"We write not only about different things; we also write differently.“ (Brecht) Queer Youth and Knowledge of Place Joseph Dial, Ph.D., English Instructor Queer Foundation Effective Writing and Scholarships Program Seattle Central Community College 3213 W. Wheeler St., #145 Seattle, WA The sun is hiding The moon is sleeping And the stars are refusing to shine Families are fleeing Friends are betraying And hope is the color of the past When magic seems to be lost And life dances chaotically They have nothing but each other Nothing but the love they share, cherish, and hang onto. Caydon and Myran's love story is something of a strange coincidence. Myran was rummaging through the garbage searching for any scraps of food when he came across Caydon. There was no attraction or even friendship at first sight, rather there was hatred. Myran viewed Caydon as an intruder who had come to make life just a little worse and Caydon thought Myran was nothing more than another one of those drug dealing teenagers around the street corner. There was no kind "hello how are you?" nor was there any "nice to meet you" phrases that were uttered but rather it was just an angry staring game that turned into love. from "Swans" Minnesota queer youth can choose their "foster parents," who, through the GLBT Host Home Program sponsored by the Foster Care Youth United, are screened, unpaid, and the youth can choose to leave whenever they wish to. Foster parents are trained by FCYU about coming out, queer homelessness and their experiences. Youths who wish to be in the program apply to be in it, interview the parents based on their applications, make home visits, and choose a home. Both they and their hosts have monthly meetings with the organization to make sure that their welfare is at their best. Even though there are some natural struggles between the adolescent and the parents, the adolescents are always cared for by the host parents. After about a year, these youth are usually ready to leave, however there are often family bonds that stay between the foster parents and the youths and they may keep in touch. Through this program, they finally have a healthy relationship with a caring adult. ("Safe Homes"). from "Tens of Thousands of Queer Homeless Teens" by Julianne Maynus While I was at school, she had read my journal, invading the place where I divulged my hopes and dreams, my aspirations and inclinations, and everything near and dear to my heart. She discovered the homosexual feelings of her once golden son and tore out pages soiled with the tears of her outrage. I found my journal in tatters when I returned from school. from "Magic Mirrors" by Jason Brown Queer space is in large part the function of wishful thinking or desires that become solidified: a seduction of the reading of space where queerness, at a few brief points and for some fleeting moments, dominates the (heterocentric) norm, the dominant social narrative of the landscape. Jean-Ulrick Désert, "Queer Space," in Queers in Space: Communities, Public Places, Sites of Resistance, edited by Gordon Brent-Ingram, Anne-Marie Bouthillette, and Yolanda Retter (Seattle: Bay Press, 1997), 21. In the 1990s the ghettobusting of queer nationalism... transformed queer space, pushing it beyond the bounds of the ghetto and inspiring new linkages within and among communities.... In the fragments of queer- friendly public spaces available today, a basis for survival, contact, communality, and sometimes even community has begun. Gordon Brent-Ingram, Anne-Marie Bouthillette, and Yolanda Retter, "Lost in Space: Queer Theory and Community Activism at the Fin-de-Millénaire," in Queers in Space: Communities, Public Places, Sites of Resistance, edited by Gordon Brent-Ingram, Anne-Marie Bouthillette, and Yolanda Retter (Seattle: Bay Press, 1997), 3. By day, the parking lot of the Calgary Zoo shows no signs of queerness—except to the practiced eye, or to the person who is aware of the nighttime activities which it hosts... through activity "place" becomes "[queer] space." Dawn Elizabeth B. Johnson, "Sites of Resistance, Sites of Strength: The Construction and Experience of Queer Space in Calgary," (master's thesis, University of Calgary, 1999), 89. “... queer homeless are more likely to be victimized, use highly addictive substances, have a higher psychopatho- logy, and have more sex partners (Cochran et al.). Many of these teens seem to do these things just to survive on the streets and try to alleviate their depression. (Schwartz).” from "Tens of Thousands of Queer Homeless Teens" by Julianne Maynus The stories of unfair treatment in transitional housing are helping create The Rainbow Lodge, which will exist in San Diego (CA). There will be about a dozen beds for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, questioning, and HIV positive youth who are homeless or at an extreme risk. They also hope to include education, employment, life skills, and medical care services onsite. (Schwartz). from "Tens of Thousands of Queer Homeless Teens" by Julianne Maynus Julianne Maynus is a scholarship winner in the Queer Foundation’s 2006 High School English Essay Contest.