#183 | Mental Health Is Safety: A New Way to Protect LGBTQ+ Youth

What if the most important way to protect LGBTQ+ youth isn’t legislation or policies, but how we care for their mental health?

In the final episode of July’s “Safety” series, Heather Hester gets to the emotional core of LGBTQ+ protection: supporting what’s happening inside our kids. Backed by powerful data and grounded in lived experience, this conversation unpacks what mental health safety really means, and why your presence, listening, and affirmation matter more than ever.

• Understand the life-saving impact of being one accepting adult in an LGBTQ+ young person’s life
• Learn how to create emotional rituals of safety and resilience at home, from check-ins to therapy
• Discover how modeling emotional honesty and curiosity (not correction) creates lasting trust and well-being

Press play to learn how you can become your LGBTQ+ child’s safety net from the inside out with tools, presence, and powerful compassion.

RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT

Mental health support:

• The Trevor Project
• Trans Lifeline
• National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network
• Inclusive Therapists
• Psychology Today
• To Write Love On Her Arms

Hi, I’m Heather Hester, and I’m so glad you’re here!

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At the heart of my work is a deep commitment to compassion, authenticity, and transformative allyship, especially for those navigating the complexities of parenting LGBTQ+ kids. Through this podcast, speaking, my writing, and the spaces I create, I help people...