LGBT Youth Safety-Net Coalition: Will It Get Better?
Tuesday, November 15, 2011Black Clouds in Paradise
Nationally data show that LGBT youth are four times as likely to attempt suicide, five times as likely to miss school because they fear for their safety and report hearing gay slurs 26 times per day. 74% of transgender youth report being sexually harassed at school and 90% report feeling unsafe at school because of their gender expression.
In a 2009 youth risk behavior survey, of all 50 states in the country, Hawaii high school students reported the highest proportion of students who thought about suicide, planned a suicide, and attempted suicide.
Fighting For Life
Nearly two hundred participants attended the LGBT Youth Safety-Net Conference on Friday - October 21, 2011 at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii in Honolulu. The event focused on improving services for the LGBT youth population statewide. LGBT youth often do not receive appropriate services that they require and desire. As a result, many LGBT youth become at risk for drug and alcohol abuse, and/or diagnosed with other health concerns, including suicidal risks. The conference increased knowledge about LGBT needs and built collaborations among youth service providers to enhance the safety and well being of LGBT youth throughout Hawaii.
“This is a unique opportunity for providers to gain valuable skills and knowledge that will assist them in more effectively providing services to the population of at-risk LGBT youth in Hawaii,” stated Nancy Kern, suicide Prevention Coordinator for the Hawaii state Department of Health and a member of the organizing committee for the conference.
Participants working in the fields of social service, health, education and juvenile justice received practical strategies, skills, and resources to train staff and design programs that will enable them to deliver appropriate and inclusive services for LGBT clients. The conference also focused on coalition building among agencies to maximize local resources, experiences, and build collective support for more in-depth future training opportunities.
Welcome Message
Nancy Kern, Suicide Prevention Coordinator, Hawaii Department of Health
“You’ll learn today, how the youth are treated has a huge impact on their lives. This is particularly for LGBT youth... so often, the victim of harassment and bullying. They are simply looking for a safe, secure and welcoming place where they are accepted and respected.”
Welcome Video Message
Neil Abercrombie, Governor State of Hawaii
“Every child deserves to feel safe, nurtured, loved, accepted and respected. Our LGBT youth are at risk for the possibilities of abuse, neglect, family rejection, bullying, harassment and other negative outcomes. In our schools we are addressing bullying at all levels and in every form is an issue that is long overdue. But we will see to it that our children have safe schools so that their only worry is learning.”
Keynote Speaker
Sabrina McKenna, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of Hawaii
“For years I thought that my sexuality was something that I had to hide and suppress to achieve happiness and success. I know that some people were critical of my decision to be open about my sexual orientation and my family when asked by the media after my nomination to the supreme Court. However, I suspected that the people that were critical of my openness don’t have a sense of how important it is for youth in the LGBT community to know that one can actually achieve professional and personal happiness and success, while being true and honest with yourself.”
Understanding Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity
Dr. Robert J. Bidwell, Pediatrics & Director of Adolescent Medicine, UH Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine
“The experience of a gay male youth is not the same as the experience of a lesbian youth, a bisexual youth or a transgender youth. It’s very nuance, everybody has their own experience, their own stories. A lesbian growing up in Kauai does not have the same experience as a lesbian growing up in Hawaii Kai or a Micronesian lesbian that just arrived in the united states. There’s not one lesbian, there’s not one gay, there’s not one transgender experience and we as people who work with these kids should take time to learn from them what their own personal experience is, and not be guided by stereotypes.”
Providing Cultural Support For Native Hawaiian LGBT Youth
Hinaleimoana Wong Kalu, Kumu Hula & Cultural Director, Halu Lokahi Public Charter School
“I say to all of you as leaders and as people out there in the community. You might be a teacher, counselor, outreach educator... you might be a lot of things, but little do you know, you might be the ‘pu’uhonua’ the safe haven for that individual, LGBT, or someone searching for themselves questioning who they are. They need you in so many different ways that you don’t even know. They need you as a mom, they need you as a dad, aunty, uncle, grandma and they need you to not be their friend, but the ear that a friend would have.”
Ashliana Hawelu, Kulia Na Mamo Support & Service for the Transgender Community
“At the age of 13, I told my parents I wanted to be a girl, they replied, ‘as long as you live under my roof and I have to feed you... you not gonna be a girl until you’re 18 years old, so get that through your head! If you want to be a girl, pack up your things and get out!’ And that was the reality of it, and so I went to my bedroom and packed my bags at the age of 13, walked out of the house and left my family. Where did I end up? on Hotel street... I became a prostitute. I was raped four times, hit on the head with a crowbar, I jumped out of cars, I was thrown out of cars, I was held at knife point and I was held at gun point.”
Insights on Youth Services: Voices of LGBT Clients
Raysha Malama, Dispatcher, Robert’s Hawaii
“It was hard for me to find support and comfort in my home.”
Kaleo Ramos, Catholic Charities & Emperor 28 Imperial Court of Hawaii
“I was born female. There are no words to describe how different I felt at eight years old. I thought all I have to do is die and God will bring me back to who I want to be; if I prayed hard enough, he would allow me to be who I want to be. I decided I was going to kill myself to be born again at the age of eight.”
Kintaro Yonekura, Board of Director, Life Foundation
“Many different therapists tried to fix me. I thought to myself ‘if you guys aren’t going to accept me and I’m going from home to home to home... then I’m going to venture out and do drugs and alcohol’. At the age of 14, I found myself shooting up cocaine, I was doing meth, I’ve experienced over doses... I’m lucky to be alive today. The problem was, I just needed to be loved. I just needed to not be questioned about myself.”
How to Develop Welcoming, Safe, Accessible and Empowering Programs
Antonia Alvarez, MSW, Youth Suicide Coordination Director, Mental Health America of Hawaii
“We know that it’s four times as likely for LGBT youth to commit suicide, but it’s not because they are gay... it’s because we are homophobic.”
Alika Campbell, MSW, Program Coordinator / Youth Outreach, Hale Kipa
“Take the time to listen and understand where the other person is coming from. Don’t get caught up in labels. Make a positive and friendly atmosphere for everybody. Fundamentally it’s about educating others about tolerance, getting them to understand and know each other as people, not as ‘TG’, ‘straight’, ‘bi’ or ‘haole’. Take the time to get to know the individual.”
Kunane Dreier, Director of HIV Prevention, Life Foundation
“You need to know who you want to target and why you service them, what is it that they need and where to access services. The number we see of newly diagnosed youth is astounding. They represent almost half of our new infections that come through at Life Foundation.”
Luncheon Address: It Gets Better Video
Brian Schatz, Lt. Governor, State of Hawaii
“Young people face harassment and pressure at home and school for being gay. Despite these pressures, I want you to know that it gets better. It will get better. Please hang in there, I have close friends and colleagues who went through what you are going through and they’ve gone on to do great things; to become leaders of our community. Please know there are people ready to help you, there are friends to support you and there is the state of Hawaii to accept you for who you are and what you have to offer. I know it can be tough right now, but you have a lot to look forward to life. The experiences you have will help makes things better for the next generation... It will get better.”
Leading Agencies Stepping Out
Judith Clark, Executive Director, Hawaii Youth Services Network
“We build organizational assistance and partnerships with agencies that provide services with the youth. We produced ‘You Cannot Get HIV laddat’ a prevention video for youth featuring gay and lesbian issues and a transgender character.”
Howard Gravel, MSW, CEO, Child & Family Services
“We are culturally committed to understand the people we serve and organize training for our staff in the areas of cultural competency.”
Patricia Mcmanaman, Director, Hawaii Department of Human Services
“We provide services to youth who are abused and neglected in the justice system. Many of the children and family that we interact with are in fact LGBT.”
Pieper Toyama, Founding Head, Pacific Buddhist Academy
“We developed a place inclusive and safe for LGBT youth. We have LGBT students in the school and we have LGBT staff members. The school is built on these core values: In the moment of sincere gratitude there can be no hate, there can only be acceptance and connections. When we are unmindful we not only lose out on the life around us, we lose ourselves. We define wisdom as seeing life as it really is, honestly without delusion. Compassion, the action that instinctively emanates from wisdom. You cannot help but be compassionate if you have wisdom. Compassionate action is our wish for the happiness for others made visible. Interdependence, everything that we are and have is dependent and shapes our relationships with others. The happiness of others is dependent on our happiness, and our happiness is dependent on their happiness. We expect students to embrace and engage with all those around, and love to work for their happiness.”
“To make sure this happens we don’t only select teachers and staff that are competent at their jobs, but more importantly, we hire teachers and support staff who accept the priorities to monitor these core values in their personal lives. This is the condition and profoundly necessary for us to be a safe place. I believe our practices in our school can be implemented in other schools, if there is a will to make it the highest priority.”
Closing Message
Jo Chang, esq., Conference Chair / Co-Founder, Da Moms
“I am a mom, and I’m also a grandmother. I have family that includes a gay son and bisexual grand daughter... both struggled an awful lot in their teens and I just hate to see this continue year after year. This conference is a simple idea that if we gather youth providers together particularly major programs in government and non profit organizations, if we focus on social services, education, health and juvenile justices, it will start an important dialogue, networking and partnerships across disciplines and within disciplines to address struggles of LGBT youth throughout Hawaii.”
Valarie Smith, Executive Committee Co-Chair, Equality Hawaii
“Our organization is securing equality for Hawaii’s LGBT people. We are honored to be partnered with Hawaii’s Department of Health, UH’s LGBT Student Services Department, Kulia Na Mamo, Da moms and Dr. Bidwell to address the unmet needs, acceptance and connections of LGBT youths today. Special thanks to Hawaii’s Peoples Fund, HMSA Foundation, and the State Equality Fund to help make today’s event possible. Today represents an encouraging step forward to continue the energy, momentum, and inspiration witnessed.”
Reader Comments (1)
Attending this conference was such an opener and in many ways brought up emotions within me but also for those that I knew or even those that I didn't know that have gone thru trials and tribulations. The statistics that were released in this conference were not comforting but knowing that the organizations & people that either put this together, participated or attended are taking a step to better the situations that are occurring.