Advocates for Youth works to address homophobia within communities, sensitize youth-serving professionals to the needs of LGBTQ youth, and encourage LGBTQ youth to become powerful advocates for themselves and other youth by sharing culturally relevant information and access to tailored services.
- Readdressing Homophobia/Transphobia within Organizations and Communities —Advocates for Youth works with community-based organizations that serve youth of color to address homophobia/transphobiaand create safe spaces for LGBTQ youth of color. Advocates provides:
- Technical Assistance and Training—Addressing the needs of LGBTQ youth of color; culturally appropriate and inclusive programming and services; safe spaces; and youth-adult partnerships, among others.
- Seed grants—Providing community-based organizations with an opportunity to create and implement a project that addresses homophobia and meets the sexual health needs of LGBTQ youth of color in the agency and in the community at large.
- Encouraging Youth-Serving Professionals to Meet the Needs of LGBTQ Youth—Advocates for Youth works to sensitize educators, health care providers, and other youth-serving professionals to the needs of LGBTQ youth. Advocates provides:
- Technical Assistance and Training—Addressing the needs of LGBTQ youth, including LGBTQ youth of color; creating safe spaces for young people of all sexual orientations and gender identities; culturally appropriate and inclusive programming and services; online interventions; peer education; sexual health needs of lesbian and bisexual women; and youth-adult partnerships.
- Encouraging LGBTQ Youth to Work to Promote the Sexual Health of Their Peers—Recognizing that LGBTQ youth can often best help each other, Advocates for Youth trains young people as online peer educators. Peer educators undergo intensive training on sexual health, HIV, and issues of communities at risk; they are knowledgeable about and sensitive to the issues that LGBTQ youth face. Youth empower each other to make good decisions about their sexual health. Web site interventions include:
- YouthResource (www.youthresource.org)—An innovative, groundbreaking site created by and for LGBTQ young people, offering support, community, resources, and peer-to-peer education about issues of concern to LGBTQ young people.
- Ambiente Joven (www.ambientejoven.org)—A Spanish-language site for Latino young men who have sex with men(YMSM) and Latino/a LGBTQ youth in which peer educators provide other youth with culturally relevant information and support on sexual health issues.
- Publications — Materials include issue briefs, facts sheets, and teen pamphlets and toolkits related to LGBTQ youth.
Associate Director, LGBTQ Health and Rights
Advocates for Youth
2000 M Street NW, Suite 750
Washington, DC 20036 USA