Letters for LGBT Youth Bring Solace From Strangers

For 40 days every holiday season forty open letters about love and acceptance are posted to yourholidaymom.com. A project started in 2012, Your Holiday Mom provides a virtual haven for LGBT youth.

“Thirty years ago I lost my little brother to suicide because he feared he was gay and simply could not live in a world that would not support him if this were true,” explained YHM founder Robin Rice. “Today, I still feel that hole in my heart, and so I do whatever I can to support LGBTQ youth.”

Volunteers from around the world flood the site and its Youtube channel with supportive letters, audio clips and videos aimed at LGBT youth (and adults) who have been shunned by their families as a result of coming out or haven’t found the right moment to do so yet and feel estranged and afraid.

The letters, which have branched out from “Mom” to include “Dad,” “Sibling,” and “Friend” are all addressed to the “Holiday Child” and detail what a typical holiday would be like in their home and provide some heartfelt words of encouragement.

“I want you to be assured that you have someone in your corner, someone who will be thinking of you this coming Christmas and the days after. Wrap yourself in that knowledge,” writes one Mom. “When you are lonely remember this letter and the woman who has written it to you. Please feel the love and acceptance that I am writing into every single word and paragraph. Try to remember this letter when things seem so desperate and sad.”