Last
Friday was my favorite class so far! Our speakers were awesome, they were very
insightful and interactive. They got everyone involved, which is a difficult
thing to do at eight am on a Friday morning. I was very surprised to see
that the LGBTQ community was included in the Cultural Issues and Diversity
class since when we think cultural, we tend to think more about ethnic groups
than anything else. I am glad that we got the chance to see this presentation
since this is an issue that has really hit home for me and really needs to be
brought to the light.
There
were some really good points that I picked up on from the presentation. The
part I liked the most was the fact that they asked us “Did you wake up and
decide to be straight?” or “Have you ever been accused of flaunting your heterosexuality?”
This really went to show that homosexual people do not just wake up one day and
choose to become homosexual. Instead they are born that way, and it is a part
of who they are. I have a few friends who are homosexual and the bullying and
harassment I have seen them go through is definitely not worth the pain they
would have endured from a ‘choice’, who would choose that for themselves.
Assuming that someone has chosen their sexuality also assumes that they could
just ‘snap out of it’, which is simply not true. Another thing that was brought
to my attention Friday was PFLAG, which stands for parents and friends of lesbians and gays. It is a gay-straight
alliance and I think it is so wonderful that they talked about it. PFLAG helps
to validate LGBTQ and might let homophobic ‘straight’ people see everything from
a different perspective, since it communicates that we do not have to be LGBTQ
in order to love, support and respect the people who are.
PFLAG
PFLAG stands for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. It
is an organization that supports LGBTQ youth and their families. It is a place
to go for parents who do not know what to do when their child first comes out
and it is an alliance between gay and straight. PFLAG always has a float in the
gay pride parade in support of their family and friends who are LGBTQ. PFLAG
advocates for their allies. The PFLAG website offers support to families and
friends of LGBTQ and also to the LGBTQ themselves. The website has links to
community and online resources, and several statistics about LGBTQ youth. Some
scary statistics from the PFLAG website are:
·
- 30% of all suicides are LGBTQ
- 26% of LGBTQ youth are kicked out of their homes
- LGBTQ youth are more likely to become homeless
- LGBTQ students hear on average 26 anti-LGBTQ slurs every day!
- 43% of trans identified attempt suicide
These statistics are startling, and it just goes to show how
relevant this issue is to the field and that we, as Child and Youth Workers,
have a lot to do in order to help!
Hetrosexual
Questionnaire
I was very interested in looking up the heterosexual questionnaire.
It asks us questions like why we chose to be straight and other questions that
an LGBTQ person is typically asked to explain when they come out. The questions
themselves are very difficult to answer, so the questionnaire should help the
person taking it to empathize with LGBTQ people and have a better understanding
of the whole situation. The questions would be hard to give an accurate answer
to, and it is impossible to imagine being an LGBTQ youth trying to come out to
my loved ones and having any one of these questions thrown my way. The questionnaire
gives us a glimpse of what LGBTQ people go through on a daily basis. When I was
looking for the heterosexual questionnaire I found a site that actually uses it
in a lesson plan in an anti homophobia workshop for youth. I have included the
lesson plan as well since it will allow us to use the questionnaire in a
therapeutic manner with children and youth.
Mini “Outside
my cultural comfort zone” assignment
The last thing I am going to blog about is my mini “Out of my
cultural comfort zone” assignment. Friday after class I went to Toronto for the
weekend. We all wanted to go out Saturday night, and while we were deciding
where to go, I suggested that we go to see the Drag Queens. This is what I had
wanted to do for my actual comfort zone assignment but it was not possible at
the time. Anyway, we went to a gay bar on Church Street called “Crews &
Tango”. The lower level is drag queens who perform all night and the upstairs
is a dance bar. I had an awesome time and I ended up ditching my friends, who
just wanted to dance, to watch the Drag Queens perform. I learned a lot about
Toronto’s LGBTQ scene, and I feel like the workshop in Friday’s class gave me a
different outlook which allowed me to pick up on things I normally wouldn’t.
The first thing I want to comment on about Crews & Tango
is the way the bathrooms are set up. They have three bathrooms there, male,
female and trans. I thought that this was very cool. We talked a lot about the
problems that arise for LGBTQ people, particularly those that identify as trans-gendered,
in public bathrooms. Although I am pretty sure no violence would have went on
at Crews & Tango, as it is a gay bar, it was nice to know that there was
that level of acceptance and equality. I am curious as to whether or not a lot
of other LGBTQ friendly places have the three bathroom option.
I also learned a lot about Drag Queens. I thought they were
like strippers, and everyone got really offended when I asked that. I learned
that they can be sort of mean, they will stand up and point fun at people in
the audience. Ultimately, I found the Drag Queens to be glamorous, and almost
like a form of comedian since they are usually funny. They pretty much just put
on elaborate dresses, hair and make-up and sing and dance around on stage. I
loved every minute of watching the Drag Queens, and I was not even all that
offended when they poked fun at me. It was a very fun and eye opening night. I
have included the web link to Crews & Tango’s website. The website is neat.
It has events and all of the performers on it. You click on the performer’s
picture and it takes you to their profile, which has an auto-biography about
how they began Drag. The Queen I saw is
called Carlotta Carlisle, I have included a link to her page as well. She is
who is in the picture I took below.
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