by Program Leader Meredith Barranco
Kennedy High School, in Bellmore, looks like many other schools on Long Island. But within Kennedy High School there is an amazing story about the power of youth leadership that many other schools could stand to learn from.
The Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) of Kennedy High School has a jaw-dropping 70+ members. In a social environment where sexuality is often a taboo topic, it’s incredible how many students are committed to making their school more tolerant, understanding, and safe for LGBT youth.
GSAs are clubs that give LGBT youth and their straight allies a safe space to discuss sexuality, acceptance, coming out, and how to educate others. GSAs can be controversial. Getting school administrators and the Board of Education to sanction a club can be a difficult journey. Once a club has been established, it’s often difficult to keep a steady membership. Other GSAs I have visited have had 10 to 15 members. The story of how Kennedy’s GSA became one of the largest and most active GSA on Long Island is impressive and touching.
When I came to visit them, the faculty advisors filled me in on the beginnings of this incredible club. The GSA started in May 2011. Students and faculty had discussed the need for such a club for several years, but one student Camila helped the school take the first step.
After one of her teachers put up a ’Safe Spaces’ sticker in his room, Camila felt encouraged to talk to him about some concerns. She confessed that she felt unsafe and isolated as the only “out” lesbian student at school. After doing some research and discussing it with the school administration, Camila got approval for a GSA.
According to one of the advisors, the first few meetings were “thrown together” and held in the school social worker’s office. With just a few weeks before the end of the school year, they brought together ten students. In September 2011, the membership exploded, and they completely outgrew their meeting room. They started meeting in a much larger room to accommodate the 65-80 students who wanted to attend each week.
An after-school club with 70 members poses unique challenges to the advisors and the student leaders. They decided to divide the membership into committees, such as public relations, event planning, education and outreach, fundraising, and media.
In less than a year, the GSA has accomplished several actions. They held an ‘Ally Week,’ recognizing straight allies, during which they a banner in the main hall, and asked students to sign it and pledge to defend and support their LGBT classmates. They asked allies to wear purple on certain days, rainbow ribbons on others, and they encouraged teachers to put Safe Space stickers in their classrooms. Ally Week was well-received, and they’re planning on having a similar week of activism in the spring.
The GSA also made a video for the popular ‘It Gets Better’ campaign. It is student-written, developed, filmed, and edited, and it was broadcast to first-period classes so every student was able to see the video.
Reaction to the GSA has been generally positive, but there have been a few incidents of hate and intolerance. During a bake sale to raise funds for the club, one student returned what he was going to buy with the comment: “I don’t want a faggot cupcake.”
Nonetheless, the GSA believes that their cause is viewed positively by most of the school community, and beyond. News of their success travelled to another Bellmore/Merrick high school which has a fledgling GSA that comes to observe Kennedy’s meetings and receive training. GSA members are also exploring the possibility of doing presentations at the district’s middle schools to prevent bullying and intolerance.
Kennedy High School’s Gay-Straight Alliance is an incredible success. Through student leadership and positive faculty/student collaboration, they have built an enduring resource to improve the lives of students.
January 30, 2012
December 7, 2011
Pictures from 2011 HeartBEATS!!
Our 2011 World AIDS Day conference was a big success!! It's called HeartB.E.A.T.S. (Bringing Education about AIDS To Schools), and this was the 11th annual conference Pride for Youth co-sponsored, along with our partners Planned Parenthood of Nassau County and the Prevention Committee of the Nassau County HIV Commission.
About 200 students attended from eight different school districts throughout Nassau County. Pride for Youth Program Leaders conducted two workshops on homophobia, transphobia and HIV/AIDS. Long Island Crisis Center's Street Outreach Project also provided two workshops dealing with runaway and homeless youth.
But the pictures below tell the story better than any words can express. Thanks so much to the conference's fiscal sponsors: Hofstra University School of Education, Health and Social Service, NuHealth Foundation, the Stanley and Marion Bergman Family Charitable Fund and National Grid.
PFY Program Leaders at Breakfast
7th and 8th graders starting their day at Breakfast
HeartBEATS Health Fair at Hofstra's Student Activities Center
Using games to teach the facts about HIV/AIDS at Leadership Training Institute's 'Facts R Us' workshop
'Here I Stand' activity at PFY's workshop
PFY Program Leaders
Street Outreach Project workshop
Street Outreach Project Peer Educators and Staff
Planned Parenthood of Nassau County's Teen Advocate Project
Students gathered together at the auditorium for afternoon speakers
Speakers from Love Heals
Every student took home an oversized red ribbon, which they got to decorate at lunch and put up on their locker.
About 200 students attended from eight different school districts throughout Nassau County. Pride for Youth Program Leaders conducted two workshops on homophobia, transphobia and HIV/AIDS. Long Island Crisis Center's Street Outreach Project also provided two workshops dealing with runaway and homeless youth.
But the pictures below tell the story better than any words can express. Thanks so much to the conference's fiscal sponsors: Hofstra University School of Education, Health and Social Service, NuHealth Foundation, the Stanley and Marion Bergman Family Charitable Fund and National Grid.
PFY Program Leaders at Breakfast
7th and 8th graders starting their day at Breakfast
HeartBEATS Health Fair at Hofstra's Student Activities Center
Using games to teach the facts about HIV/AIDS at Leadership Training Institute's 'Facts R Us' workshop
'Here I Stand' activity at PFY's workshop
PFY Program Leaders
Street Outreach Project workshop
Street Outreach Project Peer Educators and Staff
Planned Parenthood of Nassau County's Teen Advocate Project
Students gathered together at the auditorium for afternoon speakers
Speakers from Love Heals
Every student took home an oversized red ribbon, which they got to decorate at lunch and put up on their locker.
August 23, 2011
Immigration and LGBT Rights
Check out Director Pete Carney's guest blog on Long Island WINS, a communication and organizing campaign to promote more positive policies and attitudes toward immigrants.
Pete -- a second generation Irish immigrant -- tackles the progress and limitations of federal deportation law, which was recently amended by the Obama administration.
New Deportation Policy Could Aid LGBT Immigrants, But Won’t Guarantee Equality
Pete -- a second generation Irish immigrant -- tackles the progress and limitations of federal deportation law, which was recently amended by the Obama administration.
New Deportation Policy Could Aid LGBT Immigrants, But Won’t Guarantee Equality
August 15, 2011
Positive LGBT Role Models Help Questioning Youth
by Tawni Engel
I remember a (now critically-acclaimed) drama series in the early 1990’s called “My So-Called Life” starring Claire Danes.
Controversial for the time, the show’s singular gay character, a teenager named Rickie, led a tormented, sometimes homeless life with a background of abuse and trauma. While he could usually pull it together and attend school with a smile on his face while amongst friends, any story lines that focused on him specifically were always quite depressing.
I loved the show, and thought it was awesome that it brought a gay character to mainstream television. But I had to wonder if it perpetuated negative stereotypes and myths about the LGBT community in general. It seemed like if a person watching had been questioning their sexual identity, they would almost want to stifle it, if they thought they would be leading Rickie’s life as a gay person.
Nowadays, TV shows are becoming more positive in their portrayals of their LGBT characters, which is wonderful! With so many more LGBT-focused story lines in popular teen TV shows like Glee and DeGrassi, mainstream media is definitely providing more uplifting exposure of LGBT issues to the world of pop culture. And maybe now those (especially young people) who are watching, and questioning their sexuality, are feeling more empowered to do so because of the positive role models they are seeing on TV.
Logic would dictate, then, that more youth in general might be giving their sexual identity a closer look. The more positive images and depictions we see in the media of LGBT lives, the healthier the mainstream perspective is going to be. This can be extremely pivotal in the mind of a young person who is questioning their sexuality!
As PFY's LGBT Youth Services Program Coordinator, I am definitely seeing more youth questioning their sexual identity at younger and younger ages. We are always here to help young people who are struggling with this aspect of their lives, in a safe and confidential environment. Should you have any questions about the information in this article, feel free to contact me at 516-679-9000 ext. 128 or tengel@longislandcrisiscenter.org.
I remember a (now critically-acclaimed) drama series in the early 1990’s called “My So-Called Life” starring Claire Danes.
Controversial for the time, the show’s singular gay character, a teenager named Rickie, led a tormented, sometimes homeless life with a background of abuse and trauma. While he could usually pull it together and attend school with a smile on his face while amongst friends, any story lines that focused on him specifically were always quite depressing.
I loved the show, and thought it was awesome that it brought a gay character to mainstream television. But I had to wonder if it perpetuated negative stereotypes and myths about the LGBT community in general. It seemed like if a person watching had been questioning their sexual identity, they would almost want to stifle it, if they thought they would be leading Rickie’s life as a gay person.
Nowadays, TV shows are becoming more positive in their portrayals of their LGBT characters, which is wonderful! With so many more LGBT-focused story lines in popular teen TV shows like Glee and DeGrassi, mainstream media is definitely providing more uplifting exposure of LGBT issues to the world of pop culture. And maybe now those (especially young people) who are watching, and questioning their sexuality, are feeling more empowered to do so because of the positive role models they are seeing on TV.
Logic would dictate, then, that more youth in general might be giving their sexual identity a closer look. The more positive images and depictions we see in the media of LGBT lives, the healthier the mainstream perspective is going to be. This can be extremely pivotal in the mind of a young person who is questioning their sexuality!
As PFY's LGBT Youth Services Program Coordinator, I am definitely seeing more youth questioning their sexual identity at younger and younger ages. We are always here to help young people who are struggling with this aspect of their lives, in a safe and confidential environment. Should you have any questions about the information in this article, feel free to contact me at 516-679-9000 ext. 128 or tengel@longislandcrisiscenter.org.
August 3, 2011
What's Up at the Nassau Youth/Adult Consortium?
By Jennifer King, MSW
From September 2010 to May 2011 I was an Adelphi University Masters level Social Work Intern here at PFY. More recently, I am a research volunteer who is part of the consortium.
What is the consortium, you may ask? Well, the Consortium is part of a 5-year grant from the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. Comprised of PFY Program Leaders, adult staff and other supporting agencies, the Consortium works to identify and raise awareness of the needs, assets, supports and opportunities related to LGBT adolescent sexual health. We meet once per month and have established a weekly workgroup—which I’m part of—to conduct research. The workgroup includes Katie Stoll, a Crisis Center volunteer, and three Program Leaders Meredith Barranco, Chris Reid, and Shay Thomas.
The mission of the consortium is to promote optimal teen sexual health, especially as it relates to the LGBT population within Nassau County. We have a long term vision of creating sustainable community change that supports LGBT teenagers’ healthy development and removes the barriers that stand in their way.
How do we pursue our mission/vision? While staff, interns and other local experts have collected research and shared their experiences regarding the needs, assets, supports and opportunities for LGBT youth, it is essential that youth are a part our effort to accomplish community change. Without engaging young people in this type of action research, the many important aspects of being a sexually protected LGBT adolescent would be very difficult to acquire. Also, without community input the Consortium itself would not be able to sufficiently assess these issues. It is important that the type of community change that we strive for not only changes the community itself, but also empowers LGBT youth to stand up and be heard.
In the fall of 2010, the research workgroup conducted a survey that asked young people what were the most important problems they were facing. Forty-two people responded, and we found that slightly more than half of the participants believe that self-acceptance is the most important issue facing LGBT youth today.
From there, we ran three focus groups to explore the topic of self-acceptance further: what it means to LGBT youth, what resources exist, and how it relates to optimal sexual health. Two of the focus groups were run at PFY and the third at Uniondale High School’s GSA. The two focus groups at PFY showed that youth feel that you need to be self-accepting in order to make positive decisions regarding not only your sexual health but the way you view yourself and the way others perceive you. At Uniondale, we learned that there is a scarcity of LGBT programs and acceptance for LGBT students in schools. But, many of our participants acknowledged that, thanks in part to the media, people’s views on the LGBT community are changing for the better.
Come the fall we are looking to expand our research and bring our findings out in the community. We are actively looking for people, ages 13-18 to help us conduct our research. If you want more information or would like to get involved, please contact the workgroup at LGBT.needs@gmail.com or (516) 679-9000.
From September 2010 to May 2011 I was an Adelphi University Masters level Social Work Intern here at PFY. More recently, I am a research volunteer who is part of the consortium.
What is the consortium, you may ask? Well, the Consortium is part of a 5-year grant from the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. Comprised of PFY Program Leaders, adult staff and other supporting agencies, the Consortium works to identify and raise awareness of the needs, assets, supports and opportunities related to LGBT adolescent sexual health. We meet once per month and have established a weekly workgroup—which I’m part of—to conduct research. The workgroup includes Katie Stoll, a Crisis Center volunteer, and three Program Leaders Meredith Barranco, Chris Reid, and Shay Thomas.
The mission of the consortium is to promote optimal teen sexual health, especially as it relates to the LGBT population within Nassau County. We have a long term vision of creating sustainable community change that supports LGBT teenagers’ healthy development and removes the barriers that stand in their way.
How do we pursue our mission/vision? While staff, interns and other local experts have collected research and shared their experiences regarding the needs, assets, supports and opportunities for LGBT youth, it is essential that youth are a part our effort to accomplish community change. Without engaging young people in this type of action research, the many important aspects of being a sexually protected LGBT adolescent would be very difficult to acquire. Also, without community input the Consortium itself would not be able to sufficiently assess these issues. It is important that the type of community change that we strive for not only changes the community itself, but also empowers LGBT youth to stand up and be heard.
In the fall of 2010, the research workgroup conducted a survey that asked young people what were the most important problems they were facing. Forty-two people responded, and we found that slightly more than half of the participants believe that self-acceptance is the most important issue facing LGBT youth today.
From there, we ran three focus groups to explore the topic of self-acceptance further: what it means to LGBT youth, what resources exist, and how it relates to optimal sexual health. Two of the focus groups were run at PFY and the third at Uniondale High School’s GSA. The two focus groups at PFY showed that youth feel that you need to be self-accepting in order to make positive decisions regarding not only your sexual health but the way you view yourself and the way others perceive you. At Uniondale, we learned that there is a scarcity of LGBT programs and acceptance for LGBT students in schools. But, many of our participants acknowledged that, thanks in part to the media, people’s views on the LGBT community are changing for the better.
Come the fall we are looking to expand our research and bring our findings out in the community. We are actively looking for people, ages 13-18 to help us conduct our research. If you want more information or would like to get involved, please contact the workgroup at LGBT.needs@gmail.com or (516) 679-9000.
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