First Meeting of the School Year!

GSA members and those interested in joining Midland High School's Gay-Straight Alliance! Our first meeting of the 2015-16 school year will be Thursday September 17th in room 111 in the language hall. We will be discussing our election and the future of our club as well as a few other things. Come to the meeting to have your voice heard!
Please contact Ae at alexanderae254@gmail.com with any questions or concerns you may have. Join our group on Facebook

5/7/15 Minutes

At the meeting today we ratified the amendments to the club constitution. Many thanks to Ae for spending a lot of time making important edits.

We also listened to Ae speak about his presentation at the PD Day in April. His main points were about the difference between sex and gender, dysphoria, and why respecting a student's identity is important. For example, teachers should not out students to their parents, especially in regard to gender.

Our next meeting (May 21) will include leadership elections for next year and an LGBTQ-focused TED talk and/or discussion as time allows. Please note that anyone wishing to run for leadership ***MUST be nominated by current leaders***. If you wish to be nominated, you must write a short essay (a paragraph up to whatever you feel is appropriate) and submit it to the leaders via email (mitranoca@gmail.com, alexanderae@midlandps.org, avileshr@midlandps.org, and camillerimd@midlandps.org) or bring a hard copy to Room 111 by **MONDAY, MAY 18**. We hope to hear from you!

4/23/15 Minutes

This week's topic is Role Models and Activists.

Business

• T-shirt orders are due
• April 26th at 6pm There will be a GSA Constitution revision at Cara's house
  • (update: nobody showed up :( )
• May 2nd is the Perceptions Chocolate Party. If you intend to go you must be accompanied by an adult. Mr. Camilleri intends to go, as does Cara if anyone else wants to.

Maddy Wheelock Presents

• Oscar Wilde
• Alfred Kinsey
• Christine Jorgensen
• Harvey Milk
• Edie Windsor
• Laverne Cox

The Revised GSA Constitution

  

These are jpgs of the revised constitution that we hope to pass at today's meeting!

Leadership Opportunity!

There is an upcoming opportunity for you to show leadership skills!  Kiva club wants to support the community and school by offering up to two $300 grants to MHS clubs.  The meeting will be on Tuesday, May 5 at 3:00 in room 347.  The Kiva club will then have a 5-minute interview with each club's representatives based on the following criteria:

1.  Entrepreneurship (How will money grow funds or club?)

2   Explanation of your group’s purpose

3.  Why your group needs money and what you would use it for

4.  Your group’s impact on the community

5.  Per capita impact (Number of people in club, number of people impacted)

Unfortunately, neither of the current student leaders can attend.  If you would like to show initiative and dedication to promotion of LGBTQ+ rights, we encourage you to attend this meeting and prepare answers for the above questions.  Cara is available to help with ideas and interview tips.  To participate, you must contact her at mitranoca@gmail.com bymidnight on Saturday, May 2.  We hope to hear from you!

GSA Minutes (2-12-15)

Business-type things

o   Our business cards and stickers have arrived!  Stop by Sra.’s room to pick up some stickers.  We will start gluing magnets onto the business cards at the next meeting (February 26).

o   Trans flag ribbon event will be in mid-late March- DHS may or may not be joining us

o   The T-shirt order will be placed in late April and the price will be $12-$15 each

·         Today’s topic: What is Polyamory? and Polyamory vs. Polygamy

·         Video: Ask a Polyamorous Person (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o1gsI3e0u4)

o   Polyamorous people are in relationships that involve more than one other person.

o   Polygamy refers to the marriage of more than two people, often based on religious ideals.

·         Discussion

o   What about jealousy?

§  It depends entirely on the individuals involved.  Some people want to know all the other partners their significant other(s) have.  Others have a “don’t-ask-don’t-tell” policy because they prefer not to know.  To figure it out, everyone needs to communicate effectively and honestly.

o   What about marriage of polyamorous people (to only one of their partners)?

§  Once again, it depends on the individuals involved.  However, for a lot of people the situation stays the same but they just have the certificate that makes them officially married.

o   What about marriage among more than two people?

§  Polygamy is illegal in almost all US states.  It is legal in Nevada (possibly only in Las Vegas) and maybe parts of Utah.  This is mainly due to the Mormon sects that do emphasize polygamy as part of their beliefs.  These marriages typically involve one man married to multiple women.

o   What is the main lesson to be learned from all of this?

§  Communication is key in any relationship, especially one involving more people.  The more people are involved, the more difficult it can be to communicate and make sure everyone’s needs are met.  Also, be yourself!  Be honest and open with your partner(s) so everyone is satisfied with the relationship.

We hope you join us at the next meeting (February 26) where Audrey will talk about LGBTQ+ friendly workplaces: businesses and what to do in light of discrimination in the workplace.  See you then!

Plans for Thursday, January 29, 2015

At 2:30 we are taking a photo in the back gym to support One Billion Rising. One Billion Rising is a national movement standing against domestic abuse. Please wear your GSA shirt and join us! Please note that you can join us even if you don't have a GSA shirt.
Then, after seventh hour (3:30),  Audrey will be leading a meeting on health of LGBTQ+ teens!

Quick Reminder

Our next meeting is January 29 after seventh hour in room 111!

Product Survey

Hey, everyone!

As announced at the last meeting, we are considering a purchase of some GSA "swag": products with our logo which can promote our club. We want your input on which products you like!

The options are business cards, magnets, and/or stickers. For the business card, we would want to do a campaign-like promotion with some kind of slogan to draw attention. Feel free to suggest a phrase in the optional comments box. Please do the survey at the following link to tell us which product(s) you like best!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/V29DN76

Minutes: January 8, 2015

• 3:35-Start
• A started up a blog midlandhsgsa.blogspot.com. We'll post information, minutes, and other get togethers on there.
• Climate survey- see if we (MHS) is LGBTQ+ friendly. Mrs.Pancost from DHS will come into talk in the near future about how to start it.
• GSA swag- let's start up a business card with magnet trend around the school. Magnets, stickers, pens, etc. would help promote the school. GLAD provided window clings, and we are getting more for classes with windows. For a campaign (to make the school a friendlier place), we'll need a slogan or saying, so please give us your ideas! For any specific type of product you want, please contact Sra. Aviles or the leaders.
• 3:45- Cara's media talks
• Organizations: GLSEN, P-Flag, It Gets Better Project, Human Rights Campaign (Lists places safe to work for LGBTQ+ and shows brands/stores safe/in support of them)
• Reddit: /r/transgender, /r/lgbteens, /r/ainbow (advice, help, etc.), /r/genderqueer, /r/asexuality, and /r/asklgbt
• Tumblr: aboutlgbt, lgbtlaughs, and lqbt-advice
• 3:50- Ask All or Nothing Tumblr blog
• Jaime (asexual) + Ariana (pansexual) + Char (gender issues)
• has themes, posts of pictures, and questions and answers
• they want to educate others on the "unknown" parts of the lgbtq+ spectrum; running into judgemental and hateful people is unfortunate and frequent.
• 3:55- Leelah Alcorn and Transgender rights
• 17 year-old transgender girl from Ohio was not accepted by Christian family. Family isolated her from school, friends, and the world. Her parents refused to let her have hormone replacement therapy. Her parents continue to call her "Joshua", rather than Leelah, even after her suicide in a personal family statement.
• Leelah's Law: no more "conversion camps"that try to change who people are.
• News outlets refer to her as Leelah, while her parents refer to "Josh" or their son. She jumped in front of a truck and wrote a large note on tumblr to help spread her message.
• In the US, UK, and Canada, over 40% of transgender teens have attempted suicide.
• Laverne Cox is coming to SVSU- she is very influential with her shows, Time Magazine article, etc. Tickets go on sale for $10 on the 12th. You should go if you can! She may or may not talk about the death of Leelah.

The meeting was lead by Cara. Audrey wrote minutes. A typed up minutes.

What's up

We are Midland High School's Gay-Straight Alliance. This is where we will post minutes from our meetings, announcements for other meetings, and announcements for meet-ups in the community. Anything that GSA members need to know should be here.