When youth speak, leaders listen
"Members of Guam's Youth for Youth group mobilized support to raise Guam's minimum legal drinking age from 18 to 21 at the Guam Legislature."
On Guam, previous efforts to raise the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) through legislation failed. In early 2010, Senator BJ Cruz proposed a bill to raise the MLDA from 18 to 21, but opposition to the bill was significant. During the final deliberations on 2 July 2010, Youth for Youth Guam openly supported the bill and were visibly present at the Legislature session hall to monitor the discussion and voting process. With the vote at 7 for and 7 against the bill, the decision rested upon the final vote of Senator Ray Tenorio. As he walked to the podium to cast his vote, he turned to the Youth for Youth members, all of whom are under the age of 21, who promptly chanted: "Vote YES! Vote YES!" Senator Tenorio cast a "Yes" vote, turning the bill into law. The senators who supported the bill later commented that their support was cemented when they saw that the youth were themselves strongly in favour of the bill.