At long last, Merriam-Webster has added they and them, as singular nonbinary pronouns, specifically, to the dictionary.

Those of us who are nonbinary, who use these pronouns, or both, didn't need a dictionary to validate our identities, or the pronouns we use.  Anyone and everyone's identities and pronouns are valid, whether the dictionary or other cultural institutions acknowledge them or not.

Over the years, we’ve had many Scarleteen fans -- especially older siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins, camp counselors, babysitters or other folks who’ve loved Scarleteen for themselves and wanted to pass its goodness on to the younger people in their lives -- ask if they should refer preteens to our site.

From Heather Corinna, founder and director of Scarleteen.com, and Isabella Rotman, cartoonist, sex educator and Scarleteen artist-in-residence, comes a new graphic novel guide -- and activity book! -- that covers essential topics for preteens and young teens about their changing bodies and feelings. Find out all about it, and sneak preview one of our fave sections, here!

Happy, happy, happy Pride, everyone! We're talking (and listening to) some good trouble right now. And if you're going to make some, you're going to need some anthems. Sam, Alice M., Izzy, Jacob and I crafted you a mix this time that's full of good trouble and we hope will power you up in all the best ways.

We got our collective, grabby little hands on a copy of Mady G. and J.R. Zuckerberg's A Quick and Easy Guide to Queer and Trans Identities a couple weeks ago and we're in luuuuurrrve.

Are you now or have you ever been floating and gooey or jangly and excited or blissed out or feeling downright tortured or just plain imploding from the giant wave of what even are all these freakishly distracting feelings? There's a song here for that: even if you haven't ever had a crush before you just might wind up feeling like you have one now.

Big day? Fighting with insecurity? Got a hot date? ARE the hot date? Starting a new project, school or job? Going to do something where everyone's watching? Coming out? Just got tested or asked for what you really, really wanted in bed for the first time?

Whether your friends are your boyfriend, your dog, your best friend from almost the minute you were born, your third cousin, your booty call, your Dad, your guitar teacher, your downstairs neighbor, your brother, your girlfriend, your iguana, your teammates, your band, your Mom, your gaming group, your sister, your cat, your uncle, your cool new friend from work, your lover, your secret crush, your guardian, your gerbil, your stepmom, the kid you mentor, your choir director, your sponsor, your lab partner, your co-author, that cool person you always talk to the whole way home on the bus, your training buddy, the lunch lady, your locker next-door neighbor, or anyone else, this one's for them.  And for you, friend.

Real-deal consent requires clear, open and honest communication. And if we're going ahead and actually being sexual together in some way,  that also means an ongoing, nuanced and pretty highly situational process of communication, not just one or two super-quick, super-basic exchanges.

Not only is communication as a process essential to keeping it consensual, it's a big part of sex actually being any good for everyone involved.

Scarleteen turns 20 years old today. Twenty.

For two decades, we’ve delivered our unique and innovative brand of sex education, despite many financial, legal, political and practical barriers and battles. That kind of tenure for anything on the internet is unheard of, let alone for a grassroots, feminist sexual health, sex and healthy relationships initiative and alternative education project for young people, and one that was (and still is) queer, working class and woman-led.

Centering and serving young people, sexuality and relationships like we do, with inspired quality, care and vision, and doing so independently — and for free — for so long is so rare. Very few organizations and resources have consistently delivered all of what we do, as well as we do, and to as many as we have, for this long.