Songs of Innocence and Experience

An overview of the trials of queer youth in today’s world

BY JOE MANNETTI

Our community is growing in size as more young individuals come poring forth from their closet doors in acknowledgement of their authentic selves. “Being able to ‘come out’ is easier, but ‘being’ gay is not,” observes Health Educator Amaury Reducindo of Bienestar’s La Casa Program, in regards to the adolescent coming-out process in today’s society.

“It is especially important to have mentorship programs for LGBTQ youth,” asserts executive director/co-founder of LifeWorks Michael Ferrera, “because it is so difficult for them to have positive and appropriate exposure to [others] like them.”

Thankfully mentoring services are available for LGBT youth, however, a disconnect exists between the services available through such avenues and the changing needs of our young brothers and sisters in today’s world. “We were not out at such early ages and in such great numbers in the past” says Ferrera, “institutions and youth organizations are not yet dealing with this well.”

Sexual repression, fear of including “sexuality” and “youth” in the same sentence and internalized homophobia make any discussion regarding sexual concerns and LGBT youth a challenging one. “The old issues that remain stem from the continuation of society sexualizing all of us,” Ferrera observes.

“We continue to sexualize homosexuality and romanticize heterosexuality,” notes Dr. Judy Chiasson, coordinator for the Human Relations, Diversity and Equity Division of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“Young people are thinking about sex,” argues Dr. Virginia Uribe, founder of the revolutionary organization Project 10. “We need to validate the sexuality of our young people by advocating responsible behavior, education and healthy choices that empower them rather than victimize them.” With her partner Gail Rolf, Uribe is still actively involved with and manages a myriad of groups celebrating the social significance for LGBT youth, including Project 10, Models of Excellence and the annual LGBT Youth Prom.

In the past, LGBT people enthusiastically embraced fetishized accessories that intrinsically spoke to their queer identities while simultaneously challenging the heterosexist paradigm of the time in the name of sexual liberation. Generally speaking, the appearance of today’s queer youth is far more mainstream and less radically gay.

“What is really noticeable now is a difference of styles depending on an age range and ‘hang out’ areas. Very few youth identify themselves with this [bear and leather] culture,” observes Reducindo.

This shift in the way youth might identify as LGBT presents it’s unique set of problems: to stake their own claim in the LGBT spectrum.

“As much as we’re trying to blend, we are still not accepted by the mainstream society,” says 20-year-old Steve. “So I think that we need to find ways to assert our individuality in order to fully empower ourselves.”