SATUURDAY Conference
This summer, a group of queer (including bisexual, gay, lesbian and transgender) and questioning youth and adult advisors got together in Santa Monica, CA for the Sexually Accepting Teenage Unitarian Universalists Respecting Diversity Among Youth (SATUURDAY) conference. This event, which started several years ago in the Metro New York District, is one of the ways Young Religious Unitarian Universalism (YRUU) hopes to support youth with different sexual preferences and gender identities. Here, read the reflections of two of the youth who attended the conference.Scott McNeill
A couple of days after my first General Assembly, I got to experience my first youth "con"—SATUURDAY—and it was an amazing experience. Truth be told, I was worried at first: I can be shy, and I didn't know anyone there when I arrived in Santa Monica. But while I was there I gained several close friends—so close that I'd consider them family. Talking about my faith and my sexuality so openly was liberating and empowering, something that doesn't happen enough in our lives. Safe spaces for young, queer Unitarian Universalists (UUs) are magical—they help make us stronger, better people.
I wouldn't have had this wonderful opportunity if it weren't for Interweave, a UU affiliate group that brings together queer UUs and their supporters. I proudly serve on their board and coordinate Diversity, Anti-oppression and Coalition Building. Interweave is where I first heard about SATUURDAY, and it was their commitment to supporting the con in whatever way they could that taught me how important UU youth are to Interweave and the UU movement. We need you to bring new voices and new insights to Interweave and other organizations that support queer and queer-friendly UUs (not just adults!) So give Interweave and SATUURDAY a chance—you'll grow more than you thought you could!
KT Hariman
The SATUURDAY conference brought queer and questioning youth together to learn, worship, and bond as we worked toward a common goal: establishing an official queer/trans youth caucus within YRUU. Caucusing is vital to the strength of our movement. Queer/transgender youth need the support of peers who share their identities in order to move past obstacles that don't exist for heterosexual youth. Invisibility and isolation shrink our perceptions of the queer/transgender community and cripples our organizing within primarily heterosexual circles. Establishing SATUURDAY as an organization cements our validity within YRUU and gives us a presence that we need to nurture in our movement and ourselves. Even in its infancy, SATUURDAY has given me so much—I can only imagine how much good it will do once it is larger and more vibrant.
SATUURDAY helped me grow as a person as I began to unravel the fabric of my oppression. Understanding how discrimination has affected my life and those of my friends has given me a new perspective on power dynamics in our society, and I developed leadership skills that I couldn't find in an environment where I had to explain and justify my identity. SATUURDAY was my first time at an event run by and including only queer and transgender people. While I have many wonderful straight friends who are my allies, I felt security in the knowledge that everyone there had many similar struggles. Whether we like it or not, we have each other's back.
For more information contact youth @ uua.org.
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
