Trillium

I wrote this poem several Aprils ago in New England . .  tonight, on the Equinox, on the other side of the continent, it speaks to me of the liminal space at the edge of spring:

TRILLIUM

Deep crimson blossoms
recall blood
and the taste of iron,

spray of stars
in the center
guide you in

to the carress
of petals

that draw you
down to
darkness.

Blooming
in the moments
before spring
has decided
whether
to remain,

Our Lady of the Forest
draws no distinction
between birth
and death.

Whichever passage
you choose
she will hold you
through the night

then deliver you
to the April morning,

stillborn
or drawing
your first breath.

Calgary GSA Network: Celebrating 1 Year of Creating Safe Spaces for LGBTQ Youth

At the upcoming meeting on March 21, the Calgary Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Network will be celebrating its 1 year anniversary. In today's blog, we welcome Nick Moore - our Sexual and Gender Minority Youth Education Coordinator - to reflect on the past year of the Calgary GSA Network.

 

 

How did the Calgary GSA Network get started?

 

The beginnings of the GSA network really began more than a year ago. While teaching comprehensive sexual health education programming in Calgary schools, which includes our “Diversity and Respecting Everyone” (DARE) anti-homophobia and anti-sexism workshop, myself and our other educators would often encounter caring and compassionate teachers who recognized the trials and tribulations of being an LGBTQ youth in Calgary schools. We found that the teachers who were inviting us into their CALM classes were usually also supportive allies to LGBTQ students and often the sponsor teachers for the few GSAs that existed at the time.



Button making with
GSAs in Calgary schools



One such person was Omnia Anderson, a counselor at Bowness High School. Omnia approached me noting the struggles she faced maintaining membership and engagement with her GSA group at Bowness. Even though I knew very little of GSAs myself, I went back to the office and hunted down as many resources as I could find. I later visited Omnia to share these materials and resources. Whenever I encountered other GSA sponsor teachers I brought what resources I could. Soon enough I began getting requests from other teachers for these materials.

I also traveled to Edmonton for a few days to learn about the Edmonton GSA Roundtable Meetings as well as Camp FYrefly at the U of A’s Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services (iSMSS). I was fortunate enough to attend a roundtable meeting where the Edmonton GSA Network met with the then Minister of Education, Thomas Lukazuk, now Deputy Premier of Alberta.

With some guidance from Dr. Kris Wells at the iSMSS, our team worked together to organize our first GSA Roundtable meeting in March of 2012. This meeting was very well attended by educators and support staff as well as supportive community members. The enthusiasm for continuing these meetings was incredible and encouraged us to continue hosting more meetings.

 

 

How has the Calgary GSA Network grown since that first meeting?


The word has spread like wildfire.

A preliminary survey of the city revealed only 4 or 5 schools had GSAs at the time, but as the talk on the street of the roundtable meetings grew, more and more schools came out to participate in the conversation about creating safe and supportive environments within Calgary schools. At the beginning of the summer in 2012, we had people from as many as 17 schools attend the roundtable meetings.

To date, over 25 schools (with and without GSAs) and more than 30 supportive community organizations have been involved! Even schools outside of Calgary, including Cochrane, Airdrie and Okotoks, have also came out to attend these meetings.

Anyone and everyone has come out to the meetings to participate in this ever-growing network. The meetings are attended and appreciated by many, including students, teachers, counselors, psychologists, youth support workers, representatives from the Calgary Board of Education, the Alberta Teachers Association, and many many community organizations (like CCASA, Families Matter, and the Calgary Police Service), parents and even grandparents attend!

What topics are discussed and shared at the meetings?

The meetings have always been centred around creating and sustaining safe and supportive environments in school communities for LGBTQ people and their allies. We also always try to have FUN!

The meetings have often taken on different topics of discussion or themes like:

• learning about GSAs and social justice
• homophobic, biphobic and transphobic language and bullying
• LGBTQ allies and their importance
• safety and inclusion
• family and what family means to the LGBTQ community
• community support and resources
• networking with others and community building
  

GSA Network in the
2012 Calgary Pride parade

In addition to our regular meetings, we have had some occasions to celebrate and have fun together as the network grows. For example, last summer we had an incredibly fun BBQ Social in Riley Park. Also, members of the Calgary GSA Network were excited to walk proudly in the Calgary PRIDE parade with their allies in the Alberta Teachers’ Association. A social committee that was formed from the Roundtable meetings organized and hosted their very own Halloween Movie night and donated the proceeds to the Network. And members of Calgary GSAs and the Network, in particular the Forest Lawn GSA, attended the first Annual GSA Conference in Edmonton in November.

This conversation and the interest in networking, building community and advancing the movement to create safe, inclusive and supportive environments in school communities in and around Calgary is still growing.

 

What do you hope for the next year for the Calgary GSA Network?

Our hope is for this conversation to continue! We hope to further support and connect the GSAs of Calgary and Area with each other and the community that is there to support and celebrate them. We hope to find new and creative ways to engage the youth and their supportive teachers as well as their greater community in making all communities, especially schools, safe and supportive for typically marginalized LGBTQ youth.

 

If you are interested in learning more about the Calgary GSA Network and Roundtable meetings please feel free to look us up on the facebook at the “Calgary GSA Network” or email Nick Moore (nmoore@calgarysexualhealth.ca) to be added to our mailing list.

 

Please share this poster for the upcoming Calgary GSA Network meeting and celebration on March 21st!

 

Coming Out Monologues: We're so there!

We are pleased to be taking part in the "Coming Out Monologues" this week at the University of Calgary.

The Coming Out Monologues are three celebratory evenings of the LGBTQA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gendered, transsexual, queer, ally) community. The three performances will be at the UofC in Craigie Hall on March 13, 14 and 15, with each night being a different performance. We'll be there with a booth each night - so drop by to say hello!

 

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at www.ucalgary.ca/tickets , with 50% of proceeds go towards the Calgary Sexual Health Centre. We are thrilled to be supported by this event!

 

 

For more info, check out: www.facebook.com/comingoutyyc

 

We are also pleased to be taking part in the educational panel discussion that is taking place on March 16th.

 

Following the momentum of the Coming Out Monologues performances, the panel discussion event will change focus to discussion and creating allies in the community. The event will include a short performance, panel discussion, resources and activites focused on increasing knowledge around theory, language, discrimination, and experiences. Light refreshments will be provided. 

 

Event schedule:

 

11:00am: Registration. Light refreshments are provided. 

11:30am-11:45am: Introduction and 2 short performances from Coming Out Monologues performers.

11:45am-1:00pm: Panel Discussion (with Q & A from 12:45-1:00pm)

1:00pm-1:15pm: Brief Break and Networking

1:15pm-1:30pm: Presentation on Discrimination Role Play Scenarios and Active Witnessing

1:30pm-1:45pm: Group Activity

1:45pm-2:00pm: Activity Feedback and Resource Discussion

 

Panel speakers include:

• Dawn Johnston, Professor, University of Calgary
• Lee Allard, LBGTQ Youth Support Specialist, Calgary Sexual Health Centre
• Nick Moore, Sexual and Gender Minority Youth Education Coordinator, Calgary Sexual Health Centre
• Nolan Hill, University of Calgary student, Coming Out Monologues Social Media Coordinator

To register for this free event:  http://www.eventzilla.net/web/event?eventid=2138992198

Bringing Camp Fyrefly to Calgary!

The Calgary Sexual Health Centre and the University of Alberta’s Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services (iSMSS) are collaborating in an exciting way to bring Camp Fyrefly to Calgary! 

Camp fYrefly is Canada's only national leadership retreat for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-identified, two-spirited, intersexed, queer, questioning, and allied youth.

This year Camp Fyrefly is coming to Calgary on July 11-14! 

If you or someone you know is interested in being involved in the camp  please contact Nick Moore by email with your email/contact info so he can add you to the mailing list as we get this work and planning underway!

Some of the areas you can get involved include:

• donations
• camp counselor volunteers 
• organizing committee volunteers  (Fund Development; Programming & Education; Advertising, Publicity & Community Outreach; and Parent, Volunteer & Youth Outreach.)

For more details, check out the links below.

http://www.fyrefly.ualberta.ca/Calgary/index.htm 

http://www.ismss.ualberta.ca/

https://www.facebook.com/CampfYreflyAlberta

For more info and to volunteer, please contact Nick Moore at:

nmoore@calgarysexualhealth.ca

403-283-5580 ext. 308

Pink Shirt Day: Keep it going!

Today is "Pink Shirt Day" - a day to take a stand against bullying in our schools and workplaces. In our work towards equality, we acknowledge the impact of systemic discrimination and promote the right to positive sexual health for all people.

In today's blog, we focus on the LGBT community and how we can keep the "Pink Shirt" spirit going all year long!  


1. Support a Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) in your school

We are proud to host monthly meetings of the Calgary GSA Roundtable for students, teachers, staff, and administrators to meet, network, and share strategies in support of sexual and gender minority youth attending schools in Calgary and surrounding communities. The monthly Roundtable meetings aim to provide resources, supports and connections to schools in order to assist GSAs in creating safe, inclusive, and equitable school environments for sexual and gender minority students, questioning students, and students from same-sex parented families.

If you want to start a GSA in your school, or if you want to share ideas and visions for your GSA, please connect with us and attend an upcoming meeting.



2. Create a Culture of Respect (CCOR) at your workplace for LGBT staff

We offer three levels of support to help your organization create a culture of respect: professional training, customized in-service training, and policy development.

We can bring our training session to your location, where we will explore the reality of heterosexism in society and its impact on client service delivery models and practices. Drawing on actual experiences, facilitators work together with participants to identify strategies to create safe and supportive environments for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender clients and co–workers. Contact us for more info.


3. Be an LGBT ally

When people disclose that they are LGBT, it means they care enough about you to be vulnerable and let you into their personal lives. It takes courage to come out so honour the process and offer your support. Listen more than you talk and never disclose a person’s sexual orientation or gender identify to others. It’s not your story to tell.

Just as coming out can be difficult for LGBT people, the coming out process can also affect family members, especially parents who may be struggling to accept their child’s sexual orientation and may worry about how other people will react.

For tips on how to support someone who comes out to you and how to be an LGBT ally, visit us at: http://www.calgarysexualhealth.ca/coming_out.html


4. Check your language

When was the last time you heard a gay joke? Last week. When someone says something is “totally gay” what are the chances they mean something positive? None. Derogatory jokes and comments about sexual orientation are so common that they have become accepted as part of our everyday language.

So what’s the big deal? Well, these seemingly harmless jokes and remarks are hurtful and send a strong message that being LGBT is unacceptable. They are part of the reason that many LGBT teens don’t dare come out and suffer in silence. It’s called homophobia. Make a pledge to stop using homophobic language, and to take a stand when you hear it.

Calgary Gay Straight Alliance Roundtable: What's this all about?

What are the Calgary GSA Roundtable meetings all about?

• Meetings are held once a month (during the school year) for students, teachers, staff, and administrators to meet, network, and share strategies in support of sexual and gender minority (LGBTQA) youth attending schools in Calgary and surrounding communities.

• The purpose of these monthly Roundtable Meetings is to provide resources, supports and connections to schools in order to assist GSA’s in creating safe, inclusive, and equitable school environments for sexual and gender minority students, questioning students, and students from same-sex parented families.

• The Calgary GSA Roundtable meetings are hosted by the Calgary Sexual Health Centre and are supported by a number of different community groups and agencies and school communities.

When is the next meeting?

Our next meeting is on Feb 28th at 6pm.  Check out the poster below for all the details. Please share this info to help us spread the word!

To stay updated and connected, join us or contact us at:

“Calgary GSA Network”

Search for our group on Facebook

Calgary GSA Network Mailing List

(contact Nick Moore at info below)

Alberta GSA Network Listserv:

http://www.mailman.srv.ualberta.ca/mailman/listinfo/gay-straight-alliance

Questions? Please contact Nick Moore at:

nmoore@calgarysexualhealth.ca

403-283-5580 ext. 308

Exorcising the false god

In his poem, "Imagine the Angels of Bread", Martin Espada wrote:

"[. . . ] every rebellion begins with the idea

that conquerors on horseback

are not many-legged gods, that they too drown

if plunged in the river"

These words keep coming back to me as I navigate the emotions unleashed by the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.

Growing up Catholic, the Pope was God's representative on Earth.

And even though I left the church many years ago, the Pope continued to be, for me, the personification of a faith that insisted that I was born tainted with sin and could only hope to be saved from it by renouncing the body I was born into and its desires, and making penance for every time I failed to hold them at bay.

But yesterday, when Benedict XVI announced that he would again become Joseph Ratzinger, the child inside me was finally able to see the man behind the curtain, and realize that neither he, nor the false god he represents, have any any power over.    And since then the rage and grief I didn't let myself feel for years have been pouring out through me.   And behind them, I feel a sense of freedom I never knew was possible.

In many ways, I was one of the lucky ones.    I never endured any physical abuse. My hell was all in my own head and my own heart.

Despite coming from a liberal family, I was an oddly devout and conservative Catholic as a kid.   I wanted desperately to know and experience the divine.   And I considered myself utterly wretched, rescued by grace I did not deserve, grace that would run out before I could make myself worthy of love.  

For years I would joke about it:  how at 13, when I went to bed, I would pray for forgiveness for all the "impure thoughts" I had during the day.   But as I prayed, thoughts and images of sex would come slipping in around the edges of my mind.  So I would pray for forgiveness again.   But my prayers could never keep up with my libido.   And I would wake up the next morning, afraid I was going to hell.

When I tell the story now, grief and rage come as I see the ways I was denied a chance to experience the goodness, the power, and the wild innocence of my body and its pleasures. 

Praying over and over again, "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you," robbed me of my sense of my own goodness.   I kept looking to some outside authority to finally absolve and bless me long after I stopped consciously believing the theology that told me I was a sinner in need of forgiveness.

With the Pope's abdication, that scared 13 year old inside me can finally see the hollowness, the powerlessness, and the cruelty of all claims to authority over my soul by anyone other than my highest self.

And I realize that the denial of the goodness, the innocence, the blessedness, the divinity of every one of us is the root of all the church's crimes from the Inquisition to the blessing of genocide in the Americas to the Magdalane laundries to the coverup of the rape of children to the silencing of the prophetic voices within its own fold who speak out against oppression and corruption and violence.

And so I pray:

By the Holly that guards the darkness,
my innocence is protected

By the Hawthorn that opens the gate,
what left this world returns,

By the fire of Devil's Club,
I  step forward in the fullness of who I am.

Blessed be my wildness

Blessed be my humanity

Blessed be my divinity

In the name of my Godself I am free.