Shoppers are turning out for more than sport , Rainbow Labs brought teens, mentors and fans together at BMO Stadium for a high-energy LAFC vs Querétaro Leagues Cup night, using the match as a platform to spotlight youth mentorship and expand safe spaces for queer and gender-nonconforming young people.

Essential Takeaways

  • Big crowd, bigger cause: Rainbow Labs hosted youth and community supporters at BMO Stadium during LAFC’s Leagues Cup match, combining live sport with outreach and visibility.
  • Emotional halftime moment: A teen participant gave a heartfelt speech about feeling seen for the first time through the programme, creating a quiet, powerful stadium moment.
  • Program model: Rainbow Labs runs trauma-informed, research-backed after-school offerings , Storytelling, Sports, Leadership, Innovation and Policy , in person and online.
  • Urgent need: QGNC youth face disproportionate risks and isolation; mentoring programmes specifically for them are extremely rare.
  • Growing reach: Rainbow Labs aims to make affirming mentorship freely available to every queer and gender-nonconforming young person in the US.

A stadium full of cheers and a pause for purpose

The match itself provided the kind of sensory rush fans love , the crowd on its feet, chants and that nail-biting penalty shootout as LAFC edged a 5-3 win on spot-kicks. But the noise didn’t drown out something softer and more important: at half time Rainbow Labs’ leaders stepped into the spotlight to thank supporters and explain why the organisation matters. According to Rainbow Labs’ materials, the shout-outs weren’t just PR , they were a chance to normalise queer youth presence in a traditionally heteronormative sporting space.

A teen’s voice changed the vibe

Midway through the evening a teenager enrolled in Rainbow Labs spoke to the stadium. They described how after-school programmes and consistent adult mentors were the first places they felt safe and seen as a queer adolescent. That kind of testimony, coming from a young person inside a major venue, landed differently: quiet, earnest and plainly human. It’s exactly the kind of lived experience the co-founders, Jacob Toups and Luis Vasquez, built the organisation to centre.

Why Rainbow Labs exists , and why now

Toups and Vasquez started Rainbow Labs in 2020 after facing bullying and isolation themselves. They wanted something earlier for the next generation: places where queer and gender-nonconforming youth meet peers, practise leadership and find adult role models. The charity’s programming is trauma-informed and research-backed, delivered both across Los Angeles and online, and it aims to tackle troubling statistics about youth mental health and justice involvement by offering community and guidance.

What the programmes actually do

Rainbow Labs divides its offerings into labs that match teen interests. Storytelling lets young people lead creative projects; Sports mixes inclusive clinics with team-building; Leadership runs for much of the school year and invites youth into governance; Innovation and Policy open doors to STEM and civic pathways. Participants consistently report stronger self-esteem and better social bonds , practical outcomes that matter when isolation and risk are involved.

The wider picture: a gap in mentoring for QGNC youth

There are thousands of mentoring programmes in the United States, but very few designed explicitly for queer and gender-nonconforming youth. Rainbow Labs is trying to close that gap, aiming for a future where every QGNC young person can access an affirming mentor for free. The group’s public-facing events, like the LAFC night, are part community-building, part awareness-raising, and part fundraising for that long-term vision.

How you can help or get involved

If the stadium event inspired you, Rainbow Labs has volunteer mentor pathways, youth sign-up information and donation options to support expansion. Getting involved can be simple: sign up to mentor, share information in your networks, or support programming financially so more teens can find those stabilising adult connections.

It's a small change in venue, but a big move for visibility and safety.

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