Last week in GSA, we discussed five new laws that took effect in California last month, as well as some new regulations implemented by government agencies.
The first two laws in California are known as "Seth's Law", after a California teen who killed himself after being bullied for being gay, and the "LGBT Equality and Equal Access to Higher Education Law", both of which address situations in school on a high school and a higher education level. "Seth's Law" mandates that CA public schools have policies in place to address bullying in schools, similar to some of the bills proposed here in Ohio.
Another bill that was made into law is the "Gay Divorce Law" that allows for couples who were married in California but now live in a state where they cannot get divorced to come back to California to get a divorce. It seems a silly law to pass, but it mattered to enough couples (or former couples) to push for the bill to get passed.
Another law passed is the "Transgender Non-Discrimination Law", which protects transgender Californians from discrimination in the areas of employment (meaning you can't be fired for being trans*, nor can it be a reason preventing you from being hired), education (no school in California can refuse to have you as a student because you are trans*) and housing (meaning you cannot be removed from housing or rejected for said housing on the basis of your gender identity.) This coincides with announcement made last week by the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that there is a new policy mandating Equal Access to Housing--a person seeking housing from HUD cannot be denied on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. This is a great step for both California and the Department of Housing and Urban Development in protecting transgender people from discrimination.
Perhaps the most controversial bill that was made into law in California is "The Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful Education Act", also known as the "Gay History Law" which mandates public schools teach factual lessons about people who are not only LGBT-identified, but also people of color and people with disabilities. This poses some difficulties for teachers, not only who may have personal feelings against the LGBTQ community but who also have rigid curriculum into which they have to fit many topics (including, Doc Rob pointed out, those outside the realm of pure history, things like research skills and paper writing abilities) into one year. The law also mandates that nothing negative be taught about those groups--does this include not showing historic footage from documentaries that showcase the discrimination faced by gay and lesbian people before the Stonewall riots in 1969? Similarly, if people of color are included in this group, how will slavery be taught? It will be interesting in the coming months to see how teachers grapple with this change.
Have any questions about the laws? Comments? Feel free to post your comment below, or email us at gsa.wra@gmail.com! Tomorrow in GSA, in honor of Black History Month, we're going to be discussing some famous African-Americans who influenced the LGBT rights movement. Come on out to the history wing if you can make it!
Wednesday, February 8
Sunday, January 29
1/19 and 1/24: The Call Out and Videos
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!
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 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!
Sunday, November 13
11/10: Passing!
This week in GSA, we discussed the concept of passing and how it applies to the LGBT community, as well as other marginalized groups. Passing is an important concept to understand, as it shows up in all kinds of places--including as an important factor in understanding the conflict between Professor X and Magneto in Marvel Comics’s X-Men.
Passing is the ability of a person to be regarded as a member of a social group other than one’s own, generally with the person aiming to gain social acceptance and/or access to external aspects of privilege. In order to understand this, it is necessary to understand that there are two types of privilege: an internal type that deals primarily with things like self-perception and identifying with what is represented in media (ie watching a TV show and seeing a white male character if you yourself are a white male), and an external type that deals with all other types of privilege (ie a man being taken more seriously than a woman, etc).
People attempt to pass for many different reasons; safety often factors into it. If a person of color can pass as white in an area where their race might put them in danger of harassment or assault, it seems to their advantage to pass. Being taken more seriously as a cisgender person might be a reason a trans* person would try to pass. Wolverine fights cage matches without his claws out because of the harassment he receives when others know he is a mutant (see the first X-Men movie for a visual example of this).
Understanding passing is important to understanding that it can be impossible to really know who is around you; it might be easier in a smaller community like WRA where we seem know everything about one another, but you can’t ‘tell’ gay kids from straight kids, trans* kids from cisgender kids, or mutant kids from human kids. Being careful with our language isn’t just important around people we know to be members of non-privileged groups, it’s important at all times. We also should understand that passing can divide groups, and that access to privilege can affect the way those without access privilege perceive those with the access to privilege; for example, if you look at most of the mutants who joined up with Magneto in the X-Men movies, many cannot pass as humans and so would not be able to have access to being accepted as humans the way many of those who are on Xavier’s side might.
There is also the concept of ‘being passed’, wherein a person passes without the intent of passing; that is, they are seen as a member of another group without trying to. While this may sound like it could be beneficial, if one, for example, doesn’t know that they are being read as a man and they walk into a women’s restroom, complications could arise.
Next week in GSA, we’re going to talk about trans* people, giving you the basics of the complicated and wonderful mess that is gender identity! If you have any questions, you can bring them to the meeting and ask them anonymously (similar to the Q+A sessions we did back in September). We’re also going to be making ribbons to wear on Friday for Transgender Day of Remembrance, so bring your crafty selves! We look forward to seeing you!
Passing is the ability of a person to be regarded as a member of a social group other than one’s own, generally with the person aiming to gain social acceptance and/or access to external aspects of privilege. In order to understand this, it is necessary to understand that there are two types of privilege: an internal type that deals primarily with things like self-perception and identifying with what is represented in media (ie watching a TV show and seeing a white male character if you yourself are a white male), and an external type that deals with all other types of privilege (ie a man being taken more seriously than a woman, etc).
People attempt to pass for many different reasons; safety often factors into it. If a person of color can pass as white in an area where their race might put them in danger of harassment or assault, it seems to their advantage to pass. Being taken more seriously as a cisgender person might be a reason a trans* person would try to pass. Wolverine fights cage matches without his claws out because of the harassment he receives when others know he is a mutant (see the first X-Men movie for a visual example of this).
Understanding passing is important to understanding that it can be impossible to really know who is around you; it might be easier in a smaller community like WRA where we seem know everything about one another, but you can’t ‘tell’ gay kids from straight kids, trans* kids from cisgender kids, or mutant kids from human kids. Being careful with our language isn’t just important around people we know to be members of non-privileged groups, it’s important at all times. We also should understand that passing can divide groups, and that access to privilege can affect the way those without access privilege perceive those with the access to privilege; for example, if you look at most of the mutants who joined up with Magneto in the X-Men movies, many cannot pass as humans and so would not be able to have access to being accepted as humans the way many of those who are on Xavier’s side might.
There is also the concept of ‘being passed’, wherein a person passes without the intent of passing; that is, they are seen as a member of another group without trying to. While this may sound like it could be beneficial, if one, for example, doesn’t know that they are being read as a man and they walk into a women’s restroom, complications could arise.
Next week in GSA, we’re going to talk about trans* people, giving you the basics of the complicated and wonderful mess that is gender identity! If you have any questions, you can bring them to the meeting and ask them anonymously (similar to the Q+A sessions we did back in September). We’re also going to be making ribbons to wear on Friday for Transgender Day of Remembrance, so bring your crafty selves! We look forward to seeing you!
Sunday, November 6
11/3: Blood Donations!
This week in GSA we held a discussion about the policies of the American Red Cross and other blood donation organizations in dealing with MSM (men who have sex with men), and women who have had sex with a man who has had sex with men. In 22 countries, including the United States, the MSM community cannot donate blood and are immediately given a permanent deferral, meaning they cannot donate blood. Some countries have a range of time (anywhere from six months to five years) after which, if a man has not had sex with a man in that time, he may donate blood. There are four countries who used to defer the MSM community, but no longer use MSM as part of their criteria for deferrals.
The reasoning for this primarily is the higher risk MSM have of getting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The MSM community who have had sex after 1977 have a prevalence of HIV infection that is 60 times higher than the rest of the population, and the chance of infection if you are exposed to infected blood in a blood transfusion is 99%. Although all blood donations are screened, HIV can remain dormant and undetected in a person’s body for anywhere from several weeks to several years.
The general consensus of those who attended the meeting was that the policy of permanent deferral of the MSM community was fairly reasonable until HIV testing could be more accurate. But then Doc Rob pointed out that blood donations are really just contingent on trusting that people answer the questions truthfully. So a member of the MSM community could lie on the questionnaire to donate blood. The American Red Cross is also frequently in a state of emergency regarding the amount of donated blood. So is it right to eliminate an entire group of the population when they need the blood and test all blood received anyway? Leave a comment below with your opinion, or send us an email at gsa.wra@gmail.com!
This weekend, the GSA leadership had the opportunity to attend GLSEN of Northeast Ohio’s Youth Conference. We learned a lot and are excited about the opportunity to join up with other GSAs in our area.
On another note, we finally have a date set for our cabaret of songs by LGBT artists! It will be Saturday, February 25th. Because we want you to have plenty of time to rehearse, we would like your song selections by November 30th, after Thanksgiving break. If you need some ideas for a song, you can email us for a list of LGBT artists, or google ‘list of LGBT musicians’ (or something along those lines). We look forward to hearing from you about your selections, and we hope to see you at next week’s meeting, when we are discussing the concept of passing!
The reasoning for this primarily is the higher risk MSM have of getting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The MSM community who have had sex after 1977 have a prevalence of HIV infection that is 60 times higher than the rest of the population, and the chance of infection if you are exposed to infected blood in a blood transfusion is 99%. Although all blood donations are screened, HIV can remain dormant and undetected in a person’s body for anywhere from several weeks to several years.
The general consensus of those who attended the meeting was that the policy of permanent deferral of the MSM community was fairly reasonable until HIV testing could be more accurate. But then Doc Rob pointed out that blood donations are really just contingent on trusting that people answer the questions truthfully. So a member of the MSM community could lie on the questionnaire to donate blood. The American Red Cross is also frequently in a state of emergency regarding the amount of donated blood. So is it right to eliminate an entire group of the population when they need the blood and test all blood received anyway? Leave a comment below with your opinion, or send us an email at gsa.wra@gmail.com!
This weekend, the GSA leadership had the opportunity to attend GLSEN of Northeast Ohio’s Youth Conference. We learned a lot and are excited about the opportunity to join up with other GSAs in our area.
On another note, we finally have a date set for our cabaret of songs by LGBT artists! It will be Saturday, February 25th. Because we want you to have plenty of time to rehearse, we would like your song selections by November 30th, after Thanksgiving break. If you need some ideas for a song, you can email us for a list of LGBT artists, or google ‘list of LGBT musicians’ (or something along those lines). We look forward to hearing from you about your selections, and we hope to see you at next week’s meeting, when we are discussing the concept of passing!
Friday, October 28
10/27: Famous Gay People!
As part of the last week of LGBT History Month, this week in our GSA meeting, we discussed famous people past and present who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. We compiled a massive list--we found we could come up with nearly fifty names just off the tops of our heads without trying very hard. Some of the names we could come up with include:
- Ellen DeGeneres, comedian and actor
- King James I, king of England
- Harvey Milk, politician and activist
- Truman Capote, writer
- Zachary Quinto, actor (and recently out--within the past two weeks!)
- Rosie O’Donnell, comedian
- Langston Hughes, poet
- RuPaul, TV personality
- Rachel Maddow, news anchor/political commentator
- Kate Bornstein, trans* activist
As you can see, our group was incredibly diverse, with people from all walks of life--actors, politicians, writers, activists. And this list is just a small sampling of the list we came up with of famous people. LGBTQ-identified people exist in all walks of life; they aren’t just all artists or writers or activists. Literally anyone in any walk of life can be gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgender or pansexual or any other non-heterosexual, non-cisgender identity.
You can surely make a list of your own! The list we presented here is only the tip of the iceberg that we could come up with in a thirty minute period. How many people can you think of in that time?
Next week in GSA, in light of the recent blood drive here at WRA, we’re going to talk about blood donation and the Red Cross’s policies relating to gay men. As we’ve discussed before, gay men are not allowed to donate blood if they have had sexual relations with another man since 1977. We’ll talk about why and moves that are being made to change those policies. Happy Halloween and we hope to see you on Thursday!
- Ellen DeGeneres, comedian and actor
- King James I, king of England
- Harvey Milk, politician and activist
- Truman Capote, writer
- Zachary Quinto, actor (and recently out--within the past two weeks!)
- Rosie O’Donnell, comedian
- Langston Hughes, poet
- RuPaul, TV personality
- Rachel Maddow, news anchor/political commentator
- Kate Bornstein, trans* activist
As you can see, our group was incredibly diverse, with people from all walks of life--actors, politicians, writers, activists. And this list is just a small sampling of the list we came up with of famous people. LGBTQ-identified people exist in all walks of life; they aren’t just all artists or writers or activists. Literally anyone in any walk of life can be gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgender or pansexual or any other non-heterosexual, non-cisgender identity.
You can surely make a list of your own! The list we presented here is only the tip of the iceberg that we could come up with in a thirty minute period. How many people can you think of in that time?
Next week in GSA, in light of the recent blood drive here at WRA, we’re going to talk about blood donation and the Red Cross’s policies relating to gay men. As we’ve discussed before, gay men are not allowed to donate blood if they have had sexual relations with another man since 1977. We’ll talk about why and moves that are being made to change those policies. Happy Halloween and we hope to see you on Thursday!
Friday, October 21
10/20: Ally Week Workshop!
This week in GSA, instead of our regular Thursday-activities-period meeting, we held an hour-long workshop in honor of Ally Week. The purpose of the workshop was to learn what an ally is and how to be a better ally to the LGBT community, though the lessons we learned are applicable outside that community.
We began the workshop by asking questions about language people had heard around campus and whether or not we had seen harassment or known someone who was harassed for their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Everyone in the room had heard phrases like “that’s so gay” and “no homo”, and everyone knew at least one person who had been harassed. Have you heard or seen these kinds of things? What do you think this means about the current climate at WRA?
Next we took a very difficult quiz about our knowledge of how to be a trans*/intersex ally. The quiz was very difficult, but brings to light how little is often presented for allies about the transgender and intersex communities. Hopefully we all learned something from taking the quiz!
The next activity we did was to quiz those attending about a poll taken by GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) about harassment in schools. Did you know that:
- 85% of LGBT teens have been verbally harassed at school because of their sexual orientation
- 64 percent of students have been verbally harassed because of their gender expression
- 40% of students have been physically harassed at school because of their sexual orientation
- 27 percent of students have been physically harassed at school because of their gender expression
- 30 % of LGBT students missed an entire day of school because they felt unsafe at school (that’s four times more than their straight, cisgender counterparts)
- 62 percent of students who were assaulted in school did not report the incident to school staff
How do these statistics make you feel? Some people expressed surprise at the high number of kids who reported being physically harassed because of their sexual orientation. How does WRA compare to these statistics? We heard from people who thought that WRA was much better and we heard from people who thought the situation at WRA was just as bad. What do you think?
Next we did an exercise those who attended GSA last year might be familiar with--we discussed ways to call people out on their inappropriate language; phrases like “that test raped me”, “that’s so gay” or “he’s such a faggot”. We’ve discussed calling people out before on the blog, but we’ll reiterate the quick rules for calling people out: if you feel unsafe, don’t risk it. Get a teacher or someone else you know to be an ally. If you do feel okay calling someone out, say things like “Hey can you not use language like that around me? It makes me really uncomfortable.” Make it about you, not them, and you may be more effective. And while it is often awkward to call someone out on inappropriate language, that’s one of the best ways allies can show their support on campus.
Finally we split up into small groups and created definitions for what an ally is. There were several great ideas, and after the evening was over the co-presidents compiled them into the following definition, which was read at Morning Meeting: “An ally is a friend who overtly supports others, who actively advocates for those without a voice, and who works to ensure people have a safe environment in which to live and work.”
We’d like to thank those who came out to the event and made it such a wonderful, productive workshop. The name of the club, after all, is the Gay Straight Alliance, and allies are an integral part of the community. Your roles as allies is key to supporting those who most need it, and we’re glad to see such a diverse community of allies here at WRA.
We began the workshop by asking questions about language people had heard around campus and whether or not we had seen harassment or known someone who was harassed for their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Everyone in the room had heard phrases like “that’s so gay” and “no homo”, and everyone knew at least one person who had been harassed. Have you heard or seen these kinds of things? What do you think this means about the current climate at WRA?
Next we took a very difficult quiz about our knowledge of how to be a trans*/intersex ally. The quiz was very difficult, but brings to light how little is often presented for allies about the transgender and intersex communities. Hopefully we all learned something from taking the quiz!
The next activity we did was to quiz those attending about a poll taken by GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) about harassment in schools. Did you know that:
- 85% of LGBT teens have been verbally harassed at school because of their sexual orientation
- 64 percent of students have been verbally harassed because of their gender expression
- 40% of students have been physically harassed at school because of their sexual orientation
- 27 percent of students have been physically harassed at school because of their gender expression
- 30 % of LGBT students missed an entire day of school because they felt unsafe at school (that’s four times more than their straight, cisgender counterparts)
- 62 percent of students who were assaulted in school did not report the incident to school staff
How do these statistics make you feel? Some people expressed surprise at the high number of kids who reported being physically harassed because of their sexual orientation. How does WRA compare to these statistics? We heard from people who thought that WRA was much better and we heard from people who thought the situation at WRA was just as bad. What do you think?
Next we did an exercise those who attended GSA last year might be familiar with--we discussed ways to call people out on their inappropriate language; phrases like “that test raped me”, “that’s so gay” or “he’s such a faggot”. We’ve discussed calling people out before on the blog, but we’ll reiterate the quick rules for calling people out: if you feel unsafe, don’t risk it. Get a teacher or someone else you know to be an ally. If you do feel okay calling someone out, say things like “Hey can you not use language like that around me? It makes me really uncomfortable.” Make it about you, not them, and you may be more effective. And while it is often awkward to call someone out on inappropriate language, that’s one of the best ways allies can show their support on campus.
Finally we split up into small groups and created definitions for what an ally is. There were several great ideas, and after the evening was over the co-presidents compiled them into the following definition, which was read at Morning Meeting: “An ally is a friend who overtly supports others, who actively advocates for those without a voice, and who works to ensure people have a safe environment in which to live and work.”
We’d like to thank those who came out to the event and made it such a wonderful, productive workshop. The name of the club, after all, is the Gay Straight Alliance, and allies are an integral part of the community. Your roles as allies is key to supporting those who most need it, and we’re glad to see such a diverse community of allies here at WRA.
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