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Queer people have found community online since the internet started. YouthLine\u2019s Safe Social Spaces, a social media outreach program, is not a specifically queer program, but most of our contacts are queer. Many of our contacts don\u2019t feel like they have a community in person or have families who aren\u2019t helping them access affirming services.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re reaching out for acceptance \u2013 for people who understand.<\/b><\/p>\n
YouthLine Social Media Emotional Support Specialists go onto different social media apps \u2013 mostly mental health apps \u2013 and reach out to youth who are posting about mental health crisis, self-harm, and suicide. Support specialists offer to listen and direct them to resources.<\/p>\n
Our conversations are similar to those we would have on the crisis lines, but we are reaching out to people who may never have found or used our services.<\/b><\/p>\n
To date, the project has reached out to over 1,600 youth, connecting with 930 of them.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
We didn\u2019t start the program intending to focus on queer and trans youth, but it has become clear that we\u2019re supporting so many with this program that it\u2019s important to acknowledge.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ use_custom_gutter=”on” make_equal=”on” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” width=”90%” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.linesforlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-lfl-blog-sss-graph-2-page-image-350×275-1.jpg” title_text=”Reported Sexuality Graph” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”25px||25px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” alt=”Reported Sexuality Graph” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.linesforlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-lfl-blog-sss-graph-1-page-image-350×275-1.jpg” title_text=”Gender Identity Graph” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”25px||25px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” alt=”Gender Identity Graph” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Two-thirds of contacts reporting their sexuality identify as LGBQ, while nearly 1 in 5 identify their gender as trans or non-binary.<\/p>\n
LGBTQ young people \u2013 particularly those with multiple marginalized identities, including LGBTQ youth of color \u2013 are at significantly higher risk of suicide, substance use, and self-harm than their heterosexual and cisgender peers.*<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
I\u2019m connecting with youth that are going through things \u2013 some of which I have experienced as a queer person myself, and some things I definitely haven\u2019t experienced \u2013 and it feels like I can give understanding and support that they may not be getting elsewhere.<\/p>\n
As a teen, people around me told me repeatedly that being queer is an acceptable, lovely, beautiful identity, but it was alongside all these other societal signals that maybe it\u2019s bad and wrong \u2013 and that\u2019s a hard kind of confusion to grapple with when you\u2019re questioning yourself.<\/p>\n
Even though I came from a really accepting family and had an easier time than most people when it came to looking for support, I still struggled a lot coming to terms with the fact that I was queer.<\/b><\/p>\n
Many people aren\u2019t going to reach out to a helpline or are not able to connect to resources in person. Because they are posting online about their struggles, we\u2019re reaching out to them \u2013 and these youth may have never reached out otherwise if we hadn\u2019t reached out to them first.<\/p>\n
Often, chatting with one of us is the boost someone needs to reach out to a helpline.<\/b><\/p>\n
* Please note that LGBTQ young people are not inherently prone to risk because of their sexual orientation or gender identity but rather placed at higher risk because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society.<\/i><\/p>\n