Hi Mikah,

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I heard you speak five years ago, and one idea from that talk has stayed with me ever since. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but the realization that the outdoors is not automatically a safe or welcoming place for everyone had not fully occurred to me. Before hearing you speak, I think I had largely taken for granted that the outdoors was a place where everyone could simply feel welcome. Your talk made me realize that for many people, that isn't true. It changed the way I look at the outdoors, and it changed the way I think about my own responsibility for making those spaces welcoming.

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I've been wearing my Safe Space pin since hearing you speak.

Five years later, it is very well loved and ready for replacement, which is part of the reason for my latest order.

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I'm active in Scouting, and over the years a surprising number of Scouts and adults have noticed the pin and asked me why I wear it. I tell them I want people to know that I'm an ally—that LGBTQ+ and gender-diverse Scouts and adults are welcome with me, that I will stand with them and speak up for them when it matters, and that if they ever need someone to talk to, someone to listen, or someone to help them, I'm here.

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Your message has also influenced me professionally. I run a nonprofit that supports a number of state park sites, which means I spend a lot of time thinking about how we welcome people into public spaces. Since hearing you speak, I continually ask myself: "Who might not automatically feel that this place is for them, and what can we do about it?" I can't claim I've gotten everything right, but your work has made me much more intentional about making sure the experiences, programs, and spaces we help create are as welcoming as possible. The idea that everyone deserves to feel that they belong outdoors has become part of how I think about leadership, not just something represented by a pin.

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That question feels more urgent to me right now than it did five years ago. The broader environment for LGBTQ+ and gender-diverse young people scares me, and I worry about the pressures facing organizations like Scouting and whether the progress toward greater inclusion will hold. But whatever happens at the institutional or political level, I want young people (and adults) to know that there are a good number of us out here who remain committed to access for all, safety for all, and a place for everyone.

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And perhaps my favorite part of this latest order is that my kids, who are teenagers, asked for pins of their own. I didn't suggest it; they asked me directly. They wanted them because they want other people to know that they are safe people too, that they are allies, and that they're there if someone needs them.

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Something you said five years ago changed the way I look at the outdoors. It affected how I work with young people, influenced how I lead an organization serving people across my state's parks, and now my own kids have decided they want to carry that message too. I thought you should know that.

What you're doing is making a difference, including in places and with people you may never get to see.

Thank you for continuing to do it.