GLSEN (pronounced glisten) Collier County is hosting the third annual Youth Pride Conference 2024: Stand Up! Stand Out! On Saturday, February 10. The event will be held from 11 am to 5 pm at the Naples Conference Center (1455 Pine Ridge Road, Naples, FL 34109). Students who attend will be equipped with the tools they need to stand up for their community and empowered to stand out as their unique and authentic selves.
Breakfast, lunch, and event t-shirts will be provided for all attendees. Students will have the opportunity to choose from several breakout sessions featuring a variety of topics ranging from queer history, recent legislation, advocacy, and more. This year’s event also features a panel on Intersectionality: Fighting for Racial and Disability Within the Queer Community.
Keynote Speakers include Senior Political Director of Equality Florida, Joe Saunders (he/him), and Executive Director of GLSEN, Melanie Willingham-Jaggers (they/she). Saunders is an award-winning progressive leader whose skills live at the intersection of strategic communications, policy, and elections and movement building. Willingham-Jaggers has extensive experience with social justice movements and marginalized communities, including current and formerly incarcerated, the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, people with disabilities, and senior citizens.
This year’s event also features a musical performance by singer-songwriter Brooke Eden (she/her). Eden has used her personal journey of self-acceptance to create music that is both bold and passionate with the message that it is okay to be who you are.
The event is FREE and available to any student in grades 6-12. To register or for more information, visit ypcnaples.com.
For questions or inquiries regarding the conference, please email Daniel Selvey Shaw at da*****************@gm***.com.
About GLSEN Collier County
According to GLSEN’s 2019 National Climate Survey, approximately two out of every three LGBTQ+ students were harassed at school based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression. Approximately one in four were physically harassed. Queer students experience some of the highest rates of mental health concerns due to the harassment and bullying that are not properly addressed in schools across the country and throughout the state of Florida.
Therefore, GLSEN works to create safe and inclusive schools for all. GLSEN envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression. GLSEN recognizes that students in the LGBTQ+ community have diverse intersectionalities including Black and other people of color, Indigenous or national origin, religion, or ability. Each year, GLSEN programs and resources reach millions of students and educators in K-12 schools via action at the national, state, and local levels. Since 1990, GLSEN has improved conditions for LGBTQ+ students across the United States and helped launch an international movement to address LGBTQ+ issues in education.
GLSEN Collier County is one of 43 local chapters scattered throughout the United States striving to carry out these goals. We believe that every student in Collier County every LGBTQ+ student has a right to a safe learning environment, supportive educators, and an inclusive education. We regularly communicate with local schools to help them create policies that are safe, welcoming, and inclusive for students identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ+).
