Created by Abbey Lee Hallett, one of our 2020 Youth Ambassadors, We’re Here… For You is a video and audio-sharing series that aims to provide 2SLGBTQ+ youth with community, affirmation, education, and resource-sharing during COVID-19 and beyond!
Hear Abbey Lee share their favourite 2SLGBTQ+ media representation, ways they support fellow 2SLGBTQ+ youth, and affirmations for the community:
Abbey Lee shared the concept behind We’re Here… For You:
“When I started as a Provincial Youth Ambassador, it was clear that 2SLGBTQ+ youth were in need of community, particularly since – at that time – we had been employing physical distancing measures for months, with no foreseeable end in sight. As such, I wanted to use digital means to help 2SLGBTQ+ youth across Ontario feel less alone in their experiences.
Video has always been something I really connected with; I’ve learned so much about myself and others from television shows and movies that I have accessed over the years. I knew that there were other video projects out there that were aimed at 2SLGBTQ+ youth, but the ones I had seen were mainly focused on reinforcing that things will change for the better, or were focused on having the person in the video share very difficult stories from their pasts.
While I think that both of those areas of focus are necessary in their own ways, I wanted We’re Here…For You to have a different focus. Particularly during such a difficult time, I didn’t want the video participants to share experiences of theirs that had been triggering for them, nor did I want to make any promises about things getting better when we had no way of predicting that.
Instead, We’re Here…For You became a video hub where youth from across Ontario – and beyond – provided education, affirmation, and resources to viewers who were in need of some community and connection in a time when both were scarce.”
