Hello, friends! Well, fall is certainly around the corner…everyone got their pumpkin spice?? Just kidding! Hopefully, back to school is going well for our LGBTQ youth. Still, with the attacks still coming (this time from the Cleveland Catholic Diocese), we will continue to try to educate, support, provide resources and information, and anything else we can think of to continue to protect LGBTQ+ youth and adults in our area.
You are probably aware of the efforts to ban books in public and school libraries, in particular ones with LGBTQ+ themes or LGBTQ+ authors, and our area is no exception. With the help of some generous donors, and some wonderful volunteers, we are able to provide banned books to our teens who attend our Teen MeetUps at Cool Beans. So far, we have given away 10 books, and thanks to the generosity of donors, we will be able to give books away for the next year or so(!) Thank you! For more information on Banned Book Week (Oct. 1-7) and books that you can incorporate into your reading lists, visit www.welcomingschools.hrc.org. In 2022, the ALA documented 1,269 demands to censor library books, with over 2,500 individual titles targeted.
Our friends at Colors+ Youth Center in Fairview Park, among many other programs that they offer for youth, are hosting youth Art Therapy classes for young children through teens. Attached, please see flyers for the programs.
NEW! OutSupport purchases binders through www.gc2b.com and they have just started a new instant size recommender when you look at a binder. We will ask everyone who is interested in receiving a binder to refer to that before our purchase to make sure that youth are getting the right size. If you go there, check out www.2b.care, and learn about all the great things this company does for trans folx around the world.
OutSupport has had a partnership with the Medina County Health Dept. for the past 2 years, as their tobacco grant outreach partner, establishing information about and for LGBTQ+ folx and tobacco use (the only such partnership in the state!). They are looking for current and former tobacco users to answer a few simple questions to better get a handle on ways to prevent younger LGBTQ+ folx from starting the habit. If you are a current of former tobacco user who would be interested in adding to the information collected, we would really appreciate it. You don’t have to live in Medina County to participate. Contact Rebecca Parkhurst at rparkhurst@medinahealth.org for more information and to participate.
Very excited to attend Medina High School GSA Ally Snack Break! If you are an Ally adult in the Medina area, and want to show up for LGBTQ+ students and get to know them and their concerns a little better, please consider attending! RSVP requested. See attached for details
Lots of events coming up: *TransOhio symposium still time to register! See attached! *Equality Ohio Allies and Advocates is October 5! www.equalityohio.org *HRC/Equality Ohio/ACLU/TransOhio Virtual Letter Writing Event https://www.mobilize.us/hrc/event/583317/ *Save the Date for the Sugar Plum Tour, the Gay Community Endowment Fund’s signature fundraising event! Live on Dec. 3, Virtual Dec. 9-10. www.sugarplumtour.org The GCEF has provided funding for OutSupport, as well as many deserving LGBTQ+ organizations in the Greater Akron area…so please support them!!!
G2H2 Social Community will be having a Clambake Dinner at Serenite on Oct. 11 at 5:30pm. RSVP to their Facebook page!
PrideTime at the Medina Library for Teens Oct. 11 @4:00pm/Brunswick Library Thurs. Oct. 26@ 5:30pm.
OutSupport Events: *Teen MeetUp at Cool Beans Oct. 10 @7:00-8:00pm
Adult Support Group. Unity of Medina 655 N. Broadway Oct. 12 7:00-8:30pm
Save the Date for our Celebration of a Decade of OutSupport! January 20, 2024! More details soon! Upcoming events that we will be at: Case Western Reserve Sherrod Brown Event/Medina GSA/Coming OutDay@ Baldwin Wallace University/Westfield Bank ERG Virtual Panel/GLSEN Resource Fair Kent State/AIRoot Middle School GSA. Busy schedule!
DON’T FORGET TO VOTE!!!! Early voting begins at your local Board of Elections starting October 11. Please update your registration if you have moved or changed your name or address by October 10. Those of us at OutSupport urge you to VOTE YES on Issue 1, for Reproductive Freedom in Ohio. This isn’t about gender affirming care or anything else that some might have you believe. We believe that reproductive care, in all its forms (IVF/Miscarriage care/abortion/birth control availability, etc..) is critical to maintain in Ohio. The election date is November 7, so you can vote early, by mail or on Nov. 7. Whatever you do, DON’T FORGET TO VOTE!!!
Lastly, I just want to say that 10 years ago this month, October, 2013, OutSupport had its first meeting. At the time, there was nothing available for LGBTQ+ people and the people that loved them in Medina County (outside of the GSAs at Medina and Wadsworth High Schools). We really weren’t sure if Medina needed a support group (although, at the time, I knew my family and I needed one!) or would embrace such a group. Apparently, it did, and we have been happy to have been able to provide support, information and advocacy to thousands of people, in one way or another, over the past 10 years. Overall, OutSupport has received so much support from the Medina community…more than we thought we would have. We are grateful for your support, and look forward to serving our community for some time to come! We are always looking for more ways to serve, so please let us know if you have ideas!! My life, and my family’s lives have been forever changed by my children coming out to my husband and me. Maybe your story is similar? That’s what this is all about….making the journey easier for each other. Hugs to each and every one of you, as however you’ve come to be on this listserv, you have contributed in one way or another to the success of OutSupport. Thank you.
Kindest regards, Sandy she/her
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