On a cool winter morning in St. Louis County, the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel shimmered with sequins, tote bags, nervous parents, seasoned organizers and wide-eyed teenagers. By day’s end, more than 300 people had stepped through the rainbow archway of Amplify the Arch: A Conference BY and FOR Queer Youth.
Amplify the Arch began with a question and a push. Inspired by Models of Pride, the 33-year strong California conference for LGBTQ+ youth and allies, 18-year-old Washington University freshman Phi Chanda approached local queer nonprofit organization Fourth City Sisters with a vision for the Midwest.
This first-of-its-kind Midwest gathering was designed to create a safe space in a hostile state. After surveying LGBTQIA2S+ youth in spring 2025 about what support they needed, planning began. The decision was made to expand outreach beyond college students to include youth ages 13 to 26, creating a comprehensively supportive path for queer St. Louisans.
“Phi just gave us the push we needed,” explains Sister Pattie O’Pounder of the Fourth City Sisters, Abbey of the Glittering Arch. From Chanda’s spark and the Sister Pattie’s guidance, an initial team of ten leaders formed. By event day, nearly 50 volunteers were on site, joined by the Abortion Action Missouri Clinic Escorts, who lent their seasoned presence to help ensure the celebration felt secure.
Amplify the Arch is a heartland answer to a West Coast legacy: Proof that queer youth here are just as vibrant, visionary and deserving. What transpired during the event was more than a conference, it was a testament to unbridled joy, hard-earned empowerment and a community determined to fortify its young people for uncertain times.
Nearly 40 organizations hosted booths spanning health care, arts programming and advocacy. The Missouri Botanical Garden drew steady crowds with interactive activities, and there were thirteen different workshops ranging from parenting support to art classes. There was even a ballroom lesson and mock ball led by A Tens Experience.
And the keynote speaker of the event was Jack Lope, a lesbian British cowboy mechanic drag king. It sounds like a punchline but it landed like prophecy.
The path to that winter morning, however, was not smooth.
Originally scheduled at the University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL), a campus accessible by MetroLink with an active LGBTQ student population, the university suddenly rescinded support as contracts were being signed, citing “unforeseen campus programming.” When pressed for clarification, UMSL leadership stated only that it felt “comfortable with its previous communication regarding the availability of event space and does not feel the need to augment its previous remarks.”
The cancellation underscored the conference’s urgency: Safe gathering spaces for queer people are crucial in a state where recent political actions and anticipatory obedience have heightened risk and isolation.
For a first-year conference without a track record, securing a new venue required more calls, contracts and faith. The Renaissance Hotel stepped in, offering discounted rates in recognition of the board’s predicament. Metro Transit St. Louis provided more than 100 free day passes so that cost would not bar entry.
The original setback, it turned out, had only clarified the mission. Amplify the Arch modeled the resilience it hopes to instill in young people.
Inside the workshops, that resilience became tangible. Built directly from the youth survey, programming reflected real needs. Art classes invited participants to translate emotion into color and form. The ballroom lesson and mock ball introduced youth to a lineage of chosen family and disciplined fabulousness. In those rooms, young people practiced more than choreography: They practiced confidence. Sister Shonda Leer recalls a participant strutting the runway and shouting, “I LOVE MYSELF!” — tens across the board.
A Pride Board panel hosted by Sister Amanita GoodThyme gathered representatives from local Pride boards across the region. Youth learned how festivals are organized, how boards function and how to get involved. Pride, they discovered, is not a distant corporation but an action: Pride is neighbors and volunteers building something together. The session was intergenerational and practical, demystifying power while inviting participation.
Equally vital were workshops for parents and caregivers. In a shifting legislative climate, knowledge is essential. One session, presented by the American Civil Liberties Union, reviewed laws impacting LGBTQ people and demonstrated how policies shape education, health care and daily life. Another offered practical guidance on listening without defensiveness, affirming identities without hesitation, and advocating effectively in schools. A third, hosted by the St. Louis Anti-Violence Project, focused on building safety at home and in community settings.
Equipping caregivers with information is essential to strengthening youth for the times ahead — and those times are coming like a rising tide. A 2022 Missouri law censored more than 300 books from school libraries. SB 134 requires schools to out students to their parents. Missouri State Supreme Court rulings have compelled students to use bathrooms and locker rooms misaligned with their gender identity. The number of Gender-Sexuality Alliances has declined.
Whether and how government institutions are willing and prepared to protect vulnerable students remains an ongoing emergency. In the absence of institutional affirmation, or in moments of abandonment through canceled contracts and sponsorships, queer communities must build our own structures of support.
Many parents arrived to Amplify the Arch anxious, uncertain of terminology or fearful of missteps. They left that evening having been offered connection to legal experts, to other families and to their own children’s resilience. In hallways between sessions, a mother sought advice on addressing a school board; fathers exchanged numbers to form a support circle.
But the heart of the day was youthful, unapologetic, unrestrained, contagious joy. Five young drag performers shared the stage with seven professional mentors; one finished their number and ran tearfully into a mentor’s arms backstage. The keynote speaker braided humor with hard truth, urging attendees to embrace every facet of themselves. A national award-winning documentarian underscored the power of joyful storytelling to preserve queer histories and light the way forward. Youth lingered before vibrant canvases, sculptures and photographs from fourteen local artists.
Still, celebration alone is not infrastructure. Infrastructure requires preparation. That preparation took form in an interactive installation called “Safety Net,” envisioned by Creative Director Luann Denten, founder of Soulard Pride. Young people wrote the names of individuals and organizations who supported them on ribbons and wove them into a net. Each strand strengthened the whole: resilient, interdependent, beautiful. It was a tangible reminder that no one survives alone.
By day’s end, something larger had taken shape at Amplify the Arch. When queer youth are centered rather than sidelined, they laugh louder, dance harder and ask sharper questions. Surrounded by informed parents, committed volunteers and a coordinated network of organizations, they stand taller. As the final bows of the drag show rang out to our Midwest Princess Chappell Roan, it was clear that this event had summoned a real safe space in the midst of a hostile state.
Given the success of year one, organizers are formalizing governance, electing a board,and establishing a nonprofit to ensure financial and logistical independence. Plans include continuing the St. Louis conference, expanding to Kansas City and eventually growing into a statewide or regional gathering. The ambition is bold. So was the first step.
Amplify the Arch returns on March 7, 2027. Visit amplifythearch.org.
