Micah Rodriguez said she was looking forward to seeing many people she hadn’t seen in a while at The Attic Youth Center’s Queer Thanksgiving. However, Rodriguez does not refer to these individuals as her friends. Instead, she calls them “framily.”
“The reason why I use the word ‘framily’ is because they are friends and family at the same time,” said the 21-year-old who serves as an intern at The Attic’s Justice League program. “Usually, you don’t get a mixture of both.”
LGBT youth ages 14-23 were in attendance at The Attic’s annual holiday meal on Monday. The event featured a space filled with dozens of young people enjoying traditional Thanksgiving dishes such as turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes.
“When you come to The Attic, you usually have this home environment and coming [to Queer Thanksgiving], we always have the chance to sit down at the table and talk about all of the stuff that makes us feel good and to make each other feel nice,” Rodriguez said.
According to its website, “The Attic’s goal is to reduce the isolation felt by LGBTQ youth by providing a sense of community and developing programs and services to counteract the prejudice and oppression that LGBTQ youth often face.” Queer Thanksgiving serves as one of these initiatives.
“For many of our youth, some of them don’t have families,” said Chris Kyle, program specialist at The Attic. “Some of them are dealing with homelessness. When it comes to the holidays, it can be a bit tough and difficult for them. So we try to create a space where they can feel like they have a family, feel like they have people who care about them and just make sure we provide them with all of the resources that they need. Today is one of those reminders where we let them know we’re here for them.”
Members of GLAD, Dow Chemical Company’s resource group for LGBT and ally employees, attended the event to help serve dishes, which Dow, Harrah’s and board members of The Attic donated for the event.
“We’re glad to do it,” said Marco Baker, GLAD secretary and office professional in Dow’s legal department. “It’s a labor of love. Sometimes it can be a little stressful, but in the end, it’s all worth it, especially seeing how appreciative the youth here are, as well as the staff. It’s just something that keeps us invigorated throughout the year.”
The Attic’s associate director, J. Grant, noted that “people associate Thanksgiving with family and friends.” Queer Thanksgiving provides this for the youth, Grant said.
“We think it’s important for young people who may or may not have some biological family to go home to and have this type of moment,” Grant said. “We’re very happy to be able to provide that for them.”