June is an important month at Gayly Dreadful. It’s, of course, Pride Month. A time when LGBTQ+ people celebrate their history and remember where we came from and where we’re going. Less monumental, but also personally important for me, it’s the month that Gayly Dreadful finally came to be. While the site wouldn’t go live until July, I wrote my first article while home sick during Omaha’s Pride Weekend.

Pride means different things to different people. To me, Pride comes in the forms of celebration and introspection. The most fun aspect is, of course, celebrating queer voices and perspectives. It’s a time to celebrate our uniqueness, reaffirm ourselves, strengthen our current community and find new communities to become a part of.

It’s in this spirit of celebration that I have gathered around 30 or so horror writers and creators to fill June with diverse and exciting voices. Each day at 11:00 AM Central, there will be a new post on Gayly Dreadful from a different writer. You’ll see incredibly brave and personal articles. Examinations of queerness in horror. Articles on identity and gender and sexuality. You’ll also be able to read some fantastic short stories! I’m incredibly impressed and humbled at the talent we have surrounding us.

Another reason to celebrate is that our favorite streaming service Shudder is celebrating Pride Month with their Queer Collection. They have also graciously created a Pride Month coupon code that will give new members THIRTY DAYS of Shudder goodness for free. New members will be able to stream all of their delicious content (including Knife+Heart, my favorite movie of the year so far) for free the entirety of June. So if you have been waiting for the moment to join…that moment is now. Use code: HORRORPRIDE for a thirty day trial. June is crammed full of horror goodness.

With celebration, though, comes somber contemplation and introspection. This is the biggest part of this month-long project I’m calling Gayly Helpful. It’s the reason so many of these wonderful contributors have given their time and talents. All month we are doing a fundraiser for The Trevor Project.

I want to hit you with a few statistics:

Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among young people ages 10 to 24.
LGB youth seriously contemplate suicide at almost three times the rate of heterosexual youth.
LGB youth are almost five times as likely to have attempted suicide compared to heterosexual youth.
Of all the suicide attempts made by youth, LGB youth suicide attempts were almost five times as likely to require medical treatment than those of heterosexual youth.
In a national study, 40% of transgender adults reported having made a suicide attempt. 92% of these individuals reported having attempted suicide before the age of 25.
LGB youth who come from highly rejecting families are 8.4 times as likely to have attempted suicide as LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection.

I want to reiterate two that hit home the most for me:

LGB youth are almost five times as likely to have attempted suicide compared to heterosexual youth.
In a national study, 40% of transgender adults reported having made a suicide attempt. 92% of these individuals reported having attempted suicide before the age of 25

Let those numbers sink in. It’s a reminder that we can and must do better to help provide kids and young adults more assistance so that they aren’t just another statistic.

That’s where you come in. I need your help

The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ+ and questioning young people under 25. It’s a very important program for me. I’ve set a modest goal of $2,000 since this is the first time I’ve done this kind of thing. Let’s try to beat it, please?

The Goal

My hope is that you’ll see the amazing queer talent surrounding us and that our favorite genre is teeming with diverse voices. That maybe the world will feel a little smaller. That you’ll see you’re not alone. You have a community here and we must continue to learn about each other and support each other.

I will probably contribute an article. And reviews will continue to post as usual. I'll even cover some movies at Cinepocalypse. But this month isn’t about my writing. It’s about my amazing contributors who gave us their time and amazing talents to help this cause. It’s about that timid LGBTQ kid who doesn’t realize their favorite genre is filled with like-minded people. It’s about those times when we see what’s going on in the world and feel powerless and don’t know how to help.

It’s about you.

So let’s make this Pride Month one to remember. Please read, support and share every article. Use the #GaylyHelpful hashtag to keep up with the posts and to connect with people. Follow our contributors on social media and their personal or professional sites. Sign up for Shudder and be prepared to be amazed with their content, including Knife+Heart on June 20th. And most importantly, please donate to The Trevor Project so we can continue to celebrate Pride for years to come.