Rainbow youth forum '09

I'm bad, i know i really am. I'm supposed to be studying for my science test insanely so i can catch up on my writing putlines that i missed yesturday. But i just have to say this forst before i forget all the amazing details.
Today was the ottawa rainbow youth forum. For those that don't know what that is heres a simple way to look at it. Its a gay straight alliance. a bunch of kids no matter what gender orientation or w,e get together and go to a bunch a queer oriented workshop. Now before you get all offended, queer isnt actually a bad word if used in the right way. Queer is the given title for anyone who is anything besides heterosexual, that consists of around 20 sub-groups( bi, gay, lesbian, trans, etc) So today i went, and even if i couldnt stay for the entire time, what i did participate in was amazing and i so will attend next year. Here is my experience of the event:

We get to school, take the 71 bus all the way to the sportsplexe, ( or well the school next to the sportsplexe) then we enter the building and find out that there are SO many people there... little did we know that that was less than half of the total attending population. We were only 11 because we only had one grade. WE were given name tags and we got to choose several things out of a wide variety on pencils, pens, stickers, pins, etc etc. I got a rainbow bracelet and sticker, and a windmill pin. Then we enter the caf area. there i realized that nearly everyone there was goth. i mean EVERYONE except for our school for some reason. i mean it was like o wave of weird coloured hair and awesome clothes and shoes, but the best part is everyone was so nice and open. altogether a bunch of great people. There were people walking around with "free hugs" posters and talking and dancing. it was amazing. After a few speakers and speaches we watched a movie clip about the pride perade. the movement of gay rights in form of awesome... i say that's pretty cool. though several people were harmed, or even killed, and others arested its still amazing. and all over the world people are still fighting this. we say we're accepting but yet so much of this sis still going on and it has got to stop! but for now people are doing all they can.
As for the workshops.... hmm well the first one i attended was "peeling off labels and breaking down stereotypes" rm 119. after i found the room i took a seat one of the first there i sat near the front. As people started coming in i felt like the plague. no one sat near me... i mean NO ONE. until all the other seats were full of course. so i was kinda feeling down that no one sat near me. i mean i was alone somewhere i hadnt been before i didnt know what to expect and im generally nice so i was kinda shocked. But once the class started well i kind of forgot. we talked about so many things and how they affect people and of course stereotypes. not just about queers either but people in general. some exmples are:

• orientals are smart
• trans are drag queens ( no thanks to rocky roadshow i might add)
• les' are butch
• gays are flamboyant,
• middle easterners are terrorists
• irish are drankards
• etc etc

Following that we we given a label on our foreheads and we had to have a conversation with the person and it was really awkward because we kept staring at it and asking weird questions and then you had to guess the label you have. It was disturbing and i get how queers might find that odd because they are just people too, i donbt get others act weird around them, i dont see a diffrence myself. my mom on the other hand has some serious homophobic problems. After that workshop 2. i was there first so i got a bouncy ball woot woot! the title of this class was "queer 101" in room 123. no problem finding it, it was practically 3 steps away. So then expecting the same result as last time i sit down and people avoid me until the last possible seats are there. the exact opposite happened. Second person there sit RIGHT next to me. i mean one seat over. i was so happy and then it followed like that. the rest that came all sat first near me then around but i mean helped me feel more open and comfortable than before. This class i actually participated more. i spoke up and talked. Anyways we discussed a bit about queer history and the terms and what they mean and what the symbols were, then we discussed hilarious myths that people actually believe. Now i;ve got to tell you most instrucors would have made this class sooo lame i mean it wasnt very thrilling info. but omg!!! the person who taught it was amazing!! i mean Spazs was this 30 year old man with long spiked hair and black skull clothing and arm tatoos and percings all over his facce and this sick jeans with rainbow overalls. Basically totally awesome and he was hilarious! i mean he made everything funny. he was gay. though not flamboyantly so. Then there was........ dude. he had these big 80's glasses and thats all i can really say, but he too was funny. and bi. So there you have it two of the best funniest nisest people i ever met and they are queer. So anyways i laughed a lot as did the rest of the class and mackenzie ( the girl who sat with me) ended up sharing a chair with me during the symbols challenge. So it all worked out. plus i got a bouncy ball !! :P btw the amount of bad puns told in this class!!! i swear best hour of my week by a long shot. you know what best hour in a long time. However this is where the fun ends. After that i had my last workshop "spirituality" in room 107. where is one-o-seven? ahh thats the question. it takes me friken 20 minutes tto find it, then once i do i find out its not only a really lame ass class, but my group is lame as is the two christians teaching it. now i point out christians because of the fact that the entire class was about gays in religion. it had nothing to do with spirit... NOTHING! so i sat and listened to his 50 minute speach about his gay marrage in the christian church.... really lame. i dont care. Gasp you were denied, no shit you got married the month after it was legalized. just because its legal doesnt mean that people will accept it right away. So then it was time to catch our bus and head home. and even though we left early the day continued. Following that was a speach from the dude from degrassi. i would have LOVED to see that, but sadly i couldnt and then a movir about the pride parades

So tomorrow and the rest of your lives i want you to accept people for who they are. no matter.

GothGirl xox