Outloud North Bay creates safe space for LGBTQ youth

Safe spaces for LGBTQ people are scarce, and the pandemic has only served to make people feel more isolated. But now a group – OutLoud North Bay –  has created a safe gathering place for young LGBTQ people, especially teens.

Seth Compton, the founder of OutLoud North Bay, said it's a place where people can share feelings and get support and education.

The space opened Aug. 1, and is open 12 hours a day, run by volunteer adults and youth, Compton said. 

And so far, the kids who have trickled through the doors has been a "eye opening" experience for volunteers. 

"A lot of my volunteers saw my vision but they didn't feel it like I felt it," Compton said. 

"So when I have kids coming in here saying 'I'm four months recovering from meth', or, 'I've been kicked out of my house and my parents hate that I'm gay or whatever.' These are the stories that are going to change my volunteers' lives, and help them understand why I have invested in a space like that."

He said even families have visited, some out of interest, some with questions about resources that are available.

One family, he said, was caring for a transgender 8-year-old.

"This little guy walked through my doors and he said 'it feels like home'." Compton said. "And when I have an eight-year-old tell me that, it makes me understand again why I put this space together."

The child's family, Compton said, had been wrestling with a local school board to allow for gender-neutral bathrooms.

"This kid had nowhere to go, and he asked me where the washroom was. And I said, 'Bud, we have one washroom and everybody uses it."

"And when he came here he was like 'Oh, I get to use one washroom, just like my mom,' and I go 'Yeah, that's the way it should be'."

Since the pandemic was declared, Compton has moved to offering more virtual programming and peer-to-peer outreach. 

"We were doing a lot of online stuff, so I would host a virtual coffee hour through Zoom or different platforms like Facebook and Instagram."

Compton's bigger vision, though, includes a space similar to a homeless shelter for youth. The reason for that is a large number of kids who come out as gay to their parents end up on the streets, Compton said. 

"I had this one kid, he messaged me at two in the morning and wanted to take his life," Compton said. "And I sat up in bed and I was like, 'Hey, hold on here.'

''[He said] 'I came out to my dad, and my dad said that he'd kill me if I was gay and it's just not worth the trouble of having to deal with all of that.'

"And I said 'no, every life is valid, and there are so many support systems out there, there's so many resources."

It's still down the road, but a bigger facility would allow Compton the chance to provide more services to more people.

"My bigger vision for the space is to be able to host some of those kids in rooms," Compton said. "And be able to open... somewhere where I can host those kids and actually mentor them and be that parent that does understand what their identity is, and how I can be able to provide them with other resources in our community that show support."