The Letters Project
Let's raise our voices together in messages of support for LGBTQ+ Youth and their families!
Coro Allegro, Boston's LGBTQ+ and allied classical chorus, is raising our voices with the Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth (BAGLY) and the Mass Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) and other community partners to counter those trying to erode protections for LGBTQ+ people—especially transgender and queer youth and their families—and silence discussion of LGBTQ+ topics.
Letters across Generations for LGBTQ+ Youth
We are gathering and sharing letters from the LGBTQ+ community and allies to support queer youth and their families with the power of our collective voices.
Inspired by true stories and moving letters of love to a transgender boy and a survivor of conversion therapy:
On November 6, 2022, Coro Allegro premiered HERE I AM: I AM HERE, a work by composer Andrea Clearfield, based on open letters by LGBTQ+ youth advocates Mimi Lemay and Sam Brinton. Mimi wrote to her then 5-year-old transgender son about her path to understanding and affirming who he always had been: "I believe you. You know where you belong." Sam wrote to the memory of their own 12-year-old self, struggling with conversion therapy their parents had sent them to in a misguided attempt to "save" them, to thank them for surviving and let them know, “There's nothing to change. You are a perfect, beautiful little child. Live life and know that you are loved."
Add your voice with you own open letter of affirmation and support.
Leave a message of encouragement, affirmation, or support for LGBTQ+ youth. Let's make a chorus of voices to rise above those who would silence us.
What's at stake —why we can make an impact by speaking out:
Research from the Trevor Project shows that LGBTQ+ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers, but that the presence of affirming voices can have a huge impact for LGBTQ+ youth at risk, reducing suicide ideation by over 40%.
What will happen to our letters:
Coro Allegro, BAGLY, and our partners may republish excerpts or links to full letters submitted to the Letters Project via our social media, websites, and exhibits at concerts and workshops. Tell us if we may publish your name, pronouns, and other info with your excerpt, or if you prefer your letter to be anonymous.
Form and length:
Your letter can be in text, image, or video form — that's up to you!. You can type short messages right on the form provided, or upload longer letters, instagram images (1080 x1080 pixels, 1:1 ratio), or short video messages of less than 45 seconds.
Want ideas for what to write?
Your letter can be long or short and sweet. All that matters is we are standing up and speaking out for each other. Say Gay! Write an open letter to someone you know to celebrate who they are, to a stranger to let them know that you stand with them, to a future child to share your dreams and commitments for them, or to your own past self to say thank you, and offer things you now understand. Writing a letter is an opportunity to pause, reflect, and share that can bring both reader and writer healing and empowerment.
THANK YOU FOR ADDING YOUR VOICE!
Partners for the Letters Project
