Features
Joan Gardner is World Powerlifting Champion
Queer Community Project in Windham Co.
Youth Zone
If you’re between the ages of 15-25 and
have something to say, this page is for
YOUR stories, commentary, toons, art and pix.
Contact editor@mountainpridemedia.org
Youth Speak
Out for Fairness and Respect
Schools Still not Safe for LGBT Youth
by Lynn McNicol
Young
people gathered from far and near to celebrate Youth Pride last month.
They met at City Hall, donned their colorful t-shirts, unfurled rainbow
banners and prepared for a parade.
“Youth Pride is my favorite part of
the year,” exclaimed Connor McFadden, a Burlington high school student.
Outright Vermont, organizer of the pride celebration, has “a great
educational system” and has helped him tell his story at high schools
and colleges around the state he said. “When the community is not
supportive, Outright does help us,” McFadden said.
Several youth spoke about antigay bullying
in the schools and how hard it is on GLBT students. Bekki Bruno, a former
Community College of Vermont student who has relocated to New Jersey,
talked about a best friend, Kim Pugh, who committed suicide last year.
If you have friends who are depressed, try to help them, Bruno said. Even
if a friend is not saying anything, but may indicate distress by their
body language, try to actively help them, Bruno continued. She pointed
out that the teen suicide rate is high, and GLBT suicide is “among
the highest.”
Bruno said Pugh always encouraged her to
be vocal about the issues confronting her.
“We always did speak out together,”
she said of her friend. The crowd then held a moment of silence for Kim
Pugh.
Others spoke about being harassed and threatened
at school and sometimes receiving threatening phone calls at home. One
student said ze is not comfortable using either bathrooms designated for
males or females.
At Burlington high school, a gender neutral
bathroom has been designated which is located in the administrative offices.
“You have to out yourself,”
ze concluded.
Outright Moves Uptown
by Lynn McNicol
Outright Vermont has a new home. Bursting
at the seams at the former cramped quarters on St. Paul Street, the statewide
youth organization can now stretch out at the McClure Multigenerational
Center in Burlington’s Old North End.
“Moving, although time-consuming
and costly, is going to help Outright grow,” said Lluvia Mulvaney-Stanak,
one of Outright’s two co-executive directors. “The new space
gives youth the room to spread out for groups, the privacy of a gender-free
bathroom, our own kitchen area, and lots of great, opening windows.”
There will be a staff change as well. Outright
announced last month that Outright’s other co-executive director,
Kate Jerman, will be leaving soon to attend graduate school.
Outright is on the lookout for two
new staff members. They will be hiring a full-time Director of Development
to write grants and help out with fundraising, plus a fulltime Americorps
VISTA Program Assistant who will help with direct service work and organizing
events in Chittenden County.
Outright can still be reached at 802-865-9677,
800-452-2428, or at info@outrightvt.org
Their new address is 241 N. Winooski Ave. in Burlington.