JASMYN

JASMYN (Jacksonville Area Sexual Minority Youth Network) supports LGBTQIA+ teens and young adults ages 13-29 across Northeast Florida through leadership, advocacy, resources and an affirming community. Everything it does is built for, about and guided by young people, with a commitment to personal wellness, racial equity and partnership.

The organization traces its start to Ernie Dy Selorio Jr., a queer Filipino American teenager who moved to Jacksonville in the early 1990s and posted his phone number on a bulletin board at the Willow Branch Library. In 1992 he led the first support group for gay and lesbian youth there. A volunteer board installed a Gay Youth Information Line, won early grants for HIV education, and in 2001 founded the Northeast Florida Safe Schools Coalition to fight bullying. That early work helped lead the Duval County School Board to prohibit harassment based on sexual orientation. JASMYN later expanded to serve homeless and vulnerable youth and grew into the campus it operates today.

For teens ages 13-17, programs are drop-in, so there is no need to RSVP. Teen Drop-In runs weekly on campus with games, movies and conversations about identity, and off-campus meet-ups happen twice a month at The Walrus. The Teen Advisory Board meets monthly so teens can weigh in on the programs JASMYN offers. Free Your Mind provides single-session counseling and connections to mental health resources, and staff help students who want to start a Gender and Sexuality Alliance at school. Health staff offer confidential STI and HIV testing for young people 13 and up in partnership with the Florida Department of Health in Duval County.

Young adults ages 18-29 have their own calendar. The Sexual Health Clinic tests for HIV, gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis on a set weekly schedule, and free rapid HIV testing is also available. Care coordination links young adults to HIV medical care and PrEP, along with bus passes, a food pantry and a computer lab. Clinical social work interns provide free one-to-one counseling, All Y'all offers arts, crafts and mental health conversation twice a month in the J3 building, and the Community Advisory Board gives young queer, gay and bisexual men a paid seat in shaping health programs. Project Y2K (Yes 2 Knowledge) is a paid, peer-powered space for young adults who want to turn lived experience into HIV awareness work.

Housing services for ages 18-24 include Rapid Rehousing, Homelessness Prevention and outreach that connects young adults to housing, healthcare and food. ACCESS hours offer a hot meal, a food and hygiene pantry, showers, laundry and one-to-one staff support.

Families are part of the work too. Family Space meets twice a month for parents, chosen family and adult supporters of LGBTQIA+ young people of any age, and staff offer campus tours and private one-to-one sessions. Through its Speak Up Against Violence Project, JASMYN also documents and responds to violence and discrimination affecting the local LGBTQIA+ community.

Two signature events bring the region together: Strides for Pride, a springtime 5K and mini-Pride celebration that Folio Weekly readers have voted the best 5K in Jacksonville, and the Coming Out Day Breakfast each October, which honors community champions. Supporters can give, sponsor, join quarterly pantry drives or shop the Amazon wish lists.