>From: duncan@JANET.UCLA.EDU (Phil Duncan) >Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1993 00:27:37 -0700 (PDT) "I don't exactly know what this is," the letter began, "but I hope it's a blessing. For so long I've wanted to talk to someone, just for a minute, about being gay, but where I come from it's impossible. I am the only person I know that feels this way and I'm afraid to think what would happen if someone found out." The feelings expressed in this letter are familiar to many gay men and lesbians. The inner struggle to accept a homosexual orientation is often experienced alone, without family or friends to lead the way. For those questioning their sexuality, the lack of role models and accurate information can lead to frustration and despair. Coping with the pressures of adolescence is difficult enough. For gay, lesbian or bisexual youth, the isolation and alienation can end tragically. Gay and lesbian teens attempt suicide at three times the rate of their heterosexual peers. Lambda Youth Network wants to make the passage to self-acceptance easier for those in need of honest answers, facts and support. We have a single clear purpose: to reach out to isolated gay and lesbian youth nationwide. We do this by advertising in youth-oriented publications -- offering a comprehensive resource list which includes: - Gay and lesbian community centers and youth helplines - Youth groups and youth newsletters - Sources for reading lists on homosexuality - HIV and safer sex information - Ethnic, professional, and cultural organizations in the gay and lesbian community Our initial advertisements resulted in over 500 responses from young people in 47 states, living in 322 towns and cities. As recent hostility towards gays and lesbians demonstrates, the need for our outreach program is as crucial as ever. We need to counter this hatred and misinformation so that today's youth can find support, not fear. Our resource list can help young people get answers to these and many other questions: - Where can I get information about homosexuality? - Does my city have a lesbian and gay bookstore? - Where can I find a gay or lesbian pen pal? - Where can I learn about HIV and safer sex? The more ads we place offering our resource and referral list, the more young people we can help to find the answers. At Lambda Youth Network we're already helping hundreds, as shown by the letters we receive. The following are just a sample: "I am a gay 17 year old living in a small rural town two hours from a city. I have never knowingly spoken to another gay person. I feel I'm dying inside because I can't find someone to love. It's so hard. I hope you can help." - Steve, age 17 "I am very proud to be a lesbian and hope you can help me to get actively involved in the gay community. I am at a very small college where no one knows I'm gay." - Cindy, age 18 "I am writing to thank you for your help. Thanks to you I can start to move on with my life... I will always remember you for this." - Greg, age 16 Please help us to continue helping people like Steve, Cindy, and Greg by contributing to our advertising outreach program. Because we are an all-volunteer organization, over 90% of our budget goes directly to pay the cost of advertising our resource list. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yes! I want to support Lambda Youth Network's outreach program to gay, lesbian and bisexual youth. Enclosed is my contribution of: [ ] $12 Friend [ ] $25 Supporter [ ] $50 Sustainer [ ] $100 Patron [ ] Other $________ Name: Address: City: State: Zip: Lambda Youth Network is a non-profit public benefit corporation classified as a 501c3 organization under the Internal Revenue Service Code Please send to: Lambda Youth Network P.O. Box 7911 Culver City, CA 90233 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I know it's a lot of effort to send in a contribution -- print the form, write a check, address an envelop, find a stamp... Remember what it was like to be young and gay. Did you grow up in a city with no visible gay population as I did? Help others in this situation avoid the feelings of loneliness and isolation too many of us experienced. Please pull out that checkbook NOW while it's on your mind. To date our batting average is reaching one person for every two dollars of advertising budget. Ads have appeared in Request (publication of Musicland/SamGoody), Pulse (publication of Tower Records), US, and Rolling Stone. PLEASE help the young people in our FAMILY to become strong, healthy and proud -- they are the future of our movement. Hopefully we will have our youth resource list available at the QRD very soon. If you have any info on GLB youth oriented services in your area, please forward (what they offer, address, phone, hours of operation, etc.) to me at duncan@janet.ucla.edu -- please include LYN in the subject line so that my mail filter can properly direct the data. Thanks, Phil D.