Category — Queer Youth

There is appearing in the press recently the story about a 17-year-old trans girl who was physically attacked by other residents and verbally abused by staff every day for almost a year and a half [click here to view one of the many pieces].  Sadly this is a story that repeats itself day in and day out, be it in Philly, NYC, Connecticut or wherever ~ be it a homeless shelter, domestic violence shelter, transitional living and so on.  Ct TransAdvocacy and others have done significant work in Connecticut educating and promoting the need for safe shelters (homeless, DV, transitional) for trans and gender non-conforming folks.  Though sadly this is an ongoing struggle due to staff and case worker turnover; and so there is an ongoing need for awareness, training, advocacy, activism and policy creation within our diverse system of shelters.

I recently came back from the CSAC conference in Detroit and one of the workshops was about housing and how the anarchist community can work within this venue.  As folks talked about the issues around home ownership, foreclosures, etc, I injected into the dialogue the fundamental issues around sheltering for queer youth and adults.  I was rather disappointed the dialogue did not get the traction I had hoped, though the queer presence at that workshop seemed small.  From the days when the Atlanta Shelters put out signs “No Transgenders Allowed” to stories like that in Philly, we as queer activists and anarchists must be on the front lines of this sheltering issue and constantly working to create safe shelters for all.

Included here are links to the NYC Trans Shelter policy, Boston Trans Shelter Policy and the NGLTF Transitioning Our Shelters report. Hopefully one day soon we will have similar policies here in Connecticut.  Till then it is a daily struggle to keep aware of those shelters that are queer friendly and affirming.

**** PUBLIC SCHOOLS CLOSING, CHARTERS OPENING ****

“Without education, you are not going anywhere in this world.” — Malcolm X

>: JOIN THE CIPHER! :<

WHO: Youth 13 - 24
DATE: Thursday Aug 20, 2009
TIME: 5 - 7 PM
There will be refreshments!

St. Katherine Drexel Parrish
175 Ruggles St
Roxbury, MA.

>: Do you know the difference between Boston Public Schools and Charter Schools?
>: Why is Corporate America so invested in public education?
>: Do you feel like your voice is being heard?
>: Do you think there is a connection between the drop out rate and youth violence?
>: Do you know about the School to Prison or the Military Pipeline?

If you have answered yes to any of these questions …. [Read more →]

Contact:
Cindi Creager
Director of National News
(646) 871-8019
creager@glaad.org <mailto:creager@glaad.org>
Richard Ferraro
Director of Public Relations
(646) 871-8011
ferraro@glaad.org <mailto:ferraro@glaad.org>
June 2, 2009— In a lengthy May 28 tirade on the Rob, Arnie & Dawn in the Morning radio show heard in Sacramento, California on KRXQ 98.5 FM and Reno, Nevada on KDOT 104.5 FM, hosts Rob Williams and Arnie States verbally attacked transgender children. While discussing a recent story about a transgender child in Omaha, Nebraska and her parents’ decision to support her transition, the two hosts spent more than 30 minutes explicitly promoting child abuse of and making cruel, dehumanizing and defamatory comments toward transgender children. [Read more →]

Written by Dykonoclast

At 9AM on Tuesday April 28th, somewhere between 50-70 people came to the iconic Park Street Church across from Boston Common to attend an Exodus Ministries training.  Attendees watched a video wherein ‘former homosexuals’ and ‘former lesbians’ spoke of the power of god to heal ’sexual brokenness’ and restore heterosexual desires to the most fallen of souls.  During the ‘male homosexuality’ portion of the training, ‘former homosexual’ Jeff Buchanan shared his experience of having turned from his homosexual past, as well as the causes of male homosexuality, which include resentment of male authority and lack of bonding with fathers.  [Read more →]

By 365gay Newscenter Staff

A study of LGBT students in the nation’s schools has found that students of color are the most vulnerable.

The study - Shared Differences: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students of Color in Our Nation’s Schools - was prepared by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

It documents the experiences of over 2,000 LGBT middle and high school students of color who were African American, Latino, Asian, Native American, and multiracial. [Read more →]

Got ya!  betcha you thought this was another piece on Marriage! Well it ain’t! To get a pulse of what are the critical issues facing urban Queer Youth (and there are many), check out the website and amazing organization FIERCE ~ a collective of queer youth of color in NYC.  The work and passions of this organization are well known and respected by many of us, and so it would be instructive to bring the readers of QWB to the attention of their work for “equality” and hopefully support of this movement.  And the ancestral roots of FIERCE go back to Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P Johnson and STAR (Street Transvestite Activist Revolutionaries) House which provided shelter for homeless NYC youth street queens. Below is an excerpt and clip from their video Fenced Out!  Perhaps this could be on the movie list for a QWB Dinner, Movie and Speak Out. And let us not forget the work Sister Regina, is doing and has done, in support of our Hartford Queer Youth of Color through her work as founder of FACE (Featuring All Colors and Ethnicities), the LGBT Issues Commission and so many other urban youth initiatives she has undertaken.  And these [Read more →]