Physical and mental health is important, but do we talk about it in teens? Or even the LGBTQ+ youth? Your teenage years (ages 13-18) are the average time to come out as part of the community. On average, 82% of LGBTQ youth have come out to at least one of their family members, over half 56.3% to some members, but not all, and a quarter (26.4%) are fully out to their families. Let’s say that a teen’s family is not accepting of the youth’s sexual orientation or gender identity, and they need to find a support group or system. There are some resources available in the Tulsa area, including the Oklahomans for Equality, PFLAG Tulsa, and Camp Fire Green Country.
The Oklahomans for Equality (621 E 4th St, Tulsa, OK 74120) holds a variety of support groups, community meetings, and a youth program. If they do not have a specific service, they have resources that are in the area or online, including Youth Services of Tulsa, Diversity Center of Oklahoma, The Trevor Project, and HIV/AIDS Legal Resource Project. The Equality Center holds HIV testing every Tuesday from 4-6pm, an Asexual community meeting every Tuesday (unless stated otherwise) starting at 6pm, and the Oklahoma Youth Program for ages 12-19 every Saturday from 12-5pm. If there are any resources you may need from Oklahomans for Equality that are not listed here, you can visit their website at https://okeq.org/ or call them at (918) 743- 4297.
Another resource is PFLAG Tulsa (https://tulsapflag.org/). They support parents, families, and friends of members of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as supporting members of the community. PFLAG focuses on changing attitudes and creating an environment of understanding members of the community so they can live in a safe and inclusive environment. PFLAG accomplishes this through support, education, and advocacy.
Once a month, they hold meetings for their target audience. “PFLAG Tulsa meets on the first Saturday of each month at 7 p.m. at Youth Services of Tulsa located at 311 S Madison Ave, Tulsa, OK 74120. Youth have a place to enjoy themselves while the adults have their PFLAG meeting. The YST Coffee House is just down the hall and is for ages 12-18. Youth can hang out, express themselves, and enjoy live music, Wi-Fi, and free hot beverages courtesy of QuikTrip. The YST Coffee House is open every Saturday night 7-11pm. Admission is always free. Please note the Coffee House is not a PFLAG Tulsa program. PFLAG Tulsa monthly meetings alternate between social & support meetings and education meetings. Please sign up for our email list or watch our social channels for information on a particular month’s meeting.”
The last one is Camp Fire Green Country (706 S Boston Ave, Tulsa, OK 74119). Their mission is to connect young people to the outdoors, to others, and to themselves. Camp Fire hopes to envision a world where all youth thrive and have equitable opportunities for self discovery, community connection, and engagement. They hold a summer camp at Camp Waluhili, near Wagoner, Oklahoma. It lasts about 5 days, unless you want to do a mini camp, which lasts 3 days. These are meant to help campers gain knowledge about the outdoors, explore new activities, make new friends, and to have fun. To find out more, make sure to visit https://tulsacampfire.org/
Now, another problem that may occur outside of getting support from your family or friends after coming out is getting healthcare if you don’t have any already or finding a doctor that is LGBTQ+ friendly. As of June 2023, 19 states have put laws into place restricting gender-affirming care, and some states may even have a felony charge. In this list of 19 states, Oklahoma is one of them.
The first one is LGBTQ Healthcare Directory
(https://www.lgbtqhealthcaredirectory.org/). This is a directory that will help you find healthcare and doctors based on what you need and zip code. They accept trans and nonbinary health, LGBTQ-affirming therapy, family medicine, gender affirming hormone therapy, PrEP, and obstetrics and gynecology. OU Health also helps the community. They can help with mental health and addiction, adolescent medicine, heart health, treatment for infectious diseases, and more. Their phone numbers are (918) 619-4600 and (918) 619-4400. Finally, Planned Parenthood can help with hormone therapy and gender-affirming care.