A new Snoqualmie Valley support group is providing a place for parents of LGBTQ+ youth to ask the tough questions in a judgement-free environment.
The group was started by SnoValley Pride in March. Gregory Jamiel, founder and executive director of SnoValley Pride, said parents need resources, too. The Parents Circle meets once a month, and meetings alternate between educational opportunities and social opportunities, as well as alternate locations between the upper and lower Snoqualmie Valley.
The alternation allows everyone’s needs to be met, Jamiel said. The first group meeting covered an educational topic, and the following month, the group walked the Snoqualmie Valley Trail together.
The group is open to LGBTQ+ parents and parents and caregivers of LGBTQ+ youth.
“We hope that our parents group will provide our parents a deeper connection to other parents in the Valley who are experiencing similar paths in life right now,” he said.
Jamiel added that SnoValley Pride also recently started a teen advisory group. He hopes the parents of those teens will join the Parents Circle, and vice versa, all around creating a more connected community.
Jamiel said a parents’ group gives the caretakers of LGBTQ+ youth a supportive environment to ask questions they may not be comfortable asking their children, in turn making them better caretakers.
“I think a lot of our parents in the Snoqualmie Valley want to be able to provide the best resource of safety and support for their children,” he said.
Meetings have covered topics such as gender-affirming care in Washington, as told by a local doctor, and resources for LGBTQ+ youth in local schools, discussed by a panel of superintendents and principals.
Upon registration, those interested in joining the group are also asked what topics they would like to know more about.
While caretakers join the Parents Circle for various reasons, Jamiel said they all have one thing in common.
“The love that parents have for their children,” he said, “I think that is the paramount reason.”
• Check it out: For more information on the Parents Circle and to register, visit snovalleypride.org/parents-circle.
