New LGBTQ Youth Center Opens Its Doors In Downtown Forest Hills

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS -- A new LGBTQ youth center in downtown Forest Hills has opened its doors to the neighborhood's teens and young adults.

The center at 107-20 71st Road is the new home of a longtime organization called Generation Q, which for 18 years has offered Queens' LGBTQ youth educational programs, recreational activities and - above all - a place to feel safe, organizers said.

Up until recently, that safe space wasn't as visible as organizers would have liked, tucked away in a public housing unit on 110th Street and 62nd Drive.

"We were in our old location for about six years, and we had a great space, but it wasn't the most convenient for young people to find," Lindsey Duel, the center's director, told Patch.

That changed on June 28 when Generation Q hosted its grand opening and ribbon cutting in a new space just off Austin Street.

The new center, designed for ages 13-21, boasts a community hangout area - complete with TVs, computers and a giant sofa for members to gather around - along with art and counseling spaces, Duel said. It will eventually offer a host of free programs such as sex ed classes, supportive workshops and social justice training.

But above all, Duel said, the center will function as a set of open arms where the neighborhood's LGBTQ youth can come to feel welcomed and accepted.

"More than anything, it's a space for our youth to come and just find their chosen family," she said. "A lot of teens are not out to their families or accepted by their families. They come here to feel accepted by other young people."

Queens City Councilman Daniel Dromm and social worker Larry Menzie founded Generation Q in 2000 after realizing a lack of services for LGBTQ people in Queens. The organization has since gone through a host of transitions and was eventually taken over by Queens Community House.

"We've been pushing for a new location for some time now," Duel said.

The new center is open Tuesday through Friday from 1 to 6 p.m. during the summer and from 3 to 7 p.m. through the school year. Everything offered there is free, Duel said.

Visit the center's Facebook and Twitter pages for mor more information on Generation Q.

Lead photo courtesy of Generation Q