Promoting tolerance for GLBTQ youth

author : Stonewall Youth topic : Pride Parade

by Stonewall Youth

On June 6, the Stonewall Youth Speakers Bureau went to Washington Middle School to facilitate a day-long series of conversations about bullying and intolerance in relation to growing up identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or queer. We spoke to six different groups with 120 students in each one, as well as staff.

In the days that followed, there was a lot of news coverage given to the host of angry parents from Washington Middle School who were outraged at the presentation and at what they felt was a failure on the part of the administration to properly notify them.

Stonewall Youth's workshop was part of a yearlong series of presentations about diversity and bias-based bullying and how people are affected by intolerance. They were a project of the school's Diversity Club, organized in part by Samantha Chandler. The workshop was listed in the school's newsletter that goes out to families.

It seems tempting to want to address the issues that parents presented to justify their frustrations and fear of their kids attending this assembly. However, we thought it would be much more useful to talk about the nature of our program, and why we think it is important that discussions like these happen between young people.

The Stonewall Youth Speakers Bureau is a youth organized and facilitated presentation about issues affecting queer youth. It uses stories as a way to connect us to those issues. It allows us to see our experiences in the context of the forces that are continually acting on the world.

"It is rare to find younger people concerned with issues involving the community, country, or even the world because voices are shut out and silenced and the ones who do want to have a voice in certain issues aren't always heard. Stonewall Youth Speakers Bureau is an outlet for both the speakers and the people listening because the speakers use personal stories that can't be argued against and the conversations brought up are used to empower people instead of telling them that their opinions and views are wrong and invalid. It is also more of a way to show people that everything in the world affects everybody."

Brandon Felver is an active member of Stonewall Youth and a lead organizer with the Speakers Bureau.

"If I can reach one person and get them to stop the perpetuation of heterosexism, then I have done my part to better the society that my generation will inherit. Stonewall's Speakers Bureau has given me an opportunity to go out in the community and actively work toward my goals in regards to the betterment of society. I think that much of the information that people get today on social justice issues has been given to them by 'experts,' and I can tell you that most 'experts' have education, not experience. That's why I think that it is so important that these groups are led and facilitated by the youth that have been directly impacted by the issues that we discuss. It has also helped me grow as a person by being on a panel with other queer youth who have shared the same or similar experiences as myself, and I can say that it is an empowering experience."

Steven Briggs, 17, has been in Stonewall Youth for two years, and has done over 10 panels for the organization.

"I believe the Speakers Bureau is extremely important. Growing up queer, I never felt like I had a place or anyone I could talk to. This feeling is not uncommon for youth, gay or straight. The fact, is it's hard growing up no matter who you are. We are not going in trying to sell being gay or to challenge your values. We go in and we tell our stories of what happened to us; stories of sadness and strength, but mostly survival. We go in to be that person who says even if you're different, for whatever reason, that doesn't mean you can't feel safe in school or in life. We are showing them that there is life after grade school, middle school, and high school. If you're true to yourself, and respect others, it can turn out great."

Joe Reyes has been a participant at Stonewall Youth for several years and has been a dedicated organizer for the Speakers Bureau.

Olympia prides itself on being a pretty progressively minded place. We hear a lot about how intolerance and bullying are not acceptable. It's time to really give form to these ideals we hear championed so much.

What values are we promoting? What are the messages we send to our community? How are we ensuring that a genuine respect for each other is being cultivated and sustained?

We are invested in social change happening through our commitment as a community to dialogue, to talking about ideas, to deepening our understandings of each other and the ways that we experience the world.

For more information on the Speakers Bureau, please contact Kristyn at sysb@qwest.net, or at 360.705.2738.