DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – The “It Gets Better Project” a non-profit organization whose mission is to uplift, empower, and connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth around the globe, has given $10K grants to two Michigan schools – the Dewitt High School’s LGBT group and the Wylie E. Groves High School in Beverly Hills.

In Dewitt, the grant money will be used for a first of its kind statewide kickball tournament for LGBTQ+ students. The 1st Annual High School LGBTQIA+ Kickball Tournament will take place on October 7th at the East Lansing Softball Complex with registration for the event going through www.gaaysports.com.

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GAAAY sports is an acronym for GLBTQI+ Athletes, Allies, and You. The organization is an all-inclusive recreational sports league geared toward the LGBTQI+ community but all are welcome including allies of their movement. Their mission is to provide safe spaces for people of the LGBTQI+ community to come together and participate in recreational sports. They offer those opportunities and events in Lansing, Flint and Grand Rapids.

In Beverly Hills, the grant money will be used for a project to connect middle and high school students to help LGBTQ+ middle schoolers make the transition to high school, including a field trip to the state capitol.

The grant program, titled “50 Grants in 50 States” was created to support projects to uplift and empower LGBTQ+ youth across the country and in Canada. The 2023 grant recipients include 71 U.S. and Canadian public and charter schools, each of them receiving grants up to $10K for a total of $625K in project funding.

This is the second year of the program and in 2022, the awards in Michigan went to Ypsilanti to the ACTech and STEMM Middle College High School for a pride prom and to Portage Northern High School to build a free clothing closet for their students.

The “50 Grants in 50 States” website proudly says, “This year’s grant recipients cover a wide spectrum of projects based on the specific needs and priorities of each individual school. Winning projects include plans to build a Pride Garden at a school with a majority LGBTQ+ student body in Birmingham, Alabama; reviving the gender-sexuality alliance (GSA) at a school in Richardson, Texas; and creating a Queer Student Union to host events about queer history and Pride at a school in Columbus, Ohio.”

Brian Wenke, Executive Director of the It Gets Better Project says, “Amid ongoing efforts to silence or stigmatize discussion about LGBTQ+ identity in the classroom, it’s more important than ever to ensure that LGBTQ+ students feel that they are welcomed, accepted and able to be their full selves at school.”

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Wenke goes on to say, “Through the 50 States, 50 Grants, 5000 Voices program, we are giving students, teachers  and administrators the resources they have determined they need to help make their schools more LGBTQ+ inclusive and supportive. We’re so excited to watch these projects flourish and see the ways that schools and entire communities will benefit from these efforts to celebrate and empower their LGBTQ+ students.”

It Gets Better, an internet based non-profit group, was founded by gay activist, author, media pundit and journalist Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller in September of 2010. It was founded in response to the suicides of teenagers who were being bullied because they were gay or because people thought they were. The group quickly gained the support of President Obama who recorded a video as part of the organization’s initial rollout. The group also received the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Governor’s Award at the 64th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.