, your primaries, just vote in all of those and make sure your voice is heard. And I just wanna, like, spend some time also emphasizing to vote in your school board elections. Like these people often determine the policies that are implemented in all the schools within that district, right? And like these policies can either be incredibly affirming and supportive or incredibly harmful where they’re banning books, banning language, banning inclusive language, especially. So really advocate for your friends, your family to really go vote and participate in these elections because they’re determined within like two or single digits. So please go vote. Fabi and I can’t, please vote for us. 

Section Three: Pride

Jeremy (any)

And onto our last section, which is hopefully more upbeat and uplifting, which is our pride section. I just wanted to start off and ask, what does pride mean to you?

Mia (they/them) 

I can go ahead and start! For me, oh my gosh, okay. So for me, pride means queer joy. It just, if you ever get a chance to go to a pride parade or just like a pride event, there’s just this feeling you get when you see so many people who are just like carrying pride flags, like who you could say, like, your pronouns, you don’t get any like weird looks or anything like that. Like you just feel completely accepted and you can be yourself. And that to me is the essence of pride. Queer people and LGBTQ people and non-binary people and transgender people, however you identify, can just exist and not have to worry about harmful behaviors that the outside world often has. And that’s like my hope for, like, a future to be like pride just to be so inclusive of everybody who identifies in the LGBT community where we can go to school and we can go to work, we can walk down the street, we could just exist without this fear of something terrible happening to us. So yeah, that’s what pride means to me.

Ellie (she/her) 

I 100% agree with everything Mia just said. And to me, I think that Pride is basically a celebration of our past, our present, and it represents my hopes and I hope the hopes of the queer community for the future. Cause when you see all those queer people come together, just rainbows everywhere, I just feel like it’s such, like, a celebration of everything we have been through. Like we’re here, we’re out, we’re proud, we can be together and we can celebrate who we are without all of the hate and negativity that other people might try to put upon us. And it’s just like, this is what we want for the future. This is what every day should be like, a celebration of who we are, being able to accept who we are, and being happy and proud about it.

Jeremy (any) 

Thank you so much. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Aaron (he/they)  

Yeah, 100% agree with what Mia and Ellie said. And just to kind of, like, piggyback off of what they said. For me, Pride is really a time out of the year where you could really authentically, comfortably be yourself without judgment. Not to say that I don’t do that already each day of the year, but it’s really a time where you could just do it unapologetically. And I think also it’s a time where… I really enjoy Pride because it’s like that’s where a lot of time people like organizations and stuff spotlight LGBTQ voices and really where our issues and kind of like concerns become, like, known, even though I feel like Pride Month shouldn’t just be the only month where we talk about LGBTQ issues and also uplift LGBTQ voices, and I think this goes for every month, right? Also celebrating and uplifting, you know, even for Black History Month, you know, just not uplifting their voices just during February, like all year round. I think that’s something that needs to be encouraged just because it’s like, we don’t just exist in that month. We exist every single day out of the year.

Jeremy (any) 

That’s incredibly powerful language. Thank you so much, Aaron. Did anyone else have any final thoughts?

Fabi (she/her) 

Yes, I believe pride, I would say something that characterizes pride for me at least is queer joy, just as Mia said. I believe it can be in, like, the little things too, like communities, music artists, for example, I love Chapel Rowan and I remember going to one of her concerts was like, I really… like one of the first moments of queer joy that I’ve ever experienced in my life, at least as a community, and just that collective happiness that there is and support for each other. And it could be like a coffee day. Some people, I live in a conservative town. My school has gone through so many acts of hate crime that have been, like, viral too, sadly, but in either way, like, people still reunite. In, like, coffee shops or they will do like a field trip day and then you know and just like karaoke poetry poetry slam you know and it’s just and the little things and, like, finding, like, space to dedicate to like and cultivate like or identity to, with other people. 

Jeremy (any) 

Yeah absolutely. And just to round us off, what pride means to me is just having the confidence to be yourself and be in community with others like you. It’s an incredibly joyous month and celebrating it with others is incredibly affirming and I just want to snap like Chapel Roan and like finding pride in music and artists such as her, just feeling just happy, especially, but it doesn’t have to be just isolated to Pride Month. It can just be throughout all the days, all 365 in a year. 

Jeremy (any)

Now to our next question, what are you looking forward to do this pride season?

Mia (they/them) 

There are so many things I want to do. I’m so excited! I think for me, personally, would just be like, Just to be heavily involved in any of my local LGBTQ nonprofits, just getting to know that community a little bit more. Because when I’m in school, it’s very hard to make space or make time to work with these organizations. So I think what I’m most excited about would be just to be able to get to know these orgs better and to be able to connect with other LGBTQ youth. And I think that’s so important, especially as in a conservative state, Texas that I’m in- Yeah, me and Jeremy woo! -It could be kind of disheartening sometimes when you hear about just like what the leaders of…who are supposed to represent the people of Texas just are just harming people instead. So I think pride, especially here in conservative states, is just so important because we’re showing these people that, hey, we’re here, we’re successful, and that you’re not going to win. Joy always overcomes hate. So that’s what I’m most excited about.

Jeremy (any) 

Absolutely and finger snaps to that. Did anyone else want to talk about what they’re looking forward to do this pride month and pride season?

Aaron (he/they) 

I’m probably going to like a pride grade, with friends, and probably listening to Lady Gaga Rain On Me. I don’t know why that song always hits during a Pride parade. I don’t really usually listen to Lady Gaga, but during Pride and Pride parade, that’s a designated time, and that’s where she hits the most for Ariana Grande. Yeah, like, I’m beautiful. And yeah, just living authentically, and I think also, those parades too is, like, a moment to kind of, like, live in the moment. I feel like just everything that’s going on, it’s so heavy and it really does take a toll on your mental health. So I think going to these parades is also, like, not only a form of protest, but also a form of, like, self-care and kind of like really just being in community and, like, not caring what other people think.

Ellie (she/her) 

I’m gonna second all of that. I’m also super excited to get a cute rainbow outfit for Pride. And just to kind of see everyone and all these people show up together and just show their support for our community. I just think the amount of people that really do show up at Pride, it’s just kind of astonishing. You take a minute back and you’re like, oh my God, we do exist. We’re here, we’re proud, we’re happy. And I’m just really excited to see everyone and get to experience that type of joy again for that time during Pride, so yeah.

Jeremy (any) 

Yeah absolutely. And just want to echo third, everything everyone said, seeing everyone come out and celebrate each other and our community is absolutely fantastic to see. Are there any other thoughts?

Fabi (she/her) 

Yes, I would like to echo fourth, everything you guys have said and I think also in the little things on that topic is just getting a haircut you like, dying your hair or doing fun makeup that has stayed throughout centuries in queer communities and drag performances too. And I think it really means a lot. It’s just little things, ya know, like a little cute rainbow outfit that you can easily wear in a summer day, ya know. And just being with people that will not judge you, you’re just there for them and they’re there for you, like it’s reciprocal. And I’m just looking up to seeing people enjoying themselves and just being comfortable in their identity and just learning how to appreciate after so much years of like grief and like mourning, mourning for something that should be instead commemorated, celebrated, you know, and like the history that comes from within, it’s just really enticing. And I’m just very excited to hear all about it. Like Pride is just about queer joy too.

Absolutely, it really is about the small things. And just to conclude our roundtable discussion, could everyone please go around and give some advice that you would like our audience to leave with?

Jeremy (any) 

And I can start. I would really encourage everyone who is struggling or is very confused and very feels very hurt during this time, just to please just reach out for help, resources, people, whether that be like an educator, a guardian, a trusted friend or family member. Just finding and being in community with those kinds of supportive people can be incredibly affirming and really wonderful. And if you don’t have those people in your life, unfortunately, feel free to reach out to online resources that exist, like the Trevor Project, IME, QChat, It Gets Better.

Jeremy (any) 

There’s so many resources out there that can be accessible no matter where you are, as long as you have an internet connection. And I just really encourage people to not be alone and isolated during this. Incredibly hard time, but just know that there are moments of joy and happiness that you can find in these times.

Mia (they/them) 

Yeah, just to also reiterate what Jeremy said, I feel like so much there’s kind of this narrative that in order to fully be queer, you have to come out to everybody, and if you don’t, then that’s bad. But honestly, if your situation makes it unsafe for you to come out to people or you just don’t feel ready, then that’s okay because you don’t owe anyone kind of, like an explanation of who you are. There are multiple ways to show up as being queer, whether that’s through dance, whether that’s through any, like artistic means such as writing, through sports. There’s a numerous amount where you can kind of express and show your identity and then when you are in a safe place or when you feel like you’re ready to be able to share that with those you love and share that with your family, your chosen family, then that’s for you to decide, but don’t feel pressured to have to tell every single person, just because some people say you do. You don’t have to, you can take your time in this and credit, try to get to know yourself first and kind of know your situation and know people who you can trust before you take that huge move forward.

Ellie (she/her) 

Just to 100% echo everything that Mia and Jeremy have been saying again, it’s so easy to feel lonely and just detached from the queer community sometimes. And so I think my advice is kind of to everyone out there, whether you’re out, whether you’re questioning your identity, whatever stage you’re at in that process, take all the time that you need to find the resources that can help you. Like Jeremy said, reach out to those online resources that you can get without having to maybe out yourself to your family and your friends just yet. If you do feel comfortable doing that, speak to those in your life that you know you can trust, that you know are there for you and support you. And if you’re celebrating your queer identity and you’re happy and comfortable within it, just take this time to be yourself and also be there for others that may need you. Take that time to help other people on these online websites. Stay on them even after you’ve gotten the help that you need. It’s a great way to give back to the community, is by answering other people who are looking for help on Trevor Project or IME or QChat and just giving them some of the advice because you’ve been through it and that’s the help that they’re looking for. So it’s a really great way to support within the queer community and just be happy with yourself, be there for your community and show your support towards each other, those in your life, those online, anyone that you can help out, just be there for them. And yeah.

Aaron (he/they) 

Yeah, just to like, I totally 100% agree with what you guys were saying. I think also just during this time, it’s so easy to feel hopeless and, like, not knowing what to do. And I encourage everyone to really, through this time, kind of find a purpose. And it doesn’t matter whatever stage you’re in within your identity and your comfortability within your identity. If you’re still fully not out, looking for resources and finding them, you know, if you are out, you know, and there’s not a supportive community at your school, what does that look like, right? Starting your own JSA, finding trusted adults, finding those people that you could really trust in to kind of, like help you guide, because it’s not just, it shouldn’t just be like you guiding this, also people around you, building the community. And also if you’re like seeing everything that’s going on with the politics and elections, like getting involved, right, like having your own voter registration drive because sometimes high school doesn’t really teach us all the necessary tools and stuff that kind of, like equip us to be ready for the election. So taking that upon yourself and kind of, like equipping yourself with that own knowledge and kind of spreading that to your own community at school.

Jeremy (any) 

Fabi, did you want to add anything?

Fabi (she/her) 

Oh yes, of course. I feel… I feel like one of the most important reasons, like just in this, like season of Pride is just making sure you have someone to reach out to whenever you need to help. And just what Mia was saying too, I’m all like backing up all of Mia’s points, sorry. Like they make really good arguments, okay? But I just wanted to emphasize how important it is to be on your own terms with your identity and just take your own time because in the end it is yours to decide what to do it is your life to do you don’t have to like live up to standards and even though it’s so important like liberation queer liberation is really significant to our history and just identity in life but it’s also about being yours and not others to decide what you do with it But yeah, just make sure to enjoy Pride and be aware of history because that’s the people who cannot speak up right now. And I know they would have loved to just see us advocate for them and the people we look up to today.

Jeremy (any) 

Absolutely thank you so much. Just to echo everything everyone’s already said, like, If you need to find community, and if you don’t have that support, I would really recommend just like, as Aaron said, just like, go volunteer, go join organizations. That’s where you’ll find community that all find community and people that believe in the beliefs that you believe in. So that’s incredibly important. And thank you so much, everyone.

Jeremy (any) 

So I think that’s about time, unfortunately. But thank you so much, Aaron, Ellie, Fabi, and Mia for being in community today and talking about incredibly important topics and giving our audience and queer youth incredibly important advice from voting and forming your own affirming communities like GSA’s in your own school if they don’t currently exist. And thank you so much to It Gets Better. And for more information and resources, visit itgetsbetter.org or the video description below.

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