BAGLY: Boston Alliance Of Gay LGBT Community

I began volunteering at a non-profit organization in Burbank, Burbank Temporary Aid Center (BTAC). This organization focuses on assisting homeless and low-income individuals and families. They provide various services:

Gay-Straight Alliance is an organization on the campus of Savannah State university. This organization is a social organization where any student of sexual orientation can come together in a nonjudgment environment and come to find understanding of each other. The equality of all students is very important to the GSA organization. Not only do the students of the LGBT community receives support from the students with the same sexual orientation as them, they also receive support from those of straight sexual orientation. GSA has also partners with different organization on campus to further help LGBT students. Organizations such as; Phi Beta Sigma, Delta Sigma Theta, etc. Along with partnering with different organization they partnered with the different departments on the campus. Office of Counseling and Disability services, and the Social Sciences department have played a big role when working with GSA. With our partnering with others it helped bring the Savannah State University community together. As whole GSA has surprised students with the different events that held during the spring semester of 2014. From their Volunteering at the Rock n Roll Race to their participation in pride, and also their very own NOH8 support events. GSA definitely made a big statement in supporting the LGBT community and making it a safe place for its students.

Many LGBTQ youth have particular experiences of trauma, rejection and abuse related to their sexual orientation or gender identity, and programs sometimes fail to address these issues. Even when LGBTQ youth access programs, some experience discrimination and harassment by staff who are not trained to be culturally competent on LGBT issues. By forging links with the LGBTQ youth task force to bring further attention to the homeless we can ensure development of safe and appropriate services for this population (Bardine,

Additionally, I volunteered with community programs focused on alleviating health care issues. For example, I worked with an organization that promotes community discourse on the unique, hidden health challenges of homeless and low-income women and girls. Not long after that, I volunteered at two events,

to help young men and women get out of hunger and poverty, and they volunteered in different

In the Introduction to LGBT+ Studies class we discussed many themes of the history of the LGBT+ community, these themes include; oppression, fighting for our visibility and having it delayed, and a sort of power within the community. The LGBT+ community has gone through an immense amount of oppression, having to fight its way into the light and having it be pushed aside multiple times. In a historical context when the LGBT+ community started to show itself so to speak was around the 1920’s there were the first gay rights movements starting, and surprisingly it was the start of some acceptance. However, when World War II began in 1939 it oppressed the movement, as well as setting it back by gay men being denied from the military because

I volunteered at the Little Lights Urban Ministries. I had the pleasure of working with adults and kids but, majority were adults in a low income community. Little lights was founded in 1995 by Steven Park. Little Lights is located in Potomac Gardens public housing apartments in Washington DC. It all started off with Steven tutoring one child in an uptown neighborhood. Then he met his wife Mary and things started expanded. They started allowing 15 kids come over after school to do homework and bible study. Sometimes they would order pizza or buy chicken to feed the kids if they stayed over late. A couple of years later they was blessed with the main building and somebody donated a van for transportation. Steven then start his nonprofit and

The organization I picked was Safe Haven or can also be called the mentoring projects. Save Haven serves teens between ages 13 through 18 male or female. Their objective is to increase academic skills and performance, reduce self-defeating behaviors, increase self esteem, raise graduation rates in the inner city schools or Atlanta, and to improve their relationship between their family, peers, and other adults. It started in 1988 when a small group of citizens were worried about their community. It went from a mentoring project to YES!Atlanta and YES stands for Youth Experiencing Success.

The service learning group I was in included Claudia Hodges, Laurie Wahlstrom, Lucas Johnson, and me. We chose to volunteer with the Boys and Girls Club to fulfill volunteer work requirement. I assisted with the implementation and managing of online collaboration and communication within the group.

Clubs specializing in volunteering, truly trying to combat the problem such as Key Club while also working in unison with other clubs such as Model UN and Spanish Club. Volunteering is essential in eradicating the problem of homelessness in our community. Although volunteering at many places over high school such as Honor Flight assisting war veterans for a flight to Washington D.C to visit war memorials, for the Eastern Farm Workers Association helping make tamales to sell during superbowl week, at the school such as Tillie’s Touch collecting sports equipment and giving it to children in need, or making sandwiches for the homeless, by far the one that has had the most impact on me has been the Samaritan Center. Volunteering at the Samaritan Center, although the process being rigorous trying to volunteer there is worth it due to having an amazing and eye opening experience. Facing the problem head on opens your eyes to reality and truly makes you

After searching for hours over the internet and sending many emails, I chose the Washington United Youth Center (WUYC) to volunteer at . It was simply perfect; there were many eager students at the school, located in a poor area, waiting for help. It pleased me to see many students

I volunteered at the Hubbard House, which is a home away from home for people who have family in the hospital or are being treated by the hospital and don’t want to live there, as the hospital is a 5 minute bus ride away. Our job was to serve the residents who were currently housed there, a hot homemade spaghetti and meatballs meal with garlic bread and assorted desserts. We served them as if it were a restaurant and brought smiles to their faces.

After much thought about what I would want to for my volunteer project, I finally settled on the “Feed the Homeless” campaign organized by the Southwest Rotary Club of Las Vegas. This experience allowed me to work with the fantastic organization, Rotary International, and has given me the opportunity to better myself, both personally and professionally, through working with great people and overcoming the challenges presented to me.

Queer as Folk: Over the extent of of the United States’ history, we have had a lot of social movements. One of the most notable being the fight for equality for LGBTQI — that is, lesbian, gays, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and inter-sexual. The LGBTQ started its uprise in the ‘50s as homosexuals started to become more well known — not necessarily accepted, however — among society. The LGBTQI community has quickly progressed since the ‘50s and ‘60s, bringing along with it many social changes, transgressions, feelings of hate, misconceptions, and a plethora of stereotypes — changing society’s views on sex, marriage, love, and what it is to be human. It is important to understand the impact the LGBTQI community has had on our society, and which titles have made the greatest impact. Out of all six titles, one has became the most prominent in today’s society: gay men.

I am proud to admit that I am part of the 8 to 10 percent of the US Population that identifies as a gay male. When it comes to addressing the many needs of the GLBTQ community, there are so many important current issues that I could write about, and it's difficult to pick just one. My population has been discriminated against, denied equal rights, healthcare and jobs, we have been bullied, jailed, killed, and have faced the negative stigma that society has created for being who we are. When I hear people that say being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender is a choice I’m reminded of the discrimination that people go through and think why would anyone choose this lifestyle. I didn’t choose this lifestyle but was merely born this way as