Name: Samantha Ramirez
Social Justice Group: 2020-2021, Mental Health and Teens
Date of Fieldwork: March 4, 2021
Person (people) with whom you met and their title(s) & Name of Organization: Alex Roque
Type of Fieldwork: Interview
What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:
Interviewing Alex Roque was very interesting. He mentioned his own life and how his parents didn’t accept him for who he was. He mentions many statistics including that about 18,000 LGBTQ+ youth is homeless due to rejection, family issues, etc. He also mentioned this very interesting fact that LGBTQ+ youth that is homeless and has affirming people in there life has a better mental health than people who live in a house but don’t have people that support them. I found this fact very interesting because I thought that someone who had a roof over their head would have better mental health than those who don’t. However, this study shows differently, that it is more about having affirming people in your life that support you. He also mentions how there are many things that teens and adults can do to support. Regarding Covid, the Ali Forney Center has had to make some adaptations to the things it can do, because of restrictions and precautions. Overall, it was very interesting to be able to talk to Alex Roque about his opinions, thoughts, and experience.
