Hello, OutSupport friends!
Well, this year has started, and I’ve had enough excitement for a while. I do hope that 2021 is filled with better news for LGBTQIA Americans, and will support all efforts of advancement with the new administration. Better days are on their way, folks!! As Martin Luther King shared the quote by Theodore Parker “The Arc of the Moral Universe is Long, but it bends towards Justice”….there is still work to do, but there will be progress. I’m extremely hopeful.
I feel sad that we can’t meet in person these past many months. We still can’t guarantee when it is that we will all be able to meet in person again. But I have been receiving many phone calls and texts from parents looking for ways that their transgender and non-binary teens and children can somehow get together, and also parents continue to need support with their families journeys. With those calls in mind, I thought about the possibility of having gatherings just for youth and their parents at one of the county parks, outdoors. While OutSupport meetings have been open to all in the past, we’d like to keep these events to JUST Transgender and Non-binary youth,17 and under, and their parents.
These can’t comfortably happen until spring, so we went ahead and booked the following dates at River Styx County Park, 8200 River Styx Road , Wadsworth. While the county doesn’t officially book the parks until July1 due to Covid, they told me that we could meet there unofficially before that date, but may have to share space with any other folks using the open air shelter (so keep that in mind). Dates past July 1 are “official”. The dates for OutSupport OutDoors! Youth and Parent Fun Fridays are:
Friday, April 23 6-8pm
Friday, May 14 6-8pm
Friday, June 18 6-8pm
Friday, July 16 6-8pm
Friday, August 13 6-8pm
Friday, Sept. 17 6-8pm
Due to Covid, we are asking everyone to wear masks for everyone’s safety (even if we are outside!) and we will try to social distance. Please bring a lawn chair and your family’s beverage, and other snacks will be provided. There is a nice playground for younger children and teens can bring Frisbees or other outdoor games, if they want. This won’t be a support group, exactly…just a set time for families of transgender and non-binary to get together and hang out, make some new friends, and know that their family is not alone in this journey.
The park asks that there be no glitter or other artsy items that will harm wildlife and waterways, so please keep that in mind.We hope that these events offer families a little of what they have been expressing to me over the past several months…just a time for their children to meet others and connect. We hope you can join us! Other youth related groups that provide summer camp experiences are Camp Aranu’tiq and Camp Lilac, so here are websites that should soon have their 2021 camp schedules www.camparanutiq.org/our-programs/summer-programwww.camplilac.org If you have or know a transgender or non-binary youth, check them out!
Sending lots of positive vibes for an amazing 2021 for ALL!
Kindest regards,
Sandy
