<![CDATA[Queer Futures Now: Lessons]]>https://www.queerfuturesnow.com/s/network-lessonshttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xkU_!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7ab778a7-6aba-43d4-900f-3d9889faf9e9_1080x1080.pngQueer Futures Now: Lessonshttps://www.queerfuturesnow.com/s/network-lessonsSubstackMon, 04 May 2026 10:34:52 GMT<![CDATA[Talking About Gender with LGBTQ+ Youth]]>https://www.queerfuturesnow.com/p/talking-about-gender-with-lgbtq-youthhttps://www.queerfuturesnow.com/p/talking-about-gender-with-lgbtq-youthFri, 13 Mar 2026 14:54:47 GMT

HEAL Plus NM collaborated with the New Mexico Genders and Sexuality Alliance Network (NNMGSA Network) and youth volunteers to create a digital curriculum called “SQUINCH” — Sharing Queer Understanding, Inclusion, Nonviolent Communication, and Health.

SQUINCH is a series of videos and supplementary materials designed for young LGBTQ+ folx to practice healthy relationship skills and understanding about queer and trans identities.

In Lesson 5 of the Queer Futures Now Network Curriculum, you are invited to:

  1. Make a date with a young person or small group of young folx you care about. Make sure you all have about 45 minutes of uninterrupted time to hang out.

  2. Pick a place that is safe and comfortable for all of you.

  3. Take approx. 12 minutes to watch the Nonbinary People and Respecting Them video (below) together.

  4. Allow the lessons from this video to make space for an honest conversation about gender and identity. Open up the conversation by asking each other:

    What has your gender and sexuality journey been like?

Pro Tip

Be sure to reflect on this question yourself too. If you identify as binary or cis or straight, you may not have had to think that much about the role gender and sexuality play in your life. But that doesn’t mean they haven’t had a big impact on who you are and how you move through the world. Think about:

  • Where has your gender and sexual identity been spotlighted?

  • Where has it been erased?

  • What elements of your identity changed over time?

As you listen deeply and empathetically to the young person you love, allow yourself to find those places in your own experiences where you might relate even more than you thought.

Let us know know how it goes in the Comments below!

Make sure to subscribe to Queer Futures Now here on Substack. When you do, you become part of the Queer Futures Now Network, a virtual support community facilitated by our partners at HEAL Plus New Mexico. The Queer Futures Now Network is for parents, families, educators and the rest of us who are ready to show up on behalf of queer and trans youth…now.

Each week, you will receive an email with new lessons like this one with tools and resources to add to your ally toolbox.

Subscribe now

]]><![CDATA[Understanding The Fluidity of LGBTQ+ Youth]]>https://www.queerfuturesnow.com/p/understanding-the-fluidity-of-lgbtqhttps://www.queerfuturesnow.com/p/understanding-the-fluidity-of-lgbtqFri, 06 Mar 2026 13:33:47 GMT

Many adult allies—no matter how we identify—grew up believing that “gay people are just born this way.” We embraced this narrative as a way to build empathy and tolerance; to better advocate for fairness and equality.

At the same time, the “born this way” narrative limits our ability to “keep up” when folks (including ourselves) experience any changes in sexuality, gender, or expression. We are confused, judgmental, and maybe even deny the experience all together.

In Lesson 4 of the Queer Futures Now Network curriculum, you are invited to:

  1. Listen to Episode 2 of The Queer Futures Now Podcast: So Many Beautiful Things if you haven’t already

  2. Watch Karen Gee’s TEDx Talk, A More Fluid Understanding of Gender and Sexual Orientation (~17 mins).

    Prof. Gee, a self-described “straight and narrow,” cisgender woman, and professor of Psychology and Human Sexuality at Mission College in Santa Clara, CA, explains how and why the science no longer supports a “born this way” hypothesis. She also encourages us to embrace the concept of fluidity when it comes to understanding sexuality and gender.

  3. After watching the video, ask youself:

    1. Which part(s) of her talk stood out most to you and why?

    2. How does this explanation of gender and sexuality help you better understand the journey our youth are on?

    3. How might this understanding impact your relationship with the youth you love?

Make sure to subscribe to Queer Futures Now here on Substack. When you do, you become part of the Queer Futures Now Network, a virtual support community facilitated by our partners at HEAL Plus New Mexico. The Queer Futures Now Network is for parents, families, educators and the rest of us who are ready to show up on behalf of LGBTQ+ youth…now.

Each week, you will receive an email with new lessons like this one with tools and resources to add to your ally toolbox.

Subscribe now

]]><![CDATA[Putting It All On The Line for LGBTQ+ Youth]]>https://www.queerfuturesnow.com/p/putting-it-all-on-the-line-for-lgbtqhttps://www.queerfuturesnow.com/p/putting-it-all-on-the-line-for-lgbtqThu, 05 Feb 2026 19:36:21 GMT

Dr. Bettina Love wrote a book in 2019 called We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom. In it she writes about how important it is to move from allyship to co-conspiratorship.

In short, being an ally means you are coming from a place of “I know and care a lot about this.” Being a co-conspirator means you are coming from a place of “I am taking a risk to do something about this.” Being an ally costs you nothing. Being a co-conspirator can cost you access, comfort, money, time, and even safety.

Check out the video below where Dr. Love describes being a co-conspirator as being willing to use your privilege to “put something on the line for somebody.”

It’s going to take a willingness from all of us to graduate from our comfortable ally phase to becoming full co-conspirators, putting it all on the line for our LGBTQ+ youth.

In this lesson, take 10-15 minutes to complete this quiz. It is designed to help you reflect on your current ally practices with LGBTQ+ youth and give you suggestions for how you might push your practice forward, no matter where you are starting from.

Take the Quiz

Make sure to subscribe to Queer Futures Now here on Substack. When you do, you become part of the Queer Futures Now Network, a virtual support community facilitated by our partners at HEAL Plus New Mexico. The Queer Futures Now Network is for parents, families, educators and the rest of us who are ready to show up on behalf of queer and trans youth…now.

Each week, you will receive an email with new lessons like this one with tools and resources to add to your ally toolbox.

Subscribe now

]]><![CDATA[Helping LGBTQ+ Youth Talk About Mental Health]]>https://www.queerfuturesnow.com/p/helping-lgbtq-youth-talk-about-mentalhttps://www.queerfuturesnow.com/p/helping-lgbtq-youth-talk-about-mentalThu, 29 Jan 2026 14:30:23 GMT

HEAL Plus NM collaborated with the New Mexico Genders and Sexuality Alliance Network (NNMGSA Network) and youth volunteers to create a digital curriculum called “SQUINCH” — Sharing Queer Understanding, Inclusion, Nonviolent Communication, and Health.

SQUINCH is a series of videos and supplementary materials designed for young LGBTQ+ folx to practice healthy relationship skills and understanding about queer and trans identities.

In Lesson 2 of the Queer Futures Now Network Curriculum, you are invited to:

  1. Make a date with a young person or small group of young folx you care about. Make sure you all have about 60-90 minutes of uninterrupted time to hang out.

  2. Pick a place that is safe and comfortable for all of you.

  3. Gather whatever art supplies are accessible and make you happy.

  4. Watch the SQUINCH Mental Health Pocket Zine video (below) together and follow along as you each make your own zine.

  5. Reflect on what you learned from having spent this time together. Here are some reflection questions to consider:

  • How did it feel to spend that time together?

  • What did you notice?

  • What do you know now about your young person that you didn’t know before?

  • What are you still curious about?

  • What might the next steps be?

Pro Tip

As you spend this precious time together with the LGBTQ+ youth you love, do your best to listen more than you talk. This isn’t the time for a lecture. This is when you show up authentically, listen compassionately, and build trust.

When you do talk, share truthfully and vulnerably—human to human—without taking up too much time and space. Share your story without burdening them with your challenges. You never want to put them in a position where they need to be the one taking care of you.

Instead, you want to show up with empathy by relating to their feelings, even if you don’t fully understand their experience. This happens when you listen without judgement, take what they say seriously, and reflect back what you heard.

Let us know know how it goes in the Comments below!

Make sure to subscribe to Queer Futures Now here on Substack. When you do, you become part of the Queer Futures Now Network, a virtual support community facilitated by our partners at HEAL Plus New Mexico. The Queer Futures Now Network is for parents, families, educators and the rest of us who are ready to show up on behalf of queer and trans youth…now.

Each week, you will receive an email with new lessons like this one with tools and resources to add to your ally toolbox.

Subscribe now

]]><![CDATA[Becoming An Ally for LGBTQ+ Youth]]>https://www.queerfuturesnow.com/p/becoming-an-ally-for-lgbtq-youthhttps://www.queerfuturesnow.com/p/becoming-an-ally-for-lgbtq-youthTue, 20 Jan 2026 21:37:43 GMTIf ever there was a time to stand up as an ally for LGBTQ+ youth, it would be NOW.

Since 2024 when we started this project, US state legislatures have introduced more than 520 anti-LGBTQ+ bills, a record-breaking number. A substantial percentage of these bills specifically target transgender youth. In fact, experts in a January 5th post from the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security name what is happening to trans folx in the United States as a “genocide”.

Our government is literally working to eliminate all trans people. This is the environment we are navigating and our young people are coming of age in.

Obviously, this environment is taking its toll on LGBTQ+ youth mental health. Here are just a few things we have learned from The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit organization for LGBTQ+ young people:

Up to 9 out of 10 LGBTQ+ students reported being harassed or bullied in the past year

66% of LGBTQ+ youth reported experiencing recent symptoms of anxiety, and 53% reported symptoms of depression. These rates are even higher for transgender and nonbinary youth.

39% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including 46% of transgender and nonbinary young people.

An estimated 20-30% of the LGBTQ+ youth abuse substances, compared to about 9% of the general population.

We know that this is a lot to digest. Take notice of how your brain and body are doing after taking in this information. As adult allies, we deserve our own resourcing and care to settle our nervous systems and ground before we can connect to and show up for our young people.

In Lesson 1 of the Queer Futures Now Network curriculum, you are invited to:

  1. Listen to Episode 1 of The Queer Futures Now Podcast: We Are Not Aliens if you haven’t already

  2. Take a look at the Trevor Project’s 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People.

  3. List 3 supports you have in place for yourself (for example: spiritual practice; trusted friends/family; therapy; body work; arts practice; good food/movement, etc.)

Make sure to subscribe to Queer Futures Now here on Substack. When you do, you become part of the Queer Futures Now Network, a virtual support community facilitated by our partners at HEAL Plus New Mexico. The Queer Futures Now Network is for parents, families, educators and the rest of us who are ready to show up on behalf of queer and trans youth…now.

Each week, you will receive an email with new lessons like this one with tools and resources to add to your ally toolbox.

Subscribe now

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