Recent advances in LGBTQ rights and vision were unimaginable just a few years ago. From marriage equality to more LGBTQ exposure in the media, popular culture and public opinion has shifted towards more inclusion, acceptance and openness. Yet despite these achievements, life remains a challenge for too many LGBTQ youth.
The Human Rights Campaign has called 2021 “worst year for LGBTQ state legislative attacks“As of 2015, the year of marriage equality became the law of the United States. More than 250 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced in state legislatures across the country by 2021, the HRC noted.
Fortunately, a number of LGBTQ organizations are working to combat discrimination and meet the needs of young gay people, no matter where they are in the country and in their impending birth. I spoke with some of these groups to understand how they are using their resources to help young gay people.
Project Trevor
Since 1998, Project Trevor is the largest LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization in the world. It has the only 24/7 helpline of its kind in the US, connecting gay youth with trained counselors.
For those not ready to talk to someone, Trevor Project also has guided meditation calm exercises to help you control your breathing and stay calm. Its website also offers many resources to come out that can be helpful for resolving questions within yourself as well as between friends and family.
Throughout the pandemic, Project Trevor has also adapted in innovative ways, including the adoption of artificial intelligence.
“We came up with a technology to train consultants called Crisis Contact Simulator, which will allow us to triple our counselor base by 2021 and reach even more of the more than 1.8 million LGBTQ youth in the United States, whom we estimate seriously. consider suicide every year,” said John Callery, Vice President of Technology for Project Trevor.
This simulator is supported in partnership with Google.org, which uses artificial intelligence to more effectively connect LGBTQ youth at high risk of suicide with trained counselors.
“Our model uses open-ended questions like ‘What’s going on?’ Callery says that young people can respond on their own terms and it has been shown to be significantly more effective than traditional approaches.
The Trevor Project says the pandemic has been particularly hard on LGBTQ youth, and part of the reason may be school closures, which have left many children “restricted to unsupported home environments”. or even abuse, leading to the loss of positive social connections”. Caller said.
Instead, young people are turning to social networks for authentication. “Watching LGBTQ People on YouTube and TikTok” is often seen as how LGBTQ youth find joy and strength, according to Trevor Project’s 2021 national survey.
Trevor Project counselors can be reached by phone at 1-866-488-7386 or by texting “START” at 678-678.
PFLAG
PFLAG is the first and largest organization in the United States that aims to bridge the gap between LGBTQ people’s families and friends. They have more than 400 chapters across the country that connect families on a regional level to support their LGBTQ kids.
At the start of the pandemic, PFLAG quickly adjusted its mission to become virtual. “In just five days, we launched Connect PFLAG, it’s a way to meet our LGBTQ+ family and loved ones through virtual encounters with members of local chapters, live national events like Something to say about Live, a week Connect PFLAG newsletter, training and education tools, and advocacy tools to help meet virtually any legislator,” said Jamie Curtis, chapter director at PFLAG.
