Youth members of YFT are not keeping silent about the experiences they have had in school where they were bullied, harrassed, and treated as outcasts. In a partnership with Campus Harmony Inc. and Tracy Nanthavongsa Photography, Youth First Texas helped launch the Bully Suicide Project, a photo shoot and PSA that will be shown for national audiences at high schools and colleges over the next year.
It all started thanks to Beaux Wellborn, a YFT Volunteer and the Assitant Director of Campus Harmony Inc. The Dallas Voice Instant Tea Blog shares …

By David Negrete
I think we can all agree that Proposition 8 has greatly affected the LGBTQ community, and it is because of strong and courageous people like photographer Adam Bouska and partner Jeff Parshley that we are beginning to let people know how we feel.
The NOH8 campaign is a photo project and silent protest that was started after the passing of Proposition 8. It began with everyday California residents, and expanded to celebrities and political figures, including Kathy Griffin, Dr. Drew, Ashlee Simpson, …

INSTANT TEA – Official Blog of the Dallas Voice – http://www.dallasvoice.com/instant-tea
September 22nd, 2009.

Last night during the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce’s Pride Dinner at the Warwick Melrose Hotel, keynote speaker Cleve Jones issued a challenge: If you can’t make it to the National Equality March in October, send someone in your place.
Shortly after Jones concluded his remarks, six chamber members and/or Pride dinner attendees responded, with each agreeing to pay for one of the local LGBT youth on hand to go to Washington. The six beneficiaries from Youth First …

Picture it: Wednesday, August 5, 2009. Per a story carried by the Associated Press, the American Psychological Association declares that therapists should avoid directing gay clients toward treatment designed to “cure” them of their sexuality. Instead, the APA advocates a more sensible approach, such as introducing celibacy as an option to relieve conflict, or suggesting that a given patient consider channeling his/her faith in the direction of a religion that exhibits tolerance over unwavering fundamentalism.
This development is interesting because at about the same time an online article reported about a …

Hello to our Volunteers and Members of the Board,
Please mark you calenders! The annual Volunteer Appreciation Party is slated for Thursday, August 6, 2009, from 7pm-9pm.
Not only will we have an ice cream social and competitive games with prizes, but we will also pay tribute to the important work the volunteers contribute for the betterment of the youth through a prestigious (and sometimes silly) awards ceremony.
This is a YOUTH produced event, so don’t miss out on this evening!
All nominees will be notified by July 18th. (We tell you this only …

The racetrack is not a 1.5-mile asphalt oval with a turn radius of 750 feet. It definitely doesn’t have a 2,250-foot long stretch with 45 pit stalls. Nope. With the sweltering summer sun on a cement parking lot, this is not the Daytona 500.
But it is the Gaytona 500 — and racecars aren’t even needed. Well, at least the kind the big boys play with. This is a race where quick fingers matter more than down-shifting a clutch, because these racecars are of the remote control kind.
“It’s gonna be awesome,” …

Last Thursday, we promised to post all questions and answers after our Board of Directors shared their role with the youth of YFT. Please see thier replies below. If anyone has any other questions, we would love to answer them.
Where does the Board of Directors (BOD) plan to take Youth First Texas (YFT) from here?
The BOD is currently developing a 5 year strategic plan for the organization. The vision we are basing this on includesLeasing a safer, more modern space for the next 5 years Developing a plan to purchase a …

With signs in hand and voices of distress that can be heard several miles away, Youth First Texas and over 150 protesters from around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex participated Tuesday in the national Prop 8 rally alongside several major cities including Los Angeles and New York.
The demonstration was scheduled earlier in the week originally as a gathering place for Dallas’ LGBT to celebrate the hopeful appeal of Proposition 8, the California state amendment which banned same-sex marriages.
Unfortunately, on Tuesday morning the California Supreme Court ruled to uphold the Prop 8 …

The California Supreme Court just issued its ruling upholding the validity of the Nov. 4 vote on Proposition 8, the referendum that negated the court’s May 2008 decision that legalized same-sex marriage in that state.
However the court also ruled that the approximately 18,000 same-sex marriages conducted in California during the five months that they were legal will remain valid.
In Dallas, Queer Liberaction will hold a protest rally starting at 7 p.m. at the intersection of Oak Lawn Avenue and Cedar Springs Road. The protesters will then march down Cedar Springs …