More than 100 individual donations and thousands of dollars are funding the installation of a billboard in Billings to reach LGBTQ+ people with a message of acceptance.
Emily and Matt Hankins on Friday posted a GoFundMe to install a billboard on the corner of 24th street and Grand Avenue. By Tuesday, they had collected enough donations to match the amount and keep the billboard up for ten months.
“Just to know that there are people out there who support our community and support the LGBTQ community is so wonderful,” said Emily Hankins.
Artist and activist Rae Senarighi donated the art for the billboard, which once up will feature a rainbow flag background and the words 'You Are Loved' nestled in a cluster of flowers.
Data in the American Journal of Psychiatry show LGBTQ people are at least twice at risk of suicide as heterosexual people.
One person who donated toward the billboard is private practice counselor Erin Tate, who works with LGBTQ youth across the state. She says she’s seen increased struggles with mental health.
“I think this billboard project is such an amazing step in reminding people that they do matter, and that we do want people here. We want you alive. We want you present,” said Tate.
Emily and Matt Hankins say the idea for a billboard was inspired by the owners of the Montana Book Company, who put up a similar billboard in Helena by the same artist in 2021. The owners say they’ve received hundreds of positive comments since, including from LGBTQ youth.
The Hankins say the billboard will be installed by the end of the month.
