Published On: 07.31.23 | 

By: Allanah Taylor

Power Moves: Corey Harvard works to aid LGBTQ youths in south Alabama

CoreyHarvardFeature

As the executive director of Prism United, Corey Harvard works to establish a safe, fulfilling space for LBGTQ youths in Alabama's Port City. (Nik Layman / Alabama News Center)

Corey Harvard helped develop Prism United to be what he would have liked to have seen when he was growing up in Grand Bay, Alabama.

“I didn’t grow up with any LGBTQ role models and most of the media stories I heard about LGBTQ people were terrible stories, and they were being told by people who were perpetuating some really terrible ideas about what it meant to be gay,” said Harvard, executive director of Prism United in Mobile.

It wasn’t until his college years that Harvard began meeting people who were out of the closet and LGBTQ.

“What I saw in those people were folks who weren’t afraid to say ‘my lived experience falls outside of the boxes that people put themselves in,’” he said.

Power Moves: Corey Harvard of Prism United focuses on LBGTQ youths in Alabama’s Port City from Alabama News Center on Vimeo.

When asked where he sees the future of the LGBTQ community in Alabama, Harvard ponders before answering.

“A world that’s more diverse,” he said. “I see a community that’s embracing the full breadth of diversity of the human experience and I think right now that idea scares a lot of people.”

Since launching more than five years ago, Prism United has expanded to offer three programs: Prism Pre-Teen, Prism Teen and Prism Families.

Prism United focuses on emotional self-regulation, offering inclusive events (such as prom) and family support groups. The Alabama Power Foundation is among the organization’s supporters.

To learn more about Prism United and the work they are doing in southwest Alabama, go to prismunited.org.

Video by Nik Layman.