SAGDA Meeting Minutes 07/05/08

Welcome to the new minutes of SAGDA, Pittsburgh's Teen Sexual & Gender Diversity Alliance. SAGDA's job is to give a laid-back conversational space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, transgender, transsexual, intersex, genderqueer, queer, asexual, questioning, straight-allied, and all the other permutations within the spectrum!

We started with introductions from Angelito, our resident representative from the Persad Center's Closing the Gap program. Closing the Gap is a paid opportunity for sexually and gender-diverse teens to do peer counseling and mental health outreach. If you are interested in the program, or if you would like to schedule some time to talk to somebody about what's on your mind, contact them at 412-441-9786.

We then introduced ourselves and talked about our favorite candy. Candies that received multiple votes included Reece's Pieces and Chocolate Skittles (ew!). Some of us don't eat candy, due to health issues.

We then talked about what sort of programs we're interested in. One person mentioned an LGBTQ teen movie night, which may be possible. How do you feel about it? Which nights do you think would work best? What would you like to see at an LGBTQ teen movie night?

SAGDA teens also got excited over the idea of having a PARTY, in celebration of LGBTQ-related books and reading. This party will likely take place in the Fall in either late September or early October (any suggestions?). SAGDA members expressed the following desires for the party:

• food (pizza, chocolate anything, drinks)
• music (have teens bring iPods for cool, diverse music, as well as karaoke)
• dancing
• BOOKS! (how can we make this a special celebration for books?)

We then discussed the Advocate article They’re Here, They’re Queer, and They Don’t Need Us... Or Do They?, about the "new generation" of LGBTQ teenagers and their relationship to adults.

SAGDA members had some suggestions for adults looking to make a meaningful difference in the lives of LGBTQ teens:

• It's important that adults do not take sexual advantage of teens who are looking to them for support. You should not be their gateway to sexual experiences.
• Be more subjective in understanding the needs of LGBTQ teens. Don't assume your experience is the same.
• Realize that there is a large perspective shift in teens' lives that offer LGBTQ teens friendship, acceptance, love, and identification in a lot of areas of society. Not everybody is a victim!

Thanks, and don't forget to attend the next SAGDA meeting on June 19th, on the second floor of Kiva Han (420 S. Craig St.) @ 2:00 PM!

~Joseph
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Main