Youth Bleeds for the Future

YOUTH ACTIVISM

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

YOUTH ACTIVISM

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

INTRODUCTORY LETTER

dear readers...

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

INTRODUCTORY LETTER

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

OPRESSED

in what ways are

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

we oppressed?

OPRESSED

COMING OUT EXPERIENCE

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

I never wanted it to excite a large reaction. I wanted my coming out to be simplistic and purely conversational. No cake. No rainbow banners. Just the two once-feared words and the support of my family and friends. Coming out is different for everyone – and I’m lucky to have had extremely supportive people around me – but my greatest fear was that once people knew about my sexuality, that they would let that define me.

COMING OUT EXPERIENCE

my coming out experience

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

COMING OUT EXPERIENCE

My entire coming out took a whole six months. After my first coming out, I reconnected with an old primary school friend and told her as well. The relief kept me on the edge and after coming out to more friends, I noticed that my wellbeing was peaking to its best. Of course, the greatest struggle was coming out to my family. Even though I knew they would be immediately supportive, the thought of existing in my family’s mind as gay scared me. I don’t completely know why, but I think it may have been a mixture of the internalised homophobia common during the coming out/closeted stage, as well as the fear of having my extended and older family members knowing too. The stigma haunted me more than it should have. Alike to my other coming out experiences, coming out to my family was as movie-like as you could think. It was at my dinner table amidst a friendly conversation. I always laugh at it, because my exact words were, ‘I like dudes’. Straight away my mum, dad and brother looked at me, smiled and congratulated me. Maybe the ‘I like dudes’ is not the best material for a LGBT coming out film, but it was picturesque, which I am overwhelmingly thankful for.

I will make this remark repeatedly, but I am really one of the lucky ones. Even while closeted, I knew that my friends and family would entirely embrace it and even stand up for my sexuality. However, this isn’t always the case unfortunately.

As progressive as our generation is, other members of the LGBT+ community endure horrible turmoil and, in some cases, physical abuse. Though I wish all these people safety and acceptance, it still marks an alarming reality I cannot stand.

Having my own emotional turmoil while closeted - even as one of ‘the lucky ones’- I can understand how much more confronting and dehumanising it would be if the people within your life discriminate against you for your sexuality. One of my greatest hopes is that further generations will become more supportive of our community amongst others, for one’s coming out experience can inflict enough turmoil as it is.

While writing this, I just realised that today (September 21st of 2020), marks 1 year and 1 day since coming out to my best mate. I remember it so clearly too. On the morning of September 20th 2019, I had no intention of coming out, but as the day ended, I was so happy and proud of myself for doing it.

My friends and I had gone to the beach after school to celebrate another friend’s birthday. My mate and I went for a walk after celebrating and I got lost in the conversation. We talked about his crush and then he asked me if I was crushing on anyone.

Then I did it. It was a shock and I almost started to bawl.

Straight away though, he made a comedic remark and I began to smile and laugh. Though I had never felt such a drop in my stomach, the feeling of relief was sensational. It was a rough 4 years of internalising my sexuality, but finally, I had done it. I am so grateful for having this mate as well, because I don’t think I could have done it without his support.

Since coming out to my family in March, there are still people in my life that aren’t aware of my sexuality. With that said, I am definitely proud of who I am, but I like to keep it personal. That’s okay. While closeted, I thought that I’d only need to say the dreaded ‘I’m gay’ once, but I’ve since learnt that it’s something I will have to mention throughout my life. Thankfully, others can do this for me – my parents (with permission of course) told my grandparents for me. I love my grandparents so much that my greatest fear was losing the connection I have with them. The inter-generational norms between us was something that led me to believe that their views wouldn’t align with my identity. But it did. Again, I’m lucky and extremely thankful for this. My sexuality really doesn’t change anything they know about me in their minds. If anything, they may just need to expect two men on top of the wedding cake instead of a man and woman.

Coming out now is almost like a morning greeting. I couldn’t even mouth the words, ‘I’m gay’, comfortably until recently. It’s a lengthy process, and that’s okay too. In specific instances I also prefer that people realise it when they see me holding hands with my boyfriend. This definitely garners a variety of reactions (mostly comedic), but personally I find this easier than having to come out one-on-one to EVERYONE I know. Over time, the people close enough to you will know, and they will accept you for it.

A strange thing I used to hate was when people asked about my sexuality (prior to coming out to them). While these were close people who were very respectful, I despised it because it attacked everything I knew about myself. My thought process was that if I could internalise my sexuality and cease to confront it, then it won’t be an issue – I could date a girl and live the ‘ideal’ and ‘picturesque’ life people don’t challenge. The reasoning behind my internalised homophobia for so long was

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

primarily due to the thought of people criticising myself for being gay. I was always a huge ally for the LGBT+ community, but it was my ultimate and personal fear of being discriminated against that fundamentally corrupted my internal compass.

As much as I romanticised with the idea of being openly gay, I suppressed this and told myself that it was unnatural because I refused to see myself exist as gay in the minds of others. What was the turning point? Well…

Looking back, all the coming out videos on YouTube and LGBT films I watched paid off. They helped me confront my truest self and learn to share it with the world. As I said, it has allowed me to reach the best of my wellbeing – I’m really content with the world around me. Though I am an optimistic person, I have also noticed that the world has a lot to change as well.

Whenever I hug or hold hands with my boyfriend in public, I catch so many stares from strangers. I recognise this to be more of people’s curiousity as they may not be as familiar with homosexual couples, but it is unfortunately a discomforting feeling I know I am going to endure the rest of my life. I also recognise that there will potentially be a day where I may be confronted by a stranger for being homosexual.

What I am ultimately trying to say is that this experience, while extremely rewarding, has its own adversities too. I trust that society will continue to change to be more progressive and familiar with the LGBT+ community. I trust myself that I will make the most of my coming out experience and always be my truest self – no matter who or how many times I am going to have to do this.

COMING OUT EXPERIENCE

It was exam week during year 10 and I had a lot of free time at home. Of course this was intended as study time, but I think I used it equally as productive. At this point I still refused to confirm my sexuality internally, but I decided that (for the benefit of my wellbeing), that I should try to. And what better way to do that than to watch my first LGBT film, Love Simon.

Yes, I cried. It took 1 hour and 50 minutes for me to see past the internalised homophobia and accept my truest self. Out of every coming out experience I have since had, this was the hardest. Most people would challenge this. “How would accepting yourself as gay be the hardest coming out experience when you are already supportive of the LGBT+ community?” I think I could pose similar questions for straight individuals too however. For instance, I could ask someone “how was accepting your body so challenging when you support others for their body?” It all comes down to self-acceptance, which I think is the hardest of all qualities to achieve as an individual. Afterall, it comes in different forms. Whether it is your sexuality, your body image or your background, everyone has different qualities they have to learn to accept. I undoubtedly am still working on my self-acceptance in some forms, but regardless, I feel the best I ever have been.

As a message to all those who are a part of the LGBT+ community (including the closeted individuals), embracing your sexuality is empowering! It comes with its own hardships, but it allows us all to live the life we dream of.

If you are still closeted, don’t stress. Only come out when you feel ready and can do it safely.

There are many supporters and allies around who will embrace your sexuality as much as yourself. Be kind and honest with yourself and learn to accept your sexuality. Take as long as you need, for everyone’s coming out is unique.

I will support you and so will countless others.

Be proud!

COMING OUT EXPERIENCE

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

COMING OUT EXPERIENCE

RESILIENT

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

resilient: an interview with connor organ about mental health What are some of the struggles you have with mental illness? Can you describe what these are like?

I have chronic, episodic depression where I am prone to severe depressive episodes.

They are not as frequent anymore, but they are prone. I have at least 1 every year. I suffer from an anxiety disorder. I have severe levels of anxiety – high levels of dread, fear and terror. I am very insecure about myself and I am very afraid of being alone.

I suffer from an adjustment disorder. I take change very very differently and I don’t like things being different. I like having control over certain areas of my life and when I don’t have control, it increases certain areas of my anxiety. I also have an emotion disorder where I struggle to connect with, feel and experience emotions like a normal person.

How do these impact your everyday life?

My episodes have led to things like suicide attempts, self harm, and many many many months of counselling and therapy and psychologists. These sorts of things, I have tried medication in the past as well. My anxiety impacts almost impacts every single day – I am very self-conscious, I have really really bad body issues and actually suffer from body dysmorphia as well. I am extremely cautious, I am extremely scared of losing those close to me. I live in constant fear of not being good enough and not being what people want and not being enough for the people that I love most.

I find myself being very worried in my close relationships, friendships and actual relationships - that I am not enough for them and that they will eventually find someone better. I feel very easily replaceable to those I love. My adjustment disorder doesn’t affect me everyday – as, you know, things don’t change everyday. And my emotion disorder does affect me in a few different ways but not on a daily basis. I find myself not able to connect with people on major world events. I find myself not really caring about how other people live their life as it doesn’t really affect me. I find myself questioning why certain people react to different situations because I don’t understand that reaction from them.

In what ways have experiences such as these shaped you?

Oh yeah, they’ve definitely shaped me for the better. In the very early days of the abuse from my dad, it had opened my eyes to a whole world of mental illness. It showed me that I am far more susceptible than I believe myself to be. My depressive episodes started soon after that. I found myself sad and very hopeless and dismal. I also found myself becoming more and more closed off – building walls and shutting people out. I discovered very quickly that I had a very unsettling ability to turn off my emotions or stop them altogether and just not care.

My anxiety really kicked in during 2016, when I began to come to terms with my sexuality. I was afraid of who I was. I was afraid of coming out. I was afraid of being myself. And eventually, I left therapy. There was a grooming scandal with a teacher as well, which severely impacted my mental health. I felt betrayed and hurt and lost and completely disrespected in that situation.

In 2013 I moved out of my dad’s house after four or five years of physical abuse, mental abuse and emotional abuse. I moved in with my mum and 2018 happened, which was

RESILIENT

With an alarming amount of today’s teenagers being susceptible to mental health issues, prioritising our wellbeing has become extremely promoted within our society. Whether it’s within the media, in our school community, or just among ourselves, the importance of mental health is pushed so that we know how to protect ourselves and others. 18-year-old student, Connor Organ, told me about his hardship and battle with his mental health. Though only 18, his story accentuates how mental health issues can develop from a young age and can also be overcome. While we all face adversities throughout life, his story shows us that we all just have to be resilient.

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

the single worst year of my life. I had a major relationship that year, and it ended – that completely ruined me. I was travelling to and from school every single day which was two hours there and two hours back. I was wagging class, getting in fights - I became very angry and bitter. I was a horrible, horrible person when I look back now completely different. Eventually after my relationship ended, I talked to a psychologist.

I ended finishing year ten with 17 percent attendance overall. Finding myself in that situation, I knew that I had to make a severe change. I knew that I had to do something to drastically change myself, so I moved schools. I moved to Manor Lakes College and because of that move, I saw myself getting better almost immediately. I put myself into counselling with headspace, and I saw a major increase in good vibes. I saw myself getting better almost instantly.

2019 was a really amazing year for me having a new group of people – having an environment that was healthier and not as toxic – it gave me a space to grow and flourish and allow me to become the person I wanted to be rather than the person I needed to be. It was amazing. 2020 came around and I got school captain (not to flex or anything), which was also amazing. And my mental health has really shaped me.

RESILIENT

A lot of people see their mental illness past as tragic and upsetting and sad. They reflect on it and think ,‘oh gosh, how could I ever let myself get so low?’ I don’t believe that. I believe my mental illness, my past, my suicide attempts, my anxiety, my self harm and everything that I’ve been through, has made me the person I am now - who quite frankly is delightful. I found myself with a group of people that love me for me. I found myself with a group of people that don’t judge me on most things.

Yeah, so my mental illness has really helped me become a person who is strong, resilient, ready to face pretty much anything, and who actually believes they could make something of themselves.

How do you minimise the impacts of your depression/anxiety?

I don’t think there’s ways to minimise the impacts of mental illness. I think there’s ways to have yourself cope better. But I don’t believe there’s a way to minimise the effect it has on you, because if you are depressed, if you are suicidal, if you are anxious, there are ways you can cope with that. There are ways you can help your body relax but you can’t minimise the effect it will have on you.

How do you cope?

I’m a writer. I write plays, scripts and poems. I like to put my words and thoughts down. I have a journal I write in as frequently as I can. I like to take time out of my days to sit down and watch something funny or something dumb, or something I enjoy. I talk to the people closest to me in every single opportunity I have.

I think, doing things you enjoy – taking an hour out of your day to do something – even if it’s something as mundane as sitting in front of your computer and laughing at dumb comedy, scrolling through tik tok, scrolling through social media or eating a slice of cake. It can be something so small – you can go outside and paint or write or sing. Even if you just need to go somewhere and scream and yell. There’s no one right way to cope, but for me I cope through the things I enjoy.

You are also a great advocator for mental health awareness. Can you tell me a bit about what you have done?

I was on the youth advocacy group (YAG for short) for a year. We ran workshops, we ran events, we did lots of stuff and promoted mental health in teens. I honestly didn’t find that it was something I wanted. I found that there wasn’t as much that could be done. I feel that there was not as many events I could attend given I was in school and working. So what was an amazing group of people, an amazing initiative and an amazing idea and concept for someone like me with a full life, I couldn’t be involved.

So I advocate for mental health through different ways. I use my platform, I advocate

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

through social media, I try to do posts on my Snapchat story at least once a week.

I send little messages to people to give them reassurance. Working with Headspace was incredible to see how much work and energy and care goes into giving the young people of the western suburbs positive messages.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 9% of young people aged between 16-24 years old experience high levels of psychological distress. As a result, eople aged 18-24 years have the highest prevalence of mental disorders of any other age group. Why do you think these statistics are so high?

I think such high levels occur because of social media (I don’t blame social media for mental illness as it is an amazing platform that can be used for incredible things).

There are people who advocate everyday for mental health – it’s a good way to escape reality. But I think social media puts a lot of pressure on kids to live a social media life.

I think it’s the use of social media which is to blame. I believe the time spent in front of a screen can be very detrimental and I think the amount of platforms out there – even if you are streaming something via streaming services – gives young people a reason to stay inside. I think we’re in such high numbers because unfortunately a lot of young people see mental illness and counselling as trendy. I know that everyone I have talked to say that they have been depressed or have self-harmed or something along those lines. It’s just so common to say it now and I think there’s so much information out there and so many people say ‘I’m depressed’ when they are just sad. I feel that there isn’t enough proper education for young people around what mental illness actually is.

There’s so many things influencing young people to be mentally unwell, and a major part of it is how mental health has become normalised.

What is some advice you could offer to others suffering from mental illness?

For people who are struggling, don’t do it alone. Don’t feel as though you can’t talk to people. Don’t feel as though you are going to be bothering any people, and don’t suffer in silence. If you are sad, if you are anxious, if you are feeling alone, just reach out to the closest person to you. Reach out to a friend, a loved one, a partner or even a complete stranger you may talk to online every couple of weeks. Anyone you feel comfortable and confident with - reach out to them.

And if you feel like you are going to feel like you are bothering people or burdening people, don’t, because I can guarantee that those who love you would rather sit there for hours and listen to you rant and cry and scream than spend 15 minutes of somebody eulogise you. Just. Reach. Out. And to anyone who wants to help, observe your friends and watch them. If you notice them acting different, if you notice there’s not as much energy, if you notice that there’s something different with them, either ask them about it or send them a text. Even little things like texting them and saying ‘hey, I hope you have an amazing day, you’re worth it and I love you’. It’s about being there for them - asking them if they want to call, or do a Netflix party, or just pushing them to talk to you. Whilst you think you might be hurting them, if you push them they will want to talk. As someone who has suffered, I know that there are times where I have benefitted so much from those around me pushing that little bit further as they wouldn’t have gotten through to me. But instead people make the terrible move to just give up, whereas if you push, they will realise that you will genuinely care. Just pay attention to your friends.

RESILIENT

But there’s also so much pressure on young people today with schooling. I think school is a large part of the reason young people are so stressed and can eventually lead to depression because you are tested and prodded and charged and analysed every single day. 5 days a week for 6 hours. It becomes such an environment where everyone is competing against one another. Everyone wants to beat this person on a SAC. Everyone wants a better score than that person. Everyone wants to be more liked than this person. People want to look like them. People want to avoid them. People want to be with her. People want to fuck him. Like it’s such an environment where people feel as if they need to compete with each other to be ahead.

IRESILIENT

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

RESILIENT

FEMINISM AND SOCIAL MEDIA

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

feminism and social media: an interview with @ girlsjustwannahaveequality

This profile shows that being an activist is not entirely restrained by our age or platform. Personally, she inspires me to share more activismrelated content on my own social media profile. After all, it gives us empowerment.

What inspired you to create your page?

We had this six-week rotation of special classes in school. One of them was a Me to We class where we picked a problem that we were passionate about, thought of something we could do to help it, and make a presentation about it. I came up with @ girlsjustwannahaveequality and I actually went through with it.

Who would be one of your greatest inspirations?

I think my mom because she raised me to be a strong woman; independent, a problem solver, fearless, and unafraid to stand up for what I believe in. Additionally, Greta Thunberg because she created an enormous movement from one small act.

You cover a lot of issues relating to feminism that need addressing in society at the moment. What would you consider to be the most significant?

I think they are all equally important, and I hope that my followers each have a few topics that they are interested in that they take their own steps to tackle.

What values would you want to promote within younger women?

I wish for younger women to be powerful, be able to take a stand, and don’t let smallminded people stop them from doing what they want. Furthermore, instead of tearing each other down, bring each other up. I hope that they realize life is not a contest between fellow females, it is a team sport, and to win you have to work together.

You’ve had a very fast growth in followers since you started. Who do you think the majority of your followers are?

I think the majority of followers are young people looking for inspiration and information about feminism and gender equality.

FEMINISM AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media has given us the power to share our voices amongst larger platforms and garner an active audience that follows what we believe in. Profiles such as @girlsjustwannahaveequality show that we can be empowered by the technology we have around us. Only being a teen for the US, this youth activist advocates for feminism and gender equality amongst other rights. She only had 800 followers when I first requested this interview, however, with such a rapidly growing and passionate follower base, she has since gained more than 3000 followers in a matter of weeks.

FEMINISM AND SOCIAL MEDIA

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

How could we promote advocation for feminism in men?

First we need to clearly define feminism. The definition of feminism has been butchered by society. Being a feminist does not mean I’ll take my bra off, light it on fire, and throw it into a busy street. It does not mean a man-hating-psycho-woman. Men are not the enemy, they are allies. The patriarchy is the enemy.

Feminism is not a dirty word. It is simply a person who believes in the social, economic, and political equality of the genders.

Second, we need to stop calling men ‘simps’ for solely treating women like regular, decent human beings.

Your very first post (13 November 2019) states that it will take 208 years to achieve gender equality in the USA. Why do you think it has taken so long for society to change their attitudes and values towards gender equality?

For a long time, society has viewed women as second-class citizens, and it still does. It has taken so long because as second-class citizens, society didn’t care about our human rights.

It was focused on improving the lives of the middle-aged white men. But, when women started working and protesting they had to pay attention.

Do you feel like our values are being accepted by older generations? How do you think we can promote change in outdated opinions and beliefs?

I feel like for a long time they weren’t. Because they felt that we were dumb kids with no idea of what was going on in the world.

But now more than ever we are realizing that this is our world, and slowly, so are the older generations. Especially with the Black Lives Matter movement, we know that this cannot keep happening. We can promote change by keeping it going. We are

working towards change right now and if we keep doing what we are doing right now we will attract the attention and people needed for long-lasting change.

What’s your idea of an ideal future? Do you think we can achieve this?

A world where we are all equal no matter your gender, race, or sexual orientation.

What are some of the main barriers imposed on yourself and our generation from achieving this?

I think the main barrier is our age. People expect us to be stupid kids who don’t care about activism, so they don’t take us seriously. They believe that the change that we want to inflict is neglected.

What do you see in the future of your Instagram page? What impact do you want to make?

I attract a large audience who enjoys and interacts with my content. I want to have my own podcast and one day meet my heroes. I want to inspire others to become better feminists, activists, and people.

What message would you like to communicate to our generation?

Sometimes it is hard for young people to speak up about issues they care about. But what the youth of the world do right now will create the world we will live in. So if we do nothing, nothing will change. So ask yourself “Is this the world you want to live in?”

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

FEMINISM AND SOCIAL MEDIA

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

EMPOWERED

in what ways are

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

we empowered?

EMPOWERED

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

for the future. are us teenagers and young adults undermined by the world inherited? or are we soldiers in salvation for an earth disregarded?

FOR THE FUTURE

“misinformed and naïve,” spoken by the people who forced our generation into politics we are the new age breaking rules and expectations for our advocation, empowered by our progressive voices and fortification. at what point does our inclination to fix humanity overtake our childhood? our youth? at what point do we bloom unripened, sprouting for the rising sun and falling moon watching time in slumber till the world learns to move? in hands we bear the weight of your negligence in calling for a new saviour, learning to protest our society in ode to a better future and Mother Nature. when man is reckless and selfish, man is better manipulated into seeing our virtue blossom throughout generations fixated on a becoming reality we have created. some will carry our stride in their humour, but our youth will always bleed for the future.

YOUTH BLEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

FOR THE FUTURE