The Inside Scoop
May 2021
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Thank you for reading Youth Pride, Inc.'s May edition of The Inside Scoop! Within you will read about our Lipsky/Whittaker Scholarship, the recent food drive held for our Basic Needs Pantry, Lavender Graduation, Camp Sparkle, and two new LGBTQ related bills in RI and NY!
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Lipsky/Whittaker Scholarship |
Applications for the 2021 Lipsky/Whittaker Scholarship Fund are open! If you' are a RI high school graduate that has been involved with LGBTQ activism, you could be eligible for this opportunity.
The mission of the Lipsky/Whittaker Scholarship is to further youth activism in support of LGBTQ rights. The scholarship was established through the estate of John Lipsky and George Whittaker who were life partners for more than 50 years. The two gentlemen passed away in 2005, just eight weeks apart. Their dream was to see “young LGBT men and women grow up without the fear of rejection, violence, discrimination or exposure to HIV/AIDS.”
YPI will distribute $10,000 in scholarships in 2021; amounts per student vary, based on the number of quality applicants received.
Application deadline is May 28, 2021. Download the application below or view it on our website!
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Shop Our Basic Needs Pantry! |
Thanks to a recent drive, YPI was able to fully stock the shelves in our Basic Needs Pantry! Youth 23 years and younger are invited to shop through our pantry, or request a pre-made bag for food, clothes, toiletries, and/or schools supplies.
To set up a time to pick up a pre-made bag filled with options from our pantry form (available below). If you would like to stop by YPI in person and fill your own bag, send us an email at Info@youthprideri.org to coordinate a time.
Thank you Messias for coordinating the drive as well as Sin, Homesmart, Starbucks, and Stable for keeping donation bins at their businesses! Thank you to anyone who donated to the drive and had part in keeping our pantry well stocked! We also want to give a shout-out to Kathryn Ahearn for donating so many toiletries that are specifically requested by our Black and Brown youth.
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We invite LGBTQ graduates to join us for Lavender Graduation in June!
Lavender Graduation is an annual ceremony conducted on numerous campuses around the country to honor LGBTQ and ally students and to acknowledge their achievements and contributions to the school/university.
YPI will be hosting a Lavender Graduation for high school and college graduates in June; exact date to be determined soon. We will have speakers, reading of names, and group tassel turn! Each registered graduate will be mailed a rainbow tassel prior to the event.
To be part of this event, please fill out our interest form linked below.
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Little Unicorns for
Youth 9 and Under!
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Little Unicorns is now regularly meeting Monday nights from 6-7pm on Zoom. You can learn more and sign up your youth by submitting the Little unicorns Interest form below.
Little Unicorns is intended for youth 5-9 years of age who have expressed that they are gender-nonconforming, LGBQ+, or questioning. This group is not for young children of LGBTQ+ parents (unless they are themselves identifying that way) or for young cisgender/straight/non-questioning children to learn about LGBTQ+ youth. While both of these are important, Little Unicorn's purpose is to create a safe space for LGBTQ+ youth to find and interact with each other while providing support and connection for the parents of our little unicorns. If you are interested in options for these other purposes please feel free to reach out.
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Racial Equality Resources
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YPI stands with youth of color and are committed to deepening racial equality within our organization and our work. We will provide resources in our newsletter to continually educate, mobilize, and engage our readers in racial justice matters.
Black Survival and Wellness Resources is an archive of resources for Black folks. Weather wellness and survival mean to resist, taking time for self-care, being in community, or all of the above, this list will make it easier.
Black Survival and Wellness Resource also conducted a 7-day anti-racist training in June of 2020 and 21-day training in August of 2020 for non-Black academics to honor the toll that anti-Black racism has on the Black community and their colleagues. They recently posted an overview of the content covered during those trainings and video discussions for those topics.
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Are you really missing drop-in hours? Need someone to talk to? Are you experiencing crisis? Have concerns, fears or mental health needs that you need to express to someone? Here are a couple of resources for you that were compiled by YPI staff. |
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Essential Resources During COVID-19
Other Resources from YPI
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Monthly Spotlight
The Steel Yarn's Camp Sparkle
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Each year The Steel Yard offers a variety of 2 week summer camps for youth. This year is no different, and Camp Sparkle is on the agenda once again! Just in case you don't know about The Steel Yard, they are a non-profit industrial art center, studio, and non-traditional craft school offering courses and educational programs in blacksmithing, welding, jewelry, foundry, and ceramics.
"Camp Sparkle is a 2-week LGBTQ+ youth day camp providing training in the industrial arts. This year, Camp Sparkle will run from June 21st to July 2nd, Monday – Friday, 10 AM-3:30 PM. Eight campers, age 14-18, spend the first week in small-scale metals, learning jewelry and metalsmithing techniques. Having built up their confidence in smaller metals, they take a step up in scale and learn to weld.
By empowering LGBTQ+ youth and building community within the industrial arts, Camp Sparkle fosters free expression of gender and sexuality in an environment of self-discovery and creativity. The camps provide a welcoming, safe environment where youth can explore and express their identities within the space of making.
In addition to acquiring skills in jewelry & welding, the curriculum includes a strong focus on the development of personal resiliency and agency through understanding and affirmation of personal identities and acquisition of skills in small and large scale metals fabrication.
It is also an objective for the camp to uplift the voices of queer people—all instructors and speakers identify as queer—and to affirm and normalize the campers’ identities and experiences." - The Steel Yard's Website
The deadline to apply to Camp Sparkle is May 18, 2021!
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RI Bill to Reduce Housing Discrimination for LGBTQ Renters |
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House bill H6215 seeks to reduce RI housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity by landlords in owner owned properties. The bill was introduced on April 8 and then sent to the House Judiciary Committee for a hearing on April 27.
The current Rhode Island Fair Housing Practices Act has two exemptions listed at the end of the bill: the discrimination based on sexual orientation exemption and discrimination based on gender identity or expression exemption. They read as followed:
- "Discrimination based on sexual orientation -- Exemption: Nothing in this title shall prohibit an owner of a housing accommodation from refusing to rent to a person based on his or her sexual orientation if the housing accommodation is three (3)units or less, one (1) of which is occupied by the owner."
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"Discrimination based on gender identity or expression -- Exemption: Nothing in this title shall prohibit an owner of a housing accommodation from refusing to rent to a person based on his or her gender identity or expression if the housing accommodation is three (3) units or less, one of which is occupied by the owner."
Bill H6215 seeks to remove these exemptions. In addition, the bill will also amend the definition of sexual orientation in regard to fair housing practices and allow such cases to be heard in the supreme court (in lieu of only having the option of settling through a civil action as the current law has it).
On April 27 the Committee recommended "measure be held for further study.
In related news, Bill H5741 the Gender Inclusive Restroom Act, as covered in last month's newsletter, was recommended for passage by the committee on May 3rd!
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New York and Rhode Island Intersex Bills |
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The term Intersex refers to an individual born with sex characteristics (including genitals, hormone levels, and chromosome patterns) that do not fit into the traditional binary sex categories of male or female. Experts estimate that up to 1.7 percent of the population are born with intersex traitbs.
In the 1960s surgical procedures to "correct" or "fix" intersex individuals began to develop. These procedures stemmed from the desire to help these individuals grow up "normal" and conform to a particular sex to make living in society easier. Both guessing and assigning a sex, as well as the proposed medical procedures have little evidence to support that they improve the lives of these individuals. Many studies actual cite such procedures negatively impact individuals in the future.
On April 22, 2021 The New York City Council passed a bill ,in a 45-2 vote, to spread awareness on dangerous intersex treatments. The bill requires the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to conduct public information and outreach campaigns regarding medically unnecessary treatments or interventions on individuals born with intersex traits or variations in sex characteristics. The goal is to spread awareness and education to both medical professionals and the everyday person.
Rhode Island also has an intersex bill in the works. Bill S0593 aims to protect people born with variations in their sex characteristics from medically unnecessary surgeries during infancy and up until the age of 12 to ensure that life-altering choices about their bodies and, in some cases, gender identities, are not forced upon them soon after they are born. The bill had a hearing in March and has since been "recommended for further study".
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Mission:
Youth Pride, Inc. is dedicated to meeting the unique needs of youth and young adults impacted by sexual orientation and gender identity/expression while working to end the homophobic and transphobic environments in which they live, work and play.
Values:
LEADERSHIP: YPI is committed to creating the leaders of today. Youth voices drive our process, and we seek to develop the leadership skills necessary both within the organization and outside of it.
AFFIRMATION: YPI believes all youth must be affirmed for who they are and how they express themselves. We are committed to making that a reality in all of the environments in which young people live.
COMMUNITY: YPI believes building strong connections is essential to youth success and empowerment. We strive to create a caring, respectful and diverse community of young people and adults.
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Your tax-deductible donation helps YPI continue to do the important work we do in accordance to our mission. Your gift would be directly investing in our state's LGBTQ youth so that they may have a chance to share their gifts and light with the world. |
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Our Programs and Services |
Youth Pride, Inc. serves over 700 Rhode Island LGBTQ youth and their straight allies a year through a variety of programs and services.
Our Center, located on Westminster Street in Providence, primarily serve as a drop-in and programming space, and is currently open to youth ages 13 to 23 on Tuesday and Wednesday from 3-8pm and Thursday from 3 to 5. Youth ages 9 to thirteen are welcome at our exclusive 13 and under drop-in time on Thursdays from 5-8 pm. All YPI Center services and activities are free to youth. YPI youth get to attend events, workshops, cultural, educational, social, and wellness activities at YPI and around the state.
Our center is home to a Basic Needs Pantry, open to youth in need of food, clothing, toiletries, and school supplies. We offer one on one counseling with in-house clinicians. Our clinicians facilitate and supervise three peer-support groups.
YPI also offers support to those who work with youth through policy and advocacy, and by providing professional development workshops and technical assistance to service providers and educators.
For more information on getting involved with YPI as a volunteer or if you or someone you know is in need of our services, contact info@youthprideri.org
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If you have a story you feel should be included in an upcoming newsletter, email Info@youthprideri.org |
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