QUEERSPACE Collective Lets the Youth Lead

Since opening the doors to its new youth center by Mortimer’s in Minneapolis last November, QUEERSPACE Collective has focused on slow-and-steady recruitment while fostering inclusivity and community.

The collective, founded in 2021, is a mentorship program for LGBTQ+ youth in the Twin Cities. One of the ways the collective makes its attendees feel safe and empowered (a cause noted prominently on its website) is through the youth leadership committee.

The committee is made up of four members, all of whom are young people who attend programs and hangouts at the center. Program director Jess Pierce says it’s important for the young people actually using the center to have a say in how it operates, whether through making sure the food doesn’t suck or deciding on six-month-long projects to work on as a committee.

“It’s nice to have young people pick it apart,” Pierce says. “It was also nice to see strangers, a.k.a. young people, from completely different walks of life come into our space, and they’re building solid friendships.”

Senior Program Manager Sam Stahlmann says the collective wanted to make sure the committee built itself from the ground up and set its own parameters.

“It is really important for us to ask them, like, ‘What do you want this group to be? What’s important to you?’” Stahlmann says. “So, the group decided it was really important for them to have a project they’re working on.”

The committee is currently working on a trans, non-binary and gender-expansive resource fair. Stahlmann says the committee plans to connect with salons and barbers to provide gender-affirming haircuts as well as other gender-affirming resources like a clothing swap.

“I’ve been so impressed and inspired by this next generation of young folks,” Stahlmann says. “They really want to help their communities and help each other.”

The day-to-day schedule of the center usually starts with a chill activity before starting some more planned programming, and they always provide the center-goers with a hot meal, Stahlmann says. She was worried that the center would open and they would be overwhelmed by an influx of young people, but the center has only averaged four to six attendants a day.

“We’re focusing on recruitment and engagement and making sure that every young person in every LGBTQIA+ young person in our region knows that we’re there and we’re a resource for them,” Stahlmann says.

While center attendance has grown modestly, Pierce says the slow and steady growth means they’ve been able to recruit safely without drawing attention from people who might want to cause issues or safety concerns at the center.

Most of the youth at the center have supportive caregivers or parental figures, Pierce says. Parents and caregivers have reached out to the collective directly to share what their kids are looking for from the center. She added that it is important that the young people at the center feel they have ownership of the space.

“We are so committed to being a safer space as well as really ensuring that the youth that come into the space feel a sense of belonging and a sense of community,” Pierce says.

While most of the young people utilizing the center have supportive caregivers, Pierce says they still want to make sure they are providing support for those who don’t. The collective is preparing to roll out its age 18-24 programming, which will largely focus on helping unhoused young people and providing resources for those who need somewhere to go when shelters close during the day.

“We would like to provide a space where there’s employment readiness,” Pierce says. “Getting community members to come into the space and talk about healthy relationships and just providing really solid programming that will set our young people up for success.”

The collective collaborates with organizations like Youth Link and Oasis to help the unhoused in their community, but both Pierce and Stahlmann say they don’t want to step on any toes or reinvent the wheel when it comes to helping unhoused youth.

“We’re not calling ourselves a quote-unquote drop-in center,” Pierce says. “We really wanna have hangout spaces, educational spaces.”

The collective will be hosting its first monthly family hangout on Feb. 22. Pierce says it is a time for families to come together, break bread and be with one another.

“Families who have kids 0 to 12 can come, and we have drag readers and queer grandparents reading,” Pierce says.

The center’s open hours are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-6 p.m. for youth ages 13-17. Stahlmann says kids do not need caregiver permission to visit the center.

“If they maybe aren’t coming from a supportive family or have supportive caregivers, they’re still welcome,” Stahlmann says. “We’re not a drop-in center. We’re not a crisis center. We’re really a place to connect with resources, to connect with community, to connect with joy.”