Delaware’s LGBTQ community celebrates anti-bullying summit
On Saturday, middle school students from around the State of Delaware joined LGBTQ advocates and community leaders like Sarah Mcbride, the
National Press Secretary at the Human Rights campaign and keynote speaker for the 5th Annual Anti-Bullying/gay straight Alliance Summit.
“They were fearful about my future,” explained McBride as she told us about coming out to her parents. “They were fearful about my safety. They worried about every single thing that parents always worried about, but multiplied by 10 because I was also transgender.”
After college Mcbride helped pass the Gender Identity Non-Discrimination Act in Delaware. This bill not only ensured equal legal protections to transgender individuals, it also paved a way for local organization to be heard; like United Way and PRIDE in Delaware.
“Here in Delaware 13% of our 11th grade students in school are self identifying as LGBTQ,” said Bob Martz, Founder of United Way. “That’s a major number which says to me that we really have to support these kids.”
The Center for Disease Control released a study that included 150,000 kids over a 10-year period. Results showed gay and lesbian youth are 64% more at risk for depression, suicide, or substance abuse.
“I got phone calls from parents calling me an abomination and saying I was going to go to hell,” said Queen Cornish, a student and member of the LGBTQ community. “My mom was very angry about that. My father is a minister and my mom has a religious background so they are quite accepting.”
Queen Cornish is a sophomore at Mt. Pleasant High School and she tells us she’s been a part of PRIDE and the LGBTQ community since she was 12 and though events like this make her feel more invested in her community, being gay has been met with some challenges.
“The more accepting people in my life is my family and my peers were the ones who, it was negative. More negative vibes from them and a lot more pressure,” explained Cornish.
The event provided informational packets on LGBTQ resources, a Q&A session with the keynote speaker, Sarah Mcbride, followed by workshops discussing healthy relationships and rallying against bullying and leadership. McBride tells us she is proud of the progress Delaware has made around the LGBTQ community but she also says there is a lot of work to do before every young person knows their dreams and identity are not mutually exclusive.
The event today was a partnership between both the United Way organization and PRIDE. The primary focus was on providing students with a safe space to not only express their identity but have a support group to celebrate being apart of the LGBTQ community. Over the last five years PRIDE has offered cultural competency training to over 3,000 professionals across education and mental health.
Additionally, they’ve established 33 student groups within middle and high schools that partner with Big Brother, Big Sisters of Delaware to advocate, foster development, and create safe spaces for LGBTQ students to get support.
For more information on these organizations or to find a support group click here.
