.gay Community Spotlight on Rainbow Labs

In this week's .gay Community Spotlight, we chat with Rainbow Labs, an organization that provides support and innovative programs for underserved LGBTQIA+ youth.

Their vision is to create a world where all Queer and gender nonconforming youth see themselves as co-creators of an equitable and inclusive society.

Learn more about their work in our conversation below.

How would you describe your organization’s mission?

Rainbow Labs emboldens Queer and Gender Nonconforming Youth to discover, curate, and experiment with the elements of a fulfilled life through community building and the lived experiences of mentors. Our vision is to see a world in which all Queer and Gender Nonconforming Youth see themselves as co-creators of an equitable, inclusive, and progressive society.

Tell us about how that mission is brought to life through your work?

Rainbow Labs programming provides a safe and supportive environment for LGBTQIA+ youth to thrive. We do this through an innovative afterschool mentoring program for underserved LGBTQIA+ youth aged 13-18.   All our programming is built on evidence-based research around mental health and LGBTQIA+ youth. LGBTQ youth face significant mental health challenges with a rift in support. Trevor Project, an LGBTQIA+ youth suicide hotline, reports, "39% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past twelve months," and "at least 71% reported feeling sad or hopefulness for at least two weeks in the past year. While all LGBTQIA+ youth suffer mental health challenges, under resourced youth are significantly more impacted and less likely to receive professional care. Unfortunately, access to any mental health resource is challenging, with 54% reporting they wanted it, but they did not receive any support due to transportation, costs, and other factors.

Mentors and mentees go through Labs, which are specially designed content collaborating with our LGBTQIA+ youth and Rainbow Labs staff. Our current content includes an Accelerator Lab, Storytelling Lab, Sports Lab, and Youth Council. In our Accelerator Lab, youth are exposed to workforce development content as they team up to design their businesses to pitch to LGBTQIA+ professionals. Our Storytelling Lab raises the voices of our youth, giving them the tools to tell their personal stories through podcasts, videos, animation, job applications, and college essays. Sports Lab creates a safe space in sports where LGBTQIA+ youth have the opportunity to play all kinds of sports activities without feeling excluded or isolated because of who they are. Our Youth Council is a youth leadership program where a small group of LGBTQIA+ youth are selected to participate in a 9-month program. We expose them to career opportunities, gain financial literacy skills, guide post-secondary education, provide ongoing feedback on Rainbow Labs programming, and connect to like-minded peers. Our mentors and mentees go through our labs together, and Rainbow Labs facilitates content through pre-identified content facilitators with deep subject knowledge.

What would happen if your organization suddenly did not exist?

Los Angeles Unified School District alone has 58,000 youth who identify as LGBTQIA+. Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family SErvcies states that one in five youth in the foster care system identifies as LGBTQIA+. Our LGBTQIA+ youth in Los Angeles are severely disadvantaged already and do not have access to nearly as many LGBTQIA+ youth-focused programs as we need.

If we did not exist – we could not continue collaborating with other LGBTQIA+ organizations in Los Angeles to ensure LGBTQIA+ youth know about all their resources within the city. We would also be one less program or resource to an already deficit-driven challenge for LGBTQIA+ youth.

What can people do to get involved and help make sure that never happens?

Supporting our mission can happen in several ways:

 • Become A Mentor: We’re always looking for LGBTQIA+ mentors. We offer group and one on one mentoring programming year-round.

• Donate: We always need resources to continue expanding our programming to more LGBTQIA+ youth. A small donation would majorly impact our young and small organization. 

• Awareness: Spread awareness by posting on social media, sending this article to your networks, and talking with friends about us. We are limited in spreading the word about our program with our small staff and capacity. Anyone willing to support our mission by becoming an ambassador and letting other LGBTQIA+ youth, LGBTQIA+ adults, and LGBTQIA+ advocates know about our program increases our Rainbow Labs network.

Why does LGBTQIA+ visibility matter to you?

Rainbow Labs founders Jacob Toups and Luis Vasquez launched the organization in 2020 to address the unique challenges faced by queer and gender non-conforming youth. Both of them knew these unique challenges as they faced them growing up in their communities. Bullying and lack of supportive environments in their communities never allowed them to connect to other members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Their community of peers were not found until much later in life where they found a safe and supportive space to explore their own identities. In creating Rainbow Labs, they want to ensure the next generation of LGBTQIA+ youth find their community, peers, and safe spaces earlier on while gaining a sense of empowerment to propel them into bright futures. In fact, in a 2021 focus group with LGBTQIA+ youth, one of our youth mentioned, "There are not enough mentors out there. I know if I had a mentor, I would feel more supported in my life – school, family, and friends."

In your own words, what does “LGBTQIA+ safety and support” mean specifically?

LGBTQIA+ safety and support mean having a caring adult who can role model healthy relationships. Healthy relationships extend to a relationship with yourself and others around you. Having a caring adult who can be a good role model can help our community go from surviving to thriving.

Who are some of your LGBTQIA+ heroes?

LGBTQIA+ heroes are rising over time as our community is slowly amassing supportive environments and spaces of belonging.

I admire Pete Buttigieg, our US Secretary of Transportation. Pete is not only one of the only LGBTQIA+ figures leading a major federal department but also a husband, father, and veteran. What’s important to note is Pete is not a one-dimensional LGBTQIA+ Character. Our community is plagued by media representation that skews to very tight categories of how we’re supposed to be or act. Pete breaks those through his daily actions and identities, creating an opening for current and future LGBTQIA+ members to realize themselves in the community.

If you could give LGBTQIA+ youth one message, what would it be?

Our community is diverse, powerful, intentional, and strong. There is someone like you in our community going through something similar. Know that we see you, we hear you, and we love you.

Tell us about a time when you felt like the work you do at your organization really mattered or made a difference for the communities you serve?

Most recently, we partnered with Lady Gaga’s makeup brand Haus Labs. Luis (Co-Founder) and I saw that our youth were interested in exploring makeup. As society progresses, we are unraveling what makeup means and transforming it into what it always was – a tool for creativity and expression. We wanted our youth also to feel and understand that.

Our youth got a full glow-up from the Haus Labs team. They sat in chairs with the Haus Labs’ makeup artists, who showed them the different kinds of makeup. We did a photoshoot after they finished, and the youth looked like they all grew 10 feet taller. Smiling, laughing, and feeling stronger in who they are. We also had an amazing educational representative from Sephora who taught the youth how to continue using makeup after the event.

Creating that safe space and watching the youth feel connected to each other and who they are is what Luis and I wanted when creating Rainbow Labs. We want them to know they are beautiful humans who will change the world.

Anything else you would like to share with the .gay audience? 

Please step into our LGBTQIA+ nonprofit space and become a leader. We need more people to help our whole community go from surviving to thriving. Make a career change to the nonprofit space, volunteer, donate, or spread awareness about our LGBTQIA+ nonprofits. It takes a village – we have an amazing village that needs to step in and become the leaders they always knew they were.