Every year hundreds of thousands of children send letters to Santa through the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) Operation Santa, a program that seeks to put those letters in the hands of organizations and individuals who can respond and send a thoughtful gift on Santa’s behalf.
And each year, the USPS shares some of the letters it has received in an effort to promote the program and inspire folks to adopt letters.
This year, one letter in particular has people in tears as it shines a light on the challenges many LGBTQ+ kids face. In it, a young gay boy asked Santa if God loved him.
On its Operation Santa website, the USPS has shared a letter from a child identified only as “Will.”
In a child-like handwriting that leans and tilts across the page, it reads:
“Dear Santa,
Do you support the LGBTQ community and if you can speak to god can you tell Him I love him, and if He loves me for being gay. Thank you. Love, Will.”
As Operation Santa does not traditionally publicly share personal information about the children who send letters to Santa through the program, the USPS has not provided any additional information about Will or his letter, such as which state it was mailed from.
So although Will’s letter doesn’t tell us much in the way of facts or personal details, it speaks volumes in regards to the struggle so many LGBTQ+ children go through every day.
Because while many children turn to Santa with requests for toys and games, Will wanted only to know if he was loved by God.
Unfortunately, Will’s desire for love and acceptance is something many LGBTQ+ youth have experienced.
In 2018, a Human Rights Campaign survey of more than 12,000 LGBTQ+ youth aged 13 to 17 found only 24% of respondents felt they could “definitely” be themselves as an LGBTQ+ person at home.
What’s more, 67% of all respondents said they heard their families make negative comments about LGBTQ+ people and 48% of respondents who were already out to their parents said their families made them feel bad about being LGBTQ+. Continue reading