The Alliance for LGBTQ Youth provides mental health services, leadership development, and policy advocacy for LGBTQ youth in South Florida.

On March 28th, 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the controversial Florida Parental Rights in Education Act (the “Don’t Say Gay” bill) into law, effectively banning the discussion of LGBTQ issues and identities in the classroom.

A year on, the law has caused deep harm: 88% of LGBTQ parents are worried about their family and 17% have decided to leave the state. And it is expanding to older age groups and different states.

The media no longer care about the law, but they care about the man who passed it: Governor DeSantis. DeSantis is widely tipped to be the next US President, and there was huge attention around the release of his memoir: The Courage to be Free.

To reawaken America’s outrage about the law, we needed to steal Ron’s spotlight.

Ron DeSantis was excluding LGBTQ youth from education. To fight for more equitable learning opportunities, we put the same youth at the front and center of our campaign.

With the ChangeMakers - a group of LGBTQ Youth Activists from The Alliance for LGBTQ Youth - we wrote a children’s book giving a voice back to the youth he silenced. Their lessons for mental health and creating a strong community were brought to life- while aiming to create change - in words that not only kids, but lawmakers, can understand.

The story follows a zebra named CoCo on a journey of self-discovery, with every single page brought to life and illustrated, and donated by LGBTQ artists.

So when Ron DeSantis launched his own book titled The Courage to be Free, we launched The Courage to be Truly Free on the same day - fighting hate, with love.

To campaign for more equitable learning opportunities for our youth, we needed to get the Don’t Say Gay Bill back in the conversation.

The media no longer cared about the law - but everyone was talking about the man who passed it: Ron DeSantis. DeSantis is widely tipped to be the next President of the United States, and so there is huge attention around his release of a memoir: The Courage to be Free.

We saw this as an unmissable opportunity. By hijacking Ron’s spotlight, we could show the nation what the courage to be truly free looked like.

The response was incredible: our launch generated huge positivity and even far-right media helped share our story.

The Courage to be Truly Free serves as an educational tool for kids—and lawmakers—to learn about love, acceptance, and embracing who you truly are — written by the ChangeMakers of the Alliance for LGBTQ Youth, and shares their valuable lessons for mental health and creating a strong community.

The book features 48 original pages of illustrations donated by LGBTQ artists. The characters in the story represent diverse social, cultural, and gender contexts. All the characters and colors come together in a visual style that appeals to the children's audience while still encompassing all the LGBTQ flags, carefully distributed throughout the story. The colors play an important role in the story by allowing CoCo to reveal its true identity and be truly free.

We launched our book the same day Ron DeSantis launched his, with a Drag King Story Hour at an LGBTQ-owned bookstore five blocks from his mansion.

We needed to steal the spotlight from DeSantis to fight the oppression faced by LGBTQ youth, and we did just that. With a budget of $0, we:

Made the book free to download, so this vital educational tool is available to all. Made hard copies available via Barnes & Noble and Amazon to drive donations to The Alliance for LGBTQ Youth providing mental health and care coordination services, leadership development, and policy advocacy.

On the same day of his book launch, we hosted a Drag King story hour at an LGBTQ bookstore just a few blocks from the Governor’s Mansion. The book inspired LGBTQ influencers and allies with a combined audience of 2.3 million to spread its message and generated PR coverage from industry press. Additionally, we provoked an 11-minute rant from Ben Shapiro, one of the biggest names of the radical right-wing in US political punditry.