New Pride and IGLHRC compared

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.

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!

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.