Apr 22, 2005   | COMMENTS     

As many as 3,000 gay youths and young adults are expected to gather in Rock Creek Park throughout the day Saturday, April 23, for the ninth annual Youth Pride Day.

For most of the year, the Youth Pride Alliance, a local umbrella organization, collaborates with service organizations in metropolitan Washington to assist them in helping local gay people in their late teens and early 20s with whatever challenges they face. But in April, the alliance’s focus primarily is on celebrating what it means to be young and gay today, and organizers are hoping the turnout is large.

“This is the first year since I’ve been director that the International Monetary Fund protests haven’t been on the same weekend,” says Paul Marengo, a 35-year-old employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture who has been director of Youth Pride Day for more than half of the festival’s history.

Marengo says 2,000 to 3,000 youths, young adults and their supporters usually attend Youth Pride Day, though only about 500 tend to gather at any given time in Rock Creek Park, where the celebration culminates with a festival filled with fun and serious activities alike.

“Each year, the needs of the youth change,” says Nathan DeCarolis, the 24-year-old president of Youth Pride Alliance, an all-volunteer group of youths and older individuals.

Among the Youth Pride gatherings scheduled this year is an allies reception, which is to take place at 6:30 p.m. tonight at the D.C. Center, 1111 14th St., NW, Suite 350. This year’s Youth Pride Allies Awards are to go to Graham Murphy, a volunteer with various gay youth initiatives in the area, and David Grossman, who has held a variety of Youth Pride roles and this year helped coordinate the first D.C. Youth Pride College Fair.

A panel discussion titled “Religion & Gay Youth: Helping Them Find a Balance” is to take place after the awards ceremony.

“Youth tend to get turned off by the church message,” DeCarolis says. With that in mind, he explains that a gay-specific approach to religious issues has been one of the focuses for Youth Pride organizers this year.

The Youth Pride College Fair, to be held from 11 a.m. 2 p.m., Saturday, April 23, at the Radisson hotel in Northwest, has also generated excitement. Grossman, 21, is chair of the event.

In December, organizers sent out invitations to the fair. Grossman said more than 80 colleges and universities have made plans to attend, a number that was unexpectedly larger than he anticipated. Organizers had to make arrangements for additional space, he said.

“We have a real diverse group of schools, ranging from state universities to small liberal arts colleges from all different regions of the country,” Grossman says.

Although most of the colleges attending can be found on the East Coast, Hawaii Pacific University as well as schools in Colorado, Michigan and Indiana have also signed up. In addition to more colleges seeking to recruit gay students, a growing number of college scholarships geared toward them also have been created in recent years.

An updated list of the registered schools scheduled to take part in the college fair Saturday is available online at www.ypcollegefair.org. Grossman said several hundred prospective students are expected to stop by. In addition to general and gay-specific information about the various schools being made available, the college fair also features a panel discussion with college representatives and a consultant will be available to answer questions at the free event.

Marengo says Youth Pride Day this year also includes a keynote address by U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, the gay Massachusetts Democrat. The traditional youth testimonials, which give young people who register in advance the opportunity to tell an audience about their coming out experiences, also are planned.

As for the cost of putting it all together, Marengo says most of the funding for Youth Pride Day comes from nonprofit organizations and service providers like the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL), Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry (NOVAM), and the National Youth Advocacy Coalition. Groups like the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), and Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG) also have committed to help.