New Pride is about as small and community based as you can get, being a support group, it is therefore aimed at helping the individual. IGLHRC is an international organization that works with governments, the UN, and national organizations. They both aim to make the day to day lives of all LGBTI individuals better. While with New Pride I will be working with individuals who are struggling to come out, IGLHRC works with groups like New Pride to ensure the support of communities worldwide. IGLHRC strives for legal protection and equal rights for all LGBTI individuals so that there wouldn't be a need for groups like New Hope.
New Hope's parent organization, the Akron Pride Center works as a safe place for LGBTI groups to meet or hold events, also they put together a huge list of all things gay friendly in Akron and all surrounding areas. IGLHRC works to unite grass roots organizations to create safe places for the LGBTI community, which is one of the main goals of the Akron Pride Center. Basically IGLHRC picks up where the Akron Pride Center leaves off. My local organization focuses on the personal level of homosexuality, whereas my international organization focuses on the political and social aspects of homosexuality. I think these two groups work well together because engaging in both can allow you to help change the political inequalities as well as seeing how those political changes effect individuals. I love my work with New Pride, it is quickly becoming the most satisfying work I have ever done. I help people who are facing discrimination and fear because of their sexual orientation and groups like IGLHRC are working so that MORE people don’t have to face the same problems in the future.
Not only is New Pride a support group however, we also aim at education and understanding within the gay community just as IGLHRC works for the same things but on a larger scale. I learned that IGLHRC does not just work for gay, lesbian and bisexuals they also advocate for trans-individuals, which is also something New Pride is hoping to incorporate into future meetings. Both groups aim to educate and break stereotypes of LGBTI. I am teaching participants at our New Pride meetings that individuals within the gay community are just that, individuals. You don’t have to look or act a certain way to be gay, and just because you don’t fit into a stereotype doesn’t mean you are somehow less-gay, or that by fitting too much into a gay stereotype that you are less woman/man. IGLHRC is teaching countries and governments that no matter what someone looks like, or identify as, or who they love all people should be equal under the law.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Flier
If you click on the flier a whole page version will open so you can actually read it! Feel free to reproduce this and give it to anyone you think would like to come!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
First New Pride Meeting
Last night I had my first meeting that I facilitated with New Pride. I was really nervous starting out I have to admit, this is my first time working with a support group. We started out with simple introductions, people could share as much or as little as they liked. A lot of really interesting topics popped up just from our introductions which lead our discussion into shame and family. We concentrated especially on the feeling of shame men (who are still not out) have who think others perceive them as too feminine which I thought was very interesting because of our conversation in class about how society reacts when someone breaks the gender norms. Specifically how it is seen to be much worse when men have feminine traits since femininity is seen as a weakness.
We also actually talked for a good while about why it is so hard for women to come out to their families because of the expectations a family has about a daughter. We talked about how parents have this view of their daughters lives, getting married and having children, and they feel like that is lost when their daughter tells them she is gay. I thought it was interesting that men did not have the same problem when coming out (not that their issues with coming out are any less important) but it seems that parents don't have the same expectations for sons, it is fine if sons don't go out and get married and have kids, they still have the option of having a good career and a fulfilling life, whereas women aren't women anymore if they can't marry a man and have babies.
We also had a speaker come talk from PFLAG who talked about politics for awhile, concentrating on how many rights LGBT still don't have in Ohio. He also spoke about ways to engage families who are having a hard time with a family member coming out.
All in all I think the meeting went extremely well. Everyone participated and we had a couple people really open up. Some people walked in looking terrified, seconds away from tears and as the meeting went on those people opened up and you could almost watch them relax and by the end of the meeting we were all laughing. It was amazing, it's an amazing feeling to know that just being there and listening and sharing stories can make such a difference. To give someone who has no where else to turn a place to open up and relax. It was genuinely inspiring and I am so thrilled I got to be a part of it.
The next meeting that I will actually be facilitating will not be until June, but I will be going to the next meeting just to participate, so I will have one more meeting to share with you about.
We also actually talked for a good while about why it is so hard for women to come out to their families because of the expectations a family has about a daughter. We talked about how parents have this view of their daughters lives, getting married and having children, and they feel like that is lost when their daughter tells them she is gay. I thought it was interesting that men did not have the same problem when coming out (not that their issues with coming out are any less important) but it seems that parents don't have the same expectations for sons, it is fine if sons don't go out and get married and have kids, they still have the option of having a good career and a fulfilling life, whereas women aren't women anymore if they can't marry a man and have babies.
We also had a speaker come talk from PFLAG who talked about politics for awhile, concentrating on how many rights LGBT still don't have in Ohio. He also spoke about ways to engage families who are having a hard time with a family member coming out.
All in all I think the meeting went extremely well. Everyone participated and we had a couple people really open up. Some people walked in looking terrified, seconds away from tears and as the meeting went on those people opened up and you could almost watch them relax and by the end of the meeting we were all laughing. It was amazing, it's an amazing feeling to know that just being there and listening and sharing stories can make such a difference. To give someone who has no where else to turn a place to open up and relax. It was genuinely inspiring and I am so thrilled I got to be a part of it.
The next meeting that I will actually be facilitating will not be until June, but I will be going to the next meeting just to participate, so I will have one more meeting to share with you about.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Pride Violence in Thailand
I was reading the website for my international group IGLHRC and I found an article posted about Thailand's second annual gay pride festival. Apparently the parade goers were locked in a compound for over four hours by a militant group called 'Rak Chiang Mai 51' also known as the 'red shirts'. The parade goers were beaten and held hostage all while the local police looked on and did nothing about it. Here is the link to the actual article http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/article/takeaction/partners/873.html
It is so disgusting and sad to know that such hate and violence is in the world. It makes me thankful that I live in country where at least I can hold hands with my girlfriend when we walk down the street (at least in some places) but even here I can't get married, I can't adopt a child and there is still a very real risk of hate crimes to me and all other homosexuals in America. Articles like this make me want to become much more active. It also illustrates part of the reason I chose gay groups instead of specifically women's groups for this blog.
Even now lesbians are seen as second class feminists. So not only am I a second class citizen in this world because I am a woman, I am even LESS important because I am also a lesbian. So far in class we have talked a lot about the differences that separate women and feminists, I just hope that all of you that consider yourself feminists also consider my fight as a lesbian feminists part of your fight as a woman. Because even if you don't directly see it, our fights for equality are intermingled, just like we are bound to the women in the Mexican tomato fields. Just because I am a lesbian does not mean I am not a women, it does not mean that I am less of a feminist it does not mean that my struggles for equality are any less than your struggles for equality.
It is so disgusting and sad to know that such hate and violence is in the world. It makes me thankful that I live in country where at least I can hold hands with my girlfriend when we walk down the street (at least in some places) but even here I can't get married, I can't adopt a child and there is still a very real risk of hate crimes to me and all other homosexuals in America. Articles like this make me want to become much more active. It also illustrates part of the reason I chose gay groups instead of specifically women's groups for this blog.
Even now lesbians are seen as second class feminists. So not only am I a second class citizen in this world because I am a woman, I am even LESS important because I am also a lesbian. So far in class we have talked a lot about the differences that separate women and feminists, I just hope that all of you that consider yourself feminists also consider my fight as a lesbian feminists part of your fight as a woman. Because even if you don't directly see it, our fights for equality are intermingled, just like we are bound to the women in the Mexican tomato fields. Just because I am a lesbian does not mean I am not a women, it does not mean that I am less of a feminist it does not mean that my struggles for equality are any less than your struggles for equality.
Friday, February 20, 2009
IGLHRC
My international group is the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Their mission statement is "Our mission is advancing human rights for everyone, everywhere, to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression." (http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/content/about/missionandvision/index.html)
"We believe that realizing our vision requires the development of strong human rights movements globally, which is why building advocacy partnerships is at the heart of what we do. As partners, we work hand-in-hand with local activists to strengthen their capacity to confront human rights violations at home. We also connect our partners to the broader human rights arena—including the United Nations system and NGOs at the regional and global level. Together with our partners, we create visibility for human rights violations by monitoring and documenting abuses and responding to human rights emergencies. We stand firm with those who seek to change discriminatory laws and policies affecting our communities." (http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/content/about/ourwork/index.html)
IGLHRC has programs focusing on Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, Iran and Iraq, and with the United Nations.
"We believe that realizing our vision requires the development of strong human rights movements globally, which is why building advocacy partnerships is at the heart of what we do. As partners, we work hand-in-hand with local activists to strengthen their capacity to confront human rights violations at home. We also connect our partners to the broader human rights arena—including the United Nations system and NGOs at the regional and global level. Together with our partners, we create visibility for human rights violations by monitoring and documenting abuses and responding to human rights emergencies. We stand firm with those who seek to change discriminatory laws and policies affecting our communities." (http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/content/about/ourwork/index.html)
IGLHRC has programs focusing on Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, Iran and Iraq, and with the United Nations.
More on New Pride
The new pride group is comprised of facilitators (me and 9 other volunteers) and support group members, the people who will be attending the meetings to benefit from them. Like I said in my last post I had my first training session on Tuesday, unfortunately I was half dead with bronchitis and drugged up so I actually didn't get a whole lot out of the meeting :( Generally though it was a basic meet and greet, all the facilitators got together and we went over the very basics of how the group is going to be set up and run. All of the facilitators are "out" gays who have a desire to make a welcome and safe place for individuals who are coming out later in life (21+) we haven't had an official meeting yet so I can't yet tell you who the other members will be!
Like I said this a support group, it is what is called a "peer run" support group, meaning there are no actual counselors present, just the facilitators, which makes for a much more relaxed and open environment. The purpose of this group is just to give support to those who are coming out later in life. We will have a monthly meeting (though if attendance is good it may switch to every other week) there will be 3 facilitators at every meeting to assure things run smoothly. Like I said the facilitators aren’t counselors so they aren’t there to necessarily give advice as they are to run the sessions and keep the conversations on point and intervene if necessary.
Again since we haven’t had an actual meeting yet I can’t describe TOO much of the actual process but I’ll write more next Tuesday after my next training meeting!
Like I said this a support group, it is what is called a "peer run" support group, meaning there are no actual counselors present, just the facilitators, which makes for a much more relaxed and open environment. The purpose of this group is just to give support to those who are coming out later in life. We will have a monthly meeting (though if attendance is good it may switch to every other week) there will be 3 facilitators at every meeting to assure things run smoothly. Like I said the facilitators aren’t counselors so they aren’t there to necessarily give advice as they are to run the sessions and keep the conversations on point and intervene if necessary.
Again since we haven’t had an actual meeting yet I can’t describe TOO much of the actual process but I’ll write more next Tuesday after my next training meeting!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
New Pride Facilitator
So I had my phone interview today with Doug from the Akron Pride Center for the volunteer facilitator position with New Hope. I am SO excited to say that I have been offered one of the positions! I start training Tuesday when I'll meet the other facilitators and start working on how to actually facilitate this group.
The meetings at first will be held once a month on Tuesday, but apparently the feedback from the community has been so great they are planning on making the meetings every other week after we get started.
So Tuesday evening there will be a nice long blog about my first training session!
The meetings at first will be held once a month on Tuesday, but apparently the feedback from the community has been so great they are planning on making the meetings every other week after we get started.
So Tuesday evening there will be a nice long blog about my first training session!
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