Pride Month is an opportunity to renew our vision of a world in which every child, young person, and adult can lead a free and full life. This means committing to ensuring that each of us can access the supports we need, with the autonomy to make our own choices, safely in a community that affirms the full diversity of our identities.
LGBTQIA+ youth have been clear that this vision requires that communities and systems take action to provide them with what they need: supportive communities and safe spaces that will affirm and embrace their whole selves, including their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression (SOGIE); services and resources to promote their healthy physical and socio-emotional development; and systems that promote accessibility to resources and inclusive environments, where their voices are respected and they can help shape a future in which they thrive.
Unfortunately, we are in a time where there are growing and disturbing threats to LGBTQIA+ youth and efforts to institutionalize harm and undermine their health and wellbeing. At the state and federal levels, these attacks have particularly targeted transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse (TNGD) people, with constant anti-trans rhetoric and proposals — in 2026 alone there have been 793 anti-trans bills introduced across 43 states. Some policymakers have attempted to functionally ban gender-affirming care for transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse youth by eliminating health coverage while simultaneously threatening the viability of hospitals and medical providers that provide this care. The administration has persistently used lawsuits, or the threat of legal action, to attack medical providers, harassing them with subpoenas in the hopes of forcing them to divulge sensitive patient data and to stop providing affirming healthcare for young people. Further, the administration has threatened to withhold federal education funds from schools that support TNGD youth, has canceled grants and contracts supporting research and services promoting the health and wellbeing of youth who identify as LGBTQIA+, and taken innumerable other actions that threaten the wellbeing of queer young people and their families. Moreover, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a challenge to Colorado’s ban against conversion therapy, which sent a terrifying message to states and LGBTQIA+ youth. Such harmful practices, without medical merit, do not have any place in our healthcare or our society.
However, despite these efforts, there continues to be resistance and progress. With communities working hard to protect youth who are under attack. Across the country, in ways both overt and discreet, there are community members, community-based organizations (CBOs), and public systems who continue to do their best to take care of queer youth and advance their wellbeing. They are promoting health and healing through community-based services that are SOGIE-affirming and culturally-responsive, helping queer youth, including Black, Indigenous, Latine, and other youth of color, to celebrate the richness of their communities while also navigating the stress caused by oppression and exclusion.
Pride is a reminder that we have a collective responsibility to ensure that young people are healthy and cared for every month of the year, not just June. This is not a radical premise; this is what we owe every child, young person and family. At CSSP the healthy development and wellbeing of young people is essential to our work. This month, we are grateful for the contributions that youth across the country make to their families and our communities, and continue to work toward a day when society collectively commits to ensure the health, wellbeing and happiness of every young person – supporting the development of — and appreciating the importance of — the full diversity of our identities.
