A Youth Leader's Guide to Building Cultural Competence 

If possible, use leaders who can speak  Spanglish,  that is, who can switch back and forth between 

English and Spanish, even within the same sentence. Not all Latino/Latina teens speak Spanish fluently, 

nor do they all speak English fluently; many benefit from having a mix of the languages used.  

Use program materials, including videos, that feature Latinos and Latinas. 

Understand the difficulties faced by young Latinos and Latinas who are gay, lesbian or bisexual and offer 

support. 

Working With Young African Americans 

Sadly, several studies have demonstrated that teachers tend to demand less from African American youth, 

praise them less frequently, give them less time to answer, call on them less frequently and seat them 

farther away from the front of the room.

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 You should make every effort to check yourself for such 

behaviors. 

Broaden the repertoire of program activities to include storytelling, music, role playing, African 

American literature, debate, group learning and games that build on cooperation.

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 Use program materials, 

including videos, that feature African Americans. 

Working With Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Youth  

Recognize and accept that gay, lesbian and bisexual youth are part of all youth populations, very likely 

including your group, whether or not they are open about their identity to themselves, to you or to others. 

Each gay, lesbian or bisexual person goes through a process of understanding and accepting their sexual 

orientation. There is no one path to this understanding, and having complete self acceptance can take 

years. 

There will likely be young people in the group who have gay or lesbian family members or friends. 

Leaders should strive to make the group environment as safe as possible for both groups of young people 

by following the guidelines below. All young people in the group will benefit from the leader's example 

of acceptance. The guidelines are:  

Use correct terminology when referring to a person attracted to the same gender    lesbian or gay 

woman  for a female attracted to females and  gay  for a male attracted to males.  Homosexual  

is an adjective referring to sexual behavior and should not be used as a noun to describe gay or 

lesbian people. This term limits the understanding of persons attracted to the same gender to their 

sexual behavior and has a clinical sound offensive to gay and lesbian people. 

Challenge abusive or derogatory terms such as  faggot  or  lezzie  by not tolerating such 

language. Establish a standard of conduct related to sexual orientation in the same way that racist 

or sexist terms are not acceptable in the group. Gay and lesbian teenagers report that one of the 

hardest things to experience is groups leaders or teachers not confronting slurs against gay and 

lesbian people.  

Use inclusive language like  partner  instead of  boyfriend  or  girlfriend.  Do not make 

assumptions about the sexual orientation of anyone in the group. By using inclusive language you 

are signaling to gay, lesbian and bisexual teens that you might be a safe person to talk to.  

Provide accurate information about homosexuality: correct myths as they arise in group 

discussions; know community resources and have copies of pamphlets or other information which 

list them.

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