Gay teenagers to get
support group
By Adam Martignetti,
ecnnews.com Online, February 23, 2006
NEWBURYPORT, MA -- Newburyport
Youth Services has received a state grant to start a Gay/Straight Alliance aimed
at providing a safe environment for gay teenagers.
The goal of the group is to build community spirit, mutual understanding and
support among gay and lesbian youth, children of gay families and their friends,
said youth services director Andrea Egmont.
"I heard a lot of kids were out," Egmont said. "I talked to the schools,
and I found this was not something that really existed. It's an area where
the city has not directly addressed."
A survey administered to Newburyport High School students last year revealed
that one in 12 students — or 8 percent — identified himself or herself as gay,
lesbian, bisexual, transgender or unsure.
The $550 state grant, given by the Governor's Commission on Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual and Transgendered Youth, will pay for a startup event in May.
After that, Egmont hopes to connect the local alliance with other resources and
activities sponsored in the state.
Gay/Straight Alliance chapters are increasingly common in high schools and even
middle schools, as youth identify themselves as homosexual at earlier ages.
According to the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, 3,000 alliances have
been set up in schools across the country, and almost one in 10 high schools has
one. That figure is up from 100 groups 20 years ago.
The increase in support groups can partially be attributed to greater cultural
awareness — such as the popularity of TV shows like "Will and Grace" or even
"Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."
But teenagers also see the need for help with discrimination. Massachusetts
statistics indicate gay, lesbian and transgendered youth are three times as
likely to be threatened in school or to miss school because they feel unsafe and
five times more likely to have attempted suicide in a given year.
In addition to those teenagers who identify themselves as gay, the alliance will
be a resource for their friends and the children of gay parents, Egmont said.
"There is no assumed label for anyone who comes," she said. "It's for
anyone who is willing to be supportive and be part of an environment where there
is no negativity."
Studies have shown that in schools with alliances, all students report feeling
safer, whether they are gay or not.
The city's Commission for Diversity and Tolerance will be helping support the
alliance, and the Unitarian Universalist Church on Pleasant Street donated space
for the startup event.
(Emphasis Added)
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