SOY H.E.A.T. is a program of Supporting Our Youth which runs out of the Sherbourne Health Centre in Toronto.
SOY H.E.A.T. trains and empowers 2SLGBTTIAQQ youth under 29 to be speakers, ambassadors and positive role models. We work with school and college faculty to identify concrete ways to make their environments safer and more welcoming for LGBT youth and their peers; we talk directly to school assemblies and classes, as well as SOY groups, about our own experiences of handling oppression; and we highlight for service providers, employers and the wider community, the challenges facing 2SLGBTTIAQQ youth and their peers today and what needs to change - starting with them.
We believe that it takes a community approach to make life better for queer and trans youth today, and into the future. There are too many at risk right now who need more tangible support from their teachers, employers and peers, and who need to see themselves reflected in young, out, positive role models.