LGBTQ+ youth across the country are longing for a sense of community, and for a lot of queer Latino youth, finding acceptance within their culture can feel like a battle they will never win. That’s where Rainbow Labs comes in.
During the summer following the murder of George Floyd, Jacob Toups and Luis Vasquez saw a need for mentorship in the LGBTQ+ community and they decided to create an organization focused on queer youth in the L.A. County area.
Rainbow Labs is dedicated to providing mentorship, community events and, ultimately, a safe space for LGBTQ+ teens and adolescents to feel seen and appreciated. When the duo first created the organization, they conducted focus groups to find out exactly what community members wanted in programming.
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“We partnered with Mentor National, a national mentoring organization, and they came out with a report that said, ‘for every 5,000 youth mentoring programs, only about five focus on LGBTQ kids,’ which is wild,” Toups said.
Vasquez, who grew up in East L.A., remembers being a young boy trying to share his sexual identity with his family. He felt different, and even though he was accepted by his family, they encouraged secrecy.
“I didn’t have the words of what gay meant at that time, but I just felt that I was different, and my parents in a very loving way said, ‘We see you, we love you, we appreciate you, but let’s keep that in-house,’” Vasquez said.
Both Toups and Vazquez have long histories of working in youth development. From personal experiences, they both know the importance of allowing queer youth to express themselves from an early age. They saw a need in Black and brown communities, and especially in predominantly-Spanish-speaking areas.
Vasquez explained that a lot of miscommunication and conflict between students and their families can be caused by a language barrier. He said there are often terms used in English that Spanish-speaking communities don’t understand. Rainbow Labs offers programming and resources in Spanish to help close that gap.
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“If you go to our website, you can quickly, you know, go into the Spanish section,” Vasquez said. “Those are the smaller things that I think we need to ensure that we’re pushing forward as an organization to make that the norm.”
Miguel Villatoro, an incoming senior in high school, said he has benefited from Rainbow Labs’ programs. Before he started participating in them, he said he did not feel comfortable with his sexuality.
“I’m so thankful that with Rainbow Labs I am able to express myself more and I’ve found a community that is accepting,” Villatoro said.
Some of Rainbow Labs’ programs include the LGBTQ+ Youth Council, the LGBTQ+ Youth Softball Team and the Story Telling Lab. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization has shifted to a hybrid mode of operation that allows mentors to connect with students across L.A. County. Toups and Vasquez said their in-person programs allow them to connect students who might live in the same neighborhood or go to the same school and build community.
“We continue to keep it hybrid,” Vasquez said. “We’ve had kids from Thousand Oaks come in, we’ve had kids from El Monte, we’ve had kids from Long Beach, we’ve had kids from downtown, we’ve had kids in South L.A. and that truly is the only way we can have kids come at the exact same time.”
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Adree De Luna, who serves as the program operations associate, helps select the mentors in the youth council program. She said her work at Rainbow Labs helps promote individuality and clear communication.
“I think this organization is very much needed,” De Luna said. “We really work hard to create safe spaces for folks who identify within our community. We don’t push anyone to go beyond their comfort zone because we want to respect everyone’s boundaries.”
De Luna also said that a significant part of her personal identity is rooted in her Latino culture. She described Latinidad as unity and togetherness and said Rainbow Labs helps promote that.
“One of the proudest things about myself is that I’m Latina and that I get to help Latinx and Latine folks within the community,” De Luna said.
The organization has partnered with a long list of big names to help bring their programs to life, including the Dodgers, the Rams, the Lakers, Southern California Gas, Northwestern Mutual and Nike Community Impact.
Above all, Villatoro said, Rainbow Labs is about celebration. It is a space where not only members of the LGBTQ+ community are welcomed, but also allies and others who want to learn more.
“That’s what makes humans so beautiful,” Villatoro said. “Because everybody is so unique in their own way and Rainbow Labs is just celebrating that uniqueness.”
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