| Tyler Young | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 29, 1989 Federal Way, Washington, United States |
| Organization | Gay in Federal Way |
Tyler Young is a community organizer in Federal Way, Washington. He is the founder and current organizer of Gay in Federal Way.[1][2][3][4]
Contents |
Tyler Young is the founder/organizer of Gay in Federal Way, the first gay group created in the city of Federal Way.[5] Young is also a music artist; creating his first independent album in his small home studio. His music is centered on lyricism, him having written poetry since being a teenager and printed in small poetry publications such as The Indented Pillow.[6] He is currently commuting from Federal Way to go through a culinary program in Seattle.[1]
In response to a guest column Young wrote for the Federal Way Mirror [7] local resident T.J Brown replied with a letter to the editor, Andy Hobbs, which was printed in the next edition of Federal Way Mirror. Brown wrote remarks such as, "I'll even buy him a bike he can ride in the parade. Oh, and a dress too if he wants to play dress up with his steam bath buddies. Just get out of Federal Way and don't come back." [8] Local and statewide media including KOMO-TV and the Seattle Gay News reported on his remarks.[1] [2] Seattle blogs such as The Stranger's Slog, and the Seattle Gay Scene also reported.[3] [4] Young replied with his own letter saying, "T.J., I understand why you hate me. You come from a time when misunderstandings about gay people were everywhere. And I doubt you know any real gay people. But I’m not at all like what you assume I’m like.", and "I feel like if you meet me, you’ll realize you’re wrong about gays and lesbians. Me and you aren’t so different. I hope we meet, I hope you'll learn to see the humanity in me, and I hope someday you’ll be ready to shake my hand. It will always be there for you." [9]
In an interview with KOMO-TV's Denise Whitaker, Federal Way city attorney Pat Richardson claimed, "We can only spend money for public purposes, and this group as it's been described would not fit that public purpose." Young however had never actually asked for the city to fund the group and responded to Richardson on the official Gay in Federal Way blog by saying, "I hope Pat Richardson realizes that I have never asked for the group to be directly funded. I have only mentioned that the city could spend some of its diversity funding for causes that the group supports, such as AIDS/HIV awareness, which benefits all members of our city. " [1] [10]
Before creating Gay in Federal Way Young was active in the local community, and had organized a protest March 31, 2009 that garnered attention from the local newspapers. Young, 18 years old at the time, organized the protest to persuade the Federal Way City Council to train and hire more police officers and to invest in police technology. Young said, "Although it is easy to ignore expanding the police force, it’s hurting the city. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman has noted that pulling back vital social services creates panic and actually hurts the economy." Former Mayor of Auburn, Washington and current Federal Way Mirror columnist Bob Roegner responded to news about the upcoming protest through his column. Roegner wrote, "... I wasn’t overly surprised when I read a letter to the editor where a citizen was demanding more police officers and suggesting the public should be up in arms about their lack of police protection. That was not my impression based on a limited review of the numbers several months ago. But then I heard a couple of community leaders make similar comments in the form of criticism of the Federal Way City Council’s deliberation of a new performing arts center. Another well-known citizen was critical of efforts toward economic development for the same reason." Roegner talked about local crime statistics and concluded that, "the Federal Way Police Department is doing a good job, and that crime isn’t any worse than in surrounding areas." [11]