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The precocious life of Sebastian Jambor
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by Nadia Cannon
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381 1 N . M i s s i s s i p p i Av e .
Portland, Oregon
503-288-4889
Sebastian Jambor puts gender fluidity ahead of gender identity
^ rans teen Sebastian Jambor has a
Voices o f Individual and Com m unity
deep and dedicated passion for
Empowerment from the Streets, the HIV pre
education, especially relating to
vention art group at Outside In, a drop-in
queer youth. He volunteers at
center for homeless youth, provides a more
more than five nonprofit organi creative outlet for the work he does. “Making
zations, mostly in health programs.
art in such a queer-friendly space is really
And all at age 16. This year, while a precocious
fun,” he notes.
senior at Cleveland High Schcxil and living on his
He also works at Basic Rights Oregon on the
own, he is changing the face of youth activism.
Youth Advisory Committee and the Trans
Advisory Group, both of which make recom
At the age of 13, Jambor came home with
mendations to the nonprofit organization on
a shaved head and came out to his mom,
Nancy, as hi. When the two of them attend their respective communities.
ed a commitment ceremony for his fifth-grade
Cleveland High serves Jambor’s needs with
basketball coach, it helped her come to terms
“great teachers and a good system— it’s just the
with her child’s sexual orientation.
students who are lacking.” Once while waiting
Coming out to his father, Tom Zell, took a
for the bus, he was harassed by a group of kids
little longer. When Jambor was in Canada with
who were confused about his trans identity;
friends and family, he made a bet with his pals
other than that, the hostility from others is lim
that he would do it and came out to his dad out ited to disapproving looks in the halls.
side a candy shop called Death by Chocolate.
Nevertheless, in the classroom Jambor is
bright and loves English and writing programs.
His older brother, Nate, is also supportive,
even though he isn’t sure how to react to his sib His hope for Cleveland is that it eventually will
change for the better.
ling’s gender identity yet. “He has heard people
Jambor, like many of his peers, is looking ahead
call me (Sebastian) but doesn’t chcxise to react to
it,” says' Jambor, who doesn’t seem deeply both toward future careers. He is determined to make
ered about it. The two— despite some occasional
an impact on the health care system by revolu
tionizing queer youth services. He hopes to make
spats— find plenty of other things to talk about.
vast changes, and he certainly already has begun.
Now, Jambor identifies as genderqueer and
He also is thinking about college; San Fran
surfs the border between gender and sexuality
identities. “Either pronoun is fine for me. I’m cisco State, Reed, Howard and Wellesley are at
the top of the list. In typical fashion, this white
pretty fluid," says Jambor, for whom the fluidity
youth finds Howard’s status as a historically black
is more important than each identity.
college all the more alluring. “It’d be really gtxxj
When asked about his favorite volunteering
job, he quickly picks Cascade A ID S Project’s for me to be in a racial minority for once.”
Jambor lives in an apartment with his cat,
Teen to Teen. He says the group dix:sn’t box
Saja (“my darling,” he calls her), reads and hangs
him into a leadership position but is just a place
out at Portland cafes. Even though most kids his
to have fun— while educating, of course.
But the program that Jamhor calls his baby is age don’t have their own place, he talks about it
matter-of-factly: “I just get along better with my
Bridge 13, another youth-led health education
program. “We really don’t want to see the pro parents when we're not living together."
In some ways, Jamhor s life is that of a typical
gram go," he says about the work he and activist
youth,
but his leadership and quiet confidence,
Tina Barfixit have been doing. His remarkable
calm about the difficult world of sex education is changing the city step by step, are unique. He
does things the right way and respects those he
indicative; he’s gixxl at it.
So gtxxj, in fact, that hanging out at the Sex works with. In return, he earns respect. in
ual Minority Youth Recreation Center, a place
NADIA C annon , farmer Just Out intern
where Jambor once thrived, has become a
extraordinaire,
is nou1 doing documentary work in
headache for him. He is viewed as a role mixiel
Portland,
Maine.
She can he contacted at
there and is in a p o tio n that “forces me to be per- j
feet all the time. It’s just too stressful," Jamhor says. 1 ncanrum@smith. edu.
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