YouthResource (YR) is a year-long development and leadership program designed by and for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Questioning (LGBTQ+) youth of color. YR leaders will be provided with personal, professional and political development to enhance leadership skills.YouthResource leaders are responsible for providing their communities and communities around the country with information, resources and education to address LGBTQ+ health and rights.
Qualifcations:
LGBTQ+Person of Color
18-25 years old
Interested in organizing around LGBTQ rights, sexual health and reproductive justice.
Application deadline is May 1st. Submit your application here!
Inbox us if you have any questions!
I remember growing up in North Philly….
Raised within the convictions of a pentecostal family that really made me struggle with myself and my identity.
Subconsciously I knew that I wasn’t what my family had expected me to be.
At a very young age I learned to silently whisper my fears and abominations into the ear of my families “Lord and Savior.”
Maybe I should have prayed a little louder, drowned my demons a little longer, lay rice at my feet and bury my knees in it a little harder.”
- Corem
read more here.
“While one part of me wishes the younger version of myself was always able to be free and living life out loud, I wouldn’t want to change anything about my past- as it is what shaped who I am today. I saw a post on Instagram with a quote that really resonates with me, especially on this day and especially in this time. “Be who you needed when you were younger.” In the wake of what today means, being able to survive and thrive as a gender non-conforming person is the physical manifestation of what the 8 year old version of myself could only dream of, and what I wish I could go back and show a younger me- that you are here and you are worthy. “
-Andii
Isa - Jackson, MS
Q: What’s something you would tell a non-binary person in Jackson, MS?
Isa: The words of my grandmother, my father’s mother, she asked me a very challenging questioning. [laughs] at 16 that gave me an existential crisis I wasn’t ready for, however I am very very very grateful for it which was to ask me when I came out as “gay” [heavy quotes]. She looked me directly into the eyes, and she asked “are you sure or is that something someone else told YOU that you were. Like are you gay or is it that someone else or whatever the term is, told you ‘oh well based on these things, this is what you are.’ And in that moment, because even 10 years ago language was not where it is now, I was like, well shit, if I’m not gay and I’m not straight then…oh gosh, now I have an existential crisis, and now I don’t know what to do, now I’m breaking down. Reality? What? Existence?
Interviewer: What did you need to hear in that moment?
Isa: I needed to hear that question. I needed to hear that question because on some level, I knew things. However it was that like, breaking that open. Now granted her motives for asking that question, I can probably think of some things. I don’t know if she had that intention, however the question itself, the power of that question and that family for me, overall has been, ‘we love you and we want you to live your best life means like, okay, don’t claim things that aren’t yours.”
#MyStoryOUTLoud is a digital storytelling campaign dedicated to uplifting the narratives of LGBTQ+ youth of color across the nation by capturing OUR stories, our experiences, our truths. #MyStoryOUTLoud is a safer, liberated space for queer and trans youth of color to find the power in their own journeys and to find connection in the journeys of others like us.
We look forward to sharing our stories with the world.
