Subject: NGLTF Youth Institute 8/24
From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 14:33:26 -0400

NATIONAL GAY & LESBIAN TASK FORCE 
Press Release

Contact: Robin Kane, (202) 332-6483, ext. 3311
************

25 YOUTH COMPLETE INTENSIVE WEEK-LONG TRAINING

City Proclamation Issued to Commend NGLTF's 
Youth Leadership Training Institute 

Washington, DC -- August 24, 1995 -- Twenty-five youth activists from around
the nation gathered August 13 through 20 for an intensive Youth Leadership
Training Institute, sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
(NGLTF).  The city of San Francisco issued a proclamation signed by the mayor
commending the 25 participants, who were chosen from among 140 applicants.

 The NGLTF Youth Institute was created to increase the confidence, skills and
leadership abilities of the participants -- all of whom have committed to
apply those skills to a specific project back home.  The week was
action-packed with a wide range of session topics, including alliance
building; conflict resolution; speakers bureaus; hotlines; statewide/rural
networks; event/action organizing; visibility and outreach; youth organizing
in the age of HIV/AIDS; public speaking; media skills; demystifiying
fundraising; grantwriting; Internet activism; rural organizing; and
organizing by and for people of color.  

 All the participants were immediately able to practice the skills they
learned by applying them directly to their projects back home.  The youths
each created realistic program goals and timeline, media plans, outreach and
visibility programs and a fundraising scheme for their project, and consulted
during one-on-one sessions with trainers to evaluate their plans.

 In addition to energetic participation in the workshops and other sessions,
the youth came up with creative ways to help stay connected with one another
and support each others' projects.  In the fundraising session, those with
more skills and experience created a buddy system with other individuals and
committed to working with each other over the next year.  The youth also
created a regional structure so that the 25 Youth Institute graduates may
continue to serve as an ongoing network of support.

 According to participants and trainers, the youth filled virtually every
hour of the day with skills-building, organizing discussions, and more
skills-building -- sometimes turning even relaxation time into further
training sessions.  The youth did squeeze in a beach bonfire, talent show and
dance party during the intensive training week. 

 "I came here with my doubts and my fears," said Alex Yim of Framingham,
Massachusetts at the close of the training.  "I leave with love and
understanding.  I have the confidence and skills that I need.  Now I go back
to my community and give back what they gave me." Yim is a 22-year-old
Korean-American lesbian who is an active member of the Framingham Regional
Alliance of Gay/Lesbian Youth and served as a youth phone counselor at
Boston's Fenway Community Health Center.  She intends to start a regional
youth speakers bureau for the Framingham area.

 "The skills we learned and enhanced will be used from Hawaii to Maine,
Florida to Alaska," said Terry Summers of Laramie, Wyoming.  "It was a week
that changed my life FOREVER."  Summers is a 22-year-old white man who is an
active member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Association at
the University of Wyoming.

 "I'm leaving this conference with the skills and the energy to add a spark
to the developing movement for change in this country," said Wendy O'Neal of
Atlanta, Georgia.  "I say this as a black woman who loves women, who
struggles against the intersection of racism, sexism and homophobia.  I will
go home ready to claim a space for myself with celebration and pride."
 O'Neal, who is 21-years-old, has been working to increase the visibility and
acceptance of lesbian and bisexual women at Spelman College.  She wants to
establish a regional network of youth of color activists.

 "As a youth organizer in the movement, I find myself continuously educating
the public," said Erik Richard of Portland, Maine.  "But from the moment I
arrived at the airport, I was not only learning about youth activism but was
educated about the true diversity that exists within our community. As a
result of this institute, I have reached a place in my life that I wouldn't
have been at otherwise."  Richard is an 18-year-old white gay man who dropped
out of high school after he came out at 15 and the school refused to protect
him from the violence he faced.  He is active in Outright Portland, a support
group and statewide speaker's bureau, and has been active in electoral
politics.

 NGLTF provided scholarships, including travel, lodging, food and all
training expenses, for each youth who needed assistance to attend the
training.  The diverse group of youth activists hailed from Alaska, Oregon,
Minnesota, Washington, California, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, South Dakota,
Rhode Island, New York, Indiana, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, New
Hampshire, Florida, Hawaii, Wyoming, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

 "The energy of the youth was infectious," said NGLTF Executive Director
Melinda Paras, who attended the training for two days and addressed the youth
about their connection to the movement for lesbian/gay/bisexual rights.  "I
was deeply impressed by the leadership abilities and commitment of the youth,
and enjoyed learning about their projects back home.  During the course of
the week's training, they became a force to be reckoned with."

 The training team for the Youth Institute included Rachel Timoner, a
24-year-old white Jewish lesbian who is the former associate director of the
 NGLTF Policy Institute and founder of a gay youth hotline in San Francisco;
Quang Dang, a 23-year-old activist in the areas of immigrants' rights, HIV
prevention and education reform; and Sean Sasser, a 26-year-old African
American HIV-positive AIDS educator and activist, who was the partner of
famed youth HIV educator the late Pedro Zamora, of MTV's "Real World."

 "I have led many trainings, but this one was special," said training
coordinator Timoner.  "I have never before worked with a group that showed
one another as much love and respect as this group did.  It was particularly
rewarding to lead this institute knowing that the participants would
immediately put the knowledge into action, that the learning would translate
into real change.  I'm eager to see the results of this Institute sprouting
across the country throughout the next year."

--end--
[Editor's Note: Limited photos of the Youth Institute are available by
calling Robin Kane, NGLTF Media Director, at (202) 332-6483, ext. 3311.  Also
call Kane if you are interested in contacting a youth participant from your
region.]