As parents, we hold our children's hands as they navigate the world, hoping they will be safe, loved, and valued. We send them to school expecting a safe community to support their academic journey.

Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old non-binary student, attended Owasso High School in Oklahoma, where instead of being received by a safe and welcoming community, their family says they were relentlessly bullied for months over their gender identity.

On February 7, during an altercation with three other students in the bathroom, Benedict reportedly blacked out while they were beaten on the bathroom floor. They died the following day.

Nineteen days later, the Associated Press reports more than a dozen Owasso students walked out of class in protest. They say they want action against discrimination and bullying of transgender and nonbinary students. There have been vigils held in Oklahoma and across the country.

In a world of mixed messages ranging from peer acceptance to political hate, LGBTQIA+ youth are finding ways to celebrate who they are.

Pride 2022 starts as ongoing anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation continues across states, yet queer resilience, as always, rages on no matter the time of year. In Florida, Zander Moricz, the first openly gay class president at his Sarasota high school, is the youngest public plaintiff in a federal lawsuit against the state of Florida to strike down the Don't Say Gay Bill. "All of me is threatened by this legislation," Moricz testified at the state senate

"There's a natural similarity between reproductive rights and transgender rights," said Mercedes Sanchez, director of development and community education at Cedar River Clinics in Washington State. "It's all about autonomy, bodily autonomy, and being able to make the choices for ourselves." Sanchez sees the fight for reproductive rights and transgender rights as intertwined. And, in fact, they are.

It is essential for healthcare providers to be aware of intersections of oppressions from race, socioeconomic status, sex assigned at birth and current gender status, so patients can potentially feel safe and included in these spaces. By stating that abortion services are cis people's health concern are excluding trans and nonbinary people's experience.