Young And Out
Queens' Gay Youth Talk, Organize And Hang Out
By BRAD GROZNIK

In a window over a mattress store on the busy Astoria street of Steinway hangs a rainbow flag and poster announcing the headquarters of Generation Q.

Gay youth have a safe haven in Astoria.

For several years, Queens' only drop-in center for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and straight ally youth has operated in the space hosting a variety of after school programs, social events and activist training sessions, as well as, a place just to hang out.

Generation Q offers kids a safe haven to be themselves, something they are continually at odds with.

For gay youth, it is difficult to explore identity said Generation Q director Marisa Ragonese.

"We want people to feel at home here," she said.

For one youth, it's a home away from home.

"I feel I can be myself here," she said.

As a 17-year-old black lesbian, the high school junior said most of her family thinks she is going through a phase and that she will "grow out if it."

"But it's real," she said. "I can't change it."

Generation Q looks like any number of after school spaces with posters of pop stars on the walls, comfy and broken-in couches, puzzles and games strewn about and the noise of boisterous youth clamoring over various topics.

The kids come from all over the City, Ragonese said. Some as far as Long Island come for their regular socials, parties and dances. According the to group's myspace page, Generation Q has a membership of 200.

"When people come in here we don't pressure them," Ragonese said. "It takes some getting used to."

About a dozen kids showed up the Monday Generation Q hosted a session on finding a job.

Like most high schoolers, their attention span was short and Shira Fishkin, a program director, did her best to drive home the points of making a good impression during an interview.

Fishkin has worked with the youth at Generation Q for about a year now, but when she started she was not sure she would reach them.

"I thought 'I'm just going to remind them of their teachers,'" she said. "They're going to think 'here's another straight, white woman telling me what to do.'"

Fishkin said many of the kids who come to Generation Q have bigger problems then their schoolmates.

"Many have issues of society treating them unequally," she said. "They're living a double life."

According Ragonese, the suicide rate for LGBT youth is three times higher than straight teens and the dropout rate for LGBT teens is also 27 percent higher.

"Everything is missing in schools for these kids," Fishkin said.

For this reason, Generation Q facilitates diversity training in schools.

Simone McBride, 25, Generation Q's Youth services coordinator, said she found the group several years ago while walking along Steinway Street with her sister.

As a lesbian, McBride said she saw an opportunity to mentor youth.

"We deal with a lot of relationship stuff here," she said, noting most friends and family members of LGBT youth do not know how to talk with them.

"I just listen," McBride said. "I don't pry and I don't force anything - that's what they need, just someone to listen and be supportive."

McBride also involves herself in some social activism by going to schools and talking to students and teachers about the young LGBT community.

"I don't think kids are coming out sooner or that there are more of them," Ragonese said. "I think they're just being braver."

Generation Q is located at 30-74 Steinway St. in Astoria. For more information call (718) 204-5955 or visit their myspace page at www.myspace.com/generationqrules.