Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

LGBTQ youth of color discuss issues left out of gay agenda
From a news release
2013-02-12

This article shared 2310 times since Tue Feb 12, 2013
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email


The Connect Our Roots Summit will highlight organizing strategies and tactics to address homelessness, police violence and diminishing services for LGBTQ Youth.

"As LGBTQ youth of color, we stand at the intersections of many identities and issues. We are queer and trans. We are people of color. We are immigrants. We are from low-income families. To make meaningful, lasting change, we must organize a movement where those of us who are most directly impacted by the issues are at the heart of leadership!"

— Ana Conner, FIERCE National Fellow, age 20

Over 30 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) youth of color, representing 16 cities from across the country, will gather in Chicago from February 15-17 for a three-day grassroots organizing summit. The Connect Our Roots organizing summit will include youth-led workshops to build organizing skills and share organizing models and strategies. Participants will discuss specific conditions they are facing in their regions, lead political education sessions on topics such as LGBTQ history and immigration, and conduct visionary planning to build the presence, capacity and effectiveness of LGBTQ youth organizing across the U.S.

The Connect Our Roots Summit is organized by FIERCE ( www.fiercenyc.org ), a NYC-based organization dedicated to building the leadership and power of LGBTQ youth of color. FIERCE is working in partnership with Chicago-based host committee members: Young Women's Empowerment Project, Affinity, Broadway Youth Center, and GenderJust.

Everyday, thousands of LGBTQ youth, and disproportionately youth of color, experience homelessness, a lack of safe public spaces, violence, and criminalization. Despite increased visibility of LGBTQ issues like marriage equality and anti-gay bullying, the experiences of LGBTQ youth of color are largely left out of mainstream discourse, along with the complexity of issues impacting their lives.

While there are a growing number of LGBTQ youth organizations across the country, many are serviced-based and not engaged in developing progressive campaigns to meet the urgent needs of LGBTQ youth or address the root causes that allow problems to continue. It is critical to build a LGBTQ multi-strategy movement—one that emphasizes grassroots community organizing as a strategy for change. It is equally critical to support the development of young people's leadership to identify their problems and build their political power to demand solutions created by and for LGBTQ youth. The Connect Our Roots national summit is an alternative space to do just that—to help build a LGBTQ movement that centers youth organizing and empowers LGBTQ youth of color experiences, dialogues and solutions.

The event will take place on Friday, Feb. 15 thru Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013.

Opening Panel will take place at the Chicago Freedom School, 719 S. State St., Suite 3N, Chicago. Summit Sessions will be held at HI-Chicago, 24 East Congress Parkway, Chicago.

Follow FIERCE on twitter , tumblr , instagram and facebook .

Connect Our Roots Summit Hashtags: #CORS2013 and #ConnectOurRoots.


This article shared 2310 times since Tue Feb 12, 2013
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Nex Benedict's autopsy report released 2024-03-27
- The full autopsy report for Nex Benedict (he/they)—a 16-year-old transgender and Indigenous student from Oklahoma's Owasso High School who died in February a day after a school fight—has been released. The Oklahoma Office of the Chie ...


Gay News

Former Chicago Girl Scouts CEO Brooke Wiseman to receive Luminary Award 2024-03-22
- Brooke Wiseman, a now-retired nonprofit leader in the Chicago area, spent most of her career creating leadership development opportunities for girls and women—and making sure that hungry children could be fed. While leading Girl Scouts of ...


Gay News

Windy City Times seeks nominations for 30 Under 30 Awards 2024-03-18
--From a press release - CHICAGO—After a four-year hiatus, Windy City Times has revived its 30 Under 30 Awards. Windy City Times is seeking to recognize 30 more outstanding LGBTQ+ individuals (and allies). Nominees should be 30 years or younger as ...


Gay News

One Roof Chicago launches youth-focused workforce development program 2024-03-14
- One Roof Chicago (ORC) is set to launch its first training, education and job placement program for LGBTQ+ young adults in late spring. This Community Health Workers and Elder Care program is a part of ORC's ...


Gay News

UPDATE: Nex Benedict's death ruled a suicide; family responds 2024-03-13
- A medical examiner's report concluded that the cause of death of Oklahoma student Nex Benedict (he/they) was suicide, media reports confirmed. Benedict—a 16-year-old transgender student—died Feb. 8, a day after ...


Gay News

Center on Halsted hosts 6th Annual Intergenerational Talent Show 2024-03-03
- On the evening of Feb. 29, Center on Halsted held its 6th Annual Intergenerational Talent Show in front of a packed audience at the Hoover-Leppen Theater. The event brought together participants of the Center's youth and senior ...


Gay News

Federal investigation initiated in Nex Benedict case 2024-03-02
- The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has started an investigation into the Oklahoma school district where Nex Benedict, a transgender 16-year-old sophomore, went to school and was bullied before his death, The Advocate ...


Gay News

Court blocks Texas attorney general's demand for PFLAG data 2024-03-01
- From a press release: AUSTIN, Texas—Travis County District Court Judge Maria Cantú Hexel on March 1 blocked the latest effort by the Texas Attorney General's Office to persecute Texas families with transgender youth, temporarily haltin ...


Gay News

NATIONAL School items, HIV/AIDS activist dies, Nex Benedict, inclusive parade 2024-03-01
- In a new survey, the Pew Research Center asked public K-12 teachers, teens and the U.S. public about the ongoing scrutiny placed on classroom curricula, mainly regarding race and LGBTQ+ identities, ABC News noted. Among other ...


Gay News

Appeals court allows Ind. ban on gender-affirming care for minors 2024-03-01
- On Feb. 27, a federal appeals court in Chicago allowed Indiana's ban on gender-affirming care to go into effect, removing a temporary injunction that U.S. District Court Judge James Patrick Hanlon issued last year, ABC News ...


Gay News

Activists and others urge removal of Oklahoma schools superintendent after Nex Benedict death 2024-02-28
- TULSA, OKLAHOMA—Today more than 350 national, state, and local organizations advocating for equality across the U.S., alongside notable public figures, issued an open letter to Oklahoma legislative leadership urging justice ...


Gay News

911 calls, videos show cascade of failures in Nex Benedict's death, GLAAD responds 2024-02-24
- "It is haunting to hear Nex Benedict, in their own words, describe how school and state leaders failed, at every level of leadership, to keep them safe from bullying and harm. Less than 24 hours later, ...


Gay News

Oklahoma non-binary student dies after being assaulted 2024-02-21
- Officials acknowledged there are unresolved questions about a 16-year-old non-binary Oklahoma student who died one day after a fight in a high school bathroom, NBC News noted. Chuck Hoskin Jr., principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, ...


Gay News

Owasso High School student of Bridge v. Oklahoma State Board of Education case dies, groups respond 2024-02-20
--From press releases - Oklahoma City, Okla. — In response to the death of 16-year-old Owasso High School student Nex Benedict following an assault in the school restroom, Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the ACLU of Oklahoma ...


Gay News

Center on Halsted to host trans youth & family summit 2024-02-19
- Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St., has announced that its Trans Youth & Family Summit 2024 will take place March 16. This year marks the sixth annual event, which partners between Youth Services' Pride Youth ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.