Passages In The Press

A Safe Space to Grow

Camp Magazine --- By Bradley Osborn

August 15, 2008

If you are a 14- to 20-year-old looking for a cool place to go on a hot summer night, consider dropping by Passages, a safe, affirming space for LGBTQA youth in the Kansas City area. The only agenda is to have a relaxed, respectful time among peers. Participants may be chatting, dancing, listening to Clyde rehearse "Hey, Jude" on the piano or watching the girls assemble furniture.

Passages is still settling into its new digs in the basement of Trinity United Methodist Church, 620 E. Armour Blvd., having moved from its Westport location over the Memorial Day weekend. After several years at 4007 Central St., the group was straining to fit into the allotted space. Its new home, a few blocks to the northeast, is much larger, with a full kitchen, a banquet room/dance floor and, thankfully, more than one tiny bathroom.

The group offers LGBTQA youth a safe, affirming place to come on Wednesday and Saturday evenings. Over the years since its 1990 genesis, Passages has met from one to three days per week, and in 2003, it had a brief union with the Lesbian and Gay Community Center of Greater Kansas City (LGCCKC) before breaking away as an independent entity once again.

Wednesday nights at Passages begin at 5:30 p.m., and run till 9. Attendees are offered a light meal, which might be followed by specific programming such as a movie or other presentation. Or youth can simply hang in the lounge area, where several forms of media are available "“ books, magazines, music, television and four flat-screen PCs from the former LGCCKC space, which were recently donated by the David Bohnett Foundation.

Food donations for Wednesdays are made on a cyclical basis by Synergy Services SOS (Street Outreach Services) program, bar Natasha, Out There, Kansas City Free Health Clinic (KCFree) and Godfather's Pizza. Nabisco makes ad hoc donations, and the Leawood Hy-Vee provides snacks for Saturday night's ClubQueer, with occasional contributions by the Hy-Vee in Shawnee.

Saturday night activities run from 8 to midnight. The $5 admission fee goes toward the modest rent paid to Trinity Methodist. All youth entering Passages must be at least 14 years old, and no one who has reached age 21 is admitted.

Picture IDs are checked at the door, and there is a strict no alcohol-no drugs-no guns policy. Anyone found to be intoxicated or violent or who shows disrespect for others is barred from future entry. On the nights when facilitator Sara Wood is working, canines Presley and Tristan might greet participants. All adult volunteers working at Passages undergo background checks and wear badges while on site.

The church is on the 35th Street Metro bus route and is within blocks of the MAX and 57/South Oak lines and several others. The building has handicapped access on its east side. The gatherings are limited to the basement of the building; access to the upper floors is restricted by an alarm.

Programming at Passages ranges from yoga and Pilates classes to media presentations to poetry snaps, where spoken-word artists are praised with snaps rather than applause. Educators and exhibitors sometimes visit to talk about such issues as relationships, anti-violence efforts and HIV prevention.

The youth screened the film Were the World Mine at this year's Kansas City Gay & Lesbian Film + Video Festival, and 92 young people attended the 2008 Passages Prom, with the theme "Gays in Space." It was the fourth year the group has had a prom.

Youth DJs spin on Saturday nights, and show director Anita Cox works with the Youth Royalty Court, Passages' component of the Kansas City Gay Pride Royalty Court, made up of the drag-performing Prince and Princess and the non-drag-performing Duke and Duchess. Throughout the year, the Youth Royalty Court members do fundraising and work on their performances.

Passages board president Paul DiGeorge collects demographic data on attendees. A clear seasonal ebb and flow is apparent, with the colder months seeing higher attendance than the hot months. As soon as school lets out, attendance wanes. DiGeorge noted a recent maximum of 113 people when assessing Saturday night statistics. He also tracks by zip code, and says some youth travel from towns a substantial distance away, among them Lawrence, Kan.; Nevada, Mo.; Odessa, Mo.; and Smithville, Mo., to come to Passages.

Around 35 percent of Passages participants are non-white, and there is a mix of genders, orientations and socioeconomic backgrounds. Because of the age limits, new faces come and go as they reach 14 and as they age out. According to DiGeorge, 2,232 non-repeat visits occurred over a 38-month period.

Several community organizations are involved with Passages. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) members volunteer and provide examples of open and affirming parents to the youth. PFLAG hosts an annual taco dinner where queer-positive adults and young people can interact. Street Outreach Services, Kansas City Anti-Violence Project (KCAVP), KCFree, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and PROMO work with Passages to varying degrees.

Passages youth have participated in PROMO's LGBT Equality Day, advocating for specific categories to be applied to Missouri's generic anti-bullying legislation, among other things. DiGeorge said the young people were not intimidated, as most legislators are friendly; the group even had two legislators pulled off the floor so that they could hear from their future constituents. One notable exception was State Rep. Jane Cunningham (R., Chesterfield), who took offense at two young lobbyists' body piercings, telling them they "were making her physically ill to look at."

Other community events in which Passages youth have participated are Out in Westport, Kansas City Gay Pride and the Show-Me State Rodeo, where they directed parking, picked up trash, delivered ice and cleaned up horse stalls.

Passages is a 501(c)3, and as such its pantry is often nearly bare. Donations of nonperishable foods, drinks, microwaveable meals, snacks, soups, granola bars, Ramen noodles and pastas are greatly appreciated. Some of the young people do not have regular meals, and some are without permanent homes. In-kind donations are also accepted, such as DVDs and books, as are monetary gifts. One of the most useful things a person can give is time. Passages is always looking for responsible, caring volunteers.

In 2007, Camp Fire USA Heartland Council's Teens in Action partnered with Passages and local filmmaker and former Passages volunteer Lisa Marie Evans to produce a short film. Youth Out Loud: Responding to Hate Crimes as a Human Disaster relates the experiences of queer teens. Funded by Learn and Serve America, a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the film is available on DVD from the Heartland Council, or you may view it online here: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/1455981/4979547.Watch the video, and learn a bit about what some Passages youth face on a regular basis, and see why a safe place where relaxed but respectful behavior is so important. Support the future of our LGBTQA community, and help them grow into happy, healthy adults.

Passages Youth Center

Trinity United Methodist Church basement (entrance in rear)

620 E. Armour Road | Kansas City, Mo. 64109

816-931-0334 | www.kcpassages.org

Wednesdays: 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. "“ free admission

Saturdays: 8:00 p.m. to midnight - $5 admission

Group offers environment of acceptance -- Passages offers gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youths a place to be themselves.

The Kansas City Star -- By Lynn Franey

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

In the recent American Royal Parade, a group of teens that hadn't participated before helped build a float and rode proudly on it down Main Street.

They were from Passages, a Kansas City support group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teens.

The organization now has a partnership with Camp Fire USA Heartland Council, so the young people decorated the Camp Fire float with dozens of other kids, including Hispanic children, kids from Kansas City, Kan., after-school programs and other Camp Fire youth.

The Camp Fire partnership provides one example of how the 15-year-old Passages group is reaching out more than ever to get involved with community activities.

It still offers a safe, nonjudgmental place for youths to hang out on Wednesday nights, dance on Saturday nights and discuss important topics on Sunday nights.

But now Passages also is becoming more visible in other arenas.

The organization recently helped with a Habitat for Humanity project.

Some of the teens have gone the last two years to Jefferson City to help lobby for anti-bullying legislation.

Passages presented performances at "Out in Westport" and at the Pride festival in June and volunteered during a gay rodeo in Kansas City, Kan., over Labor Day weekend. In exchange for helping at such events, the organization hopes to receive donations from the organizations putting on the events.

Through its new partnership with Camp Fire, the youths may get a chance to use the organization's campground outside Parkville, giving the teens a new, fun activity.

"We're trying to get them involved," said Paul DiGeorge, the Passages board president the last 15 months. "We've expanded our reaching out a lot."

He said about two dozen youths accompanied PROMO, a statewide Missouri group advocating equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender, during its lobbying day in the Capitol earlier this year.

The students talked with legislators about the need for a bill protecting all public school students from bullying and harassment. The bill didn't pass.

Lack of acceptance or ostracism in their high schools and families is what leads some sexual minority youth to Passages warren of brightly colored rooms near the Lesbian and Gay Community Center of Greater Kansas City in Westport.

More than one in three gay, lesbian and transgender secondary school students said they were physically harassed at school because of their sexual orientation, according to a national survey of sexual minority youth conducted last year by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.

And nearly one in five said they had been physically assaulted because of their sexual orientation.

The study also found that students who reported more frequent physical harassment were more likely to report that they did not plan to go to college. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students were twice as likely as the general student population to say they didn't plan to continue their education after high school.

Some Passages youth have quit high school, said DiGeorge, so Passages is trying to get help for them in completing their GED exam. Some young people also have left home or are being forced out of their homes, so the organization provides them connections to social service agencies that can help them with groceries or rent.

DiGeorge said he hopes the existence of Passages helps sexual-minority youth feel they have somewhere they belong.

"I m helping give them something I never had," said DiGeorge. "I had nowhere to go. I was miserable ... Hopefully, they won't have to go through the heartache I had to go through."

Passages welcomes young people between the ages of 14 and 20. Adult volunteers hang out with the teens after they ve been screened with a background check, DiGeorge said. They are not allowed to date the teens. Also, no drugs or alcohol are allowed at Passages events.

Besides Wednesday night hang-out sessions, Saturday night underage dance clubs, and Sunday night speaker/discussion events, Passages also holds Thanksgiving and Christmas events along with PFLAG: Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

Later this month, PFLAG and Passages will host a taco dinner for young people and their parents.

On a recent Wednesday night, a couple dozen young people crammed into the center. They ate donated chicken and rice. They used the computer. One played a guitar. Quite a few jammed themselves onto the big, comfy gray and black couch, giggling over fashion spreads in magazines, gently teasing each other, singing or just goofing off.

Lauren, a brown-haired 17-year-old, sat on a couch with friend Amanda Boyd, 20, of Merriam.

"You can come here and be yourself and you won't be judged," said Lauren, who declined to give her last name because of the challenges she is having at her school. "It's a place to be yourself and have fun."

She said being out as a lesbian in her high school has been difficult. She's been coming to Passages for almost a year. "It's filled with gay people, so there's a lot of drama," she jokes, rolling her blue eyes.

Boyd said she started coming to Passages about two years ago. Now she is a DJ for the Saturday night dance club.

She said she struggled with bisexuality in high school, having boyfriends to fit in but also knowing she was attracted to women.

Now, she said, she's growing more comfortable with just being herself. She's cut her long hair short, and she's wearing more "boyish" clothes that feel more comfortable and authentic.

"It's opened me up to who I want to be instead of trying to hide it from people," Boyd said. "It just makes me happier with myself, being who I actually am."

Passages helps fill the void left by the separation that has developed between her and those who don't accept her sexuality.

"It's kind of hard (for gay people) to live life in general. That's why we need support groups," Boyd said. "We need other people to talk to that we can relate to."

Jonah Thompson first came to Passages about a year ago, after he'd moved to Kansas City from his southeast Kansas hometown of about 800 people.

There, he had never been open about his sexuality, he said, because he feared being beaten up.

Thompson, 19, came to Kansas City to attend Johnson County Community College but now is working as a line cook at a Kansas City restaurant.

He heard about Passages from gay friends.

The first time he went, Thompson recalled, "The people there were really friendly and welcoming, so I continued to go there and the reason why is just that I enjoy it. I enjoy being myself and doing the things I like to do. In most places ... it's just not accepted if I say, That guy's hot. "

At Passages, Thompson said, "I don't have to cover anything up."

THE DETAILS

For more information on Passages, go to www.kcpassages.org or call (816) 931-0334. The organization's office is at 4007 Central in Kansas City.

Passages is a 501(c)3 charity and takes donations of money and food for its teen events. Adult volunteers must go through a background check before working with the young people. Passages also welcomes educators to work with the organization as allies.

"It's kind of hard (for gay people) to live life in general. That's why we need support groups. We need other people to talk to that we can relate to." -- Amanda Boyd of Merriam

To reach Lynn Franey, minority affairs reporter, call (816) 234-4927 or send e-mail to lfraney@kcstar.com