Last week on the morning of the LGBTQ assembly I was less than excited. In fact I was quite grumpy at the thought of sitting through a block long seemingly pointless presentation. First block I was discussing the upcoming presentation with a friend. We had both been a part of the test run version last year and were not looking forward to seeing it again. I felt that it was repetitive and that they couldn't possibly say anything I didn't already know. She felt that putting these kids up on a stage would separate them more and cause people to more discriminatory towards them. So needless to say I didn't have the best attitude going in, I was not being a great role model or even a decent person.
Last year as a member of Student Council, I was part of the test run version of this presentation. Truth be told, that presentation was better. However it was not the type of presentation that could be brought to the whole school so they had to evaluate and edit it. In that version, it was a much smaller group, held in the LGIA, without microphones, with more audience participation, and seemingly longer (I don't actually remember how long it was but I think it was two blocks). We sat in groups, brainstormed, and discussed the issues we saw in our school. Everything from gender stereotypes to pronouns to slurs to personal experiences was shared. We also watched the very same video. It was enlightening but that didn't mean I wanted to watch it all over again.
This time around we were seated in the Auditorium something I found disappointing as it divided the speakers from the audience in a way that we didn't encounter in the LGIA. One of the first activities we participated in was a stand-up sit-down exercise. During this exercise one of the questions was to stand up if you have a friend or family member who is LGBTQ and I didn't stand. I sat there untill my best friend yells at me "Lil! what are you doing? stand up!". I looked at her surprised and asked who. She answered and of course I stood up. She was correct the boy she mentioned was both gay and one of my close friends meaning I absolutely knew someone. Later telling this story I could list off way more names including members of the panel, but in the moment I couldn't think of anyone. It just doesn't matter to me. I don't define people by their sexuality. When I think of someone the first things that come to mind are how I know them, their age, often their birthday, and frequently their favorite color. Those are the things that define people to me. So when asked to define someone by their sexuality I failed. I didn't share this story to prove why I didn't need this assembly or how good of a person I am but to prove a point about the way your sexuality isn't the only significant piece of information about you.
Naturally, despite feeling I already know everything there is to know and that I didn't need this assembly, I heard words I didn't understand. I had heard of asexual before but never of panromanitc. Finding once again that there are infinitely many ways to define your sexuality and your gender identity.
Probably the most interesting part of the assembly was listening to my brother talk about it. My brother is a freshmen and went to the 4th block presentation. He had a similar experience to mine in forgetting that not everyone is as accepting as we can hope. My brother came home livid at one of his classmates shocked by her comments on the way back to class. She mentioned the fact that she didn't believe in it being a choice. My brother began to argue with her and she said, "it's not a choice. Love is not a choice". Which further proves the point that you can not choose who you love. Unfortunately my brother got frustrated and school ended before he could change her mind. However this just proves the importance of these presentations in order to change culture of our school.
In the end I was impressed with the presentation and especially with the courage of the panel members but it wasn't till afterwards till I realized the true importance of this assembly. In the halls walking back to class some of the comments were heartwarming, but others were appalling. It was as if people had not learned anything in the entire presentation. The slurs and comments reminded me once again why were are continuing to work for change and also the importance of the role models to set a standard for the school and how they should act. In the video the football team rallied behind him and supported him. That is what it takes to change the environment in a school. Especially as upper classmen, we set a standard for the freshmen to follow. Hopefully ours is one we can be proud of.
Lilia,
ReplyDeleteWhen you mentioned the different reactions of people after the presentation, I very much understood what you meant. My first reaction after the presentation was to be happy by all the support and positivity I was seeing. Then, as I began to talk to more people I saw, like you did, people who just did not get the point at all. As you mentioned, our school community is obviously a work in progress, but with people willing to work toward that change, hopefully we can begin to make a difference.