Youth Pride

Yesterday, September 19, 2012 I went to the Youth Pride facility that is located on Westminister Street in Providence.  This was such a fantastic experience.  I went there to observe a day in the life of an individual that is LGBT and that attends Youth Pride.  This facility is pretty much a second home for individuals between the ages of 13-23 that either identify as an LGBT or have a parent that identifies as such.  This is a safe place for these individuals to go after school or work where they can be with others that are just like them.  Some of the individuals do not have a very safe or accepting home life, and they feel more comfortable going to Youth Pride after school or work instead of going home.  I felt that this feeling that the individuals are having can compare a lot to the Frye article and the comparison to a "bird cage."  Some of the children and even adults that go to Youth Pride feel that there is no where else for them to go where they will feel accepted and that they can be compared to living in a bird cage, although when they are at Youth Pride, they have an opportunity to be themselves with other individuals that are going through similar things as them.



When I arrived at Youth Pride yesterday, it was dinner time.  The people that were there were having cooking lessons with one of the staff members.  All of the individuals that were there seemed to be very comfortable and looked as though they were having a lot of fun.  This is something that they do not always seem to feel.  This related a lot of the Johnson article when the he talks about having the umbrella when it is raining, but others do not feel the rain.  This is how some of the individuals feel when they are not at Youth Pride.  They feel like Youth Pride is their area and time to be themselves.

This mission of Youth Pride is to protect, unite, and dignify the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth and young adults. There are ways that individuals interested in this program can donate to Youth Pride to help those individuals.  I find this very interesting because it makes me sad to think that some individuals arent even comfortable or happy in their own homes. 

When I was speaking to one of the kids at Youth Pride yesterday, he was telling me that a lot of people are afraid to even say the words "gay" or "lesbian" because to those individuals they are not acceptable.  It made me think a lot about the article "The F-Word" because throughout the article it is said that many people are afraid to say the words even though that is the only way they can express how they feel.  He told me that some people won't even ask if he is gay due to the fear of speaking the word.  It was very interesting to see how many links there were to our articles that I never thought I would see outside of the classroom, but I saw in just a few short hours there.

I met an individual named Joey Lazzerini who is Mr. Gay Rhode Island and huge advocate for gay men everywhere.  He was such an inspiration to meet and I wanted to share his "No Hate" photo with you so you could appreciate him as much as I did.