EGG NOGG DELIVERS HOLIDAY JOY
The C.I.T.Y. x1 Youth Group presented its 4th annual Egg Nogg Youth Social this past Saturday nite, December 15, 2007 at Plummer Park. This was a free social mixer held for LGBTQ Youth (14-24) and their allies. This alcohol-tobacco-free activity was held in honor of the holiday season and to give youth an alternative to the club scene where they could socialize in a safe place, get free food, and access community resources.

Although the doors were advertised and scheduled to open at 7:00pm, youth started lining up as early as 6:30pm. In the end, over 75 youth from all over Southern California attended this event that featured junk food, youth performances, an art show, and free egg nogg!

From the moment that the social kicked off, everyone went to grab themselves either a piece of pie or cookies along with a cup of egg nogg. From here, everyone was welcomed to the event by members of the C.I.T.Y. x1 Youth Group.

It was not long before the first performer took the stage. Richard Rocha, a young performer from West Hollywood sang two songs that were received with enthusiastic applauses. To make the evening and the performance even more special for Rocha, his mother was in attendance. Ms. Rocha showed up in support of her son and the LGTBQ youth community. Richard, who also performed at the World AIDS Day activities @ MCCLA on November 30th, did his rendition of "To Where You Are", which he also performed at MCCLA.

Next up was a special performance by Kalil Cohen, a 24 year-old transgender Jewish man, performance artist, documentarian and grassroots activist. Kalil's poetry and singing was also well-received by his peers. Aside from being a performer, Kalil is also an activist. His current activist projects include the Community Clinics Campaign (c3), working to bring and safe and informed community health care access to transpeople living in LA. His documentary, Queering Gender, has screened at several west coast film festivals and conferences, and he regularly performs hip hop and spoken word at queer and trans events in Los Angeles.

As is custom for C.I.T.Y. x1 events, a sense of community was sprinkled at the event. Bienestar brought down their mobile testing unit and provide free HIV & STD testing for those in attendance. The service was such a success that some testing had to be rescheduled, as the unit ran out of spots for testing.

Another special treat for the nite was a visit from USC's OutReach Group, which raffled off a special USC Trojan Gift Bag. Jarod Wunnenburger, the program's coordinator, was representing the group and made an announcement about all of the activities they hold on and off campus.

The event continued until 9:00pm. By the end of the nite, several youth were entertained, community resources were offered and accessed, and the 4th annual Egg Nogg Youth Social was in the can. C.I.T.Y. x1 closed the event by thanking everyone in attendance and asked that everyone keep posted to www.cityx1.com for information on upcoming events.