Letter to the editor: Thanks to the Indigo Girls for welcoming OUT to the stage in Rockland

Sat, 11/28/2015 - 6:45pm

Members of OUT As I Want to Be were thrilled to join the Indigo Girls on stage at a sold-out concert Nov. 10 at the Strand Theatre in Rockland. 

At the concert, OUT Director Jeanne Dooley shared the hard realities facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth in the Midcoast and how the wonderful sense of community and connection of the evening was missing for these youth. Bullying, harassment, suicidal thoughts and actions, as well as homelessness, are too often the norm for these teens, she said.

OUT sends a big thank you to the Indigo Girls for a “fabulous” concert and for supporting OUT’s goal of a welcoming and affirming Midcoast for all youth. Attendees donated hundreds of dollars in support of OUT’s work.

OUT is a regional nonprofit that works to support and empower midcoast Maine LGBTQ youth. OUT staff, volunteers and youth are working to improve school climate in our schools in Lincoln, Knox and Waldo counties; provide safe space for LGBTQ youth at its Rockland office and through the new Belfast drop-in program sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast; and to educate area providers about working effectively with LGBTQ youth and their families. 

If you, too, would like to show your support, visit outmidcoast.org.