Radio QGLLU - Rainbow Labs: Fostering Queer Unity and Empowerment for LGBTQ Youth

When Maria Garcia and her Rainbow Labs Youth Council students step into our studio, they bring stories of courage and the power of queer community that touch the heart. Their voices echo the strength found in unity as we uncover the transformative influence Rainbow Labs has had on LGBTQ youth in Los Angeles. These young trailblazers discuss the invaluable sense of family, safety, and personal growth they've experienced, all while developing leadership skills and financial acumen that promise to shape their bright futures. Our conversation takes a heartfelt turn as they share the solidarity they've found within each other, illustrating the undeniable impact of a nurturing environment amidst the challenges of growing up queer.

Amid the laughter and shared memories, we navigate the evolution of LGBTQ activism and mentorship, delving into the stories . They honor the legacy of advocacy giants like QGLLU, cast light on the crucial role of visibility and representation, and celebrate the strides made by earlier movements. As we listen to Diego recount his artistic journey, which was influenced by Rainbow Labs, it's clear that the push against traditional boundaries continues. This episode stands as a testament to the lasting significance of intergenerational support, reminding us that the fight for a more inclusive world is still very much alive.

Transcript

Rita Gonzalez: 0:05

Welcome to the Out Agenda. Coming to you on Archive at KPFK. org. I'm Rita Gonzalez. On this month's episode of Radio QGLLU, our guests are Maria Garcia and some of her students at the Rainbow Lab. So, on that note, here's Radio QGLLU. Welcome to the Radio QGLLU podcast, a segment of the Out Agenda, the show that takes a deep dive into what the queer, gay and lesbian Latin community is talking about. I'm Rita Gonzalez. I'm Lidia Otero.

Louis Jacinto: 0:50

I'm Eduardo Archuleta and I'm Luis Asicinto and I'm Mario J Navoa.

Mario J. Novoa: 0:57

Our guests are Maria Garcia from the Rainbow Labs and some of her students. Please introduce yourselves.

Maria Garcia: 1:04

Hi everyone, my name is Maria. I use she, they, ella, ella pronouns, and I'm a program manager at Rainbow Labs and I'm here with some of my amazing students from the Rainbow Labs Youth Council. We are a mentoring program that provides mentoring programs to LGBTQ youth in Los Angeles, and our Youth Council is a paid opportunity for students to gain leadership skills and learn about things like financial literacy, queer education, social, emotional wellness, college readiness, etc.

Diego: 1:35

My name is Dio Gonzalez, I use He/They pronouns and I'm a queer Chicano artist based out of Lenox, California, a small, unincorporated part of Los Angeles. I've been with Rainbow Labs and on Under Youth Council for the last three years, where I've also been one of the co-chairs.

Alex: 1:50

I'm Alex, I use all pronouns, I'm from Long Beach, Mexican, and I'm one of the newest members of the Youth Council and I'm really happy to be here.

Kat: 2:00

Hi, my name is Catalina Aramillo, but most people just call me Kat. I go by she, her pronouns. I live in El Segundo and I am part of Rainbow Labs Youth Council and I'm the multimedia manager.

Louis Jacinto: 2:15

Hi, it's me, Luis Jacinto, and I wanted to ask the students from the Rainbow Lab are you in high school? Are you in college? In between?

Ollie: 2:27

We are all high schoolers and middle school, so Youth Council is ages 13 through 18, I believe we have an eighth grader in our Youth Council, Alex, and then the rest of us are all high schoolers, different levels. I'm personally, I'm 15. I'm a sophomore.

Lydia: 2:43

Hi, this is Lydia, and so, now that we know a little bit more about you, why was finding a queer community at your age so important? Because I can see that you all really like being around each other. But can you tell us a little bit more about the cohesiveness or the solidarity or something about how you all find strength in in the group, in rainbow labs and in with each other?

Diego: 3:10

This is Diego, speaking. For me, rainbow labs and the youth council and every youth involved in Rainbow Labs felt like a family, and so the reason I continued to join rainbow labs throughout the years was because they would meet people like myself, and, if not, they had a common thing that I was able to relate to and empathize with, and so, although there may be an intersectionality that doesn't match mine, there's still a generosity that comes with everyone, and just that safe space and the safe environment that I get to be in with all the youth and the staff is something so honorable and something that I truly value as someone who, at first, didn't believe there was a community out there for me, and so when I found Rainbow Labs, it was just huge culture shock and something that I wanted to be a part of till the day I died. That's why I chose Rainbow Labs, and that's why I keep being at Rainbow Labs and continue to stay involved.

Camile: 4:07

I'm Camille Ramos. I use she, they he pronouns I'm a queer and trans student. I'm, you know, just I'm currently trying to go do college stuff and I don't know hectic it's a lot. I am secretary at Rainbow Labs. I take notes here and I really like it, even though it's like kind of a lot of work. But, um, well, I first joined Rainbow Labs um, actually, I found them at a um through um Models of Pride, and it was really just like a time where I was, I was kind of very early in like my transition and stuff um, and I wanted to find like community.

Camile: 4:44

I'm very like I have a lot of political beliefs that I'm like very passionate about and I've always wanted to be kind of involved with community and like-minded individuals. So after like going to a few events, uh that were hosted by Rainbow Labs, I was like I want to be part of the. The youth council wasn't the most social. Um, I'm, uh, disabled. I don't really go to school in person a lot, so I don't have much of a chance to form community at my school. So this opportunity was kind of amazing for me and it was really perfect. I mean, it was a great opportunity for me to meet people who are like me and who think like me and I don't know. Relationships that I've built here are super important to me and, like Diego Diego said, I kind of wish I could be here forever uh.

Ollie: 5:33

I'm Ollie. I found out about Rainbow Labs through um, an advertisement at my friend's school, so she texted me and was like hey, ollie, I think you should sign up for this. And it was for the. It was for One Bold Summer, which is our summer storytelling program, and I was in eighth grade at the time. Eighth grade was a really, really horrible year for me. I experienced a lot of bullying, harassment, like just horrible treatment because I'm trans, horrible treatment because I'm trans.

Ollie: 6:09

So I signed up for One Bold Summer almost immediately and got to join the program and I really like connected with the people I met and I felt like I had like kind of a community in a way, and I never really met a lot of like other queer people who were similar to me or I'd never met queer adults.

Ollie: 6:25

So having mentors and other youth and you know just all of these people to hang out with was really really inspiring and it just was great for me. So I was like, okay, they have a youth council, I'm gonna apply and I don't know. I've just been a very active member in whatever programs I can join since then. I think connecting with the other youth is really, really important to me. I've made a lot of great friends. I still talk to people who aren't in the program anymore and I just I get along with everyone a lot. I think these connections, especially because we share our queer identity but we also are individuals with different interests and personalities I think it's really, really great to just have people like that, who we can be individuals, but we do have a connection over being queer.

Alex: 7:16

I'm Alex. I first found Rainbow Labs through an Instagram, which you know isn't the most conventional way to find it, but it was for me. People from all different backgrounds that were here for the same purpose as I did, and we all have that kind of familial bond that I'm really happy about.

Mario J. Novoa: 7:32

Hi, this is Mario. I think it's fascinating that our guests are really finding a sense of community in these spaces. I think for somebody like myself that came out in the late 90s a Gen Xer who had a different experience in trying to find community I think this is a really, really great program and I know that some of our listeners probably don't have this connection with. They're probably trying to find groups like Rainbow Labs to create a sense of community or to find some sort of belonging. I'm wondering what does this mean to you now, with the people that you've met so far?

Kat: 8:17

This is Catalina Aramillo speaking, or Kat.

Kat: 8:21

When I was first connected with the community, honestly, where I am now, I had never really heard like the term of like choosing your own family.

Kat: 8:29

I come from a family where it was like very much blood is your family, that's your family, which can be true in a lot of cases, um, but for me, honestly, joining Rainbow Labs and like having a connection right away with everyone felt like choosing my own family.

Kat: 8:46

I didn't have a lot like my more distant family wasn't very supportive of me. So coming here and just feeling so like open, so open and feeling being able to feel so vulnerable with people who maybe I haven't known very long, it's still like such an amazing experience to be able to be connected with the people I am now and it is a huge thing to do that when you're so young. I've never been part of a community like this before and it really is just such a beautiful thing to be part of. And everybody I'm with now I formed like a special connection with everyone in the group, I'd say, and like I really feel like these people are like my family and I love being in a group with them like this and being able to talk to them and going on these planes with them, like I've made some really close friends here.

Mario J. Novoa: 9:35

Well, I just want to add this is Mario. Again, I just want to add how how much I admire your group individually for coming together, and I wish that I had a group like this when I was your age, so I commend your efforts.

Lydia: 9:51

This is Lydia, and I second what you said, Mario. Imagine having this kind of support, having these kinds of friendships, when you were in high school. It just would have been life-altering, I think, for me. But yet I think Oliver said that he had never met any queer adults. Said that he had never met any queer adults, and so, uh, even that puts it into perspective that I I keep hearing that it's easier to be queer now than it was when we were younger, and I think there's elements of that that are true, but I think that it's still really tough to be queer today.

Lydia: 10:34

And the issues are different, but the struggle is still there and there's a lot that you all, you young people through Rainbow Labs. I'm glad that you found each other and have that resource.

Camile: 10:48

This is Camille and I was just going to say that related to Mario's question, that I really am grateful to all the people I've met here. To Mario's question, that I really am grateful to all the people I've met here and even the mentorship that we get through the program. It's just like so important to me to like meet people I feel like I really wouldn't even be in contact with like many people otherwise, and the fact that I get to have a support system that's predominantly queer is like so important to me. It really makes me feel like confident and able to be myself, to be myself. I feel like it's often a minefield to walk around being myself with a lot of other people that I know, the people I'm related to, like family and stuff, so it's very special for me to not have to do that here.

Louis Jacinto: 11:31

Hi, this is Louis. It's just like what. It's just wonderful seeing that in high school age you have discovered this group and each other. I think, for those of us who are members of Gay and Lesbian Latinos Unidos, who are here today, 40 years ago or so, we were already adults. We had already gone through high school and college. So it was pretty different and we were on our own. We weren't depending on our families, you know, on all of that stuff. So it was very different and I just think that it made me think about my high school years. You know, I would go to school, I'd be involved, but then I never socialized with anybody at high school, I just had didn't. I thought it was the most boring time in my life. College was different because then I started meeting other queer people. I think it's absolutely wonderful.

Camile: 12:26

This is Camille speaking. Again, part of the confidence that Rainbow Labs has given me kind of inspires me. I would like to go to Pride this year and I'm kind of in the process of getting crutches for mobility because my knees are kind of getting worse and I need to like. It's a whole process, it's complicated, but I think that being a queer person walking around with crutches in the Pride parade and being as young as I am, I think that would be so important because I remember, even just a few years ago, it felt so difficult for me to be like the queer disabled kid and I just want to be that. I want to show other people that I'm here and that I'm still standing strongly, even though I guess, despite the stigma and the social backlash that I get, I guess for just stigma and the social um backlash that I get, I guess for just being who I am yeah um, ollie, I also am the queer disabled person.

Ollie: 13:25

I have albinism, so I'm blind because of that and I use um like a walking cane, a white cane as a mobility aid and I do think, like just having you know just a few years ago, or just like I don't know, I like any point in my life being able to like see someone like me I don't have a better word than see. Be able to see someone like me and have that person would have been so, so beneficial to how I felt about myself and how, you know, I like navigate the world. So I definitely agree with Camille I think it would be super cool to do something like that and I think it's definitely important for people people like us, people who are queer and people who are queer and disabled. People like us, people who are queer and people who are queer and disabled like to know that there are others like them. And it's being disabled doesn't mean you can't be successful, you can't be happy. I am like doing the best I've ever been doing.

Maria Garcia: 14:26

I am so happy and I'm still disabled and I'm still queer do any of the students have any questions for any of the folks from GLOO? This is Maria.

Ollie: 14:37

I'm Ollie. I think you know we've been talking like about how, like I've heard a lot of you know, people from GLOO saying how amazing it is that we have this space. I definitely do agree. So I'm so glad to have these people and I kind of I want to like just commemorate you guys, because the reason that we can have Rainbow Labs and have this space is because, like you guys kind of like trailblazed so that we can do this, and so thank you guys for that. I was wondering, I don't know, how was it for you guys to find GLU and like find that community? Like I know what it's like for me and other youth council members to find that, but d like how was it for you as adults rather than as, like teenagers?

Eduardio: 15:25

I'm eduardo. I found glue after it had already started. I was in, uh, just finishing up college. I was at cal state long and my boyfriend at the time and I were the only two queer Latinos that we knew, and I saw an ad in Frontiers in the calendar section saying that there was this gay and lesbian Latino organization that met monthly in Hollywood at the Gay and Lesbian Center. So I went and I had been involved with Latino politics in college and so it was a natural fit. Everybody was welcoming, everybody was like you were saying about your group. That was true for GLU, that we were. Everybody was welcome, everybody had a voice, everybody was allowed to be who they were and it was. It was a great fit and that was.

Eduardio: 16:23

I think that was like 83, maybe 84, 1984. And it was. It was really cool and it was. But that's how we found it. It was there was no, the media was. The was the free magazines that were out in the community, and I saw it in Frontiers and that's how I came to be a part of GLOO and Radio GLOO, with the rest.

Louis Jacinto: 16:50

Mrs Lewis.

Louis Jacinto: 16:51

I think for a lot of us that discovered GLOO, and we were in our early to mid-20s for the most part. We had already gone through a lot of other community organizing United Farm Workers, the women's movement, just the things that were happening. And so with GLOO, I know, for me it was like okay, yeah, this is like the last frontier, this is the last thing that I need to stand up and fight for, because this really is who I am. Because, you know, we talked about visibility. I wasn't seeing anybody that looked like me, not in literature, film, television records that I was listening to. I was invisible, but yet I knew I was important and like all of us. And so glue allowed me to be with people who looked like me and who grew up like me and who were concerned about what was going on. The same way, I was concerned about things, and so it was the natural final frontier, if I could quote Star Trek.

Louis Jacinto: 18:06

So when I look at all of you from Rainbow Lab doing it now, while you're still at this age, in high school, it's like man, they are just, you know, cutting out all the middle folks and jumping right in and keeping it going. And I think you should because, like Ali thank you, Earlier, you had said you thanked us for like paving the way and all of that. Yes, I guess we did. I mean, I don't think that's what we're thinking about, but if we pave the way, then walk right up into it and take it, because you know it's so important for other kids to see that they are not alone, especially in these times, and your work is so important. You have no idea.

Rita Gonzalez: 18:58

And this is Rita. In our time, before multimedia and all this, we had magazines that we used to do free magazines. Eduardo had mentioned Frontiers. It was for men, it was a gay magazine, and then the women had lesbian news for these magazines. And we went to the bars that's where our we'd hear there's no bars now, but there used to be bars gay bars, women bars and there'd be flyers on a bulletin board and that's how we found out what was going on. It was just. It was fun. It was a lot of fun discovering these places, and especially when you find out that there was a group you could identify with GLU. A lot of us did identify because it was a Latino organization, but some of us belong to other organizations as well, too. What I loved about GLU personally, it was co-gender and it felt like they were my brothers and my sisters, so it was awesome.

Rita Gonzalez: 20:00

And it felt like they were my brothers and my sisters, so it was awesome.

Mario J. Novoa: 20:02

I have a question for Diego. How does your work as an artist? How does that, do you feel, connected in any way with Rainbow Labs in terms of what you're trying to do as an artist? Do you feel, for some of you maybe that are pursuing college, how does Rainbow Labs assist you with your next steps into your adulthood?

Diego: 20:27

So I've always been an artist and I have explored different mediums, whether it was through dance, through music or through painting and drawing. I was always a visual artist and a performing artist. And drawing. I was always a visual artist and a performing artist. More recently, I've been inclined to paint and draw, and I've also recently joined a ballet folklórico group at my school, and so I've been dancing ballet folklórico for the past three years now, and at the beginning of learning ballet folklórico, I knew traditions were really strong and it was something that was upkept in many groups, and so what that meant was that women would only be allowed to dance in skirts and that men would only be allowed to dance in men's attire.

Diego: 21:16

And so when I would look at ballet folklorico, I told myself that I wanted to dance in a skirt, and as a cisgender man, I knew that would come with setbacks and obstacles. And, alina, it came with its set of obstacles. And so while I was dancing with skirts, I was getting a lot of pushback from my family, from my mom, and even just from myself too, doubting myself that, you know, this is what I really should be doing. Should I be conforming to the standards or should I be happy and dance in a skirt, and you know, keep on dancing. And so I chose my happiness. And so I chose to keep dancing in a skirt, my happiness.

Diego: 22:06

And so I chose to keep dancing in a skirt. And that freedom to just express myself in a way that wasn't harming anyone and in a way that was breaking tradition and like setting forth a new standard that you know you're, this, you can also do this was so inspiring and empowering to me, and so that was my journey with Loco Rico and how I gained the confidence from Rainbow Labs. Another thing, too, and something important to mention, is that before I joined Rainbow Labs, I didn't think that art would be a living like. I didn't think that becoming an artist would be a possible future for me, and so, after learning what storytelling was and how I can tell my story in different forms of art, I was encouraged to become a filmmaker, and so the next four years I'll be studying filmmaking and film production at Loyola Marymount University, and so hopefully that that goes well. But without Rainbow Labs, I probably wouldn't have had a direction or probably wouldn't have that inclined idea of becoming a filmmaker.

Mario J. Novoa: 23:11

So Diego, thank you for sharing that. You know I'm a filmmaker. That's film is in my heart. I'm really happy that you're that you're taking that route, but also that you mentioned that you're pushing boundaries and continue to do that you're. That is the kind of the legacy of glue is. They didn't know that they were creating a space for us in future generations and and you continue doing that. Um, just that's fantastic to hear. I'm really, really fascinated. I'd like to find out if how Rainbow Labs is assisting all of you and your next steps as well.

Camile: 23:46

If anybody else wants to add, Well, I'm more of a hobby artist. I'm actually going to be going to CSUN and majoring in public health sciences. I'm a huge STEM geek and my career goals Camille again. But Rainbow labs has helped me a lot. I mean mostly just finding scholarships, because it's really hard to uh afford college, but also, like through the scholarships and uh meeting the people who represent them and other groups that rainbow labs works with, um like finding other organizations that I that do activism, that do queer activism, like in at the college campuses, has been something important to me and, like I don't know, something that I'm looking into and I think that has uh kind of inspired me from uh my experience with Rainbow Labs.

Kat: 24:40

Hi, uh, this is Kat speaking. I wanted to to say that Rainbow Labs has done a lot for me too. Honestly, I decided that I wanted to go to Santa Monica College and I only figured that out because we did a tour there and they showed us all of the resources that were there for LGBTQ youth and, honestly, had I didn't have a super bad like view of community college. I was just always told that like you need to get into a four-year because, like you don't want to go to a community college. But after seeing like the community college we toured and knowing more about it and being connected with resources on what you can do, uh, opening that up made me like okay with wanting to go to community college and that's the college I'm gonna now go to. That's like a for sure I'm gonna go there. So it's, it's a really it's a really good school. But and they've also helped me a lot with like being able to I decided that I want to start looking into being more part of being part of communities that do help LGBTQ youth.

Kat: 25:45

I didn't it's been like my dream since I was like in middle school to have run like a pride club at my school and I was able to do that this year. I'm now the president of my pride club and I've been trying to get that started since sixth grade. But it it's really it's. It made me realize how much more I want to be involved in, like my community and what I want to do for people who are my age. And having a younger sister who is actually 10 now and she came out to me when she was very young and she told me that she she told me that she was gay but she didn't have a safe place to go and so I couldn't tell anybody like and I would never. So I couldn't tell anybody like and I would never but be seeing like. Having LGBTQ youth in my life made me realize I wanted to be there for LGBTQ youth and create safe spaces, so it's really helped me decide what I want to do in the future um, ollie, kat, that is so amazing.

Ollie: 26:37

I didn't know that, like any of that, um, as the younger queer sibling, my older sister is also queer and I came out to her when I was around like nine.

Ollie: 26:48

I think it's so important to you know, do that stuff.

Ollie: 26:51

So thank you, kat, and I also, you know, rainbow Loves has also helped me find like that space to just figure out I want to be while educating me and like I'm a poet and I don't think I would be as confident in like sharing my writing or just writing in general, without having had like Rainbow Labs just, you know, improve my confidence and also give me that space to share.

Ollie: 27:17

I've been recently like submitting to literary magazines and signing up to be a part of like different teams, trying or at least trying to apply. I'm planning on auditioning to be a get lit poet. Get lit is a non-profit organization that does stuff with poetry and like I'm just trying to do all these things and I'm trying to accomplish these things that I never would have even thought about trying to do without Rainbow Labs, like showing me that I can make a difference and that I never would have even thought about trying to do without Rainbow Labs, showing me that I can make a difference and that I can accomplish these things. So I think Rainbow Labs has definitely put me where I am.

Alex: 27:52

Yeah, Hi, it's Alex speaking. I think I'm in middle school. End of this month I'm going to be graduating and I'll head to high school in a few months and start that part of my life. But I like theater, I like poetry and, honestly, as much as you see it online, I never met people in the community who kind of had those similar interests, who had those paths they wanted in life. I want to study psychology. I want to find out why we all think the way we do and I think Rainbow Labs really helped me see that there's a whole range of people. Everything they do is different. Everyone is unique. As cliche as that sounds, I actually think that's just an important thing and part of life. And honestly, I really enjoy Rainbow Labs. I enjoy all of you. All of your stories are so unique and they're just fascinating. And you know, I think Rainbow Labs specifically has just helped me see that everyone out there has something they want to say and we should listen to it.

Lydia: 28:54

Young people. Thanks for showing up and you know inspiring us and you know making us feel all mushy inside because we're so proud of you.

Lydia: 29:05

Uh, that you know life, it's such a blessing and to know that, queer folks, we're still out there and we still have dreams and aspirations. And you know, maybe I, we didn't all fulfill what we wanted to do, but you are, I have a lot of not to put pressure on you, but you know you like, you feel free, like to embrace with the world and to you know, express yourself in so many ways, and so thank you for joining us today thank you for having us and thank you for the work that you do.

Camile: 29:37

It's very inspiring and, uh, it helps me to like imagine myself in the future. Yeah, thank you guys so much.

Ollie: 29:45

It's really really inspiring.

Maria Garcia: 29:47

Some of the amazing students that are on our youth council program at Rainbow Labs.

Louis Jacinto: 29:51

And don't forget that Unidad Gay and Lesbian Latinos Unidos. The documentary is still streaming on PBS.

Camile: 30:00

My dad saw some of that. He thought you guys were cool. Just putting that out there.

Rita Gonzalez: 30:05

Well, thank you so much for joining us. You're awesome and you are our future. So for Radio Q Blue.

Eduardio: 30:12

I'm Rita Gonzalez.

Louis Jacinto: 30:13

I'm Eduardo Archuleta, I'm Luis Jacinto. I'm Mario J Navarro.

Rita Gonzalez: 30:18

I'm Lidia Otero. Once again, our guest has been Maria Garcia and some of her students from Rainbow Lab, and we want to hear from you. Like us on our Facebook page, follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, or email us at theoutagenda at gmailcom. I'm Rita Gonzalez. Thanks for listening, and have a wonderful week, and remember that being out is the first step to being equal. Now stay tuned for this Way Out.