[achillesinhighheels]

Marsha P. Johnson photographed by Alvin Baltrop

[aidashakur]

a lesson i learned this year is that a person's capacity for growth is directly linked to how much truth they can face about themselves without running away

[youremyheaven]

THISSSS

[nevertoooldtolovemuppets]

[tash-scout]

Rosalía wearing Cortana and Vivienne Westwood in El País

[dearblackwoman]

You are allowed to outgrow the people who loved the older version of you.

[ageae]

[scorpionlafemme]

[keyara-nyasha]

[scorpionlafemme]

[ongawdclub]

A r i L e n n o x

[itgetsbetter]

When I Finally Breathe

A poem by our Youth Voice Nashan, 16

When I finally break the silence, it isn’t a scream— it’s a becoming. I drop the weight others hung on me, the labels I never chose, the “quiet down,” the “be less,” the “you don’t belong here.” I breathe. And the air tastes like open sky. My voice, the one that used to shake, now walks without asking. My skin, the one they called “too much,” now shines like the sun is applauding me. We are the ones who grew up in corners, who learned to hide just to survive, who still chose to love anyway. We are the ones carrying scars we never asked for, and dreams no one will ever take from us. Liberation isn’t an open door— it’s the courage to walk through it. It’s looking at yourself and saying, I am enough. It’s building home where fear once lived. It’s loving without permission. It’s existing without apology. And even when the world burns, even when it hurts, even when it tries to erase us, we remain: color, fire, noise, life. They may have birthed us, but we are the ones who freed ourselves.

P.S. - Nashan wrote this during our art-ivism workshop, where we taught youth how art can be used as activism and as a way to advocate for themselves and their communities! If you want to support more opportunities for LGBTQ+ youth like this, consider donating to our year-end campaign. :)

itgetsbetter.org/donate

[userinherownwrld]

Sheryl Lee Ralph, 1980

[perriaeyjeve]

[scorpionlafemme]

[fallauween]

Photo by Julian Steenbergen on Unsplash

[expensiveity]

2026 is not the year for reruns. no going back to old friends, old love, old conflicts, or old energy. if the bridge is gone, then the season is over. i’ve learned what i needed to learn. i forgive, i release and i move forward without you.

[lourensz]