For Pride month, Southborough Youth and Family Services is again inviting the public to learn “How to Be a Sensitive and Informed LGBTQ+ Ally”.
Registration is encouraged but not required. Last year, Christina McCarthy told me the presentation by GSA Link’s Melissa Clark was appropriate for both adults and teens. (If you have any questions, you can call her at 508-481-5676.)
SYFS’ June Bulletin promotes:
Founded by Melissa Clark and her son Ryan, GSA Link is a local 501c(3) organization that aims to connect, empower, and inspire LGBTQ+ youth. With LGBTQ+ youth often being subject to violence, marginalization, alienation, and rejection from a variety of sources, including their family members, peers, teachers, strangers, and the media, community and mentorship is vital. With this in mind, Melissa and Ryan decided more needed to be done, and started GSA Link to become the link that connects, in an effort to help to support and inspire LGBTQ+ youth.
(Scroll down for more details about the organization’s mission.)*
The session is scheduled for this Thursday, June 16th, 6:30 pm at 21 Highland Street. You can sign up here. (Walk-ins will also be welcome.)
The Bulletin also highlighted Pride month with the following description credited to CNN:
June is Pride Month, when the world’s LGBTQ communities come together and celebrate the freedom to be themselves.
Pride gatherings are rooted in the arduous history of minority groups who have struggled for decades to overcome prejudice and be accepted for who they are.
The original organizers chose this month to pay homage to the Stonewall uprising in June 1969 in New York City, which helped spark the modern gay rights movement. Most Pride events take place each year in June, although some cities hold their celebrations at other times of the year.
Pride events welcome anyone who feels like their sexual identity falls outside the mainstream – although many straight people join in, too.
LGBTQ is an acronym meaning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. The term sometimes is extended to LGBTQIA, to include intersex and asexual groups. Queer is an umbrella term for non-straight people; intersex refers to those whose sex is not clearly defined because of genetic, hormonal or biological differences; and asexual describes those who don’t experience sexual attraction.
These terms may also include gender-fluid people, or those whose gender identity shifts over time or depending on the situation.
For other news from the monthly bulletin, click here.
*GSA Link seeks to connect, empower, and inspire LGBTQ+ youth. Today, few programs currently exist to serve this specific population. For the youth who get involved, we have a variety of programs designed to listen to and promote their voices with peer and adult support. With every new struggle, discovery, friend, and triumph, we aim to show LGBTQ+ youth that they deserve to be their most authentic selves and that we’re here to celebrate them through it all.
