Our mission is to serve and strengthen the St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community—by providing an empathetic listening ear, by connecting callers safely and reliably to LGBTQIA-affirming resources, and by increasing the visibility of LGBTQIA+ concerns, needs, and resources in the St. Louis MO-IL Metro Area. We are a community-based non-profit organization focused on creating opportunities and spaces for LGBTQIA+ individuals in the St. Louis MO-IL Metro Area to lead fulfilling lives.

“I’m a trans-masculine, genderqueer, and pansexual individual who was born and raised in Singapore, which I experienced to be a highly homophobic and transphobic country. Without any LGBTQIA+ role models to look up to or queer-affirming peers to talk to, I grew up feeling alien and small. I only found the courage to come out when I came to the U.S., joined the St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community, and found myself in a much more queer-affirming environment.

I had always wished that there was an unconditionally supportive, non-judgmental queer-affirming peer I could confide in and feel understood by. That’s why I’m passionate about setting up a LGBTQIA+ peer support helpline for the St. Louis region—to create a resource I wish I had, and to give back to the community that welcomed me.”

—Luka (they/them), SQSH Co-Founder