Scenarios USA: Films Written by Teens, Produced by Professionals
The other day I went to a great screening hosted by Scenarios USA. Scenarios USA is a Brooklyn-based organization that creates films written by teens from around the country, and then has them directed and produced by professionals with Hollywood credentials.
At the event, three films were shown and the audience had a chance to talk to some of the teen writers, as well as to the director, David Koepp, who worked with the Scenarios film, All Falls Down.
Watching these films with a group of educators was a great reminder of just how important it is to include teen voices when discussing things like sexual orientation, sexuality, and even day-to-day life.
If you get a chance, make sure to check out some of the films. And if you are feeling inspired, consider entering one of their contests and submitting a script yourself. You can also read my review here...
Female Couple Barred from Entering Prom Holds One in Parking Lot Instead
Wouldn't it be nice if one year around this time I didn't have to write about some school's ridiculous treatment of a same sex couple at prom?
Well, this is not the year. Yet another school has made yet another big deal about the fact that some girls want to go to prom with other girls and some guys want to go to prom with other guys.
The school in question is a Catholic one based in Kentucky and their method of dealing with a lesbian couple was to turn them away from their prom at the doors. And while they legally had the right to prevent the girls from going to prom (public school's on the other hand don't), many of us would argue that they didn't have a moral right.
As one of the girls told her local paper:
"I would understand and respect the school's decision if they truly upheld church teachings. They didn't forbid the entrance of all the couples who've had premarital sex and all the kids who planned to get drunk after the prom."
But in a nice twist on what could have simply been another downer of a story, it seems that the girls got a lot of support from their classmates. After getting turned away at the doors the couple, along with many of their friends, held their own prom in the school's parking lot.
Have you gone to prom with a same sex date? How did it go?
Related
- Can I Bring My Same Sex Date to Prom?
- Not Held to Title IX, Private Schools Can Still Ban Same Sex Couples From Prom
- Positive News on GLBT Teen Prom Experiences
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Image (c) Phae
The Letter Q: Queer Writers' Notes to Their Younger Selves
Last night, I got to hear some pretty amazing writers read from the lovely new anthology, The Letter Q: Queer Writers' Notes to Their Younger Selves.
The book is made up of essays, presented as advice, that a wide range queer writers wish they had been able to give themselves as they were growing up.
All of the readers were great, at turns funny, moving, and serious, but a few stood out. For example, Brian Selznick enlisted his 13-year-old cousin to read in his teenage voice, Linda Villarosa shared an emotional piece about a terrible day that united her family, and a video reading by Tales of the City author, Armistead Maupin, ended with him sharing the cover of an old beefcake magazine from 40 years ago that inspired his essay.
It's Official: Obama Supports Gay Marriage
What a week, first North Carolina passes a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, then President Obama comes out supporting it!
In an interview yesterday, with journalist Robin Roberts, Obama said, "I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."
Now that might not sound like such a radical statement to you, but it is the first time that this president has clearly voiced his support for gay marriage.
This has been thrilling for a lot of us out there, but of course there are also people who are less than excited by this development. Not surprisingly one of these is the Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan who said,
"We cannot be silent in the face of words or actions that would undermine the institution of marriage, the very cornerstone of our society. The people of this country, especially our children, deserve better."
Really? Children deserve better than parents who are allowed to get married? Seems a little bit of a stretch to me.
I'd like to think that if the "children deserve better" argument is the best one folks can come up with, then we don't have much to worry about from gay marriage opposers. Sadly, that argument actually seems to resonate with far too many people.
But while I could spend a lot of time worrying about that, I'd rather just be happy today about what Obama has called his "evolution" on the matter.
What do you think of Obama's support for gay marriage?
Image (c) Getty
California May Ban "Reparative" Gay-Conversion Therapy
A California legislator just introduced a bill that would ban reparative "therapy" that is designed to turn gay people straight.
As the AP reports, "The bill would prohibit so-called reparative therapy for minors and obligate adults to sign a release form that states that the counseling is ineffectual and possibly dangerous."
This is a form of therapy which no respected medical or psychological organization supports, and which has been found to cause serious harm.
In fact, one of the few mainstream psychiatrists who backed such therapy recently withdrew his support. And in the past few years, the founder of one of the most popular conversion therapy programs, Love in Action, stopped referring to himself as ex-gay and began to simply referring to himself as gay, despite undergoing years of reparative therapy himself.
If California does pass this ban, it will be an important step. Let's hope more states go in this direction, rather than following North Carolina, which sadly voted yesterday to constitutionally ban gay marriage. Sigh.
Do you think reparative therapy should be banned? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Are Your Parents Homophobic or Just Strict?
A lot of teens have strict parents who have laundry lists of rules and expectations for behavior. Often this is based on a parent's values or culture. But sometimes, parents aren't just strict , rather they are reacting to a teen's sexual orientation or gender identity.
Here is how to tell the difference and a few idea for managing homophobia at home...
Do you have strict parents? Homophobic ones? How do you deal?
Should I Come Out as "Questioning?"
Coming out is a big decision for anyone. But what if you aren't totally sure that you are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender? Should you tell the people around you that you are questioning?
This is something that a lot of teens grapple with. Here is what one teen has to say on the matter...
What do you think? Should you come out if you aren't certain of your sexual orientation or gender identity?
Related:
Study Finds Some Homophobes Repressing Same Sex Attractions
Last week, researchers published a paper with the findings that some of the most hardcore homophobes might actually be trying to repress their own attractions to the same sex.
This isn't a new theory, but this study highlighted the idea that when people with such feelings don't have community or family support, then one coping mechanism maybe to express hostility for others with similar feelings.
But the researchers cautioned,
"It's important to stress the obvious: Not all those who campaign against gay men and lesbians secretly feel same-sex attractions. But at least some who oppose homosexuality are likely to be individuals struggling against parts of themselves, having themselves been victims of oppression and lack of acceptance. The costs are great, not only for the targets of anti-gay efforts but also often for the perpetrators. We would do well to remember that all involved deserve our compassion."
What do you think of these findings? What about the call for compassion?
Related
- Am I the Only Gay Conservative Christian?
- Is There a Link Between Conservative Christian Churches and Gay Teen Suicide?
- How Homophobia Hurts Everyone
Image (c) minarai
Author of Ex-Gay Study Recants, Now What?
Earlier this month, Robert Spitzer, a psychiatrist and the author of one of the most well-known and frequently cited studies on the ability to change sexual orientation, recanted his findings and apologized to the GLBT community for perpetuating an incredibly damaging myth.
Indeed, plenty of groups have used this study to promote the idea that you can be an "ex-gay" and that with the help or reparative or corrective therapy gay people can "turn" straight.
As pretty much anyone who has gone through such programs can tell you, while they might change their behavior, they really haven't changed the coe of who they are.
As Spitzer said in an interview with The American Prospect,
"The findings can be considered evidence for what those who have undergone ex-gay therapy say about it, but nothing more."
So what now? Since the ex-gay folks no longer have the one somewhat credible expert backing their cause, will they drop their claims that sexual orientation? Last night Rachel Maddow had NYU constitutional professor Kenji Yoshino on her show to explained why Spitzer's comments are important.
As he said:
"I think it`s a big deal. So, first of all, the reason immutability is important is because under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, there's a standard called heightened scrutiny. And there are certain classifications like race, national origin, sex, nonmarital parentage, lineage (ph) that get that scrutiny. The $64,000 question of this case is whether or not sexual orientation is going to be added to that list. And one of the criteria that`s been looked at to determine whether or not a group gets heightened scrutiny is immutability, as you mentioned. So, the fact that Spitzer retracting this and the fact that the testimony in the Prop 8 trial was overwhelming for the fact that sexual orientation is very hard to change could figure into that analysis."
You can watch the clip here
Have you e er heard that sexual orientation can be changed?
Related
How to Get Over a Straight Crush
Straight crushes: it's the rare gay teen who hasn't had one. In fact, almost 850 teens have told their straight crush stories on this site.
But while straight crushes are really common, they are also really unlikely to turn into something romantic.
So what can you do? Since there isn't a magic pill to make someone fall in love with you, your best bet is to work on getting over the straight crush. Here's how...
Share your tips for getting over a straight crush here.
Image (c) Steve Wampler