What is unique about Bienestar from what other gay and lesbian service organizations offer?
Many other centers collapse a lot of different cultures into one based upon sexuality. Other organizations deal only with men-gay Latino men with no age restrictions. Personally, when I came out of school, there was nothing for young gay Latinos. Society continues to punish our youth for being at the clubs, for being at the T-parties, for being at places that are very drug and alcohol induced. Those were factors that led me here…to give them (the youth) an alternative space to meet each other, educate themselves, and where they get to know each other as people. And we’re co-gender here so we can learn from each other and have a symbiotic relationship with the mujeres. Some people (in the larger queer community) have asked me, “Why do you discriminate and offer services only to Latinos?” But it’s like, what space do we have out there? It’s not discrimination, it’s just asking for a space for me that’s going to deal with me as a total person. There’s nobody mobilizing our younger commu
