Children looked up at their parents and waited for their reactions to the presentations facilitated by Prism Youth Community at Bloomington about family support.
The event, “Importance of Familial Support for Queer Youth”, was a mixture of presentations and discussion between children from the LGBT community and their parents. The event consisted of topics like respecting identities and using the correct terminology.
Phoenix Young, 18, and his mother, Tracy, 46, both attended the event at Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington on Tuesday night. Phoenix has been a member of Prism since it began, he said.
“I just feel like this is the safest place I can be in Bloomington,” Phoenix said.
The event was a collaboration between White River Valley Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, the Unitarian Universalist Rainbow Rights Task Force and Prism.
“It’s good for the parents because it makes your children feel better,” Tracy Young said. “It’s good to learn that you’re not the only one who feels this way. It’s such an important thing the community has — to make these kids feel worthy, important and n ormal.”
Ninety-nine percent of families want to be supportive of their children, Prism Youth Program Director Laura Ingram said.
“It’s an incredibly important discussion to facilitate,” Ingram said. “How can we create an impact and a safe environment?”
It’s important to give members of the LGBT community a platform to address subjects that are hard for them to discuss alone with their parents, she said.
Opal Hall, 18, and her mother, Susie Gleyze-Thomas, 52, both attended the event as well. Hall is also a member of Prism.
“I’m kind of quiet normally, but I have a lot of friends here, and I feel comfortable,” Hall said.
Several members of Prism spoke during a slide show educating the audience on acceptance and politeness to members of the LGBT community.
“It’s not that we didn’t know our identities when we were younger, it’s that we didn’t know the language,” one speaker said.
The discussion was loud, and parents and their children spoke about the presentations they had just heard. Papers with fictional anecdotes were given out and discussed.
Some of the discussions caused the participants to have somber faces and others had people exploding in laughter.
After the discussion finished, members of multiple organizations gathered at a table at the front of the room to answer questions from parents, children or any other attendees.
Hall’s mother said she came to support Prism. Not a lot of communities have an organization like it, she said.
“I think it’s a lifesaver,” Gleyze-Thomas said. “Bloomington is blessed to have it.”
