On Monday evening, February 10, the basement of the Veteran’s Building was packed with a crowd of Alameda Pride supporters, many of whom were Alameda government and community leaders. The event was an open house for the Queer Teen Alameda Center (QTAC) which was celebrating a momentous occasion: Alameda County Supervisor Lena Tam was presenting a $10,000 check to Alameda Pride.
The money from Tam’s office will go toward projects like QTAC, which opened last fall as a collaboration between Alameda Pride, Alameda Recreation & Parks Department (ARPD), and the Alameda Collaborative for Children, Youth and their Families (ACCYF). QTAC is a drop-in center for teens and is currently open the second Friday of every month from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Underground Teen Center, where the ceremony took place.
Alameda Pride Founder and President Jeramie Andehueson addressed the attendees, who included Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft, City Councilmembers Tracy Jensen, Greg Boller, and Michele Pryor, as well as Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) Board members Ryan LaLonde, Heather Little, Jennifer Williams, and Meleah Hall. Both groups joked about being able to make quorum at the meeting. AUSD Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi was also at the event, along with AUSD LGTBQ+ Equity Roundtable Student Co-Chairperson Thea Herner-Brown and AUSD LGBTQ+ Liaison Melissa Saunders.
Andehueson talked about the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ teens and the rise in hate crimes across the United States, citing a 19% jump in 2022 according to FBI data. “This is a free country. We should be able to love who we want to love and be who we want to be,” he proclaimed before introducing his husband, Andrew Andehueson, and their 3-year-old daughter.
After introducing Alameda Pride Board members which included Alameda Assistant City Manager Amy Wooldridge, Alameda Social Services Manager Marcie Johnson, and Alameda Post Publisher Adam Gillitt, Andehueson was proud to announce that more than 25 kids have been visiting QTAC in the five months since they opened. Pointing out that those visits meant less teen suicides, he described QTAC “as a place to feel safe and inclusive in a diverse world.” He then winkingly added, “We are the DEI right here.”
Youth Board Member Rowan Vidal, a 16-year-old who attends Encinal High School, was happy to see such a large turnout at the event and told the Alameda Post, “I’m so excited to see all the people who have come, especially with everything going on in the United States right now.”
Benjamin Brewster, a 12th grader who lives in Alameda and is a regular attendee at QTAC also spoke at the ceremony telling the crowd, “I have found a community of queer teens to hang out with. …I’ve made so many friends here.”
Peque, the Gay Straight Alliance club president at Alameda High School, spoke next, saying that at QTAC, “I feel really comfortable being myself, identifying who I am. I’m so grateful to have been here. …Just seeing you all here means a lot. It shows your support.”
Alameda Pride, which recently became an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is best known for organizing the annual Alameda Pride in the Park event which kicked off its first celebration in 2022.
When Mayor Ashcraft gave her remarks, she reiterated the City of Alameda’s support of the LBGTQ+ community and the importance of having a safe space for teens, especially in light of the mental health crisis facing LQBTQ+ teens. “No one needs to suffer alone,” she told the crowd. “We are here for you.”
Like Vidal, many people in Alameda have found it challenging to witness the current federal administration’s actions and wonder how their policies will impact Alameda’s LGBTQ+ community. Sam Kevy, who was at the event on behalf of California State Assemblymember Mia Bonta reassured the crowd. “Look, this is a really difficult time with direct attacks on who we love and who we are as people,” Kevy said. “I want to make it very clear that California has got your back and we’re not going to go quietly.”
He then spoke about the $50 million being allocated to fight the recent spate of federal actions and to protect undocumented community members. “We’re going to stay focused on the issues and support our trans, our LGBTQ, our undocumented community members in every way we can.”
Afterwards, with a “big shout out to Jeramie, who has been making this community a safer place for the LGBTQ+ community,” Alameda County Supervisor Lena Tam presented Andehueson and Alameda Pride with a giant check for $10,000.
The Alameda Post spoke with Andehueson after the ceremony and he explained that when he started Pride in the Park he just wanted to create an event where people could come together and feel included. “And then it evolved into this, and now we have all ages that are included, so that’s incredible.”
Jean Chen is a contributing writer for the Alameda Post. Contact her via [email protected]. Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Jean-Chen.
