We Stand: A Personal Reflection on Pride, Mental Health, and the Power of Being Seen

By Chris O’Hanlon, Individual Giving Officer at Youth Talk

Pride Month. The flags go up, playlists get louder, and someone—somewhere—will absolutely end up covered in glitter for the next three weeks. (No regrets. Sort of.)

But let’s be honest: Pride didn’t start with parties. It started with rage.

In June 1969, after years of being harassed, arrested, and brutalised by police, LGBTQ+ people at the Stonewall Inn in New York had had enough. It was boiling hot. Emotions were high. Judy Garland had just died, and grief, exhaustion, and fury hung thick in the air.  When police raided the bar again that night, the crowd didn’t scatter. This time, they fought back. Someone—possibly Marsha P. Johnson, a Black trans woman—threw the first brick. Or maybe it was a bottle. Or a punch. Either way, it was a breaking point. A spark.  The riots that followed weren’t neat, tidy, or polite—and they weren’t meant to be. For six nights, the queer community said: no more hiding. No more silence. No more shame. That moment lit the fuse of a global movement, and from its ashes rose what we now know as Pride.

Here in the UK, our history has its own scars. In 1988, the government introduced Section 28, a law banning schools and councils from “promoting homosexuality.” What that really meant was erasure. Teachers silenced. Students erased. Generations of LGBTQ+ youth grew up without seeing themselves mentioned, let alone celebrated.

So yes—Pride today might come with glitter, music and joyful noise. But underneath it all? It’s still protest. It’s still sacred. It’s still about survival.

And for LGBTQ+ young people in the UK today—especially those aged 13 to 25—visibility still comes at a cost.

In 2024, a national survey showed that over half of LGBTQ+ youth had seriously considered suicide in the past year. Nearly one in five had attempted it (The Trevor Project, 2024). For those just entering their teens—13 to 15—it’s even more devastating.

Let’s talk about where this pain starts.

School, for many, is meant to be a place of growth. But 42% of LGBTQ+ students still report being bullied (Stonewall, 2022), and more than half avoid using toilets or changing rooms. And it’s not always obvious or loud. Sometimes, it’s being left out of group work. Sometimes it’s a teacher refusing to use your name. Sometimes it’s just never seeing anyone like you in a textbook.  At home, there’s often love—but sometimes silence. Or fear. Or rejection. Around 12% of LGBTQ+ young people in the UK have experienced homelessness—often after coming out to their families (AKT, 2021). That’s not just housing insecurity. That’s trauma.

And trans and non-binary youth? They’re navigating all of this plus a national discourse that debates their very right to exist. Nearly 9 in 10 LGBTQ+ youth say public rhetoric in the UK has negatively affected their mental health (The Trevor Project, 2024). Imagine being 14, still figuring yourself out, while watching MPs argue whether your identity is real. 

For trans young people, mental health isn’t just about navigating emotions—it’s often about surviving systems that weren’t designed for them. Waiting years for gender-affirming care. Being called the wrong name every day at school. Having to explain and defend their identity again and again. These aren’t just “challenging moments”—they are forms of chronic stress that wear down even the most resilient spirits. And when the outside world questions your legitimacy, your safety, or your future, it can feel impossible to trust that things will get better. But they can. They do. And at places like Youth Talk, trans and non-binary young people are met with what they’ve always deserved: dignity, respect, and the chance to speak freely—without fear of correction, judgement, or dismissal.

It’s exhausting. It’s unfair. But it’s also why we keep showing up.

As someone who grew up gay in a working-class Irish Catholic family—yes, you heard that right—I know how it feels to carry the weight of silence. I wasn’t exactly encouraged to explore my feelings at Sunday Mass. But I also know the power of someone simply saying, “You’re okay as you are.”

That’s what we try to offer every day at Youth Talk.

Based here in St Albans, we’re a local charity offering free, confidential, one-to-one counselling for 13–25-year-olds. And for so many of the young people who come to us—especially those exploring their identity—the chance to talk freely, without judgement, is life-changing.

We’re not here to fix. We’re here to listen. To validate. To offer a space where someone can take off the mask, drop the performance, and just be.

And yes, sometimes that looks like tears. But sometimes it looks like laughter, too. Like the relief of hearing “you’re not alone” from someone who means it. Like discovering that being sensitive isn’t a weakness—it’s a sign that you still care, even when the world tells you not to.

To the parents, carers and guardians reading this: we see you too. You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be present. Say, “I love you.” Say, “I’m still learning.” Say, “You’re safe here.” Those small moments? They echo for years.

To the young person reading this who feels like they’re too much, or not enough, or in the wrong body, or in the wrong place—you are not broken. You are becoming. And you don’t have to do it alone.

We get better not by pretending everything is fine, but by facing the hard things with compassion and courage. And by laughing along the way—even if we’re still picking glitter out of the sofa cushions in July.

As someone who didn’t always know where he belonged, here’s what I do know now:
“You have a future worth fighting for—and no one gets to define your worth but you.”

Chris O’Hanlon is the Individual Giving Officer at Youth Talk, a St Albans-based charity providing free, confidential counselling to 13–25-year-olds. He identifies as a gay man and is passionate about ensuring every young person has access to support, safety, and someone who listens—especially when it matters most.

References

AKT (2021) LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness Report. Available at: https://www.akt.org.uk (Accessed: 16 June 2025).

LGBT Foundation (2025) Hidden Figures: LGBT Health Inequalities. Available at: https://lgbt.foundation (Accessed: 16 June 2025).

Mental Health Foundation (2023) LGBTIQ+ Mental Health Statistics. Available at: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk (Accessed: 16 June 2025).

Stonewall (2022) LGBT in Britain – Schools Report. Available at: https://www.stonewall.org.uk (Accessed: 16 June 2025).

The Trevor Project (2024) UK Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People. Available at: https://www.thetrevorproject.org (Accessed: 16 June 2025).