Driven By Hope: WCGSA making splash in community
For Kathy Cameron, the mission of the Washington County Gay Straight Alliance (WCGSA) hits close to home. The whole reason she got involved was because of her family.
“I got interested in this mission because I have a daughter and three sons and my middle son is gay and came out at 16,” says Cameron, a founding board member and the current vice chair and center director of WCGSA Inc.
Back then, she notes, kids were reluctant to come out at school because of safety or a perceived lack of safety. “That’s when he was 16 and he’s going on 38, that’s how long ago that was,” Cameron chuckles. “Now the kids are out, they’re trans or non-binary, they’re coming out younger and younger, and the kids accept each other a lot more than they used to, and they have different access to information. I mean, we started this before social media.”
The organization started in the youth community in 2005 and incorporated in 2012 to expand programming for all ages and to the entire community. Their effort and important work are the reason WCGSA Inc. is the June recipient of the Driven By Hope Award, sponsored by Washington Auto Mall.
With the advent of the internet and social media, Cameron says the need for their role in the youth community has actually diminished to some extent – something she celebrates.
“Actually, the youth is a smaller factor now because they have gay straight alliances in most of the schools in Washington County,” says Cameron. “That’s kind of what our goal was to have more support at the school level, and that’s happened, so it’s good.”
The group provides resources to the community, a safe, confidential environment, programming for the transgender community and for seniors.
“Our senior group is called Strawberry Preserves, and we have a pretty active senior group,” Cameron says. “They’re the folks who weren’t out a lot of times their whole life in their professions and, you know, when they went to school, it was not something people talked about, right? Now, we have some folks who are finally able to gather and just chat and go on field trips and have a support network that they may not have found other than with our organization.”
She says seniors are one of their priorities along with the transgender community.
“We have a pretty large transgender community in this area,” Cameron says. “That’s still really hard. You know, the trans folks and the trans youth in particular, are being attacked in so many ways. Pennsylvania is better than a lot of states, but a lot of states and even school districts are implementing things. So that’s a big battle, and it’s going to be going on for probably a long time.”
One of the examples of programs that WCGSA does is a monthly dinner called Second Friday Nights, which has been happening since 2014.
“That’ll be 10 years we’ve been doing that and it’s open to anyone,” Cameron adds. “We are a Gay Straight Alliance. We have many straight allies. Everyone is welcome as long as they’re respectful and understand the community needs respected and embraced.”
The group’s biggest event this year is Washington PA Pride, which returned for its third year June 15 at Washington Wild Things Park. The festival’s mission is to host a free, family-friendly event designed to celebrate and support the LGBTQ+ community in the Washington area. Turnout this year was big, with more than 51 craft, health and wellness and nonprofit vendors. The daylong event featured lawn games, music and drag performers. Volunteers are always needed to help coordinate the event, and Cameron says everyone is welcome to help.
For more information on programs, volunteering or to donate, visit https://wcgsa.org.