U-21: Empowering Two Generations of Albuquerque’s LGBTQ+ Youth
The first LGBTQ+ youth group at Common Bond was called One-in-Ten, referring to the fact that gays and lesbians were conservatively estimated as being ten percent of the population. The group was started by Mark Burdine and Chris Valles -- ages 18 and 19 at the time. In September 1987, the group began meeting at the Common Bond Community Center on Tulane Drive SE with three to five youth attending.
Initially, the group was self-run, although in December, the group’s coordinator Mark Burdine announced in the Common Bond Ink newsletter, “From time to time we believe it would be beneficial to be able to consult a group of advisors on specific problems facing the group. By February 1988, the One-in-Ten Advisory Committee included two lawyers, a sex counselor, a psychologist and two business people. In April 1988, members of the group produced a three-fold brochure for distribution through Common Bond, school counselors and social events attracting young people. Burdine said, “We’re trying to let young Albuquerqueans know there is a place where they can feel safe and meet other people their age.” Early activities organized by One-in-Ten included a guest speaker on suicide prevention, a discussion about being gay in high school, and a Valentine’s Dance. |
The purpose of U-21 is to provide a safe meeting place—free of smoke, drugs and alcohol—for young people to speak openly about their coming our issues. Joseph Zummach recalls, “Community activist Neil Isbin was very supportive of having youth outreach at Common Bond. He encouraged me to create the Under 21 Group, but the idea was already mine and I made the initial commitment to spearhead the group. I started by creating a flyer with the help of James Miera (a former member of One-in-Ten) and tacking them up around the UNM campus, high schools, and the infamous parking lot on ‘the cruise.’ We quickly got some people attending the new group. James felt that it needed a steady hand to facilitate and keep it going. What we needed was literally a village to make it really successful.”
“I had been a gay Boy Scout with a fantastic scout leader who introduced us to many outdoor activities. In fact, my engagement with the Under 21 Group was a way to pay forward the benefits I received from scouting since I could not openly serve as a scout leader. It was a no brainer to focus on the greatly underserved LGBTQ+ youth of our community.”
“One of the first kids to show up was Eddy, a precious first year student at New Mexico Tech. He would drive up Friday evening often with friends. The group was a life saver for some of the youngest members -- a bulwark against isolation and the bullying culture surrounding them. Some members were brought to our meetings by their parents, others snuck out to attend. Some were introduced by a friend or a sibling to the group. From the start, the members ran the socioeconomic spectrum.”
“Within the first year, when I asked Neil for assistance by way of facilitating the group while I was out of town, he invited Andy Najar to help out. Neil saw that facilitating the group might be a bit much for one person. Andy brought a great deal of energy and creativity to the group helping us to expand and bring others on board.” Joseph remained with the Under 21 Group for two years.
Andy Najar created more structure for the group. Meetings would alternate between a social gathering one week and an educational format the next. This gave youth a place where they could talk about the oppression they felt in their lives – and receive much needed validation and support from each other through open sharing.
The question was what did the youth want to learn about? The early topics included: why are we GLBT, coming out to your parents and do you really have to right now, and school bullying. Andy recalls, “We would watch gay-themed movies, learn how to put on makeup, and have guest speakers from the community. Staff members from New Mexico AIDS Services would provide information about safe sex. We would go to the nearby Double Rainbow restaurant for coffee or ice cream after the meetings. We also had dances at the Metropolitan Community Church Albuquerque on San Mateo. Our goal was to have fun for two hours every Saturday night.”
“Joseph and I got together and created a logo for the Under 21 Group. It was a pink triangle coming out of the Sandia Mountains. I knew a new generation of GLBT teens were going to be loved and empowered.” Andy was an Under 21 Group facilitator for five years, continuing through the group’s move to the new Common Bond Community Center on Silver Avenue SE.
In 1993, two members of the Under 21 Group were featured in a program that aired on KNME and nationally on Public Television. “Road Trip” was a series produced by a group of young independent filmmakers based in Santa Monica, California, who traveled thorough the U.S. documenting the lives of young people. In a segment about Albuquerque, Michael and Dominique discussed how they were discriminated against at their high schools. Dominique also talked about his reasons for wanting to undergo gender affirming surgery (what he called a "sex change operation") at the age of sixteen.
Producer Shauma Garr said that New Mexico was chosen because she wanted something different from Los Angeles and New York to illustrate that all teenagers faced the same issues across the country. The Albuquerque segment also included a short clip of an Under 21 Group rap session at Common Bond’s Silver Avenue Community Center.
In February 1994, the Under 21 Group held its third annual awards dinner at Powdrell’s Barbecue. As in previous years, the group’s members were encouraged to invite their parents to attend. That year seven parents attended giving them an opportunity to meet the youth group’s leaders and other parents with a gay or lesbian child. The event also empowered Under 21 Group members by seeing how other parents accepted their children.
The most exciting part of the evening was when awards were presented for the “Youth of the Year” for both a male and female who had greatly contributed to the group, had shown leadership and had volunteered in the larger gay and lesbian community. The 1994 female recipient for the second year in a row was Erin D. Best. Erin demonstrated leadership by being the most “out” teenager in the community. She had been featured twice in Albuquerque’s daily newspapers for sharing her views on being young and lesbian. There was a tie between two young men, Michael Montoya and Will Cocheron-Aamot, for the male award. Both had been positive role models within the youth group, sharing new visions for the group as well as serving on the Under 21 planning committee.
Lois Dickerman, who became the next significant U-21 facilitator, had worked in several capacities to promote understanding of gay, lesbian and bisexual people and their issues and the passage of equal rights legislation in New Mexico. Lois had been an “out” counselor in the Albuquerque Public Schools system, a member of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Teachers Network (today known as GLSEN), a former and founding member of the Statewide Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights, and a former member of the New Mexico Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance.
In recognition of her service to Albuquerque’s LGBTQ+ community, the Gay Pride planning committee selected Lois and then current members of the Under 21 Group to be the Grand Marshals of Albuquerque’s 1997 Gay Pride Parade.
Read "Advocating for Positive Change in Albuquerque Public Schools"
By 1995, most of the original members of Under 21 Group had graduated high school and the group became smaller. However, in 1997, the group would thrive with a membership of 40 to 50 young people with at least 25 showing up on any given Friday evening. A great loss to our community was Lois Dickerman dying of cancer in 2008. She had facilitated the Under 21 Group for eight years.
Fortunately, a new lead facilitator for U-21 had arrived in Mary Oishi (currently Albuquerque’s Poet Laureate). Mary nurtured the Under 21 Group for 17 years. She placed particular emphasis on creative arts. There were frequent “coffee house” open-mic nights where members would share their poetry, artwork, comedy, music, dance, a monologue, or some other talent. Suicide prevention, substance abuse prevention/education and dropout prevention were also priorities for the group’s adult facilitators.
In August 1997, Common Bond and the Albuquerque Lesbian and Gay Chamber of Commerce (ALGCC) launched a Youth Job Training Program drawing its initial clients from members of the Under 21 Group. The seed for the program was planted by “The Front Runner” novelist and educator Patricia Nell Warren at ALGCC’s May luncheon meeting. When Warren returned to Albuquerque in July to speak at Full Circle Books, she commented that she was amazed with the swiftness of the response to her suggestion. “A week later I received a draft of the project proposal by email. When I return home and speak at the various community centers there, I’m going to hold Albuquerque up as an example of what can be done for sexual minority youth.”
Laura Randolph was ALGCC’s coordinator for the project; Steve Ridlon the coordinator for Common Bond. A questionnaire/application was distributed at the Under 21 Group’s weekly meetings to determine specific needs: information about particular professions, assistance in applying for jobs and preparing for interviews, job leads from gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses, or a short-term adult “mentor” to provide feedback as these young people started in the world of work.
Concurrently an adult volunteers form was being distributed through ALGCC and Common Bond to build up a pool of sincerely motivated adults who wished to make it easier for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth to achieve a successful, self-sufficient adulthood.
In October 2000, a new Advisory Committee was established to support the adult facilitators of the Under 21 Group and follow through on requests from group members for speakers and outside activities. The APS Safe Zone Project was the first major focus of this Advisory Committee.
Also in 2000, Common Bond’s Under 21 Group joined the National Youth Advocacy Coalition. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization assisted over 130 community-based GLBT youth programs across the country. The Under 21 Group was part of NYAC’s Western Region and representatives of the group attended the regional conference in 2001.
In July 2001, Mary Oishi, who worked at KUNM-FM, helped produce the Rainbow Youth Radio Project – a four-segment program which aired on our local Public Radio station.
● “Safe Zone Project at Eldorado High School.” Erin Smith compiled location recordings documenting the early months of the Safe Zone Project in Albuquerque Public Schools, and also composed and performed piano interlude music.
● “Creative Writing and Poetry”. Kira George, a student at Eldorado High School and an intern at the Weekly Alibi newspaper, read one of her short stories and several poems.
● “Coming Out to Parents and Peers.” Imaj & Spikes took a huge step in coming out to their mothers and taping their reactions. The outcomes were predictably negative.
● “Coming Out.” Mishell Powell had recently represented the Under 21 Group at the Young, Loud and Proud national queer youth leadership conference in San Francisco. Mishell discovered the group shortly after arriving in Albuquerque from Oaxaca, Mexico. In her touching cross-cultural coming out story, she gave an honest account of her life before and after.
In April 2003, Common Bond held a major fundraising dinner and silent auction at the Wyndham Albuquerque Hotel next to the Sunport. The evening’s speakers were Erin Best, Havens Levitt, Marshall Martinez, Mary Oishi, Brian Rasmussen and Virginia Stephenson. The proceeds sent five members of the Under 21 Group plus one adult facilitator to the National Youth Advocation Coalition’s 6th Annual Summit for GLBT youth in Washington that summer.
For a total of 32 years, with the help of guest speakers, plus documentary and feature videos, the truth about the successful lives of gay and lesbian Americans has been shared with two generations of Albuquerque queer youth. Discussions about safe and responsible sex have always been part of the mix, but mainly the U-21 experience has always been about making friends, networking and bonding.
Since 2016, the number of children, teens, and young adults attending the U-21 Youth Program has been steadily increasing, with over 1,000 coming to events and programming. Thanks in part to the increase in the number of participants, the program itself has expanded activities and resources provided. Speakers from organizations such as Planned Parenthood, the Rape Crisis Center of New Mexico, the Transgender Resource Center, and others, speak and work with youth participants on a variety of topics ranging from healthy relationships and coping mechanisms, to resume building and career counseling. At the same time, creative materials for art and writing, board games, weekly movies, and an outdoor firepit are all available for those who wish to just come and feel safe to socialize and be themselves.
Watch “It Gets Better”, our 11-minute video with three U-21 success stories
In addition to those cited above, lead facilitators for U-21 have included Mick Burke, Rob Grilley and Ann Nihlen.
Dedicated U-21 group facilitators have included Avi Milstein, Stephanie Holinka, Jessica Dunn, Chanda Shaw, Ray Hernandez-Duran, Demetrious Hawkins, Courtney Westcott, Erin Northern, Robert Bienstock, Matthew Allen, Anita Holtz, Karen Wyman, Bernard Rosal, KC Councilor, Jason Michnovicz, Quinn Bailey-Cannon, Christopher George, Amy Edwards, and many more.
After the Community Center on Silver SE closed, the group’s Friday evening meetings moved to New Mexico AIDS Services, Emmanuel Metropolitan Community Church, Buena Vista Community Center, Albuquerque Center for Spiritual Living, Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice, and currently Metropolitan Community Church of Albuquerque.
“I had been a gay Boy Scout with a fantastic scout leader who introduced us to many outdoor activities. In fact, my engagement with the Under 21 Group was a way to pay forward the benefits I received from scouting since I could not openly serve as a scout leader. It was a no brainer to focus on the greatly underserved LGBTQ+ youth of our community.”
“One of the first kids to show up was Eddy, a precious first year student at New Mexico Tech. He would drive up Friday evening often with friends. The group was a life saver for some of the youngest members -- a bulwark against isolation and the bullying culture surrounding them. Some members were brought to our meetings by their parents, others snuck out to attend. Some were introduced by a friend or a sibling to the group. From the start, the members ran the socioeconomic spectrum.”
“Within the first year, when I asked Neil for assistance by way of facilitating the group while I was out of town, he invited Andy Najar to help out. Neil saw that facilitating the group might be a bit much for one person. Andy brought a great deal of energy and creativity to the group helping us to expand and bring others on board.” Joseph remained with the Under 21 Group for two years.
Andy Najar created more structure for the group. Meetings would alternate between a social gathering one week and an educational format the next. This gave youth a place where they could talk about the oppression they felt in their lives – and receive much needed validation and support from each other through open sharing.
The question was what did the youth want to learn about? The early topics included: why are we GLBT, coming out to your parents and do you really have to right now, and school bullying. Andy recalls, “We would watch gay-themed movies, learn how to put on makeup, and have guest speakers from the community. Staff members from New Mexico AIDS Services would provide information about safe sex. We would go to the nearby Double Rainbow restaurant for coffee or ice cream after the meetings. We also had dances at the Metropolitan Community Church Albuquerque on San Mateo. Our goal was to have fun for two hours every Saturday night.”
“Joseph and I got together and created a logo for the Under 21 Group. It was a pink triangle coming out of the Sandia Mountains. I knew a new generation of GLBT teens were going to be loved and empowered.” Andy was an Under 21 Group facilitator for five years, continuing through the group’s move to the new Common Bond Community Center on Silver Avenue SE.
In 1993, two members of the Under 21 Group were featured in a program that aired on KNME and nationally on Public Television. “Road Trip” was a series produced by a group of young independent filmmakers based in Santa Monica, California, who traveled thorough the U.S. documenting the lives of young people. In a segment about Albuquerque, Michael and Dominique discussed how they were discriminated against at their high schools. Dominique also talked about his reasons for wanting to undergo gender affirming surgery (what he called a "sex change operation") at the age of sixteen.
Producer Shauma Garr said that New Mexico was chosen because she wanted something different from Los Angeles and New York to illustrate that all teenagers faced the same issues across the country. The Albuquerque segment also included a short clip of an Under 21 Group rap session at Common Bond’s Silver Avenue Community Center.
In February 1994, the Under 21 Group held its third annual awards dinner at Powdrell’s Barbecue. As in previous years, the group’s members were encouraged to invite their parents to attend. That year seven parents attended giving them an opportunity to meet the youth group’s leaders and other parents with a gay or lesbian child. The event also empowered Under 21 Group members by seeing how other parents accepted their children.
The most exciting part of the evening was when awards were presented for the “Youth of the Year” for both a male and female who had greatly contributed to the group, had shown leadership and had volunteered in the larger gay and lesbian community. The 1994 female recipient for the second year in a row was Erin D. Best. Erin demonstrated leadership by being the most “out” teenager in the community. She had been featured twice in Albuquerque’s daily newspapers for sharing her views on being young and lesbian. There was a tie between two young men, Michael Montoya and Will Cocheron-Aamot, for the male award. Both had been positive role models within the youth group, sharing new visions for the group as well as serving on the Under 21 planning committee.
Lois Dickerman, who became the next significant U-21 facilitator, had worked in several capacities to promote understanding of gay, lesbian and bisexual people and their issues and the passage of equal rights legislation in New Mexico. Lois had been an “out” counselor in the Albuquerque Public Schools system, a member of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Teachers Network (today known as GLSEN), a former and founding member of the Statewide Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights, and a former member of the New Mexico Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance.
In recognition of her service to Albuquerque’s LGBTQ+ community, the Gay Pride planning committee selected Lois and then current members of the Under 21 Group to be the Grand Marshals of Albuquerque’s 1997 Gay Pride Parade.
Read "Advocating for Positive Change in Albuquerque Public Schools"
By 1995, most of the original members of Under 21 Group had graduated high school and the group became smaller. However, in 1997, the group would thrive with a membership of 40 to 50 young people with at least 25 showing up on any given Friday evening. A great loss to our community was Lois Dickerman dying of cancer in 2008. She had facilitated the Under 21 Group for eight years.
Fortunately, a new lead facilitator for U-21 had arrived in Mary Oishi (currently Albuquerque’s Poet Laureate). Mary nurtured the Under 21 Group for 17 years. She placed particular emphasis on creative arts. There were frequent “coffee house” open-mic nights where members would share their poetry, artwork, comedy, music, dance, a monologue, or some other talent. Suicide prevention, substance abuse prevention/education and dropout prevention were also priorities for the group’s adult facilitators.
In August 1997, Common Bond and the Albuquerque Lesbian and Gay Chamber of Commerce (ALGCC) launched a Youth Job Training Program drawing its initial clients from members of the Under 21 Group. The seed for the program was planted by “The Front Runner” novelist and educator Patricia Nell Warren at ALGCC’s May luncheon meeting. When Warren returned to Albuquerque in July to speak at Full Circle Books, she commented that she was amazed with the swiftness of the response to her suggestion. “A week later I received a draft of the project proposal by email. When I return home and speak at the various community centers there, I’m going to hold Albuquerque up as an example of what can be done for sexual minority youth.”
Laura Randolph was ALGCC’s coordinator for the project; Steve Ridlon the coordinator for Common Bond. A questionnaire/application was distributed at the Under 21 Group’s weekly meetings to determine specific needs: information about particular professions, assistance in applying for jobs and preparing for interviews, job leads from gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses, or a short-term adult “mentor” to provide feedback as these young people started in the world of work.
Concurrently an adult volunteers form was being distributed through ALGCC and Common Bond to build up a pool of sincerely motivated adults who wished to make it easier for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth to achieve a successful, self-sufficient adulthood.
In October 2000, a new Advisory Committee was established to support the adult facilitators of the Under 21 Group and follow through on requests from group members for speakers and outside activities. The APS Safe Zone Project was the first major focus of this Advisory Committee.
Also in 2000, Common Bond’s Under 21 Group joined the National Youth Advocacy Coalition. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization assisted over 130 community-based GLBT youth programs across the country. The Under 21 Group was part of NYAC’s Western Region and representatives of the group attended the regional conference in 2001.
In July 2001, Mary Oishi, who worked at KUNM-FM, helped produce the Rainbow Youth Radio Project – a four-segment program which aired on our local Public Radio station.
● “Safe Zone Project at Eldorado High School.” Erin Smith compiled location recordings documenting the early months of the Safe Zone Project in Albuquerque Public Schools, and also composed and performed piano interlude music.
● “Creative Writing and Poetry”. Kira George, a student at Eldorado High School and an intern at the Weekly Alibi newspaper, read one of her short stories and several poems.
● “Coming Out to Parents and Peers.” Imaj & Spikes took a huge step in coming out to their mothers and taping their reactions. The outcomes were predictably negative.
● “Coming Out.” Mishell Powell had recently represented the Under 21 Group at the Young, Loud and Proud national queer youth leadership conference in San Francisco. Mishell discovered the group shortly after arriving in Albuquerque from Oaxaca, Mexico. In her touching cross-cultural coming out story, she gave an honest account of her life before and after.
In April 2003, Common Bond held a major fundraising dinner and silent auction at the Wyndham Albuquerque Hotel next to the Sunport. The evening’s speakers were Erin Best, Havens Levitt, Marshall Martinez, Mary Oishi, Brian Rasmussen and Virginia Stephenson. The proceeds sent five members of the Under 21 Group plus one adult facilitator to the National Youth Advocation Coalition’s 6th Annual Summit for GLBT youth in Washington that summer.
For a total of 32 years, with the help of guest speakers, plus documentary and feature videos, the truth about the successful lives of gay and lesbian Americans has been shared with two generations of Albuquerque queer youth. Discussions about safe and responsible sex have always been part of the mix, but mainly the U-21 experience has always been about making friends, networking and bonding.
Since 2016, the number of children, teens, and young adults attending the U-21 Youth Program has been steadily increasing, with over 1,000 coming to events and programming. Thanks in part to the increase in the number of participants, the program itself has expanded activities and resources provided. Speakers from organizations such as Planned Parenthood, the Rape Crisis Center of New Mexico, the Transgender Resource Center, and others, speak and work with youth participants on a variety of topics ranging from healthy relationships and coping mechanisms, to resume building and career counseling. At the same time, creative materials for art and writing, board games, weekly movies, and an outdoor firepit are all available for those who wish to just come and feel safe to socialize and be themselves.
Watch “It Gets Better”, our 11-minute video with three U-21 success stories
In addition to those cited above, lead facilitators for U-21 have included Mick Burke, Rob Grilley and Ann Nihlen.
Dedicated U-21 group facilitators have included Avi Milstein, Stephanie Holinka, Jessica Dunn, Chanda Shaw, Ray Hernandez-Duran, Demetrious Hawkins, Courtney Westcott, Erin Northern, Robert Bienstock, Matthew Allen, Anita Holtz, Karen Wyman, Bernard Rosal, KC Councilor, Jason Michnovicz, Quinn Bailey-Cannon, Christopher George, Amy Edwards, and many more.
After the Community Center on Silver SE closed, the group’s Friday evening meetings moved to New Mexico AIDS Services, Emmanuel Metropolitan Community Church, Buena Vista Community Center, Albuquerque Center for Spiritual Living, Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice, and currently Metropolitan Community Church of Albuquerque.
Common Bond thanks Dr. PJ Sedillo for use of certain passages from his book, Solidarity through Pride: 40 Years of GLBT Pride in Albuquerque 1976-2016 in this article. This history is a LIVING DOCUMENT based on many volunteer hours of research and conversations with community members who have been part of Common Bond over the years. If you have any corrections or suggested additions, please let us know at commonbondnm.org/contact.
Information on this website was diligently obtained from first and second-hand accounts and may not constitute the most up-to-date or factual information. Any reference or links to other third-party sources are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed by third parties belong solely to the author, and are not necessarily shared by Common Bond New Mexico Foundation.
Information on this website was diligently obtained from first and second-hand accounts and may not constitute the most up-to-date or factual information. Any reference or links to other third-party sources are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed by third parties belong solely to the author, and are not necessarily shared by Common Bond New Mexico Foundation.