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SFist Cares ... About Gay Youth
There was never any doubt that SFist was going to pick a gay-related charity organization for our Cares column this week. Not that we heard about anything going on this weekend and wanted to be timely. Except, which organization? San Francisco rocks the world in resources for our LGBTQ citizens. Life isn't perfect, but if you identify with one of those letters you could definitely live in worse cities. So, a hard choice obviously.
What it came down to is that we'd know someone who might still be with us if he'd had LYRIC available to him. So LYRIC it is. Tonight, as we write this, LYRIC is having their LYRIC Pride Dance. Let us know if you went and which superhero you dressed as (Mmmm, Wonder Woman)!
If you've been living under a rock, LYRIC (Lavender Youth Recreation & Information Center) is a community center founded in 1988 for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth. It provides health and wellness services, social opportunities and community building events and programs, many of them peer-based.
LYRIC serves a population in danger of depression, harassment and substance abuse and they are increasingly serving younger and younger people. Please don't make us quote depressing statistics because LYRIC isn't a depressing place.
LYRIC, of course, needs volunteers and they have great opportunites specifically for youth under 23 - that's the peer part of their program. If you're just totally old, like us, they have a different set of opportunities. We think being a mentor sounds like a great thing to do! And, it's Thursday... it's Cares... it's cash. It's what we do.
C'mon, someone must be dressed up as Wonder Woman, right?