Talking with youth about direct action and LGBT history.
December 7th, 2008 by Kip Williams
Yesterday I attended the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Network’s Youth Empowerment Summit to offer a workshop on direct action and nonviolent resistance for the Ruckus Society. The Summit brought together youth from all across the state for education and community building.
Another Ruckus volunteer, my friend Jess Bell, began with a slideshow about the history and uses of direct action. The slideshow contained photographs of famous and inspiring actions from many different places and time periods. And you know what…some of the youth in the room could identify every single one of them! They even knew the historical context, and they could tell stories about them!
After Jess spoke, I began asking the youth questions and telling them stories to make the connection between the history of nonviolence and the place where we LGBT people find ourselves now. I asked them if any of them had ever broken a rule on purpose because the rule was wrong, and several of them shared stories.
One young woman named Joya shared a story about trying to start a GSA at her middle school several years ago. The administration told her no, but they started meeting publicly in the school anyway.
I wanted to make the point that nonviolent resistance isn’t all about blockades, harnesses, police, and media spectacles. Nonviolent resistance is a way of life. I reflected that, even in our lifetimes, there were sodomy laws that outlawed gay sex. And not too long ago, there were laws that kept partners of the same gender from dancing together in public. For our community, simply living our lives has been about nonviolent resistance. And for many of us still today, coming out is an act of civil disobedience against the rules of our families and communities.
Then I shared with them this video I made about election week. The video starts on election night with people’s responses to Obama’s election and the passing of Prop 8, and brings it home to the street actions for LGBT civil rights that have sprung up all over the country. It tells the story of the two civil disobedience actions One Struggle, One Fight has carried out so far.
After the video, I told the youth about the five-day march to Sacramento in March. Several of them stepped up to help. One of them lives in Davis, and he wants to help organize a welcome rally when the march arrives in Sacramento. Two of the others live in Santa Cruz, and they want to organize a group of cyclists to come join us.
It was refreshing to talk with LGBT youth about direct action and our community’s history. I’m feeling very inspired that the youth are stepping up to make this march happen!
Tags: direct action, GSA Network, Ruckus Society, Youth