| Founded | 1980 [1] |
|---|---|
| Legal status | 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. [2] |
| Focus | BAGLY aims to create, sustain, and advocate for socially just programs, policies, and services for LGBTQ+ youth through youth-led and adult-supported efforts. |
| Headquarters | 28 Court Square, Boston, MA [3] |
Key people | Grace Sterling Stowell |
| Website | www |
The Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth (BAGLY) is a non-profit organization located in Boston that works to protect, expand, and raise awareness for the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth (LGBTQ+). Founded by LGBTQ+ youth in 1980, it adopts a youth-led, adult-supported approach to better meet the varied needs of a wide demographic of LGBTQ+ youth in Greater Boston. BAGLY's stated goals are to create, sustain, and advocate for socially just and intersectional programs, policies, and services for the LGBTQ+ youth community, which they achieve through frequent community-based leadership development, health promotion, and social support programs.
Founded in 1980, BAGLY originated from the Committee of Gay Youth, a Boston-based youth and adult advocacy group established to provide safe meeting spaces for LGBTQ+ peoples. Dissatisfied with youth representation on the mostly adult leadership board, former CGY members branched off from the organization to create the Boston Alliance of Gay and Lesbian Youth (later renamed the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth) and provide specific services for youth 22 and under. Using funds raised from CGY and other independent fundraisers, BAGLY organized multiple programs such as the BAGLY Speakers Bureau, HIV/AIDS education, and the first prom for LGBTQ+ youth in the United States early on in its development. BAGLY was also a founding organization of the National Youth Advocacy Coalition and the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth.
BAGLY is currently the oldest independent and continuous LGBTQ+ youth organization in Boston. In addition to its Speaker Bureau, BAGLY Prom, and sexual health education, BAGLY has also expanded to include Youth Pride, the Trans Youth Summit, and New England Awards Ball, as well as a multitude of weekly youth-oriented programs developed by youth leaders. Companies such as Puma [4] and Glossier [5] have collaborated with BAGLY in the past to support and keep programs such as physical and mental health services free and accessible for LGBTQ+ youth. In the past, BAGLY has also worked with GLAD (Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders) [6] and the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition to create programs and initiatives, receiving the support of activists such as Laverne Cox. [7]
BAGLY provides a variety of weekly meetings and drop-in workshops to address the intersectional needs of youth in the Greater Boston area. [8] Meetings and workshops are held in the community center, which also serves as a safe place for LGBTQ+ youth to work on schoolwork, socialize, and relax. BAGLY posts a monthly calendar of meetings on its website.
Generally, there are three types of sessions: Social Support Meetings, which offer support for LGBTQ+ youth under 22 with other marginalized identities; BAGLY Wednesdays, which contain an orientation followed by weekly rotations between Arts Corner, Outspoken Open Mic, Family Dinner, and HEARRT (Health Education & Risk Reduction Team); and Underground Fridays.
BAGLY provides opportunities for youth leadership through two main pathways: the Youth Leadership Committee and HEARRT. The Youth Leadership Committee is composed of seven youths and is responsible for organizing prominent BAGLY outreach events such as Youth Pride, Boston Pride, and AIDS Walk, as well as other advocacy initiatives. HEARRT, which contains five youths, works with the BAGLY clinic on HIV prevention and sexual health awareness to improve health outcomes for LGBTQ+ youth.
The BAGLY Speakers Bureau is a youth speaker bureau founded in 1981 that works with institutions that primarily affect the lives of LGBTQ+ youth, such as schools and youth organizations, to bring awareness to their experiences and needs.
BAGLY's clinic is open and free of charge to any LGBTQ+ individuals under 29. Services provided include STI testing, healthcare and insurance referrals, and other healthcare applications for HDAP, name changes, food stamps, cash benefits, and more.
Four forms of therapy are also offered free of charge to LGBTQ+ youth under 25 at BAGLY; similar to the BAGLY Clinic, they do not require proof of insurance or identification. Therapy includes group counseling on trauma, creative art narration, meetings with licensed independent clinical social workers, and peer-led meetings on mental health issues. [9]
The AGLY Network contains organizations affiliated with BAGLY and dedicated to advocating for and helping LGBTQ+ youth all over Massachusetts. There are currently fourteen AGLY organizations in Massachusetts: BrAGLY, [10] CIGSYA, [11] Generation Q North, [12] Generation Q South, [12] House of Colors/Casa de Colores, LOLYP, [13] McVAGLY, nAGLY, [14] NB-AGLY, [15] Out Now, [16] Safe Homes, [17] SShAGLY, SWAGLY, [18] and Out MetroWest, Inc. [19] The network is supported by BAGLY, both through funding and HEARRT training.
With 25 years of history, BAGLY's Youth Pride is held annually in May and includes a youth-led march, performances by LGBTQ+ youth, dance parties, and more. [20]
BAGLY Prom is the oldest LGBTQ+ youth prom in the nation. Featured in photography by Zoe Perry-Wood [21] and a Time article in 2012, [22] the dance continues to be one of the largest LGBTQ+ youth gatherings in the country. [23]
The Transgender Youth Summit was formed by BAGLY and the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition in 2008 for transgender/nonbinary/genderqueer youth under 24, featuring activities for community-bonding and workshops on identity and available resources
GLSEN is an American education organization working to end discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression and to prompt LGBT cultural inclusion and awareness in K-12 schools. Founded in 1990 in Boston, Massachusetts, the organization is now headquartered in New York City and has an office of public policy based in Washington, D.C.
A gay–straight alliance, gender-sexuality alliance (GSA) or queer–straight alliance (QSA) is a student-led or community-based organization, found in middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities. These are primarily in the United States and Canada. Gay–straight alliance is intended to provide a safe and supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and all LGBTQ+ individuals, children, teenagers, and youth as well as their cisgender heterosexual allies. The first GSAs were established in the 1980s. Scientific studies show that GSAs have positive academic, health, and social impacts on schoolchildren of a minority sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Numerous judicial decisions in United States federal and state court jurisdictions have upheld the establishment of GSAs in schools, and the right to use that name for them.
The Triangle Program is an alternative education program in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, designed for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students who are at risk of dropping because of homophobic and transphobic harassment in regular schools or need supports and flexibility around struggles with mental health, housing, or other social struggles.
LGBT culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture, while the term gay culture may be used to mean either "LGBT culture" or homosexual culture specifically.
The origin of the LGBT student movement can be linked to other activist movements from the mid-20th century in the United States. The Civil Rights Movement and Second-wave feminist movement were working towards equal rights for other minority groups in the United States. Though the student movement began a few years before the Stonewall riots, the riots helped to spur the student movement to take more action in the US. Despite this, the overall view of these gay liberation student organizations received minimal attention from contemporary LGBT historians. This oversight stems from the idea that the organizations were founded with haste as a result of the riots. Others historians argue that this group gives too much credit to groups that disagree with some of the basic principles of activist LGBT organizations.
COLAGE is an organization created in 1990 by the children of several lesbian and gay parents and guardians who felt a need for support.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, commonly called The Center, is a nonprofit organization serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population of New York City and nearby communities.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center is a provider of programs and services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The organization's work spans four categories, including health, social services, housing, and leadership and advocacy. The center is the largest facility in the world providing services to LGBT people.
Supporting Our Youth (SOY) is an organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which runs programs and events geared to supporting the special needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual and intersex youth. SOY gets support and involvement from local youth and adults that volunteer their time to help improve each other’s lives. SOY’s main focus points are helping the youth create healthy arts, recreational spaces, culture, supportive housing, and employment.
Unitarian Universalism, as practiced by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), and the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC), is a non-Creedal and Liberal theological tradition and an LGBTQ affirming denomination.
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The Theater Offensive is a Boston-based theatrical organization dedicated to the production of queer works. The Theater Offensive was founded in 1989 by Abraham Rybeck "to present the diversity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender lives in art so bold it breaks through personal isolation, challenges the status quo, and builds thriving communities." The Theater Offensive mounts and produces festivals and individual productions by national and local queer performers, and also serves as a development environment for new theatrical work. In addition, The Theater Offensive works to build community through education, outreach, and political activism.
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CenterLink is an American LGBT organisation which was founded in 1994 as a member-based coalition to support the development of strong, sustainable, LGBTQ community centers. A fundamental goal of CenterLink's work is to strengthen, support, and connect LGBTQ community centers, and to help build the capacity of these centers to address the social, cultural, health, and political advocacy needs of LGBTQ community members across the country. CenterLink plays a vital role in addressing the challenges centers face by helping them to improve their organizational and service delivery capacity, access public resources, and engage their regional communities in grassroots social justice movements.
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The Montrose Center is an LGBTQ community center located in Houston, Texas, in the United States. The organization provides an array of programs and services for the LGBTQ community, including mental and behavioral health, anti-violence services, support groups, specialized services for youth, seniors, and those living with HIV, community meeting space, and it now operates the nation's largest LGBTQ-affirming, affordable, senior living center in the nation, the Law Harrington Senior Living Center. It is a member of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. It is in Neartown (Montrose).
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