My partner T and I will be presenting a couple workshops sponsored by the Queer Straight Alliance and the Office of Multicultural Affairs at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, my alma mater. We're really excited to be able to meet some folks and have some interesting conversations. I'll also be presenting a workshop about leadership at the Nebraska Cultural Unity Conference, a conference for high school students held at UNK and organized by members of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. I was once the speakers coordinator for the NCUC, so I'm pretty excited about being able to be a part of their tenth-anniversary celebration.
In the coming days, I'll be posting supplemental information from these presentations at the links below:
Workshop for high school students attending the 10th Annual Nebraska Cultural Unity Conference
Friday, March 30, 2012, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM and 3:00-4:00 PM
Sisler Room, Student Affairs Building
University of Nebraska at Kearney
A bigendered person talks about how they were teased when they were younger but how life does get better. They also highlight the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization at the end of the video.
Group of Guys - It Gets Better
Four guys tell a bit about their stories. We watched the first guy's story about his fear of losing everything when coming out. He also describes his suicide attempt.
EricJames Borges - It Gets Better
EricJames describes the very difficult time he had after coming out. His story ended in tragedy, but the hope he describes here is real. Call the Trevor Project at 866 488 7386 if you need to talk to someone.
Desmond Tutu Speech
I showed you a very small portion of this video. Be sure to watch 16:20-19:27.
This site provides information and help about mental health issues such as being bullied, low self esteem, committing suicide and cutting yourself. It also has tips for those who want to be able to reach out to all kinds of people and be a safe person and a good friend.
A blog post mentioned during the workshop that is particularly useful to educators, but with principles useful for RAs, student groups, therapists, and those in social services.
Resources
Keep in mind that each person negotiates their own understandings of what gender means, so take each perspective (including ours) with a grain of sand. It's better to never assume anything about a person's identity, but doing so is often very difficult. So the most important thing is just to always be open to learning about other perspectives. We hope these resources offer you an introduction to what you can learn about the many many perspectives out there on gender.
Because the gender variant community is so often subject to violence and criminalization, these days of remembrance are important for mourning but also educating others about the consequences of cissexism.
Created by the folks over at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, this fact sheet is a great resource for getting down the basics of gender variance. This source is geared toward educators, parents, and youth.
This television series follows a few gender variant individuals as they go through physical transitions as well as the major transition of attending college for the first time. See this link for possible streaming through YouTube.
This
film tells the stories of transgender women forced to serve time in
all-male prisons, where they are treated poorly, their medical needs are
often ignored, and they are very often subject to physical and sexual
abuse. See also this link for possible streaming on YouTube.
This film focuses on the individuals who perform in a drag show one particular night in New York City. These individuals have a variety of gender identities and expressions, and come from a variety of ethnic, racial, national, and age groups. This is one of our favorite films on gender variance.
This
film explores the many different ways people are gender variant and is
brutally honest in its revelation of the difficulty individuals and
families face. See also this link for possible streaming on YouTube.
This
very famous documentary sheds light on the drag ball scene in NYC in
the late 1980s. For many people, this film was their first introduction
to the lives of gender variant people.
This
film addresses a subgroup known loosely as "aggressives." These gender
variant folks are not transgender in the typical narrative, and their
stories shed light on the variety of ways one can experience and express
gender.
This
film centers on a transman who is dying of ovarian cancer. His illness
was allowed to become more and more severe despite his efforts to seek
treatment. Twelve doctors turned him away, fearing marring their
reputation with such an "unusual" case.
A documentary film made on a pretty low budget but with surprising quality. Follow the stories of three transmen and learn about their journeys living in one of the most conservative states for transgender rights. Watch all 5 parts on YouTube at the link above.
Hilary Swank stars as Brandon Teena, a Nebraska teen who lives life, explores his sexuality, and eventually faces extreme violence for being transgender. See also the documentary The Brandon Teena Story (also available on Netflix Instant Viewing)
An intersexed teen explores their sexuality and the medicalization of their genetic status, which affects friends and family in this Spanish-language film.
A woman falls in love with a former friend who initially doesn't realize he's met her before or that he's falling in love with a transgendered person.
Books
There are just so many books out there about trans and gender variant identities. I'll only mention a few, which offer either good introductions and/or compelling stories.
Hands down, one of the best gender primers you'll ever read. I don't particularly love the chapters dealing with the author's play and discussions of special spiritual attributes of gender outlaws, but you don't have to read those chapters if you don't want. But do check it out. She really breaks down what is what in a really accessible and entertaining way.
Whether you are questioning your gender identity or you firmly identify as cis, trans, genderqueer, or something else, this is a useful book for exploring and reflecting on what gender means to you. The process enables each of us to understand just how personal and even subject to change our gender identity and and gender expression are.
A fairly short book that is pieced together from the author's previously released zines. The author comments on her discovery of her variant sexuality and gender, and how these discoveries affected how she interpreted herself and others.
A useful site that might serve as an inspiration for genderqueer or trans-spectrum groups. This post in particular is useful as a starting point for rethinking what it means to be an ally to gender variant folks.
Not Another Aiden has an excellent site (yet what's wrong with being Aiden?!), but this post in particular is something we all need to take note of whether we are coming out or just want to be a safe person for others.
Want to try to train your brain to see gender in more than binary terms? Check out these Tumblrs. I joined Tumblr for this express purpose, and my mind has been opened up--especially how I see myself. Note, many of the images are not safe for work.
An activist talks about what its like to be genderqueer in Ohio and what can be done to help fight for progressive gender policies when it is not a popular idea.
A written narrative and notes about Erica's journey
Other Resources
Keep in mind that none of these resources are perfectly in line with Erica's or T's beliefs, but they are useful for getting us thinking about what we believe and why, and how we might go about working out our faith even further.
A little encouragement for you (like Erica when she lived in Kearney) who can't fathom a place where you would be welcomed and accepted into church as a believer and assumed to be just as good of a Christian as a straight person. They do exist, and remember that the world is so much bigger than what you have seen and heard of!
If
you haven't seen this, you really have to! Judith Light and Chad Allen
star in this 2007 film that compassionately portrays multiple sides of
the debate over reparative ("ex-gay") therapy. The main character hits
rock bottom while living a rough "gay lifestyle," and a Christian
leader attempts to help him and others find a better path.
Another documentary focusing on passages in the Bible, but featuring more interviews with LGBTQ people. See also the film's takeaway handout, a simplified guide to the "clobber passages."
A blogger addresses the attitude fostered among Christians that excludes and judges rather than loves. This post is not just about LGBTQ people. Be sure to read a letter he received from a mother and her 15 year-old son months after the original post went viral.
As much as Christians want to believe that their values are
the same values that the apostles had, the cultures we create and build
up over time affect our values and yes, even our tolerance of others
who might also claim the titles Christian, Bible-believing, Spirit-led,
reborn, Evangelical, or hopelessly devoted to Jesus.
Jennifer Knapp, a popular Christian music artist known for her albums Kansas, Lay It Down, and The Way I Am, comes out through an interview in Christianity Today in 2010.
Video Clips
Desmond Tutu tells us about God's vision
View starting at 16:19
A former recipient of reparative therapy offers encouragement
From 1987, but still worth the read. From Amazon: "In this award-winning text, theologian Sallie McFague challenges
Christians' usual speech about God as a kind of monarch. She probes
instead three other possible metaphors for God—as mother, lover, and
friend."
From Google Books: "Goss compiles a decade of his writing as a queer Christian theologian
and shares his queering of four areas: sexuality, the Christ, the Bible,
and theology, which form the quadrants of his own spirituality that aim
at the queer reconstruction of Christianity and reflect a life that
aims to integrate the depths of spirituality and sexuality with a
practice of justice."
From Amazon: "Sex and the Church is a groundbreaking book that brings lesbian
and gay theory and experience to bear on questions of sexuality and its
relationship to Christian life. Ethicist Kathy Rudy begins by showing
how the Christian right's campaign for "family values" has profoundly
shaped American debates about gender and sexuality, and how mainline
Protestant denominations have responded by focusing narrowly on
questions of inclusion and exclusion..."
From
the back cover: "Cheng provides a historical survey of how queer
theology has developed from the 1950s to today and then explicates the
themes of queer theology using the ecumenical creeds as a general
framework."
From Amazon: "This book bridges traditional religious doctrine and secular postmodern
theory regarding gender. Through an examination of the Hebrew and
Christian scriptures and church history as well as the exploration of
other religious traditions and cultures, Mollenkott honors the
experience of people who do not fit within the traditional binary
concept of gender: intersexual, trans-sexual, or otherwise-gendered
individuals."
From CLGS.org: "Justin Tanis, a transgendered ordained minister in the Metropolitan
Community Churches, seeks to explore the spiritual nature of
transgendered persons, to listen to the stories of others like himself,
and to provide theological reflection on the ministries of, by and for
this particular community. The book includes an introduction to trans
issues, an overview of gender variance and the Bible, reflections on the
intersection of transgendered people and faith communities and how to
create a genuine welcome for trans people in those communities, as well
as a theological analysis of gender as a calling and transgendered body
theology"
Published
by Zondervan, and becoming popular among many Evangelical churches,
this book takes a middle-ground view, advocating for Christians to
neither condemn LGBTQs nor condone their choices.
Contact Info
Erica Chu - ericachu@msn.com
T Nowacki - tricianowacki@garrett.edu
