Student establishes first youth-led statewide LGBT organization

A Penn student has established the first youth-run and youth-led statewide LGBT organization in the country.

Launched in April, the Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition is an umbrella group for youth LGBT organizations founded and led by 2011 College graduate and incoming Penn Design student Jason Goodman.

“While some regions of Pennsylvania are more progressive and have anti-discrimination laws, the vast majority of the state does not,” PSEC Delaware Valley Chair Julia Arduini said. “Us youth need to come together as a whole to push for equality.”

PSEC supports “safe school legislation” designed to protect LGBT students from bullying and nondiscrimination laws in Pennsylvania, Goodman said.

PSEC can also provide smaller and newer LGBT organizations across the state with ideas for programming, he added.

“Something that really defines us is that we are completely youth-led and youth-run,” Goodman said.

PSEC has 70 member organizations grouped into 8 regions, according to its website.

Penn’s LGBT Center is one of PSEC’s seven coalition partners.

“We think its a good idea,” said LGBT Center Director Bob Schoenberg. “Pennsylvania LGBT college students should be meeting … with each other and doing programs.”

Goodman is the former vice chair for political affairs of the Lambda Alliance — Penn’s umbrella organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students — and chair of J-Bagel, a Jewish LGBT group at Penn.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.