ROCKLAND, Maine — An organization that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youths is moving to a more visible location in the city as it also plans to expand its reach.
The group, Out As I Want to Be, has been serving the LGBT community in Knox, Lincoln and Waldo counties since 1996. The group is moving into its new home at 63 Park St. by June 1, executive director Jeanne Dooley said.
This new location will allow the not-for-profit organization to expand its services, she said.
“This is a very exciting time for us,” Dooley said.
Out As I Want to Be has worked with high schools across the midcoast region but is expanding to serve middle schools, she said. The beauty of the new location on Park Street is that students can walk to it from either Oceanside East High School or Rockland District Middle School, she said.
Out also will offer after school programs for youths, she said.
Out seeks to change the climate in communities in regard to making it safer for LGBT youngsters, according to the organization, which has provided training to 350 service providers in the region such as teachers, doctors, nurses and clergy. The training teaches providers how to support the LGBT youths and their families.
“We educate about the needs of queer youth in such areas as health, civil rights, political issues and action, and queer history and culture,” according to the organization’s website. Out provides a safe place for the youths to talk about the issues confronting them and helps guide them through conflicts at home, school or in the community.
Each mainland high school in the three counties now has a Gay Straight Transgender Alliance, offering friendship and support, Dooley said.
“High school is not as easy time for anyone. Then add on this layer,” she said, referring to the students’ struggles with sexuality and alienation.
The organization, which serves youngsters younger than 22 years old, has applied to the Maine Secretary of State for a name change to be called Maine Out. This will reflect the organization’s mission to provide services across the state, she said.
Out has received a couple of calls from youth organizations in Orono seeking advice and direction, she said. A few weeks ago, Out held a retreat at Camp Kieve-Wavus in Nobleboro that was attended by 21 youths from Machiasport to South Portland.
Dooley said she has seen greater acceptance of the LGBT community in the past 20 years.
“Yes, there has been a definite change, but there is a lot of work to do,” she said.
She said the recent debate over such laws as one in North Carolina restricting the use of bathrooms to the gender listed on people’s birth certificate is one example of the further need to educate the public.
“The bathroom debate is a symptom of a problem. It captures the imagination and feeds fear. It’s absurd,” she said.
The building Out will lease for its offices, as well as the adjacent 61 Park St., was purchased in March by Rocking Moon Foundation, LLC, a charitable group based in Chevy Chase, Maryland, that largely supports groups that work with young people.
Ellen Sudow of Rocking Moon, who is a seasonal resident of Tenants Harbor and serves on the Out Board of Directors, said the organization focuses on youths and underserved populations, and she was pleased Out could relocate to expand its reach. Sudow said another organization would be able to use the other storefront at 61 Park but that no definitive plan has been reached on that space.