This week: From stories that move us to a pool party that supports us!

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Hi John,

We’re back from our queer week of rest — recharged, reconnected, and ready to keep showing up for LGBTQ+ youth with everything we’ve got.

Rest reminds us what really matters. The voices we lift. The stories we share. The people who refuse to be forgotten.

This week, we’re honoring two incredible queer voices we recently lost: Andrea Gibson and Jewel Thais-Williams.

Andrea Gibson (genderqueer writer, activist, and Colorado’s Poet Laureate) didn’t just leave behind poems. They left blueprints for survival. Even in the face of terminal illness, they showed us what it means to keep choosing life.

They left behind gems like this that we really need to hear right now.

We’re also remembering Jewel Thais-Williams, a fearless queer pioneer who opened Jewel’s Catch One in 1973,one of the first Black discos in LA and a vital space for queer Black joy. Her legacy includes founding the Minority AIDS Project, a housing facility for women and children living with HIV/AIDS, and a nonprofit focused on wellness in underserved communities.

Watch her full story in our original Fearless series on YouTube [[link removed]], and dive deeper with the free-for-download eduguide [[link removed]] that goes with it.

If you're in the Los Angeles area, get to the Hotel Ziggy in West Hollywood on Sunday, July 27 at 1PM PT for a dragtastic pool party benefitting It Gets Better. Enjoy host Annie Biotixx, music by DJ Aaron Colbert, and a visit from It Gets Better board member Tracy Gilchrist. All ticket sales benefit It Gets Better. For more information, click here. [[link removed]]

Finally, if you’re looking for a moment of healing this weekend, this Sunday, July 20 at 4PM PT / 7PM ET, enjoy an online screening of the award-winning show Out of the Blue.

Out of the Blue is a funny, moving, and music-filled solo show about one man’s journey through a cancer diagnosis, healing old wounds from his past as a queer kid, and rediscovering his sense of self. Featuring nearly 25 characters all played by one actor (who is later joined on stage by his real life husband), it’s a powerful true story of love, resilience, and finding joy even in the darkest moments. A portion of ticket sales [[link removed]] benefit It Gets Better.

Stay loud and proud.

- It Gets Better

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It Gets Better is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to uplift, empower, and connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth around the globe. All contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

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