PGN LGBTQ Youth Supplement by our youth, for our youth, for our future
Locals get national student award By Jen Gregory, 22
Choosing the right college is difficult. How far away? How much? What majors do they offer? What’s the surrounding neighborhood like? How is the athletics program? The list is virtually endless. In the LGBT community, aspiring college freshmen have to add another important question to their college search: Is it LGBTfriendly? Unfortunately, “LGBT-friendly” is not a term that many colleges advertise on their marketing brochures and websites. This can make it difficult or nearly impossible for LGBT high-school seniors to make the most informed decision. More often than not, the choice of college comes down to the almighty dollar — not the comfort level in the school itself. But Campus Pride, a national nonprofit organization, is seeking to provide the answers to these questions. Originating as an online clearinghouse for college students to seek out LGBT information and resources, Campus Pride now has eight national programs that seek to provide support to college campuses that do not have many LGBT resources locally available to them, as well as an ongoing list
of LGBT-friendly colleges. Executive director and founder Shane Windmeyer is passionate about helping the voices of young LGBT people be heard. “Campus Pride is effective because we actually have relationships with young people,” he said. “We see our movement as a social-justice movement that is led by young people.” In 2007, Campus Pride began to recognize the efforts of LGBT youth leaders through its annual Voice & Action Awards. Student leaders across the country submitted their applications, highlighting the strong points of their socialjustice work for the LGBT community. “Currently in the community there is not a way to recognize young adult leaders,” Windmeyer said. “We spend too much time focusing on donors or organizations. If we are going to really have an impact on the future, we need to focus on today’s youngadult leaders.” Starting in 2010, Campus Pride opted to highlight a few of its Voice & Action applicants with the Leaders in Action Award as a way to honor the commitment these student leaders have to LGBT and PAGE 8 social-justice
PA youth unite around PASS Act
STUDENTS CAROLYN PANDOLFO (FROM LEFT), NICOLE MAHONEY, FAITH ELMES, JAKE TOLAN AND ASHISH KALANI ADVOCATING FOR THE PASS ACT IN HARRISBURG Photo: Jason Landau Goodman
By Victoria Martin, 20 Pennsylvania’s anti-bullying law is shockingly weak and inadequate. Thousands of students throughout the commonwealth are faced with dangerous verbal, physical and cyber harassment on a daily basis. With the help of a clear policy on preventing and resolving school violence, safer schools can become a reality. In 2011, a collective of youth activists met to discuss Pennsylvania’s weak bullying
laws, and what could be done to better protect students. They then began to draft the Pennsylvania Safe Schools (PASS) Act, a comprehensive anti-bullying law to reduce school violence and empower teachers and school staff to mediate incidents of bullying. The PASS Act is now in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, being driven by the historic work of students in favor of strong safe-schools policies. The PASS Act establishes a
New program shows youth potential of science careers By Karim Sariahmed, 22 Creating new programming to serve marginalized communities is a slow and delicate process. I’ve been at work with wonderful people whose LGBTQ advocacy predates my own political consciousness, but their expertise and knowledge of the Philadelphia LGBTQ community has raised more questions for me than it has answered. Chief among these questions is this: How can the nonprofit sector’s scarce resources be used to fiercely promote social justice? Working on the Out4STEM program at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, with the help of Penn Med’s LGBTPM+ and the Educational Justice Coalition, has given me some hope. Out4STEM is a pilot program for connecting LGBTQ youth in
LOCAL STUDENTS LEARNED ABOUT THE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS FIELDS AT THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIAN’S LAUNCH EVENT FOR OUT4STEM AT THE MÜTTER MUSEUM Photo: Scott A. Drake
Philadelphia to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)
education resources and mentorship in a safe space. Reflecting on
the Out4STEM launch this past month reassures me that there is valuable, intersectional work to be done in the LGBTQ community. A critical perspective on the accessibility of STEM will be necessary to effectively enlist the wealth of resources available to serve Philadelphia’s LGBTQ youth, many of whom are marginalized in other ways as well. At the launch earlier this month, a facilitated discussion with LGBTQ youth, community members and STEM professionals turned into a discussion about being queer in a conservative STEM environment. The young people in the room listened with rapt attention to the adults’ stories. One gay man described being avoided by a closeted colleague and feeling generally “pushed PAGE 8 aside” by man-
reporting mechanism for incidents of bullying; creates a strong definition of bullying; enumerates protection for students against bullying based on actual or perceived characteristics including race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or presentation as well as other protected classes; and provides training for educators to identify and resolve cases of bullying and harassment. The bill currently has a recordbreaking 99 cosponsors, making it the most supported safe-schools bill in Pennsylvania history, as well as the most co-sponsored bill that includes LGBT protections. There are now 50 Republican and 49 Democratic co-sponsors. The PASS Act is additionally supported by nearly 50 Pennsylvania mayors who have signed a Mayors for Safe Schools statement, and numerous clergy members from faith communities across the state who have signed a Clergy for Safe Schools letter. The success of the PASS Act is due to a groundbreaking studentled advocacy effort, in which a collective of youth activists design and execute strategies to support the bill. These activists work in association with organizations in the PASS Partnership, a coalition of educational and social-service PAGE 6 organizations
What’s inside Rutgers offers LGBT History class: page 2 — Q&A with the ‘Youth Action’ co-chairs: page 3 — LGBTQ V-Day dance coming,“Stick Fly”: page 4 — “We Will Rock You” and “RuPaul’s Battle of the Seasons”: page 5 — Bullying hits home, For the love of butches: page 6 — “Straight Answers”: page 7
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PGN LGBTQ YOUTH SUPPLEMENT
New Rutgers course uncovers LGBT history By Mason Hopkins, 18 and Mariah Brown, 21 “In the summer of 2013, I was registering for my first semester of college. I asked my advisor what classes I should take. She suggested a history class. History had never been the most interesting field of study to me but, I figured, why not? While looking at the course listings, I noticed a class entitled “Queer America: An Introduction to LGBTQ History.” I knew that I had to take the course. I immediately thought of my best friend, who came out the summer before senior year of high school. It was such a powerful thing to me, a straight person. It was a statement that would change his life forever but, unknowingly, it would change mine too.” — Mason Hopkins “When adding a course to the Rutgers schedule of courses, the first question is: Who will be interested in this class? As I sat down on the first day of the class, I knew what my intentions were. I am a lesbian who knows practically nothing about the community that I identify with and wish to work in. My personal question for everybody else in the room was: Why were they there, and did any of them identify as a part of the LGBTQ community? It was interesting to find out that about half the class identified as an ally and took the class to find out more about the community and also, as an ally, what they could do to help. The other half in some way identified as a lesbian, bisexual, trans or queer. Many students in the class shared the desire to learn more about a community that is largely overlooked and not included within history textbooks.” — Mariah Brown The fall semester of 2013 at Rutgers University in Camden saw the first LGBTQ history course offered at the campus. The creation of the course began when Rutgers-Camden instructor Dawn Walsh, who holds a master’s degree in women’s history with an emphasis in LGBTQ history, noticed that the university did not offer a course in LGBTQ history. She first met with Dr. Laurie Bernstein, chair of the History Department and, previously, director of Women’s and Gender Studies, to make sure that
the class was cross-listed so it could fulfill a history requirement. Walsh also met with Dr. Ellen Malenas Ledoux, current director of Women’s and Gender Studies, who ensured the course would fulfill a diversity requirement. When asked about the reason for creating the course, and the goals for it, Walsh said, “It’s all our American history, and the goal is to teach it from that perspective and to allow students to have an experience of LGBT history within the context of history at large.” Walsh also expressed hope that this course would encourage more LGBTQ-focused courses on campus. Ledoux noted Walsh had a great syllabus and was more than ready to get started. She also pointed out that this course was “really important for Rutgers politically. We have a wonderful group of LGBTQI students on this campus, and we want them to feel welcomed and that their history is important and recognized.” The overarching question of the class was: What is LGBTQ history and how has the LGBTQ experience evolved from the beginning of the 20th century to present day? The students covered a variety of topics during the semester. The course included the use of textbook, film, poetry and student projects in order to give students the best possible overview of LGBTQ American history and how it plays into the standard narrative of American history. As student Noahawke Ramos stated, “[I] appreciate [learning about] a history that hasn’t been part of general history.” This class showed that LGBTQ history is indeed American history. Although Bernstein stressed how important it was that the course be historical in nature, she also noted its relevance to Rutgers-Camden’s commitment to civic engagement. As part of the course, students went to the Triad House, a residential group home for homeless LGBTQ youth
in Ewing, N.J., where they played games, baked cookies and hung out with the youth staying there. “Especially in the wake of the Tyler Clementi tragedy for Rutgers,” said Bernstein, “I think that anything we do to support our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students is really, really important.” Student Elizabeth Graves shared Bernstein’s thoughts on supporting the community. “Everyone deserves a voice and everyone deserves to be heard,” Graves said. “Silence is oppression. By speaking out and just by having this class, we are giving all of these men and women a voice.” Dr. Joseph Schiavo, associate dean of Rutgers-Camden, acknowledged the need for a diverse campus. “If we’re going to show that we’re a diverse campus, and we want to learn how to respect other people, it’s important to have courses like this,” he said. He added that it is important for students to be well-rounded and open-minded. In 1988, Rutgers-New Brunswick/ Piscataway, seeing a need to address issues of the LGBT Rutgers community, formed the Center for Social Justice Education and LGBT Communities. The Center holds events throughout the year to further educate individuals, as well as entertain and provide a safe place to socialize with other LGBT individuals and allies. The Center acknowledges the success of LGBT leaders within the entire Rutgers system (New Brunswick, Newark and Camden), holding a Rainbow Graduation where they mark student triumphs as well as address challenges they faced while at Rutgers University. The positive LGBTQ-friendly environment continues on the two additional campuses. At Rutgers-Newark, the LGBTQ and Diversity Resource Center mission is to focus on community development and educational opportunities. The Center has several annual events as well as a
“Especially in the wake of the Tyler Clementi tragedy for Rutgers, I think that anything we do to support our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students is really, really important.”
Rainbow Graduation every year. At Rutgers-Camden, the LGBTQ Alliance is a studentrun organization. The Alliance is currently working to revamp the organization and create a fun, but also educational, environment. During the spring semester, Rutgers Camden and the surrounding community, can look forward to the annual drag show produced by the Alliance. In recent years, Safe Zone, a program designed to raise awareness and create an accepting and welcoming space for the LGBTQ community, has been launched at the Camden campus. “Queer America: An Introduction to LGBTQ History” is the continuation of diverse LGBTQ-related courses being offered at Rutgers-Camden. This class has been the first to focus specifically on LGBTQ history. However, Rutgers-Camden also offers other classes that address issues of sexuality, such as “The History of Sexuality,” “Queer Nineteenth Century,” “Philosophy of Sex, Gender and Sexuality” and “Sexuality and Society.” Via a survey taken in the “Queer America” class, students stated they would like to see more classes offered at Rutgers-Camden covering topics such as queer theory, LGBT literature and film and transgender identities and politics. Meanwhile, the future of “Queer America” looks bright. The course will be offered again in the fall semester. Walsh said it was a very rewarding experience to teach the class. The hope for all of the people involved is that the course leads to other courses in LGBTQ studies. “I am so honored that I had the opportunity to take this class. It opened my eyes to a world that I never knew about. It gave me a wide array of literature that I now love.” — Mason Hopkins “For me, this class dusted off a hidden passion. The LGBT community at Rutgers-Camden is growing and needs the support of educators, administrators and students alike. I have a personal wish of education and that starts with people like Walsh and everybody who got us to this point in LGBTQ history. The future of this class, as well as the possibility of an LGBTQ studies minor, is an amazing possibility.” — Mariah Brown ✮
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College GSAs Bucks County Community College — Gay/Straight Alliance: Provides a safe haven for LGBTQA campus community members and works to combat stigma on campus; fratrikc@bucks.edu or altemose@bucks.edu. Cabrini College — Sanctuary: Offers affinity groups, peer support and educational activities to promote a greater understanding of the LGBT community. Chestnut Hill College
— H.E.R.O.: Promotes awareness of and appreciation for the LGBTQQIA community and works to instill a sense of unity between the community and allies; kociszewskim@chc.edu.
Community College of Philadelphia — Gay/Straight
Alliance: Advocates for LGBT inclusion and acceptance on campus with programming and events, and offers resources for LGBT and ally campus communities; scooks1@ccp.edu.
Drexel University
— LGBTQA Student Center: Supports the development, growth and education of Drexel students with a safe and inclusive campus location for the community and allies on campus; Creese Student Center Room 48-C.
Holy Family University
— The Alliance for Student Equality: Works to recognize the respect and dignity of the whole person in support of promoting the development of personal identity and social equality on campus; drafter@holyfamily.edu or mmbobholz@holyfamily.edu.
La Salle University — The Alliance: Pledges to provide a safe place and support for the LGBT members of the community; http://studentaffairs.lasalle. edu/umas/service-opportunities/ advocacy-groups/the-alliance/; alliance.lasalle@gmail.com.
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Philadelphia University
— Gay/Straight Alliance: Connects LGBT campus community with resources throughout the university and region; caulford4949@mail.philau.edu or horowitzh@philau.edu.
Saint Joseph’s University
— The Alliance: Fosters open and honest discussion about diversity and LGBT issues and works to affect an environment where homophobia and hatred are replaced by mutual understanding and respect; www. sju.edu/int/resources/alliance/ about.html; gsa@sju.edu.
Temple University — Queer Student Union: Strives to provide a safe social space to LGBTQIA students while exploring issues relevant to the larger community; https://twitter.com/TempleQSU; nurodney. prad@temple.edu. University of the Arts — OUT@UArts: Through discussion, cultural events and outreach through art, seeks to make a difference for LGBTQ individuals at UArts and beyond; www. uarts.edu/students/outuarts; cfreeman@uarts.edu. University of Pennsylvania — LGBT Center: More than 20 undergraduate and graduate LGBT student groups abound at Penn, with meetings and community events held at the Center, 3907 Spruce St.; www.vpul.upenn. edu/lgbtc/; center@dolphin. upenn.edu; 215-898-5044. University of the Sciences — Alliance: Increases awareness of LGBT issues on campus and provides support for LGBT students, faculty, administration and staff; http://orgs.usciences. edu/alliance/; alliance@mail. usciences.edu. West Chester University — LGBTQQA Services: Provides information, resources, support and programming for the campus community and is home to the LGBTQA Student Organization; LGBTQA@wcupa.edu; www. wcupa.edu/_services/stu.lgb/. ✮
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Q&A:
Youth Action co-chairs on trans-millennial issues, politics and visibility in the Keystone State By Angel B. Hardy, 25 Marking its return this February, the Pennsylvania Youth Action Conference will again assemble our region’s promising LGBTQ student leaders for a three-day summit highlighting our commonwealth’s policies and legislation — or sheer absence of — that will shortly influence the lives of every queer millennial across the gamut. This year’s gathering, Feb. 1416 at University of Pennsylvania, will focus on issues relating to transgender youth, involving areas regarding civic protection in schools to marriage to federal equal rights. Now in its third year, YAC has seen its grassroots engine pick up a whole lot of steam. Regarded to be one of the rising landmark events for queer youth in the tri-state region, YAC not only educates young minds on today’s social-justice landscape but also challenges the status quo of Pennsylvanian’s not-so-tolerant politics. Often referred to as a “purple” state, Pennsylvania has a long history of teeter-tottering between laissez-faire adapted progressiveness to deep-rooted MiddleAmerican conventionalism. But this doesn’t seem to faze the youth running the conference. In fact, there is quite an amalgam of radical activism and by-the-book bureaucracies that resonate in the heart of the conference — generating a fine frenzy without causing a scene, per se. While the spirit of stentorian yells from Stonewall are embossed onto every trans and queer youth, this is not about that at all. No political impasses are needed. No marches to Harrisburg will do. The only signs essential are for decoration. And yet, while the measures of extracting this year’s message for transgender parity has reformed, the blueprint provided by legacies such as Pauline Park, Calpernia Addams and this year’s keynote speaker, Alyson Robinson, remains intact. I recently caught up with YAC’s newly elected co-chairs Turner Stulting, a sophomore at Bucknell University, and Rod Cook, a sophomore at University of Pennsylvania, to discuss all of
the YAC happenings. PGN: What made you two get involved in this year’s Youth Action Conference? TS: I ended up going to last
year’s Youth Action Conference because one of my close friends in Bucknell’s GSA, Alexander Vining, was involved with Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition already, and made an announcement one week at our meeting. I thought it sounded interesting so I decided to go and had a wonderful time and met amazing people. Alexander invited me and two freshman from Bucknell to go to PSEC’s Convening this past fall. It was there where I started getting involved for the planning of the conference.
RC: What really interested me was that I haven’t heard of something, at least on the Pennsylvania level, that brought together people with specific focus on youth, where youth voices were the ones going to be first and foremost heard. So, I thought that was amazing, especially for LGBT activism. For this conference, I think that it’s extremely important that we take the time to narrow the LGBT focus and focus specifically on the transgender, gender-nonconforming population. That’s something that I’m primarily dedicated towards at my time here at Penn.
PGN: In terms of workshops and caucuses, what will the conference cover this year? RC: We have a really wide range of caucuses and sessions that are happening this year. The workshops come first. We have one session on how to get a GSA or a queer student group started on the high-school level. We also have a presentation entitled “Beyond the Dominate Trans* Narrative.” It will teach audiences how to effectively and truthfully tell trans* stories without simplifying their experiences. TS: There’s one workshop being done by the Mazzoni Center on legal rights in Pennsylvania for trans* individuals. There’s also one on what different faith backgrounds believe about people who identify as trans* or anywhere on the gender spectrum.
There will be caucuses that are identity-based, such as allies, transgender, bisexual, gay, lesbian, youth of color, etc. We also have regional caucuses for the different regions within PSEC to discuss how to better unify those communities. PGN: Turner, as a trans* individual yourself, was there an urgency to bring trans-specific issues unto the discussion? TS: There was a definite urgency to bring the trans* community to the forefront because so often the “T” in LGBT is overlooked. It’s so important for there to be a visible trans* community so that other people can start to recognize the issues that face the trans* community. PGN: Have you seen a shift in more LGBT youth becoming more politically informed? And why do you think that is? TS: I have definitely seen a shift in LGBT youth becoming more politically informed. Things like social media have certainly aided in that, but also recent events within the federal government, like DOMA and Prop. 8, which have made national headlines. RC: One of the things that unites us the most is being able to utilize social-media outlets to talk to those who aren’t physically close to us about these kinds of issues. So, I think the ability to go onto sites like Facebook and Tumblr and to share your story while also learning about other people who’re going through the same struggles and trying to accomplish the same things that you are is extremely helpful. PGN: In terms of trans rights and representation, how does the state of Pennsylvania fare? TS: Pennsylvania has certainly made strides in the right direction. I look at Kasey Caron and Issak Wolfe, who fought for their rights, and I see hope. At the same time, those stories show us that we do still have a long ways to go, like the rest of the country. I think one of the biggest things holding us back from progress is a lack of understanding. The only real way to help people better understand is to expose them to people who identify on the
trans* spectrum, so that they can realize that we are human too. But because there is a lack of understanding, it can sometimes be hard for the trans* community to step outside their community to help educate others, so it just becomes this cycle that we have to break. PGN: With cisgender-dominated “gay rights” becoming more secured within our local and national laws, do you foresee trans rights becoming the new publicized civil-rights movement? TS: I am so hopeful that trans* rights are becoming the next publicized movement for civil rights. There have been some major public figures in the trans* community, like Laverne Cox and Cece McDonald, and I believe that having public figures like them can really start the push for trans* rights. RC: It’s important to recognize that trans* rights do have an extremely close connection with the rights of cisgender queer people. Historically, the movement was initiated by transgender women, drag queens and people in nonconforming communities but has since veered towards cisgender rights. I believe there is an opportunity to rekindle that flame for trans* people in the community while also identifying that their struggles have different needs and goals. PGN: To wrap things up, what do you hope attendees get out of this year’s event? TS: The biggest thing I want youth at the conference to get out of it is that they can make a difference. Until I came to Bucknell, I never felt like I could do advocacy work because I was too young and, looking back, I hate that I had that attitude. I want youth to realize that there is no age requirement for making a positive impact in the world. ✮ The third-annual Pennsylvania Youth Action Conference will be held Feb. 14-16 at the University of Pennsylvania. Meals and refreshments will be provided throughout the weekend event. For more information or to register, visit www.youthactionconference.com.
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Celebrate V-Day with new LGBTQ dance Arden talks taboos
with ‘Stick Fly’
By Sean Morris, 16 As anyone can tell you, being gay, bi, trans or any other part of the wonderful rainbow is not the easiest thing in the world. This is particularly true for younger people. Chances are, they will still live with their parents or guardians, so they don’t always know how the older generation feels about it. They might try to tell themselves that they’re not gay — enough times to think it might be true. Add to this the ignorant and uninformed atmosphere that exists in many schools and it can be hell, frankly. Being openly gay, I have been very blessed so far, but I know that many others in Philadelphia just don’t have the comfort of accepting family, friends or schools. This year, as a member of the GSA at Science Leadership Academy, I kept thinking to myself, What would be something fun and beneficial for other gay youth? It hit me that Valentine’s Day was just around the corner and, since my high school has been the gracious host of numerous dances, I decided to challenge myself and my fellow GSA members to put on Science Leadership Academy’s first-ever LGBTQ Valentine’s PASS ACT from page 1
in support of a strong statewide anti-bullying law. Since the PASS Act’s inception, Pennsylvania students have been contacting state legislators to secure their support. Last fall, CommonGround PA, a statewide youth-policy organization, launched an interactive advocacy website that allows Pennsylvanians to directly contact their legislators to ask them to back the PASS Act. Over 40 youth activists joined together at the Capitol Building in April to hold a press conference to draw attention to the importance of the legislation. One of those youth leaders was Kevin McKeon, the president of Pennsylvania College of Technology Alliance. An Eagle Scout from Bucks County, McKeon went to his former Scout leaders and asked them to write to their representatives in support of the PASS Act. McKeon himself has met with numerous legislators at their Harrisburg offices, and was successful in urging his own local representative to sign on to the bill. “There are nearly 1.8-million students in Pennsylvania, and it’s
By Mia B., 23
Day Dance. My school is small, and does not have a large gay community, so we decided to make the dance a citywide event. I was able to achieve a more widespread audience with my fantastic group of volunteers, who began to spread the word at The Attic and the Mazzoni Center. We have printed up wonderfully designed flyers that will be making their way across the city. Tickets are available in advance at SLA and, if need be, at other schools. The dance will be held at SLA, 55 N. 22nd St., from 7-10 p.m. Feb. 7. When thinking about what I would like participants to get out
of this, I think of a quote from Harvey Milk: “Hope will never be silent.” I hope that our event will inspire other schools to organize their own LGBTQ dances. I want it to be so that LGBTQ teens don’t have to hide in a small and cramped closet, but instead be themselves with people who will love them for who they are. And I would like it if this dance, this one single dance, can help start a conversation about equal rights for every LGBTQ individual living in this state. For more information, email smorris@scienceleadership.org.
estimated that bullying impacts 77 percent of students at some point in their life — that’s 1.4-million bullied students,” McKeon said. “This is a serious issue, and the PASS Act provides real solutions.” Since beginning her work with the PASS Partnership, Faith Elmes, the president of Indiana University of Pennsylvania Pride Alliance, has made more than a dozen visits to the Capitol in Harrisburg to deliver letters to legislators and speak with staff members. Elmes has rallied friends at her university and community leaders in her hometown, in Perry County, to support the bill. She met with members of her local school board to urge them to contact their representatives about the legislation. “The PASS Act, as opposed to a zero-tolerance policy, has a better understanding of the needs of students,” Elmes said. “It is important that schools provide support for students who bully others, rather than criminalizing bad behavior. Punishment does not necessarily improve behavior or school climate.” Pennsylvania currently has one of the weakest safe-schools laws
in the country, as reported by the United States Department of Education in 2011. The current anti-bullying law, first adopted in 2008, essentially states that bullying is prohibited, without explaining how to effectively prevent or mediate incidents of school violence. Since 2005, school districts have been required to report the number of bullying incidents that occur in each school year. However, in the 2011-12 school year, 200 districts in the state reported that not one case of bullying occurred within their schools. Ninety-four percent of districts reported that bullying impacted less than 1 percent of their student body. Even with the unprecedented support the PASS Act has received, school safety has still not been considered a priority in Harrisburg. Progressives and conservatives alike tend to talk about bullying when serious incidents arise, but have been ineffective in embracing the political will necessary for the bill to become law. Student activists will continue to fight for the PASS Act in Harrisburg until a comprehensive safe-schools policy becomes reality in Pennsylvania. ✮
“Stick Fly” is a new and proactive play that ran at the Arden Theater in the fall. The play, written by Lydia R. Diamond, features the LeVays — a pristine upper-class family, and the only family to live in their gated vineyard community — as the family gathers to meet the two sons’ fiancées. Their conversations drift from college memories to heated discussions on racial tensions, social
From an LGBTQ perspective, the wants and needs of the characters in “Stick Fly” are the desires in our community as well, regardless of race or social background. Most of us have encountered a time in our lives where we felt that we were unseen or unheard, and carried those thoughts and feelings about our personal experiences as we moved through a world that was not completely accepting of us or how we saw ourselves. I would encourage all of my friends and fellow art-lovers to
✮
U.R. (LEFT) AS FLIP LEVAY AND JEROME PRESTON BATES AS JOE LEVAY IN “STICK FLY” Photo: Mark Garvin
taboos and family secrets. The actors all fully embody their characters’ ambitions, hopes and heartaches, as they delivered riveting and emotional performances. As each character reveals his or her own secrets, fears and desires, one of the main messages of “Stick Fly” is also revealed: Each person deeply longs to be accepted by the individuals in their lives and heard by society. ■ The Attic Youth Center 255 S. 16th St.; 215-545-4331; atticyouthcenter.org. For LGBT and questioning youth and their friends and allies. Groups meet and activities are held 4-7 p.m. Monday-Tuesday and 4-8:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday. Case management, HIV testing and smoking cessation are available Monday-Friday. See the Youth section for more events.
see “Stick Fly.” Enjoy the humor and take in the taboos that are blurted out by characters as common topics of conversations one minute and long-hidden secrets the next. For me, the main message of “Stick Fly” were questions I had to ask myself: How can I morereadily see and accept others? And be more honest with my expression of who I am in the world? ✮
■ Rainbow Room — Bucks County’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Allies Youth Center 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays: Salem UCC Education Building, 181 E. Court St., Doylestown; 215-957-7981 ext. 9065 rainbowroom@ppbucks. org.
Community centers
■ Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center at the University of Pennsylvania 3907 Spruce St., 215-898-5044; center@dolphin.upenn.edu. Regular hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday; noon6 p.m. Saturday; noon-8 p.m. Sunday. Summer hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. MondayFriday.
■ William Way Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center 1315 Spruce St.; 215-732-2220; www. waygay.org. Hours: 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Peer counseling: 6-9 p.m. Monday through Friday Library hours: noon-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; noon-3 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. Friday; noon-6 p.m. Saturday. Volunteers: New Orientation: First Wednesday of the month at 7:30 p.m.
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‘We Will Rock You’ rocks the Academy By David Santos, 16 The title says it all — “We Will Rock You.” That’s exactly what it did. From the minute I was informed that the show, which recently played at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music, was based on the music of Queen, it caught my interest. While “We Will Rock You” is based on Queen’s music, this was not a musical just for Queen fans, but for everyone. This musical-comedy was everything and more. There weren’t any disappointments. The audience and actors were well-engaged. Everyone clearly had a great time, as laughter filled the air of the Academy. The storyline was unique and powerful. It was about how rock
Events GLBT Group of Hunterdon County Social and support groups for youth, teens and young adults, as well as parents and family members, meets at North County Branch Library, 65 Halstead St. in Clinton, N.J. Schedule at www.glbtofhunt erdoncountyofnj.com; 908-300-1058. HAVEN For GLBT, intersex, questioning, queer and allied youth ages 14-20; meets 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley, 424 Center St., Bethlehem; 610-868-2153. HiTOPS A safe-space support program for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth, meets 2:30-4:30 p.m. on the first and third Saturdays at 21 Wiggins St., Princeton, N.J. Call Connie at 609-683-5155 (day); hitops.org. PRYSM Youth Center For youth ages 14-20. Meets 6:30-8:30 p.m Wednesdays at center, 126 East Baltimore Pike, Media; 610-357-9948. Rainbow Room — Bucks County’s LGBTQ and Allies Youth Center For ages 14-21; meets 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays at Salem UCC Education Building, 181 E. Court St., Doylestown; 215-957-7981 ext. 9065; rainbowroom@ppbucks.org. Social X Change Social activity group for LGBT youth of color ages 13-23 meets 6-8 p.m. on Tuesdays at 112 N. Broad St., 11th floor; 215-496-0330. Space to be Proud, Open, and Together Open to all LGBTQ queer youth and allies, ages 14-21, the SPOT meets Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Planned Parenthood of Chester County’s West Chester office, 8 S. Wayne St.; 267-6876648. Young, Trans and Unified A support group for transgender and questioning youth ages 13-23 meets 7:15 p.m. Thursdays at The Attic Youth Center. Youth Making a Difference For GLBTQ African-American and Latino youth ages 14-24. Meets 5-7 p.m. every Tuesday at Camden AHEC, 514 Cooper St.; 856-963-2432.
and roll, and music in general, was banned from a future world (iPlanet) by the Killer Queen, the future dictator who made everything Internet-dependent. But The Dreamer (Galileo Figaro) dreams of music and searches for something beyond the Internet. In his unexpected journey, he runs into Scaramouche, another outcast, and the pair then connects with the rebelling Bohemians, who were in search of a dreamer who could bring rock and roll back from the dead. The actors were great in connecting directly to their characters. There were plenty of hilarious parts, with one specifically being the names of the characters, as the Bohemian women were given male singer names and vice versa. In addition to the comedy, there was plenty
RUBY LEWIS (LEFT) AS SCARAMOUCHE AND BRIAN JUSTIN CRUM AS GALILEO IN “WE WILL ROCK YOU” Photo: Paul Kolnik
of romance and drama. The part that stands out the most would
be the Killer Queen’s rendition of “Another One Bites the Dust.”
The costumes were extravagant. Their ensembles were filled with color and great detail. The Killer Queen’s many costumes were hard to miss, each bold and beautiful. The Bohemians’ costumes were inspired by the rock era, with plaid shirts, dark colors, jean vests and fishnets. Everyone else who was involved wore futuristic clothing, which included neon colors, shoulder padding and shiny metallic-like fabrics. Overall, the entire musical was great. It got the audience energized and wanting more, scene after scene, never knowing what was going to happen next. Each character had something that stood out, so no character outshined another. I recommend this play to everyone. No matter who you are, you will enjoy it. ✮
‘RuPaul’ queens thrill at Troc By Jen Gregory, 22
The line of shivering people nearly wrapped around the corner; excited conversations further animated by puffs of thin, white air from between chattering teeth. Some were wrapped in layers of jackets and scarves, others in nothing but a hoodie. A few men opted for corsets, pantyhose, high heels and a face full of bright-blue eyeliner and red lipstick — not even a scarf to keep the late January chill at bay. The large, teased and heavily hairsprayed black and blond wigs atop their heads hopefully provided some protection from the cold. After what seemed like an eternity in the frigid air, the doors opened and the line lurched forward hurriedly, pushing into the dark, warm and inviting interior of The Trocadero Theatre for “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Battle of the Seasons.” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” judge Michelle Visage, clad in a sleek lack blazer, leggings and highheeled boots, was the first to take the stage, introducing herself as hostess of the night’s forthcoming entertainment. Visage dominated the stage just as much as she entertained the crowd, opening the show with an interactive rendition of iconic song “Science Fiction Double Feature” before announcing first performer Alaska Thunderfuck. Notorious for her otherworldly antics (she is the result of a
cosmic, radioactive collision in Matanuska Valley, Alaska, after all), Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 exploded with energy and sass, igniting the crowd with her signature catch phrase, “Your makeup is terrible!” Despite her name, Mimi Imfurst was the second queen to take the stage, appearing as a less familyfriendly version of “The Wizard of Oz’s” Dorothy. After a psychotic lip-synced monologue, Mimi underwent a brief off-stage quick change into the Wicked Witch of the West, in which she lip-synced a guitar-laden remix of Wicked’s “Defying Gravity,” while utilizing her flying broomstick in a decidedly inappropriate manner. While each queen brought her own unique performance to the table, it was Ivy Winters who sent chills of excitement down the spines of the crowd. Ivy first appeared on the stage covered by a cloak of metallic plastic strands resembling tinsel. The cloak covered her entire body, including the stilts that caused her to tower over the crowd. Her song choice, “Wings” by Little Mix, began slow and soft, slowly building with emotion. As the song’s slow introduction suddenly burst into an almost-tribal
drumbeat, Ivy dropped her shimmering cloak and revealed pink and black butterfly wings, which soared and flowed with her as she continued to expertly navigate the stage on stilts. The song’s message, inspiring and empowering, shifted the focus of drag away from being hypersexual and comedic to artistic and emotionally charged. Ivy’s second performance was considerably more intense than the first, beginning again with her elevated and shrouded in a voluminous black dress, complete with a large hood. The song, a dubstep-infused remix of David Guetta’s “Titanium,” slowly escalated as Ivy drew the audience in with her dark performance. At the song’s drop, Ivy dropped to her knees and slowly emerged from the black material in a shimmering silver costume reminiscent of Walt Disney’s self-proclaimed “Mistress of All Evil,” Maleficent. Without missing a beat, Ivy emerged from the folds of the black cloth, picked up three silver scimitars and began juggling them as she confidently commanded the catwalk. Fake snow drifted down from the ceiling around Ivy, creating an evil, icy aura around the former drag — now evil
— queen. Stilts and juggling now old news, Ivy had one more trick up her silver sleeves to turn up the heat in the place. Tossing the scimitars, a flame appeared in her hand, followed by a second. The flames twirled on their respective poles in front of the evil queen’s body, reflecting the silvery sheen of her costume. She lifted the flames toward her face and proceeded to extinguish them with nothing but her tongue, appearing to delight in the fiery taste. A fire-breathing juggling evil drag queen on stilts? What’s not to like about that? Overall, each queen put forth her finest efforts, and even Visage appeared throughout the show, offering a rendition of Chicago’s “When You’re Good to Mama” in an expression of her love and respect for all of the queens she has seen in her two seasons as a judge on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Drag has come a long way from strictly being a bar-related, nightclub-only form of entertainment. Currently in its fifth season, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” continues to not only provide entertainment to the masses, but produces quality performers who are just as, if not more, well-loved by their fans and followers than any Hollywood celebrity. “RuPaul’s Battle of the Seasons” brought the show from the shadowy confines of reality television into the real world — live and still just as fabulous. ✮
PGN LGBTQ YOUTH SUPPLEMENT
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For the love of butches By Kenya Calloway Butch. Aggressive. Dominant. Stud. The only kind of woman you can call by any of these names and still sound as sweet rolling off my feminine tongue. I have always had a romanticized idea of what butch is. Strong. Protective. Chivalrous. Aggressive. Of course, all fantasies give way to the harsh truths of reality. There is no one specific type of butch, contrary to the core definition of the aggressive lesbian. They are all different ... and like most femmes, I’ve done seen ’em all. The Faithful: lover and protector of her femme with a true heart and honorable values and intentions The Player: the stud who captivates the hearts of femmes through smooth-talking, glorious sex ... and empty promises The Bad Boi: the dangerous block-hugging, nickel-and-dime hustling, money-chasing, weedsmoking, rapsheethaving, progressively stifled, just-asking-fortrouble type of woman The Blue Collar: the strong, hardworking, machine-operating, mechanically inclined, not-afraid-to-get-herhands-dirty butch The Activist: the pro-womyn, progressively feminist, poetically talented, self-righteous revolutionary butch lesbian The Unobtainable: the one whose heart is too big to be obtained by a single woman; she is complex and easy to love with the sex of a goddess. She is smart, funny, complicated and, unfortunately, and unintentional heartbreaker.
packaged in men’s attire. Butch. She walks with a lean, her face serious, full of social battles, love wounds and a “fuck the world” attitude. I love her hair, whether it be long in a wrap, ponytail, braids, boi cut or locks. I often ponder what her thoughts are — what she is feeling in that exact moment in passing on the street. Butches. I love the way they walk bravely in the face of the judgmental society that stereotypes and condemns them for the way they identify. I love the sense of protection of the company of a butch, the chivalry of walking on the right side of the curb beside her femme. I love a butch who’s good with her hands (pun intended). I love the way her loose-fitting jeans sit perfectly on her hips; the way a wifebeater clings to her woman figure. I love the aggressive woman. I defend her identity to those who don’t understand. I passionately emasculate men who dismiss them. I write for them, about them, for them in the hope that they
when they enter public restrooms. Women called dykes and bulldaggers. I know these women; I’ve loved these women. Last year, I read a book called “Stone Butch Blues” by Leslie Feinberg, which was so beautifully written that the first seven pages made me cry. Every piece of feminist-lesbian literature I’ve read since age 19 has referenced this book, so when I finally got a hold of it, it changed my entire perspective of femme ... and butch. The novel was set in the late ’40s, and ’50s, ’60s and early ’70s, in a time when queers ventured to underground gay clubs and when living openly as a lesbian could have devastating or deadly repercussions. It speaks to a time when butches protected their femmes from a world of patriarchal oppression in a community of competitive butchhood. It reads of a time when femmes bandaged their butches’ wounds after being physically or sexually assaulted and catered to their bruised and violated masculinity. It was the femmes’ job to come up with quick escape routes for butches and queens when the gay bars were raided by police. It was a time when the fellowship among butches was admirably supportive; they leaned on, related to and looked out for one another. Queers held safe houses for those in need and sought refuge from the world. They fed, clothed and sheltered one another. Can you imagine such a time? Such unity? After reading that book, I felt a sense of missing something that I’d never had; a whole sense of unity is the only thing missing in the life for me. “Stone Butch Blues” gave me a further appreciation of the history of butch/femme dynamics and relations, but most importantly, it gave me a sense of responsibility. My responsibility as a femme goes beyond any potential partner; it’s a communal thing. All it takes is some understanding, a sense of compromise and the willingness to submit while maintaining my convictions. It is my duty to support my butch cohorts — offering my positivity, my advice, my ability to listen and sometimes catering to the taboo butch masculine ego. ✮
“Stone Butch Blues” gave me a further appreciation of the history of butch/femme dynamics and relations, but most importantly, it gave me a sense of responsibility.
Like I said, I’ve met them all. But I am fortunate to be able to say that I have had the pleasure of knowing, bedding, loving and sustaining wonderful friendships with some of the most honorable and coolest AGs throughout this journey called femme. They all have touched my heart each in their individual way. To me, butches are an enigma of aggressive complexity balanced with a womanly essence appropriately
know the real femmes; that good femmes do indeed exist. I cry for their pain, I admire their strength, their perseverance and their audacity to walk through life without sexual or gender compromise. I know these women, women who’ve been disowned or challenged by their families because they stepped out of the gender norm. Women who have survived rape. Women who have endured and survived hate crimes. Women who’ve lived in discretion to make the system work in their favor in exchange for fighting for their country. Women who at times found themselves passive-aggressively discriminated against because they did not aesthetically match the gender box checked off on their application. Women who receive stares in the street and find silent questions of judgments
WINTER 2014
When bullying hits home By Damien Walker, 13 Bullying has become an epidemic, ranging from cyber to physical — it causes untold amounts of trauma in the lives of developing youth across the globe. My personal experience with bullying started as soon as I moved to Philadelphia from Brooklyn at the age of 6. As I would walk through the halls of school, I heard murmurs and whispers. It was clear that the bouts of laughter were at my expense. One day, a kid pushed me into a wall and started punching me and said that “it would help you lose weight and be less gay.” This caused me both physical and emotional distress. I started believing a lot of what they said and would cry myself to sleep. I started to cut myself at the age of 8. I thought that the issue was me. I felt responsible, as if the pain that I had to endure was my fault. I felt like a plague and my peers were trying to stymie who I was. I lived day by day on a battlefield fighting who I was, feeling guilty as people hurt me, making me lose sleep as I spent the nights crying and questioning why society had marked me an outcast. My anger reached its apex months later when a girl asked to borrow my pencil and didn’t want to return it. After all the situations I had encountered, it was an instance when my property was being threatened that made me grab a chair and throw it at her. Which sparked questions about my mental health, and I was then put on a plethora of antidepressants and anxiety medications. Of course I’m not the only one who has this problem: Millions are bullied all around the world. It goes from within the intimacy of one’s house to the concrete jungle that is school. A lot of people bully because they have been bullied or are being bullied; it stems from a feeling of helplessness and anger for their own differences. Most bullying takes place in schools. But a group of girls from Troy Middle School are taking a stand against bullying and were recently recognized for it. They’re barely even teenag-
ers, but they’re already making a difference. The girls started Helping Hands, a club dedicated to looking out for anyone who is being bullied and putting a stop to it. “It’s going great, we got almost 30-40 kids already in the club to stop bullying,” said member Kaitlyn Tate. The group makes posters, holds weekly meetings and designates members to be on the look-out for bullying issues. Michelle Jolliff, principal of Troy Middle School, couldn’t be more proud of what they’ve accomplished. We should be just like this group of girls and work to make a dramatic difference in this world. I’m not saying we just need more LGBT youth programs or bullying programs, but I’m also not saying that we don’t need more LGBT youth programs — I’m saying we need to have some effective groups. There are a lot of things kids would learn from these groups because I know I have learned a lot from one group called LEAD at Mazzoni Center. LEAD is a oneday youth-run, youth-led conference that focuses on strengthening the gay-straight alliance movement in Pennsylvania. It consists of workshops that are developed and facilitated by youth about different topics of interest. I’ve learned a lot from LEAD, especially about how to make our neighborhoods less prejudiced and more accepting. We talked about how we can help LGBT youth come out and ways to come out without feeling uncomfortable. As far as bullying goes, if one of the workshops is around bullying, then it could potentially give students coping skills for dealing with bullying. Bullying occurs as an act of ignorance and prejudice, when one person imposes their ideas or will on someone and belittles them in order to make something out of their own existence. The person being bullied feels dehumanized and rejected. But they are not alone: There’s an army of misfits and outcasts they can rally with and find support in. Thanks for reading and “Be, Don’t Become.” ✮
THE NEXT YOUTH SUPPLEMENT WILL BE IN THE MAY 30 ISSUE OF PGN
PGN LGBTQ YOUTH SUPPLEMENT
WINTER 2014
PAGE 7
Straight Answers By Mia B., 23 At the beginning the lights UPSTAGE are dim. MR. FREEDMAN sifts through papers in his desk drawer. KENYATTA sulks in the leather chair opposite MR. FREEMAN’S desk. The spotlight flashes directly on DIONNA JOHNSON. DIONNA: You think you know it all, Kenyatta. I remember when I used to have to tie your shoelaces for you. Now you running around this city like a chicken with its head cut off doing whatever you want to do. It makes me sick to my stomach. One day you’re going to trip over your own two feet and fall flat on your face. The spotlight dims on DIONNA and illuminates FLOYD JOHNSON. FLOYD: Sweetie Pop, you’re one of the smartest kids I know. And I’m including my students in that. Always keep your head on straight, and keep it in the books. Stay out of trouble. I see those bags under your eyes nowadays. FLOYD chuckles and pulls at the bags under his own eyes. FLOYD: Every scholar’s got ’em. And pick a good boyfriend. Somebody with a j-o-b who knows how to be a man. The spotlight snaps off. ROSEE: I don’t know how you’re going to feel about this. The spotlight slowly turns on and we see ROSEE with a handwritten poem open in her hands. She reads from the page. ROSEE: Baby, I can’t play these lying games with you anymore. I’m tired of letting go of your hand when we walk through classroom doors. When I ask to meet your parents, all we ever do is fight. And because you c — ... because you can’t sleep with me, I cry alone
at night. I wish you loved me with your actions like you do your words. I’ll miss you if I have to go, but my heart just hurts. ROSEE looks up from the paper as if she is looking into KENYATTA’S eyes. ROSEE: I’m proud of who I am, and I’m not gonna let anyone take that away from me. Not even our relationship. I’m not going to force you to live your life the way I want you to, but I’m not going to force myself into the closet just because I see you cramming yourself into it. ROSEE rolls up her poem and holds it out to the audience as if handing it to KENYATTA. ROSEE: This is for you. The light dims on ROSEE until she is no longer visible to the audience. Stage lights go up, illuminating MR. FREEMAN’S OFFICE. KENYATTA holds the poem in her hands. It is still rolled up in the same fashion as ROSEE gave it to her. KENYATTA hunches over the letter pensively. MR. FREEMAN: Wassup lil’ sistah? You don’t look like yourself. KENYATTA: Just uh a lot on my mind, Mr. Freeman. MR. FREEMAN: Well, I’ve got some good news for you. KENYATTA: Oh yeah? MR. FREEMAN lays the forms out on his desk in sorted piles as if they are wishes granted on paper. MR. FREEMAN: La Salle University College of Communications and Writing, and the University of the Arts. All accepted.
joy, I hope. KENYATTA wipes the tears from her face. She notices the look of concern on MR. FREEMAN’S face. KENYATTA: Just a lot of stress this week. MR. FREEMAN: What’s going on, Ms. Johnson? KENYATTA: Man, just call me Kenyatta. MR. FREEMAN: Aww, but you’ve got to get used to formalities now. What do you think everyone will be calling you when you write your first best-selling anthology of poems, or fiction novel for that matter? KENYATTA: Oh I dunno. MR. FREEMAN: They’ll be calling you Ms. Johnson! Ms. Johnson can I have your autograph? Ms. Johnson do you have advice for writers? (His volume and pitch escalate.) Ms. Johnson, did you just walk away from me? KENYATTA laughs and her tension begins to melt away. She relaxes a little in her seat. MR. FREEMAN: You sure you’re OK? KENYATTA: I’ll be all right. MR. FREEMAN: Well OK. Now there’s a little additional information to the news I just told you. KENYATTA sits up in her seat attentively. MR. FREEMAN: Now, you got 65 percent of financial aid. But you have to make up the extra 35 percent. Now how much did your parents say they could do per year? KENYATTA: Four thousand.
KENYATTA folds her lips and begins to cry.
MR. FREEMAN: Oh all right.
MR. FREEMAN: Tears of
KENYATTA: That’s
including my, like, you know, my clothes, food and books. MR. FREEMAN tries to hide his disappointment. MR. FREEMAN: Oh, well that’s ... then that’s about two thousand per year. KENYATTA: Really? That’s it? MR. FREEMAN: Now don’t despair now, Ms. Johnson, there’s still hope. KENYATTA shakes her head and rubs her forehead. MR. FREEMAN: See the University of the Arts costs 55 thousand per year, and La Salle costs 45 thousand. KENYATTA: What? MR. FREEMAN: I know. Never had that much money in your wallet at the same time in your life and you won’t until your bestseller. MR. FREEMAN gives her a fatherly smile. MR. FREEMAN: And how’s ROSEE? KENYATTA: Everything’s fine. MR. FREEMAN: You’re lying through your teeth Ms. Johnson, but all right ... You know what I always say. There’s some good in the bad and some bad in the good. Some ying in the yang and some yang in the ying. And, as always, I was careful to look at your financial situation. There is in fact a scholarship available for you. KENYATTA looks into the distance. The lighting on her face fades and ROSEE appears at the front of the stage, far right. ROSEE: It’s up to you. I’m
not going to force you to do anything. I can’t force you to love anybody, not even me ... Or to be proud of who
you —
The light goes out on ROSEE. MR. FREEMAN: Ms.
Johnson! Did you just now take a mental vacation? Kenyatta, do you want to go to college?
KENYATTA enters STAGE LEFT.
UP
MR. FREEMAN: Back so soon?
KENYATTA: Yeah. I forgot my letter.
MR. FREEMAN: Good.
Well it’s an LGBT scholarship.
KENYATTA reaches over to the leather chair she was sitting in and grabs ROSEE’S poem. She holds it in her hands, turning it over as if it were fragile.
KENYATTA: A what now?
MR. FREEMAN: (Gently)
KENYATTA: Uh, I do.
MR. FREEMAN: An L-G-
From who?
B-T scholarship.
KENYATTA: Rosee.
KENYATTA slumps into her chair
MR. FREEMAN: I see.
MR. FREEMAN:
Kenyatta, let’s be honest.
KENYATTA: I’m straight. MR FREEMAN:
Kenyatta! I know your girlfriend.
KENYATTA: I don’t want to talk about it.
MR. FREEMAN: He rais-
es his eyebrows and shakes his head.
MR. FREEMAN: All
right, your life, your choices. I’m not gonna make you choose a scholarship you don’t want.
KENYATTA: I ... I didn’t wanna leave it.
MR. FREEMAN: I’m sure you wouldn’t.
KENYATTA: She would be pretty mad at me if I did.
MR. FREEMAN: I know she would.
KENYATTA: Mr.
Freeman? What happens if I say I’m a lesbian?
MR. FREEMAN: Then
you’ll be the “L” in LGBT.
MR. FREEMAN holds the folder out and displays the open folder to KENYATTA.
KENYATTA walks off and slams the door of MR. FREEMAN’S office.
MR. FREEMAN: Wanna
MR. FREEMAN folds his arms, leaving the four piles of stacked papers on the desk and leans back in his reclining chair. The stage darkens. There is a sole spotlight on DIONNA.
KENYATTA stops in her tracks. She looks like a young fawn who has been stunned by headlights.
DIONNA: Baby, please
stop dressing like that ... What the hell you think you tryna be? I see you every day after school with that girl. Honey, you weren’t made to be like that. God didn’t make you to be like that.
DIONNA’S image fades as the light dims. The stage is completely dark.
take a look at it? Parents have to sign page 13.
MR. FREEMAN: And
there’s an essay on pages eight and nine. But I know you’ll take care of that, Ms. Johnson.
KENYATTA turns around and looks back at MR. FREEMAN. KENYATTA: Yeah, I can handle it. She walks towards the door. END SCENE. ✮
PGN LGBTQ YOUTH SUPPLEMENT
PAGE 8 OUT4STEM from page 1
agement at his technical-research job. A transwoman had actually lost jobs because of her gender identity, but has since found stability thanks to her technical prowess. After the discussion, medical students from LGBTPM+ led the youth on a tour of the Mütter, the popular museum of medical anomalies housed within the college. Jacqui Bowman, director of the Center for Education and Public Initiatives at the college, says the “cool factor” of the Mütter Museum’s unusual collections has been invaluable in attracting hardto-reach demographics and sustaining interest in programming. The Teva Pharmaceuticals summer internship, for example, has created a strong community of youth whose lives have been affected by gun violence. Quincy Greene, founder of the EJC, thinks these resources could have a particularly strong impact on LGBTQ youth. The etiquette of the research world left Greene feeling a need to leave his identity as a gay black man at the door in order to be taken seriously when working in biostatistics at Penn. A well-respected mentor in the field encouraged his work with LGBTQ youth of color after Greene came out near the end of his time in that position. This mentorship made all the difference in his own career trajectory. “I really lucked out getting a mentor like him who actually made me feel like I was smart,” Greene said. “If someone like that believes in you, you think you must be smart too.” Later, Greene discovered that the key to getting minority youth interested in STEM was by framing it within a narrative relevant to their communities. With that in mind, he created a project for a group of EJC youth that would encourage them to tackle issues in their own community using statistics. They collected data on the social determinants of health within Philadelphia’s ballroom community, learned data-processing techniques and analyzed the data with help from biostatisticians. Greene helped them turn their community into a research lab. “Kids can solve problems in their own communities using these resources. Why is there shade? Why HIV? Why a lack of success? Well, go do some research and figure it out,” he said. “That’s what QSpot is about, and I hope that’s what Out4stem will be about. It’s not just about your career, it’s about your community.” Sabrina Gill, a queer medical
student at Penn Med, had faced struggles similar to Greene’s while working in a lab run by a religious fundamentalist researcher. When it came to medical training in a clinic, a notion of neutral “professionalism” took precedence over concerns about diversity and inclusion. “People want spaces to be as safe as possible, but the extent of their depth is that they should be nice to everyone, considerate to students and patients,” Gill said. “It’s not a homophobic space, but it’s a really professional space.” Still, Gill said, she feels most comfortable in her work at the Covenant House, which is a queer and trans-friendly safe space. There is clearly a tension between identity politics and professionalism in the science world. Homophobia, racism and sexism are institutional phenomena by definition. We can’t overcome their pervasiveness just by being “nice to everyone” in our workplaces. These global systems
their perspectives could enrich our understanding of gender and sexuality. Gender is a particularly prominent category for biological inquiry, whose consideration as a variable is sometimes unrefined. A fresh perspective from an influx of queer cognitive scientists could help bring a more nuanced understanding of gender and sexuality to the mainstream. Balasubramanian spoke to a more general need for science to take on the concerns of marginalized groups. “With more engagement of marginalized communities, the fundamental basis of asking questions would be rooted in how to minimize suffering.” More diversity among scientists would certainly help enhance the social accountability of scientific research. This is where programs like Out4STEM could come in. Mentorship is particularly important for increasing the presence of LGBTQ people and people of color in the sciences. Greene sees providing LGBTQ youth and minorities with access to mentors as key to ensuring that young people don’t internalize homophobic or racist narratives about who can do science and who cannot. “The best way is these sorts of programs, [like with] the panel discussion we’re planning in February; we need to put these faces in front of them, and they don’t necessarily all have to be minorities themselves, but they have to be faces that will say, ‘You can do this,’” Greene said. “All kinds of people like that with all different backgrounds helped me get where I am. It took all kinds of people encouraging me.” Out4STEM at its core represents an opportunity for a radical sharing of The College of Physicians’ STEM resources. This has already begun, thanks to its existing youth programs, with encouraging results that I’ve seen firsthand. By making STEM more accessible to LGBTQ youth, we take another step towards creating a scientific community that faithfully represents the full range of human experience and suffering. Putting the generative potential of scientific imagination in the hands of people with marginalized experiences could inspire the pursuit of new and important questions. Maybe, just maybe, the answers to those questions could help reduce the suffering that inspired them. For more information about Out4STEM, email ksariahmed@col legeofphysicians.org or follow them on Twitter at @Out4STEMprogram.
“Kids can solve problems in their own communities using these resources. Why is there shade? Why HIV? Why a lack of success? Well, go do some research and figure it out.” of discrimination interact with the scientific world in a way that goes beyond the personal interactions between people who happen to do science. Institutions of social domination affect how science itself is implemented. Janani Balasubramanian, a queer South Asian artist/organizer based in New York, has a unique perspective on this issue. Studying climate engineering and queer studies at Stanford, they experienced how the position of scientists in society affects the science that gets done. Balasubramanian was particularly frustrated by the lack of consideration by climate engineers for indigenous people living in sinking island nations, who are the most severely affected by climate change. “How can we not consider who’s living on the land, who’s working it and what environmental knowledge they are using and have access to when developing risk assessments or decision support systems?” Balasubramanian said. This is one of the most dramatic examples of how human experiences not represented in the formulation of scientific questions and narratives can lessen the impact of the work. By the same token, more representation of queer people and
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WINTER 2014
CAMPUS PRIDE from page 1 she said. “It made it very easy to get involved.” issues. Focusing her efforts on colTwo of the nine winners were from Pennsylvania: Bucknell laborating with groups such University freshman Jesse Klug as PATH and GO! Athletes, and University of Pennsylvania Yankelev has done a lot for the Penn LGBT athletic community sophomore Eliana Yankelev. Klug, a Seattle native and out in a short time. “There is a place for this kind athlete, feels his biggest contribution to the LGBT commu- of activism here,” she said. “The nity so far was his opinion piece work I’ve been doing has been featured on Outsports.com. great. I’m one of the few out “An Open Letter to Those Who athletes at Penn and it’s really Disapprove of Homosexuality” cool to be part of a group that’s has been viewed more than so stable.” So how does a 70,000 times and Pennsylvania native shared via Facebook and LGBT activist feel more than 9,000 times. about the state’s lack “Jesse takes initiaof marriage equaltive to be an agent of ity and LGBT protecchange through his tions? actions,” Windmeyer “Pennsylvania is said. “His ability to KLUG special because it has create safer spaces for two large blue centers LGBT people is made — Philadelphia and clear through his expePittsburgh — with rience coming out on nothing but red in campus to his teambetween,” she said. On mates, as well as reacha local level, “the city ing out to appropriate may be broke, but that resources for support and guidance. Jesse YANKELEV doesn’t mean the people aren’t interested in carries out Campus Pride’s mission and goals as he being progressive and liberal.” The issue, she said, lies in the looks beyond policy change and focuses on active change in his conservative majority in the state population. She is, however, environments.” In Klug’s home state of hopeful that, in time, people will Washington, marriage equal- begin asking themselves “how ity is the norm. But attending far behind they want themselves college in Pennsylvania drove to be,” in terms of providing home the impact of patchwork equal rights to all people. Windmeyer said Yankelev’s LGBT-equality laws. “It reminds me of how restrict- desire to promote unity around ed the LGBT community is in LGBT issues made her a perfect terms of movement for work, fit for the award. “Her tactics show to be crefamily or any other reason,” he said. “They just have to consider ative to bridge the gap between a lot more consequences when LGBTQ+ athletes and the aththey consider moving: Are they letic department as a whole allowed to have custody over while minimizing homophobia,” their children? Is their marriage he said. “She understands how still recognized? Can they be to utilize organized groups such legally discriminated against? as PATH and GO! Athletes to work with other leaders to gain etc.” Yankelev, also an out athlete strength and utilize a forum to and a native of Montgomery share ideas.” Campus Pride will be County, entered her freshman year at Penn with the intention announcing the winners of the of becoming heavily involved in Voice & Action Award soon. Check campuspride.org for the LGBT community. “The resources were there,” updated information. ✮
PGN will run the LGBTQ Youth Supplement three more times this year: May, August and October. Email editor@epgn.com to get involved. PGN and our community would love to hear from you.