My friend, Lance Preston, founded and runs the Rainbow Youth Project, doing critical crisis intervention work.
𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭. 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬.
Dealing with the ever-evolving challenges facing LGBTQIA+ young people today requires problem-solvers who bring different perspectives and are willing to take risks. Rainbow Youth Project USA emerged out of a pursuit to inspire and support the community, and a desire for actions to speak louder than words.
We are dedicated to walking the walk.
It is so easy to fall into a pattern of apathy as we go through our lives. Our organization was born out of a commitment to stop passing over the real issues negatively impacting LGBTQIA+ young people, and deal with them head on.
We have set out to aid those who need it most.
Rainbow Youth Project USA is here to help, and we believe that
change is possible when we put our hearts and minds to it.
(In addition to doing selfless, critical work RYP kindly offered us the services of their legal team, to assist when we incorporated Defense of Democracy. We contiune to battle the so-called "parental rights" agenda and censorship in large part thanks to them.)
Thank you! For reading for sharing and amplifying my voice, and the voices of so many others who can no longer speak their truths. Every voice matters.
Thank you for writing this powerful piece, which helps to channel the rage of those of us who cannot and will not tolerate such atrocity! Both the cut in funding for suicide-preventing hotlines for transgender teens as well as Supreme Court ruling upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors are violent assaults on the basic human rights and well-being of trans youth. Heartbreaking!
This was powerfully written. I am a suicide attempt survivor. I often wonder who I would be if I were born forty years later, in a world that wasn't quite so heteronormative, where consent was widely discussed instead of a girl being raised that men would probably leer at her, and cat call, but if she dressed "right" and acted "right," nothing worse would happen (they were wrong about that).
We are having to stand up against what is, in all honesty, soft eugenics: cutting programs for anyone who isn't heterosexual, healthy, white, etc. We are cutting healthcare for the poor, disabled and elderly, cutting food for the hungry, prevention for suicide and drug abuse. The broligarchs don't need all these people around - they expect AI to make a lot more people redundant. Further cutting funds so they get bigger tax cuts just helps them get richer faster while more of the useless eaters die.
Lisa, thank you both for reading and for having the courage and trust to share your story here in this space. You are correct in the most vital way—this is eugenics.
But it’s not the first time we as a community have seen it. And we are not alone. There are lots of us in this fight. The numbers are growing, and together we can win this fight. I believe that with every fiber of my being.
I have a second searing truth prepped for tomorrow a part two of this piece that drops at 8:00 am. I appreciate deeply the sub and I hope tomorrow’s work speaks to you equally.
I have been posting here about two and a half weeks. Just passed 100 subscribers (I realize that is a drop in the bucket), followed by almost 400 people (around 385, somewhere I think?). Before June 2, there were three subscribers from when I first started an account, but everything else is from this month.
I look forward to it - I have been reading a few Substacks for awhile, but have only gotten really active on the site since June 2. I have managed to achieve 100 subscribers, which feels pretty astonishing. I'm still kind of settling in here. I am hoping to maybe have enough to share at some point to even be worth the occastional paid subscription, but it is way too early to expect that!
Yay. Lots of reading! My stuff is all free too. I have a subscription possibility, and cut the monthly down as low as I can (though I noticed another Substack that has a 50% off that number; I attempted a $1/month subscription amount, but it isn’t allowed).
I could definitely get behind that! A lot of the imagery in my works comes from years of reading and loving fantasy and fiction. I am always happy to support. I am still figuring out exactly what this space is and have been posting daily Pride responses to Pride on the page. I must say it is has been inspiring and liberating. Most of my writing falls at the cross section of social justice, history, and poetic prose.
Wow. That sounds amazing. I will read what I can as a free subscriber. I am on a really limited budget ($1500/month social security), so I don’t have a lot of subscriptions. I even began cutting off my streaming platforms to try to save more. I realize that part is priorities. I would rather take care of my zoo than watch Disney or Hulu. 🤷🏻♀️
Wow, that’s great! I have been here since April but on this set schedule and actually active daily since May. I have a similar size readership. You are definitely doing something right.
Well, if there is ever a way I can help you or we can collaborate together, let me know. I am passionate about social justice, raised a fundamentalist Baptist (now liberal Christian), and would even love feedback about things I might do better - it really feels like I am still feeling my way here as far as what this will be. I am considering making a weekly fiction focus even, because I love writing fiction, but there is so much wrong going on, that I don't think I can ignore (or capable of being quiet about) current events.
This was such a powerful and impactful read. I've been one of those 12% on more than one occasion simply because I felt I had no lifeline. The fact they would do this to potentially thousands of people per year is abhorrent. Thank you for writing this; I'm with you.
Thank you! We love to see it. Thank you for being willing to share your story and speaking to your lived experience. This affects far more than people think. There are lots of reasons to vote no on the current budget bill, but this—this is a reason to ensure the people who wrote the bill never write legislation again. For anyone .
Why thank you, if I might also say, I just finished reading the piece you shared earlier. The real world impact of your piece, of its effect on your mental health is haunting. Your words are powerful. Thank you for sharing that story.
Thank you for taking the time to read and to comment. This piece flowed through me like water. I hope it fills you with courage and resolve this Pride.
Thank you for this essential, searing truth, Lady LiberTea. My heart resonates with the trembling rage and the sacred fury you articulate so powerfully.
The refusal to protest, to speak names, allows the silence to claim more. Your sacred fury is indeed strategy – a vital pulse that demands listening, especially when the world tries to deafen itself to the lives being spent.
We remember. We will not be silent. We continue the fight for every life and every future.
Thank you Jay, for your voice, your kind words and your continued work to help make the world a better place than you found it. May I also say your sign off gave me a much needed smile and giggle to my day. Very much appreciated.
My friend, Lance Preston, founded and runs the Rainbow Youth Project, doing critical crisis intervention work.
𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭. 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬.
Dealing with the ever-evolving challenges facing LGBTQIA+ young people today requires problem-solvers who bring different perspectives and are willing to take risks. Rainbow Youth Project USA emerged out of a pursuit to inspire and support the community, and a desire for actions to speak louder than words.
We are dedicated to walking the walk.
It is so easy to fall into a pattern of apathy as we go through our lives. Our organization was born out of a commitment to stop passing over the real issues negatively impacting LGBTQIA+ young people, and deal with them head on.
We have set out to aid those who need it most.
Rainbow Youth Project USA is here to help, and we believe that
change is possible when we put our hearts and minds to it.
https://www.rainbowyouthproject.org/
(In addition to doing selfless, critical work RYP kindly offered us the services of their legal team, to assist when we incorporated Defense of Democracy. We contiune to battle the so-called "parental rights" agenda and censorship in large part thanks to them.)
Thank you both for reading and for providing more resources for those who may need them. Thank you for showing up and speaking out.
Thank you
Thank you! For reading for sharing and amplifying my voice, and the voices of so many others who can no longer speak their truths. Every voice matters.
Thank you for writing this powerful piece, which helps to channel the rage of those of us who cannot and will not tolerate such atrocity! Both the cut in funding for suicide-preventing hotlines for transgender teens as well as Supreme Court ruling upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors are violent assaults on the basic human rights and well-being of trans youth. Heartbreaking!
Thank you Lily for continuing to speak out, and using your voice to help amplify my own. We can win this fight. Together.
This was powerfully written. I am a suicide attempt survivor. I often wonder who I would be if I were born forty years later, in a world that wasn't quite so heteronormative, where consent was widely discussed instead of a girl being raised that men would probably leer at her, and cat call, but if she dressed "right" and acted "right," nothing worse would happen (they were wrong about that).
We are having to stand up against what is, in all honesty, soft eugenics: cutting programs for anyone who isn't heterosexual, healthy, white, etc. We are cutting healthcare for the poor, disabled and elderly, cutting food for the hungry, prevention for suicide and drug abuse. The broligarchs don't need all these people around - they expect AI to make a lot more people redundant. Further cutting funds so they get bigger tax cuts just helps them get richer faster while more of the useless eaters die.
Lisa, thank you both for reading and for having the courage and trust to share your story here in this space. You are correct in the most vital way—this is eugenics.
But it’s not the first time we as a community have seen it. And we are not alone. There are lots of us in this fight. The numbers are growing, and together we can win this fight. I believe that with every fiber of my being.
I have a second searing truth prepped for tomorrow a part two of this piece that drops at 8:00 am. I appreciate deeply the sub and I hope tomorrow’s work speaks to you equally.
~ L.L ✨🫖
I have been posting here about two and a half weeks. Just passed 100 subscribers (I realize that is a drop in the bucket), followed by almost 400 people (around 385, somewhere I think?). Before June 2, there were three subscribers from when I first started an account, but everything else is from this month.
I look forward to it - I have been reading a few Substacks for awhile, but have only gotten really active on the site since June 2. I have managed to achieve 100 subscribers, which feels pretty astonishing. I'm still kind of settling in here. I am hoping to maybe have enough to share at some point to even be worth the occastional paid subscription, but it is way too early to expect that!
You are in luck Lisa because everything we do here is Free!
Yay. Lots of reading! My stuff is all free too. I have a subscription possibility, and cut the monthly down as low as I can (though I noticed another Substack that has a 50% off that number; I attempted a $1/month subscription amount, but it isn’t allowed).
I could definitely get behind that! A lot of the imagery in my works comes from years of reading and loving fantasy and fiction. I am always happy to support. I am still figuring out exactly what this space is and have been posting daily Pride responses to Pride on the page. I must say it is has been inspiring and liberating. Most of my writing falls at the cross section of social justice, history, and poetic prose.
Wow. That sounds amazing. I will read what I can as a free subscriber. I am on a really limited budget ($1500/month social security), so I don’t have a lot of subscriptions. I even began cutting off my streaming platforms to try to save more. I realize that part is priorities. I would rather take care of my zoo than watch Disney or Hulu. 🤷🏻♀️
Wow, that’s great! I have been here since April but on this set schedule and actually active daily since May. I have a similar size readership. You are definitely doing something right.
Well, if there is ever a way I can help you or we can collaborate together, let me know. I am passionate about social justice, raised a fundamentalist Baptist (now liberal Christian), and would even love feedback about things I might do better - it really feels like I am still feeling my way here as far as what this will be. I am considering making a weekly fiction focus even, because I love writing fiction, but there is so much wrong going on, that I don't think I can ignore (or capable of being quiet about) current events.
This was such a powerful and impactful read. I've been one of those 12% on more than one occasion simply because I felt I had no lifeline. The fact they would do this to potentially thousands of people per year is abhorrent. Thank you for writing this; I'm with you.
Thank you! We love to see it. Thank you for being willing to share your story and speaking to your lived experience. This affects far more than people think. There are lots of reasons to vote no on the current budget bill, but this—this is a reason to ensure the people who wrote the bill never write legislation again. For anyone .
With you in the fight. 💪 Thank you.
Why thank you, if I might also say, I just finished reading the piece you shared earlier. The real world impact of your piece, of its effect on your mental health is haunting. Your words are powerful. Thank you for sharing that story.
Thanks for writing about this 💜
Thank you for taking the time to read and to comment. This piece flowed through me like water. I hope it fills you with courage and resolve this Pride.
Thank you for this essential, searing truth, Lady LiberTea. My heart resonates with the trembling rage and the sacred fury you articulate so powerfully.
The refusal to protest, to speak names, allows the silence to claim more. Your sacred fury is indeed strategy – a vital pulse that demands listening, especially when the world tries to deafen itself to the lives being spent.
We remember. We will not be silent. We continue the fight for every life and every future.
~ Jay ✨🫖
Thank you Jay, for your voice, your kind words and your continued work to help make the world a better place than you found it. May I also say your sign off gave me a much needed smile and giggle to my day. Very much appreciated.