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Virginia gay youths agency gets word out Richmond-area group is raising its profile
Jan 04 2008
By Robin Farmer
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
original story
The address of the Richmond-area agency supporting youths who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning their sexuality used to be passed along by word of mouth.
That low-key approach was to protect the young people, ages 14 to 20, served by the Richmond Organization for Sexual Minority Youth, which offers participants advocacy along with social, recreational and educational activities.
Now a rainbow gay-pride flag flies outside the agency, billowing high above ROSMY'S first exterior sign.
Since moving into new digs last summer, ROSMY is not only promoting its location at 2311 Westwood Ave. but trying to become more visible and viable in central Virginia.
"We are still working hard to get the message out there about the new space because ROSMY had kind of gone off people's radar," said John Dougherty, executive director of the 16-year-old organization.
"We're redefining what ROSMY means to the community. When people think of youth issues we want people to think of us," Dougherty said.
The organization also offers support groups, a youth-support hotline and leadership training as well as a 1,600-book library, the largest of its kind for sexual-minority youths in Virginia.
"We have kids coming here from Franklin city, Dinwiddie [County], well beyond the Richmond area," said board President Todd Anderson.
Marquise Murdock, 20, a student at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, credits ROSMY for helping him gain confidence and develop leadership skills in the past two years.
"A lot of gay youth . . . youth period, go through an awkward time of growing. And when you add the gay thing and how you feel, you can't be yourself around people. ROSMY really does help you understand there are other people out there.
"You get some feeling of normalcy that you're not a complete freak. That's especially important for those who don't come from supportive homes," said Murdock, who serves in a leadership capacity for the organization.
. . .
Rebuilding, re-engaging and redefining ROSMY will continue to be the focus in 2008.
"We're going to begin advertising on youth-oriented radio stations right after Christmas," said Gregg Johnson, who was hired last month as ROSMY's director of marketing and development.
"Our Web site, www.rosmy.org, is also a great resource for youth and the broader GLBT community. Another goal is to keep donors and supporters better informed about what we're doing, and reconnect with past supporters.
"If we do a good job with that we hope to increase the percentage of our overall budget that is raised from individual donations so we're not as dependant on receiving grants from private foundations," Johnson said.
"We also hope to raise the necessary funds to expand our youth center and library and offer meeting space to other community organizations," Johnson said.
ROSMY will continue to develop its Community Outreach and Education Program, which trains school personnel, social-services workers, mental-health workers and other youth-services professionals on how to meet the needs of sexual-minority youths.
This year 123 people were trained, and the agency was recently funded to train up to an additional 500 people, Dougherty said. Individuals and agencies that receive such training are listed, if they choose to be, on ROSMY's Web site as safe resources.
The agency also is seeking tax-deductible donations to provide additional resources to young people. Items needed include sponsoring a young person to participate in a prejudice-awareness conference for $400 and purchasing a DVD player for the youth center. To see the complete list, go to www.rosmy.org/wish_list.html.
Corwin Ranier, 18, travels from Gloucester County to participate in ROSMY activities.
His mom drives him an hour each way two to three times a week.
"When I first started, I was nervous," Ranier said. "It was the only outlet I have. I live in a conservative place. It allowed me to have new friends and get really involved in the activities ROSMY supports. It's given me a real purpose."
Ranier said that although mainstream culture in some ways is less intolerant of sexual minorities than it used to be, much work remains.
"Until all bigotry is removed and it finally feels perfectly normal and not unusual to be gay, ROSMY needs to be here. It opens you up to a very supportive place where you can talk openly about yourself. It's nonjudgmental; it builds people's confidence. There aren't many groups like this, especially ones as powerful as ROSMY."
Nov 05 2007--By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) high school and college students in Los Angeles picketed and confronted Ward Connerly and Prof. Richard Sander at UCLA. Click this link for a video of the event.
From BAMN's statement handed out at the event:
We will not overcome racism or racist inequality by refusing to recognize it or speak its name. We must expose it and decry it boldly and loudly — black, Latino, white, Asian, Arab, men, women, gay and straight — standing shoulder to shoulder, demanding and winning equality.
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