1. What are the biggest obstacles that LGBTQ+ youth face in 2014?
2. How is this different from previous years?
3. What could YPI do for the youth who visit here?
4. What is the most important thing that you need?
5. how does being at YPI make you feel?
6. What would you like to learn while you are here?
7. What is the most stressful part of your life
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
The Ferguson Issue
Last week, the Grand Jury decided not to indict Darren Wilson for the wrongful death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. This issue has caused a lot of different reactions from the media and groups of oppressed peoples, specifically Black communities.
Because our youth at YPI are mainly youth of color, the staff felt that it was necessary to discuss the issue with our youth. Our main goal is to see what youth knew, how they felt about the news, and how it affects them, in order to stimulate some critical thinking around issues of race, police brutality, and even gender expression. The responses from the few youth who participated in the discussion were predictably upset about the response from the judge about Darren Wilson. Many different issues were brought up about why this sort of thing happens, including racist people, and issues within society at large, but there was very little connection to institutionalized issues of oppression. I think that this was more because many of the youth who participated lacked the language to express it, rather than they didn't know that it could exist.
Several youth could recognize that the actions of Darren Wilson were not only unjust, but excessive and racially based. While a few of our youth seemed on the fence about who exactly is to blame for the situation, everyone agreed that there is a major issue at play here and that the only way it will get better is by directly fighting against the issues at play.
Because our youth at YPI are mainly youth of color, the staff felt that it was necessary to discuss the issue with our youth. Our main goal is to see what youth knew, how they felt about the news, and how it affects them, in order to stimulate some critical thinking around issues of race, police brutality, and even gender expression. The responses from the few youth who participated in the discussion were predictably upset about the response from the judge about Darren Wilson. Many different issues were brought up about why this sort of thing happens, including racist people, and issues within society at large, but there was very little connection to institutionalized issues of oppression. I think that this was more because many of the youth who participated lacked the language to express it, rather than they didn't know that it could exist.
Several youth could recognize that the actions of Darren Wilson were not only unjust, but excessive and racially based. While a few of our youth seemed on the fence about who exactly is to blame for the situation, everyone agreed that there is a major issue at play here and that the only way it will get better is by directly fighting against the issues at play.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Tumblr Update - Exhaustion
I'm tired. I've been working on the site since I came home from YPI about 6 hours ago. I think it's time for bed.
On another note, I have been successful in gaining followers and being consistent with reblogging material. Ethan eventually wants me to start actually making blog posts rather than recycling ones from other folks. That's gonna require some energy and time that I'm still trying to find. But currently there's enough material on the blog to keep it active for several more days. I just keep adding to the queue, and after I get bored with that, I mess around with the layout. CK thinks it looks much less "corporate" now, much more approachable. Unfortunately I had to scrap my last layout so I could keep it simple.
I also found out that I might be able to come back next semester as a volunteer. It'd be a situation similar to what I'm doing now as an intern, but more on that later. I had a brief discussion with the head coordinator, Kerri. It'd be wonderful, if I can find the time to do it.
Anyway. Bed.
On another note, I have been successful in gaining followers and being consistent with reblogging material. Ethan eventually wants me to start actually making blog posts rather than recycling ones from other folks. That's gonna require some energy and time that I'm still trying to find. But currently there's enough material on the blog to keep it active for several more days. I just keep adding to the queue, and after I get bored with that, I mess around with the layout. CK thinks it looks much less "corporate" now, much more approachable. Unfortunately I had to scrap my last layout so I could keep it simple.
I also found out that I might be able to come back next semester as a volunteer. It'd be a situation similar to what I'm doing now as an intern, but more on that later. I had a brief discussion with the head coordinator, Kerri. It'd be wonderful, if I can find the time to do it.
Anyway. Bed.
Transgender Awareness Week - Tuesday
This week is Trans Awareness Week at YPI and we have some activities planned that were meant to share awareness of the issues which trans folk often face that the queer population as well as the heteronormative community are not often aware of. Today, we did a viewing of Laverne Cox's new documentary, "The T Word".
The documentary had a few youths who watched - many did not. Mostly, the youths would watch a few minutes and then go join their friends in another part of the space. We had anticipated this, seeing as events in the space have similar attendance. As we were watching, however, there was definitely some problematic language being used by some of the youths who did not understand transgender terms. I decided to allow this because of the introductory level of the documentaryand the presentation of information regarding the subject. While we were hoping to guide a discussion about trans issues and some of the things that Cox has brought up in the documentary, the lack of attendance prevented this from happening to the best of our ability. Seeing as we cant force anyone to watch and participate in the space, we left our posters of questions hanging in the space for others to volunteer information. Pictures of this will come at the end of the week.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
The T Word - Working Review
I have just finished watching Laverne Cox's The T Word and I need to come up with questions after a short analysis of the film.
Analysis:
- What was done well? -
There was a good representation of different (binary) identities. 3 trans men - Kye, Ari, Shane; 4 trans women - Daniella, Avery, Zoey, L'erret - Equal representation
Very introductory, easy to follow
All youth are within our age range
More youth of color
Let the youth speak
Example of young youth
While there is a discussion of body parts, there are no specifics
Good facts thrown in every now and then
Good discussion of the dehumanization of being "it", or none
Good discussion of trans women
Discusses homeless youth
- What was not done well -
Binary identities - no discussion of people outside the binary
Most of it is negative representations about people not liking themselves
No positive representations of sexual selves
A focus on the sexualness about transliness
Discussion of passing privilege
Why do you think it is trans women of color who are facing such violence
How is being trans different from being lesbian or gay
what unique challenges are transfolk faced with
Why dont the police stop the violence
What is your take away from this film?
how do race and gender affect trans folk?
Why is the average rate of attempted suicide so high among the trans community?
Why are pronouns important?
Why do we have Gender Spectrum?
What did you learn from this?
What did you already know?
Analysis:
- What was done well? -
There was a good representation of different (binary) identities. 3 trans men - Kye, Ari, Shane; 4 trans women - Daniella, Avery, Zoey, L'erret - Equal representation
Very introductory, easy to follow
All youth are within our age range
More youth of color
Let the youth speak
Example of young youth
While there is a discussion of body parts, there are no specifics
Good facts thrown in every now and then
Good discussion of the dehumanization of being "it", or none
Good discussion of trans women
Discusses homeless youth
- What was not done well -
Binary identities - no discussion of people outside the binary
Most of it is negative representations about people not liking themselves
No positive representations of sexual selves
A focus on the sexualness about transliness
Discussion of passing privilege
Why do you think it is trans women of color who are facing such violence
How is being trans different from being lesbian or gay
what unique challenges are transfolk faced with
Why dont the police stop the violence
What is your take away from this film?
how do race and gender affect trans folk?
Why is the average rate of attempted suicide so high among the trans community?
Why are pronouns important?
Why do we have Gender Spectrum?
What did you learn from this?
What did you already know?
Transgender Day of Rememberance
On November 20th, the world will be celebrating Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), a day of memorial to those transgender individuals who have died in the face of transphobia and cissexism, an issue that impacts much of the LGBTQ+ community. This is a day to recognize the high rates of homicide, suicide, and assault that the trans community faces on a daily basis.
YPI is helping to organize a community-wide event that memorializes these individuals who have died because of hatred. There will be a service at Temple Beth-El which features speakers and a candle lighting memorial ceremony, as well as a list of names of people who have died for being trans. Youth Pride will be closing early on this day in order to take part in the event, which I will attend and help with.
As an intern, I discussed with my supervisor Ethan about continuing this memorial service to reach out to more youths. While I realize that this event is important to the LGBTQ+ community, I have expressed concern that there is not enough information being presented to the youths that we service. Upon discussion with Ethan and Alexis, a new staff at YPI, we determined that Alexis and I were going to take it a step farther and spread more awareness for the week by showing a documentary by Laverne Cox, a trans celebrity who has been doing a lot of activism work surrounding the trans community. After the film, we will be leading a discussion of the film as well as some common issues facing the LGBTQ+ community, butr more specifically the specific problems the trans community faces and the social institutions which provide the groundwork for transphobia, cissexism and violence in the trans community.
This weekend, my responsibility is to not only finish watching the film, but to also compile a list of questions for discussion with youth about the issues that are described in the film. I intend first to watch it, and decide whether this is a good film to watch for what we want. Ultimately, we want our youth to think critically about the issues that the LGBTQ+ population is faced with, in order to provide a basis of knowledge for our youth to start with. If the ultimate goal of YPI is to provide a safe space, this film and discussion should be helpful in starting a conversation about why there are few safe spaces for trans youth, as well as to provide insights into the complex issues trans youth face in the community.
YPI is helping to organize a community-wide event that memorializes these individuals who have died because of hatred. There will be a service at Temple Beth-El which features speakers and a candle lighting memorial ceremony, as well as a list of names of people who have died for being trans. Youth Pride will be closing early on this day in order to take part in the event, which I will attend and help with.
As an intern, I discussed with my supervisor Ethan about continuing this memorial service to reach out to more youths. While I realize that this event is important to the LGBTQ+ community, I have expressed concern that there is not enough information being presented to the youths that we service. Upon discussion with Ethan and Alexis, a new staff at YPI, we determined that Alexis and I were going to take it a step farther and spread more awareness for the week by showing a documentary by Laverne Cox, a trans celebrity who has been doing a lot of activism work surrounding the trans community. After the film, we will be leading a discussion of the film as well as some common issues facing the LGBTQ+ community, butr more specifically the specific problems the trans community faces and the social institutions which provide the groundwork for transphobia, cissexism and violence in the trans community.
This weekend, my responsibility is to not only finish watching the film, but to also compile a list of questions for discussion with youth about the issues that are described in the film. I intend first to watch it, and decide whether this is a good film to watch for what we want. Ultimately, we want our youth to think critically about the issues that the LGBTQ+ population is faced with, in order to provide a basis of knowledge for our youth to start with. If the ultimate goal of YPI is to provide a safe space, this film and discussion should be helpful in starting a conversation about why there are few safe spaces for trans youth, as well as to provide insights into the complex issues trans youth face in the community.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
A Shift in ideas
So Ethan, my supervisor here at YPI suggested a possible change in perspectives for this final project. Because what I'm noticing a lot here is not actually related to gender and sexuality here, but rather class and race, he suggests that I look closer at that.
Originally I went into this thinking that the biggest problem I was going to notice were issues surrounding sexuality and gender. Actually, I've begun to notice that more often than not, the youths that come in the space are more interested in getting resources that relate closer to class issue - issues with income, housing, finding food - and racial issues - 80% of the youth who come through our doors are youth of color.
Originally I went into this thinking that the biggest problem I was going to notice were issues surrounding sexuality and gender. Actually, I've begun to notice that more often than not, the youths that come in the space are more interested in getting resources that relate closer to class issue - issues with income, housing, finding food - and racial issues - 80% of the youth who come through our doors are youth of color.
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