Transcripts

text | pdf |

---

CHRIS ROBERTS: What once was an old replacement door and cabinet store on Nicollet Avenue is being transformed into District 202, future library, coffeehouse, art space, and dance hall for gay and lesbian teens in the Twin Cities. While the center has come a long way from the time more than a year ago when a planning committee began a private fundraising effort, District 202 Director Michael Kaplan says the basic premise is still the same.

Kaplan, a University of Minnesota grad student, says the center will be a safe space for a population that has been marred by exceedingly high suicide, dropout, and chemical abuse rates. Kaplan says that's because society won't let gay youth question or become comfortable with their sexuality.

MICHAEL KAPLAN: It seems like society believes that youth are certain to become heterosexual, and they're setting them up in a place where, if they are anything else but that certain reality of heterosexual, they have nowhere to go. And all we're saying is that it's OK to question, it's OK to be curious, and you can come to District 202 and say, I just want information.

You can be completely certain that you're heterosexual and come here and say, my friend's gay, and I want information to understand them. And it's not about having to declare what you are, but it's about being able to be anything you want to be.

CHRIS ROBERTS: The center started as an idea around the kitchen table of Elissa Raffa, a high school teacher at the Loring Nicollet Alternative School. Raffa says gay teenagers spend so much time fending off attacks or concealing their homosexuality that they miss out on an important period in their lives.

ELISSA RAFFA: One of the really sad things about being a queer adolescent is that you miss some of the developmental tasks that you need to do during adolescence, that you end up putting so much energy into just protecting yourself or just surviving, that you don't do some of the things that all adolescents need to do, which is, you know, learning how to build your own identity, learning how to socialize with peers, learning how to communicate, learning how to take care of yourself in the world, and that we want to create a space where the safety questions are beside the point.

CHRIS ROBERTS: District 202 will cater to youth between the ages of 15 and 21. 19-year-old Chris Scott, 21-year-old Jason Prudell, and 20-year-old Anna Koenig are all youth board members of the center and openly gay. Each can remember the agony and isolation of going through high school and not being able to let anyone know.

CHRIS SCOTT: Kids go through high school, you know, dating the opposite sex because it's-- that's what you're supposed to do and going to prom. And, I mean, it's a big thing. I mean, I can't explain it, because I'm not-- I wasn't the one that, like, because of my feelings, tried to commit suicide. But I know a lot of people that have and have gone through crazy things.

SPEAKER: I remember a friend of mine once said that the scariest thing is to eat lunch alone, you know, when everyone else is talking and you're by yourself. And I guess I agree with that, too. You're always afraid that you're going to be alone or not have people to talk to.

People didn't ostracize me, because I wasn't out. I kind of felt it more internally. If I told anybody that I was gay, then maybe they wouldn't talk to me anymore or they wouldn't be my friend.

ELISSA RAFFA: They're fighting their own inner battle. I mean, it isn't just acceptance in society. You've got to learn how to accept yourself. And when you find that you're not like the people on TV or the people around you, then that's really hard.

I mean, it's difficult. I mean, it's hard to put it into words. It's just like an emotional-- like an explosion in your body, and you don't know what to do with it. You've got all these different feelings. And you kind of know what it is, but you don't want to accept it. And you just need to be around a bunch of people feeling the same thing so you can get reassurance, so that you can get peace of mind.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Chris Scott says because there's no oasis for youth who have accepted their sexuality or are trying to come to terms with it, the only choice left is adult gay bars, which can be dangerous.

CHRIS SCOTT: You experience so much stuff in bars. You meet so many people, it just blows your mind-- things that you don't even imagine happening to you at such a young age. And it's just like-- it feels like you grow up really quick, you know what I mean? Because it's just-- that's the only real place to go.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Youth board member Jason Prudell wishes he would have had such a place to go to when he was younger because it would have made his life much easier.

JASON PRUDELL: Before coming out, you feel so hopeless about what the rest of your life is going to be like. And it's exciting to know that you don't have to feel that. And that's kind of why it would be great to meet other people that are gay when you're younger.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Activities at the center will be determined by the teenagers who use it. But organizers envision a place open seven days a week where young people can drink coffee or soft drinks, study or read, show art and stage performances, and dance. It will also be a resource center containing the latest information on AIDS, safe sex, support groups, and even housing and job listings. The center has widespread support in the Whittier neighborhood and among city officials.

But a few have expressed reservations. Minneapolis City Council member Dennis Schulstad says the building the center will be located in doesn't meet proper standards, given what it will be used for. Schulstad says he's not against the idea of a safe space for gay and lesbian teens, but he says he doesn't trust the center's coordinators.

DENNIS SCHULSTAD: I want to make sure that when they say that it's only going to be people from 15 to 21 years of age, that that's really the case. I want to make sure that it's not just a front for exploiting youth.

And I don't know that. I don't know who's running this place. I don't know if this is a place that-- of pimps who are trying to encourage youth to get into prostitution. I don't know that. And not knowing that, I have no intention of supporting it.

CHRIS ROBERTS: District 202 board members counter that they're not trying to recruit young gays and lesbians, but provide a place where teens can express themselves freely and safely. They say there will always be trained volunteers at the center who will be able to weed out troublemakers. People who are older than 21 will be asked to leave.

Even though the center has received a lot of media attention, organizers aren't worried about attacks from hatemongerers. They say the center is located on a busy street a block away from a police station, and bias crimes are usually committed against individuals, not groups. District 202 is being funded by foundation grants and individual contributions. But center coordinators say there's more fundraising to do to reach their $80,000 annual budget goal.

While they're still negotiating with the city on what kind of parking they'll provide, they hope to open the center by the middle of December. By next spring, they say the place should be hopping. This is Chris Roberts, Minnesota Public Radio.