Outloud, St. Albert's organization for supporting 2SLGBTQ+ youth, announced last week that it has ceased operations.
The nonprofit had been surviving "month to month" since the tail end of COVID, said Outloud board president Kevin Malinowski.
The organization was hit with a large, unexpected legal expense recently that made its funding issues insurmountable. Malinowski could not share details surrounding the expense due to privacy concerns, he said.
"We had an emergency board meeting in the space last night ... and there were discussions galore, there was tears galore, and we talked about everything we possibly could to find a way to move forward," Malinowski said on Friday May 3. "It came to everyone's realization that there was nothing we could do ... If we took the chance and the smallest thing went wrong, staff would not get paid."
Funding sources for the organization started drying up just over a year ago, he said.
"Inflation has been hitting everybody," he said. "People don't have what they had to donate before. And I can't blame anyone ... every organization and corporation has been getting hit hard right now."
Animus towards 2SLGBTQ+ people, especially towards transgender people, has been on the rise across Canada.
However, Malinowski said that an increasingly hostile political climate played no role in the organization's decision.
"It actually made it more difficult," he said. "Because of the way our government is, we fought harder to keep it alive ... I feel so much hurt and pain for our youth right now."
The organization has been reaching out to other groups asking for help to support vulnerable 2SLGBTQ+ youth, as Outloud ended all services May 3.
"I'm hoping that a Phoenix will rise out of the ashes," he said. "It may not be able to replace all of Outloud, but so we can replace something."
In a post shared on social media, Terry Soetaert, one of the organization’s founders, said that Outloud couldn’t hold on any longer.
“I did not take a wage for 9 of my 10 years with Outloud in order to keep it alive,” Soetaert said. “I have taken on many roles in the last years: janitor, builder, bookkeeper, cheerleader, advocate, mover, float builder, executive director and currently as fundraiser … As the co-founder with my daughter Mia, I understand and know that this recent decision has created big feelings … I am also heartbroken and devastated.”
2SLGBTQ+ orgs need municipal support, says researcher
Outloud played an important role in supporting 2SLGBTQ+ youth not only in St. Albert but also across the province, said Dr. Kristopher Wells, a Canada research chair in the public understanding of sexual and gender minority youth. Wells worked closely with the organization.
Outloud gave vulnerable youth a place to be themselves without judgment, helped parents understand their 2SLGBTQ+ children and coordinated pride events in St. Albert and other communities that lacked the infrastructure to do it alone, Wells said.
“Outloud was always there,” he said. “Ten years is a remarkable run for a grassroots volunteer group.”
He pointed to some of the group’s major successes, such as pushing to make St. Albert the first place in Canada that banned conversion therapy — a ban that is now federal law.
The work of 2SLGBTQ+ groups will be more critical than ever as Alberta’s UCP government moves to ban gender-affirming care for minors and force schools to out transgender children to their parents, Wells said.
But he fears that 2SLGBTQ+ organizations’ reliance on volunteering, donations and grassroots support makes them particularly vulnerable to closing as budgets get tight.
“Organizations like Outloud are so critical to be there on the ground as we're going to be dealing with more waves of hate in the coming months,” he said.
Municipalities should help keep 2SLGBTQ+ groups alive, he said, and he hopes St. Albert can step in to fill some of Outloud’s role as a queer community pillar.
“2SLGBTQ+ people are taxpayers,” he said. “We should be getting direct funding and support from the municipalities that we live in. It shouldn't have to be on the backs of hosting countless fundraisers and doing bottle drives and asking for donations. This is this is core human rights work.”
Filling the void
St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron called losing Outloud “a shock.”
“It’s like when someone passes away,” she said. “There’s all these stages of grieving.”
Hopefully, the pause in supports for 2SLGBTQ+ youth and their parents will be temporary, she said.
Heron said she had met with representatives of the St. Albert Public school board and expects they will be taking on duties for pride prom, an end-of-the-year school event for 2SLGBTQ+ students and their friends and families.
The city will have to make sure that the pride crosswalk outside of St. Albert Place is maintained and the pride flag goes up in the month of June, Heron said.
However, the city will not step in to run Pride Fest, a Pride month celebration planned for June.
“That's a big job with thousands of hours for volunteers,” she said. “But maybe another community group will start to do that.”
Heron said that the city had been supporting Outloud with over $100,000 a year.
She hopes that Outloud and the work done by founders Mia and Terry Soetaert will continue to be recognized by the city, even as the organization closes its doors.
A statement from the organization says that Outloud’s final event will be a crosswalk painting on May 26 in front of St. Albert City Hall.
Resources for those affected
If you're struggling, there is a 24/7 2SLGBTQIA+ Distress Line in Alberta (all ages) 1-877-688-4765
For youth the Kids Help Phone has online chat, text and phone support https://kidshelpphone.ca/
For further referrals and resources, reach out to your local Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) office:
St Albert: 780-459-1600
Sturgeon County: 780-939-8334
Morinville: 780-939-7839
