Press Release

Feb 3, 2006

For Immediate Release

Contact: Nadine Fielder

503-297-1894, ext. 301

fiedlern@catlin.edu

Oregon Queer Youth Conference to take place at Catlin Gabel School

February 25 free event planned and run by youth volunteers

WHAT: The third annual Oregon Queer Youth Conference for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer, questioning, and intersex youth (age 23 and under) and their allies, featuring workshops and guest speaker Commissioner Sam Adams. Free admission, with free breakfast and lunch for attendees. OQYC is planned, organized, and run by a team of youth volunteers. Co-sponsored by Catlin Gabel School and KBOO community radio.

WHO: Approximately 200 participants from across the state. All Oregon lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer, questioning, and intersex youth (age 23 and under) and their allies are invited to attend. Attendees are encouraged to pre-register at the OQYC website.

WHEN: Saturday, February 25, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration starts at 9 a.m.

WHERE: The Middle School at Catlin Gabel, 8825 SW Barnes Rd, Portland, Oregon. The school is just east of St. Vincent Hospital.

ACTIVITIES AND MISSION: Workshops will focus on issues such as big tobacco’s targeting of queer youth, the increasing risk of HIV/AIDs and other sexually transmitted infections, and how to deal with bias in schools and everyday life. OQYC gives queer youth a chance to get together and talk in a safe environment free of social pressures to be anyone except who they are.

BACKGROUND: Catlin Gabel School is an independent, coeducational day school dedicated to academic excellence, individualized attention, multiculturalism, and lifelong learning. Situated on a 54-acre wooded campus in Portland, Oregon, Catlin Gabel offers its 700 students an enriched curriculum blending science, math, humanities, the arts, athletics, and a strong sense of community to students in preschool through twelfth grade. The school is fully accredited, and is independently governed by a board of trustees as a nonprofit institution without tax support or religious affiliation.

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