This week’s meeting was very busy, as anyone who had to leave early could tell you. First we voted on the constitution, which was ratified with a unanimous vote by all present. If you’re curious to know the content of that document, feel free to check the previous blog post, where we have it in its entirety!
This week we did a basic question and answer session; upon arrival at the meeting, students and faculty were presented with slips of paper to write anonymous questions that were then selected at random to be discussed. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and could not to get all the questions, but we hope to continue the discussion this week! For right now, we’re going to post the questions we talked about on Thursday below, along with a brief outline of our discussion! Feel free to comment on this post with answers of your own.
1. Do you think that the LGBTQ community is accurately portrayed in TV or movies (take shows like Glee, for example)?
In the meeting, we discussed how representation in media does not necessarily equate positive representation; for example, in an episode of Family Guy, the character Quagmire’s father comes out as a trans woman. The trans* community generally responded negatively to the episode, much to creator Seth MacFarlane’s confusion.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that while there are in fact gay men like Kurt from Glee in the world, narratives are incredibly diverse; not every gay man is going to be like Kurt, nor is every lesbian experience going to be like it is portrayed on The L Word.
2. How is it fair that men can’t have sexual relations with other men and give blood? Shouldn’t anyone have to take an HIV test first?
HIV tests are actually standard for all blood donations, because they can’t be careful enough (if you are exposed to HIV-infected blood through a transfusion, there is a 90% chance you will contract the virus), so that answers the second part. As for the first part, we actually intend to answer this when WRA has its next blood drive! You should know the rule has been relaxed in the UK; if, as a man, you haven’t had sexual contact with another man in a year, you can donate blood.
3. Do you think sexuality is permanent? In other words, how would you explain a married man realizing he’s gay after living a “straight life”?
There are two camps with two different theories on this topic. On the one hand, some argue sexuality is fluid, and so to go from being attracted mostly to men to being attracted mostly to women is not out of the question. This is especially prevalent in the bisexual community, and studies have been done into the fluidity of sexuality particularly among women.
On the other hand, in the hypothetical situation, the other camp would argue that due to the stigma of being a gay man, the man in the situation could just have been repressing his sexuality, or not realized it. What do you guys think about it?
4. Will we learn anything about the relation between chemical balances of the brain and how they affect people’s personalities/sexualities?
Um... we can add it to the list! This wasn’t something that was on our radar, but we can look into it for a meeting sometime this year. It sounds very scientific, which is not something that is Ai’s particular forte, but if you have found any information about it that has sparked your interest, please send it to gsa.wra@gmail.com!
5. When do we plan on once again holding/beginning to work on Broadway Backwards?
As soon as we can get the administration to work with us on a date! We hope to begin rehearsals sometime shortly after winter break. In the meantime, think about what you might be willing to perform for a possible winter cabaret! We will keep you posted on upcoming dates for that.
6. We all know that we should address behavior that slights another--racism, sexism, ageism--but how do we encourage a more welcoming, educated community in general--adults, administrators, neighbors, parents, faculty spouses?
This question is a very difficult one. In GSA, we’ve talked extensively how to call someone out when they’ve said something offensive or hurtful, but how do we as a community prevent such behavior before it even starts?
Education is incredibly important. Being able to talk about LGBTQ issues openly and including such issues in the curriculum, or even as a part of our daily lives, spreads understanding.
In the meeting, it was suggested that visibility is incredibly important--that GSA get up at Morning Meeting and make ourselves as known as we can, to give the signal to new students about the nature of respect in our community. But at GSA we also have to walk a fine line between being visible and being accused of shoving our views down others’ throats. The importance of straight allies here is practically beyond words. Part of why GSA exists is so after the club educates its members, the members can then go out and educate other students. We don’t mean just calling people out; we mean being openly supportive every day of the week. Bringing up issues in class (when appropriate), talking about it in the dining hall, being aware on the practice fields or at Morning Meeting... part of being a global citizen is being able to implement your respect in every day ways, and at GSA we really think leading by example is the best way to bring out others’ respect.
GSA hopes to provide the opportunity and tools for education and acceptance, but in the end, the members of the community must be open to embracing new ideas.
~
What do you all think? Do you have any other questions? Feel free to comment below, or come to this week’s GSA meeting--we’’ll be answering more questions!
No comments:
Post a Comment