San Lorenzo Valley middle schoolers Farley Blackmun and Petra King met at Taqueria Vallarta in Felton on Sunday morning, ahead of this weekend’s Queer Leadership Awards gala in South County where they both have been nominated.
The students gathered to reflect on their nominations and recent work, just steps away from where they held this year’s “Love is Love” rally.
“We were trying to make it bigger than it was last year,” said Blackmun, an eighth-grade transgender boy from Felton who recently turned 14. “Petra designed the poster, because I am not tech-savvy, at all.”
King, 13, who identifies as lesbian and lives in Scotts Valley and Felton, said the key was to keep things straightforward for effectiveness.
“We used Canva to design them digitally,” she said, of a file she dreamed up that had a rainbow in the background. “We tried to make it big enough that you would notice it walking by, and it had the information.”
King clarified that they produced both flyers to inform people about the event, as well as signs to hold while at the corner of Graham Hill Road and Highway 9 during the rally.
Blackmun’s mom, Laura Hull, attended the event—held on Valentine’s Day—too.
“Basically, what I saw was just a really amazing group of kids that aren’t afraid of standing on the corner, being proud of who they are and sharing messages of love with the community,” Hull said.
The Queer Youth Task Force of Santa Cruz County recently recognized both Blackmun and King as Queer Youth Leadership award nominees for their work with the Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA) at their school. The awards ceremony is happening Saturday night at Pajaro Valley High School in Watsonville.
Blackmun is an articulate, amiable guy who does contemporary dance, competes in roller derby and loves Marvel comics—particularly Spiderman.
King does contemporary and modern expressive dance, is a Phoebe Bridgers fan and likes to read. She’s also a natural radio personality—she shone during her guest spot on KSQD’s “Talk of the Bay” last week.
San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley are known as a couple of the more conservative areas of the county. And, while they are home to plenty of artists, progressive activists and countercultural heritage, there’s long been currents of rigidity, too, particularly when it comes to the ongoing debate over sexuality and gender norms.
Last week’s Press Banner report about the Scotts Valley City Council meeting, which included a section about the City’s unanimous vote to raise the Pride Flag, drew plenty of supportive comments on the My Scotts Valley Facebook page, but it also elicited several less-than-supportive comments, to put it mildly.
Similar sentiments were shared during this year’s “Love is Love” rally, the students recalled.
“We got flipped-off a couple times,” Blackmun said. “A few people commented, like, ‘Sheep!’”
King added that one person even shouted, “You’re ruining the children!”
“What a lot of people didn’t understand was the kids completely organized it, and the parents were just there to make sure that we didn’t get hit by a car,” Blackmun said. “I kind of just wish I could talk to them, honestly, and tell them, ‘We’re not trying to do this to fit in. We’re doing this for the opposite reason’…. We’re not going to conform to what people are telling us to do.”
Blackmun said he knows that a lot of youth living in small towns like the ones in the San Lorenzo Valley can end up feeling alienated. So, if they managed to make at least one person’s day better, then they succeeded.
“And I think we made a lot of people’s day better,” King chimed in.
Stuart Rosenstein, the 64-year-old producer of the upcoming awards dinner, explained that King and Blackmun were nominated by their school.
“It’s very important to see our young people taking a leadership role,” he said. “It’s very inspiring—and very empowering.”
Rosenstein said that King and Blackmun are deserving nominees not just because of who they are, but because they exhibited excellence in collaborative action.
“For example, they work with their whole student club, they work with adult advisors,” he said.
King said that while their school isn’t exactly the most inclusive overall, there is actually a really good support system for students in place.
“I think it has made a difference at our school,” she said of the GSA. “It’s actually really cool to see how it’s shifted our school dynamic—even if it’s just a little bit.”
In fact, Blackmun made sure to push back against the stereotype on the other side of the SLV coin, as well.
“Not everybody here is racist,” he said.
“Yeah, it’s not a bunch of lumberjacks,” King said with a laugh.
They both said the school is really lucky to have history teacher Rex Oliveri—their club advisor.
“He’s such a supportive person. And he’s helped, I think, everyone in our GSA,” King said. “He keeps it real. He doesn’t sugarcoat things…. He tells people off if they’re not being cool. He just makes you feel like you could talk to him.”
Queer Youth Leadership Award, Awardees
- Ash R. Immoor |He / him / his
- Student, El Nido School
- Student Trustee, Santa Cruz County Board of Education
- Everest Vasquez | Any pronouns
- Student, Harbor High School
- Member, Queer Student Union (QSU)
- Jasper Albrecht | They / them / their & he / him / his
- Student, Cypress High School
- Member, Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA) Club
- Nayela Soledad Reynoso | He / him / his & They / them / their
- Student, Anzar High School
- Intern, The Diversity Center
- Founder, Queer Straight Alliance (QSA)
- Founder, Pride Club
- Member, Queer Student Union (QSU)
Queer Youth Leadership Award, Nominees
- Aaliyah A. Arellano | She / her / hers
- Student, Watsonville High School
- Bryce Grossman | They / them / their
- Student, Santa Cruz High School
- Founder, We Will Not Be Erased March
- Destyni Huggins | She / her / hers & they / them / their
- Student, Branciforte Middle School
- Vice President, Muskequeers Student Club
- Farley Blackmun | He / him / his
- Student, San Lorenzo Valley Middle School
- Member, Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA) Club
- Katherine “Kate” Figueroa | They / them / their
- Student, Pajaro Valley High School
- Member, Sexuality & Gender Alliance (SAGA) Club
- Mark, Adel Mendoza Luengas | Any pronouns
- Student, Pajaro Valley High School
- Member, Raíces y Cariño PRISM Club
- Mireya “MJ” Reynoso | They / them / their
- Student, Anzar High School
- Member, Raíces y Cariño PRISM Club
- Petra King | She / her / hers & they / them / their
- Student, San Lorenzo Valley Middle School
- Member, Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA)
- Wren Harmon | She / her / hers
- Student, Santa Cruz High School (SCHS)
- Member, Queer Student Union (QSU)
- Yudit “Alex” Ramos | She / her / hers
- Student, New School
- Junior Staff Member, FoodWhat?!
- Zoe McMahon | Any / all pronouns
- Student, Branciforte Middle School
Ally to Queer Youth Award, Awardee
- Andrea Damon | She / her / hers
- Associate Director, TransFamilies of Santa Cruz County (volunteer)
- Co-organizer, QYTF Rainbow Conference
- Volunteer, Rainbow Defense Coalition
Ally to Queer Youth Award, Nominees
- Christina Souza | they/them
- Counselor, Aptos High School
- Member, Pajaro Valley Unified School District Equity & Inclusion Committee
- Conor O’Brien | He / him / his
- Advisor, Santa Cruz High School Rainbow Alliance
- Eli Davies | They / them / their
- Advisor, PRISM Club
- Co-Founder, Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice
- Core Leadership, Rainbow Defense Coalition
- Dr. Faris Sabbah | He / him / his
- Superintendent, Santa Cruz County Office of Education
- Jennifer Gill | She / her / hers
- Teacher, Watsonville Charter School of the Arts (WCSA)
- Advisor, WCSA Gay Straight Alliance (GSA)
- Kellee Matsushita-Tseng | They / them / their & she / her / hers
- Farm & Land Stewardship Manager, “Food, What?!”
- Co-founder, Bitter Cotyledons
- Veronica Vasquez Gudiño | She / her / hers
- Student, San Jose State University
Organizational Ally to Queer Youth Award, Awardee
- Santa Cruz Community Health (SCCH)
Organizational Ally to Queer Youth Award, Nominees
- Cabrillo College Rainbow Council
- Lakeview Middle School Queer-Straight Alliance (QSA)
- Rainbow Defense Coalition of Santa Cruz County & the Pajaro Valley
- Renegade Theater Co.
- Youth Empowerment & Action for Health (YEAH!)
For more information about the Queer Youth Leadership Awards, visit qyla.org.
