Video by Kaly Nasiff
The “I Have a Dream” boutique, set up at the First Congregational United Church of Christ on McDowell Road and Second Street, has one mission: for LGBT youth and young adults to have a safe place to shop.
Mickale Burns assisted in the development of the bank. Burns is a leader and Kindness Coordinator for Rebel & Divine, a group in downtown Phoenix whose mission is described by Burns as “social justice, walking in faith, acts of kindness,” with a focus on helping youth and young adults.
The boutique, which opened on Sunday, is a clothing swap center, but it’s different from any other run-of-the-mill clothing exchange.
“Nothing is going to be separated by gender,” Burns said of the bank. “It’s going to be separated by length and size. All the shorts and skirts will be together.”
This arrangement is designed to foster a sense of inclusivity, according to Burns.
“Someone who might be wanting to get into a skirt, and doesn’t necessarily want to see, ‘This is a boys’ section, this is a girls’ section.’ They can just walk up to a rack.”
Burns also told me about the origins of the idea for the bank, which grew out of the public hostility transgender youth faced when shopping for a Queer Prom event several years ago.
“Shopping ventures turned discriminatory,” Burns said, citing some judgment and confrontation with staff at department stores who were uncomfortable with the clothing preferences of the transgender youth.
Burns said judgment from strangers at such a young age can be a traumatizing experience.
“It’s not necessarily their job at that age to educate people,” she said. “They’re still trying to figure themselves out.”
According to Burns, about ten months ago, a young individual named Ryan Mehler organized a clothing exchange for LGBT youth who wanted to swap clothing they didn’t need anymore — for example, clothing their parents had bought them that coincided with their biological gender, but not their identified gender.
That original clothing exchange, coupled with the disheartening department store experiences, helped Burns realize that there was a need for a safe space for LGBT youth to have access to clothing, she said.
“This is going to be a safe space where gender non-conforming youth will be empowered as opposed to the harassment many of them experience at the typical shopping mall,” stated Rev. Jeffrey Dirrim, founding pastor and executive director of Rebel & Divine UCC, in a press release on the shop’s opening. “I pray this boutique helps hopeless youth to begin dreaming again, because I’ve found that can be lifesaving.”
Burns said the boutique is designed to honor transgender leaders in the community, including Julian Melson, who has helped pioneer several support groups, and the late Miss Ebony, who Burns said “gave a lot to the LGBT community” and whose drag clothing can be found at the bank in a section dedicated specifically to her.
Burns also said the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. was influential in the creation of the store, with the boutique starting to come together in January on the MLK Day of Service, put together by the Human Rights Campaign. Volunteers set up the store, collected donations, and began organizing on this day of service.
“We’ve worked so hard to put it together,” she said.
The boutique will be open Sundays from noon until 4 p.m., when many young individuals are already at the church, until they can get more volunteers to help.
Overall, Burns said the mission of the boutique is to give LGBT youth a safe place to go for all their clothing needs.
“This is going to be a dignified experience for our LGBT youth,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re homeless, if you’re poverty stricken, if you have a mental illness. We just want to serve the individuals that need help.”
According to the press release on the boutique’s opening, individuals in the community are encouraged to volunteer their time or to donate new or gently used clothing to the bank. More information can be found, and donations can be made via Paypal, at RebelDivineUCC.org.
Now that’s what I call couture for a cause.
Contact the columnist at lallnatt@asu.edu
