Rainbow Youth's new staff member Jack Trolove has hit the ground running, already busily planning a national queer youth get-together and a project to ensure the nation's queer youth are getting as much support as possible. Trolove has been given the role of Queer Youth National Coordinator, something that was made possible by Tamati Coffey and Samantha Hitchcocks' Dancing with the Stars success in 2009 and the generosity of New Zealanders donations in support of them both. Over the next six months Trolove will develop and produce the national queer youth hui in June 2011 and liaise with queer youth groups across Aotearoa. Jack Trolove is an artist and community advocate comes from a social justice background and was attracted to joining Rainbow Youth because he thinks the work it does is amazing. He has already beeninspired by the youth he is working with: "It sounds cheesy, but I love how full of hope everybody is. It's definitely infectious." A national network In 2010 Rainbow Youth completed a research project conducted by Point Research on the needs of queer and trans youth groups across the country and found a consensus that a national role was needed as a way to work towards a national queer youth alliance. Trolove is working on a project to begin connecting all the queer youth groups in the country, a move which supports similar work being done at OUTLine. He aims to liase with groups around the country to sow seeds for developing a national network. Trolove says “The dream is that this will eventually grow into a youth led structure whereby resources, information and support can be shared much more easily, as well as having a network that can support the setting up of new groups and connections in isolated areas”. He points to this last issue as one he particularly relates to "I guess for myself, because I grew up in a really small rural town, with not a lot of visibility, this is something that's quite close to my heart." Rainbow Youth did a mapping exercise to look at where in the country there are queer youth groups right now and Trolove said they were impressed how much is being done, but also noticed huge voids where there is nothing formally set up for glbtQI young people. The national queer youth hui This year's hui will be held on Queen's Birthday Weekend, which is June 4-6, at a yet-to-be-announced venue near Auckland. There will be surprise celebrity guests, a private show with some of the country's top queer and takatapui performers, awesome speakers, inspiring workshops and great kai. Organisers say aside from all that fabulousness, the best reason to go is to spend three days hanging out with other queer and trans young people. Trolove says it will help solidify the networking and be an opportunity to discuss what ‘diversity within diversity' actually means in terms of how we interact with each other, in a national forum. "Our focus is on interconnectedness, but within this, the fabulous activities happening over the weekend will also allow us to explore how being queer or trans intersects with all the other things that make up who we are in the world. The dream is that as well as being loads of fun and a great chance to meet and connect with other young people, the hui will be an opportunity to explore issues around bodies, language and power in creative, innovative and youth-led ways” Trolove goes on to say “We want to make sure we're supporting ways of operating which are not just inclusive, but genuinely acknowledge and celebrate our differences. Ways of working which are challenging, inspiring and strength based." Trolove says hui in the past have been community-building and have introduced queer youth to other glbtqi young people for the first time in their lives: "So of course that's a transforming, life-changing, pretty magic experience." Rainbow Youth is working hard to make sure it's totally affordable for whoever wants to attend, as many people will be coming from far-flung parts of the country. Looking ahead Rainbow Youth's Executive Director Tom Hamilton says the board and team at Rainbow Youth are excited about the opportunity to work with other youth groups nationally, produce a national hui and commit to achieving recommendations suggested by queer and trans youth peers within the queer and trans youth sector nationally. "Together queer and trans youth groups across Aotearoa can develop into a strong and relevant youth voice within the broader youth sector. The QYNC will assist to bring us together and facilitate a way to move forward." Hamilton says it's an important moment for all queer youth groups across Aotearoa: "I get the feeling that the next phase of queer and trans youth development will be exciting and hopefully a heap of fun." Jacqui Stanford - 14th February 2011