It Gets Better has a mission to uplift, empower, and connect LGBTQ+ youth around the globe. To that end, we created our Vodcast "Perfectly Queer," a safe space for LGBTQ+ youth on Twitch. Season one of the Vodcast won the Shorty Award for Best Art and Culture Podcast. In season two, hosts Ashley Roboto and Blizz take us on a little journey through LGBTQ+ news, pop culture, conversations around identity and visibility, round table discussions with other popular Twitch streamers, and more. We want LGBTQ+ youth to know they are "perfectly queer" just the way they are.
When we decided to move into the Twitch space, our objective was simple. Cultivate a safe space for LGBTQ+ youth who may not have access to a community of their peers in person. We could create that for them in the digital space. Soon after launching on the platform with our Twitch ambassador program (6-8 hours on our channel each week), it became clear we needed something a little more curated. We launched our Vodcast "Perfectly Queer" with the intention of having a Talk Show-like format that celebrates chosen family — a place where LGBTQ+ youth could feel safe and supported, no matter where they're at on their journey. We faced some challenges in season one, namely by working with a group of people who lacked familiarity with the streaming space (they came from a TV or podcast background). We simplified things in season two and realized that with the right hosts and producers, all we needed was to provide a space for meaningful conversations. Sometimes it's educational (convos around exploring identity), sometimes it's really difficult (violence against trans youth, anti-LGBTQ+ bills in schools), sometimes it's really funny (Tumblr comes up often). We worked hard in season two to get on to Twitch's radar and they took notice of what we were doing in the space and offered us home page placement for the majority of our episodes. They also invited us to be one of their official Pride partners for summer, 2023 on the strength of the show's performance. We averaged more than 250 concurrent live viewers during each episode of season two (double the season one viewership) with thousands of folks discovering the show on Twitch playback and on YouTube. In part as the result of "Perfectly Queer," It Gets Better is now the number one LGBTQ+ non-profit on Twitch. We will be returning with season three this summer.
Winning the Shorty Award, becoming the number one LGBTQ+ non-profit on Twitch, and more than doubling our viewership is amazing — and clearly benchmarks for success. But I think the real feeling that we're doing something important comes from the comments we read during each episode's stream. Comments like the kid who said they had come out as bi to their parents and it didn't go so well, "but you all made me feel so loved today. I needed this." Moments like he mom and her son who watched an episode together because it helped bring them closer. Comments like the trans kid who had essentially been outed to their parents by a teacher at their school (which is horrific) but the dad was supportive, told them about It Gets Better and, as a result, they started watching "Perfectly Queer." We are reaching queer youth at a critical moment in their sexual orientation and gender identity journey in a way that WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE without the reach of a streaming platform and we are incredibly grateful and take that responsibility very seriously. If we can reach even one LGBTQ+ kid before they are in crisis (we know we have reached many more), then we have succeeded.
