LGBTQIA organizations for teens that aren't PFLAG
June 21, 2017 3:22 PM   Subscribe

Last year, I asked this question about starting a PFLAG chapter. Unfortunately, I did not get the go ahead from national because there's a chapter in a nearby town. What other options are available?

I recently took Kid and a group of friends to Pride and seeing how happy they were to be in such a welcoming environment made me revisit this. There are excellent resources in Providence, but public transportation doesn't really reach up here in the suburbs, so I specifically want to start something in town. Teens can easily take a school bus to the library.

The Kid outed me as bi to their friends, so I've become queer Mom to a bunch of these teens, and while I'm delighted to take them to PVD, my car only fits so many and I'd like them to have something local and frequent. Please point out some good groups I can contact or tell me that I should just start something on my own. I'm not familiar with the reputations of a lot of groups that I found online, so I'm not sure where to go from here.
posted by Ruki to Society & Culture (9 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Totally start your own thing. Do it, do it, do it!
posted by DarlingBri at 3:47 PM on June 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'll DM you the local librarians name if you don't have it. There may be a way to start a "book club" at the local library (which I know for a fact has many great ally librarians in the YA/kid section) which can become an informal hang out space for them.
posted by jessamyn at 4:16 PM on June 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


You don't need to be thinking about this now. Just start the group and get people to agree to be coordinators and trustees to help the group run. Once it gets going, the group will inevitably look for resources, at which point it can decide to join a network or remain its own thing, but it won't stop the group from accessing most resources even if it remains independent. You should definitely invite neighboring town's PFLAG to your second meeting. Some may come and it will be good for all to know there are more resource centers.
posted by parmanparman at 4:19 PM on June 21, 2017


Many high/middle schools around my area have a GSA chapter.
posted by molasses at 5:45 PM on June 21, 2017


(I am a GSA advisor, but not your kid's GSA advisor!)

I'm not familiar with resources in your location, but here in MA, there are groups called AGLYs that sound like exactly the sort of thing you're envisioning (a non-school youth-oriented resource center). Those are the programs I would direct kids here to outside of the school setting. All of the people I know who work with those groups are really helpful, so you could definitely reach out to them and see what they suggest, whether they know of a similar group where you are or could give you some help in setting something up. In my area, I would also contact the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Ed's Safe Schools Program or the UMass-Amherst Stonewall Center; maybe your state/state university have similar programs?

Also, yes, a GSA at your kid's school is SO important. Extramural support is great too, but kids spend so much of their day in school, that having that support there in a formal way through a GSA has been shown by all research to have a significant impact on kids' social-emotional wellbeing (and academic performance, for that matter). If there isn't one at your kid's school, that's a void that should really be filled -- does your kid have any ideas about a staff member who might be interested in starting one?
posted by lysimache at 6:00 PM on June 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: Just to clarify, this needs to be outside of school because my little town has public schools, a charter school, and a Catholic school, plus several local charter/Catholic/technical schools that town kids attend. The public high school does have a GSA, but the teens who are pushing me to do this, while living in the same town, attend three different high schools.
posted by Ruki at 6:02 PM on June 21, 2017


Response by poster: Oh, and to not abuse the edit button, add homeschooling to that, too.
posted by Ruki at 6:03 PM on June 21, 2017


Wait, is this for the teens or the parents? PFLAG, as I'm sure you know, stands for "Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays." At least here, the kids don't usually attend the meetings.

I'm not aware of national youth groups besides GSAs, which are registered with the well-regarded organization GLSEN (which has GSA resources here). Our local LGBT center has a youth program called Project Q and I imagine your nearest center has a similar program. Could someone from there come to you to help get the group started?
posted by AFABulous at 9:38 PM on June 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Teens and adults. Having contacted the library at Jessamyn's suggestion, they're actually already planning a GSA, which is wonderful. What the teens in my area lack is often adult acceptance. It's looking like what I need to do is start a mentoring group, so I've sent word round the local LGBTQIA community and will be looking into starting a non-profit to get this done.
posted by Ruki at 1:54 PM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]


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