JULY 15. 2011
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W W W .J U S T O U T .C O M
Living Room Celebrates
Two Years of Welcoming
LGBTQ Youth
When Carolyn Russel’s daughter came
out at age 14, the West Linn elementary
school teacher started looking for ways to
support her and found that there weren’t any
resources in Clackamas County.
Through her involvement with the Port
land chapter of Parents, Families and Friends
of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Russel
learned about the Sexual and
Gender Minority Youth Re
source Center (SMYRC) and
got inspired to start a Clacka
mas chapter of PFLAG.
“She became a SMYRC
kid,” Russel says. And while
she was happy to have found
a safe space for her daughter,
she also acknowledges, “It’s a
lot of bus rides for kids out
here.”
After
the
Clackamas
PFLAG sponsored an alter
native prom that attracted
about 100 Clackamas County youth, Russel
realized she needed to get something going
locally. So she collaborated with R.E. Szego
to found The Living Room.
“We started with two people in a church
basement, now we have a board of nine,”
Russel says. “It’s been amazing how fast
we’ve grown, which tells you something
about the need out here.”
The Living Room now has a weekly drop-
in for queer youth ages 14-20 Wednesdays
from 4-8 p.m. at Oregon Cify’s Atkinson
Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church. It
also hosts events such as the Annual Gay-
Straight Alliance Summit, monthly GSA
meet-ups and the Clackamas County Alter
native Prom.
While the organization receives grants to
cover some of its expenses, it still needs help
.making ends meet. Enter the annual Living
Room fundraiser.
“Last year we did a silent auction, this
year we’re doing... just a celebration,” Russel
says. “We’re using the friend model—Face-
book, you know—hoping people will let us
‘friend’them and give us a donation.”
The second annual fundraiser will serve
both as “a party to celebrate how far we’ve
come in two years” and as a kickoff to the
Living Room’s yearlong giving program,
which allows individuals to make a one-time
or monthly pledge.
The party will be hosted at Oregon City’s
Ainsworth House by Seattle drag sensation
Jinx Monsoon and will include performanc
SUBMITTED PHC
J* _ «
es by Clackamas County jazz band Green
Machine.
“She believes really strongly in what we’re
doing," Russel says of Monsoon, who is a
former SMYRC youth and friend of Rus
sel’s daughter.
So does the Oregon Safe Schools and
Community Coalition, which provides the
Living Room with its 501(c)(3) nonprofit
status.
“They took us under our wing,” Russel
says. “We’re mighty, but we’re small. Still,
we’re trying to grow.”
Part of that growth is about expanding
services to reach more youth in the large
county that includes suburban cities such as
West Linn and Lake Oswego but also en
compasses more rural outposts such as Mol-
lala, Estacada and Sandy.
“I’d like to see us focus more on smaller
rural communities,” Russel says, adding,
“They don’t all have moms who will drive
them.”
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