By Cristian Prinea | Project Leader
Today, in 2026, speaking about LGBTIQA+ children and youth in Chile means speaking about urgency and prevention.
We come from a 2025 marked by global social tensions that have only intensified. We have witnessed setbacks in rights and a sustained rise in hate speech that has also permeated our country. In Chile, since March 2026, a new political landscape has taken shape—one that, in its first weeks, has already begun to promote perspectives that render diversity invisible and raise concerns about greater risks, similar to those seen in other international contexts.
Through our #HoraSegura helpline—which last year marked its 10th anniversary—44% of young people report psychological distress. This reality is deeply linked to experiences of discrimination in educational settings, psychological violence within family environments, lack of support networks, and a broader social and political climate that can be hostile toward diversity, replicating patterns observed in other countries.
In this context, the work we do at Fundación Todo Mejora is not optional. It is essential.
What we achieved in 2025: sustaining, adapting, and moving forward
Despite a climate of uncertainty, 2025 was a year in which we chose not to step back. Our #HoraSegura helpline continued providing free emotional support across Chile. In that year alone, we held more than 1,060 conversations, many of them during critical moments.
But what matters most is not the number—it is what these figures reveal. Alongside the psychological distress mentioned earlier, one in four conversations involved suicidal ideation or behavior. More than 70% of these cases corresponded to LGBTIQA+ individuals. This is not a coincidence, but rather a reflection of a structural reality.
For this reason, in 2025 we did more than sustain the program—we strengthened it. At the end of the year, we migrated to a new technological platform to remove access barriers and ensure that no one is left without support when they need it. As a result, in the first week of 2026 using this new platform, conversations increased by 400%, signaling the magnitude of demand for the year ahead.
However, this technology cannot operate on its own—it requires continuous human, operational, and technical support, which in turn requires funding.
Today, this is one of our main challenges, and one we have not yet fully resolved in order to guarantee the continuity of the helpline.
This work has gone hand in hand with our interventions in the environments surrounding LGBTIQA+ children, adolescents, and youth. Through Familia a Colores, a comprehensive program that includes brief counseling and group workshops for parents, caregivers, and frontline professionals, we reached more than 370 people, supporting families through key processes. We provided tools to transform homes into spaces of support rather than risk, promoting families as true environments of protection and celebration.
Likewise, through our educational program Comunidad Diversa, we continued our work in the Antofagasta region, strengthening educational communities and local networks. We know that well-being does not depend solely on the individual, but also on the systems that surround them. This work began in 2025 and continues in 2026, but we aim to reach more schools and expand into other regions. We believe our educational model can improve schools across the country and become a global reference.
These initiatives, along with many others, are strengthened through our role as a technical leader. We aim to create concrete impact in the lives of LGBTIQA+ children and youth, generating evidence through our research area, producing free resources available on our website, training more than 400 individuals, and bringing our voice to public, institutional, and international spaces. We also participate in technical and expert panels, contributing from our mission as the only organization in Chile exclusively dedicated to LGBTIQA+ children, adolescents, and youth. All of this reinforces our value as a technical organization, strengthening the impact, legitimacy, and positioning of Todo Mejora.
With this level of impact, we closed 2025 with significant progress, but also with financial concerns looking ahead to 2026. This is where our main challenge lies today: sustaining and projecting this work in a context that makes its continuity more difficult.
2026: a key year
We are not starting from zero. We are at a turning point.
Our strategy for 2026 is clear: to strengthen our positioning and advocacy in order to protect the well-being of LGBTIQA+ children and youth in a context of political and social change.
To achieve this, we are working across four pillars:
At the center of everything, we continue to uphold what is essential:
Why your support matters now more than ever
What is at stake is not only the continuity of programs. It is the possibility for a young person to have someone to reach out to when they feel they cannot go on. It is the chance for a family to choose support over rejection. It is ensuring that schools and frontline professionals are well-equipped to provide safe spaces, rather than becoming places of exclusion.
But there is something even deeper: beyond reminding children and youth that a better world exists for them, we want to build the strength necessary to protect that world. We want to be strong enough that those who oppose diversity cannot dismantle 13 years of serious, sustained work—work that has even been replicated in other countries.
Today, maintaining these services—free, accessible, and nationwide—requires more than conviction. It requires support. The context has changed. Needs have increased. Resources are more uncertain.
But one thing remains unchanged: every safe space transforms a life. And real change only happens when it is built collectively. If you believe that all children and young people deserve to live without fear, this is the moment to act. Your support makes it possible for this work to continue— and ensures that the progress we have made does not move backward.
Because even in challenging times, we hold onto a deep conviction: everything gets better—but it gets better when we do it together.
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