The Inside Scoop
October 2019
Welcome to Youth Pride, Inc.'s October edition of The Inside Scoop ! Within you will read about the success of our 25th Anniversary Gala, our new partnership with The Imagination Guild, and YPI's plans for Halloween! You will also get insight on the newly opened, and all trans run, board game cafe in Providence, our newest intern, and the Supreme Court cases surrounding LGBTQ rights.
Happy Halloween!
25th Anniversary Gala - That's a Wrap!
YPI's 25th Anniversary Gala has come and gone, but it's memory lives on as one of the organization's most successful and entertaining events to date. Thank you to all who attended the Gala and celebrated 25 years of helping LGBTQ youth live their truth! Through the generosity of our sponsors and guests, we were able to fundraise over twenty-five thousand dollars. Each and every one of those dollars will be put towards the programs and services we offer our youth; individual one on one counseling, four different support/discussion groups per week, weekly Wednesday Night Dinners, 13 and Under Program, Basic Needs Pantry that offers clothing, food, school supplies and toiletries, and so much more.

We would like to thank our sponsors for allowing this night to be possible. Thank you to our headlining premier sponsor, Amgen for your copious support, and to our platinum sponsor, Hasbro, Inc. Thank you as well to Ageless Innovation, AIDS Project RI, Amica, Barbara Margolis (and Colleen Gregory!), Bay Business Machines, Beacon Mutual, Blue Cross Blue Shield RI, Big Brothers Big Sisters RI, Bryant University, The City of Providence and Mayor Elorza's Office, Representative Deborah L. Ruggiero, DeLuca & Weizenbaum Ltd, Duffy & Sweeney Ltd, Fellini Pizzeria, GLAD, The Gordon School, The Hire, IGT, John and Linda Silverira, Lisa Carcieri, Matthew Holmes, Michele Paliotta, Neighborhood Health Plan on RI, Providence College's Feinstein Institute, RDW Group, RI Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, RI Pride, Seth PAC and Thundermist Health Centers for sponsoring our event.
We would also like to thank Mario Hilario, our amazing emcee for the evening. Thank you as well to Hasbro Toy's company band, Toys 2 Men, for the wonderful live music throughout the night and Billy  Gilman for his surprise musical appearance! The winners of the several awards we presented during the Gala also deserve a special mention. Our Founders Award, which is presented to an individual who has a longstanding history of giving back to YPI, was awarded to Julia Baber and Julia Carr, our dedicated volunteer Wednesday Night Dinner chefs. Barbara Margolis was awarded our Lipsky/Whittaker Award which is presented to an individual that has had a profound impact on the youth we serve or the LGBT community at large. The  Luis Pagan award is presented to a youth participant who embodies the spirit of Luis Pagan, a former YPI youth in the early years of the organization who was dedicated to social justice and fulfilling the mission of YPI. This year's Luis Pagan award was given to two previous YPI Youth Board Members, Ben Chaplin and Teeneka Cooke. Thank you all for the profound impact you have on YPI.

Lastly, thank you to the staff, interns, and board of directors who dedicated immense amounts of time planning and executing the Gala. It truly does take a village and we cannot wait until next year!

We encourage you to check out the photo gallery from the night which was photographed beautifully by Jennifer Bonin.
Dungeons and Dragons at YPI
Dungeon and Dragons (D&D) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game that has been around since 1974. The game has become a household name and its popularity is ever growing. As of this month, D&D has crept into YPI!

The Imagination Guild, a charity group and program that uses the game Dungeons and Dragons as an empowerment tool to benefit children in need, has partnered with YPI to bring the fun and storytelling of D&D to our youth. Members from The Imagination Guild will be in our space each Tuesday to help interested new players learn the game. The initial session was conducted as a 101 Module, a crash course used to get any new D&D player up to speed on aspects of the game, while the second session focused on each player's character and how to develop them. What will be the topic for next Tuesday be? You will have to join to find out!

Interested youth should email our Center Coordinators, Dev and Jesus, at Dev@youthprideri.org or Jesus@youthprideri.org.
October is LGBTQ History Month
October is LGBTQ History month! By introducing LGBTQ figures and events into school based (and everyday!) curriculum individuals learn a more accurate history of the world while simultaneously better understanding our differences.

Don't know where to begin? Try checking out LGBTHistoryMonth.com! Each day during the month of October they will highlight a different LGBTQ icon. Some icons already mentioned include Ana Brnabić  , Prime Minister of Serbia; Jared Polis , Governor of Colorado; and Angela Ponce , the first transwomen to win Miss. Universe for Spain.

Each day, YPI checks LGBT History Month's website and updates our National Coming Out Month wall with each recognized icon.
Halloween Happenings
'Tis the season for tricks and treats. YPI will be celebrating Halloween with a spooky black-light dance and haunted house for youth ages 14 to 23 on Thursday, October 31st. Costumes, candy, and fun are sure to be in store!

Last week, YPI's 13 and Under's decorated Day of the Dead skulls and curled up on our couches to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas.

We wish everyone a fun and safe Halloween!
Monthly Spotlight
Good Game Grill
Earlier this month, Courtney and Sadie Price wrote to YPI informing us of their new board game cafe that recently opened in downtown Providence, Good Game Grill . Courtney and Sadie extended a welcoming invitation to YPI youth and staff, and we hope to take a group trip sometime in the near future! Good Game Grill is a completely trans-owned business, with the color scheme of the store reflecting the colors of the trans flag (blue, white and pink). Courtney Price was kind enough to answer a few of my questions about the new space. Read through the questions and answers below and consider stopping by Good Game Grill for some food and fun!
1. Tell me a bit about Good Game Grill and and how the idea came about.
Good Game Grill opened in September of 2019 and is located at 53 Weybosset Street in Providence and open Monday-Thursday 12-10 pm, Friday-Saturday 12 pm-12 am and Sunday 12-8 pm.

Our kitchen serves up diner-style food inspired by our favorites as natives of the New York metropolitan area. Some of our most popular items are the cheesesteak, beyond burger, veggie tots, and avocado fries. You may also purchase a Play Pass to gain access to our vast collection of board games and play as long as you like. Our collection features games suitable for beginning and advanced gamers, as well as children and families. $5 per player Monday-Friday, $9 Saturday & Sunday.

Good Game Grill owners Sadie and Courtney Price met while working at a board game cafe in Brooklyn. Sadie had their first job in a game store at the age of 17, and always dreamed of opening their own. Courtney will research and organize anything she becomes interested in, so once the two began dating and then got married it was inevitable that they would end up in business together as well.

2. Why board games specifically? 
Board games bring people together in a way that's becoming less and less common. Digital forms of communication can be so helpful, but face-to-face interaction has benefits that can't be replicated without actually getting people together. When a group of people sit down around a table to play a game they are all focused on the same, physical thing. It can be a powerful way to grow relationships and build communities. 
3. Was the public's reaction to Good Game Grill what you expected? Have you received positive feedback?
We've received such a warm welcome from our neighbors in Downtown Providence as well as the local queer community and board game hobbyists in the area. We've received a lot of positive feedback about the variety of vegetarian and vegan options on our menu, as well as the selection of game in our library. We weren't expecting to have as many people coming in just to eat. The board game cafe where we previously worked had less of an emphasis on food, so it's been a pleasant surprise to get such a positive reaction to our menu. 

4. Do you foresee any upcoming events or tournaments in the future we should know about?
Right now we have two weekly events. Every Thursday we host a Board Game Meetup where people find new games to play and people to play with. Sunday is Family day, kids play for free all day! We're also working on setting up a weekly night for Role Playing Games run by a professional Game Master. 
Meet Our Newest Intern!
Allison Tougas
Youth Development Intern 

YPI is excited to welcome Allison to YPI to support our Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) work this year! Allison was born and raised in East Providence, graduated from East Providence High School in 2015, and is now currently attending Rhode Island College, expecting to graduate in May of 2020. She has two cats, Romo & Bentley, along with one dog, Chester. All three pets have two middle names so they can seem fancy. Alison has been doing karate since 2008 and is now a Black Belt; she also has a job teaching as a karate instructor, working with kids and adults of all ages and skill sets. She chose YPIas her internship placement because she wanted to challenge herself, learn new things, and gain new experiences!
RI Adopts Gender Neutral Options for Birth Certificates
As of October 1, 2019, the State of Rhode Island has revised the sex field on birth certificates to include a gender neutral option. In addition to M and F for male and female, X will be added as a non-binary option individuals can select or change their current marker to.

Individuals interested in changing their marker must submit a Center for Vital Records Medical Professional Affidavit (link below) filled out by licensed medical professional to the RI Department of Health. The cost to change a birth certificate is $10 and to receive a copy of the new certificate is $22.

It should be noted that Rhode Island's DMV does not currently issue X designated licenses. Also, several other government agencies do not accept, or change to, X designations and should be taken into consideration when deciding on whether to change your marker.
US Supreme Court Hears Three LGBTQ Rights Cases
As previously discussed in The Inside Scoop 's April 2019 edition, the Supreme Court has agreed to review cases surrounding LGBTQ individuals, federal laws, and where the line is drawn for discrimination in the workplace. On October 8, 2019 the Supreme Court heard arguments in   three cases  that involved firing employees for being LGBTQ and if that qualifies as sex discrimination, which is prohibited under the  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . The original and current ban on discrimination only applies to sex (male vs female), as opposed to sexual orientation and/or gender identity. So the question becomes, do concepts that are so tightly bound to the concept of sex, such as sexual orientation and gender identity, qualify as being protected under Title VII and therefor legally protect LGBTQ workers? Another way to ask this may be, when an employee is discriminated against because they’re LGBTQ, is it “because of sex” that they faced discrimination?

According to the ACLU, since 2000 "federal appeals courts have ruled that anti-trans discrimination is a form of sex discrimination that violates federal law". Also, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which oversees and enforces the federal workplace non-discrimination law, agrees that anti-LGBTQ discrimination is a form of sex discrimination, and has "recovered millions of dollars for LGBTQ workers who sued over discrimination". Despite all of this, the Supreme Court's ruling could set a new precedent all lower courts must follow. Congress nor the president can alter or reject a Supreme Court Ruling.

If the ruling decides LGBTQ individals are not protected under federal law for sex discrimination, it may have more far reaching consequences. The ACLU states "LGBTQ people have relied on federal protections against sex discrimination to redress  housing discrimination , to combat  discrimination in schools , and to remedy  discrimination in health care . All of these protections could be swept away if the court deletes LGBTQ people from the existing scope of the federal civil rights laws." It should also be acknowledged that a negative ruling could affect straight and/or cis individuals as well. Under a ruling where gender identity and sexual orientation is not protected in the workplace, employers could fire anyone under for not being the right type of woman or man; a women who is too outspoken, or a man that is too emotional for example. Ultimately, employers could define their own conditions for what a woman or a man should be no matter how lax or conservative.

Rulings are expected by June 2020.
Our Mission
Mission:
Youth Pride, Inc. is dedicated to meeting the unique needs of youth and young adults impacted by sexual orientation and gender identity/expression while working to end the homophobic and transphobic environments in which they live, work and play.

Values:
LEADERSHIP:  YPI is committed to creating the leaders of today. Youth voices drive our process, and we seek to develop the leadership skills necessary both within the organization and outside of it.
AFFIRMATION:  YPI believes all youth must be affirmed for who they are and how they express themselves. We are committed to making that a reality in all of the environments in which young people live.
COMMUNITY:   YPI believes building strong connections is essential to youth success and empowerment. We strive to create a caring, respectful and diverse community of young people and adults.
Your tax-deductible donation helps YPI continue to do the important work we do in accordance to our mission. Your gift would be directly investing in our state's LGBTQ youth so that they may have a chance to share their gifts and light with the world.
Our Programs and Services
Youth Pride, Inc. serves over 700 Rhode Island LGBTQ youth and their straight allies a year through a variety of programs and services.
Our Center, located on Westminster Street in Providence, primarily serve as a drop-in and programming space, and is currently open to youth ages 13 to 23 on Tuesday and Wednesday from 3-8pm and Thursday from 3 to 5. Youth ages 9 to thirteen are welcome at our exclusive 13 and under drop-in time on Thursdays from 5-8 pm. All YPI Center services and activities are free to youth. YPI youth get to attend events, workshops, cultural, educational, social, and wellness activities at YPI and around the state.

Our center is home to a Basic Needs Pantry, open to youth in need of food, clothing, toiletries, and school supplies. We offer one on one counseling with in-house clinicians. Our clinicians facilitate and supervise three peer-support groups.

YPI also offers support to those who work with youth through policy and advocacy, and by providing professional development workshops and technical assistance to service providers and educators.

For more information on getting involved with YPI as a volunteer or if you or someone you know is in need of our services, contact info@youthprideri.org
If you have a story you feel should be included in an upcoming newsletter, email Info@youthprideri.org