True Colors provides safe space in CT for LGBTQ+ youth, allies and advocates amid tense national climate
Chasten Buttigieg, activist and the husband of former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, is the keynote speaker at a LGBTQ+ conference this weekend at the University of Connecticut amid what is described as a 'hostile' national climate.
True Colors SOGIEcon, once the largest LGBTQ+ youth conference in the nation, has returned to Connecticut this weekend after a four-year hiatus, according to organizer Robin McHaelen, longtime advocate and founder of True Colors, Inc., which closed its doors in 2021 after more than 20 years of holding the conference.
This year, the event is being hosted by The Health Collective, a Hartford-based wellness clinic supporting the LGBTQ+ community and those living with HIV/AIDS.
The True Colors SOGIEcon began in 1994 as 'Children from the Shadows,' a project founded by McHaelen, a longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ youth. After McHaelen's retirement and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was forced to take a pause, according to a statement from the event.
'True Colors became a staple in providing LGBTQ youth various supports around the state of Connecticut,' said David Grant, executive director of The Health Collective. 'So when Robin retired and the conference stopped operating, it really left a large hole in the heart of the state.'
The conference seeks to provide a space for LGBTQ+ youth, allies, educators, and advocates to connect, learn and take action amid a backdrop of 'unprecedented challenges' for the LGBTQ+ community.
More than 2,000 people are expected to gather on UConn's campus for two days of workshops, panels, performances and other activities, according to McHaelen. Attendees are able to choose from nearly 200 events. Workshops are available for students, teachers, parents and caregivers and working professionals and focus on a variety of topics to help support LGBTQ+ youth.
Chasten Buttigieg, who is the husband of former mayor and presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg as well as a teacher, best-selling author, and LGBTQ+ education activist, will speak through the lens of a teacher focusing on why educators need to protect queer youth, according to organizers.
Grant said that the idea to revive the conference comes amid the need for safe and welcoming spaces for LGBTQ+ identifying people. He believes that the current policies of President Donald Trump's administration have created a lot of anxiety, and many of the workshops offered focus on mental health supports for LGBTQ+ youth.
'The window was open at the right time to take on something like this, and it became even more prudent as we saw the administration take ownership not just over the federal government, but the entire country, in a way that is very chilling for the LGBTQ+ community as a whole,' Grant said.
'There's a lot of folks, not just members of the LGBTQ+ community but marginalized groups across the state, feeling anxious and nervous,' Grant added.
'LGBTQ+ youth who are no longer comfortable coming out because they're worried their schools are not going to have the protections they need to combat bullying and harassment from their peers. We don't have a federal government that's willing to step in and protect us the way we need. So we as advocates have come in and said if they don't do it, we will step in and take ownership over our own health and well-being.'
Since January, Trump has signed several executive orders targeting the LGBTQ+ community, including a transgender military ban, the U.S. government recognizing only the male and female genders and withholding federal funding from states that allow transgender athletes on women's sports teams. Challenges to the Supreme Court's landmark 2015 ruling that legalized marriage equality nationwide have also been introduced in several states.
'It is so critical right now. Over the last two years, there were over 600 anti-LGBTQ+ bills proposed or passed in 40 states and over 40 proposed so far this legislative session right here in Connecticut,' McHaelen said. 'Most of those bills are targeting trans and non-binary youth. So those youth are feeling like there's no place in the world where they are safe. Not only are they terrified, but their families are terrified.'
McHaelen said that around half of the attendees at the convention are allies, family members or friends of LGBTQ+ individuals. She said many attendees come to show their support and learn how they can get involved.
'At the end of the day, people are angry. Our rights are being challenged and could be taken away. It's just so infuriating and the thing with allies in our community is that it's a personal matter for them, too because we are your friends, cousins, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and colleagues,' Grant said.
'People recognize that our community is under attack. The conference brings us together and reminds us we are a resilient people, we are in this together, and we will come out on top,' he said.
Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com.
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