ChatGPT hasn’t sat in the room with me when my client comes in heartbroken and we sit in their tears for the whole hour. 

Claude will never know what it’s like to watch a client get sober after years of addiction. 

Gemini could never celebrate with a client who overcomes intense Complex PTSD after a childhood of abuse.

So yes, despair is unfortunately part of the queer community's story. But so is hope. So is healing. So is love. So is fighting for justice. We are much more than the despair our society has handed to us. Let’s choose hope over despair whenever and wherever possible. Choose hope for your friends who are understandably overcome with despair right now.

You can struggle with self-esteem AND know that you deserve more.

You can have a large ego at times AND offer empathy to other people.

You can have a traumatic past AND work on your healing in the here and now.

We may not know that it’s going to get better, but we definitely know it won’t get better if we do nothing. We can either watch it all burn or we can help make it better. Let’s make it better.