So I’m considered the target audience for KOSA, being a kid and all, and I just want to say that this will not protect the youth at all. It’s blatant censorship and many kids and teens have spoken against it, and many more live in fear that this will be passed. KOSA will negatively affect impact LGBTQ youth, those in abusive situations, and the youth in general. The people pushing for this bill to be passed do not care about kids at all, they just want to use kids as a way to censor topics that oppose their beliefs. It’s not fair and will result in more harm than good. Children will die from this. I agree that children should be kept safe on the internet, but removing them entirely doesn’t teach them anything. Why not do something about the predators online who are actively targeting kids? It’s better to teach children how to properly keep themselves safe on the internet, rather than not teaching them at all and making life extremely difficult for them when they’re older. Also, this impression that LGBTQ media will influence your kids to be gay is extremely false. LGBTQ media can help them discover who they are and teach them that they’re not alone. If you take that from them they’ll feel different and isolated from their peers and they’ll blame themselves for it. KOSA will do more harm than good and is blatant censorship. Shame on the people who are pushing for it and putting lives in danger.

I would be completely alone and scared if I didn't have an online community of people who saw and understood me for who I was at a young age. If KOSA passed for me when I was a child, I would not know who I am or what I like. I would be completely lost, as I was better at making online friends than friends in real life, especially being on the spectrum and in the LGBT+ community. Should I have grown up without my friends? Should other kids like me grow up without their friends? No. The way to protect kids is not to take away a space where they can excercise autonomy, self-discipline, and creative and social freedom. The way to protect kids is to educate them on consent and self-love, to give them their own spaces to be themselves, and to give them privacy. Do you not remember how valued privacy was when you were a teenager? Children need space to grow and make mistakes. KOSA will invade this space, and will stunt the growth and happiness of children and is not worth it. Invest in long time solutions! Kids are worth the time it takes to learn how to be both safe and free on their own. Foster that growth instead of bad bills like KOSA.

I believe KOSA will not make anything better and will make the things worse. Sensoring things that have no reason to be hidden is just stupid and unnecessary.

first amendment should apply to the internet as well, there is no reason for this restriction to be put in place other then to weaponize these laws against minorities such as the LGBT+.

Being able to find a community online when there isn't one where you are helps you make connections and learn more about said community and where you fit in it.

I am queer, and my friends are queer. We don't want to be censored in a fake fight for safety.

KOSA will not protect children. They hear about stuff like this literally anywhere, not just online.

Because a free internet and privacy is very important

KOSA is a poor and clear attempt at controlling people. These resources NEED to be talked about and spread so people understand themselves, what's going on within their life (if they're in danger), and helps people learn more about themselves. Without these resources, many people will suffer and grow up unhappy and longing for more; not realizing they could have had more in life. Please do NOT let KOSA get passed. It won't only affect LGBT people but everyone else despite what it seems like. Many of the things they want to censor, are things EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW! DO NOT LET IT PASS!!

The internet saved my life by providing me with a support system when I had nobody else due to being raised in a cult.

The internet has been an incredible resource for me as an LGBTQ teenager, and without it I would have felt isolated and not have known how to describe my feelings or ask for help. I want to make sure everyone has the opportunity to access these resources and know they are not alone.

KOSA will limit the way we the people can express ourselves. It’s a way for the government to control the masses. We are sick of being told to fit into a palatable mold. Leave us alone. Don’t lie about caring for kids safety. If you really did, we wouldn’t be having school shootings every day.

Every child needs a space to grow and be them to obtain a good healthy balance . In a world where we no longer have a third space where kids can just be , the internet is that space. Kosa is not a bill that'll save kids it only controls and diminishes the freedom a person can have based on another person of government body's feelings on the matter

First off, we have the right of freedom of speech that is explicitly written in the Constitution. By censoring the internet, the government is denying our rights no matter what the reason is. Secondly, the "harmful" things they want to censor are things related to the lgbtq+ community. This will result in hundreds of deaths from youth who are not able to get the help and support they need. Limiting access to lgbtq+ resources isn't going to stop same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria because one: this is who we are. We do not choose who we are attracted to, or what our gender identity is, and two: there's nothing wrong with lgbtq+ identities. Every identity is just as valid as a heterosexual cisgender person. No matter what the government does, we will still exist, and we need support. We need these resources to know how to be safe. We need these resources to get help from those who have experienced the same things as us. Taking away these resources will take away safe places from the youth. It will take away our chance to get needed help. The rate for suicide for lgbtq+ youth is already high due to lack of support from family or loved ones. By removing all support, the number of suicides will rise to a horrific number.

I’m a closeted youth whose parents are hardcore Mormon. If I lose these resources then I lose a part of myself.

Because our politicians should not be able to further invade the privacy of their constituents, especially when many people are already suffering from politicians monitoring what we do/ say, for example the fact that student encampments were violently attacked by police and harassed for protesting against genocide, and bills are currently trying to be be passed to ban masks at places like campuses so schools can further “punish” students that don’t comply.

I'm a kid that likes the internet the way it is, I may not have anything special to say but I'm against the stupid "kosa" bill

I believe people should express themselves and not be over shadowed by government

Because I believe that everyone should be able to do what they want with in reason

I don't want kosa to be passed because it will affect people negatively and will not help kids as a whole. Instead it will affect kids worse.

I care about stopping KOSA and preserving online LGBTQ+ resources because these sites meant to educate and provide a sense of community are life saving to those children in areas where they cannot get that kind of information on their identities or the necessary healthcare for their queer needs, as well as find people with similar experiences they can relate to and get advice from. If KOSA passes and made into law, I foresee hundreds, if not thousands, of queer youths feeling all the more isolated and confused about who they are. The mental health impact of this unconstitutional bill alone is enough to want to vehemently oppose it.

I am a queer teen, and I want to have a safe future online for me and my community.

As a sexuality educator, I know how important it is for kids to have access to accurate information and to build connections and safe communities on-line. Preserve access to information to keep them safe and healthy.

As conservative legislators continue to control and censor education and (often life-saving) resources for youth, we must protect the right of LGBTQ youth AND adults by opposing KOSA. This bill is shortsighted and will create more issues than the protections it proposes to enact.

It harms youth in abusive situations by cutting them off from online support and community, which in many cases is all the support and community they can get. It prevents youth from accessing news and life-saving health information.

KOSA would not help kids. Instead, it would put everyone's information at risk and take away safe spaces for LGBTQ youth.

I care because as I was once an LGBTQ Youth myself, it's imperative to have these resources openly available for youth to access.

I want those youth to have the ability to have the information freely and openly without living in fear of asking questions about themselves or fear of not knowing answers they seek, and that help friends and resources are available to them.

The Internet provides so many LGBTQ resources that many of us can't access in person and KOSA would actually make us less safe due to censorship and privacy invasion.

The internet should not be policed, and restrictions without rights is not the solution to any problem

At certain points in life the fastest or safest way to get information is through online sources, having to access them through limited or impossible ways will set us back even further

Censorship doesn't protect.

Because kids need information, accurate information. They need to know accurate history. They need to know they're not alone.

The precedent this law would set is too great a risk to the stability of our democracy to be allowed to pass. This law has failed multiple times for a reason. The law is ill-defined, and would introduce a way to censor LGBT content online, and introduce new avenues of surveillance. KOSA is a step in the wrong direction.

KOSA will make the lives of a lot of people much worse, including mine. I do not want that to happen.

By passing KOSA the government is saying that LGBTQ youth isn't worth protecting.

I am a queer lesbian myself, that really wants other LGBTQ+ children to be able to explore themselves and have a safe space they probably don't have in highly conservative homes. KOSA could promote the censorship of many things ongoing in the world

KOSA is not about safety in the least, but a wearing the skin of it. It makes a show of talking about safety but in the end it censors people and their words, destroying online resources.

Sometimes the internet is the only way to find community or to learn the language to explain your experience.

I care about KOSA because it is a dangerous slope that will only encourage censorship that is toxic and will only achieve the opposite effect. Online resources for LGBTQ youth must be preserved because they deserve equal rights just as much as anyone else.

There needs to be a place for those people that are interested in that group to feel safe, not to feel judged... few nations are safe and we need those open harbors...

I am an LGBTQ+ youth. I grew up in an environment where I had no real-life supportive people or spaces to lean on. As a result, I was seriously considering committing suicide to escape how painful my situation was. I only stopped myself because I found helpful resources and made friends with kids like me who I knew would be sad if I was gone--all through the internet. I was only 10 years old when this happened. Had KOSA been law during that time, I would not have typed this out. Instead, my flesh and bones would be rotting away in a cemetery. I'm not going to stand by and allow politicians to resign other kids to that fate.

IM A LGBTQ YOUTH

The internet is how I learned of queer communities, and it's also just generally the place I see lots of queer content - I don't want to lose the things I love!

Because I care about yourh having access to accurate information, and this bill will make that harder, leaving them without access to the information they need to lead safe and healthy lives.

I believe in the rights of youth, LGBTQ or otherwise, to exist as individuals worthy of respect. The constant gutting of rights and victimization of children in this country truly disgusts me, not to mention criminalizing every single thing they do. If it wasn't for online resources when I was a young teen, I wouldn't know about the term "asexual". I wouldn't have had lifelong friendships and the ability to create and change and grow. I don't want kids to be shut out of more spaces and monitored because parents think it will "protect" them. I don't want abusive parents to further exercise control over their kids in a broken system that leaves them behind.

I am a trans child. Without the internet being an open and free space, I would be alone.

I care about my tax dollars being used effectively, and I care about having services that work without miles of paperwork required to access them. If KOSA were put in place, it would not protect children. It would cut them off from their support networks, and censor everything to the point that the only places for them to access important information are even more unsafe. And the influx of people needing to get proper documentation to use the simplest of online resources would be a massive strain on infrastructure that is already overwhelmed.

KOSA is an overly broad bill that will allow state attorney generals to ban at will any content they deem unacceptable -- we can expect to see it leveraged against LGBTQ people, environmental info, reproductive health, and many other vital areas of knowledge.

KOSA could take away vital information and protections of communication between LGBT+ community members, young and old. Especially since this is backed by the Heritage Foundation who want to use it to censor and silence anyone they decide is "unworthy". I think KOSA in it's current form would do more harm than good.

This still not protect children, no matter the sexuality. The internet is a major safe space for all, allowing them to find information about their sexuality or experience from others. It creates a strong bond between users. Destroying that bond, will cause major distress around the nation. Children will even kill themselves, since now, the only people they have for conversation are the same people who are against them. They won’t be able to find resources that will help them out of a situation, or help them get something so that they can feel more themselves like binders.

I don't want my queer brothers, sisters, and siblings to be further stigmatized and quietly killed off due to further censorship of our existence and resources that can literally save lives.

The use of KOSA online will have detrimental effects on LGBTQ+ youth. Despite being a bill that claims to protect children, it will only harm them. This bill threatens online communities and safe spaces for children who desperately need them.

KOSA empowers politically motivated government officials and state governments to censor anything they don't like under the guise of it not being safe for kids. With the rise of anti-LGBTQ sentiment amongst right wing state governments and potential appointed officials, giving these people the ability to take down anything on the Internet they don't like under the guise of protecting kids, including helpful resources for LGBTQ people, has dangerous implications for marginalized groups.

I care about preserving online resources for LGBTQ youth and more because this bill will do more damage than you think. Isolating LGBTQ youth because YOU hate them is not okay. Many children could become targets because of this bill causing apps to do age verification. We do not need a bill to police everything we say or do online. If you want to ensure that children are safe, that's fine, I agree that children must be safer when it comes to the internet. Making a censorship bill that'll be used against minority groups IS NOT what we need though.

There are other, better solutions for protecting minors online without jeopardizing a safe internet for everyone else. It's the parents responsibility to protect their child online, not outside consumers. The internet is a vital, free, integral resource and book of so, so much history.

The internet is a place that so many young people who have restricted information access can learn things about themselves on their own terms. I have friends who were only able to find who they are and their community because of access to both online communities and digital resources.

I care about safety for everyone on the internet, not censorship. I would have never made it through the roughest periods of growing up if it wasn't for the communities I found on the internet. I would have never been able to learn how to create like I do without the internet.

Digital freedom is life-saving for LGBTQ+ youth who depend on inclusive online communities and resources in the face of hostility and marginalization in their schools or communities. As an Gen Z LGBTQ+ person, the ability to access inclusive online spaces was essential to my health and survival growing up in the Deep South in the 2010s. This is a resource that was not available to generations before me who faced extreme isolation By broadly limiting access to these spaces, lawmakers put youth’s lives at risk.

Freedom of Speech is one of the first Ten Commandments, The Bill of Rights. People have no right to censor how others feel no matter how much they disagree. I completely violates the principles which our very country was founded upon.

Not only do I have a heart for them, but for any average person who just wants to mind their own business online, it confuses me why this bill even came to be bc parents have nerve to complain, yet who's responsible for letting technology go autopilot for your child? the parents, not random people online.

Any resource that can be used to protect, educate, or help someone in need or even just curious is an important resource.

KOSA is a violation of the First Amendment, and should have not been proposed in the first place. LGBTQ youth deserve safe spaces where they can be themselves.

Suicide rates will skyrocket for marginalized youth with this bill restricting content. Multiple experts agree this bill pushes age verification, even with the new language. KOSA hands more private data of children to third party companies. Furthermore, updated language threatens encryption the same way the Earn It Act does.

LGBTQ youth need to know that it is okay for them to exist. They need these online resources and support when the people in their lives let them down.

If I hadn't had these online resources for LGBTQ+ youth, I would have killed myself at 13. That should tell you something, shouldn't it?

It would directly hurt me as I am a LGBTQ youth and I believe information should never be censored

Because we deserve a free open internet that isn’t being surveilled, segmented, and censored by faceless corporations and a disconnected government that doesn’t understand anything about it.

The best thing about the internet is its ability to connect people to resources regardless of their geographic location. Many youth don’t have people in their proximity who they feel comfortable asking questions to. Online resources allow them to access accurate information as well as build a suppprtive community.

Many children will not feel safe and lose their sense of community. It’s important that online communities continue to exist so people can feel safe and know people share their struggles as well and that they aren’t alone

Because some people I know are LGBTQ and some of my favorite media has LGBTQ topics

This bill will do more harm than good. KOSA is a suicide bill for the youth

Keeping queer representation online means keeping queer people safe and educated.

As a queer transgender minor the ability to communicate freely with my fellow youth and give others LIFE SAVING information is VERY important to me. You are representing me and my friends and family so by enforcing and supporting this bill is directly taking away my rights as well as every other queer transgender minors who you claim to care abouts rights. If you support this bill live with the fact that you are the reason people like Donald trump have been in office and in powerful positions. Live with the fact that YOU are the reason so many queer transgender KIDS are dead.

I oppose any form of censorship. This isn’t just about LGBTQ youth, bills like KOSA are mass surveillance and mass censorship that hides behind “protect the children” which I find repulsive. Furthermore, yes this bill will negatively impact marginalized youth the worst, but what proponents of this bill don’t realize is that KOSA will survey and censorship them as well. This then goes from an attempt to “protect children” and becomes mutually assured destruction when the surveillance gets leaked and all their dirty laundry gets exposed.

KOSA is a bill that endangers online content about LGBTQ resources, reproductive healthcare, and other lifelines for marginalized communities. KOSA won’t make kids more safe. Instead, it’ll put youth in danger by preventing them from accessing resources they need. Concern about young people’s harm from Big Tech are valid and real, but enabling censorship that harms the most marginalized kids is not the answer. Lawmakers concerned about online safety should reject KOSA and instead work to protect all internet users from abusive tech companies by passing a federal data privacy law and measures that do not threaten online communities that queer and trans youth depend on

This bill actively puts LGBTQ youth in danger by forcing everyone to reveal their identities online. Not only does it out them to family or peers who could put them in danger, but it makes them targets of even more manipulation than what happens now.

Free access to the internet saved the lives of both me and my best friend as a child. We were both queer, closeted, and suicidal. We were also on opposite ends of the globe. Through mutual support, I was able to recover from my low-point despite my abusive environment. Through online resources I was able to identify and name my abuse. I was also able to directly intervene in my friend’s suicide attempt and get them help. We are thankfully still friends to this day because he is still alive. Restricting online access and resources for children will put blood on your hands.

Kids should have the right to learn and get to know themselves. I know that if I personally did not have those resources, it would have had a detrimental effect on my mental health.

It will take away LGBTQ+ minors safe spaces, and connections, it would destroy communities and it is extremely harmful for LGBTQ people.

I care about my privacy, safety and my FREEDOM to be myself online. KOSA doesn’t actually protect children and people know it.

Censorship will harm EVERYONE, especially kids who this bill claims to protect. It will cause more children to feel alone in this world

Dude I AM the LGBTQ youth I don’t want all of this queer history erased because a bunch of old straight people think we’re harming people. KOSA is a genuine fucking safety breach

I oppose KOSA because it will not help kids, it will only increase censorship as well as actively harming LGBTQ kids.

The internet should be free from government interference.

Because U.S politics affects the whole world. Most websites have their main offices in America. Legalizing KOSA won't just harm american kids, but every child in the world with access to the internet.

I do because my son deserves a platform to be free on.

The internet is a place for expression and community and censorship is the direct enemy of that

I care because the erosion of privacy means that no one will be safe when looking for resources they may need to stay safe on the internet.

Because I’m a young queer woman and most of my friends are queer, and I know that this bill will affect our way of getting news about current events, learning our history, and so many more things.

Every individual has the right to resources that inform and guide them on matters that concern themselves and the history of people like them. KOSA would ruin the ability to obtain needed information and would suppress the voices of hundreds of thousands of people. This is not the freedom and liberty America was founded on.

I don’t want resources to be censored

It takes away valuable resources and support for those with homophobic households, as well as revokes privacy for minors online. It is genuinely harmful, NOT helpful.

Because it's extremely important that LGBTQ+ youth are able to find resources about their community. Censorship is NOT going to help protect children, it's going to cause severe harm to the queer community.

Because I am an American and I stand for the values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I honor our constitution and the right to free speech!

In a world where queer people, especially queer children, are always misunderstood, disrespected, and unseen, it's common for them to turn to the Internet to find people like them. For some, if not, most queer children, the internet is the only way to gain knowledge about queer identities, queer culture, and more. Without access to this, many will be unable to live their truth. The people's freedom of expression will not taken away from us. This is a human right and we will not stand by and watch it go away.

I care because everyone has a right access to information about the human body and the human experience. To allow the government or even private industry to control what is accessible on the internet is unconstitutional and purely fascistic. If you really cared about keeping kids safe, you’d focus on the number one killer of kids in this country: firearms.

As a non-binary person, I care because online LGBTQ+ resources are very important for queer youth, and if that information gets censored it will be extremely detrimental to our community, more queer kids would feel isolated and confused because they have no access to that information, negatively effecting their mental well-being and understanding of themselves. Censorship is not the answer to protecting kids. If legislators actually cared about kids, especially queer kids, they wouldn't be weaponizing minorities.

In the state of Florida, LGBTQ dialogue and education is being banned at a massive rate, we have seen and proven that lack of education and resources directly leads to higher rates of child death. It is imperative now more than ever that youth of all walks of life have access to life saving resources.

Censorship matters

Online censorship and surveillance of any American citizen but especially our youth violates so many amendments protecting their rights and safety and they are already a vulnerable population that needs not surveillance but protection against bullying and harassment and gun violence in their schools

I care about kosa as the internet has been a safe place for me in my growing years. Does it need regulation? Yes it does, but banning apps, banning topics. Is not regulation it is silencing genuine information and just going to make people desperate.

Online resources are desperately needed for youth unable to voice their own opinions in a unsafe space

Because I want to live. This isn't a choice, this isn't a fad, this is just who we are. If you take away our people's ability to live freely and openly in public, if you take away our opportunities to have in-person social circles in which we can be ourselves, and then you take away our right to express ourselves within the confines of the internet, then where are we supposed to live? Alone, quiet, and distant from the world, locked in our homes? Are we not people too? Do we not deserve the same abilities to be ourselves as you so harbor? Please, choose kindness. The divide between you and I isn't so far as you might think.

KOSA does not protect children, it only keeps them from accessing information that might very well save their lives, and silences hundreds if not millions of voices, people on the internet should not pay the price for irresponsible parents giving unlimited access to children to spaces made by and for adults

KOSA will do nothing but harm queer youth. If our lawmakers genuinely wanted to protect kids they have so many other opportunities (ex. firearm bans) and have yet to do so. They only are looking to benefit themselves and push back against queer people. So many children could get hurt or even die from this and it’s disgusting to see people turn a blind eye because of their problematic beliefs.

because spaces are so so limited. Let us keep this.

It censors resources for Queer kids

KOSA is quite literally censorship. The government shouldn't be controlling what content children consume Whatever happen to the first amendment?

Because I care about me and the gov does not. They want to shove their ideals down my throat and I will not stand.

I fear that KOSA will only serve to prolong and continue the suffering if minority individuals who are already the targets of vicious attacks that threaten their livelihoods. For many youth, the internet is a safe haven for them. While we need data privacy laws and online protections, KOSA does not do any of that and instead will begin a precedent of minority erasure online. In addition it help in the tracking of women seeking reproductive health care, which scares me as a young woman.

I care because it will cause more harm than good

Because kids everywhere use the internet, not a good starter ik but hear me out, many kids aren't in good home situations and use it as a way to get away or spread awareness or get help or use the internet as a escape or a means of communication. If this bill goes through then all of that will be taken away, and many kids still do online school, should this go through many kids would be losing their socializtion because of the extermination of third places. Not to mention that more kids die every month to school shootings and yet legislators don't do shit about it, why? Bc they wanna censor us, this will never ever work, we will never let it go through

KOSA language is too vague to ensure our privacy while also keeping us safe. I still want the ability to go online and look up different topics without worries that I'll be censored from seeing anything controversial

Unfiltered, non-biased education is a necessity for the growth of our society. The KOSA bill will steal that right from the youths of America

It will cause so much harm for young LGBTQ people

To preserve free speech and keep people safe

Because I'm part of it, Im a transgender man and I want my safe space online, and I want lgbt kids to have the support they may not have irl(Kids do need protection but this bill DOES NOT DO IT)

Growing up in a stressful, and at times abusive, household had left me mostly isolated. As harsh as it is to hear, I most likely would have taken my own life if not for the protection, comfort, and community that the internet provides. My best friends, communities, and relationships have been found on the internet, and if that were to be taked away many of us would struggle to find a reason to be here. Youth will in no way be saved by this bill, but will infact be harmed to extreme lengths by it. It will go even further and harm adults, and those in other countries should it effect apps and websites based here in the U.S. The fact that greiving parents of people who have committed suicide were used as tools to push for a bill that will only cause more hurt for parents is absolutely despicable. We stray further from our Democracy with every bill like this one. Censorship and hatred for people who conservative parties don't like will do nothing to save anyone. If you wish to save youth, and protect people online of any age, race, gender, sexuality, or opinion, then you should fight to stop censorship bills like KOSA.

I believe censorship and surveillance is wrong and dangerous for any and all people, not just LGBTQ youth. LGBTQ youth deserve better and deserve to be able to seek out information that they need. They deserve to be able to find places to exist as themselves without danger or surveillance, especially when their real life can be incredibly dangerous itself. Our youth deserves better than a bill that claims to protect them and will actually only make them more unsafe.

I am a feminist who believes in keeping the freedom for youth to find solace in knowing they are not alone when they have questions about themselves that sometimes only online and people online can help to answer. It is wrong to censor all of us rather than finding a way to keep kids safe in a seperate way.

I also care about LGBT youth and their rights. They need our support more than ever, and as a straight ally, this bill and Senator Blackburn's reasons for liking it, disgusts me. Let's stop KOSA now!

KOSA is a bill that will take away many resources that are extremely beneficial to LGBTQ youth and I know this as they were beneficial to me. KOSA does not protect youth from the actual things they should be protected from. Instead it takes away the ability for them to get knowledge about themselves and those in similar communities to them.

I didn't realize I was queer until I was in college, and part of what helped me figure myself out were online resources. Now that I'm in my 30s, I want LGBTQ youth to not have the period of confusion I had nor the isolation growing up. We have to support the children of America, not just a select few that the MAGA crowd cares about, and make sure they feel safe until they are old enough to be independent adults.

I believe this will limit young people’s access to information and online resources that they actually DO need!

Kids and teens need access to resources and communities. This country says they promote diversity and different voices, but it isn’t true. That’s why it’s so divided, when anything you say can be censored even if it’s your life experience. The same principals behind KOSA are why so many books are getting banned, even when that information and community can save a child or teenager’s life or help them realize why they’re different. Why does being different have to be bad or censored by the law? Kids, parents, and families in the LGBTQ+ community and their allies need these online resources. Censoring the internet won’t make them feel safe or help them find community or support from others. This is a nationwide Don’t Say Gay bill for the internet. It won’t help anyone, it will just isolate and marginalize the kids and teens are already isolated, marginalized, and/or part of the LGBTQ community further.

It was hard as fuck trying to find i fo online as a ueer kid. And those of of todsy shouldn't have relive live it but worse. The bill is t horse

“Everyone agrees tech companies need to be held accountable, and Congress needs to do more to keep kids safe online. But that shouldn’t mean making some kids safer while putting others in harms’ way,” said Senator Ron Wyden (OR), in advance of the Senate vote on KOSA. “I appreciate the intent of KOSA, and support restrictions on harmful design elements, along with new privacy protections for teenagers. At the same time, I implore my colleagues in the House to listen to the LGBTQ+ teens and the folks on the call today. It is not too late to do more to ensure that KOSA can’t be misused by MAGA politicians who are waging a dangerous and retrograde culture war. It’s not too late to make commonsense changes that ensure KOSA can’t be used to scare platforms away from responsible use of privacy protecting technologies like encryption or anonymous accounts. I hope Congress can work together to pass legislation to make ALL kids safer online.” https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2024-07-30-kosa-is-advancing-in-the-senate-it-still-makes-kids-less-safe/

This will stop children, like me and so may of my friends were, from finding safe online spaces for them. This law won’t protect kids. It won’t prevent transness, or homosexuality. What it will do is force kids to live out a childhood they don’t feel right in. A life they don’t feel right living. A life they don’t WANT to live. It will skyrocket the teen suicide rate. If you want to lower that rate, this is absolutely not the way.

KOSA will not provide safety. It will only give more avenues to silence and marginalize the already vulnerable.

I want to be able to be myself, explore my identity, and interact with my community online. I fear for my queer siblings who do not know other queer people and do not have access to education about queerness outside of the internet.

If KOSA is passed, it will be detrimental to queer youth who are trying to find themselves and their place in their community, especially closeted youth with unsupportive families like myself. It will raise suicide rates among queer teenagers as well (that, as I said, most likely have unsupportive families), which is the opposite of what the bill claims it’s trying to do (filter content for things that could cause anxiety or depression, which many people already do by curating their social media feeds). The community that I and many others have found online thats helped us learn to accept ourselves as who we are is extremely important. This is a dead bill that should’ve stayed dead.

KOSA will have the inverse intended effect even if it didn't include language descriminatory towards trangender individuals. It will make it more difficult to enforce actual safety for minors as they browse the internet by way of vague language requiring persons looking for potentially life-saving information to peruse the darker corners of the internet that are under no obligation to obey ANY law regarding childhood safety and for which it is much easier for bad actors to commit nerfarious acts.

As a member of the LGBTQ community who has ever been a kid, and who knows that "think of the children" laws on the internet tend to affect adults as well, I feel it is my obligation to oppose KOSA.

I care because I as well as many of my friends, both online and in real life, find safety and support in online spaces dedicated to LGBTQ youth that we do not have in our area, and are able to safely and openly express our true selves.

LGBTQ youth often struggle to find community with other queer people in real life, so they turn to online spaces. If spaces like this are heavily censored, then they'll no longer be able to find said community, and may feel even more isolated than they already do. KOSA would only serve to hurt the mental and emotional state of queer kids, and wouldn't protect them from anything.

KOSA is a misnomer and is the opposite of protecting kids. Comprehensive data privacy legislation is needed, not a conservative partisan ploy to spread homophobia and transphobia.

Because people have a right to their sexuality and their gender. This is repressive and goes against freedom of speech and freedom of the internet. Just another way for white men to stay in power and I don’t need to fear for my life just because of my pronouns and sexual attraction. The internet is a good way for people, youth specifically, to join communities and make friends, especially after COVID.

Surveillance on this level should not be normalized. I am LGBTQ and was once an LGBTQ youth and I know this law would have and will make my life and everybody else's in this nation much harder. Wanting privacy isn't us being suspicious. It's suspicious that these laws being passed are trying to enable not only the government to have more power over us, but for third-party companies to have access to our vital private information. It's hard enough to verify your identity as well as it is easy enough to steal someone else's identity. KOSA brings so many problems to the table that will ultimately harm us all. Targeting specific groups of people to then target the entire nation. It must be stopped.

The fact that someone could be killed or get in trouble due to someone searching up their PRIVATE information infuriates me.

I am urging you to VOTE NO on KOSA. Nearly 200 human rights and LGBT organizations total came out in an open letter opposing it. The ACLU is against it. Hundreds of thousands of Gen Z, who actually live online, are against it. We know the harms of social media, and we know this is not the solution. The new language does NOT meet any concerns brought up, in fact many organizations were ignored. Major news have reported that this bill actively harms kids. We do not want this. The rewritten bill would still allow any state attorney general, and now the FTC, to sue any website for “harmful” content. When you have Republicans calling anything LGBT “sexual exploitation” or anything about race “CRT” to successfully ban books and teachers, then they will use any justification to censor the internet. The Missouri attorney general used “mental health” successfully to ban gender-affirming care with backed up research. Suicide rates will skyrocket for marginalized youth with this bill restricting content. Multiple experts agree this bill pushes age verification, even with the new language. KOSA hands more private data of children to third party companies. Furthermore, updated language threatens encryption the same way the Earn It Act does. How is this protecting children’s privacy? KOSA actively harms kids. Do NOT support this bill. Thank you.

I don't want 2SLGBTQ youth to lose the access to information and community that I wish I had when I was their age. We need the youth to be who they are.

I’m heavily concerned that this bill will be used to silence anyone that does not conform to their state gov view on subjects. People in red states in particular will be at risk of being silenced because their views do not conform to their gov’s views. It’s a disaster of a bill concocted by far right weirdos. Thinking this is an actual way to help children from being exploited is ignorant of the bill’s true purpose.

This Bill has nothing to do with the safety of children. And has everything to do with destroying the privacy of the American people. The internet didn't make these children gay. The are gay because that simply is who they are. Them having resources and space to express themselves is a right of all Americans, which includes the LGBTQIA community. That also includes internet space. This Bill will undoubtedly will cause more harm to the American people as Suicide Rates and Hate Crimes will increase with the passing of KOSA.

Because this could easily be used to silence the voices of the already marginalized and anyone once some one in power decides they don't like what someone has to say. It will also likely be used to prevent people from accessing minority resources (if that makes sense)

Online resources helped me understand myselc and find the care and support and community I needed as a queer and trans person

I am a nonbinary teenager who is a writer and digital artist, and the Internet has allowed me to discover myself and form strong, lasting friendships. With the recent increase in anti-LGBTQ legislation in many states (including my own) and the looming threat of Project 2025, the Internet is the best space I have access to for existing comfortably as myself and interacting with other transgender and LGBTQ people. Without online resources, I probably wouldn't even know being nonbinary was a thing, let alone realized that I'm nonbinary. My journey of queer self-discovery would've been a much more difficult one without online resources and the support of my friends. Having access to LGBTQ online spaces makes me feel like I belong in a time of uncertainty. I highly value these spaces, and I'm determined to protect them from attempts to suppress or censor them.

Because it's not protecting anything it's a violation of our human rights. Also they're worried about our data? When Meta has been doing that for YEARS

I care for gay kids, KOSA doesn't (hee-hee!)

They need the privacy to find themselves

This bill does not protect children, it only suppresses information about LGBT & Abortion. It's not a safety bill, it's a censorship bill. If this bill is passed it's directly affecting our constitutional and human rights.

Because without them I wouldn’t have made it to 18

I care about stopping KOSA because it threatens the little place on the internet that I've carved out for myself as a LGBTQ+ person. We don't deserve to be silenced.

It is important to address the problem at hand, instead of promising vague protection for children.

Because KOSA endangers the very existence of free information exchange on the internet and threatens to destroy the ability for LGBTQ+ people to be able to find resources and community online.

Freedom of expression

I care about KOSA because I am a queer teenager myself and I think we deserve to not live our lives in fear of being who we are

The internet can be such a sanctuary for LGBTQ youth and offers an environment of knowledge, representation, community, and belonging. For kids who are not safe at home or not in an accepting town the internet can be such a reprieve and provide them with necessary resources to learn about themselves and accept themselves fully.

Because broad censorship won't protect anyone and it is a danger to our first amendment rights. Only dictatorships and fascist regimes have this level of censorship.

This bill will not help children, it is a blatant censorship bill that is designed solely to censor information about the lgbtq+ community, the writer of the bill Marsha Blackburn has said themselves that this bill was designed so they can censor trans people online, this bill has no place in our federal laws and it needs to either be rewritten or removed entirely from the table.

Because no one should have their voice silenced or their sanctuaries taken from them.

I do think kids should have protections online. But the way you're trying to do it is entirely counterproductive and will make everything worse. Get some actual experts, stop taking money from weirdos, and try harder.

Because if kosa is passed, my brother and I will lose all acess to any form of help shiuld our family find out we're queer.

Id be dead by now if i didnt have those resources

This law would set an awful precedent and it undermines the 1st Amendment. The internet, while dangerous in some respects, is an incredibly important tool for many different communities, especially disenfranchised ones. Better protections need to be put in place to keep people safe but this law is not the way to do it.

I care as someone who grew up with limited resources as an LGBTQ teenager. Censoring resources harms youth, and KOSA is morally irresponsible.

“Everyone agrees tech companies need to be held accountable, and Congress needs to do more to keep kids safe online. But that shouldn’t mean making some kids safer while putting others in harms’ way,” said Senator Ron Wyden (OR), in advance of the Senate vote on KOSA. “I appreciate the intent of KOSA, and support restrictions on harmful design elements, along with new privacy protections for teenagers. At the same time, I implore my colleagues in the House to listen to the LGBTQ+ teens and the folks on the call today. It is not too late to do more to ensure that KOSA can’t be misused by MAGA politicians who are waging a dangerous and retrograde culture war. It’s not too late to make commonsense changes that ensure KOSA can’t be used to scare platforms away from responsible use of privacy protecting technologies like encryption or anonymous accounts. I hope Congress can work together to pass legislation to make ALL kids safer online.” https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2024-07-30-kosa-is-advancing-in-the-senate-it-still-makes-kids-less-safe/

Look, we all know what this is going to end up being used for. It's not going to be used to protect children. It's just going to be used to isolate and destroy vulnerable communities. By voting for this, you're loading a gun that WILL be used against you--not may be used, but WILL be.

Censorship is often put under a guise of protection but always intended to harm

It's lifesaving to have ocmunity and information–preventative of shame, feelings broken, isolation, and yep! suicide. it's a public health necessity for this and other reasons: Information on queerness is essential to education and knowing about the world.

This is critical for maintaining a sense of not only community hit also hope. Isolation is the most lethal thing for queer youth.

Freedom of speech, freedom of information, and let these kids be kids. I don’t want government telling mine the “safe” way to be a kid. Get out of our personal lives. Leave trans kids alone. They’re ours, not yours.

Kosa will get rid of valuable resources for children that give them a chance to escape abusive setting, ex; a family that believed being LGBTQA+ is evil, or will get rid of the chance for LGBTQA+ youth to discover/figure out who they are in a safer environment (aka where they are excepted and protected) This will end up causing more youth suicides either through abuse, or feeling like something is wrong/missing with them. Kosa might also allow for abusive family’s to control their children even further, which even in a situation not related to LGBTQA+ hate can and will be detrimental.

I was a kid once. When I discovered I liked both boys and girls I sincerely thought there was something wrong with me. I felt I couldn't tell anyone about it, not even the people I trusted out of fear of being disowned or ostracized. But then, as a tween, I got access to the internet when my family got a home computer. It's there I discovered the word "bisexual", and that it was a pretty normal thing to be. And what made me feel even better is to know there were more people out there like me. Not necessarily bisexual themselves, but queer in some way or fashion nonetheless. My journey to that conclusion wasn't perfect (as is often the chaos of the internet) but things have change quite a bit since I was 13. There are better archives and organizations to make this information more readily available to kids today so they don't have to wander through their early years confused and scared of themselves, or consume tiny scraps of information over the years to come to their conclusions of this small aspect of themselves. I do not want kids to go through what I went through so I vehemently oppose KOSA and ask that you oppose it too.

The first amendment should apply to the internet as well. Who gets to decide whats right and wrong? This benefits no one and hurts everyone.

Because I still have to make horrible decisions online

Kosa, if allowed to come to fruition, would prevent kinds from accessing valuable resources that would allow them to escape dangerous/abusive environments.

I found the confidence and the resources to express myself confidently and truly through many opportunities that KOSA will outlaw. I fear for the youth of the future, queer or not because KOSA being signed into existance will absolutely ruin any chance of progress for the youth today and the youth of the future and activly discourages and criminalizes any chance at individuality in this day and age.

There are many solutions to make the internet safer for all people, children included. And KOSA is not one of those solutions. It was made with harm in mind; Marsha Blackburn wants trans people and youth to suffer, and this bill would give vile people like her the power to do so. They want censor and limit the access queer youth have to community and LGBTQ resources so they may suffer in silence; forced back into the closet like they desired for so long. And they won't be appeased with just censoring trans people. They'll push for more and more to censor. And eventually for things that have nothing to do with the LGBTQ. It's all a slippery slope. Not to mention the amount of privacy this will infringe upon. Who is being protected if tech companies are only given the right to have more of our identity and data to harvest. KOSA is nonsense, and so are all the bills like it. I did not have the access to the information we had today. I was lucky to know I wasn't alone or broken for who I am thanks to the LGBTQ community online. And these resources have only gotten better, and the community larger no longer having to always hide or be repressed. The next generation and future generations deserve what we have and more to come. KOSA was never to protect them, only harm, and will not sit and allow it to happen.

KOSA will effectively erase online safe spaces for the youth and take away our freedom of expression. It’s a bill for invasion of privacy and censorship that’s disgustingly falsely branded as a child protection act.

I am a transgender male myself, knowing that this may censor me and my other folks will do harm than good. DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN! THIS IS A DANGER TO MY/OTHERS' RIGHTS!

Censoring LGBTQ does not protect children! It limits our information on it, which can only make things harder for LGBTQ youth who have the need to be understood and have an understanding of themselves. If they can't turn to the safe haven of the internet, where are they supposed to go? A library, Where information is limited and censored depending on where they live? To parents, who may or may not be supportive or even know enough themselves? Taking away online resources for LGBTQ youth can result in even worse mental health, creating the exact thing they claim they seek to destroy. Not to mention, where can they share their struggles if the whole internet turns into a "don't say gay" zone? Not all friends, and family are supportive, so they keep it all bottled up, taking a toll on them until they just can't take it. KOSA is detrimental not only to mental health, but to sexual health as well! Where are queer children AND heterosexual children supposed to learn about safe sex if it's not there for them? The first amendment includes a right to free speech, the KOSA bill removes this, setting society back so, so far. America was built on freedom, do we really want to remove the foundation? Being alone and isolated is terrifying, it's confusing, it's hard, so even if you're not LGBTQ, would you really want to bring that onto someone else? Be logical.

Any forms of censorship to the voices against the youth, the future of humanity is reprehensible and morally wrong. Time and time again the older Generations prove they do not care enough about the younger Generations, so many protests are led by the youth which is absolutely ridiculous because the younger generation see what the older generation don't see because they have to live through it, Censoring their voices will not solve the issues that frankly the old generation caused. This is a bandage for a long running issue. Allowing the people's voice to be heard is a human right.

I learned about asexuality online growing up. Finding out that there were other people like me helped me realize that I wasn’t broken or alone because I don’t experience sexual attraction, which helped with my confidence and self-esteem. Even though the asexual spectrum’s visibility problem isn’t nearly as bad as it was when I was growing up, online resources are still important, especially in light of the banning or restriction of non-online resources in certain parts of the country. The same goes for many of the other communities under the LGBT umbrella. KOSA will not help keep kids safe. Please oppose it when it comes up for votes in the House.

because lgbtq+ youth deserve LIFE SAVING resources for them esp if theyre closeted

I'm a part of the lgbtq community and online resources were really important to me and I think everyone should have access to them

Because I lived through online censorship once with SESTA/FOSTA and it destroyed my online community. I refuse to let that happen to me and my friends again.

Online is the only safe space I have left. Real life is hostile. Books are being banned. Spaces to exist are being banned. Doctors are getting threatened to arrested if they treat me. My friends are suicidal because of the hate from politicians. This is the only space left. I read KOSA. I saw what Marsha Blackburn and the Heritage Foundation said about how they'll use it to censor us. The writing is on the wall. You want kids to stop being suicidal? Don't support KOSA.

Kosa does not seek to protect kids but rather monitor and censor online content that will affect not only youth access but full-grown adult access.

I believe that people shouldn't have to be censored for something they were born with

I care because as someone who discovered themself as well as made tons of friends like me online, I feel like it is unfair to take it away from less fortunate people. I believe it isn't the government's job to parent kids for their parents, if parents don't want their kids online then they can put on parental controls or something, but we shouldn't have to suffer just because some people don't know how to parent

This won't help anyone. It will stop children from finding their safe havens. Stop them from being able to learn more about the world and who they want to be in it. It's sickening how much people want control over others. Especially children. This law will hide abuse patterns and important things children should learn especially how to get help.

This law will do more harm than good.

If this law gets through, it will hurt a lot of kids in bad places.

The bill is too vague in its wording, and leads too much up to the interpretation of lawmakers, putting LGBTQ youth at risk.

If LGBTQ resources were banned when I was younger, I would never have found out who I was and I would be miserable because of it. I don't want that to happen to the children and teens after me.

I'm twenty something and trans, i was unlucky enough to be misinformed online about hrt when i was a teenager, if we pass this bill it will make the future somehow darker for trans children, at least in the internet's current state there is a more positive representation of trans people if you look for it, if the heritage foundation gets this bill passed, that wont be visible to anyone under 18. Please get loud about this bill if you care about trans youth.

I believe everyone has to have a safe space outside of their personal life. There should always be resources for those discovering themselves. There should be forums, blogs, news etc. Kids do not need censorship. Let's not make our lives like 1984!

youth deserve a level of descretion online, not only for their safety and comfort but for the safety if everyone. this sets an alarming precedent on who has rights in this country. it starts with lgbt youth and ends with anyone the state deems "different."

Queer youth are some of the most vulnerable in our society. They need every resource they can get, and the consequences when they don’t have those resources can be irreparable. Lawmakers should be focusing on providing resources, not taking them away.

because i would be severely depressed if i wasn't able to find myself out with the internet

I am LGBTQ+ myself. I never knew about anything even remotely close to my identity before I had access to the internet. I didn’t know there was a word for my own identity and existence as a human person on this planet. If I never had access to the internet, I never would have known an integral part to my identity existed. I also know that not everybody has discovered the possibilities of human existence. Whether it be gay, trans, ace, lesbian, or anything else under the sun, they may not have found out who they are yet. And they deserve that opportunity, to be able to put a label onto feelings they may not completely understand, or have words for. The Kids Online “Safety” Act threatens the very existence of trans and LGBTQ+ youth. We are here. We exist. Laws shouldn’t make us disappear.

Online resources save lives. Censorship and Surveillance is not democratic and will affect anyone willing to say anything. Left, Right, Good, or Bad- it will hurt us all.

It is incredibly important for those in the LGBTQ community to have access to online resources. It can provide them with a community they might not find elsewhere. KOSA will cause mass censorship and surveillance. Taking away resources would be detrimental to the mental health of many.

I wish for youth to be able to fully express themselves without fear of discrimination and for people of any gender and orientation to find love and companionship.

I don’t want the American internet to become like China’s. This bill is blatant censorship under the guise of protecting children.

Because there was a time when I was an LGBTQ youth and it was only because of the internet and the resources on there that I was able to find out that, yes, there were people like me who had no interest in anything more than a platonic relationship and that I was not alone in the world. I know LGBTQ youths who would not be ALIVE were it not for these resources, because they are isolated or far away from any physical ones that could help them, or trying to physically access them could put them in danger of their family.

These online resources are critical for providing community, education, and mental health support to LGBTQ youth. We have all the data, we know that LGBTQ youth are in danger of mental health issues, bullying, and homelessness if their peers and/or family aren’t accepting. We also know that KOSA could be used to remove any information off the internet if some government body deems it potentially “harmful” to kids, and we know that one of the co-authors of this bill said she wanted to use it to remove trans education and resources from the internet because she believes the internet is turning kids trans, which is 100% not true. Bad actors could use this bill to take these critical resources away from this very vulnerable population, and I don’t think that’s acceptable. Censorship isn’t okay, and that’s what this bill does.

i learn a lot of things about the US that the government wants to hide from me in school through the internet

I care because this is actually a mass censorship bill in a not so clever disguise. you all say you care about the lgbtq youth but you really dont, this will make things worse.

Censorship laws like KOSA have proven time and time again to first, be largely ineffective, and second, to handily create tools of discriminatory oppression against any whose very existence can be arbitrarily deemed "obscene." I've experienced this firsthand. I grew up closeted in a very conservative community, and I can confidently tell you that I would not be alive and well today had I not had access to online communities, resources, and art. If you truly seek protections for young internet users, take actions against the data brokers and marketing companies that are allowed to profit off so many's intimate and personal information.

Because I lived through online censorship once with SESTA/FOSTA and it destroyed my online community. I refuse to let that happen to me and my friends again.

It'll censor everything and I'll be scared if the government be watching every move. Parents supposed to be keeping eyes and monitoring their LGBTQ children either needing help for their mental issues or something they not supposed to see (like inappropriate stuff like pornography), not the government.

I’m writing to urge you to reject the Kids Online Safety Act, a misguided bill that would put vulnerable young people at risk. Even though there have been significant promising changes to the bill, KOSA still fails to address the root issues related to kid’s safety online. Unless the duty of care language is removed to stop government censorship of content, KOSA remains harmful. Instead, it would endanger some of the most vulnerable people in our society while undermining human rights and children’s privacy. The bill would result in widespread internet censorship by incentivizing platforms to suppress content about LGBTQ resources, reproductive healthcare, and other lifesaving content for marginalized communities. This power could be abused in a number of ways and be politicized to censor information and resources. KOSA would also likely lead to the greater surveillance of children online by requiring platforms to gather data to verify user identity. There is a way to protect kids and all people online from egregious data abuse and harmful content targeting: passing a strong Federal data privacy law that prevents tech companies from collecting so much sensitive data about all of us in the first place, and gives individuals the ability to sue companies that misuse their data. KOSA, although well-meaning, must not move forward. Please protect privacy and stop the spread of censorship online by opposing KOSA.

I didnt receive a proper sexual education through school and only learned about STI's properly and safe practices through online means. The wording of this bill could be used to hide that information.

I have spoken to and am friends with many LGBTQ adults and youth who are concerned with expressing themselves while staying closeted to potentially abusive parents and living situations. Many of them rely on resources found online to find community and opportunities to move out of their abusive living situations.

If I didn't have resources from online, my parents would have continued to use their fundamentalism to abuse me for years. I was psychologically, emotionally, and physically harmed (hit/beaten) and I didn't realize what they were doing to me was wrong until I read that it wasn't normal. I have extreme cPTSD from this abuse and I just want others to have the chance to find out that their parents abusing them for being gay/bi/lesbian/trans is not normal.

As a person I care about not having to sacrifice all of my personal privacy just so LGBTQ youth and adults and others can be heavily monitored and censored. This is a violation on so many levels and I refuse to vote for anyone who takes part in passing KOSA, and will point my finger to anyone who does so if this were to pass and tell everyone I know "You see them? That's the reason why the internet was destroyed. Don't vote for them."

This sets a dangerous precedence for internet safety for LGBTQ youth and will be actually damaging, and compromising safety of minors if we move forward with this bad internet bill.

KOSA can and will be abused to restrict more than LGBTQ+ resources for the youth. Online spaces are the one of the safe places for these children, where they can truly express themselves and feel accepted as they should be. There are better ways to protect children, starting from child marriages, improving background checks when it comes to jobs involving children, and introducing stricter minimum sentences towards child abusers. Restricting the youth's internet access, pushing the 1st Amendment to the extreme, and putting everyone at risk of identity theft is not the answer.

Because Queer rights are human rights

KOSA is, effectively, a bipartisan effort to Sinicize how the American government censors the Internet and silences dissent. It is an authoritarian power grab that marks the wet dreams of autocrats everywhere - a blatant Trojan Horse bill that wants to pave the way to Real ID online. It fetishizes the efforts of authoritarian regimes - such as those that police China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela and others - and seeks to implement their strategies in an American environment. Anything that's deemed "offensive to public morals" will be under attack if KOSA is implemented - including political dissent, material that opposes traditional Evangelical "family values" and of course, LGBT content. Any nation that's an American ally - including genocidal parties such as Israel - will become illegal to criticize, further stifling free speech and ensuring that the current oligarchical regime remains in power. In short, KOSA is unacceptable and wholly unpopular, and if you, my representatives, refuse to withdraw support for it, I will in turn withdraw support for you.

I care because mass internet censorship like this would blatantly violate the rights of not only Americans but people from countries across the world. KOSA is the result of conservatives trying to desperately grab control of everything they can and use it to oppress the lives of Americans. We must stop this from happening

LGBTQ youth often turn to social media to find and connect with others who have similar experiences to them, it allows them to find information that is important and possibly life saving to them. By taking these resources away, we pointlessly hurt an entire community and do not address and fix the real issues with social media and the companies that own them.

Because it would restrict access to LGBTQ+ youth to be able to access vital education and support sources they need especially within states that are hostile towards LGBTQ+ people.

Preserving online resources for LGBTQ youth would not only allow LGBTQ youth to be able to educate themselves on LGBTQ+ related identities and resources, but they would also be able to find resources, options, and opportunities that allow them to iffer safer options

I am lgbtq, and without online resources I would not be able to learn import information about health resources for trans people like myself.

I deeply care about KOSA and preserving online resources for LGBTQ youth is because on how much of a life saver many resources are towards queer youths who are dealing with any sort of crisis related to their gender and or sexual orientation.

I care because this bill will not keep kids safe and it will censor important information that could help anyone who is in need of a support group, access to resources to escape abusive situations, lifesaving information and many other important things that KOSA will take away from so many people who uses the internet.

I am LGBTQ and the internet has helped me figure out who I am and connect to people to help my mental health.

Kosa is a misguided censorship bill aimed at protecting youth when the actual effect will be banned and blocking all sites and information deemed adult content. This will prevent kids and teens in dangerous situations from being able to access information or possible santuary that would actually protect them. With sites and servers locked behind id this will also result in personal informstion being sold and spread by third parties in whatever way they see fit which is often for sales or other inappriopriate such uses.

Kosa will prevent me from accessing people that I care about and seek comfort in, it will also prevent me from accessing information on safe sex which can be incredibly dangerous.

Kosa is one hell of a bad bill, as it censors everything the people that are forwarding this bill don't like. People wonder why minorities are worried about this bill. This will make america into a dystopia, where only millionaires will thrive, while the rest of us will suffer. They also treat Trump as if he's the second (or third) coming of Christ, and you think that his supporters aren't in a cult.

Quite honestly, this may not be the right way of trying to make sure children are really safe. This could be weaponized against the minority population in a bad way.

I care about LGBTQ youth because access to safe spaces and supportive groups are life saving resources for young queer people especially such as myself

I care about LGBT youth because they deserve to happy, especially in a time as horrible as this. KOSA needs to be stopped NOW!!!

I care about KOSA and preserving online resources for LGBTQIA+ youth because I am part of that community myself. If KOSA were to pass, my friends and I would not be able to get the proper resources and help that we cannot get from our own parents.

I just want everyone to have the rights and safety we deserve.

It won’t help anyone,and it’ll make it harder for kids to find places that accept them.

This bill is censorship, plain and simple. If KOSA gets passed, it will do nothing but hurt LGBT people (kids especially). When will lawmakers stop trying to do crap like this!!!

With the pasing of the bill, it would be very likely that resources for LGBTQ youth would be restricted, as it would definitely be considered as sensitive and youth not mature enough to properly understand. Rather than helping, this bill will instead hurt children.

Because Queer kids can access life saving resources online

As an American I do not only care about preserving online resources for LGBTQ youth. I care about preserving the freedoms we have online, the ability to use the internet unrestricted as I please, without telling me, an adult man who can make informed decisions for himself, how I should use it. KOSA will not only be restricting LGBTQ resources, but other sources for information down the line. When those in power control the flow of information, they control what the populace know and are able to think. Restricting the freedoms of a particular group because one is so blinded by hate and ignorance isn't the way we need to govern the internet. LGBTQ resources available freely and hassle-free online save lives, just as the suicide hotline numbers do that are available on google.com.

I get that KOSA may be a good idea, but yet it is not the best course of action to actually protect kids from the worst part of the internet like cyber bullying and online hate.

Because censorship will only lead to oppression of society’s most vulnerable people.

I care about preserving online resources for LGBTQ youth since America is supposed to be a free country that is supportive , communicative and a bastion of learning. None of those things will be true if KOSA goes into effect. I am against this bills. That is the responsibility of parents to make sure their kids are using online resources within properly .

Because youth who need it can find help online

Kids and young adults should be able to have say in their future and those rights shouldn't be taken from them. If KOSA becomes law then it will take away opportunities and resources that future and present generations will need to help them in their journey especially when many youth are just trying to find who they really are (what makes them comfortable; what make them happy and what are their likes and goals; etc.). Growing up, many of these online resources helped me discovered myself and allow me to meet others (showing me that I wasn't allow and shouldn't feel ashamed of my likes or anything). The youth of today should be able to have say on what good for us and no one else should take our decision and choices away from us. We are the Future, so let us decide what we want!

While I didn't necessarily grow up in an unsafe environment, having an online community allowed me to have access not only to educational resources about being Queer, but also a space to figure out my queerness without the pressure of having to tell people who I know in real life without being ready. Especially those who were closest to me and it was particularly important for me to be sure that I would be ok when telling them when I was ready.

Our right to privacy keeps getting eroded more and more, especially on the internet - we deserve anonymity on the internet! Especially because this bill won’t even help children like it proclaims; I’m completely sick of this reactionary “think of the children” rhetoric being used as an excuse to increase surveillance on the rest of us.

This bill doesn’t even help kids!

Our queer youth need protecting, and this bill does the opposite. Sickening to see it get this far - I’m just praying it doesn’t get passed.

All queer people, especially those who are just figuring themselves out, need resources that can help them with their identities, with safe spaces to express themselves, where they can get help if they are in abusive situations and need to escape. It's also important to form connections with other people like us, where we can talk about our experiences and help each other.

if kosa ever passes LGBT resources will be censored WE SHOULD NOT LET THIS HAPPEN AND IM BEGGING U ALL TO CALL UR REPRESENTATIVES

I am queer myself, and I want queer youth to have the access to resources that can actually help them, which is something I didn't get til later in my youth

Because it will censor so many resources to LGBTQ youth

I fear it would make lgbtq lives worse.

I care because the communities, I am apart of are directly threatened by KOSA. The more resources we preserve including online libraries will lead to lower suicide rates.

I care about KOSA and preserving online resources for LGBTQ youth because by passing this law it’ll be harder for youths in the community to learn about themselves and organizations that could be a safe haven for them of anything ever goes wrong. It is also very restrictive if KOSA passes hiding information that isn’t hurting anyone.

They should be preserving online resources for LGBT youth not censoring so they can learn more about themselves and the world.

I care about kosa and what it would do censorship wise it would take away my rights as a trans youth as well as my rights to free speech as well as other people like me rights

the lgbtq deserve good lives.

The internet is the only safe haven from the injustices and cruelty of the world. If KOSA passes we'll officially have kicked off the start of a dystopian society. We cannot let that happen, our freedoms need to be protected, both online & real life. We need to hold big tech companies responsible for things they do, and we need to make sure they dont interfere in our government. In order to protect kids, KOSA must not pass!

KOSA is a bill that looks like it has good intentions on paper, but the more you look into it, the more you can see flaws that could be abused for harmful censorship. As such, there is too much room for government members who view themes within the LGBTQ community as harmful, to omit those themes. This takes away the right of freedom of speech but also takes away the youths ability to find support and information on such topics. Specifically, the internet has become the best place for people to find support and communities, where they have none at home. KOSA would mean taking that away, and leaving the youth in a potentially unsafe environment with no where to turn to. This kind of bill wont keep anyone safe, it will just make things worse.

KOSA would make the internet no longer safe. In these difficult and tryimg times it is important for teens and kids to learn ablut themselves and freely express their feelings. Social media allows for friends to converse with one another and form a support group. Friendship is vitally important and not having anyone to watch your back would make it harder to stay safe and KOSA could threaten that safety. The ambiguity and vagueness of the current KOSA policy is too vague and could open the door to even more harmful and possibly Orwellian horrors. It's being used not as a Safety act but is instead a Trohan Horse of censorship and unwanted surveillance. The House of Representatives NEEDS to reject this bill, for it threatens the very Freedom America is best known for, and is that what we really want? An America thats less free and more oppressed?

Because the freedom of the internet is one of the things that makes this country great!

I'd really like to have that option for both myself and others. everyone should have resources, queer kids especially.

As a queer person myself with many online queer friends in dangerous living situations laws like KOSA would actively endanger my friends and their ability to contact people that can help and support them.

I care because I want everybody to find resources for what they need and have the free will to do so. KOSA will stop any and all freedom and violate the first amendment. It will also mess up the economy even more because we will be restricted access to jobs and everything will possibly crash in the stock market, after the multiple times it has almost happened this year. We need to preserve our resources and try and fix the damage that has already been done while our politicians try to make it harder for us!

Kosa will prevent me from accessing the internet as I do today-- This bill will n ot help keep children safe, and only harm them.

Because I want LGBTQ+ youth to be free to express themselves and have joy without any form of judgement, bigotry or hate.

KOSA would fail to address the root issues related to kid’s safety online. Instead, it would endanger some of the most vulnerable people in our society while undermining human rights and children’s privacy. The bill would result in widespread internet censorship by pressuring platforms to use incredibly broad “content filters” and giving state Attorneys General the power to decide what content kids should and shouldn’t have access to online. This power could be abused in a number of ways and be politicized to censor information and resources. KOSA would also likely lead to the greater surveillance of children online by requiring platforms to gather data to verify user identity. There is a way to protect kids and all people online from egregious data abuse and harmful content targeting: passing a strong Federal data privacy law that prevents tech companies from collecting so much sensitive data about all of us in the first place, and gives individuals the ability to sue companies that misuse their data.

As a person of the LGBTQIA+ community, going on the internet and searching up information about the community, as well as queer identities, helped me to deconstruct my internalized queerphobia that had been instilled in me from a young age. It also lead me to realize that I was queer too! Without the internet, I wouldn't have discovered all of these integral parts of myself, and I wouldn't be as open-minded as I am today. Having these online resources for queer folk, and especially young queer folk, is extremely important and life saving in a lot of instances. Having KOSA in place would take away those vital resources, as well as strip our right to information and education.

Dear Congressional Progressive Caucus, KOSA does nothing to protect children. It is a bill funded and pushed by religious extremists to push their personal religious and moral beliefs onto the rest of the country. It puts a burden on American adults who consensually chose to consume adult content. It places the burden of OTHER PEOPLE'S children onto everyone else. The burden of ensuring the safety of children belongs to their PARENTS. This also threatens minority groups such as LGBTQIA+ people from being able to share valuable resources online. As a Nevada resident, I am watching who supports this bill and WILL actively campaign against any representatives who support this bill. This bill burdens and harms Nevada residents and is not what we want.

Queer rights are Human rights

These communities are where I found family, got information about my own health and how to remain healthy, and how I escaped from an domestic abuse situation. I want the same for kids today.

LGBTQ youth are in danger with the current atmosphere of anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ laws and KOSA prevents them from finding others who have experiences they can relate to. As a LGBTQ youth myself, if I hadn't seen content from queer creators, I would be in a much worse place mentally.

Because there are too many bad actors trying to limit information and set us back years of progress

As someone within the community myself, the internet is one of my main ways to communicate with other LGBTQ youth and one of the few that can be done safely for people like me. Please don't let this pass.

Because I am a part of the LGBTQ Youth myself and I know many of my friends and even people I look up to will be negatively Impacted by this bill.

Having online resources for LGBTQ+ youth allows them to explore their identities and come to the conclusions about themselves they need to on their own. Having the online spaces where the youth can be themselves is vital, as not everyone can count on at home. It will vastly improve their mental health to have at least a couple of people they know they can reach out to and receive support from, and those giving support can empathy with the youth's experiences. Our youth should always have a say in their own lives whenever it makes sense. After all, wasn't the US founded on free speech?

I’m writing to urge you to reject the Kids Online Safety Act, a misguided bill that would put vulnerable young people at risk. Even though there have been significant promising changes to the bill, KOSA still fails to address the root issues related to kid’s safety online. Unless the duty of care language is removed to stop government censorship of content, KOSA remains harmful. Instead, it would endanger some of the most vulnerable people in our society while undermining human rights and children’s privacy. The bill would result in widespread internet censorship by incentivizing platforms to suppress content about LGBTQ resources, reproductive healthcare, and other lifesaving content for marginalized communities. This power could be abused in a number of ways and be politicized to censor information and resources. KOSA would also likely lead to the greater surveillance of children online by requiring platforms to gather data to verify user identity. There is a way to protect kids and all people online from egregious data abuse and harmful content targeting: passing a strong Federal data privacy law that prevents tech companies from collecting so much sensitive data about all of us in the first place, and gives individuals the ability to sue companies that misuse their data. KOSA, although well-meaning, must not move forward. Please protect privacy and stop the spread of censorship online by opposing KOSA.

Online LGBTQ resources have helped me form my own identity and have helped me accept myself when I wasn't sure that anyone in my life would.

Because KOSA is unconstitutional. It is a weapon against minorities and minors alike. Whatever your thoughts are on queer resources, KOSA itself is reprehensible. It will not stop at 'protecting kids'. it will censor more and more until even basic information on harmless topics are stricken from the record.

As gay and trans youth in a red state, I know that the people who are supposed to look out for me will use the broad powers in KOSA to censor my voice. KOSA is a sledgehammer to internet freedoms and the 1st Amendment, and it will destroy the lives of me and many others like me — especially those without supportive parents.

There are kids who live in troubling households, they often seek advice online and most importantly they feel protected online. Also not to mention they look into where to get the best care and information If KOSA were to become law, they would be the biggest target and that is really scary especially when it’s already scary out in the world as it is Honestly Congress best interest would drop the bill and support a comprehensive data privacy legislation that will protect ALL children It alarming that the people behind Project 2025 support this bill for the censoring important information along with resources and that’s a red flag

Because depriving young people of information about their bodies and about their experiences doesn't keep them safe, it just keeps them ignorant. Education and awareness is the first step to understanding yourself and others.

Taking away anonimity from the internet would severely endanger people in abuse cases

I dont want to have to be afraid.

Because it’s against are freedoms it is controlled speech I support free speech for all and this heavily affects freedom of religion especially Christain faith

Because it’s apart of free speech

Things are bad enough already, don't make it worse.

first amendment should apply to the internet, this only serves to vilify lgbtq youth and adults

If KOSA passes, so many young adults will have to live in constant fear. Suicide rates will skyrocket and many people will leave America over it

Let's be honest, lots of people are going to die if this bill gets passed, not right away mind you, but soon.

Not only will it prevent lgbtq youth from accessing important information regarding their health, community, and history, it will also negatively affect businesses that rely on the internet.

Growing up with the internet as a kid helped me make friends and understand myself in ways I wouldn’t otherwise due to poor education. This bill is going to leave LGBTQ+ kids without any kind of safety or support.

Kids need access to knowledge and resources, not rampant censorship and suppression. KOSA would inevitably harm LGBTQ+ youth and other marginalized folks by blocking access to valuable information and potentially outing people to their abusive parents or housemates.

It is a mass censorship bill that will forever distort and disrupt the free flow of content and information

I care about children not killing themselves.

I care about history and knowledge, removing any kind of resources will cause more harm then good

I care bc if KOSA gets passed, its just going to make everything worse for everyone, its not protecting kids from shit. They shouldnt have the internet babysit children and parents should keep track of where their children are online.

Because KOSA is censoring the Internet which is Bad and we need to protect LGBTAQ+

I care about Kosa because my freedom is on the line. It will only bring on more harm then good

I don't want important recourses for LGBTQ youth to be censored.

KOSA is only going to silence minority voices that already struggle with being heard. This is extreme censorship that violates the First Amendment and is going to ruin the internet as we know it. Kids and adults alike will have a hard time getting the resources they need in order to get help, whether it's due to sexual health, their identity, addiction, or anything else this bill considers "pornographic" or "inappropriate". There are much better ways to help kids online - ways that don't censor LGBTQ+ and other minority voices.

Because I was once an LGBTQ child, and I don’t want others like me to be in danger.

I oppose KOSA because it will not only restrict everyone’s freedoms online but will also put kids in abusive or non supportive living conditions in even more danger, as restricting access to information will make them more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

KOSA will disproportionately impact LGBTQ content. In a time where many LGBTQ youth feel isolated and targeted by lawmakers, they rely upon resources found via the Internet as their lifelines. Limiting access to these resources increases risk of suicide and feelings of loneliness among LGBTQ youth, who are already more likely to commit suicide and report feelings of loneliness and isolation than their non-LGBTQ peers.

This is a dangerous bill that will harm children. Many news organizations have reported that this bill actively harms kids by exposing their private data to strangers under the guise of protecting them. We need to hold Big Tech accountable, but KOSA is not the solution. The bill let any state attorney general and the FTC to sue any website for “harmful” content. Do we really want blue state lawyers deciding what can and can’t be allowed online? Big Tech is already censoring us. That’s why they support KOSA. This is massive government overreach. We need a bill that actually protects children by creating better security measures instead of bringing about more censorship. Multiple experts agree this bill pushes age verification, even with the new language. KOSA hands more private data of children to third party companies, which would put them in further danger. How is this protecting children’s privacy? What parent would want their child’s private data in the hands of strangers like this? KOSA is actively putting kids in danger.

This bill will do more harm than good. I myself am part of the LGBTQ+ community and having a space to go to and resources when I was teen saved my life. I would not be here today without the ability to find a safe space for myself and being able to access resources online. The passing of KOSA would cause the suicide rate of youth within the LGBTQ+ community to increase drastically as they would feel much more isolated and alone. Does the lives of LGBTQ+ kids not matter to those pushing for this bill to be passed? KOSA claims to want to help the mental health of our youth but it would only do the complete opposite. Not only that but KOSA would also affect children that are stuck within an abusive home environment since they will not be able to escape a dangerous environment without the proper resources and available information. Kids will be more vulnerable to abuse since they will not be able to access information and learn the fact that they are in a dangerous environment in the first place. All of us should be free to learn what is going on in our world without clearly dangerous censorship. Even the Heritage Foundation, the founders of Project 2025, said that KOSA would be useful to them in censoring important information such as information about abortions. KOSA is very dangerous, not only would the youth be affected but adults would also be affected as well by the censorship this bill would bring. Why should the government be the ones to step up and parent our children for us? this is unacceptable. KOSA would not only cause harm to our community but would cause harm to EVERY community because the censorship this bill will cause will definitely be abused and weaponized. Everything about this goes against The First Amendment. I also would like to add that the submission of a government ID to enter sites would just be a paradise for hackers to access our information much easier, ID theft would become much more rampant.

I wanna have freedom of a save and open internet where kids can be safe and be open about who they really are without the government censoring or getting rid of it

Because it will make queer youth want to push up daises even more if they arent seeing its perfectly okay to be queer. They say they want suicide rates to go down for minors but blocking queer information is not the way! They dont even often care that said minors may have also been queer, they just want to erase all info and thats bad bc it will just happen even MORE. Peoples support system is often online. This doesnt just affect minors, it effects everyone, after all whos to say certain Christian stuff wouldnt also get blocked?

Everyone deserves freedom and KOSA is a terrible bill!

I believe preventing teens and younger audiences to learn about topics like the LGBTQ+ and reproductive health information is incredibly harmful. This bill would do more harm than good, and would only “favor” those of MAGA administration.

The KOSA will unfairly censor content related to LGBTQ and other important topics. These will prevent kids from getting the help they need or getting information related to such topics

KOSA will only make matters worse for already struggling people, especially younger ones. The internet has become a huge learning tool, a safe haven, a place to get help, and more for those who use and need it. KOSA being passed will cause a tremendously higher amount of damage and harm than what “good” could ever come from KOSA. The said “positives” of KOSA are completely overruled by the dangers.

When one controls the flow of information they aim to control the mind. It doesn't matter if you're LGBTQ or not this is dangerous!

This bill does have some good intentions, however the people who have wrote this bill (alongside with other kosa-adjacent bills) are only doing this, in order to censor any, and all minorities from even having access to the internet, which is a huge disruption to the first amendment, the right to free speech. Again, this bill does have good intentions, but with the way it's currently written, and who the writers truly are, it's safe to say that they'll only use this bill to remove the rights for everyone, instead of projecting kids. This has been debunked multiple times, and no one ever listened. I completely understand how distraught some parents must've feel when they lost their whole world, I really do. However, a bill like this will only further the suicide rate in children, and other minority groups. Please do not support this bill, as it'll only make the internet worse. Please, if you don't trust your kid on the internet, do not let them have access to the internet, until you think they're ready to. I hope that this message isn't blaming any parents by the way. I'm just saying that people are blindly supporting this bill, when it's actually connected to Project 2025. Safe to say that this bill won't be able to save anyone. Please learn more about the consequences of these bills before you support it, or who you vote for in November. Do NOT support KOSA! DO NOT PASS KOSA!

I'm a gay man whose boyfriend grew up in an area where LGBTQ people don't have easy access to support. The internet is the only reason he was able to survive and thrive, and I'm scared that a bill like KOSA would take away lifesaving resources for kids like that in the future.

if this passes, its not just lgbt+ kids that will be hurt because of kosa and its sponsors; EVERYONE will be screwed over by it. also crap like this is censorship, plain and simple.

For a lot of reasons, but a personal one being I don't want my upcoming queer ebook series to be inaccessible or downright taken down just because even well-meaning straight people still think queerness = paedophilia (which it doesn't).

kosa won't help kids it will hurt them

I care about stopping KOSA and preserving online LGBTQ+ resources because these sites meant to educate and provide a sense of community are life saving to those children in areas where they cannot get that kind of information on their identities or the necessary healthcare for their queer needs, as well as find people with similar experiences they can relate to and get advice from. If KOSA passes and made into law, I foresee hundreds, if not thousands, of queer youths feeling all the more isolated and confused about who they are. The mental health impact of this unconstitutional bill alone is enough to want to vehemently oppose it.

The precedent this law would set is too great a risk to the stability of our democracy to be allowed to pass. This law has failed multiple times for a reason. The law is ill-defined, and would introduce a way to censor LGBT content online, and introduce new avenues of surveillance. KOSA is a step in the wrong direction.

We cannot censor and control people’s freedom of speech.

Sometimes the internet is the only way to find community or to learn the language to explain your experience

I don’t want resources to be censored

Restricts my freedoms, and while I have no allegiance with the LGBTQ+ community, this bill can't stand. It doesn't just hurt gays, or lesbians, but all young Americans.

I firmly believe in free speech and free access to information.

I’m queer and I’d rather not be censored by old white guys in suits that want me to read the Bible.

The internet is a resource that helped me discover my identity from a young age. If I had never found the label for not wanting romance or sex— aroace, I would've probably felt the need to get married. Been ashamed of myself growing older, not wanting romance or sex at all. Having access to a wealth of information such as the internet, able to provide you with those terms and communities and show you stories of people who are just like you, it makes you feel seen. It's comforting. And I feel that's just incredibly important. I don't want the youth of today to lose what we've always had at our fingertips.

The resources available online saved my life as a child

I care because everyone deserves the freedom to access information online and to be able to voice their opinions on matters that are deemed important. I am against any form of censorship no matter the reasoning behind. I find KOSA to be unconstitutional because it goes against the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Please vote no on KOSA. KOSA is attempt to control online expression and communication by vulnerable communities and can be easily be manipulated to target minority groups and vulnerable people by limiting their access to information deemed “unacceptable content” if this bill is passed. The motivations of co-sponsors of the bill, such as Senator Marsha Blackburn, explicitly state her motivations behind the bill are to censor “the transgender agenda pushed upon our children” which is a patently false pretense to silence queer voices and LGBTQIA+ people online, taking away means for them to communicate freely and openly online without fear of being targeted for simply existing in online spaces. When anti-trans laws and attacks on trans people in public spaces are becoming all too common around the country, censoring the internet in the name of protecting children is merely a pretense to target vulnerable communities such as LGBTQIA+ citizens and minority groups. KOSA is also vulnerable to being utilized to control information online for citizens that use online resources to find and seek information on their right to vote, reproductive access, and general information. KOSA can also have the potential to significantly impact how the internet operates not just in the United States, but can affect the internet beyond our borders and affect other networks across countries and continents. This bill has potential to have far reaching implications that can affect how the free and open internet operates for everyday people around the world, and not for the better. KOSA has the potential to limit access to online content, online resources, and social media as drastically as the digital firewall that China utilizes on their own Internet and how they implement it on their own citizens. KOSA does not protect children, and frankly makes them more vulnerable to bad actors online and organizations that target children. There are better ways to protect children online, and better ways to protect people online, by promoting bills that aim to protect digital privacy for online users to keep them from being target by bad actors, manipulative targeted advertising practices, and from foreign governments attempting information manipulation. Please vote no on KOSA, it’s a bad internet bill and will not protect children, not protect vulnerable communities, and does nothing to protect online privacy for internet users.

Dear Congressional Progressive Caucus, We’re writing to you as young people whose existence is increasingly criminalized, asking you to stand up for us when no one else will. We live every day in the crosshairs of MAGA, where we depend on our community, including our lawmakers, to defend our rights and our humanity. You’ve fought against book bans and gender-affirming care bans and so much hate, but so far almost all of you have been silent on KOSA. Our community has shown up in the hundreds of thousands to be loud about the threat KOSA poses to us, will you join them? KOSA (S. 3663/H.R.7891, the “Kids Online Safety Act”) puts our privacy, safety, and well-being at risk. And it does so by pretending to protect us. This is wrong. Unless you can get it fixed, please defend our right to lifesaving information and community by opposing KOSA so it won’t cause more trans kids to literally die. Everyone should believe Senator Blackburn when she says that she likes KOSA because it will isolate trans kids. KOSA is “don’t say gay” for the whole Internet, because it forces social media to filter away anything that the MAGA-minded say is “unsafe” for us. The last thing we need is to feel more alone. We get it that Big Tech broke the Internet with the way it spies on us all and tries to get us addicted to social media. Online hate, bullying, and abuse are terrible. But for many of us, the Internet is all we have. KOSA won’t stop the spying, or the addictive design, or the bullying and abuse. All KOSA will do is censor the good parts that we need to grow up, like information and resources about world events, reproductive health, and LGBTQ+ communities. Things that are increasingly banned at school or in the library. LGBTQ+ youth feel like the Democratic party has abandoned us. We’re growing up with less privacy and less hope than any other American generation. It is so frustrating to watch Big Tech shred our human rights into billionaire profits, and the only law the Senate will pass is one that Big Tech actually endorses. Our lives are not collateral damage in some election PR campaign law to pretend you’ve actually done something. Please, please: join your colleagues like Rep. Frost and AOC and speak out against KOSA. Stand up for us even if other lawmakers won’t. We are begging you. The Congressional Progressive Caucus has the power to show the world we can actually take on Big Tech without throwing us, the most vulnerable young people on the Internet, under the bus. Signed, Terri

It's raised me. I have so many friends on here and it's the only place I've been able to properly connect.

Because growing up in Texas access to any type of resource for LGBT is extremely limited for anyone who is young. I didn't get access to any kind of LGBT resources until I was nearly 20 . I struggled with so much depression and self loathing because I had these feelings and everyone every where here around me was so heteronormative and it made ME feel wrong and broken because I didn't want to be with boys/men. No one should go through those kinds of confusing feelings ALONE and without access to safe inclusive spaces and most of those are to be found Safely online because even Parents and homes may not be safe for someone to be open about themselves but that doesn't mean they should be isolated and without a supportive community.

The internet is one of the very few safe spaces left for lgbtqia youth to discover themselves and be openly who they are without as much judgement, fear, or consequence as the real world. But also should this bill pass, this would give abusive and non accepting parents the ability to track everything their children say or do online leading them to be in even more danger. It could also put their private information (where they live or what school they go to) in the hands of predators or those that would do them harm. This bill would simultaneously expose lgbtqia youth to more danger and take away one of the few safe spaces they have left in this world and the ability to access accurate information about the lgbtqia experience, mental health resources, and the online lgbtqia community in general

I'm lgbtq and a minor. My parents don't support me. If online resources are taken away I don't know what I'll do.

Taking away and censoring valuable information from kids and teens will cause them to commit suicide more often. Making a kid think they aren't normal or they will never fit in is devastating to a growing mind. Denying yourself to be your true self will only end in turmoil.

I believe unnecessary censorship will be harmful in the long run

The rewritten bill would still allow any state attorney general, and now the FTC, to sue any website for “harmful” content. When you have Republicans calling anything LGBT “sexual exploitation” or anything about race “CRT” to successfully ban books and teachers, then they will use any justification to censor the internet. The Missouri attorney general used “mental health” successfully to ban gender-affirming care with backed up research. Suicide rates will skyrocket for marginalized youth with this bill restricting content. The bill let any state attorney general and the FTC to sue any website for “harmful” content. Do we really want blue state lawyers deciding what can and can’t be allowed online? Big Tech is already censoring us. That’s why they support KOSA. This is massive government overreach. We need a bill that actually protects children by creating better security measures instead of bringing about more censorship.

Kosa will only serve to restrict internet freedoms and won't actually make kids any safer.

The reason why I don’t KOSA to pass the house is because this will lead to online censorship for LGBTQ community and will silence them for speaking up for others.

KOSA blocks necessary access to safe havens for LGTBQ youth, which can be especially useful if they live in an abusive home. Not only that, but it can cut off necessary learning opportunities and resources, as well as pose a danger to an American citizen’s security as it would be easier to access and leak their ID and information.

I am queer and I know others in real life and online who are queer and this will affect us all very badly.

Because lawmakers can decide what is unfit to be shown on the Internet, which can lead to a mass censorship of content that isn’t that bad, especially for LBGTQ youth. This is taking away kids access to important information. This is also taking away freedom of speech for a lot of individuals.

They deserve to have a form of expression, a place to gain a better understanding of themselves and feel unjudged, and do not need to feel as if there is something wrong with them for being park of the lgbt

We shouldn't have to limit our freedom

I don't want my access to the Internet arbitrarily restricted by the government. LGBTQ+ are already stigmatized in school and in public areas; the Internet is the only way I can connect with others about LGBTQ+ issues. I don't know what will happen to LGBTQ+ communities if KOSA becomes law, and that terrifies me.

Queer rights and resources have been attacked by the government and this bill furthers their marginalization by censoring lgbtq+’s online communities

I care about KOSA because it would allow resources to be censored and harder for LGBTQ youth to find safe spaces. For many people, including me and my friends, the internet is the only safe place where we can be open about our experiences. It would make it harder for LGBTQ kids and people in abusive households to find support.

Every child deserves to be seen and heard despite their identity. Kosa goes against that.

i'm trans, had i not had access to queer communities online i wouldn't have realized it, and potentially taken my own life because of the dysphoria and the depression caused by it without even knowing why i felt that way

I wholeheartedly implore you to reject and publicly oppose the to this bill as is represent a significant threat to online privacy, freedom of expression, and the well-being of vulnerable communities, without effectively addressing the issue of child protection. These bills, touted as measures to safeguard children, are deeply flawed and fail to provide meaningful solutions. Instead, they introduce provisions that pose serious risks to the privacy and security of not only children but also adults. By holding providers of encrypted communications legally liable, these bills create a dangerous precedent that undermines the fundamental right to online privacy. This places everyone, including children, at greater risk of exposure to malicious actors and cyber threats. Moreover, the detrimental impact of these bills extends far beyond privacy concerns. They also seek to undermine the crucial legal protections provided by Section 230, which have played a pivotal role in fostering online innovation and free expression. The bill goes even further by establishing a politically appointed commission that would dictate online practices through the imposition of “best practices.” This unelected commission’s power to require websites to scan private messages and photos, as long as they relate to “child sexual abuse,” opens the door to excessive censorship and potential abuse of power for everyone.

This law is an infringement on ALL of our privacy and should not be allowed to pass.

The resources available on the Internet for not just the LGBTQ youth but everyone allow a greater level of autonomy that would not possible if KOSA is signed into action

KOSA literally violates the First Amendment freedoms. If this is passed, then that means the Constitution and Bill of Rights are basically void, because Congress is ignoring them. That's a problem. Teens will not have ways to learn about what’s happening in the world. Marginalized groups will not have the internet spaces that they do. Mental and sexual health will be censored. Activism will be censored. Everything important that we care about is going to be censored. They made this law on purpose to keep us, especially the youth, uninformed and unrepresented. Congress is slowly but surely taking away all our rights. If we keep allowing them to take more we won't have any at all. The U.S has been going down a dark path and if we let things continue as they are, we will become an example in history about what not to be. Make your choice wisely, everyone has their eyes on you.

I want to make sure LGBTQ+ youth have to resources and community to be themselves and know that they’re not alone and to be able to live being 100% their authentic selves.

I think it's important that kids have access to resources that they will be safe. If lawmakers really cared about online privacy and keeping children safe, the first step should be to ban bots that link to discords that expose them to child porn, but KOSA is about discrimination against the LGBT.

I care because preserving online resources allows LGBTQ youth to understand and learn more about themselves, whilst simultaneously finding community. KOSA not only encourages unhealthy standards for LGBTQ youth, but it also limits educational information and crucial opportunities for each individual.

Im part of the LGBTQ community

It was already hard enough to find LGBTQ resources when I was younger. I'd hate for it to be impossible for others.

I care about protecting ALL youth and our first amendment right. KOSA as a bill will lead to unchecked censorship and surveillance. Additionally, it would stop innocent citizens from accessing resources. While the intention is positive, the bill is poorly written and will cause more harm than good.

Queer resources online are sometimes the only safe resources queer people have access to. Also, the law as written is way too vague and open ended and broad. There are ways to regulate things, and this is not right.

This bill is going to legally allow state attorneys to shut down websites they deem harmful. This is blatant government overreach and will disproportionately affect our most vulnerable citizens. LGBTQ youth will be denied access to sites and organizations created to save their lives.

It's censorship and homophobia.

Politicians should not be the ones who decide what can and cannot be seen on the internet. They should not be the ones who decide what is “harmful” and what is not. If KOSA passes, it leaves the door open for anyone with an agenda abuse the policy and censor whatever they deem a problem. This can and will include LGBTQ+ resources, which are already fighting an uphill battle to be seen. KOSA as a whole is an attack on free speech, and I strongly urge the Progressive Caucus to vote against this bill.

The first amendment to the US constitution is the protection of free speech.

Because I am queer myself and believe this would cause more harm than good to queer/lgbtq+ youth

My child is transgender and almost took his life, due to transphobic bullies at his school. If it weren't for online charities and helplines. He wouldn't be here today.

Because KOSA will take every single thing that saved me and made my life way more bearable, everything in my life right now is the reason I live still today

Access to the internet has truly and genuinely saved my life. I refuse to sit by and watch this country choose to censor instead of truly protect its youth.

As a young teenager, I felt very isolated from my peers. I had extreme social anxiety that prevented me not only from making and keeping friends, but also from seeking help and asking questions. The Internet was my saving grace at this time, especially when the COVID lockdowns struck in 2020; I felt I could really connect with people and build and join communities. And with those communities came knowledge. Through learning about new perspectives, I learned more about myself and the world than I ever thought possible. Now, at 18 years old, I’m beyond grateful for those communities, and I’m terrified at the prospect of them being destroyed. Not only for me, but for all the other young people who don’t have a support network offline and can’t thrive — or even bring themselves to survive — without their own online communities. Please stop KOSA from taking them away.

I, and the majority of my friends, are LGBTQ+ and face constant pressure from the outside world to change them. We have seen firsthand the impacts of censorship, media bias, and lack of access to information, on our ability to understand and educate ourselves and others about the nature of our identities and find others with similar experiences. Bills like KOSA will not keep kids safe. They will restrict access to information, lead to widespread censorship and bias, and will only put more pressure on youth just trying to understand themselves, and the world around them. Packaging a censorship bill with "protect the kids" wrapping doesn't change the fact that it remains a censorship bill. Protect kids, no matter their identity, by fighting like hell against KOSA.

i have until recently been an LGBTQ+ youth, and i am still very young. i need to express how incredibly important it was and is for there to be online resources not just for me but for every other LGBTQ+ kid out there. i learned about myself almost entirely online and if they didn’t exist i’m not entirely sure i would still be alive. vote No to KOSA.

Censorship of identity is not only a threat to human expression but a threat against human nature as well. This bill does not prevent child endangerment on the internet. It only furthers threats like suicide of minors and closeted scared people. We are human beings. Not puppets to control. Please do not sign this bill! IT IS AGAINST HUMAN NATURE TO CENSOR US.

To be queer is not inherently predatory. People of all ages deserve spaces to explore themselves on digital platforms without being criminalized

Because my fellow queers deserve equal access to information about themselves, their histories, and their communities. And because everyone deserves privacy online, something that even the revised version of KOSA will not deliver.

Because I was a gay kid. I was a trans kid. I know exactly how terrifying it is to live in a world where you understand nothing and know only that you're different. Kids need access to resources both online and offline to learn about themselves and others and to feel safe in their own skin.

Censorship is bad

KOSA would negatively impact both me and and my community in so many ways, and in all, degrade the safety of everyone online. Requiring age verification for anything considered harmful to children could be abused to an extreme degree, allowing states to effectively block a ton of people from legitimate online resources. This will absolutely be used to hurt queer people, along with anyone else major parts of the government have issue with (people seeking abortions, activists, etc.). Of course, this is on top of the fact that the actual implementation of ID checks would greatly hurt privacy and security by requiring you to give up your ID to a verification company. Not only will they have your data, but when they inevitably get hacked, your ID will just be out there for anyone to take. Stop KOSA.

I care about KOSA because it is one of those bills that can very quickly harm those it intends to protect. I do not know if our legislators truly understand the impact that KOSA would have. It will affect how easily accesible resources are for everyone, but it will be harder for youth who do not live in homes as accepting as mine. In a world where the internet can be one of the few places where some can find information, validation, solace, and community, we should not be working to limit access to that. KOSA is not what we, the youth, your children, your students, your community members need.

It's lifesaving

KOSA would severely limit resources for LGBTQ+ kids, which to my knowledge would result in higher rates of suicide and mental health issues. LGBTQ+ kids should be able to access resources to help them.

I believe in internet freedom for everyone. Kosa can't trick us. We know they're trying to censor lgbtq content bc they hate us.

growing up as an lgbtq+ youth in the nineties, going from not having these online spaces and accessible resources, to then having the internet, I can say with confidence that I would not wish the former on anyone. having access to internet spaces that allowed me to interact with other people experiencing similar things to me, hearing stories about how I don't have to hate my self and or be terrified of hell, literally saved my life. children do need to be protected on the internet, but this is not the way to go about it.

Less access to resources creates a less safe world for queer and straight youth alike. It doesn’t stop problems - it just brushes them under the rug, where it’s harder to get help.

I care because we deserve access to information on a variety of subjects from trans rights info to pro-Palestine content.

Because everyone should have a safe anonymous place on the internet to access information !

I can still remember a time when there Were spaces provided for children online to play games safely. The Internet doesn’t just exist so a small percentage can control it. I grew up in the age of growing online communities, and I was safe as a child. Children Don’t need this bill Children need safe online spaces like animal jam Garfield.com to play silly little games where they can make insanely beefy superhero versions of Garfield, to print out and stick on their wall. The invention of the Internet was created by a queer man with technology He Invented for the government to use to beat the Nazis in World War II. Passing the bill would be a disservice to his legacy

Because everyone deserves the right to freedom of information, and right to express themselves as who they really are. Everyone should be able to access online material without having to submit a government ID. In a democracy, freedom of information to ALL is paramount. People, especially youth when growing up want to learn. It is the parents job to protect the child, not the government. We need better parents, not censorship. Every child develops differently. Blanket legislation wont help. LGBTQ+ individuals should be able to live freely as they want without fear of censorship.

Because they need help. Taking it away does not look good to the rest of the world.

I care about KOSA and preserving online resources for LGBTQ youth because I am a member of the LGBTQ community. Thanks to the resources I found online (that would be blocked if KOSA is law), I was able to safely come out to the people around me and get help dealing with the homophobics and transphobics in my life. This law will do more harm than good; if KOSA is passed, a lot of people will get hurt or even die. I oppose KOSA and all other laws like it.

I am a proud member of the community, even if I wasn't it is simply more legislation on a matter which for all intents and purposes should be left as a private matter without government meddling

KOSA will destroy online safe spaces for LGBTQ youth. We only have so many places to go, and online is one of them. Taking this away will negatively affect queer youth across the country.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus has the power to show the world we can actually take on Big Tech without throwing us, the most vulnerable young people on the Internet, under the bus. Transgender people, people who identify as a sexual minority, BIPOC kids, all these people will suffer with the passing of KOSA. Please do not let this happen.

As someone who grew up in the 2000s and 2010s as a queer person, I can personally tell you it's incredibly invaluable for the youth to be able to know they're not alone and to be able to seek help if they're in dangerous situations.