Youth First Texas offers new GED program for LGBT teens

Eighteen-year-old Scott Moriarty, right, is tutored by Judith Dumont, Youth First Texas’ director of administration, on Tuesday, Aug. 12. - JOHN WRIGHT/Dallas Voice

Jimmy Bounthavy says he came out in middle school, but it wasn’t until his freshman year at North Dallas High School that he ran into problems.

Bounthavy, now 20, said in addition to being threatened, teased and called names, he was stuffed inside a locker and thrown in a Dumpster.

“Students, teachers, security — they all harassed me for being gay,” Bounthavy said. “I didn’t feel safe to go to that school.”

When Bounthavy decided to drop out, it was a disappointment to his family.

Since then, he’s spent most of his time caring for his mother, who raised him on her own but is now disabled from diabetes. Bounthavy also works in landscaping and frequently goes to Youth First Texas, which is just a few blocks from his house.

For a while, it didn’t appear as though Bounthavy would ever get an education. His mother emigrated to the U.S. from Laos, and English is his second language.

Then, earlier this year, Bounthavy became the first student to enroll in a new GED program at YFT, Dallas’ nonprofit organization serving LGBT youth.

Bounthavy said after taking the GED test in October, he plans to enroll at Richland College in the spring and major in computers. He said he’ll be the first person from his family to attend college.

“Now I can tell people that I’m in GED class,” Bounthavy said. “I’m not disappointing them anymore.”

The GED program, which began with only Bounthavy, since has grown to include about seven students who meet every Tuesday and Thursday evening in a makeshift classroom at YFT, near Maple Avenue and Inwood Road.

Judith Dumont, the agency’s director of administration, said thus far the 12-week program has relied on word of mouth, volunteer tutors and a donor who’s agreed to pay the GED testing fees.

But statistics suggest that it will only continue to grow. About 28 percent of gay youth drop out of high school, usually to escape the harassment, violence and alienation they face. The goal of YFT’s program is to provide them with a safe place to prepare for the future.

“If you don’t have a high school degree, you’re going to be working minimum wage jobs for the rest of your life,” said Dumont, who launched the program shortly after joining YFT. “It’s one of those things — if you build it, they will come.”

Dumont said for many of the youth in the program — some of whom dropped out of school as early as the seventh grade — the biggest obstacle is low self-esteem.

“When society is calling you a bad person, sooner or later you start to believe that you’re a bad person,” Dumont said. “That’s the thought process we have to go in and disrupt.”

While many of the students in the program were victims of harassment at school, some also faced difficulties at home. Scott Moriarty, 18, formerly of Grapevine, said he was kicked out by his Southern Baptist parents earlier this year.

“They told me I needed to get out of their house if I wasn’t going to at least try to be a heterosexual,” Moriarty said.

Now, Moriarty is staying with friends and brushing up on his math skills in preparation for the GED test. Moriarty said he plans to eventually go into nursing.

“I recommend this program to everybody,” said Moriarty, who was sporting rainbow-striped, long-sleeved gloves in the GED class this week. “You could be an 82-year-old black lady in a wheelchair with one eye and they’re not going to discriminate against you. It’s completely open, and I like that.”

Indeed, the program is open even to straight youth.

Jessica Montelongo, 21, said she heard about the GED classes from her gay brother, 17-year-old Jesus, who attends YFT.

Jessica Montelongo, a high school dropout with an 18-month-old son, said she’s tried other GED programs but didn’t find them as helpful. At YFT, the students get one-on-one tutoring in each of the five subjects covered by the test.

“They really motivate us,” Montelongo said. “You have a lot more support.”

Even the volunteer tutors say they’re learning from the program. Kenny Schreiber, 22, who was tutoring Bounthavy in reading and writing this week, said he recently graduated from Southwestern University in Georgetown with a degree in English.

“I’m looking at going into teaching as a profession,” Schreiber said.

Although the program is currently staffed by volunteers, Dumont said once it has more than 15 students, it will be eligible for assistance from the Dallas Independent School District.

In the meantime, YFT is seeking donations and more supplies, including computer software, graphing calculators, GED books and study materials.

“We’ve got a lot of marketing to do, but it’s all just a matter of time,” Dumont said.

For more information on the program, e-mail Dumont at judithd@youthfirst.org.




This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 15, 2008.