A Message From Our Youth

We are awesome, rad, queer youth. My pronouns are important and are not a joke. My name is my name and it is offensive to ask my birth name. Ask about my interests and not about what is in my pants. My body anatomy does not dictate my gender or gender expression. Gender is different from sexual orientation. Gender identity and gender expression do NOT need to align. And do not need to align in order for pronouns to be valid. Gender and gender expression is different from your biological sex.

Love Is

This Four Corners Rainbow Youth Center came together to participate with Seed Studio to develop an image that would give voice to the personal struggles and successes of our youth in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. The group of young leaders, mentors, parents and guardians worked together with Seed Studio over two, one-day workshops where they were introduced to the benefits and techniques of mindfulness meditation and were also instructed on how to work with papier mache to create mask templates. Once the masks were ready, each participant was encouraged to paint and embellish them in a way that shares their own unique creative expression. The result is a simple but powerful message that love is not defined by race, sexual orientation, or gender. Love simply is.