Bozeman organization empowers queer youth

Local Bozeman organization Pride House offers a safe space for LGBTQIA+ teens to build community, explore identity and express themselves without fear of being ostracized. Their meetings, which take place every Thursday evening in the basement of the Bozeman United Methodist Church, provide free food, games, a place to relax and a host of other activities for queer teens looking for a network of support. Pride House has welcomed teens from as far as Ennis and Four Corners to their meetings on top of their usual Bozeman attendees.

“The kids show up to Pride House and they’re happy, they’re laughing and joyously existing, which I would say is the biggest impact that we have had on these kids,” Jon Jacobs, Pride House’s volunteer coordinator and one of its six founding members, said. He went on to say that teens who attend their weekly meetings are “more themselves, they’re definitely more confident, they’d even told us that they’re doing better in school just because they have a group of people that they can go to every single week.”

 Jacobs, who has taught in rural and underprivileged schools for over three years, established an LGBTQIA+ safe space in late spring of 2020 after observing the Montana school system’s mistreatment of queer students, an observation consistent with a 2017 report by UCLA’s Williams Institute which found that “[LGBTIA+] people in Montana report experiencing discrimination and harassment in employment, housing, public accommodations and other settings.” Three years of planning, training and fundraising later, Pride House held its first official meeting on Jan. 2023. The organization has raised over $30,000 since then, mostly from private monthly donations.

“The days are pretty open. They’re very centered around the kids deciding what to do,” Jacobs said. “Once a month we have a volunteer who will bring something like crocheting or friendship bracelets or they’ll bring a game themselves, but most of the time it’s up to the kids to decide what they want to do. Very purposefully, because when you are disenfranchised, you gain a lot more confidence in yourself the more you get to decide what you want to do.”

Pride House hopes to one day reach more teens, whether by hosting more meetings each week or starting new chapters in other towns, such as Livingston and Belgrade. This goal could take five to 10 years to achieve, according to Jacobs. “A lot of people want to come to these but don’t always have a ride to get here. The more opportunities we have to be able to work with queer kids, the better,” he said. 

“At the end of the day, we’re all people and we all deserve to be feeling happy and it’s amazing that something relatively this small can do that for eight or nine kids that regularly come to Pride House,” Jacobs said.

For those interested in volunteering with or donating to Pride House, visit their website at pridehouse406.com or email them at pridehouse406@gmail.com.