As an LGBTQ+ youth, senior Abigail Whitcomb knows the struggles of entering into the LGBTQ+ community for the first time and trying to navigate experiences that the other kids don’t understand. Due to this, Whitcomb decided to create a place for other LGBTQ+ students to learn about themselves and the LGBTQ+ community.
For their senior project, Whitcomb organized a healthy relationship seminar for LGBTQ+ students and others interested in learning about the LGBTQ+ community. The panel, called No Bounds, will be held on Friday May 15, from 6pm to 8pm in room 221.
“This is important to me because I’m an LGBTQ+ youth and there are imperative parts of being in the LGBTQ+ community that cisgender and straight people don’t experience,” Whitcomb said.
The panel will consist of four speakers, including Eli Kuti, the outreach coordinator of the Equality Health Center in Concord, and Karen Lacharite, a therapist at the NH Center for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Youth speakers will include Major, an LHS alumnus, and senior Even Miller.
During the first part of the panel Whitcomb will present common questions about the LGBTQ+ community for the speakers to answer. The questions cover topics such as terminology, coming out, sexual orientation, gender orientation, and mental health. The second half of the seminar is open for the audience to ask any questions they have to the speakers.
“I think it’s important for kids to educate themselves so they can be a more successful person and don’t end up treating their body in the wrong way,” Whitcomb said.
Whitcomb hopes the panel will not only help educate other LGBTQ+ youths, but also give them the chance to interact with other kids experiencing the same things they are and help them find friends in the community.
“It makes you feel like you’re0 not alone,” Whitcomb said. “I don’t feel alone, but there’s only twenty kids in the school that can really relate to me.”
Anyone with questions on the seminar is encouraged to contact Whitcomb at [email protected].
