I was thinking about the queer community in Ann Arbor, which is 
supposedly a pretty liberal town, and I realized that it was a pretty 
cool place to be gay. Except for one thing.  The queer teenagers in Ann 
Arbor, which account for a pretty decent sized population, don't have 
any central force grouping them.  I remeber when I was first coming out 
to *myself* there were these gay teen dances around town every few 
months.  Well, now that I'm more comfortable with my sexuality and 
communicating with my parents about it, I'd kinda like to see some 
social functions over the city for that group. I mean, how else am I 
supposed to find what (and who) is out there?  

I would be very into coordinating or helping coordinate this kind of 
event, but I don't have the time or the resources to do it. Any 
suggestions? Anyone else interested in having a queer teen 
get-together/dan

24 responses total.

Haven't you ever gone to the Aut bar, or the Nectarine on Gay Night?

18 and over dear... still _nothing_ out there for teenagers. I know.

                   :(

        How's this different from the experience of anyone else in Ann Arbor,
though?

yeah, I was talking about for teens. under 18.  As for how it's 
different, it's very difficult for teens to be "out" or have a place 
they can dat

        Oh.  Okay.  That makes sense then;  I was going to say that there's
not that much for teenagers in Ann Arbor, or anywhere that I can think of,
but it doesn't stand to reason that there shouldn't be.  What'll you call it?

hell there isn't much for teens in chicago either... ya'd think in a place this
big.... then again it aint a college town.

It's being a college town doesn't make it any better for teenagers in that
respect.  If anything, it means there's more 18+ and 21+ events that are
strictly enforced.

so whadda you guys and gals think? is this a good idea? Who could persue this?
Would it be a od thing to brind to the GSA's in the highschools? How about
the PFLAG in otown?.

I don't know. I know I've brought it up at the CHS GSA, but being as there's
all of like, 5 of us, it's sort of like bringing it up here. Nothing actually
happens. :(

I see...

Oh, and I was talking to someone today, and they said (true or not) that
PiHi's GSA was falling into a state of disrepair, and that we shouldn't expect
much out of them for anything, so....

What school are you anyway?

I'm a freshmen at the U of M.  I graduated from Pioneer last year.

OK. So I lied. I'm actually in high school. Shoot me, I'm sorry. I just 
got carried away with the cyber world. I'm actually a senior at 
Community High Schoo

<g>

   have you tried contacting the neutral zone to see if they'd be
interested in having a gay teen event once or twice a month?

That's a really good idea, considering the fact that there is a lot of truth
to the 'there isn't anywhere teens can go' might make it a very easy case to
argue and then boom....suddenly, you have somewhere to go.

I'm really, actually, kinda scared of that idea.  I know quite a few of 
the people who run that place, and I'm not all that comfortable coming 
out to them in this way...

use a 3rd party?

maybe. any ideas on who?

not in the slightest....

I think those dances you were talking about were called Club Fabulous if I'm
not mistaken and they were primarily for gay teens. Somehow, for some reason,
they stopped a few years ago. I've always wondered why but I never took the
time to find out.  I'll ask a few people I know and get back with you.  I
might even be able to find out the name of the guy at UM who used to run them.

Sorry, I'm way late in getting here, but FYI:

Club Fab's origins date back to the East Quad Dances.  In their latest
glory they were run by Ken Blochowski (sp?) who was the interim director
of the LGMBPO at UM.  I don't know what he's up to these days, but perhaps
the new director is focusing on other issues.  I know a couple attempts
to hold Club Fabs last fall fizzled (one because the DJ didn't make it).
Near Valentine's Day there was a Red & White Party that quacked like a
Club Fab, but I don't know who put it on.  It wasn't as well attended,
but it looked like everyone was having a good time.

Club Fab was also copied by QMC^2 (Queer Michigan Collegiate Coalition,
which comprised of UM Dearborn, Wayne State and a couple of the Detroit
area community colleges).  I think about 4 semi-annual events were held
at Backstreet, but after my other half left the group I'm not sure
that there were more events (or perhaps I just lost track).

Club Fab wasn't primarily for teens, but as it was a chem-free event
there was no age barrier.

Didn't Ozone House have a queer youth group?

Not being out is a big problem because of the need for a safe spot
and a fear of people attending events.  M-Net used to have a large
queer community in the mid-to-late 80s and held monthly GCGTs
(gay conference get togethers).  I still remember almost showing
up to one before finally meeting a wonderful group of people who
changed my life fore-ever....

Having learned from that experience, I was shocked when I discovered
the UofM LGB:RAP conferences.  Hardly anyone knew any other person,
even though many were regulars at the bars.  I had by then started
holding BBQs for M-Netters and invited the UM people to join.  The
BBQs grew from about 5 people to 60-80 and, at what we called the
Ann Arbor LesBiGay BBQ in June (now organized by WRAP) we had 120.

Remembering my hesitancy to go to a stranger's house, we also started
Ice Cream Together thing.  Meeting at a local shoppe allowed others
to see us without the "guilt by association" fear.  We only did this
about 3 times, but at least one person did observe us and later emailed me.

Speaking of WRAP, don't they now have space?  Can queer youth use it?

I'm always willing to help with such things (and if anyone needs a place
to hold a BBQ and is willing to drive to Livonia....).  Probably best
to email me: LK@stratcom.com

This is a very important subject. I hope that Ann Arbor teens are able 
to organise some sort of safe place for gay, lesbian, bi or questioning 
teens. 

I try to support OutYouth Austin as much as I can, be it volunteering 
at the safe house, or monetary donations. The organisation's website 
has many helpful links to resources. 
http://www.outyouth.org/resources/links.html

Also, this wonderful essay entitled, "Making School Safer for GLBT 
Youth" ---
http://www.outyouth.org/resources/school.html

I think part of it is just that Ann Arbor is already fairly safe for GLBTs,
especially for its size and location.  There may just not be as much push
behind an idea like this in a city where everyone's learned how to at least
imitate tolerance.

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