On Saturday LGBT youth from across New England will gather for a Youth Pride Celebration.
There will be a rally and parade around noon, in the Boston Common.
I’ll be getting an award and giving a quick speech, and officially launching the new version of http://www.queertoday.com.
LGBT Youth are still about 5 times more likely than their peers (according to the MA Youth Risk Behavior Survey) to attempt suicide. They are more likely to be victims of violence, be homeless (40% of homeless youth are LGBT),and more likely to have issues with addition.
In the face of those statistics there are thousands of LGBT youth are a resiliant, brave, and supportive of each other. Come out this Saturday to cheer them on.
Massachusetts is the only state (I think) that has gov. funding specifically to support LGBT youth.
i think it’s worth pointing out that the reason lgbt youth are more prone to suicide, violence and homelessness has nothing to do with their intrinsic worth. lgbt youth are not “sick kids”. rather, they are more prone to these things than their hetero peers because of the unrelenting nature of societal homophobia.
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p>even as an adult, i find it hard at times to handle the psychological outfall from my federal government and home and adopted states either passing severe anti-lgbt measures, or nearly doing so. and i have the unequivocal support of my family and friends. i’m not surprised then that some lgbt youth suffer more than their straight peers, since the vital friend and family, not to mention institutional support i enjoy is too frequently denied them.
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p>Happy Youth Pride Day!!!