GLSEN Goes to the Super Bowl

You’ve probably seen the ThinkB4YouSpeak ads put out by GLSEN (rock-dwellers: the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) to discourage the use of phrases like “that’s so gay” in popular culture. These ads point out how senseless and potentially hurtful it is to use “gay” as a synonym for “dumb.” Some ads do this by putting the person who says “that’s so gay” in a gay person’s shoes (thank you, Hilary Duff) while some simply speak out against it (thank you, NBA). It’s true that a lot of queer people do this themselves in an effort to “take back the word,” but the practice can definitely contribute to feelings of isolation and worthlessness to queer youth, especially uncertain and potentially closeted youth who don’t have a network of queer friends reminding them it’s okay to be gay.

Thanks to airtime generously donated by Grazie Media (you can add your signature to GLSEN’s thank-you note here), GLSEN was able to air new PSA’s including the ones above AT THE ACTUAL SUPER BOWL. According to GLSEN’s webpage about this project, some 800,000 spectators in both the stadium and the surrounding parking lots saw these on the stadium’s big screen. Anti-gay groups—including everyone’s favorite, Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church—protested the airing of the ads and even went to the Super Bowl to form a picket line, which apparently didn’t get too much attention from the sports fans. If you don’t care because you want to fight homophobia, care because much homophobia is rooted in gender stereotypes (a boy teased for “acting gay” is usually really being teased for “acting” feminine), which hurts our community too. If THAT doesn’t interest you, care because the most-shared and most-commented-on status GLSEN posted about the Super Bowl is actually about a transgender woman who joined the counter protest.

The status, which you can see in full on GLSEN’s Facebook page, shows a photo of the woman holding a sign that reads “I’m transgendered. I’m prettier than all of the WBC and God still loves me” and hails her as an ally. The post adds that “a couple of football fans came up to the trans woman and prayed with her in support of the counter protest directly in front of the anti-gay picket.” Right now, there are 73 comments about how beautiful and strong this woman is. The community has chosen to focus on this individual’s strength over anything else. I don’t know if GLSEN is moderating comments, but I couldn’t find a shred of transphobia in any of them. There can be a lot of in-fighting in the queer community, but I like this example of the fact that we can really come together in the face of hatred.

Revisiting My Roots...?

Sooo I’ve fallen off the face of the planet—again—and now I’m back—again—until I decide that I’m not sure what I should be writing about—again. My initial goal in starting this blog was to help people who had little to no experience in the trans world, and didn’t know about any resources that could help them become more comfortable with the community, the vocabulary, and even the concept. I wanted to do this because I was once frustratingly unable to grasp the reality of being transgender, and when I was able to admit this to myself and actively seek help understanding, I was met with more questions than answers.

To be specific: I went to my first ever transgender allies workshop/discussion at a transgender rights conference and met a whole bunch of people who didn’t really know how to define or describe their partners/parents/kids/friends and, in many cases, themselves because of it (am I still a lesbian?). I got into a long conversation with a parent about existing resources—websites were the most accessible, but there were no question-and-answer or networking sites, no routinely updated newsfeeds, that weren’t out of Facebook or something similar. What if— she asked my young English major aspiring writer self—SOMEONE were to start a blog addressing common issues new allies were facing? People could connect about similar experiences via the comment feature; relative anonymity would provide comfort but moderated comments would provide safety.

I started here on Blogger. I wrote about conferences and vocabulary, about employment laws, about respecting your partner’s identity without sacrificing your own. The problem was nobody read it. Someone convinced me to move to Tumblr, insisted it would guarantee readers. I found readers-- there and here as well-- but the new allies, it seems, are still not finding this blog, or else aren't finding it helpful. Who’s helping the newest allies? Where are they looking for that help? I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions for ways I could reach out to new allies and help connect all of us in new ways. We've all been there, right? What helped you?