As the national chair of young adults initiatives at the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) media awards planning committee, Lester Aleman is an integral part of the organization's youth outreach. In the past five years, he has helped GLAAD develop and expand the "Young Adults at the GLAAD Media Awards." The most recent GLAAD Media Awards took place June 2.
"Over the past few years because of Lester's work, the program has really become bigger and better than we ever could have imagined," said Rich Ferraro, GLAAD's vice president of communications. "Really, we couldn't work as GLAAD without amazing volunteers like Lester. People don't realize that we have about 300 or 400 volunteers on the Media Awards each year that help out with the show."
Aleman's work with youth has helped allow the program to annually accommodate about 1,500 high school students from Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. With Aleman's help, this year GLAAD was able to expand youth outreach to a national level.
Windy City Times: How did you originally get started with your community outreach service at GLAAD?
Lester Aleman: I started volunteering with GLAAD five years ago—then it was not a national event; it was just Los Angeles-specific. In my first year, basically I was taking over the youth program. My predecessors had usually brought in 250 students from the L.A. area, and the capacity and seating charts basically told me that I could bring more in so in my first year I brought in about 750 youth from the L.A. area.
I extended my outreach to specifically include high school gay-straight alliances all over the L.A. high school district, and I also worked with sever community based organizations that offer youth services. About a year ago we expanded to include New York City and this year is our first year officially as a national program.
WCT: What is the overall feeling of the students that you work with to bring to the media awards?
LESTER ALEMAN: I would say that they are very excited about every single piece of the GLAAD Media Awards. A lot of the young adults that we bring to the event are the activists, the artists, the musicians, so they are very involved people. To see someone get an award for using some of the same skills that they already use in their day-to-day lives, I think is really impressive to them, but also it's very empowering. ... [T]hey not only see a great celebrity up there being acknowledged for portraying a LGBT character positively but to see hope in themselves to also be that one day.
WCT: What is the decision process like [regarding] which groups are able to attend the show?
LESTER ALEMAN: I personally have a policy where every group that submits a request to attend the show will come. The way this works is that there is a seating capacity for each of our events. ... Every organization that submitted a request was granted some amount of seats. That way, all the organizations that submitted a request can actually attend; even if it's not the amount that they requested, there is still an opportunity for them to attend.
WCT: Is there a lot of fundraising that the students do?
LESTER ALEMAN: The young adults program in all three of our cities are free; they're complimentary. The GLAAD development team and the special-events team work really hard to solicit sponsors at different levels. For example, this year three of our major sponsors are Major League Baseball, Cirque du Soleil and Edison International.
WCT: How has your experience changed the way you organize youth?
LESTER ALEMAN: Aging, for me, is fascinating. Every year as I work to bring young people to each of these shows. It's inspiring to me to know that the legacy that we as young people are trying to leave in this community is something that these younger people will take on. For me to be able to do this is very symbolic of passing the torch to the next generation of leaders in the LGBT movement. It's kind of like a cornerstone moment where these young people understand what it means to be a part of this community, but also what it means to be part of this movement. When I meet these young people, it gives me so much pride and more hope for what we can accomplish moving forward.
WCT: How can people get involved?
LESTER ALEMAN: Volunteer opportunities are available on the GLAAD website. As a national event we are more than happy to welcome groups of students that want to attend. … [F]or adults, thinking about how inspirational it is for young people to watch the show, for adults [it's about being] able to be more connected to other young adult organizations, and either volunteer with them or sponsor a trip.
For more information, visit www.glaad.org .
