Out West for GLBTI youth

Out West for GLBTI youth

The  Youth Action and Policy Association (YAPA) will today launch a project to support the health and wellbeing of same-sex attracted young people in Sydney’s western suburbs.

Out West was developed as a result of recommendations made by young people who attended the 2009 YAPA Western Sydney Youth Conference and the Outburst! Western Sydney Youth Forum, making it a program developed for young people by young people.

Out West will start a support group in the Parramatta area and will work to make mainstream youth services more accessible for GLBTI people in Western Sydney.

YAPA Western Sydney Project coordinator Leah Weber said she was impressed with the young people who had worked on the project and the support from the NSW Government.

“Same-sex attracted young people from western Sydney are often forced to travel to Sydney City to receive services and connect with their peers, so it will be great for them to have an avenue closer to home,” Weber said.

Out West project will be launched at the Mars Hill Cafe in Parramatta at 11am.

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4 responses to “Out West for GLBTI youth”

  1. Geoffrey, there are other service providers other than ACON. Although they are an important part of the community they are not the only ones. High Street in Harris Park still operates including a SSAY project. Cumberland Womens Health provides services for young and diverse background lesbians, Western Area Health Sevice in Parramatta and Penrith have sexual health clinics, Twenty10 run outreach programs, Riverside Theatres often programmer queer content including the Mardi Gras Film Festival, Comeout Australia has a branch in at least three or four suburbs across the region, and the Forum run the Pride Picnic every year in Parramatta Park. There is always room for more to be done of course but don’t try to make one organisation solely responsible!

  2. Are YAPA not aware of the religious connection Mars Hill Cafe has rumoured to be with Hill Song? Is this really the right place for the launch? Have you connected with the Parramatta Queer Forum who are a group of service providers to the LGBTQI community of Parramatta and Western Sydney? Please note Western has a capital W as it is a pronoun. Thanks. All sounds good!

  3. As a gay man who grew up in Western Sydney and still lives in the area, its great to see services provided for young gay & lesbian people in the area. However, its unfortunate that ACON Western Sydney office isnt providing this service – ACON used to have offices in Harris Park and Parramatta that provided a full suite of services to the GLBTI population in Western Sydney. However, ACON prefers to spend its money on other things – champagne & smoked salmon????