On Thursday, LGBTQ+ rights organization It Gets Better announced its 2024-2025 student grantees for its 50 States. 50 Grants. 5000 Voices initiative.

“Our goal with 50 States. 50 Grants. 5000 Voices. is not to dictate what communities should do to create more inclusive environments for LGBTQ+ youth. Instead, we empower local LGBTQ+ youth to lead the way,” said Brian Wenke, executive director of It Gets Better. “For the past 14 years, It Gets Better has provided the resources and support for LGBTQ+ youth to dream big and achieve their goals. We are honored to help young LGBTQ+ people realize their greatest potential and make their voices heard.”

The initiative awards grants of up to $10,000 to 25 middle and high schools that empower and support their LGBTQ+ students. It aims to help future LGBTQ+ leaders thrive by helping them learn how to create community spaces where they can be themselves.

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Among the projects funded by the initiative are Genders and Sexualities Alliances, library diversifications, training videos for teachers on LGBTQ+ sexual health, and Pride events. This initiative emerged in 2022 in response to a growing wave of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment in the United States legislature.

“An all-girls middle and high school in Texas will host Transforming the Rainbow, an event to encourage LGBTQ+ students on campus to advocate for themselves. They will create a Queer Bilingual Lending Library, filled with books about identity, mental health, and wellness,” says the press release announcing the recipients. Other recipients include a North Carolina school that will make a website for its LGBTQ+ students and an Iowa school that will convert its gendered restrooms into gender-neutral restrooms.

Financial support for the initiative is credited to American Eagle Outfitters, Inc, the MAC Viva Glam Foundation, and the social media site Tumblr.

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