LGBTQ+ leaders build community and connection

Committed to building youth connection and capacity, OUT Maine started an Emerging Leaders group of young adults last fall.

OUT Maine, based in the Midcoast, works statewide to build a welcoming and affirming Maine for rural LGBTQ+ youth. To that end, the young adults volunteered to be junior counselors for the Rainbow Ball Weekend, which had to be canceled due to the pandemic. Feeling the increased isolation caused by the pandemic, the youth leaders decided to take action. As a team, they developed a creative approach to reducing isolation and providing support for LGBTQ+ youth through virtual role-playing games.

The Emerging Leaders group coordinated and facilitated three weekly online groups for LGBTQ+ youth, who joined from around the state. The group used the well-known Dungeons and Dragons game, but also a couple of newer games, such as Dream Askew, which allowed participants to explore different aspects of their identity in a queer virtual community – building both connection to each other and as individuals.

The games created protective relationships that helped to fight the pandemic’s many negative impacts, including rising anxiety and depression. Writing and time-management skills were tested as they worked to wrap up storylines developed by the youth facilitators before the campaign deadlines. Role playing also gave them a place “outside of societal standards” where they could be themselves or, through their characters, express emotions and personalities that were very different from their own.

OUT Maine works toward a welcoming and affirming Maine for all rural young people of diverse sexual orientations, gender expressions and gender identities. In partnership with their allies and families, OUT Maine supports, educates and empowers these youth in their journey from adolescence to adulthood. For more information or to support OUT’s critical work on behalf of LGBTQ+ youth, visit outmaine.org.