Bankstown hosts new gay youth group

Young gay people in Sydney’s west are set to benefit from the opening of a new group in Bankstown.

B’SSAY, which stands for Bankstown Same Sex Attracted Youth, will hold fortnightly meetings from Thursday 21 June.

Sydney South West Area Health Service spokesman Daniel Anthony said anyone who is same-sex-attracted, 25 years and under and lives, works or studies in the Bankstown-Canterbury area is welcome to attend.

“There are no existing services or groups that tailor specifically to the needs of same-sex-attracted youth in Bankstown-Canterbury,” Anthony said. “There is a real need to have a safe anonymous space where people can come and relax.”

The primary aim of the group, Anthony said, is to ensure young gay people in local suburbs have access to appropriate health information.

However, the prospect of having endless lessons on how to put on condoms isn’t going to motivate young people to attend, so Anthony says, “We also want to establish a secure and supportive space where people can get to know each other.”

Consequently, one meeting a month will be educational in nature, and the other will be a more open discussion on issues affecting those attending.

There will also be room for social activities, such as cinema trips and barbecues.

Innovatively, one of B’SSAY’s facilitators also has experience working with same-sex-attracted youth from Arabic and Muslim backgrounds.

“Coming from out west, there’s not much of a gay community,” 21-year-old Chris says. He lives in Camden and attends B’SSAY’s sister group, Camp Queer, in Campbelltown. “It feels really isolating, so to have [somewhere] you can go and speak to like-minded people makes you feel less alone.”

A contact he made through a dating website had recommended he go along.

It’s a relief to Chris that through the group he now has friends of more substance.

“You don’t have that risk of someone pretending to be an 18-year-old when they are an 88-year-old and, as it’s an open forum, it’s a lot less intimidating – we can talk about whatever we need to without being judgmental.”

A report issued in April by GLBT youth support service Twenty10 noted that young gay people have higher rates of suicide, sex work, alcoholism and drug use – yet the majority of community support services have no specific GLBT element.

Twenty10 executive officer Meredith Turnbull told Sydney Star Observer although support networks existed in western Sydney there were not enough.

“The range of services we provide are very much valued but the young people who are with us wish Twenty10 was in their suburb,” she said.

Anthony hopes B’SSAY will fulfil some of the wishes of those young people.

“Being part of a community is something we want to encourage for all same-sex-attracted youth in Bankstown and Canterbury.”

For further details on B’SSAY or Camp Queer, contact Daniel on 9796 8633.