Almost one-fourth of young people of risk of homelessness are LGBTQ2S+ whose families reject them. Sadly, in 2020, crisis-contact with LGBTQ2S+ support centres doubled and many LGBTQ2S+ youth were locked down in places where they were neither safe nor free to be their authentic selves.

This creative brief was not initiated by the client; rather, the agency approached the NYX team with an ask to provide much-needed support. NYX had already made a commitment to the LGBTQ2+ community: “when you enter a NYX professional makeup store, you are entering a space where you are safe, free and encouraged to be you–fabulously, colourfully, authentically you” so they, of course, said yes.

The objective was straightforward: for NYX to create an open dialogue with young people who might or might not be “out” yet, giving them a safe space to connect with their fabulous, colourful, authentic selves – and others like them.

On October 11th, to celebrate National Coming Out Day, NYX partnered with It Gets Better Canada to create the first-ever “Safe Space Session,” a private Microsoft Teams event designed to support LGBTQ2S+ youth who had just come out or were thinking about it.

The private virtual event was completely safe: No cameras. No recording. Just love and support.

The Session was moderated by Bill Ryan, an internationally recognized expert in the field of sexuality, gender, sexual education, and homophobia, and Angie Bird, an award-winning documentarian. Together they led an open discussion about the challenges and rewards of coming out, how to make a plan to come out, and where to find more support.

To make the event even more meaningful, we invited LGBTQ2S+ icons including Adam Lambert, Gigi Gorgeous and Jackie Cox to pop into the Teams call to surprise participants, join the conversation and share their own stories.

While Pride Month is huge in Canada, its focus is largely on those already active in the LGBTQ2S+ community. But it’s tough to feel part of Pride – if you’re not out yet. Given the pandemic, we felt it was critical to connect with a more vulnerable target: youth who were exploring their feelings and/or not out yet, and those who recently had come out but were still maneuvering the ins and outs.

The agency team scoured resources and conducted interviews to understand the trials and tribulations of coming out. The key data point that moved us was the fact that three-quarters of young people come out online before they do IRL. So we decided to go where they already were to create a uniquely safe space.

1- Pre-buzz: LGBTQ2S+ influencers took to their social channels to share their own coming out experiences and start a dialogue. As the discussion flourished, they privately invited followers who would benefit from the space we were creating.

2-The Event: The Safe Space Session took place on a secure Teams channel moderated by LGBTQ2S+ experts. No recording was allowed. After an hour of counseling and sharing, celebrities began popping into the session, surprising participants, sharing their own stories and providing sage wisdom.

3- Post-Promotion: A short film was released to share the story of the event – sans footage, of course – to celebrate National Coming Out Day and provide resources for those considering coming out. The film was shared by influencers and celebrities and picked up by media across North America.

Thesafespacesessions.com was created to help youth connect with resources like It Gets Better Canada, Egale, and Kids Help Phone.

Young people from across North, South and Central America, and Europe joined the event –each bringing diverse experiences to share. The most important result is that attendees felt safe, seen, supported and loved for who they are. One participant said, “I wish I could hug each of the people in here. This is one of the most real connections I’ve ever felt in my whole life.” Bonds were created, friendships were forged, days were made by surprise guests, and some lives were surely changed forever.

To amplify the powerful impact beyond those who participated in the live event, the story was shared on social resulting in a 650% increase in posts about NYX and a campaign reach of 3.7 million.

Research shows that LGBTQ2S+ youth who have one or more accepting adults are 40% less likely to attempt suicide. We’re most proud to have ignited conversations to help drive acceptance.