Learn & Grow
Child on computer (model for illustrative purposes only): FG Trade /Getty Images.
A Writer’s Community for Queer Kids How Rainbow Room is helping LGBTQ youth grow in their craft and support each other. By Anna Sutterer
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riting, editing, and cultivating one’s artistic expression mirrors the process of a young person figuring out who they are. Youth instructor for Lighthouse Writers Workshop Jesaka Long understood that young people, particularly those who identify as LGBTQ, could use more spaces and community support to grow in both craft and character. Pandemic-related isolation wasn’t making things any easier. In January 2021, Long launched Rainbow Room, a virtual chat-based program where queer adolescents share their writing, in response to the perceived need, and to the natural growth of the community at Lighthouse. “We started seeing more and more trans kids at Lighthouse or more kids who were comfortable being out,” says Long. “I guess word traveled that Lighthouse is seen as a very safe place.”
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Colorado Parent | June 2021
Long, who has an MFA degree in writing for young readers and has six years’ experience leading Lighthouse’s Youth Authors Collective, feels she’s an example of what representation in the literature scene can do. She’s transparent about her queerness and her teaching typically centers the works of queer writers. China Reign Omenai, 16, from Denver, knows a bit about who they are and shows it through the work of their words. “Something that I’ve always known is that my work makes others uncomfortable,” they say. “That’s the goal. I never approach writing with some idea of wanting to be the next Shakespeare, I’m China Reign.” Omenai’s writing talents parallel her mother’s; Confidence Omenai is a poet and playwright. Both of them receive Lighthouse emails, and that’s how China saw the Rainbow Room ad. An opportunity to collaborate with other kids and get detailed feedback piqued China’s interest.
WHAT TO EXPECT Long begins Rainbow Room sessions with some questions to help students get to know each other. She then provides weekly writing prompts to warm up and sharpen skills like building a character’s point of view. Lessons from these free writing exercises help kids develop their own pieces. Novels, short stories, and poetry from Rainbow Room writers often include themes about gender and rebelling against norms; others center around post-apocalyptic worlds and friendship. “I could talk about my novel for one thousand years,” says Lily Nobel, 16, from Boulder, who participated in the second cohort. Their novel mixes the supernatural with a coming of age story: a group of friends tour through Europe; when their deceased friend shows up as a ghost, they must deal with their grief.
