During Vancouver's Pride Week festivities you can't help but feel the city is one big happy family. But not everyone's family accepts and celebrates sexual diversity; coming out is tough, and can be closely followed by getting kicked out in some households. With nowhere left to go, LBGTQ youth often end up on our streets. In Issue #109 of Megaphone we detail the struggles of coming to accept and love yourself for being queer while trying to get off the streets.

But pride isn't just about sexual identity and who we love. Megaphone vendor Kris Cronk tells us how he found pride in himself in winning a poetry contest in a mostly-francophone Montreal corrections facility. Writers from our writing workshops show us what they're proud of with powerful pieces about addiction, recovery and poverty. We're proud of them, too, and give you the scoop on what happened at the Our Voices poetry reading we held last week with Intrepid Pens DTES Reading and Writing Society.

Also in this issue, Open Door Group responds to Marc Lawrence's bad experience with their DTES job centre; an inner-city teacher calls for more back-to-school support for families on welfare; the Tri-Cities latest shelter space bridges homeless residents until the permanent shelter is built; and much more. 

Support your local vendor and pick up the latest issue of Megaphone Magazine today!