Pacific Pride Foundation Hosts LGBTQ+ Youth Conference and Prom
Photo: Alex Siegel Photography
Source: Pacific Pride Foundation
Pacific Pride Foundation (PPF) provides programs and services to more than 10,000 people in Santa Barbara County and supports local LGBTQ+ youth with activities and resources year-round. Programs include regular youth group meetings in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria, summer leadership opportunities, in-school academic and social support, and the annual Youth Connect Conference and PROUD Prom.
In its fifth year, Pacific Pride Foundation’s Youth Connect Conference and PROUD Prom was made possible by Deckers Brands and hosted more than 200 youth from the Central and South coasts at their world headquarters in Goleta on Saturday, April 14.
The Youth Connect Conference included speakers from Fighting Back in Santa Maria, Stephen Coyne from Deckers Brands, Shadille Estepan from Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, and Sina Grace, writer of Marvel’s Iceman comic series. Youth were led in interactive workshops about resilience and managing negative emotions as well as how to prioritize their creative endeavors after high school and navigate the professional landscape while finding a career they love.
Following the conference, teens were provided with dinner, makeup booths, and free UGG slippers before watching drag performances, taking pictures in front of UGG photo backdrops, and having a “dance-off” orchestrated by LA’s DJ Young 1.
“Everything was ultimately amazing and blew me away. The rainbow decorations were awesome, the art activity, in the beginning, was a cool touch. All the staff were supportive and did an outstanding job at putting everything together,” one youth said after the event. "This event helped me reconnect with people that I hadn’t seen in years, meet incredible new people, and feel more fully myself than I have in possibly my entire life."
Pacific Pride Foundation has offices in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria. Community members can learn more at pacificpridefoundation.org.
17 Comments
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Apr 23, 2018 02:57 PMWonderful to see the young actually given a chance to be who they really are and not forced to pretend to live up to the "conventional" expectations of others. Some things have changed for the better in my lifetime and this is one of them.
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Apr 23, 2018 04:40 PMPacific Pride seems to be the only agency in the South County that provides positive reassurance for the young LGBT community. Even though it's 2018, the recent political undertone from the conservative evangelical "christians" is a threat that is very real. Hang in there, Pacific Pride. And thanks for the great things you do.
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Apr 23, 2018 05:50 PMI agree with you Rex and Flicka. I’m so happy for these kids to feel accepted as I know people that grew up in a time when it was not ok to be “out”.
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Apr 24, 2018 07:05 AMI suspect the preponderance of down votes on this thread is a function of conservative Christians. That is precisely why we need great organizations like Pacific Pride, to support LGBT youth in the face of such hostility. Let the down voting commence.....
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Apr 24, 2018 07:29 PMThere is usually at least one down vote on EVERY comment made on ALL the posts. Not just this one... No matter by who or why the comment was made.
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Apr 24, 2018 08:32 AMDown votes need to be adjudicated and limited per account. Free speech means the opinions of others may not agree with everyone. Only comments unpublishable in standard newspapers should be removed.
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Apr 24, 2018 08:56 AMWe should be able to down vote down votes.
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Apr 24, 2018 04:07 PMLUVADUCK - as much as I dislike down-votes, free speech also means people have the right to disagree (or, in this case, down-vote) just as much as others have a right to post opinions that others may not agree with. I agree though, that comments should ONLY be deleted if they violate site policies, not just because they've been down-voted, usually by a single person logging in with multiple accounts do cast more than the allotted single vote.
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Apr 24, 2018 12:58 PMA real eye opener as to the numbers of those with different sexual preferences.
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Apr 24, 2018 03:00 PMI don't understand the use of the word "pride" in the name. "Pride" means a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements. In this case, there is no personal achievement, just being who you were born as. Perhaps someone can explain the use of "pride."
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Apr 24, 2018 03:57 PMPlease allow me to relate my personal view of "Pride". In 1980, when I attained the legal age to enter a bar, the bar I entered was called "The Pub", on Helena St.(that and Trackside were the only gay or gay/lesbian friendly bars back then). I was so scared! So unsure of everything and woefully ignorant. There was no Pacific Pride or anything like it, that could have prepared me and eased my fear. There was also no internet, I lived alone on an isolated island and understood not my own existence. While there was progress in big cities like SF and LA, our little SB remained, in this sense, an isolated backwater. I was young, blond, cute and oh so naive, and so was taken advantage of. I am so glad that today there are resources for the young LGBT. Being gay is still not easy, and unfortunately suicide comes to mind. I am so glad I did not take that route and that there is support for youth today. Pride = not committing suicide as a young person. Think about what Pride might mean to a youth in such a position. Thank you.
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Apr 24, 2018 04:52 PMTo me Pride means Proud but that is just me.
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Apr 24, 2018 05:20 PM"Gay Pride" is largely about immersion and acceptance. Society understands in a general way that LGBT people exist and recognizes that they have some degrees of equality, but that it's still a work in progress to obtain legal protections across the board.
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Apr 24, 2018 07:33 PMRoger, to me 'Pride means Proud' as well.
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Apr 25, 2018 06:12 AMWill at least your allowed to have your opinion.
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Apr 24, 2018 06:12 PM746. In this context Pride is the opposite of shame, which for many was a dominant and unrelenting force of everyday life and for many still is. Conversation “therapy” is still going on and should be considered child abuse.
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Apr 25, 2018 03:02 AMMesarats; I believe you meant to write conversion therapy!