CONTRA COSTA LGBTQI2-S INCLUSION COUNTY INITIATIVE NEWSLETTER VOL III, ISSUE I JAN 2012 Find online with active links at: http://www.cchealth.org/topics/lgbtq/newsletter/ VOL III, ISSUE I JANUARY 2012 CCHS MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES—BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DIVISION’S INCLUSION INITIATIVE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CONTRA COSTA High School Gay- spreading a message of HEALTH SERVICES BOLD Gathering - na- love, acceptance and DEPARTMENT’S Straight Alliances equality. PRIDE INITIATIVE tion's largest gathering of LGBT people of (GSAs) and Young See more. PRESENTS: Adult Well-Being: An LGBTQQI2-S color - aims to increase NGLTF TaskForce: INCLUSION INITIATIVE Examination of GSA NEWSLETTER political power. To An Epidemic of Homeless Presence, Participa- A number of studies of read more click here. homeless youth in big tion, and Perceived cities put forth a startling Effectiveness, Caitlin statistic: Depending on the TV’s New Transgender Inside this issue: Ryan, PhD study, somewhere be- Sensation is 11 yrs old. tween 30 and 40 percent of homeless youths iden- LGBTQ Youth 2 Results from a groundbreak- tify as lesbian, gay, bisex- Collaborative Oprah's TV network, OWN, ing American study on gay- ual or transgender. It's is premiering two new docu- straight alliances (GSAs) Videos from Brown 2 largely because gay mentary specials on Sunday: have confirmed A school with youths are more often Boi Project Being Chaz (the follow up to a GSA has a lower drop-out kicked out of their homes Chaz Bono's award winning, rate and produces students than straight youths. And Counseling Svcs 2 Becoming Chaz, from last who are more likely to attend even if they are not kicked college or university. GSAs out, they may feel so un- Teens Coming Out 3 year) and I Am Jazz: A Family also help educate students in Transition. The latter, stars comfortable that they Agency Assess 4 and community members by leave. Read more. Jazz, an 11-year-old trans- gender girl, her three siblings, On-line Surveys 4 friends and parents, as they Family/Youth Vids 4 navigate the world with a gen- On-Line Trainings 5 der-variant kid and grapple with the possibility of hor- Request Trainings 5 mone blocking therapy as she LGBTQ Centers 6 reaches puberty. Director Jen Stocks' doc is an engaging, LGBTQ Resources 7 heartwarming, and moving Online Videos 8 look at a trans kid. With her News Articles 9 parent's support, Jazz has Apply for Free LGBTQ Cultural Competency Publications 10 been living as a girl since she Training & Technical Assistance for your Staff was a toddler. We caught up Toolkits/Curriculums 11 with her to find out about under the Community Alliance for Culturally & making the doc, meeting Linguistically Appropriate Services Project Inclusion/Pride 12 Bono, and life in middle http://allianceforclas.org/ Initiatives school. Read the whole story: Gender Spectrum Newsletter www.advocate.com The Contra Costa LGBTQ Youth Advocacy Collaborative RYSE Youth Center—Richmond LGBTQ Alphabet Grp: Tuesdays 5:30-7pm El Cerrito High School: Da Rainbow Clique Call: 510-524-8252 East County Youth Group @ CHD CHD Antioch/call Dominique 925-753-1004 x102 Wednesdays 4:30—6:30 Rainbow Counseling Services Now Accepts Medi-Cal Rainbow Counseling Ser- ity. “ “We especially welcome gay vices provides quality mental youth and their families, and Due to the experiences of re- health counseling to members through the assistance of the jection and discrimination en- of the GBTQ community and Contra Costa LGBTQ countered by LGBTQ individu- their families, and to those who Youth Advocacy Collabora- als, forming a positive identity are questioning their sexual and/ tive, we hope to provide ser- can be challenging. Coming out or gender identity. vices that will help to keep fami- can be a time when extra sup- lies together and communicating “We aspire to provide services port is needed. There are often effectively.” in an atmosphere of tolerance many family issues that come up Their confidential and acceptance. Our profes- at this time. sional staff and interns are com- counseling line is: mitted to serving each client “We offer a helping hand when with understanding and sensitiv- it is most needed.” 925.692.2056 Video Clips from the Brown Boi Project—Oakland The Brown Boi Project! SuckaForLife Excuse Me Sir … SeanDorsey:Lou Dance I know what Page 3 ’Coming Out’: Gay Teenagers, in Their Own Words Posted by: Angela D. Giampolo on November 22, 2011. Thankfully, certain advocacy groups and media outlets The New York Times recently launched-a series focused on have been able to keep the issues afflicting gay teens exposing the experiences of LGBT teenagers. Titled afloat. ’Coming Out’: Gay Teenagers, in Their Own Words, the The Times spoke with or e-mailed nearly 100 LGBT series shares personal stories of LGBT youth at different teens from all of parts of the country-from rural areas stages of the “coming out” process. The Times announced it to urban centers, from supportive environments to launched the campaign as an effort to better understand this hostile ones. The newspaper contacted them through generation’s realities and expectations and to give teenagers various advocacy groups, as well as through social net- their own voice in the conversation. working sites like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. For those individuals fortunate enough to be part of the The Trevor Project, which provides counseling to popular crowd, high school represents a time of first loves, LGBT youths in crisis, among other services, posted a careless dreams, and unbridled youth. For most adults, how- call for teenagers to tell their stories to the Times, ever, high school is an experience worth forgetting. Let’s face it, kids can be cruel. Most teenagers come of age in a resulting in nearly 250 responses. place where differences are ridiculed, not celebrated, and in The stories that the Times received from LGBT teen- this oftentimes harsh environment, teenagers are torn be- agers across the country were astonishing. Some tween “finding themselves” and “fitting in.” To make matters teens’ stories were filled with anxiety, fear, and rejec- worse, some teenagers choose to berate others in order to tion, but surprisingly, a majority of others was filled boost their own self-esteem. So, for the average gay teen- with acceptance, love, and hope. ager, high school can be hell. “I don’t know how to label myself,” wrote one teen. “I Ridiculed, bullied and ostracized by their peers, gay teenag- shouldn’t want a label, but I do. I like being part of a ers are oftentimes left to believe they are alone in the group, I like knowing where I belong, I like fitting into world, a feeling which has all too often resulted in tragedy. The suicidal deaths of five LGBT youth in the span of a mere spaces carved out for me.” three weeks in 2010 brought much needed media attention “I was afraid to tell,” said Kenji. “I am a gay teenager to the pandemic and finally alerted the American public of living in a traditionally conservative state, Alabama. As the depth of the issue. if it weren’t bad enough that I have had to struggle with bullying and teasing from my peers on a regular Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young basis, I have also had to struggle with coming out to adults from ages 15 to 24, but lesbian, gay and bisexual teens are four to five times more likely to attempt suicide than my father.” their heterosexual peers are. A 2009 study, “Family Rejec- “Apparently they were just waiting for me to come tion as a Predictor of Negative Health Outcomes” led by Dr. out to myself,” Sarah told the Times. I can’t say it was Caitlin Ryan and conducted as part of the Family Acceptance much of a surprise to my family or most of my friends Project at San Francisco State University, showed that ado- when I came out as gay a year ago. I on the other hand lescence who were rejected by their families for being LGBT were 8.4 times more likely to report having attempted sui- was shocked.” cide. Although society is becoming more accepting of the LGBT community, some things have yet to change. The Answer: Advocacy, Education and Acceptance. As pre- Gay teenagers continue to come of age amidst fears of viously mentioned, the American public has finally been bullying, rejection, and loneliness. “In the face of com- awakened to the issues afflicting gay teens. A wave of media peting messages, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender campaigns and support groups, such as the “It Gets Better” youths just want to be teenagers,” writes the Times. campaign led by columnist and author Dan Savage, has “While they envision a world where they can get mar- helped to reassure gay teens that they are not alone and a ried and have doors opened to them, they do not surge of gay characters and gay story lines on television has want to be defined by their sexuality, regardless of provided LGBT teens with much needed feelings of accep- how they are received by their community. It is just tance. As with any hot button issue, however, media atten- one part of their identity.” tion often begins to fade. Page 4 Funding Opportunities: Stay tuned ... Scholarships Orchids (video trailer): RYSE Youth Center— RYSE Youth Center— LGBTQ Students/Allies/for An Intersex Richmond: Video: Richmond: Video: children of LGBTQ parents Adventure “We Are Here, We Are “It Gets Better” LGBTQ related jobs: Please take and distribute these Gay Straight Alliance Jobs—SF Online Surveys Families with Gender Questioning Children Sur- vey.