northwest
Queer Youth Identify
Conference gives kids a place to be themselves
by West Duncan
ne word sums up the students at Catlin
Gable School in charge of putting on
this year’s Oregon Queer Youth
Conference: brave.
As many face their teenage years in
survival mode, these students are making it pos
sible for gay youth to do more than just survive
high school. The pupils of Students and Friends for
Equality (SAFE) have put their own identities on
the line for the sake of others to be able to do the
same.
“This gives a place for kids to go and relax,
check out different identities and see what it’s like
to be who you want to be,” said Sue Phillips, librar
ian and co-adviser for SAFE. “I wish 1 was that
comfortable at their age.”
For the fourth year in a row, SAFE has played
host to the conference, drawing teens from
Ashland to La Pine. The daylong conference
addresses everything from queer health and safe sex
to the poetry of Walt Whitman. Taught by teens
and adults, the workshops educate in an accessible
way for all to be actively involved.
One such workshop, “Life as an Amoeba,” pro
vides information not ordinarily discussed in the
standard “birds and bees” talk. SAFE member Blake
Zwerling, a 17-year-old who identifies as an “asexual
hetero-romantic” woman, leads this group to supply
her peers with information about not having sex.
“Life among the world is very confusing," said
Zwerling. “In a lot of ways, being asexual keeps my
life simple. I want people to know that it’s there. It
wasn’t until OQYC that 1 had a lightning bolt and
realized that you could be asexual.”
Stewart Towle, an 18-year-old who identifies as
“homo-flexible,” also sees the direct need for this
conference to exist for himself and his peers.
Acting as the co-president for SAFE and the head
organizer for the conference, he is passionate about
this gathering being a tool for anyone facing the
isolation that comes from being different.
“The OQYC was the first place I felt safe being
myself,” he said. “1 feel like there are plenty of
places to look that will help you with your struggle,
but all I want to do is meet people.”
Towle’s experience is not unlike many others
who are embracing the headway being made in
queer visibility. Instead of a growing number of hate
crimes in high schools, there are increased numbers
of Gay Straight Alliances around the country.
Groups like SAFE are beginning to have a place on
campus thanks to the success of conferences like
these.
Another ally present to lend its support is the
Sexual Minority Resource Center. The Portland
organization has partnered with the event since
2004. This year, it hosted a sleep-over for youth
traveling far to attend the conference.
Rej Joo, an AmeriCorps
health education specialist
for SMYRC, has been with
the organization for six
months and already sees the
impact of a younger genera
tion being out and proud.
“We hear about these kids
telling others about SMYRC,
the OQYC and other things
and how their faces just light
up!” said Joo.
The conference is not
only a place for youth to let
themselves question and
discuss their truths, but to
speak them to each other.
For many, openly discussing
their sexuality with friends
SMYRC supervisor Zan Gibbs and clinical intern counselor Nathan
and family isn’t an option,
Smith lend a helping hand at the Oregon Queer Youth Conference.
either, or the subject is tip
toed around. The conference provides the safety of thing to find, the kids of SAFE and all who make
peers and faculty when there are sometimes no
the conference possible present a spectrum of
other places to go.
choices for anyone who attends. The reward is a
“For me, dealing with teenage angst and being
new sense of possibility and hope for what is to
come.
©
so confused is hard. When I came to the Oregon
Queer Youth Conference, it was OK to be
Portland freelance writer WEST DUNCAN can be
confused,” said Zwerling.
reached at westofaminor^yahoo.com.
When just having options can be the hardest
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