May 25, 2011- Day 3
Day 2 of internship was uneventful, to say the most. Read some evaluations and then proceeded to make an EXCEL spreadsheet on the evaluations.
Fastforward to yesterday, Day 3….
Robin, the Executive Director of True Colors, drives me to Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut for a high school conference on “reducing prejudices.” When we arrive, we meet Brianna and walk into a classroom crowded with a bunch of queer teenagers and ally students. Brianna and I sit in the back of the room as Robin presents her “That’s so Gay” workshop for the high schoolers. The workshop includes a LGBTQ History Bingo Trivia, in which everyone walks around the room, getting other people to answer questions on their trivia bingo sheet. Whoever collects the most signatures on the squares/answered questions wins. The prize- a standing ovation, because as Robin puts it- “Everyone deserves a standing ovation at some point in his/her life.” After the trivia, the group discusses various LGBTQ issues, especially as they pertain to homophobia and bullying in their schools. The workshop runs smoothly.
After an hour lunch break, we return to the same classroom for the workshop with a different group of students. This group is smaller than the first- now about 10 students in the room. Therefore, we do the bingo trivia game, but then Robin, Brianna, the kids, and I all have a more intimate and unstructured conversation which leads to the group voluntarily calling their state senators to support CT’s proposed Gender Identity bill, which if passed, will add “gender identity and expression” to the state’s anti-discrimination law.
We leave the workshop, having enjoyed both groups and having hope for this generation, which is being led by an amazing community of smart, liberal, and motivated youth.
Robin then drives me to Norwich from Quinnipiac, where we meet a 13-year-old boy who came out to his mother a month ago. When he came out to her, she literally tried to “beat the gay” out of him. He was so injured from his mother’s abuse, that he was hospitalized for 2 weeks. He has since, been living in a safe home with care from DCF. The purpose of our meeting is to interview him for our mentor program. Robin has helped him find two moms to become his new foster parents, but we also want to match him with one of our program’s gay male mentors, who will be another positive adult role model for him. We meet this young man, and he is amazing. He has a charming sense of humor and opens up to us about everything from his school and favorite subjects to what music he listens to. Meeting him and co-conducting this interview is very meaningful and emotional for me; it’s also the type of work I am interested in doing for a possible career. I am composed during this meeting and laugh and talk with this boy. However, once I drive back home, I cannot help but to tear up. This boy is amazing- funny, smart, talented… yet, his own mother physically abuses him and disowns him because of his sexual orientation. I am pissed off- If I ever saw that woman, I’d want to beat her up. It just isn’t fair- how these young people can be treated so poorly and inhumanely just because they sexually prefer people of the same gender. This work inspires me. This work makes me a better person.
