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GOOD DEEDS
Youth Pride steps up to the challenge
BY Nina Mamikunian

Noticing a high suicide rate for gay and lesbian youth and a lack of support services for them, the Samaritans began Way Out, a group with only four members meeting twice a week, in 1992. The group later became Youth Pride Inc. (YPI), Rhode Island’s only organization offering support services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, and it now serves more than 400 youths each year.

Support for LGBT youth has slowly, but steadily increased since YPI was established. In the last 10 years, YPI has been instrumental in the passage of the gay rights bill and the transgender bill, both which call for nondiscrimination in schools. The group also helped to form and sustain the Gay Straight Alliance Coalition at more than 23 schools to promote advocacy and prevent discrimination.

According to Berto Galvao, YPI’s assistant director, many of the challenges remain the same as they were 10 years ago, although youth are much more vocal about them. LGBT youth still face hate crimes and harassment, with many adults turning a blind eye. They still deal with questions of isolation and identity, and struggle with few visible role models. Multiple issues of race and class compound these matters, creating what Galvao calls "an interconnection of challenges." However, YPI is stepping up, creating more resources and providing LGBT youth with more open doors.

Sixteen-year-old Noel DeJesus first came to YPI three years ago for tutoring. He has since joined its board of directors and helps to coordinate events. For Noel, Galvao has been the "big brother I never had. He’s never said no and never closed a door. I can call him up at three in the morning and say, ‘Berto, what should I do? And he’ll say I can’t tell you what to do, but I’ll help show you what you can do, how you can help yourself.’ " The adults and youth whom Noel has met through YPI have become part of his life, his family. They have shown him that there are opportunities for him beyond the streets and hustling, and how to combat homophobia.

Located at 95 Cedar Street in downtown Providence, YPI offers a drop-in center with a fully stocked kitchen, academic tutoring, and peer and professional counseling. YPI opens its doors to all young people and encourages them to visit. The need for larger space prompted a recent move to a larger home on Cedar Street from George M. Cohan Boulevard.

YPI’s long-range goal is to keep growing. The group looks forward to the day when it can purchase its own building to show, as Galvao put it, "That we’re staying, we’re not going anywhere." He adds, "We want to give the youth a place of their own, a home, that they can’t get kicked out of." For more information on YPI, call (401) 421-5626.


Issue Date: May 2 - 8, 2003
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