Executive Summary

As soon as I got back to the office from visiting with Mayor McCartt I called Francetta Crow, the contact person that Mayor McCartt recommended for the North Amarillo Task Force. She was very excited about our offer to assist in their mission. She was to get back with me in the next few days with the dates and details.

Folks from the Unitarian Fellowship organized a public discussion forum on glbt topics. There were about 45 people in attendance. Everyone seemed to have been inspired by the discussion. 3 local students shared their stories about being gay and surviving high school. Some of their stories were bleak, but the discussion was hopeful.

I hope we'll be able to participate in more public discussions in the future.

At this months CCPIT meeting we signed up to participate in a middle school health fair. This is a great opportunity for OUTstanding Amarillo and the GLBT youth in Amarillo. Too often, by the time people get to our resource center, they are already the 'walking wounded' due to years of oppression inspired by institutionalized heterosexism. Our school district does everything in their limited knowledge to empower young people to make wise choices and decisions, but without acknowledging the reality of who their students really are - they are only isolating them further.

As long as glbt youth are at the highest risk for suicide, isolation, depression, tobacco, alcohol, and drug use - it is the responsibility of OUTstanding Amarillo to make every effort to reach young people as early as we can. Just to let them know that they can survive, and be equally as productive of students and citizens as the non-glbt youth. As the only community organization with glbt youth as it's focus, we must take every opportunity to educate.

CCPIT is the Community Coalition for Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment for Tobacco, Alcohol, and Other Drugs. CCPIT's focus is on underage drug & alcohol usage in the Amarillo area. OUTstanding joined this coalition because statistics reflect that glbt youth engage in a higher rate of 'high risk' behavior than non-glbt youth. We want to participate in the solutions that this coalition may provide and ensure that glbt youth are accounted for in the discussions.