The Open Door Fund was established in 1996 by The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County, and has distributed more than $500,000 in awards to a host of local nonprofits.
Its aim is to serve the needs of the county’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The fund, a permanent endowment at the foundation, also works to foster collaboration between gay and non-gay citizens.
The fund’s big night out is this weekend, April 11, 2015. The Open Door Fund Gala will feature well-known public figure Ash Beckham as its keynote speaker. A podcast of Beckham and Out Boulder’s Mardi Moore talking with The Community Foundation can be found here (it starts at the 1:08 minute mark.) http://media.commfound.org/APublicAffair_2015-03-23.mp3
One of the key takeaways of our discussion with Beckham and Moore is that while a lot of positive strides have been made toward civil rights for all our community members, there is still work to be done. In particular, LGBT youth in our community face many challenges, including being bullied at school and beyond.
The 2015-16 TRENDS report, published by The Community Foundation, tracks some of these issues. The 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed that LGBT youth reported higher rates of dating violence, including sexual assault.
In addition:
The percentage of teens who reported being bullied on school property showed that 17% of straight teens reported being bullied; for LGBT teens it was 30%.
The percentage of teens who reported being bullied electronically: 14% straight teens, 27% LGBT teens.
The percentage of teens who reported self-harm (actions like cutting, not suicide): 12% straight teens; 48% LGBT teens.
Reported suicidal thoughts: 11% straight teens, 37% of LGBT teens.
Reported suicide attempts: 4% of straight teens, 19% of LGBT teens.
If you’d like to learn more about the Open Door Fund, please visit http://www.opendoorfund.org.
