We are excited to announce summer internship opportunities at the National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC) in Washington, DC.  This summer we will welcome a new cohort of interns to work on program, communications, development and other exciting projects alongside NYAC's staff, youth committees and Board of Directors.  Please see the following announcement for more information and contact Shannon if you have any questions or if you would like a PDF of the internship offerings.  Please share this information widely!

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Posted Tuesday, April 05, 2011 @ 3:52 PM

San Francisco, CA — March 15, 2011 — On the heels of the White House conference on bullying, GroundSpark, the national film, education, and advocacy organization, announced its national partners for the distribution campaign for Straightlaced—How Gender’s Got Us All Tied Up, the organization’s award-winning documentary film about the pressures teens face today because of gender role expectations.



Partners are publicizing the value of Straightlaced as a critical tool to help improve school social climates, particularly when it comes to addressing stigma and social pressures connected to gender roles, sexuality, and sexual orientation.



“Making the film and playing the film festival circuit were just the first steps in our campaign to open up dialogue about pressures to conform to gender stereotypes,” says the film’s director, Debra Chasnoff. “Working with these valued national partners to reach their millions of members and supporters will help ensure that Straightlaced has a significant impact in supporting youth to flourish, free from bias and harm.”



GroundSpark’s partners are equally determined to expand Straightlaced’s reach. “It’s a must see for anyone who has a young person in their lives,” says Whitney Smith, the founder and CEO of Girls For A Change, who signed on to the campaign “because this dialogue should be part of every curriculum in school.”



Maureen Costello, director of Teaching Tolerance agrees. “Every high school student in America should see it.”  



Straightlaced—How Gender’s Got Us All Tied Up has been in increasingly high demand as the national media has focused more attention on bias-related bullying and harassment. The film profiles an extremely diverse crossection of teenagers who examine the way that gender-based expectations impact their lives—pressures that lead to bullying, low academic performance, risky sexual behavior, drug abuse, and most seriously, suicide attempts and violence. The film is starting to be used in high schools across the country and teacher education programs to help open up much needed dialogue about gender norms and stigma based on actual or perceived sexual orientation.

 

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Posted Monday, March 28, 2011 @ 4:46 PM

We Stand in Solidarity for Workers’ Rights!
 
As national, state and local organizations for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality, we stand in solidarity with teachers, firefighters, nurses and all workers across this country fighting for their basic rights – for all of our rights.  We are one.
 
Politicians in over 30 states have proposed anti-union legislation in the 2011 session.  Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Iowa and Florida are among a growing number of states with legislatures proposing bills to destroy workers’ right to bargain collectively in the workplace.   Hundreds of thousands of state, county and local employees are battling proposals in Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, Michigan and Florida that seek to destroy collective bargaining rights, to revoke or restrict "prevailing wage" laws;; prevent unions from collecting dues from their members; terminate union negotiated contracts; and remove required binding arbitration.
 
Politicians’ radical attacks on workers’ fundamental rights would be devastating for LGBT families, for ALL workers and for all people committed to progressive change in this country.  Whether as LGBT workers or community allies of labor, the moment demands we stand up and stand together.
 
For decades, labor unions have been on the front lines of the fight for social and economic justice for all people.  Union members have long been organizing for pay equity, for fair wages and benefits that allow working people to support their families and to ensure decent and respectful working conditions.  Unions have stood with the LGBT community on core issues such as ENDA, the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the Prop 8 fight in California and supporting the “It Gets Better” movement for LGBT youth.  Workers have negotiated and won union contract language to ensure safe work places, to prohibit employment discrimination, and to include vital provisions such as domestic partner benefits, equal access to FMLA, bereavement and sick leave. 
 
The extreme attacks on workers rights occurring across the country not only would take opportunities to win LGBT equality “off the table” – they could take the table away entirely.  Having a union and the right to collective bargaining doesn’t mean workers don’t have hard choices to make in hard times;  but a union does mean workers have a voice in deciding how to address those hard times.

The struggles for economic justice and equality are intertwined. In a majority of states, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers can still be fired or discriminated against in hiring or promotions simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. For LGBT workers, a legally-binding union contract is often their only protection. And for ALL workers, the power of standing together with one’s coworkers as a union is one of the most effective ways to ensure fair working conditions.
 
Undermining workers’ fundamental rights is bad for all of us. Initiatives such as the so-called “right to work” drive down wages and disproportionately harm women and people of color. For example:

• Union women earn $149 more each week than nonunion women.
• Union membership narrows the pay gap for women. Nationally, the gap between men’s and women’s pay is 32 percent—but between all men and union women the gap is only 5 percent.
• Latino union members earn 45 percent ($180) more each week than nonunion Latinos.
• African Americans earn 30 percent ($140) more each week if they are union members.
• Asian American and Pacific Islander workers earn about 14.3 percent or about $2.50 per hour more than non-unionized AAPI workers.

We, the undersigned, pledge to join with Pride at Work and our labor and community allies – and take action:
 

• Add our voices to the solidarity campaigns for workers rights, inspired by the protestors in Wisconsin, in support of workers’ rights, in opposition to “Right to Work” initiatives, and in the shared struggles to protect vital public services, which support all of our communities and strengthen our local economies
• Continue to educate our community about issues of workers’ rights and the role of labor in fighting for social and economic justice for all people
• Engage our state affiliates, chapters and/or local leaders in the coordinated state / local “fight back” efforts.
• Mobilize LGBT community support for these unprecedented labor battles.

For a full list of endorsing organizations, check the Pride @ Work site regularly.

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Posted Wednesday, March 02, 2011 @ 10:23 AM

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Posted Wednesday, January 05, 2011 @ 11:41 PM

National Youth Advocacy Coalition Launches Executive Director Search

The First and Only National LGBTQ Youth Advocacy and Policy Non-Profit Aims to bring a Powerful Leader to the Organization’s Washington, DC Headquarters

The National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC), a national social justice organization working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people, is pleased to announce the opening of its executive directorship.  Currently in its 17^th year, the organization is enjoying renewed enthusiasm as a new wave of younger activists drive civic participation.

Please share the Executive Director job description with your networks. 

Read more here.

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Posted Tuesday, November 02, 2010 @ 5:48 PM

A new report, “Coming Out about Smoking: Tobacco Use in the LGBTQ Young Adult Community” released today by the National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC) explores the reasons why sexual minority youth smoke and suggests strategies for prevention.

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Posted Tuesday, August 24, 2010 @ 2:42 AM

WASHGINTON - On February 4th, Chief US District Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled that California's ban on same-sex marriage violated the US Constitution.  The ban was added to the state's constitution after the passage of Proposition 8 in the 2008 elections.  Gregory Varnum, executive director of the National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC), issued this statement in response...

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Posted Tuesday, August 10, 2010 @ 5:41 PM

WASHINGTON, April 21 - Today, the nation's leading lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizations, along with allies in the faith, labor and civil rights communities, issued the following statement to members of the United States Congress:
 
"Pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act NOW." 

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Posted Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 2:24 PM

The Program Coordinator, Youth of Color Services will coordinate all activities related to disseminating the You Know Different social marketing campaign and delivering capacity-building assistance (CBA) services to community-based organizations to increase their ability to serve LGBTQ youth of color in HIV prevention services.  To do this, the position will work with community-based organizations to facilitate community mobilization models, coalition building, cultural competency training, best practice sharing and technical assistance in order to increase LGBTQ youth of color access to and utilization of HIV prevention and testing services.  This individual will spend time providing support to other programs based on areas of expertize and organizational need.  This individual will also assist with facilitation of projects that compliment the individual's skills and experience.  *This is a part-time position, 20 hours per week.

Click here for full posting and application information.

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Posted Friday, April 16, 2010 @ 5:04 PM

The Manager of Development and Operations oversees and manages all development, operations, accounting and human resources functions at NYAC.  This full time position will spend half time on development functions, such as developing donor relations, developing individual and group donor appeals, taking an active role in helping develop NYAC's overall development strategy and assisting with grant applications.  The other half of this position's time will be spent managing all operations functions including general organizational operations, accounting and human resources, as well as those operational functions specific to the programs and initiatives of NYAC.  All development functions will be supervised by the Deputy Executive Director and all operations functions will be supervised by the Executive Director.

Click here for full posting and application information.

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Posted Friday, April 16, 2010 @ 5:01 PM