Save Mosaic LGBT Youth Club From Local Government Cuts

From Mosaic LGBT Youth Club due to close at part of Brent Council's overall cuts in the youth service LINK .

 Save Mosaic LGBT Youth Centre from closing down

The Mosaic LGBT Youth Centre in Kilburn is a local government funded LGBT youth centre. It is one of few left in the whole of the capital, it supports teenagers who identify as LGBT or are questioning their sexuality and/or gender identity.

The proposed new structure of the Youth Service would mean that Centre will be closed and only youth clubs still in operation would be just local youth clubs that we never access and don't want to access as they are not meeting our needs as LGBT young people. We do not need or want a space where we have to 'come out' every time, we want space like mosaic where we can be ourselves and be fully accepted, not just tolerated.

This new proposal is a complete disregard to the needs of our community and results of consultation that clearly identified LGBT youth provision as a priority to be safeguarded in the new restructure; even third sector youth organisations agree as they recognise that complexity of that work cannot be met in just any youth club - one size does not fit all!

At the times where schools are still bastions of homophobia and streets are rife with growing homophobic hate crime and parents making LGBT kids like me homeless by kicking them out Mosaic LGBT Youth Centre is something more then just a hang out space, it is home, it is community, it is a listening ear and often non-judgemental advice that we wouldn't otherwise get.

The huge problem with the removal of this Centre would be the impact on the LGBT youth, Mosaic educates us on LGBT history, current community issues, sexual health as well as many other topics. None of these services are currently provided in schools and therefore Mosaic is a vital service which cannot be demolished.

If the Council were to remove the funding for Mosaic who would support a community where 40% of us consider suicide, who would give a community which has a high HIV rate sex education, who would help those struggling to accept their sexuality?

The answer is no-one, as a gay teenager I can tell you that school won't support LGBT students in any significant way and it seems that Section 28 is a piece of legislation that has been repealed, but it is very much alive and well in schools today.

For these and many other reasons that I can't go into here Mosaic LGBT Youth Centre cannot be closed down!

Your sincerely,

Mosaic LGBT Youth Centre Members

Petition HERE