Rainbow Haunt of Simcoe County
The Rainbow Haunt of Simcoe County was held on October 22, 2011 at C’est La Vie in Barrie, Ontario. It was a day of fun and celebration for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, two-spirit youth and their allies. It was a chance to meet other exciting people from across the Simcoe County community and to be yourself!
We held a Music Festival with performances by The Tiny Knives, The Grapefruit Colour and Richard Garvey. The scavenger hunt had teams of costumed youth running around Barrie looking for Halloween items and prizes were given out for top teams and for best costumes.
This project was coordinated by its Youth Committee and supported by its Community Partners Committee.
LGBT Youth Needs Assessment of Simcoe County &
Traveling Arts Project
The Community Partners Committee wanted to bring something to their community that would help support LGBT youth and sustain LGBT youth programs and services beyond the scope of the Youth Line project. They wanted to bring exposure to Simcoe County about the needs and issues facing LGBT youth, be able to provide opportunities for service providers, allies and youth to talk to one another, and develop tools and resources for education and information sharing.
Thus they decided to embark on a community research project, the LGBT Youth Needs Assessment of Simcoe County!
The Report will explore themes of safety, support, barriers and LGBT youth experiences. When completed, it will be made available HERE on the Youth Line website. Look for it in May 2012!
The launch of the report will happen along with the launch of the Travelling Art Project. The Travelling Art Project was a participatory art piece created out of the focus groups for the needs assessment project. The Travelling Art Project visited 3 Gay Straight Alliances in 3 different Simcoe County regions on their vision for an ideal Simcoe County for LGBT youth.
Both the launch of the LGBT Youth Needs Assessment of Simcoe County Report and Travelling Arts Project will happen on May 17, 2012 (International Day Against Homophobia) at The Space: Art Collective in Barrie, Ontario. More details on event to come!
The Community Partners Committee consists of the AIDS Committee of Simcoe County, Byrch Consulting & Associates, Canadian Mental Health Association – Mental Health and Addictions Services of Simcoe County, Kinark Child and Family Services, Lesbian Gay Bi Trans Youth Line, Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation District 17 Human Rights Committee, Simcoe Muskoka Health Unit and Rainbow Health Ontario.
For more information on the Needs Assessment Report, Traveling Art Project or Simcoe County, please contact Marlene Ham at marleneham@gmail.com.
