Hello again! Our apologies once again for the delay in posting this; we're determined to get back on track as soon as we possibly can. In the meantime, we're going to go backwards in time two weeks to the meeting we held about call outs.
The call out is something we've discussed before in GSA; when you hear inappropriate language or slurs being used in a conversation, you step in and make it known at the very least that you don't think that language is appropriate. For example, someone might say something is 'gay' to mean bad or stupid; in that case you might step in and say "Hey, calling things 'gay' when you mean it's stupid isn't cool". Some people in GSA expressed that they felt very uncomfortable calling people out, while others explained they had no problem with it. It's important to keep in mind that if calling others out is going to create a situation where you are at risk of being harmed, you do not have to call anyone out, but the best way to make hurtful language stop here is to call someone out. If you really don't think you can do it, get someone who can; any member of the GSA leadership team is willing to call people out, as are many members of the club. You can also tell a faculty member and they can help you handle the situation.
One way to politely call people out is to make the conversation about your feelings; if you say "Sorry guys, but can you not use that kind of language around me? It makes me really uncomfortable," you've made the conversation about you rather than about what exactly they said. In the meeting, we split up into small groups to practice calling one another out. One metaphor for the call out is that calling people out is like being on fire--you know in theory that you need to stop, drop and roll when you're on fire, but in the moment what ultimately needs to happen is muscle memory. Calling others out is similar--you know you should call people out, but in the surprise of the moment, muscle memory has to take over. We'll probably practice calling others out again, at our upcoming Ally Workshop (brought back by popular demand!).
This past week we watched the following trailer for an upcoming documentary about the gay rights movement [trigger warning for homophobic and possibly hateful speech, particularly towards the beginning]:
We spoke about the footage at the beginning of that video, made up of specials done on homosexuality in the 1950s and 1960s--more of that footage can be found in a documentary called Stonewall Uprising, which can be checked out from the Ong Library. In addition, Mr. Ong offered up a film entitled For the Bible Tells Me So, which can be found on Netflix streaming as well as on DVD. The trailer is as follows [trigger warning for homophobic and hateful language, as well as some statements that could be see as an attack on fundamentalist Christianity]:
We hope to have more movie nights in the future, and are working with the Ong Library to expand the film collection to include films about and related to the LGBTQ+ community. We're going to have a movie night sometime soon in conjunction with the Diversity Club to watch the film Prayers for Bobby, about a young man who kills himself after his mother rejects his homosexuality, and the mother's journey to reconcile her religion with her son's sexuality. Keep tuned for upcoming news about that!
Next week we'll be talking about some exciting legal developments in California. Have a good week before Mid-Winter Break, and we'll see you on Thursday!
Sunday, January 29
Sunday, January 15
1/12: Welcome Back!
Welcome back from WRA's Gay-Straight Alliance! You're probably all wondering what the heck happened to the blog in the month of December. Although we had many meetings, in the crunch to study for exams and (for Ai) finish college application, the blog unfortunately became not a top priority. Luckily, we got a lot of rest over the winter break and are charged and ready to make this a great semester for GSA!
This week we welcomed everyone back from their breaks and introduced some exciting things for the upcoming months. The first of these is a video project to create a PSA so we can reach out to the entire school community and not just GSA members. Our treasurer/resident video expert, Irene, is going to be in charge of that, so if you're interested in writing or being a part of the production team for that, please contact her at lii [at] wra[dot]net!
Secondly, the week after next is going to be No Name-Calling Week! We held this event last year and are hoping to hold it again this year to great success. If you want to go ahead and make a poster for the week, please feel free to do so! We'll have more information coming up, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
This Wednesday is Community Service Day--you may have noticed an option to work with GSA on that day. We're hoping to get some planning done for No Name-Calling Week, as well as lay some groundwork for a future workshop similar to the one we held in the fall (but with different activities, obviously). If you're interested, please sign up and we'll see you Wednesday!
Finally, in reviewing the surveys you took before break, we noticed a request to not simply have Max and Ai do all of the meetings. We think it's a great idea to get other people up there talking about issues and ways that GSA members can help our community. If you would like to volunteer to moderate a meeting, please email any of the club officers; if you need an idea, we're compiling a list of topic ideas, so get in contact with us! We'd love to hear from you.
That's about it! Next week we plan to do a mini-workshop during the meeting on how to successfully call others out when they use harmful language around you--get excited! Welcome back, and we hope you have a great semester!
This week we welcomed everyone back from their breaks and introduced some exciting things for the upcoming months. The first of these is a video project to create a PSA so we can reach out to the entire school community and not just GSA members. Our treasurer/resident video expert, Irene, is going to be in charge of that, so if you're interested in writing or being a part of the production team for that, please contact her at lii [at] wra[dot]net!
Secondly, the week after next is going to be No Name-Calling Week! We held this event last year and are hoping to hold it again this year to great success. If you want to go ahead and make a poster for the week, please feel free to do so! We'll have more information coming up, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
This Wednesday is Community Service Day--you may have noticed an option to work with GSA on that day. We're hoping to get some planning done for No Name-Calling Week, as well as lay some groundwork for a future workshop similar to the one we held in the fall (but with different activities, obviously). If you're interested, please sign up and we'll see you Wednesday!
Finally, in reviewing the surveys you took before break, we noticed a request to not simply have Max and Ai do all of the meetings. We think it's a great idea to get other people up there talking about issues and ways that GSA members can help our community. If you would like to volunteer to moderate a meeting, please email any of the club officers; if you need an idea, we're compiling a list of topic ideas, so get in contact with us! We'd love to hear from you.
That's about it! Next week we plan to do a mini-workshop during the meeting on how to successfully call others out when they use harmful language around you--get excited! Welcome back, and we hope you have a great semester!
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