Inspire 1,000's of LGBT youth & allies in CT & US

For the first quarter of 2015, our focus was on our annual LGBTQIA youth conference – True Colors 22 – which was held on March 20 and 21 at the University of CT in Storrs.

Here’s just a taste of what our youth participants said:

• “To begin, I would like to start by saying that true colors was one of the best experiences of my life. I have never been anywhere where I felt so completely loved and accepted by the people around me. In my life, my parents (and me, too I don't really get a choice) go to a very homophobic church. It can be very disheartening to hear them talk negatively about LGBT+ people week after week. But at true colors, one of the seminars I attended was about how bisexuality fits in with religion. It the first time in my life where I had ever heard from a religious standpoint that it was okay to be LGBT+. I have read the book they gave us at the end many times, and it makes me smile still.”
• “At True Colors was the first time that I truly felt I can be me.”
• “I felt so free and comfortable in my own skin at True Colors. I felt like I was able to be myself. I was so happy that I could be myself even for one day. I am definitely going next year.”
• “I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go to True Colors this year! It was without a doubt the coolest field trip I've ever been on. I loved all the workshops I went to. Some were informative and some were just fun. The best part of all was being with so many other queer people like me, along with all the accepting allies that were there too. I know that me and a lot of other lgbt+ kids often feel alone at school and in their families. But being at true colors it felt so good to be with people just like me.”
• “My favorite part of True Colors was the beginning where people spoke on the stage. It was great to see that even the governor was supportive of True Colors. The best part of all was seeing Jazz Jennings and hearing her speak. I heard about her through the internet and she was always an inspiration to me, but I never thought I would get to see her in real life!!”
• “We all got to dress how we want and use what pronouns we wanted without being scared of negative judgment, something that's rare for a lot of people. The food was great, and getting so many hugs made me really happy. “

Registration fees only cover a portion of the costs of the conference. That is yet another reason why our donors matter so much! Your donations and support made it possible for us to offer over $6,000 in scholarships for the event. Each of the youth responses above came from a student who wouldn’t have been able to attend without the support of people like you!

It is an honor to be able to do the work we do on behalf of LGBTQIA youth. We are so grateful to each of our donors and supporter – to you – for making this work possible!