by chris carpenter
In a mere two-and-a-half years, the LGBTQ Center of Long Beach has grown from serving only a handful of youth to nearly 100 per month today. Who has made the difference? Kyle Bullock, who was hired in September,
2011 for the express purpose of developing an outreach program to LGBTQ teenagers. Bullock is Long Beach Pride’s very worthy choice as
Grand Marshal-Special Recognition in this year’s 31st annual parade, to be held on Sunday, May 18. “I was completely blown away,” Bullock admitted of his selection during a recent interview. “This is a huge honor and I’m so shocked that I was selected; I was floored.” The wise-beyond-his-years Bullock moved to Long
Beach from Grass Valley in northern California 10 years ago in order to attend California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). He has been at Long Beach Pride every year since he arrived. Today, the hiring of Bullock to serve as Youth Program Manager at The Center seems like a no- brainer, but it wasn’t an easy move for him at first. “I was hired to build a program from scratch; I had a
clean blank slate to create,” Bullock recalls today when asked about the challenges he faced initially. “There was definite pressure to deliver and bring youth into The Center. It was daunting but I had the freedom and trust of the board of directors to really take this program where I felt it needed to go.” Today, approximately 15 youth ages 13 to 18 drop in to
OUR YOUTH WITH PRIDE
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The Center on a daily basis. Bullock established Mentor- ing Youth Through Empowerment (MYTE) as a free after school program that entails adult volunteer mentors, peer connections, fun and informative workshops and social opportunities. MYTE’s most successful event each year is the Monster Ball, a dance especially for LGBTQ youth. This year’s ball welcomed 155 youth from 26 local high schools. I asked Bullock if there has been a particularly memorable occasion when he
SPECIAL RECOGNITION GRAND MARSHAL BULLOCK KYLE
currently under review and isn’t available yet but should be for next school year. Alas, Bullock’s tenure at The Center will soon come to an end. He is moving to the
has made a positive impact in the life of an LGBTQ teen. “There are so many, where do I even begin?” was his initial reply. He continued: “The times I feel I’ve made the biggest difference is when LGBTQ teenagers come to me with absolutely no sup- port. I’ve had to connect them with social service offices and housing or hospitals if they have absolutely no place to go. It’s been most rewarding when I’ve been the person to help them navigate these and they’ve said ‘thank you.’” The youth outreach guru is especially proud of an initiative he undertook last
year. In collaboration with the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD), Bullock developed An Educator’s Guide to Transgender Students. “The idea started in May of 2013,” he said. “We wanted to know what educators knew about transgender students, so we developed a survey of teachers, which revealed they wanted to know more about how to support transgender students.” The resultant guide is
30 RAGE monthly | MAY 2014
Midwest this fall to work on his Master of Social Work degree from the University of Chicago. “I would like to obtain my Ph.D. and work primarily with LGBTQ young people,” Bullock shared about his ultimate goals. “I would like especially to publish research on transgender young people, who are often forgotten by our commu- nity. I would also like to continue working in the non-profit sector. I feel this position at The Center has shown me my path.” In addition to Bullock, other grand marshals in this year’s Long Beach Pride
parade include out television personality Ross Mathews, outgoing Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, the WomenShelter of Long Beach’sGiovanna Martinez and Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell. All in all, including Bullock, this is an extraordinarily deserving group of leaders truly dedicated to the needs of our LGBTQ community.
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