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Welcome to QueerZone

By Jessica Carreras

YPSILANTI – A tucked-away house in Ypsilanti sits quietly, blending into the homes and businesses around it. Most walk right by without noticing it. But to the youth who come here on weekday afternoons and evenings, it means much more. It is a safe haven. A place where LGBTQ youth of the area can go to be themselves without being called names or given strange looks, as they often are at school and at home. It is a place where they can hang out, make friends and feel good about who they are.
And on Friday nights? It's a straight-up party.
"We didn't have many resources in Ypsilanti that were focused on queer youth, let alone adults," said Krista Girty, a counselor and caseworker for LGBT youth in the area.
Ozone House, an Ann Arbor-based support and shelter service for LGBT youth – including many runaways and those kicked out of their homes – has been that resource. Since 1969, it's provided shelter, counseling and numerous other services to youth in the area.
"Ozone House seeks to help young people transition into safe, healthy and productive adults," says executive director Mary Jo Callan.
In 1998, the Youth Drop-In Center opened its doors in Ypsilanti, offering more services including tutoring, crisis intervention, life skills development and community service projects.
But it wasn't enough. As Ozone House and the Drop-In Center became better known in the area, LGBT youth began to express interest, even need, for a safe and fun way to network and make friends within their community. "These youth weren't going to Ann Arbor. They really wanted a place to hang out and meet each other," Girty said.
Welcome to QueerZone.
Every Friday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., the Drop-In Center turns into a hangout spot that's as hip to Ypsi youth as the bar scene is to collegians.
QueerZone was started about a year ago by Girty, who went beyond the call of her job to provide yet another service for youth. It kicked off Sept. 29 of last year with a bash that included DJs and food and drew more than 150 people, including many who donated to help with funding the new project. Since then, they have met every Friday.
Though there is a core group of kids who come every week, Girty explains that they are always welcoming new faces to the QueerZone crowd. "We have never had a Friday where we haven't had a new youth or two," she boasts.
On a typical night, youth sit around on couches, talking and laughing. Some check their MySpace accounts on the center's computers. Others make themselves dinner in the kitchen while listening to music that pounds from the stereo in the living room. Some high school-aged kids come in timidly as a way to check out the scene and see if it's a place where they can fit in. Others come with the encouragement of friends who are already regulars. To many of the youth there, QueerZone is where they go to completely cut loose after a hard week at school or home.
To Ayshia Amerson, 18, it's just a place where she can be herself.
It doesn't matter how she gets there. Whether she bums a ride from a friend, gets dropped off by mom or takes the bus, Amerson makes her way to the drop-in center almost every day and, of course, to QueerZone on Friday evenings. "I like to get out of the house," she explains.
Like many youth there, Amerson comes to make friends and chill out at the end of the week. "It's very bumpin'," she says loudly over Rhianna's "Umbrella," which blares in the background.
"It's people I can relate with for once," 15-year-old Kaitlyn Yona agrees. "At high school I get called 'fag' and stuff. I can be myself here.
"Plus," she adds, "I met my girlfriend here."
According to Girty, there have been about 130 youth to pass through the front door of QueerZone since its inception almost a year ago. Though it is mostly a social hangout, she explains that her group is trying to make it much more than that with the help of volunteers, sponsorship by adult LGBT groups in the area and special events, such as the Queer Prom held last June in Lansing.
"We looked super hot," says Amerson of her and her friends' prom getups.
Recently, QueerZone has been adopted by the University of Michigan Health System and an LGBT group from Border's Books. "We're kinking bridges," says Girty, citing monthly parties thrown by the Border's group. "It's turning into a little bit bigger thing than a social organization."
Though QueerZone has been running strong for a year, Girty stresses that it couldn't be possible without the community around it, as it runs solely on the work of volunteers and the donations of those looking to help. "Our dream is to have more events," she adds. "We need support, house parties, books, videos … the community is really supportive and wants to help us."
In addition to events, they've also hired an intern to help out. Erin Macleish, 18, had been coming to QueerZone since January when Girty asked her to be their intern. Recently, she set up a MySpace page for the group, complete with links and information about QueerZone's services, which Girty hopes will attract more youth to the Friday night gatherings.
For Callan and the rest of the workers at Ozone House, the hope is that QueerZone will be the beginning of something bigger. "The QueerZone group is a safe place for runaway and homeless youth to get to know Ozone House," Callan explains. "Once we have earned a youth's trust, she or he is likely to engage in other needed housing and support services."
According to Girty, the majority of the youth who come to QueerZone are youth of color. Many come from families who don't accept their sexuality and school systems that denounce it.
"They're victims of violence and trauma," Girty says. "They're getting beat up in school. … Their families are very religious, telling them that they're full of sin."
Callan adds that services like Ozone House and QueerZone need to become more widespread, citing that up to 50 percent of homeless youth are LGBT. "It's natural that we provide services like QueerZone," she says.
To the LGBT youth of Ypsilanti, it's something to be thankful for.
"We have a good reputation and have earned trust in the community," Girty says with a smile. "It's right by the bus stop; it's not in Ann Arbor – it's their home."

To donate to volunteer with QueerZone, contact Krista Girty at 734-829-0122 or [email protected].

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