Creating Safe Spaces for LGBTQ+ Youth

With mental awareness month upon us, OFM chatted with Envision:You about their emerging program Q is for Questioning and the significant relationship between supporting queer youth and mental healthcare.

Envision:You provides mental health programs and public awareness efforts to help support LGBTQ+ youth, as well as adults who are supporting LGBTQ+ young people across Colorado. The organization offers a range of services and is wrapping up Q is for Questioning workshops in Teller County this month. Dates for upcoming workshops in Adams County, Aurora, and Broomfield are yet to be determined.

Envision:You describes the workshops as aiming to support trusted adults who interact with LGBTQ+ youth, enabling them to foster more affirming environments and relationships for the young individuals they support.

OFM interviewed Zamora Evans (they/them) and Brad Barfield (they/he) of Envision:You to discuss the Q is for Questioning program. Both are dedicated to creating inclusive spaces for those questioning their identity or seeking to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community.

With LGBTQ+ youth at a higher risk of mental health and suicide due to stigma, discrimination, bullying, and other factors, creating safe spaces for youth and educating adults in their lives can help reduce this ongoing problem. Barfield states that according to the Trevor Project. “Just one person being a positive influence in a queer person’s life can decrease the suicide rate by just 40 percent.”

“Socially, many people have become accepting of queer youth, but politically, their mental health has not provided,” explains Barfield, emphasizing the current impact of negative legislation is having on queer youth.

“In many respects, yes, there are tangible political factors that complicate this work significantly. However, it’s not just about navigating politics. We’re contending with fear and misinformation,” states Evans.

Q is for Questioning aims to deconstruct this misinformation by providing free workshops for adults with LGBTQ+ youth in their lives in a “judgment-free zone.” They also avoid looking at the current social tension in a “us vs. them” way and rather hope to create understanding and provide more affirming spaces for queer youth.

The workshops are provided free of charge, courtesy of a grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment, both in virtual and in-person formats.

More information can be found at envision-you.org/q-is-for-questioning.