Mutiny Report on Queer Youth Concerns
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I. Ideology
What are our definitions and political positions?
How can we define “queer”? What does it encompass?
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li“Queer” just means against the norm, its hard to put boundaries on that./li
li“Queer” is a relatively new concept thats meant to be all-inclusive of LGBTQI, maybe even allies?/li
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liI think having a queer youth space might help queer youth 100%, but it doesnt help other youth (like questioning) as much./li
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How can we define “space”?
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liSpace is my friends, my home./li
liA venue? A coffee shop? Gay days at Disneyland? Gay bingo?/li
liThe space Im thinking of is a place to see people you dont see every day at school. A third place—not school/work and not home./li
liMost queer space is hyper-commercial or about alcohol consumption like Pride./li
liPhysical environment needs to be malleable and multipurpose. Multipurpose furniture./li
liSpace is really broad./li
liWe want to do it all./li
liLambert House is a queer youth space thats been there for years. So I want this project to be something new that helps promote both existing resources and new ideas./li
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How can we define “youth”? What does it encompass?
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liYou hear a lot of people describing youth who are 26; I don’t consider that ‘youth’. It feels like youth are up to 21 years old./li
liThe people determining policy for queer youth are adults – youth need more of a voice./li
liThe law distinguishes people as under 18 and under 21; these distinctions may be hard to overcome./li
liTechnically someone is an adult at 18, but that doesnt seem adequate./li
liQueer community tends to be organized more around bars./li
liYouth are under 20./li
liService provider definition: 14-22 years of age (funding requirements, legal reasons, safety – not having 14 year olds)/li
liYou could be a legitimate adult and feel like a youth – but thats messed up. There needs to be a limit. You are not an adult when youre 18./li
liMix of age and emotional state./li
liIs youth a measure of maturity? Partially./li
liHow young is our community? Are middle schoolers and high schoolers going to want to hang together?/li
liYouth/age is based on how we feel, but since we dont have access to “adult spaces”, its 20 and below due to access to spaces./li
liIf queer youth community was well formed, we wouldnt need to create spaces because all spaces would be for us./li
liYouth isnt just about how old you are or how old you feel, but its about how you activities./li
liFocusing on organizing needs to be on 21 and under crowd and give opportunities for 21+ to participate in some capacity, such as volunteering./li
liSelf-identifying: does society see us as youth? Am I oppressed by adultism?/li
liYouth isnt 18 and under 21. If youre into the concept of youth, then you get to identify as a youth./li
liHow do you create a safe space for an 8 year old? Is it going to be supervised? 8 year olds dont go into coffee shops without their parents./li
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What is the roles of adults in youth led models? Adult allyship?
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liAdults need to support and nourish youth. Give youth ideas to form their own ideas. Youth have great ideas but sometimes we need an extra push. Someone who has experience and knows a lot about the world./li
liAdults can play a role by being chaperones for different events so we can have all-ages events (if its necessary)./li
liAdults shouldnt claim allyship. It needs to be identified by the community. And if youre identified by an individual, there needs to be awareness that it doesnt mean you are identified by a whole community./li
liAdults should be doing everything the youth are, age shouldnt be a hindrance. Adults can be mentors or additional community support, using their ties instead of us having to reinvent the wheel. Use the adults as a resource./li
liI like queer youth leading, but I like the support of adult mentors to help us, and we both mix together. But also having separate forums for both youth and older people./li
liSome adult input is useful, but not too much; for us to reinvent the wheel is also learning how to build the wheel; it is good to get some of the parts and some of the instructions. (Adults will be IKEA, but free IKEA.)/li
liAdults need to be supportive and backing it up—if people get angry and want to keep youth out, you need adults there to defend them, say “I am there for you” if you need it./li
liIt also give ethos—some sort of stance to go from, not just kids hanging out saying we feel entitled./li
liIts a fine line because Ive done a lot with adult-led youth service organizations and its kind of like being told what you want; youth arent exactly heard when adults are in power – how do we make sure things are egalitarian (equal access to power, like community households)?/li
liBe careful about what adults you have in power, but making sure that its someone in the community that understands we want a youth-led space./li
liWe could have a questionnaire sheet, basically what are you interested in, and a youth-led panel for an interview/li
liAdults can be more volunteers. Like if a set number of youth are there all the time, adults are more volunteers; I know as a volunteer I have to listen to who is running it./li
liAdults maybe can advise, but by being a volunteer it is more equal./li
liSome youth who are getting paid for the work they are doing, and a lot trail off at the end and a lot of the times its the adults getting paid and the youth arent./li
liSome work should be same pay. Ive seen a lot of adults get paid a lot more than youth./li
liAdults should work with youth instead of for youth./li
liWe could have a Fairy Godmother who could help us when we need it./li
liWe could have a certificate program for individuals and organizations to ensure queer youth allyship./li
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What are specific ways that adult allies can support youth?
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liNote taking/li
liThey can share experience and resources/li
liThey can help organize while respecting youths vision. Youth need a place for leadership and to express their ideas./li
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II. Environment
What are the current conditions?
Why are you here? What made you come to the Mutiny?
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liIm not in school and feeling detached from the queer community. QYS would open up opportunities./li
liI feel detached from queer community./li
liI want radical change./li
liIm writing a story on it, wanted to check it out.
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liThe word “mutiny” is incendiary because business owners feel a little attacked/blamed that there arent more queer youth spaces./li
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liTough economic times, its hard to open up space for clubs without some monetary compensation./li
liIm volunteering at Lambert House and feel youth need more of a voice./li
liIm a Seattle Office for Human Rights employee and I want queer youth to have safe spaces./li
liIm a Lambert board member, Ive been involved for years in queer youth community./li
liIm a friend of an organizer, “mutiny” is a strong word – I dont feel that its a blame word so much as a revolutionary term; youth taking action and empowering themselves./li
liIm interested in finding queer events for youth who may be homeless or low-income (no cover charges)/li
liWe need change./li
liI want queer youth space led by youth./li
liIm in Triangle Club, I have to be here./li
liI want more space./li
liThere arent a lot of spaces to hang out./li
liIm an adult interested in youth environment work./li
liIm interested in having egalitarian models/li
liIm excited about the energy, but hesitant and worried about it, want to make my voice heard/li
liIm here to supportive./li
liIm here because there wasnt a space when I was younger./li
liI dont know whats going on, am curious./li
liI run AMP, and am hoping to be a resource about successful models and existing resources./li
liIve been meeting with the premutiny and helping organize. Seattles lacking spaces for queer youth, so we need to take it if the citys not going to give it to us./li
liI dont feel like American society in general has space/access for youth, let alone queer youth. I just want a space. Acceptance is good – even for just the youth community./li
liThis is my first time ever being on Capitol Hill—Im so new out of the closet. So if I can help come and promote queer youth space, then why not./li
liIm a volunteer at Lambert House (I sit on the board there) and am interested in knowing what youth want for their queer youth space./li
liIm here to listen. I dont know how I feel about QYS, so I figured I should know what its about./li
liIm interested in making more of a safe space – Im interested in making a space where anyone can come. Im part of BGLAD in Redmond. I find BGLAD to be a very cool group – you never know whats going to happen in each meeting, or whos gonna drop in. Im interested in a space in a big city—a centralized area—for anyone to come to./li
liIm here to support queer youth space./li
liIm part of a queer asian group and am interested in a community space where you dont have to spend money to be there (like a coffeeshop). In the organizing Ive been doing, Ive wanted a lot more intergenerational stuff./li
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Whats inaccessible for queer youth right now?
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liMusic shows, most are in bars or 21+ venues/li
liLambert House seems like more of a general hang-out spot; possibly not working for youth?/li
liThe question is not just providing space, but providing safe space—where they will not be persecuted or preyed upon/li
liCan the problem be solved by making existing spaces more queer-friendly or are queer-only space needed?/li
liSocializing is based around LBGT bars because people feel more comfortable being around like-minded folks, but those are not accessible to youth./li
liTheres nothing open very late—after 9. Then everythings 18 or 21+, regardless of whos playing at the club./li
liI, for one, feel uncomfortable most anywhere on the Eastside and in the stores./li
liWhen you live in Seattle and cant go out to other Eastside cities./li
liSeattle is more comfortable for me – everyone would want to burn the fags outside the cathedral where Im from (Italy)/li
liIm from Chicago, and the queer community isnt the biggest minority community (theres still the KKK), so we sort of get pushed aside./li
liIts difficult to meet people./li
liClubs are off limits./li
liIt is important to have places not centered around alcohol use. I feel uncomfortable around alcohol use and feel obligated to partake if I want to meet people./li
liEverything costs lots of money. The only events that are free are huge, and then its hard to meet people. The only all age venue is at the Vera Project. Its uncomfortable to enter even coffee shops./li
liIm from Sacramento, and I always thought it was really backwards, and now I go to SU and its on Capitol Hill, which is really gay friendly/li
liBellevue is kind of like yuppieville, so if they saw me walking down the street like this theyd sort of just look the other way – or sometimes Ill get yelled at by frat guys. But I know I still have community elsewhere./li
liIve lived in Seattle so long, I really just feel comfortable anywhere here. There are just SO many buildings here – its the people more than the spaces./li
liHow else do you find people to hang out with without spaces? The internet? Should that be the only option?/li
liYou dont see a whole lot of other minorities here having a set space for them./li
liI think there are a lot of community centers for other minorities (especially racial ones) in the Central District and International District—maybe not so much on Capitol Hill, but that doesnt mean it shouldnt happen/li
liIs there a community center on Capitol Hill that anyone goes to? I think theyre defunct./li
liIf its a Seattle Parks space, dont they have to be queer friendly, technically?
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liNot necessarily, they still have gender binary bathrooms/li
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liA lot of times in LGBT spaces, theyre really white spaces, and in other cultural groups, you cant really be visible or out./li
liI think Seattle is on top of their game, comparatively, in being queer friendly. And it becomes easier to meet people as you get older (like college groups), and I think if anything the challenge for queer youth in general is to learn more techniques to interact with people./li
liI think we should be careful in how we define it—if its a space thats “queer youth central”, then people who are questioning might not feel comfortable going there for fear of being labeled, whether or not they are queer/li
liQueer sports teams require you to be 21 (girls soccer/rugby/softball)./li
liLots of shows at the Crocodile and the Showbox that you cant get into./li
liFake Ids are really frustrating./li
liNo social, raucous cool dance space—like PONY. I dont even want to drink. Something like a queer Vera—Veras great but its not queer specific./li
liFundraisers and stuff for young people are often run in 21+ environments/li
liR-Place and Neighbors open to youth after 2 but its an empty gesture./li
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liThe only space I know about is Lambert House and I dont know anyone who goes there/li
liCertain spaces are dominated by the queer community but are not for queer youth./li
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What makes you feel comfortable or uncomfortable in space? Safe or unsafe?
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liIm not comfortable if it feels patronizing./li
liPractical safety issues are important—emergency exits, bouncers, etc./li
liThere are places you walk into where you just know its not okay to be gay, even if they advertise themselves as “gay friendly”./li
liBeing around people who are like you – LGBTQI, people of color, etc./li
liKnowing people will be okay with your gender preference and sexual orientation—some visual indicator that its a safe space. (Having preferred pronouns on nametags)/li
liBeing around people of the same age./li
liUsing gender-specific bathrooms makes me uncomfortable./li
liSeeing other queer youth makes me feel comfortable. In Woodinville, you hardly ever see that. On Capitol Hill, you see lots of different-looking people, so you feel more comfortable. In a community center there, you might see someone who looks more like you./li
liId feel uncomfortable going to a “queer youth space”, worrying about people thinking, “oh, hes queer”, so Id be more comfortable with a youth space thats queer friendly.
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liLike a youth-acceptance center. (a YAC!)/li
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liWe have to fight for things. Queers dont feel safe in most straight venues. There are still times when I am getting yelled “dike” out the window./li
liHow can we construct a space that isnt a ghetto or box that we can be placed into?/li
liOnce you are on the Hill you just feel like you have entered a queer space./li
liAll queer people are different, there isnt just one type of lesbian or one type of gay man, there should be representation of everyone./li
liIt is about getting people together at the zoo./li
liEveryone should help in building community./li
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liTheres a stigma around bi vs. queer, so I wouldnt feel comfortable in a “QUEER ONLY” space. If its an open space, Id need that to be clear. And it needs to be a place where you can get education—Gay City, HIV prevention, etc./li
liIts kinda hard because what Ive found is that it is really cliquish. We have to keep people from being alienated./li
liThe space that makes me comfortable is just comfortable, it needs to be like a home, if it is comfortable then it makes you comfortable. When you are sitting on a sofa, next to someone who is comfortable, it makes that sofa comfortable./li
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What makes queer space necessary?
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liSafety is key for queer individuals/li
liCreating connections between like-minded individuals/li
liWe need to make sure everyone is being heard and not discounted because they arent queer, young, people of color, women, etc./li
liSome communities may be served better by a [insert identity]-only community/li
liAllyship is also important—queer youth space needs to be envisioned by youth, but they need adult (and straight) allies./li
liThe idea of “family” is important—when going into a space, ask “are youfamily?”. We need to feel safer; the rainbow flag denotes safety, we need that kind of community in queer youth space./li
liCapitol Hill has a strong community but it fosters spaces for 21+. But there is potential in this neighborhood./li
liThe gay community is huge, but weak. We need a driving force behind us./li
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III. Action
What are we going to do?
What do you want from Queer Youth Space? What should we be or not be?
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liA place to meet people and learn/grow from each other./li
liI dont think QYS could pull off an amazing coffee shop, but instead create something more mobile. Mobile, not just one space./li
liQYS could arrange existing spaces so youth can utilize those spaces and deem them as queer, bridging the gap./li
liMobility is an important thing when it comes to QYS./li
liQueer-friendly places that are all-ages./li
liWhat about people with psychological problems? Should there be support groups? Young people as counselors? What education is necessary to be qualified? Do we want counseling or something like a disco?/li
liCoffee shop is focused more on something commercial, instead of focusing on youth./li
liI want a change from the bar scene./li
liI think we need adults involved to make this happen./li
liMore queer youth on boards in the Seattle area./li
liVisibility for the queer community./li
liI want to see us taking care of each other and ourselves. I want to see us not bashing each other with words. Queer youth space to me means challenging race and class./li
liThe Vera Project has worked well; did a great job of doing a well-regulated (but not noticeably regulated) fun place to be./li
liQYS should be fun but educating at the same time./li
liTeaching youth the difference between predatory communications and healthy communications with mentor-like adults./li
liSafer sex and STI prevention messages communicated by peers (most effective from peers)./li
liOrganized for youth by youth/li
liMentorship opportunities/li
liSTI prevalence isnt due to a lack of knowledge so much as youthful feelings of invulnerability, as well as a feeling that they dont matter to society, so why should they take care of themselves? Need more empowerment messages.
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liWhat needs do you have or what desires do you have?/li
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liSomething like KTUB/li
liMaybe a safe-space set up in every part of the city./li
liA location that is accessible for people who dont have cars
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lion a bus line/li
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liEvents like the Hugo Houses Jewish burlesque all ages show
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liall ages drag shows, draw more than queer youth/li
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liInformation on how to throw our own events; resources, contacts, networking/li
liWe should (and are) reach out to everyone, pull together resources/li
liWe need more internet and computer access for queer authors, artists, and musicians./li
liConcerts, drag, bands, galleries; we want everything queer youth art related./li
liJust getting a space is the priority./li
liI like the coffee shop idea, with doors in the back that you can open and have shows/li
liWhat would make it unique? Open mic? Youth sports groups? A book club? Stuff thats not already happening? A knitting club! Street team!/li
liCentralized resources—connecting people and information—the new Google. So everyone at the GSAs and stuff can be informed about Bend-It, or queer night at the Bikery, or the queer mixer at Watertown coffee./li
liCollaboration has to be central—Do it Together is better than Do it Yourself, especially when resources are so scarce./li
liWe should be concerned about rivalries for funding/li
liWe should be concerned about accountable, democratic leadership. What is the leadership model right now? Who gets to make decisions?/li
liEveryone loves a documentary./li
liJust a place to come if you have nothing to do and wanna hang out./li
liA website as an abstract space. A forum, not just links. A place where people can talk and give reviews would be a very good thing. I wanted to ask a bunch of queer people their opinion of this movie the other day, but I only know 1 or 2—I wanted to jump online and ask them./li
liSupport groups, online and in person/li
liCommunity bulletin so that people could share information about things that arent good going on (for instance if there is a local bar that is not gay friendly, youd want to know ahead of time; or if theres something really good)./li
liWebsite where the homepage is like a community posting: this is what is happening this month. More updated stuff that isnt outdated, a giant calendar./li
liThe website could help people who are questioning – fixes the whole issue of not wanting to go to queer space./li
liVera Project is an all-ages art space that is youth focused and queer friendly and I want to see more queer events happening, when we were talking about it I am not sure about how to make that a space you guys want to access—maybe we arent outreaching in the same way./li
liId be wary of replicating services that already exist. Why provide counseling/support services again? Why compete for funding when resources are already being provided?/li
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liMore outreach to communities of color—Seattle is a very white town, important to open this up to everyone/li
liImportant to be a justice-based movement, not an issue-based movement—queer youth space needs to be a safe space for queer youth of color, people of differing abilities, etc./li
liWe want collaboration with other all-ages and queer organizations (Vera, Bend It, SYPP, etc)/li
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liThe nightclub aspect is attractive. It could be a coffee shop/nightclub/disco./li
liI want to chill with hella you guys, to be together and do things. To have a space together and talk to each other and organize. Peer-mentorship, not with adults necessarily. And definitely a place that is free and has food./li
liWe need Bend-It, but bigger, all the time—not just once a year./li
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liNot just focusing on dancing. Most spaces for queer youth are dances. Instead, have movie screenings from queer artists, have different athletics (like queer youth bike rides), tap into different activities. It shouldn’t be able being queer, it should be about community./li
liHave events not just on the hill. Have events on the south end and on Queen Anne./li
liWe need sliding scale ticket prices for leadership events for youth./li
liIm hearing about all these organizations and I want to know more, can we put them on the website?/li
liWe dont necessarily need a physical space, it can be a cyberspace./li
liWe want adults involved, but youth to run it./li
liWe need physical space, art space, and athletic space./li
liWe need multilingual services./li
liWe need to branch out to more rural spaces./li
liWe need a way to organize transportation for queer youth./li
liWe need a queer space like KTUB./li
liWe need a stage for art performances./li
liWe need space for planning and organizing, but we also need a comfortable place to hang with comfortable furniture./li
liWe need queer bike rides./li
liWe need a self-sustaining coffee shop that brings in revenue./li
liWe need a social space./li
liWe need dialogues on healthy relationships and intimacy./li
liWe need a space that is inclusive to people of color and all other communities (disabilities, etc)/li
liWe need a disco ball./li
liWe need to address transphobia in the queer community. We need trans-inclusive education./li
liWe need art education./li
liWe need a space to learn how to organize and program./li
liWe could form different groups or clubs within QYP: activism, spoken word, athletics, etc./li
liQYS could be involved with GSA networking. Its so hard to network and find the names of other folks in SA or even faculty advisers./li
liWe need our own [youth] Pride./li
liWe need centralized resources so we can know what is happening in our community./li
liWe need venues in multiple places./li
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What would a queer youth coffee shop look like?
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liEmploying street youth? It is possible, FAREST ART does this but would it be feasible for them to do it in an environment that has no adult employees?/li
liI want to steal Kaladi Brothers model./li
liThe coffee market on Capitol Hill is super competitive, is this realistic?/li
liWhat should be there? What would we do?
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liDisco ball!/li
liOpen mic!/li
liArt night?/li
liInterpretive dance? Karaoke?/li
liArt shows with art you could actually afford to be able to buy/li
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/li
liPeople need to take ownership of their space, so if theres not a janitor it stays tidy. Then you dont have to pay anyone to clean it./li
liPart of the status quo strategy is to divide people of different ages which stops the transmission of stories. So invite folks from activist organizations to share their histories and develop youth leadership that way—of course kick em out if they start spewing a bunch of know-it-all ageism/li
liPeople dont know what resources are available, so maybe an adult advisory board to connect to broader community./li
liWe could have a calendar: what exists now./li
liProblem with the non-profit model: you need a board of directors—these people are usually adults, but we dont want to replicate the same problems. Look to other models for solutions. Vera Project has a youth-led membership with equal power to the board of directors—they make all the strategic and programmatic decisions and the board just does advisory/staff oversight/fund raising./li
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How do we make existing spaces more youth empowering?
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liI like the queer-friendly sticker on the youth center, and also having resources for queer-friendly and queer-in-general/li
liLike a queer-youth-friendly certification. Like, there are 100 coffee shops on Capitol Hill and theres gay people everywhere all the time—what if we asked to have queer resources on their calendar or something?/li
liLike Yelp, or Zagat? A certification process./li
liWhat about public libraries? A lot of people go there who dont have internet access./li
liI think the certification thing would be a really good idea. I think a centralized space is something we could benefit from, but using something thats already there would make that space somewhat “official”./li
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What should we do with our money? What should we do next?
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liSmaller events that are fun—better than large, stuffy events/li
liPostering is awesome! Gets the word out./li
liInvest in queer youth—training. One good model is the American Friends Services Committee Speakers Bureau, which pays speaking fee for youth to speak at community events—empowers youth by building professional skills./li
liTraining for youth in grant-writing, nonprofit management, so that it creates sustainability/li
liArt events—its the best place Ive found as a queer youth to meet others and feel safe./li
liPaid youth staff/li
liSome part-time adult staff who fundraise and do pay-roll./li
liMaybe we do have to have someone there who will make it comfortable for parents and other adults, to help handle things and make sure potential legal issues dont arise.:)/li
liWe should use the places that we have now until we have a place./li
liIt is important just to get the word out. Getting the dialogue started is important. Name is first, getting people to talk about this, it is like in The Stranger. After we get what we want written up, then we can get fundraising./li
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Questions about QYS
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liIs the group oriented about [primarily concerned with?] youth or safety? [Is the space supposed to be about youth or safety (for queers)?]/li
liWhat is the leadership model? Is it a collective? What is the decision making process like? What responsibilities do leaders have to constituents?/li
liIs “youth space” defined by full inclusion of/leadership by youth or exclusion of older folks? Is “queer space” defined inclusion or exclusion?/li
liDoes QYS want to “do it all”, thinking that they can do it better themselves rather than working with and improving existing organizations that are adult-led/ageist/paternalistic/etc? Or does QYS try to do something that no one else is currently doing/creating new opportunities?/li
liWhat is the relationship with other organizations? Do we want to build something like a “queer Vera” or a “queer KTUB”? Or carve out more queer space within existing organizations?/li
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Resources and Organizations
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liSYPP/li
liBend It/li
liVera Project/li
liBent/li
liSeattle DIY: online calendar and monthly newsletter of DIY events/li
liUnity in Services Coalition: did postcards about queer youth events during Pride/li
liMpowerment Youth Zine: “Censor This”/li
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