A new mural in support of LGBTQ youth is going up at the corner of Gridiron and Main streets in Springfield, Massachusetts. Work began at a paint party last weekend by community members in collaboration with muralist Mimi Ditkoff.
The project is a partnership of Commonwealth Murals and the Springfield youth-led LGBTQ nonprofit Out Now, whose mission is “to promote harm reduction, self-determination and community building through anti-oppression organizing.”
Reports Springfield-based WWLP-TV 22:
“The mural will feature portraits of a scene from school that shows the experience of many LGBTQ+ youths, contrasted with scenes of what school would look like with greater support for Queer youth.
“Holly Richardson, director of Out Now, said, ‘We know that LGBTQ youth have a hard time in schools, they are not really set up for them, they are not acknowledging of them, they are not seen.’
“Elithia Vazquez, an Out Now youth worker told 22News, ‘We are here, we are queer, we want to be known and we want to be accepted.'”
The mural will be unveiled later this month. Look for updates to this story, as the mural emerges into public view, here on bostonspiritmagazine.com.
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