A Brief History of Passages

Passages began in 1990 as "Greater Kansas City Gay and Lesbian Youth Services," an association of mental health professionals and interested volunteers to provide support and educational services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) youth and straight alliances confronting questions of sexual identity and homophobia. The group later changed their name to "Passages." Until 2002, meetings were one day per week for up to three hours per week. Now we have advanced and grown to meetings two nights a week.

In 2002, there was a discussion of unifying Passages with the Kansas City Gay and Lesbian Community Center. By the end of 2003, this unification was completed. By mid-2004, Passages Youth and Staff felt they were ready to spread their wings with new vision and empowerment.

Passages Youth Center moved to a new space in 2004, and programming was increased to three days a week (Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays). In the fall of 2006, due to shear growth in youth attendance, strategic development began for expansion.

In early 2008, Passages had the opportunity to move to Trinity United Methodist Church, the location where prom had been held. The space was much bigger, and in a better neighborhood.

For nearly 20 years, Passages has helped encourage youth to grow and develop in a drug-free, alcohol-free, and hate-free environment, and to continue to support them as they discover who they are, no matter what orientation or gender they might be. Thousands of youth have passed through our doors over the years, and we continue to look forward to helping support Kansas City's GLBT (and straight) youth, as well as having a fun atmosphere for them to interact in.