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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 1998)
m m news he Sexual Minority Youth Recre ation Center is a great place to go if you need a role model. Just don’t get confused and look to the adults J M k , who are there as volunteers. The role models at this drop-in center for queers 23 and younger are the youths themselves. “People ask me who the leaders are in Port land’s queer community,” says Venae Rodriguez, youth services manager for Phoenix Rising Foundation, the mental health agency that operates SM YRC. “It’s the youth. T he strength they have to be comfortable, confident and out at age 15 blows my mind.” By day, these community leaders— who just happen to be young— can be found going to work and school, writing grants, trying to keep warm and dry on the streets, running workshops as peer educators, making art. But on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights, you’ll find them at SM YRC. “It’s like Cheers. Everyone knows your name," assesses Aaron Scott, 17, a member of the youth steering committee that guides this unique facility on the east end of the Burnside Bridge. “People come here just to chill.” On a recent Friday night, a steady flow of trans, bi, lesbian, gay and questioning youths munch carrots and cookies while hanging out to register their observations about SM YRC. Some come for the art opening, an installa tion of black-and-white photographs by Trish Phillips. Others linger after attending the week ly art, writing and activity group, Personal Deity Proxy, that meets in a room at the rear of the facility. The couches in the lounge area of the cav ernous space host a constantly shifting constel lation of solo readers, pairs and trios in quiet conversation, and others who just sit back and take it all in. In the computer area, Tiffany Lavender, a 23- year-old theology student, strokes stray strands of hair with elegant fingers as she discusses plans for SM YRC ’s new Web site, while several youth log on to the Internet. When the action at the pool table falls silent for a moment, a lone player racks up the balls and breaks them, then walks away until some one else saunters by to take up a cue. But despite all the attractions at SM YRC, this night the biggest draw is the skateboard park. Yes, a skateboard park for finger boards built from cardboard and clay on the floor in the comer of the lounge, complete with ramps, curbs, and a decapitated casualty for added drama. ow to sum up a place that is nearly unimaginable to most adults who came out when the bars were the only place to go? It’s H SM Y R C ’s Y oung T urks Queer youths have settled in and made a place for themselves at the Sexual Minority Youth Recreation Center by H olly P ru ett Paige Powell, 17, whose abstract paintings were featured in SM YRC ’s first art show, adds, “It’s totally great to hang out somewhere that no one will question you about why you want to have sex with another girl.” Powell came out a year ago in Lake Oswego. In a backwards baseball cap and hooded sweat shirt, looking like the other young dykes domi nating the pool table, she remembers, “I thought I was the only gay person on the planet. It’s real ly nice to come here and meet others my age.” n a typical night about 20 youths hang out at the center; most are out but many are closeted or questioning. T he majority are between 15 and 19 years old. While drop-ins come from all parts of town and all types of backgrounds, SM YRC is used by fewer youths of color and street youths than the steering committee would like. Racism, clas- sism, biphobia, transphobia, and the sex indus try are all “issues needing to be addressed,” says Houser. Also topping their social change agenda is continued negotiations concerning youth con trol at SM YRC. Tusaya, 17— also known as Mr. T and self- described as a “really big trans activist”— gives voice to others’ fears: “It’s supposed to be a youth place. W hen older people try to take it away from us, it bothers me.” Working within a mental health agency like Phoenix Rising imposes some constraints on the autonomy of the youths who lead the center. Already a role model for other organizers at 15, Houser offers a pragmatic approach to the per sistent tensions: “W e’re looking for a happy medium. We just need good communication among all parties.” One solution is to hire a youth intern to work with Rodriguez, “to help her make deci sions from a youth perspective,” as Tusaya sees it. But that takes money. And that’s where adults can be most helpful, according to steering com m ittee members. T h eir wish list for SM Y R C includes funding for expanded hours, the youth intern, and continued improvements to the building, along with donations of “stuff” including computer programs, art supplies, books and videos, curtains and volunteer labor. “T he role most adults want to play is a men tor or parent,” reflects Houser. “They want to share their experiences but don’t view it as an equal relationship. Come in here and get to know me as a person first.” O Sure it looks homey, but hanging out isn’t the only thing on the agenda at SM YRC simple: “SM Y RC kicks butt,” declares Britta Houser, 15. Houser, a SM Y RC founder, likens the cre ation of SM YRC to having a baby. “We took it from a dirty old tattoo parlor with swastikas on the wall to this warm, welcoming place,” she says, proudly gesturing with a carrot stick to the rec room outside the glass-walled office that houses Phoenix Rising’s youth service staff. Along with Em Sangrey, now a college fresh man, Houser and other members of their youth group “wanted to make a difference,” says Angie Nett, 15, another member of the youth steering committee, whose face is lightly dusted with glitter. “They wanted youth to have power, to have a place that they could run and make deci sions.” After partnering with Phoenix Rising, the youth founders put in hours of unpaid work to raise money, find a suitable building and trans form it, hire staff, and establish the “by youth, for youth” philosophy and policies that are its backbone. Seed funding came from a one-time-only $40,000 United Way grant. Youth and adult volunteers contributed more than $15,000 in labor and materials. Rodriguez, a Tacoma native transplanted from Austin, Texas, joined the Phoenix Rising staff just as SM YRC opened and hired youth steering committee member Zanna Gibbs, 23, to staff the rec center. Gibbs, a k a Zanna Banana, keeps an unob trusive eye on the door at all times, steers former tattoo parlor customers away, and, as she puts it, “makes sure everyone is safe.” Proving that if you build it, they will come, the grand opening in May was “totally packed,” recalls Nett. “The vibe was totally cool. The energy was perfect.” Scott, preppy and earnest compared with some of his grungier cohorts, remembers their first art opening and the party they threw on queer pride weekend. “Both events were so jammed you couldn’t move around. It was mind-hlowing to see people having fun and to know that you helped to start it,” he says. Houser adds, “It’s astounding what it does for your self-esteem and your self-image.” How does having a place to play pool accom plish all of that? Scott says: “You’re judged way less here than anywhere else. Everyone here knows about being different.” THE commun hom e m ■ SM Y R C is located at 424 E. Burnside St. in Portland. Drop-in hours are Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m ., and Friday and Saturday from 4 p m. to midnight. For more information, call 872-9664. N ew purchase 1 0 0 % eq u ity loans P re-q u alification by p h o n e o r fax Refinance/cash o u t Pre-approved loans R esid en tial, co m m ercial & in v estm en t property A p p o in tm en ts at y o u r co n v en ien ce Office 297-9900 •/ ad^ht/Re V; - Evenings/Weekends FRONTLINE 780-1561 “Im available when you are! Colleen Weed ” JJA MORTGAGE Advocates 9 9 0 0 S. W. W i Is h ir e S treet • P o rtla n d , O regon 9 7 2 2 5