Members of the community continually have to work to counteract mistreatment and stigmatization in a society that often lacks essential support systems.
Less than half of LGBTQ+ youth experience parental acceptance of their sexual orientation and gender identity1
Only half report that their school is LGBTQ+ affirming1
Anti-LGBTQ+ bills, politics, and other systems fuel homophobic and transphobic messaging that consistently question the validity of LGBTQ+ identities4
45% of LGBTQ+ youth report having seriously considered attempting suicide, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth2
Racial and ethnic sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) are:
imi is built on a foundation of the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ youth and in partnership with
LGBTQ+ youth organizations, academic / research
partners and community / product developers
By listening to the needs of underserved communities – especially those in the QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community – and presenting an inclusive space for community organizations to provide input, these stories are integrated into imi’s development, and used to elevate the entire community through the sharing of diverse voices.
Our partners represent views from around the country.
Click on the
icon to learn more about some of the thoughts behind imi’s development.
LGBTQ+ Youth Organizations & CenterLink Locations
Academic / Research Partners
Community / Product Developers
Working with LGBTQ+ teens from a wide variety of backgrounds, researchers at the Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania ran a randomized control study of imi.
The goal was to test the efficacy of an internet-based intervention, specifically how the full imi site compares to a resource page–only version.
Since launching, imi has been visited by 30,000+ users across 117 countries, and has impacted thousands of LGBTQ+ youth by guiding them through the stress and stigma, affirming their identities, and exploring and expressing those identities in healthy ways.
Over 10% of users engage with the site for over 10 minutes, which is 3-4 times more than the industry standard for a good average session duration.6
imi includes four guides: stress, stigma, gender, and queerness.
Each guide contains three sections containing various types of interactive content.
Explore how users in different locations engage* with the different aspects of each guide: *guide views from June-Oct 2022
Content Type
Learn
Resource
Activity
Community
Section
Support
Affirm
Explore
Explore
Support
Affirm
Time Spent
(seconds)
1
500
“I struggle with generalized anxiety disorder and have used imi to manage stress in my life, both related and unrelated to being LGBTQ+.
The stress guide is more helpful to me personally than the other guides, because I’m further along in my journey of identity exploration. But I think imi would be a particularly helpful tool for those who are less affirmed in their identities.”
Devon (they/them)
15, Maryland
“imi embodies all that we look for in innovation, as a creative and youth-centered approach to problem-solving that starts with young people and ends with an innovative tool tailor-made to meet their needs.”
Healthy Teen Network, on imi winning the
2022 Healthy Teen Network Innovation Award
“The attention paid to creating a teen-centric solution focused on how teens thrive, paired with the scientific rigor to know how a tool impacts young people, gives me hope for a more resilient generation of LGBTQ+ young people.”
Danielle Ramo Ph.D., Psychology Today
“My parents are not supportive of my queer identity and I'm often frustrated with my parents’ transphobic and queerphobic comments... I really enjoy the variety of resources that imi provides, especially the safer browsing tool, links to other orgs like the Trevor Project, and tools like the pronoun dressing room.”
Sasha (he/she/they)
17, Florida
imi is just one example of Hopelab’s solutions that support, affirm, and empower young people.
Elevate your work by engaging Hopelab’s community and connecting resources for a shared goal.
Learn more about collaboration and partnership opportunities with Hopelab -->
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