As a kid in the 80s, I grew up with no more information about being gay than the doom filled adverts around the AIDS crisis and a single sentence in a library book that had been missed from the censorship sweep of Section 28. But there was absolutely nothing out there to help me make sense of why I didn't feel like all the other kids seemed to about being a girl or a boy.

Despite what the loud voices of popularist bigotry claim, kids really do know their sexuality and their genders long before they reach 18. No one questions that when they conform to the cis- and hetero-normative expectations of world in which we live.

Thankfully, for those kids who don't fit into the increasingly polarised and hostile environment, there are organisations like LGBT Youth Scotland.

Life can be tough for any young person, but LGBTI young people face unique and additional barriers and that is why LGBT Youth Scotland exists. We believe Scotland can be a place where all young people can thrive and flourish, and we work alongside young people to remove those barriers; supporting young people individually, and amplifying their collective voices to influence change.

Thank you for supporting their vital work.