Celebrating Pride Month
Since 2000, June has been a time to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) community, to promote their self-affirmation, dignity, equality rights, increase their visibility as a social group, build community, and celebrate sexual diversity and gender variance. As we prepare to celebrate Pride Month, there are several resources that may be of value to you and the youth in your community.
Resources
Creating Safer Spaces: A Toolkit for Education, Healthcare, and Community-based Organizations. This toolkit from Advocates for Youth is extended to LGBTQ youth-serving professionals in education, healthcare, and nonprofit organizations. It is everyone’s role to understand how racism, sexism, transphobia, and homophobia negatively affect young people. We know from years of research that these harmful practices have serious consequences for LGBTQ youth, including high rates of morbidity, mortality, mental health challenges, and suicidal ideation as a result of violence, prejudice, and discrimination. The goal of this Toolkit is to create a safer and more welcoming environment for LGBTQ youth by directly addressing homophobia and transphobia among staff and young people
Transgender Youth Employment Toolkit. This toolkit from the Los Angeles LGBT Center offers transgender-specific tips, activities, and resources for case managers to integrate into the work they already do with every young person. Above all, this toolkit will provide case managers with language, tools, and insights into these young people that will help to better serve them.
Resources for Challenging Times. The collection of resources from Gender Spectrum offers access to many virtual and COVID-19 related resources, as well as access to recordings related to creating online spaces for LGBTQ+ youth.
Training Resources
BEAM (Black Emotional and Mental Health) - Founded by Yolo Akili Robinson, focuses on healing justice and offers toolkits, resources and training on emotionally intelligent leadership and social justice.
Brown Boi Project - Created and run by Queer BIPOC and allies, provides training on racial and gender justice, healthy masculinity, and supporting LGBTQIA+ young people of color.
Blog Posts & Community
Funding the Movement Against Anti-Black Racism for Pride Month. This blog post from Point Source Youth addresses the intersection of Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ+ community with a call to action for funders and opportunities to directly support grassroots and national organizations doing the work of uplifting Black communities, LGBTQ+, and beyond.
Come back throughout the month of June to read reflections from Youth Catalyst Team members.
Podcasts & Videos
AfroQueer. A podcast about queer Africans living, loving, surviving, and thriving on the African continent and in the diaspora.
Janelle Monáe on Growing Up Queer and Black. Listen to Janelle Monae share her experience as a young, queer, black woman and her commitment to represent marginalized people through her platform.
Herstory. Laverne Cox tells the story of Marsha P. Johnson, a fierce advocate for transgender rights and key activist during the Stonewall riots.
Why Some Black LGBTQIA+ Folks Are Done ‘Coming Out’. David Johns, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition explains why 'inviting in' is a more meaningful alternative to 'coming out’.
Other Queer Resources
- For Teens: The Trevor Project, GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network)
- For Queer General: Q Card Project, National LGBTQ Task Force
- For Trans General: National Center for Transgender Equality, Transgender Law Center
- For BIOPIC: National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network, Center for Black Equity
