Hello John,

My name is Aki. In Episode Seven of our Joyathon, I want to share what I’ve learned as a Youth Voices ambassador with It Gets Better. When you donate before midnight tonight, you make it possible for more young people like me to discover the truth about Queer Joy!

It's also your last chance to score a free copy of our interactive card game Perfectly Queer. Just give $75 or more and this limited edition game is yours!

When I was younger, I thought Queer Joy had a very narrow meaning. The kind of meaning you’d see if you looked up joy in the dictionary. Something simple and happy and sweet. I thought that Queer Joy was holding hands, dancing across the stage in drag. I thought it was marching in a pride parade on Main. I thought it was activism and advocacy and being bold. And I was right. Queer Joy is all of those things, but it’s more than that too. 

Queer Joy is a midnight walk in the rain when you forgot your umbrella. It’s a Polaroid of the best friend you never see anymore. It’s a rainbow flag in July, a mint ice cream brain freeze, a book read alone in bed. Queer Joy is laughing and crying and screaming and smiling. It’s everything.

If there’s one thing I want to share with you, John, it’s this: Queer Joy can never be taken away because it’s who we are. Queer Joy isn’t just a feeling or action.

Joy is our entire being.

It's up to us to make sure kids like Aki never lose their joy. Donate before midnight and help us reach queer youth before they're in crisis.

We contain it and it contains us. Even when we feel alone. Even when our very existence is politicized. Even when we are angry and heartbroken and exhausted. Despite it all — maybe even because of it all — we must also be joyful.

As we close out 2024, I have found that Joy is activism. Joy is procrastination. Joy is tears and laughter and hope. Joy’s meaning is not narrow at all. Queer Joy is a rebellion, and it belongs to everyone.

With joy and hope for 2025,

Aki K. (They/She/He)
Youth Voices
It Gets Better

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