Social media is a key outlet for young LGBTQ+ individuals. It provides a support network and can help youth connect with likeminded people during their coming out journey - 69% of LGBTQ+ youth access LGBTQ+-affirming spaces online.

Reach and engagement is a common narrative in awards stories, but there is a dark side to social media that most case studies don’t mention. Unfortunately, inherent to any media strategy looking to connect with LGBTQ+ communities is an anticipation of backlash and hate.

This campaign highlights that challenge, revealing how we navigated criticism and drove progressive conversations to keep LGBTQ+ audiences safe.

Fact: last year, nearly one in two (45%) LGBTQ+ youth in the US considered suicide.

And nearly one in five transgender and nonbinary youth tried.

All because they didn’t feel accepted by society.

As America’s largest telecommunications company – that stands for equality – AT&T wanted to change this trend and make a positive contribution to the LGBTQ+ community.

This is why it committed $750,000 to support The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and mental health organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) young people.

Key to its work is TrevorSpace, an affirming online community for LGBTQ+ young people aged 13-24 to be who they want to be and chat with people like them.

Working together, we needed to raise awareness of the work carried out by the Trevor Project and TrevorSpace, highlight AT&T’s support of the organization, and build AT&T’s connections with the LGBTQ+community

In an increasingly digital world, people are finding new ways of building human connections. This is especially important in the LGBTQ+ community, where connections with others are a lifeline, not a luxury.

As research from The Trevor Project revealed, when at-risk youths can connect with like-minded, affirming people – in person or online – suicide attempts drop by 40 per cent.

So, to show young LGBTQ+ people they can build safe connections in TrevorSpace, we would introduce them to individuals who have found similar support online – via a series of video interviews.

Across five episodes, ‘The Love Connection’ would tell the stories of individuals whose moments of defeat and despair led them to critical moments of connection with their online communities, and who’ve since gone on to thrive.

The series would amplify the importance of digital connectivity and highlight how texting and virtual help are essential to saving lives.

To help us honor these authentic stories we teamed up with ATTN:, a media company known for creating socially-conscious content for like-minded followers.

Focused on ethical media representation, ATTN: was the perfect conduit for bringing together the stories of individuals whose journeys were particularly sensitive.

To push our content to engaged audiences, we would promote our videos on social media, targeting LGBTQ+ groups and allies.

Social media can be a toxic environment, however. So, importantly, we trained our moderation teams to vet comments carefully – helping them anticipate when to report offensive, transphobic comments, and when to respond constructively to develop a progressive online conversation.

In line with the broader campaign message, our goal was to ensure the safety of the LGBTQ+ community engaging with our social content, while empowering them to be seen and heard.

In ‘The Love Connection’, we explained how digital connectivity can facilitate life-changing moments and help forge lasting relationships.

Interviews included:

•Aydian Dowling, a transgender activist, entrepreneur, and cover star of Men’s Health, who spoke about his transition journey.

•Laith Ashley, the first transgender man to feature in a Diesel campaign, who explained how his connection with his aunt helped him through the turmoil of getting outed.

•Isis King, a key figure in the New York ballroom scene, who spoke about the hope and possibilities that open when a trans person feels accepted.

•Alok, a gender non-conformist, who detailed how receiving negative comments about their appearance triggered them to inspire others.

•Peppermint, a black trans woman, who spoke about her dating shame and how technology enabled her to pursue a relationship with a man overseas.

We pushed all episodes across social media with CTAs to visit The Trevor Project.

The “Love Connection” was a success for the Trevor Project, ATTN:, and AT&T in gaining exposure for the benefit of the LGBTQ+ community.

"The Trevor Project is so grateful for AT&T’s generous and longstanding support to help us continue expanding our lifesaving services and programs," said Amit Paley, CEO and Executive Director of The Trevor Project.

"Our research shows that more than half of LGBTQ+ youth report that brands supporting the LGBTQ+ community positively impact how they feel about being LGBTQ+, a protective factor that can help empower youth and decrease suicide risk."

Most importantly, more people saw TrevorSpace as a safe space – giving at-risk youths a chance to connect with someone.

•100,000+ new accounts were opened during the campaign period – increasing membership numbers by more than 25% (from 400,000 to over 500,000 members).

Further results in the confidential section.