Their own kind of church.

Every Wednesday right most of the students from Ariel Franklyn s high school in Nashville go to church. But the 17-year-old lesbian isn't with them. Neither are her gay and lesbian friends.

Instead, they gather at a meeting of One-in-Teen Youth Services, a nonprofit organization and service center for queer youth serving middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky. "One-in-Teen is sort of like our Wednesday night church," Franklyn says. "It's like a support group."

Queer 19-year-old Adria Brooks explains One-in-Teen this way: "It's so hard for people to come out to their friends and family. One-in-Teen becomes their family."

The organization, which provides a safe place for LGBT youth ages 14 to 21, is the longest-running group of its kind in Tennessee. Founded in 1989, One-in-Teen offers support groups, community education, and social events. And it recently started assisting gay-straight alliances and offering scholarships to gay students.

"One-in-Teen has always been there for me at pivotal moments in my life," says Nathan Batey, 18, a member of One-in-Teen, "from being in and out of the closet with my family to now being fully out and able to live a life open to society."

Although the organization assists LGBT youth, the response from the straight community has been phenomenal, says DeWayne Fulton, One-in-Teen's program director. "Right now we are funded on 100% donations," he says. "Fifty percent come from the gay and lesbian community, and another 50% come from the straight community."