Health district group turns some teens away

A Snohomish Health District group aimed at homosexual youth will no longer invite supportive straight teenagers, due to budget constraints.

The 13-year-old GLOBE group focuses on support and health education for gay boys, as well as lesbian and bisexual teens. But it has long included straight teenagers, as well.

“I was kind of shocked. For the longest time they said they didn’t want to be ‘that kind of group,’ to push people away based on their sexuality,” said Christopher Shotwell, 19, who is gay and had straight friends who attended the group with him.

Health district leaders said the decision was grounded in the mission they’re paid to perform.

GLOBE was initially created to educate gay boys about sexual health issues, including HIV and AIDS, said Suzanne Pate, Snohomish Health District spokeswoman.

Over the years, the group has evolved and expanded its circle.

Teenagers earlier came up with a group name reflecting that diversity, including “allied” youth. GLOBE stands for Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning and allied youthLoving Ourselves Becoming Empowered.

But in the last year, the growing circle has struggled under a shrinking budget.

Funding was cut 72 percent this year, to $14,000, even as participation doubled to 75 young people.

“We weren’t funded to be a teen drop-in center. If we had more funding, we’d gladly give sex education information to every teen in the county,” Pate said.

Some teenagers said they recognized there were problems as the group became too big.

There were conflicts that never happened before, said Andre Twiss, 21, who is straight and had attended the group for two years. And it was “a feeding frenzy” with just one ice chest of pop and a bowl of fruit.

“(The adult staff) felt really bad. They expressed some sympathy. They said thank you, etceteras. But the end result was, ‘You have to leave anyway,’ ” Twiss said.

Melissa Slager is a reporter for the The Herald in Everett.