Dear 15 year old me,I know there was no way for you to escape the beatings administered to make you manly. Dear 15 year old me, but step away from your self for a second and realize that wasn't love. Step away and know that contrary to what you were told, impossible as it may seem, believe in your feminine self with your heart on your sleeve, believe. Just believe.
Kelli Anne Busey, transgender woman, age 53
A friend is Introducing a novel concept to give hope to our LGBT youth and I would love to share it with you.....
Welcome to Dear 15 Year Old Me - Letters of Hope for LGBT Teens
Being a teenager is tough, to say the least, but for many LGBT teens, it is the most painful time in their lives. Often, these kids are just beginning to understand and accept their sexual orientation or gender identity for themselves, and they’re doing so in a world filled with dangerous bullying and venomous homophobia and transphobia. How can they uncover their true selves when doing so could mean hateful emotional attacks, or even the possibility of physical harm?
We want to offer these young people hope by sharing with them stories about how, not only does it get better…not only will they survive, but it can be better NOW, and they can thrive.
Will it be easy for them? No, there will be struggles, to be sure. But by sharing your story of survival, perhaps you can inspire a young person to hold on when they want to give up. It could be the letter that YOU write that will help them find a way to cope with the loneliness, the alienation and the heartache of defining themselves in a world that says they aren’t worth definition. Your story of survival could save a life.
If you are a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender adult, please consider adding your letter to our project. In time, we hope to have enough letters to publish a book that could become a valuable resource for LGBT youth around the world.
Write your letter and and send it to your 15 year old me. And find your 15 year old me on Facebook.
Believe.
