As the school year begins, Out Chicago hosts Scott Duff and Ellen Miller on WCPT 820 talk with Nat Duran, Youth Engagement Manager for Illinois Safe Schools Alliance at PHIMC and Lizzy Appleby, Pride/Share Director for Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook about supporting LGBTQ+ students.

They discuss school board meetings, law, policy, professional development for educators and administrators, the rights of gender non-binary students, and how adult allies sometimes do and sometimes do not support LGBTQ+ youth. They also talk about the role of Action Camp — which the Alliance and Youth Services co-convene — in building community, developing leadership skills, and making magic. 

“We really pride ourselves in making Action Camp programming all youth-led and -derived,” Nat explains, and then walks listeners through the experience of planning and participating in things like swimming, arts and crafts, archery, creek walks, skill-sharing workshops to support student efforts in their home communities “… and the last night of camp, we always of course have to do a talent show.”

Thank you to Out Chicago, and to Nat and Lizzy for shining a light on the power of our young people and the resources available to support the safety and well-being of LGBTQ+ young people in Illinois.

Click below to hear the full interview, and catch Nat and Lizzy at minute marker :51
Out Chicago with Scott Duff and Ellen Miller, September 11, 2022

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Illinois Safe Schools Alliance made PHIMC its home in 2019.

Learn more here about how Illinois Safe Schools Alliance supports LGBTQ+ youth.