A BRIEF HISTORY
FALL 2014 WHAT’S YOUR ISSUE? began with generous funding from the Tides Foundation. We reached out to youth, youth organizers, and acaemics (all who identify as LGBTQ & GNC youth and/or adults or who work closely with LGBTQ & GNC youth) and hosted a series of conversations about LGBTQ & GNC youth needs, dreams, and priorities. From these conversations we formed an Advisory Board and began identifying the key areas that the What’s Your Issue? project should include in both the National Survey and the local Community Portrait projects.
SPRING 2015 Once a “bad draft” of the National Survey was created from all of the thoughts and ideas shared in our national conversations with youth, we held a “Survey Party” to revise and create the next draft. Nearly 200 youth came (!), took the survey, and then went section by section approving, rewriting, and offering new questions. See pictures from the day-long event in our Photo Gallery.
SUMMER 2015 After the Survey Party Extravaganza, a smaller group of youth who worked on the survey joined a filmmaker to create a video that would serve as an introduction to the National Survey. Check it out here! The rest of the summer was spent testing and revising the National Survey with groups of LGBTQ & GNC youth and organizers around the country, and laying the groundwork for the Community Portrait Project.
FALL 2015 The National Survey was released September 1, 2015! Young people around the country are taking it and sharing it with their friends and networks. Our goal is to represent the true diversity of our community – to gather the many different stories, experiences, and dreams we have so that we can have a role in shaping the decisions, policies, and laws that impact our lives. The more people who take the survey, the stronger our results will be! Spread the word!
