Queer Cafe

HELP

Suicide and Crisis Hotline: 988

Trevor Lifeline: 866-488-7386

Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255
LGBTQ Counseling Hotline: 888-843-4564

988 Suicide Lifeline
Trevor Project: Get Help
LGBTQ Support
Youth Support

Crisis Text Line

Support Hotlines

Trans Lifeline

Be Strong, Be Proud, Be Yourself

"This is my fight song. Take back my life song. Prove I'm alright song. My power's turned on. Starting right now I'll be strong. Because I've still got a lot of fight left in me."
-Rachel Platten

"To be nobody but yourself in a world that's doing its best to make you something else, is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight. Don't stop fighting."

-E.E. Cummings

"Burst down those closet doors once and for all, and stand up, and start to fight."

-Harvey Milk

"Maybe someday we'll figure all this out. Try to put an end to all our doubt. Try to find a way to make things better now. Maybe someday we'll live our lives out loud. We'll be better off somehow."
-Rob Thomas

It Gets Better

You Will Be Found

Sometimes I
Get Back Up Again

You Will Be Found

I Want to See You Be Brave

You're a Firework

I Have a Voice

Don't Give Up

This is My Fight Song

"There's no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are."
-Fred Rogers

"Do you know that there's still a chance for you. There's a spark in you and you've just got to ignite the light and let it shine. You're a firework. Show 'em what you're worth. Come on, let your colors burst. You don't have to feel like a wasted space. You're original and cannot be replaced. If only you knew what the future holds. After a hurricane comes a rainbow."
-Katy Perry

"Why fit in when you were born to stand out."

-Dr. Seuss

"Just be yourself. Let people see the real, imperfect, flawed, quirky, weird, beautiful, magical person that you are."

-Mandy Hale

"Speak louder that the words before you and give them meaning no one else has found. The role we play is so important. We are the voices of the underground... Say everything you’ve always wanted, be not afraid of who you really are, cause in the end we have each other, and that's at least one thing worth living for."
-Ian Axel

Rise Above the Storm
Aftermath: Adam Lambert

Broadway Kids Against Bullying: I Have a Voice

Trevor Project: It Gets Better

Steven Universe: Everyone is Gay!

Inspiring Quotes From LGBTQ Leaders

People Like Us: Kelly Clarkson

Words of Love and Celebration

Adam Lambert: It Gets Better
Cyndi Lauper: True Colors

Suze Orman: It Gets Better

I Am a Champion: Carrie Underwood and Ludacris

Online Resources to Help LGBTQ Youth Find Support

You Will Be Found

Lift your head and look around

Have you ever felt like nobody was there? Have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere? Have you ever felt like you could disappear? Like you could fall, and no one would hear?

Well, let that lonely feeling wash away. Maybe there's a reason to believe you'll be okay. Because when you don't feel strong enough to stand, you can reach out your hand. Someone will coming running. And I know, they'll take you home.

Even when the dark comes crashing through. When you need a friend to carry you. And when you're broken on the ground. You will be found. So let the sun come streaming in. Because you'll reach up and you'll rise again. Lift your head and look around. You will be found.

[Source: Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Dear Evan Hanson]

Suicide and Crisis Hotline: 988

Trevor Lifeline: 866-488-7386

Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255
LGBTQ Counseling Hotline: 888-843-4564

988 Suicide Lifeline
Trevor Project: Get Help
LGBTQ Support
Youth Support

Crisis Text Line

Support Hotlines

Trans Lifeline

You Are Not Alone

Maggie Szabo: Don't Give Up

One Voice Childrens Choir: You Will Be Found

Dan & Terry: It Gets Better

Message for LGBTQ Young People

Gay Pride: Fight Song

Greatest Showman: This is Me

President Barack Obama: It Gets Better

Ty Herndon: So Small

Jill Bennett: It Gets Better

Having Pride

It Gets Better: Broadway Stars

Sometimes I

You'll Be Alright

I promise one day you're gonna get back your fight...

Walk in a public place, putting on a happy face.
How are you? I'm doing fine. But underneath I'm slowing dying.

Learned about the grieving cycle, still at stage one in denial.
I think it's time to be honest with me, healing is hard, I think we would agree.

Maybe someone is in a similar boat.
Hope that you feel a little more less alone.

Fear is a lie, we'll be alright. Don't let this battle take days off your life.
The sun's gonna shine, the future is bright. I promise one day you're gonna get back your fight.

[Source: Sarah Reeves]

Sarah Reeves: Get Back your Fight
You Are Not Alone

Maggie Szabo: Don't Give Up

One Voice Childrens Choir: You Will Be Found

Dan & Terry: It Gets Better

Message for LGBTQ Young People

Greatest Showman: This is Me

President Barack Obama: It Gets Better

Ty Herndon: So Small

Jill Bennett: It Gets Better

Having Pride

Words of Affirmation

Strong and resilient

“We are made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made for friendliness. We are made for togetherness. We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know. We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders. All are welcome: black, white, red, yellow, rich, poor, educated, not educated, male, female, gay, straight, all, all, all. We all belong to this family, this human family, God’s family.”
-Desmond Tutu

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.”

-Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

“You are not supposed to be happy all the time. Life hurts and it’s hard. Not because you’re doing it wrong, but because it hurts for everybody. Don’t avoid the pain. You need it. It’s meant for you. Be still with it, let it come, let it go, let it leave you with the fuel you’ll burn to get your work done on this earth.”

-Glennon Doyle Melton

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm is all about.”

-Haruki Murakami

You Are Not Alone

You Will Be Found

Get Back Up Again: Anna Kendrick

It Takes a Lot of Courage to Be Your True Self

Me: Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie

Words of Love and Celebration

Dear Evan Hanson: You Will Be Found

Brave by Sara Bareilles

You're a Firework: Katy Perry

Encouragement for You

Broadway Kids Against Bullying: I Have a Voice

Online Resources to Help LGBTQ Youth Find Support

How to Cheer Someone Up: Ways to Make a Friend Smile

Gay Pride: Fight Song

“If you are going through hell, keep going.”

-Winston S. Churchill

“Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.”

-Steve Maraboli

“Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

-Albus Dumbledore

“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”

-Brené Brown

You Will Be Found

It Gets Better: Broadway Stars

You Are Not Alone

Sarah Reeves: Get Back your Fight
If You Were My LGBTQ Child
Train Passengers Sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow
You're a Firework: Katy Perry

Coming Out: Short LGBTQ Film

The Rose: LeAnn Rimes and Los Angeles Gay Men's Chorus

Encourage: Hope and Help

Get Back Up Again: Anna Kendrick

It Takes a Lot of Courage to Be Your True Self

Me: Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie

Having Pride

The Trevor Project

When LGBTQ young people feel like they’re not safe or understood as they explore their identity, it increases their risks of experiencing mental health challenges. The Trevor Project is committed to be available, 24/7, to provide support and connection for LGBTQ youth who may be going through a hard or confusing time. If you know an LGBTQ young person who could use someone to talk to, encourage them to reach out to our resources.

TEXT START to 678678

CALL 1-866-488-7386

VISIT thetrevorproject.org/get-help

It Gets Better

If you fall, just get up

Hey friend, when you feel like you're alone and the world throws out a lot of hate... It's not the end. You're not out there on your own. There's still so much in life to celebrate. Just look up. Because those skies are going to clear. There so much more than just the here and now. Just look up. Because a better day is here. Tomorrow feel the sunlight shining down.

It gets better. The pain will let up. If you fall just get up. Because there's another way. The world gets lighter. So be a fighter. Just live to see that day.

Hey friend, we used to feel like you. No end in sight. Fearing everyday. Just defend the part of you that's true. Find yourself and you will find the way. Don't give up. Just take another look and you can shine. It's time you took the stage. Don't give up. Because your life is like a book. All you got to do is turn the page.

There are friends yet to meet. There are songs to be sung. There are beautiful sunsets. And battles are won. There's love to be found if you just stick around. Don't give up. Your life has just begun.

[Source: Jay Kuo & Blair Shepard, It Gets Better]

Sometimes I

Trevor Project: It Gets Better

You're a Firework: Katy Perry

You Are Not Alone: Emeli Sande

Cathy DeBuono: It Gets Better

Encouragement for You

Neil Patrick Harris: It Gets Better

A Letter to You

Someday: Rob Thomas

Rachel Platten: This is My Fight Song

Please Stick Around

Tomorrow is the place where hope lives

Dear Friend, I don’t know you, but I know something about you: I know you’re tired. I know you live with demons, ones that are close and loud. I know how relentless they are in their pursuit of you. I know that you spend your days trying to silence them and your nights trying to hide from them—and the hell they put you through.

Most of all I know hard you work to hide it all; to pretend you’re fine, to paint a convincing smile upon your face, and to act as if all is well with your battered soul. I know that all of this performing has left you exhausted; that you’ve numbed yourself and hurt yourself and starved yourself, in the hope that the voices will become silent, the pain will subside, and you can finally breathe again.

I know that right now it doesn’t seem like that moment will ever come. I know right now you’d rather leave than live. And even though I’m not standing in your shoes and even though I don’t know you and even though I have no right at all—I’m asking you to stick around. I’m asking you to stay; to endure your incredibly painful, totally senseless now because I can see your glorious, blindingly beautiful then if you do.

If you stick around, you will reach a spot that the sadness won’t let you see right now—you’ll reach tomorrow. And that place is filled with possibility. It is a day you’ve never been to. It is not this terrible day. There, you will not feel exactly what you are feeling right now. You may be stronger or see things differently or find a clearing and life may look a way it hasn’t in a long time: it may look worth staying for.

Tomorrow is the place where hope lives, and I want you to give yourself a chance to share space with that hope; to dance with it, to rest in it, to dream within it. Because you deserve it.

You Are Not Alone

Maggie Szabo: Don't Give Up

One Voice Childrens Choir: You Will Be Found

Dan & Terry: It Gets Better

Message for LGBTQ Young People

Greatest Showman: This is Me

President Barack Obama: It Gets Better

You Will Be Found

It Gets Better: Broadway Stars

If you stick around, you will travel to amazing places that will take your breath away and see sunsets that have yet to be painted in the evening sky. If you stick around, you’ll eat that cheeseburger; the one that will cause you to make an actual audible noise in public (and you won’t regret it). If you stick around, you will hear that song that will change your life and you’ll dance to it like no one’s watching (and then not care that they are). If you stick around, you’ll find yourself in the embrace of someone who waited their entire lives to embrace you; whose path you will beautifully alter with your presence. If you stick around, you will hold babies and see movies and laugh loudly and you’ll fall in love and have your heart broken—and you’ll fall in love again. If you stick around, you will study and learn and grow, and find your calling and find your place and you’ll lay in the grass, feeling gratitude for the sun upon your face and the breeze in your hair. If you stick around you will outlive your demons.

And yeah, there will be other stuff too; disappointments and heartache and regrets and mistakes. And yes, there will be moments of despair and painful seasons and dark nights of the soul you will need to endure. You will screw things up and be let down, you’ll hurt, and you’ll wonder how you’ll ever make it through. But then you’ll remember the hell you walked through to get here, and you might remember this letter—and you’ll realize you’re gonna be okay because tomorrow is still waiting for you, to dance and rest and dream within.

So I guess this is just a reminder, from someone who sees what you may not see from where you’re standing: the future, one that will be a lot better with you in it.

This is a plea and a promise, a dare and an invitation. Stay. Hang on. You are loved. Things will get better. Trust me.

Cry and get angry and ask for help and punch a wall and scream into your pillow and take a deep breath and call someone who loves you. When you let people in, the demons shrink back, so allow others to carry this sadness with you until you are stronger.

But for you... for those who will grieve you should you leave... and for the tomorrow that you deserve to see... please, stick around.

[Source: John Pavlovitz]

You Are Not Alone

Maggie Szabo: Don't Give Up

One Voice Childrens Choir: You Will Be Found

Dan & Terry: It Gets Better

Message for LGBTQ Young People

Greatest Showman: This is Me

President Barack Obama: It Gets Better

You Will Be Found

It Gets Better: Broadway Stars

Sarah Reeves: Get Back your Fight
If You Were My LGBTQ Child

Gay Pride: Fight Song

Train Passengers Sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Ty Herndon: So Small

Jill Bennett: It Gets Better

Having Pride

Sometimes

Sometimes I feel like nobody special

Sometimes I feel like nobody special... Sometimes I feel like a face in the crowd
But the crowd won't accept me... They laugh and torment me
I'll never walk tall or walk proud

Hey now if they don't understand how special you are... Well don't take it so hard
I see someone who impresses me deeply... I believe in the person you are

Sometimes I feel like maybe I'm something... Sometimes I feel just a semblance of pride
But sometimes some things can be forgotten... When you're looking for something inside

Sometimes I wonder if I can feel better... And sometimes it's better, sometimes it's worse
Sometimes I find that I question and question... Until it feels like a horrible curse

Hey now if they don't understand how special you are... Well don't take it so hard
I see someone who impresses me deeply... I believe in the person you are

And somehow I know that somehow I'll get through... I'll sidestep the crowd and I'll get through okay
Rejection can burn but the strength that you learn can never be taken away

[Source: Gregg Breinberg, PS22 Chorus Director]

Aftermath: Adam Lambert

Broadway Kids Against Bullying: I Have a Voice

Trevor Project: It Gets Better

Steven Universe: Everyone is Gay!

Inspiring Quotes From LGBTQ Leaders

People Like Us: Kelly Clarkson

Words of Love and Celebration

Adam Lambert: It Gets Better
Cyndi Lauper: True Colors

Suze Orman: It Gets Better

Sarah Reeves: Get Back your Fight
I Am a Champion: Carrie Underwood and Ludacris

Online Resources to Help LGBTQ Youth Find Support

You Are Strong

You are loved and needed

“The wound is the place where the light enters you.”

-Jalaluddin Rumi

“All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming.”

-Helen Keller

“If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.”

-Fred Rogers

“You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.”

-Brené Brown

“I can tell you that it takes great strength to surrender. You have to know that you are not going to collapse. Instead, you are going to open to a power that you don’t even know, and it is going to come to meet you. In the process of healing, this is one of the huge things that I have discovered. People recognized the energy coming to meet them. When they opened to another energy, a love, a divine love, came through to meet them. That is what is known as grace. We all sing about amazing grace. It is a gift. I think that it comes through the work that we do. For some people, it can come out of the blue, but I know that in my own situation, the grace came through incredible vigilance.”

-Marion Woodman

"I just want you to know that you are so loved and so needed on planet earth."
-Grace Theisen

“There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Forget the bad and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who do not. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living.”

-José N. Harris

“Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else.”

-Fred Rogers

Gay Pride: Fight Song

Jackson Bird: Time is an Amazing Healer

Eve: It Gets Better

Sara Bareilles: Brave

Dear Evan Hansen: Waving Through a Window

Having Pride

Cameron & Mitchell of Modern Family: It Gets Better
Tim Cook to LGBTQ Youth: You Are a Gift to the World
The Trevor Film

Hilary Clinton: It Gets Better

Online Resources to Help LGBTQ Youth Find Support

Suicide and Crisis Hotline: 988

Trevor Lifeline: 866-488-7386

Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255
LGBTQ Counseling Hotline: 888-843-4564

988 Suicide Lifeline
Trevor Project: Get Help
LGBTQ Support
Youth Support

Crisis Text Line

Support Hotlines

Trans Lifeline

You Are a Gift to the World

Message from Apple CEO Tim Cook

I’ve come to deliver a simple message that I want every LGBTQ person to hear and to believe: You are a gift to the world, a unique and special gift just the way you are. Your life matters. To you I say, find your truth, speak your truth, live your truth.

My heart breaks when I see kids struggling to conform to a society or a family that doesn’t accept them, struggling to be what someone else thinks is normal. Let me tell you, normal might just be the worst word ever created. You’re not all supposed to be the same, feel the same, or think the same, and there is nothing wrong with you.

Now, I know that life can be dark and heavy and sometimes it might seem unreasonable and unbearable. But just as night turns to day, know that darkness is always followed by light. You will feel more comfortable in your own skin, attitudes will change, life will get better, and you? You will thrive.

[Source: Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Computers, out business executive]

Human Rights Campaign

Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network
Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays
Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
National LGBTQ Task Force

Southern Poverty Law Center

Campus Pride

Trevor Project

Hopeful Messages

“A Prayer: Refuse to fall down. If you cannot refuse to fall down, refuse to stay down. If you cannot refuse to stay down, lift your heart toward heaven and like a hungry beggar ask that it be filled. You may be pushed down. You may be kept from rising. But no one can keep you from lifting your heart toward heaven only you. It is in the middle of misery that so much becomes clear. The one who says nothing good came of this, is not yet listening. ”

-Clarissa Pinkola Estés

“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”

-Joseph Campbell

“Learning lessons is a little like reaching maturity. You’re not suddenly more happy, wealthy, or powerful, but you understand the world around you better, and you’re at peace with yourself. Learning life’s lessons is not about making your life perfect, but about seeing life as it was meant to be.”

-Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

“There’s no such thing as ruining your life. Life’s a pretty resilient thing, it turns out.”

-Sophie Kinsella

“Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.”

-Joseph Campbell

“The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it. It’s our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows.”

-Brené Brown

“As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation — either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.”

-Martin Luther King Jr.

“It’s not a competition, it’s a doorway.”

-Mary Oliver

“The opinion which other people have of you is their problem, not yours.”

-Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

“Hope is not about proving anything. It’s about choosing to believe this one thing, that love is bigger than any grim, bleak shit anyone can throw at us.”

-Anne Lamott

Teen Talks About Being Bullied

Brave by Sara Bareilles

If You Were My LGBTQ Child

Encouragement for You

HuffPost: Transgender Suicide Hotline

Words of Love and Celebration

Sometimes I

Broadway Kids Against Bullying: I Have a Voice

Tips for LGBTQ Bullied Youth

Sarah Reeves: Get Back your Fight

Trevor Project: It Gets Better

How to Cheer Someone Up: Ways to Make a Friend Smile

Online Resources to Help LGBTQ Youth Find Support

I Wanna See You Be Brave

Say what you wanna say

You can be amazing. You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug.
You can be the outcast. Or be the backlash of somebody's lack of love.
Or you can start speaking up. Nothing's gonna hurt you the way that words do.
When they settle 'neath your skin. Kept on the inside and no sunlight. Sometimes a shadow wins.

But I wonder what would happen if you say what you wanna say. And let the words fall out.
Honestly I wanna see you be brave. With what you want to say.
And let the words fall out. I just wanna see you be brave.

Everybody's been there, everybody's been stared down by the enemy.
Fallen for the fear and done some disappearing. Bow down to the mighty.
But don't run, stop holding your tongue. Maybe there's a way out of the cage where you live.
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in. Show me how big your brave is.

Innocence, your history of silence won't do you any good. Did you think it would?
Let your words be anything but empty. Why don't you tell them the truth?

[Source: Sara Bareilles]

Words of Love and Celebration

You Will Be Found

You're a Firework: Katy Perry

Dear Evan Hanson: You Will Be Found

If You Were My LGBTQ Child

Oxygen: Short LGBTQ Film

Teen Talks About Being Bullied

Brave by Sara Bareilles

Encouragement for You

HuffPost: Transgender Suicide Hotline

Broadway Kids Against Bullying: I Have a Voice

Tips for LGBTQ Bullied Youth

Trevor Project: It Gets Better

Gay Pride: Fight Song

Worth the Struggle

Stand up and show your soul

"It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection.”

-Bhagavad Gita

“You have to walk, and create the way by your walking; you will not find a ready-made path. It is not so cheap, to reach to the ultimate realization of truth. You will have to create the path by walking yourself; the path is not ready-made, lying there and waiting for you. It is just like the sky: the birds fly, but they don’t leave any footprints. You cannot follow them; there are no footprints left behind.”

-Osho

“One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it.”

-Clarissa Pinkola Estés

“Discovering the truth about ourselves is a lifetime’s work, but it’s worth the effort.”

-Fred Rogers

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”

-Maya Angelou

“Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that everything in life has purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from.”

-Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

“Stop messing around. Be the person you are meant to be. Remember that somewhere someone is rooting for you to succeed! Don’t worry about the others. They’re too busy riding coattails, being unhappy and making excuses as to why they gave up on their own dreams. You’ve got this. And if today you were wondering if you could do it? Consider this your pep talk.”

-Dawn Garcia

Suicide and Crisis Hotline: 988

Trevor Lifeline: 866-488-7386

Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255
LGBTQ Counseling Hotline: 888-843-4564

988 Suicide Lifeline
Trevor Project: Get Help
LGBTQ Support
Youth Support

Crisis Text Line

Support Hotlines

Trans Lifeline

Be Your Authentic Self

You are never alone

This is a message for all the LGBTQ young people out there. Whether you have just come out, thinking of coming out, you’re homeless, you’re struggling with drugs or alcohol or coming to terms with who you are. This is for you.

I know. You’ve been called some pretty hurtful things. Fag. Dyke. Queer. Poof. Tranny. You feel down. You feel isolated. You feel alone. You feel separated from those closest to you.

And all you want to do is fit in. To be accepted. To be part of the group. You have internalized those negative messages you received and the poor behavior towards you – from your parents, grandparents, siblings, school mates, teachers, strangers even. And now you feel shame, rejection, fear, guilt. You are unable to accept yourself. That’s the last thing you expected when you came out.

Listen up. It’s not your sexuality or gender that is the issue. The issue is being in a society that doesn’t accept anything other than cisgender or heterosexual.

Broadway Kids Against Bullying: I Have a Voice

I Am a Champion: Carrie Underwood and Ludacris

Jewel: It Gets Better

Rise Above the Storm

True Colors: LA Gay Men's Chorus

Dear Evan Hansen: Waving Through a Window

Chris Colfer: It Gets Better

Encouragement for You

Tim Cook to LGBTQ Youth: You Are a Gift to the World

Steven Universe: Everyone is Gay!

Online Resources to Help LGBTQ Youth Find Support

There are a few things I want to say to you. There’s nothing wrong with you. You are good enough. You are perfect as you are and you don’t need to change for anyone. Be true to yourself and follow your heart.

Give people the space and the time to process who they thought you would be. They have expectations of you and who you will be in the future. You’ve had time to process who you are. Now, give those you have come out to the space and time to process too. In the meantime stay strong.

You are never alone. There are many people out there, walking past you day after day, that would love to help you. Many don’t know how to help you. Get clear in your mind what would really help you and then ask for what you want. Speak your truth. Who people think you are, isn’t who you really are. You are so much more than you even know.

Look for the beauty in the little things. The warmth of a smile from a stranger. The sun shining overhead. The sound of music in the distance. These are reminders that you are alive and experiencing life. Your experience of life can change in a heartbeat.

Hope. Hope opens your heart to miracles. Expect miracles. Always. When you expect miracles, anything is possible. Your thoughts create your reality. If you want to change your reality, change your thoughts. Keep them positive. Keep them happy. What you believe, you become. Believe you can improve your life – and you will.

It’s not going to be alright. It is going to be much more than alright. You have this my friend.

[Source: Gina Battye, Authentic Self, Diva Magazine]

Rachel Platten: Stand By You

Trevor Project: It Gets Better

You Will Be Found

I Am What I Am: Karen Mulder

Message for LGBTQ Young People

Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie: Me

Jackson Bird: Time is an Amazing Healer

Train Passengers Sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow

You're a Firework: Katy Perry

Todrick Hall: It Gets Better

Sometimes I

Spread Your Wings and Fly

Things will change

“Pain is a pesky part of being human, I’ve learned it feels like a stab wound to the heart, something I wish we could all do without, in our lives here. Pain is a sudden hurt that can’t be escaped. But then I have also learned that because of pain, I can feel the beauty, tenderness, and freedom of healing. Pain feels like a fast stab wound to the heart. But then healing feels like the wind against your face when you are spreading your wings and flying through the air! We may not have wings growing out of our backs, but healing is the closest thing that will give us that wind against our faces.”

-C. JoyBell C.

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”

-Confucius

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

-Nelson Mandela

"Though nobody can go back and make a new beginning. Anyone can start over and make a new ending.”

-Chico Xavier

“This is an important lesson to remember when you’re having a bad day, a bad month, or a shitty year. Things will change. You won’t feel this way forever. And anyway, sometimes the hardest lessons to learn are the ones your soul needs most. I believe you can’t feel real joy unless you’ve felt heartache. You can’t have a sense of victory unless you know what it means to fail. You can’t know what it’s like to feel holy until you know what it’s like to feel really fucking evil. And you can’t be birthed again until you’ve died.”

-Kelly Cutrone

“Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”

-Mary Oliver

Suicide and Crisis Hotline: 988

Trevor Lifeline: 866-488-7386

Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255
LGBTQ Counseling Hotline: 888-843-4564

988 Suicide Lifeline
Trevor Project: Get Help
LGBTQ Support
Youth Support

Crisis Text Line

Support Hotlines

Trans Lifeline

It Gets Better: Broadway Stars

You Are Not Alone

Train Passengers Sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Coming Out: Short LGBTQ Film

Encourage: Hope and Help

Gay Pride: Fight Song

Get Back Up Again: Anna Kendrick

It Takes a Lot of Courage to Be Your True Self

Me: Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie

Having Pride

Dear Evan Hanson: You Will Be Found

Message for LGBTQ Young People

Oxygen: Short LGBTQ Film

This Is Me

There's nothing I'm not worthy of

I am not a stranger to the dark. Hide away, they say, because we don't want your broken parts. I've learned to be ashamed of all my scars. Run away, they say, no one will love you as you are. But I won't let them break me down to dust. I know that there's a place for us, for we are glorious.

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down, I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out. I am brave, I am bruised. I am who I'm meant to be. This is me. Look out 'cause here I come. And I'm marching on to the beat I drum. I'm not scared to be seen. I make no apologies. This is me

Another round of bullets hits my skin. Well, fire away because today, I won't let the shame sink in. We are bursting through the barricades and reaching for the sun. We are warriors. Yeah, that's what we've become. I know that I deserve your love, because there's nothing I'm not worthy of.

[Source: Justin Paul & Benj Pasek, This is Me]

Jason Collins/Basketball Player

George Takei/Actor

Adam Lambert/Musician

Laverne Cox/Actor

Janet Mock/Magazine Editor

Rosie O'Donnell/Actor, Comedian

Andrew Rannells/Actor

Ian McKellen/Actor

Don't Be Afraid

Have you lost your way? Livin' in the shadow of the messes that you made. And so it goes. Everything inside your circle starts to overflow. Take a step before you leap. Into the colors that you seek. You give back what you give away. So don't look back on yesterday.

Wanna scream out, no more hiding. Don't be afraid of what's inside. Gonna tell ya you'll be alright. In the aftermath. Anytime anybody pulls you down. Anytime anybody says you're not allowed. Just remember you are not alone. In the aftermath.

You feel the weight of lies and contradictions that you live with every day. It's not too late. Think of what could be if you rewrite the role you play. So all you feel is love, love. All you feel is love, love.

[Source: Adam Lambert, Aftermath]

Suicide and Crisis Hotline: 988

Trevor Lifeline: 866-488-7386

Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255
LGBTQ Counseling Hotline: 888-843-4564

988 Suicide Lifeline
Trevor Project: Get Help
LGBTQ Support
Youth Support

Crisis Text Line

Support Hotlines

Trans Lifeline

It Gets Better: Broadway Stars

You Are Not Alone

Coming Out: Short LGBTQ Film

Encourage: Hope and Help

Get Back Up Again: Anna Kendrick

It Takes a Lot of Courage to Be Your True Self

Me: Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie

Encouragement for You

You Will Be Found

Broadway Kids Against Bullying: I Have a Voice

Jackson Bird: Time is an Amazing Healer

Rise Above the Storm

Tips for LGBTQ Bullied Youth

Trevor Project: It Gets Better

Don't Give Up

Everyone knows this world ain’t perfect. But what you got goin’ on makes you worthy. Anywhere you turn or any way you slice it, someone’s gonna get burned. But those scars are truly worth it. One day you’ll see that the answer you seek was in front of you. Love is all you need.

When your back’s against the wall, cuz you feel you've lost it all. There’s nowhere left to turn and no one left to call. There is someone just like you who feels the same way too. Why would you surrender? Don’t give up on love.

Sometimes it feels like things won’t get better. But in time you’ll realize nothing lasts forever. One day you’ll see that the answer you seek was in front of you. Love is all you need.

When your hope has run away, don’t give up. If you feel you’ve been betrayed, don’t give up. When you’ve fought your last round, don't give up. Why would you surrender? Don’t give up on love.

[Source: Maggie Szabo, Chaz Mason, Stefan Lit, Don't Give Up]

Aftermath: Adam Lambert

Broadway Kids Against Bullying: I Have a Voice

Sometimes I

Trevor Project: It Gets Better

Steven Universe: Everyone is Gay!

Inspiring Quotes From LGBTQ Leaders

People Like Us: Kelly Clarkson

Words of Love and Celebration

Adam Lambert: It Gets Better
Cyndi Lauper: True Colors

Suze Orman: It Gets Better

I Am a Champion: Carrie Underwood and Ludacris

You Will Be Found

You'll reach up and you'll rise again

Have you ever felt like nobody was there? Have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere?
Have you ever felt like you could disappear? Like you could fall, and no one would hear?

Well, let that lonely feeling wash away, Maybe there's a reason to believe you'll be okay
Because when you don't feel strong enough to stand, You can reach, reach out your hand
And oh, someone will coming running, And I know, they'll take you home

Even when the dark comes crashing through, When you need a friend to carry you
And when you're broken on the ground, You will be found

So let the sun come streaming in, Because you'll reach up and you'll rise again
Lift your head and look around, You will be found

There's a place where we don't have to feel unknown
And every time that you call out, You're a little less alone
If you only say the word, From across the silence your voice is heard
You are not alone... If you only look around... You will be found

[Source: Benj Pasek and Justin Noble Paul]

You Are Not Alone

Maggie Szabo: Don't Give Up

One Voice Childrens Choir: You Will Be Found

Dan & Terry: It Gets Better

Message for LGBTQ Young People

If You Were My LGBTQ Child

Greatest Showman: This is Me

President Barack Obama: It Gets Better

Ty Herndon: So Small

Jill Bennett: It Gets Better

Having Pride

I Have a Voice

I have a voice, simple and clear, it speaks the truth, for all too hear
It gives me hope, it gives me faith, it lifts me up, it keeps me safe
I have a voice, it's mine alone, it comforts me, it is my own
Although it's small, I'm not afraid, for I am strong in its embrace
No one can say, what I have seen, or understand where I have been
For what I found inside myself, belongs to me and no one else

[Source: Broadway Kids Against Bullying]

Stand By You

Even if we can't find heaven, put your empty hands in mine, and show me all the scars you hide
And if your wings are broken, please take mine 'til yours can open too, because I'm gonna stand by you
Tears make kaleidoscopes in your eyes, I know you're hurting but so am I
Even if we're breaking down, we can find a way to break through
Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through hell with you
You're not alone, because I'm gonna stand by you

I'll be your eyes 'til yours can shine, and I'll be your arms I'll be your steady satellite
And when you can't rise, I'll crawl with you on hands and knees, because I'm gonna stand by you

[Source: Rachel Platten]

Get Back Up Again

"Some super fun surprise around each corner! Just riding on a rainbow! I'm gonna be okay! Hey! I'm not giving up today! There's nothing getting in my way! And if you knock me over, I will get back up again! If something goes a little wrong, well, you can go ahead and bring it on! Because, if you knock me over, I will get back up again! I'm off on this remarkable adventure! I'm riding on a rainbow! What if it's all a big mistake? What if it's more than I can take? No! I can't think that way! Because I know that I'm really gonna be okay!"

[Source: Anna Kendrick, Get Back Up Again]

Rachel Platten: Stand By You

Trevor Project: It Gets Better

I Am What I Am: Karen Mulder

Message for LGBTQ Young People

Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie: Me

Jackson Bird: Time is an Amazing Healer

Train Passengers Sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Todrick Hall: It Gets Better

Broadway Kids Against Bullying: I Have a Voice

Gay Pride: Fight Song

You Deserve Love

This is for all of the kids who are feeling scared.
This is for the quiet ones who never had someone say they cared.
This is for all of the times you were forced to stay inside.
This is for the ones of you who have slowly died.

Whether you’re gay or straight. Love him or her.
You deserve to live. You deserve to love.
Whether you found someone. Or have heard you’re wanted enough.
Know that you’re needed. Know that you’re loved.

This is for all of us kids who cry alone in their beds.
This is for all the dark times when no light had been shed.
This is for all the hurt in your heart and the pain in your soul.
Now it's time to be happy. Now it's time to be whole.

[Source: Trisha North]

Suicide and Crisis Hotline: 988

Trevor Lifeline: 866-488-7386

Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255
LGBTQ Counseling Hotline: 888-843-4564

988 Suicide Lifeline
Trevor Project: Get Help
LGBTQ Support
Youth Support

Crisis Text Line

Support Hotlines

Trans Lifeline

Everything Will Be Okay

Everybody loses it. Everybody wants to throw it away sometimes. I know what you're going through. Don't let it get the best of you. You'll make it out alive. Keep your head up. Nothing lasts forever. This is not a funeral. It's a revolution. Your tears have turned to rage. Just wait, everything will be okay. Even when you're feeling like it's going down in flames. They can't do nothing to you. They can't do nothing to me. This is the life that we choose. This is the life that we bleed. So throw your fists in the air. Come out come out if you dare. Tonight we're gonna change forever.

[Source: Kelly Clarkson, People Like Us]

You Are Not Alone

I Just Want to Be OK: Ingrid Michaelson

Gloria Estefan: It Gets Better
Message for LGBTQ Young People

Get Back Up Again: Anna Kendrick

Dear Evan Hanson: You Will Be Found

Words of Love and Celebration

Dare to Love: Sean Chapin

BD Wong: It Gets Better
Rachel Platten: Stand By You

Trevor Project: It Gets Better

I Am What I Am: Karen Mulder

You're a Firework: Katy Perry

Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie: Me

You Will Be Found

Jackson Bird: Time is an Amazing Healer

Todrick Hall: It Gets Better

Train Passengers Sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Broadway Kids Against Bullying: I Have a Voice

I Am a Champion: Carrie Underwood and Ludacris

Jewel: It Gets Better

True Colors: LA Gay Men's Chorus

Chris Colfer: It Gets Better

Encouragement for You

Rise Above the Storm

Tim Cook to LGBTQ Youth: You Are a Gift to the World

Steven Universe: Everyone is Gay!

Online Resources to Help LGBTQ Youth Find Support

There's Still a Chance for You

You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag drifting through the wind, wanting to start again? Do you ever feel so paper thin, like a house of cards, one blow from caving in? Do you ever feel already buried deep, six feet under scream, but no one seems to hear a thing? Do you know that there's still a chance for you, because there's a spark in you? You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine. Just own the night like the Fourth of July. Because, baby, you're a firework. Come on show 'em what you're worth. As you shoot across the sky.

Baby, you're a firework. Come on let your colors burst. You're gonna leave 'em fallin' down. You're gonna leave 'em all in awe. You don't have to feel like a waste of space. You're original, cannot be replaced. If you only knew what the future holds. After a hurricane comes a rainbow. Maybe you're the reason why all the doors are closed. So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road. Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow. And when it's time, you'll know. Even brighter than the moon. It's always been inside of you. And now it's time to let it through.

[Source: Katy Perry, Firework]

Human Rights Campaign

Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network
Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays
Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
National LGBTQ Task Force

Southern Poverty Law Center

Campus Pride

Trevor Project

Suicide and Crisis Hotline: 988

Trevor Lifeline: 866-488-7386

Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255
LGBTQ Counseling Hotline: 888-843-4564

988 Suicide Lifeline
Trevor Project: Get Help
LGBTQ Support
Youth Support

Crisis Text Line

Support Hotlines

Trans Lifeline

You Are Not Alone

The world is a better place with you in it

"I don't like to gamble. But if there's one thing I'm willing to bet on, it's myself."

-Beyonce

“Anyone desperate enough for suicide should be desperate enough to go to creative extremes to solve problems: Elope at midnight. Stow away on the boat to New Zealand and start over. Do what you always wanted to do but were afraid to try.”

–Richard Bach

“When you feel like giving up, just remember the reason why you held on for so long.”

-Quote

"I don’t know what it’s like to be picked on for being gay. But I do know what it’s like to grow up feeling that sometimes you don’t belong. It’s tough. And for a lot of kids, the sense of being alone or apart – I know can just wear on you. And when you’re teased or bullied, it can seem like somehow you brought it on yourself – for being different, or for not fitting in with everybody else. But what I want to say is this. You are not alone. You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t do anything to deserve being bullied. And there is a whole world waiting for you, filled with possibilities.''
-President Barack Obama

"I like you as you are. Exactly and precisely. I think you turned out nicely. And I like you as you are."
-Fred Rogers

I Am a Champion: Carrie Underwood and Ludacris

You're a Firework: Katy Perry

Jewel: It Gets Better

True Colors: LA Gay Men's Chorus

Chris Colfer: It Gets Better

Encouragement for You

Tim Cook to LGBTQ Youth: You Are a Gift to the World

Steven Universe: Everyone is Gay!

Online Resources to Help LGBTQ Youth Find Support

"It’s okay. It may not seem like it right now, but you are going to be fine. I know it’s scary, but don’t be afraid. I don’t want anyone to hold back who they are. You are who you are and you should love that person."
-Connor Franta

“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”

–Harriet Beecher Stowe

"The different people are not like other people. But being different is nothing to be ashamed of. Because other people are not such wonderful people. They're one hundred times one thousand. But you're one times one! They're common as weeds, but you, well, you're blue roses!"

-Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie

"We are powerful because we have survived."

-Audre Lorde

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life. Define yourself."

-Harvey Fierstein

Jason Collins/Basketball Player

George Takei/Actor

Adam Lambert/Musician

Laverne Cox/Actor

Janet Mock/Magazine Editor

Rosie O'Donnell/Actor, Comedian

Andrew Rannells/Actor

Ian McKellen/Actor

"What makes you different or weird... That's your strength."

-Meryl Streep

“There are people out there who love you and care about you just the way you are. You will find that your differences are a source of pride and a source of strength. The freedom to not fit in, to be true to ourselves, that’s the freedom that enriches all of us. That’s what America is all about.”

-President Barack Obama

“No, you aren’t alone. Yes, we all feel this way sometimes. No, you won’t always feel like this. Yes, the world is a better place with you in it.”

-Quote

"It's not the end. You're not out there on your own.... There so much more than just the here and now... The pain will let up. Just live to see that day.... Don't give up... There are friends yet to meet... There's love to be found if you just stick around. Don't give up. Your life has just begun."
-Jay Kuo & Blair Shepard

“And here you are living despite it all.”

–Rupi Kaur

“Never never never give up.”

–Winston Churchill