Oral History Interview with Stephanie Kreps, 1950-

Stephanie Kreps, co-founder of the Rainbow Youth Alliance (RYA), recounts the history of the LGBT+ teen support group Rainbow Youth Alliance. She also discusses her work and collaboration with PFLAG in Maryland, as well as her support for LGBT rights in Maryland with the gay civil rights organization, Equality Maryland.

Stephanie Kreps co-founded the Rainbow Youth Alliance in 2006, after her son came out as gay. After attending meetings through PFLAG (former acronym standing for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) of Columbia, Stephanie decided to start a youth support group closer to home designed for teens aged 13-18. RYA, a program of her Unitarian Universality Congregation of Rockville, did not require parental permission to attend. She sought assistance from Lambda Legal on parental permission and liability issues. As RYA grew, it eventually started receiving consistent support from Brother, Help Thyself. She also discusses advertising the group at Montgomery County schools and the obstacles she encountered. Eventually, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), an anti-gay group associated with Focus on the Family also started handing out flyers at schools, resulting in a lawsuit and ban on flyers in Montgomery County. She talked about RYA’s connections to GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance, now more commonly called Gender-Sexuality Alliance) clubs and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network’s (GLSEN) Day of Silence day of action. She discussed her work advocating for gay civil rights with Equality Maryland, especially through marriage equality lobby day where supports would go to Annapolis to lobby Maryland legislators. She talked about State Senator Nancy King of Maryland’s 39th District in Montgomery County, who refused to support same sex marriage for many years before changing her position. She discussed how, after the Civil Marriage Protection Act of 2012 was passed, opponents of same sex marriage launched Maryland Question 6, a referendum on the new bill that failed to reject the Act and same sex marriage. She also served for several years as secretary of the board of Metro DC PFLAG. Discussion also covered: Youth Pride DC, the Dignity Center, David Fishback, and Unitarianism.

The interview belongs to the Rainbow History Project.
The RHP release form was used and all rights belong to RHP.

Jerry Wei

No, transcript not available

Yes, recording available, 00:55:02
(audio .m4a, 50.1 MB)