Unshrinking Youth

youth summit that happened earlier in November. And you know, for far too long, we have conversations right that are talking about LGBTQ youth as opposed to actually speaking too LBTQ youth. They have been used as political footballs. They have been used for target practice by the far right.

And I don't even want to call them the far right, it's just Republicans, right, Like, if you are at this day and age, if you're still wearing the label proudly a Republican, then you are a homophobe, a transphobe, a racist, a misogynist, because that's what the Republican Party stands for. When we look around the nation right now, at the I mean, folks, the swath of anti LGBTQ legislation, all of which in very big ways are directed at LGBTQ

youth or their families. You look at the legislation that was rolled out in Texas, which was an anti transpiece of legislation that was going to criminalize right parents for providing life affirming healthcare for their children. You look at the policies that are rolled out in Florida and the way that Lauren Bobert said that they should be nationalized so that we can go back to an error where we can't even utter the word gay, that we can't

even say LGBTQ. There were horrific stories of teachers needing to take down They're safe space stickers in their classrooms that were rainbows that identify them as a safe haven four young people inside of that school, right, And we've seen those removed. So, you know, I think that it is really important for us to be in conversation with youth about how they are being affected by what is

happening to them. So in a series of interviews that I will do over the course of this week, I will chat with two young people, one who is seventeen years old who is coming up next, Riss Robinson, who is a senior in high school at and living in Alabama, and then another interview that I will have later in the week with a fifteen year old non binary artist and then the leader, the education coordinator for the It Gets Better project to talk about why it Gets Better

and our and other organizations directed at youth are so critical at this moment and this time, and I got to tell you, you know, for those folks who don't know my own personal coming out story, I came out when initially when I was twelve, to my sister, and I remember we were on a family vacation and we were sitting on the rooftop of the hotel that we were staying at, and I had been trying to work up the courage to tell my sister at this time

that I thought that I was bisexual. And my sister, for folks who don't know, is five years older than me. So if I'm twelve, right, she's roughly seventeen eighteen, you know, getting ready to turn eighteen years old. And thankfully, the first person that I ever told, my sister, met my fear and anxiety with nothing but love and compassion. I remember coming out to her and I had tears in my eyes and I said, I think that I'm bisexual. I know definitely that I like girls, but I think

I also still like boys. And my sister looked at me and she said, I have no idea why you're crying. Half of my friends are by, and we had a good laugh about that. That initial reaction to my truth right would be the foundation for how over the course of the next several years it wouldn't be for another nine years that I would come out to my parents, and this time say you know that I am a lesbian.

I would come out to friends, you know, new friends and old friends, you know, in between that twelve year old me and then you know, young adult me that

would finally come out to my parents. And you know, even when I came out to my parents, who were so beside themselves, and the only reason why they were beside themselves was because of the world that we live in, not because they didn't love me, not because I came from a religious family that was going to throw me out of the house or you know, throw the Bible at me or any of those things, but because my mother, and I've written about this and spoken about it so

many times, said you're already a woman, and you're already black. What else do you want against you? Right? And you know, in hindsight and even just you know, days later, I recognize that my parents' reactions were ones that were coming from fear. They just didn't want their daughter to experience any more pain, any more sadness, loneliness, grief, depression because of wanting to live an authentic and true life and knowing that at that time this is society that we

were living in was not welcoming at all. So part of me, as now a queer adult, when speaking with these young people, part of me is just so in awe of them, so in awe of their courage, their authenticity, because again, you know, I wasn't out and queer in elementary school or in high school. I think the average age now young people coming out is around twelve and

thirteen years old. And I think about the uniformity, right, just the assimilation that is expected of young people just to fit in, and all the ways that we shrink ourselves in order to fit into other people's ideas of

who we should be. So the fact that you can be so young and so clear about who you are and about how you want to show up in the world, I think is so critical for us to understand that when we listen to these politicians that are supposed to be the adults in the room, that are telling young people that are very clear about who they are, how they want to identify what is inside of their heart, and expressing to them that all they're looking for is

dignity and respect. All they're looking for is to be able to live their lives openly and proudly without obstacle

or oppression. And how dare someone tell you that you don't deserve that dignity or respect, that I'm not going to respect your pronouns, that I'm not going to respect your sexual orientation, right, Like, think about how fucking crazy it is when these idiot politicians and you know, Republican leaders come out and say and make jokes about pronouns and make jokes about who people are and how they show up. Who the fuck are you that gets to

decide how other people should be able to exist. If you can be free to be a fucking bigot, right, then other people should be free to live inside of

their own fucking skins. Right. So I say that to say that it was really enjoyable speaking with these young people, hearing their perspectives and understanding that I've spent and debticated a large part of my career to fighting for justice and equity for all people, but particularly BIPOP people, particularly black, Indigenous people of color LGBTQ people, people who live at

the intersection of multiple identities. And to know that they are still fighting, but fighting with a strength in their back, with their heads held high, knowing definitively who they are makes me so proud, makes me so proud, and makes me feel like the work that I've done in my life hasn't been in vain. So I really hope that you all listen to these interviews and the conversations that I've had, take these young people seriously and understand that while they may be young, they know a lot more

than we give them credit for. So this is my first interview with Riis Robinson, who attended It Gets Better Youth Summit earlier this month. Folks, I'm really excited to introduce you to a few young people that I have the opportunity to speak with on woke f First up is Aris Robinson, who is a black, non binary and queer activists. Their biggest passion is dedicating their life and

fighting for liberation and accessibility in all areas. This led them to be the president of their high school Gender Sexuality Alliance and the group of young people that I'm going to be speaking to all participated in the youth summit for the It Gets Better Project. Aris, thank you so much for making the time to join woke F So first I just want to ask you, what was

your experience at the summit, Like, how was that? I had an amazing experience at the sum It was my first time in Los Angeles and I'm from the deep South Migomery, Alabama, so going to the West Coast was something totally new for me and a really exciting experience. I got to meet so many people, especially the whole

It's Better team. They were so nice and affirming and they made me feel welcome and any like room I was in m I. It was very the whole space was very sensory friendly, and as a neurodivergent person, that made me feel even more welcome that I could um like fidget and um color and not have to have like my have to have my full attention on one thing, but I could like relax and be my full self

in the space. I got to do my very first in person interview and a photo shoot, and I got to meet all of the other youth voices and they were really I loved my new friends and they're really great people to work with. A main saying, so tell me what what are some of the things that you discussed that you all were discussing at the youth Summit and what was it like to be for the first time I'm assuming surrounded by like minded young people who

were identify as queer or as allies. One of the one of my favorite topics that we talked about was queer Sex Said. It Says Better has a new Queer Sex Said series and we got to watch it together as a group and make this toolbox of different terms and different things that industry could improve on. And I really love being a part of that conversation because reproductive justice is one of my biggest passions to activate for

advocate for. So being able to get my input on consent and contraceptives and hearing other people's perspectives, especially from different size of the world and like different opinions, it really kind of opened my eyes to different perspect is and being able to all come together and make this one big toolbox that somebody could be used, may or may not. But it was really exciting to be surrounded by all these different people and talk about something that

I really like talking about. What do you think that older people get wrong when they think about queer youth and they're talking about queer youth. I think that in a lot of ways, young queer people are being used as the term that we use as a political football, not being seen as real people, and just being seen as statistics. So what do you think that older people are getting wrong? I think older people, especially people who are not in the not working constantly with lgbtqs, I

think they could humanize us a little bit. I think they just kind of think we're just there and then we see then we see us in articles about advocacy. They don't see us as human they just see it's like, oh, they're they're mad about this, they're mad about that, they're mad about this, and said, but we're actually students, we are athletes, we're friends, we're peers, and we're so much

more than just an activist. And I think when you think when you think about Elsbe's youth as more than a political pond, then I think, um, older, older adults would realize that they have we have needs just like everyone else, and we're not trying to be mad at every little issue. It's just this world is not made for us. And I think that once they realize, hey, these people are struggling, then I think we can probably move forward in some of the issues that we're still

fighting today. You know, you mentioned that you are live in the Deep South. You are living in Alabama, and oftentimes when we when we talk about the South, we kind of blanket it with one image, one idea of what is going on there, and so tell us a bit about what it's like to be young, black and queer in Alabama. Being in Alabama was not my choice. I moved here. Um, I think seven years ago. M I came into fifth I came here in fifth grade,

and now I'm in twelfth, twelfth grade. And I think I've I'm more used, I'm more used to I'm more a city person. Sorry, I'm a city person. So being in such a slower lifestyle isn't isn't my personal thing. I think that I'm not constantly getting harassed for my race or my sexuality. I think that's one of the bigger misconceptions that um, there are just people like shouting at me or this insulting me wherever I go, and

that's not the truth. I've found such a beautiful queer community here in Alabama, whether it be my school GSA that I personally run and I make a space for the queer youth to feel safe, or it be up in Birmingham with the Magic City Acceptance Center that I go to at least a couple a couple of days

a month to spend time with other queer youths. So I think that another miscresception is that we don't have these spaces, and I think it's important to know that we do, and that for other queer people in Alabama to know that these spaces exist so they can reach out and try to get some help and find these

spaces that I have that also they can use. What advice do you have or for other young people who live in red states or who have not sought out different centers or places that they can go to find safe haven to find in community, what advice do you

have for them? I think my biggest advice would be to reach out to online resources if that's available to them I think most people try to find in person spaces, but there are a lot of chat chat spaces, phone lines, zoom communities that they all get together monthly weekly that they can reach out to and have some some sort of community, whether it be even though it's not in person, it's still there for them. And I've found my um Christian queer youth community online and it's it's queer and

there's all these different perspectives and they support me. And even though it's not a place where I can go in and sit down, it's still a place where I feel accepted. And I think other queer youth can go online and try to like research and find these spaces to like to participate in. And one of the things that I was reading in your bio and you just mentioned is that you are you do do Christian advocacy

as a queer person. Can you also explain that and talk about the work that you do in this space, in the religious space as well as in the queer space, and how they intersect. I think a lot of people try to separate queerness and Christianity or any type of Abrahamic religion when it comes to all the BTQ people, but I think that people kind of group it into evangelism,

and that's not that's not the whole of Christianity. I personally believe in like a liberation theology where we can where I connect stories from the Bible and kind of interpret it as a social justice story. And I think that's one of the things that's helped me to see Christianity in a better life when in a time where Christianity wasn't my favorite thing in the world and people were telling me, oh, this is a thing, Oh you

can't do this, you can't do that. And I feel like having my own relationship with a higher like a higher power as one of the things that helped me personally. And I don't think that queer people should shy away from religion, but find out what works for them and also know that they you don't have to believe in what other people say. You should believe in and kind

of seek out your own truth in a way. If you had one message to give to people to help them better understand the state of queer youth right now, what would it be. I think queer youth right now are still fighting. I don't think even though even though we do, we are humans. We are still activists and we're both and we have feelings and we have to advocate just to exist in a space. But we also have to get good. You have to keep up our grades and socialize and apply for colleges like I'm doing

right now. So I think people should know that they should encourage us and be in solidariated with us and check out our mental health because there are a lot of things going on in the world right now that are not that are horrific and traumatizing, and we need that support system from everybody else who's insolidary and allying with us. Ris, thank you so much for taking the time to join Woke app. Thank you for the advocacy that you're doing in your own life, in your school

and creating space for young queer people. I really appreciate you. Thank you so much for having me on your podcast. That is it for me today, dear friends on woke app. As always, power to the people and to all of people. Power, get woke and stay woke as fuck.