Recent findings by the Human Rights Campaign show that only 26% of LGBTQ+ youth report always feeling safe in the classroom. 70% have been bullied for their sexual orientation. 11% have been sexually attacked or raped because of their sexual orientation. One in three LGBTQ+ adults experience mental illness. They are twice as likely as heterosexual adults to have an alcohol or drug use disorder. LGBTQ+ youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual youth. These and more stats can be found at the links at the bottom of this article.

In a culture that can be uncaring, if not outright hostile, Inside Out is an organization dedicated to helping LGBTQ+ youth. Their main focus is providing a safe place to be for local LGBTQ+ youth age 13 to 22. A place to make friends, do work, and never worry about judgment. A place to be yourself. Four days a week, after school, they welcome youth into their space, creating a community of acceptance and togetherness. The organization will be 30 years old next year and is the only drop-in LGBTQ+ youth center in Colorado Springs. 

Located in downtown Colorado Springs, Inside Out aims to empower, educate, and advocate for LGBTQ+ youth from southern Colorado. Their education work includes peer support groups, education for youth and parents about transgender experience, education about healthy relationships, and more. They work to educate outside of their own youth community: they teach ‘LGBTQ+ 101’ and ‘Trusted Adults’ classes (pronouns, how to build trust, how to have hard conversations) to parents, teachers, therapists, the Colorado Springs Police Department, and more. Their advocacy work tries to build a better community for LGBTQ+ youth. One current project works with schools to learn about and develop spaces in the school where youth feel safe.

Inside Out Youth Services is also one of the CCE’s High Impact Partners, part of an initiative to develop deep, multifaceted, mutually-beneficial relationships between CC and the Colorado Springs Community. Several Public Interest Fellows and Community Engaged Fellows from CC have worked with Inside Out. Most recently, a sociology class collaborated with Inside Out to perform research and data analysis. 

The Inside Out staff have deep ties back to Colorado College: both the Executive Director and Youth Program Manager are CC graduates. The Development Director was a curator at the Fine Arts Center, and two CC students work as Peer Program Assistants right now. Angelina Chen ’22, a CC sophomore and Community Engaged Fellow from Guangzhou, China, is one of those students. In her first year at CC she explored several local nonprofits in the Colorado Springs area. Inside Out struck her as being a remarkably connected organization. Angelina has worked behind-the-scenes helping with their advocacy to government work, and this year began working with youth, teaching them how to be active community members. She says working with the youth energizes her, she’s always impressed by their social awareness and the level of discourse they’re able to have. 

Inside Out is looking to expand the opportunities volunteers from CC have to help the organization. They always need volunteers for behind-the-scenes work like communication and events like the Queer Prom they organize every year. Help with advocacy in government is also a potential goal. For more information or to discuss a partnership, contact the CCE, or the Youth Program Manager Candace Woods ’13 at info@insideoutys.org.  

Specifically to the LGBTQ+ students at Colorado College, Inside Out wants you to know that you are welcome. This is not an opportunity restricted to some other group, this is a place for you. Learn more at insideoutys.org. Marve Aguinaga ’21 from Escondido, California, is a second CC student working at Inside Out this year. When describing why the work was important, they said, “There are a lot of challenges that come with being queer in this country, and there are certainly challenges here in the Springs, but it can be easier when there are people that can share some of your burden with you.”

Thank you to Candace Woods ’13, Marve Aguinaga ’21, and Angelina Chen ’22 for their help with this story.

– Eric Ingram 

Sources:
(1) https://www.hrc.org/resources/2018-lgbtq-youth-report
(2) https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/LGBTQ_MentalHealth_OnePager.pdf 

When the CC Science Outreach are involved in a dissection, you know they aren’t squidding around!

For the most part.

For the past four years the CC Science Outreach program has collaborated with the 4th graders of Audubon Elementary School, teaching them about the ethics of working with animals through a squid dissection laboratory. Hearing this I immediately wanted to know as much as possible, so I asked the student leaders of the lab about their approach, speaking with senior leader Leo Brasuel he explained that “We like to introduce the lab with a brief discussion of bioethics and the scientific and academic value of the dissection process. Additionally, we provide some fun background facts on squid and talk about their basic anatomy,” he elaborated further, stating that “the students are always very enthusiastic and we generally partner each student or pair of students with one of our CC volunteers so that they can be guided through the dissection process and have the best learning experience possible.” The students, with their CC volunteers explore the anatomy of the squid, attempting to locate some of its harder to find body parts. “Some of the kids get a little squeamish at first, but they quickly get into learning about squid anatomy and dissection techniques,” however, as the lab continues the kids eventually are able to get the hang of everything, as senior leader Madeline M. Smith explains “one of their favorite things to find is the beak, which is the only hard thing in their body. They learn that a squid can fit through any hole as long as its beak can fit through it. Another cool squid fact is that their brain is donut shaped, and their digestive tract runs through the middle of it. The kids always get a kick out of that one!”

The lab is not only valuable for the kids, but also for the student leaders, as junior Kim Faith recounts, “I originally did not know a lot about squids, so it was great to learn about their anatomy in a hands-on/interactive way. My favorite part was trying to find the ink sac and using it to draw. The two girls I was working with really enjoyed that part, and I thought it was fun too.” While this dissection seems incredibly entertaining it’s important to remind the children to not take dissections like these for granted, as Madeline M. Smith elaborates, “we remind the kids that these squid used to be living animals, and so we should respect them and not just chop them up for fun. Everything we dissect is for a reason.”

Hopefully the CC Science Outreach will continue this incredibly important program, teaching kids not only on ethical values regarding animals, but also the common practices performed through scientific dissections. Knowledge that I wish I had developed in fourth grade.