Rainbow Youth (stylised RainbowYOUTH, formerly Auckland Lesbian and Gay Youth) is a registered charitable organisation that provides education, information, support and advocacy for

LGBTIQ Intersex people are born with sex characteristics (such as genitals, gonads, and chromosome patterns) that "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". They are substantially more likely to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual ...

youth in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It was formed in 1989.

History

Rainbow Youth was originally formed under the name Auckland Lesbian and Gay Youth in 1989 and became an incorporated society in 1995, also being renamed Rainbow Youth at the same time.
25 Years and 25 More - The History of Rainbow Youth, Gay Express , Your Gay Voice
', Gay Express Magazine Between the late 1990s and 2005, RainbowYOUTH began their education program in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

high schools, as well as several of their peer-support groups, all of which are still running today.

Mission

Rainbow Youth's mission is “to provide unbiased information and education regarding sexuality,

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures ...

and identity to everyone in the community, in order to foster understanding and acceptance of diversity”
Constitution, Vision, Mission, Values and Objective
'', RainbowYOUTH Official Website and "to provide support, information and advocacy services to queer and questioning youth, their friends, and

whānau Whānau () is Māori for extended family. It is also used in everyday New Zealand English, as well as in official publications. In Māori society, the whānau is also a political unit, below the levels of hapū (subtribe) and iwi (tribe or nati ...

Governance

Rainbow Youth is run by

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Yo ...

and for youth, with its executive board being made up entirely of people under the age of 27.

Services

Rainbow Youth runs up to seven peer-support groups in Auckland,

Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...

and Whangarei. Rainbow Youth's education programme is delivered throughout the year to participating high schools throughout the Auckland region.Burford, J., Lucassen, M.F.G., Penniket, P. & Hamilton, T. (2013).
Educating for diversity: An informative evaluation of the Rainbow Youth sexuality and gender diversity workshops.
', p.7-9. Rainbow Youth Incorporated, Auckland. . The workshops have been reported to be highly successful, with a study showing that between 91% to 94% of students would recommend the workshops to other young people. Rainbow Youth is also behind a rural

outreach Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...

project called the I'm Local Project, which aims to provide free

sexual Sex is the biological distinction of an organism between male and female. Sex or SEX may also refer to: Biology and behaviour *Animal sexual behaviour **Copulation (zoology) **Human sexual activity **Non-penetrative sex, or sexual outercourse ** ...

and

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...

affirming resources and information to rural schools, medical centres and community organisations. Rainbow Youth provides in-person support peer support in

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaw ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, and

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

References

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External links

RainbowYOUTH Official Website
1989 establishments in New Zealand LGBT organisations in New Zealand