Portfolio Assignment 5 - Community Experience

Overview:

For my community experience, I decided to attend a meeting for USGA, or Understanding Same Gender Attraction. On their website, it states, “Understanding Same-Gender Attraction (USGA) is an unofficial group of Brigham Young University students, faculty and guests who wish to strengthen families and the BYU community by providing a place for open, respectful discussions on the topic of same-gender attraction and LGBTQ issues.” This specific activity was a panel of four LGBTQ young adults, Three were LDS and one was previously LDS, and the topic of the evening was “Faith and Spirituality: Our Stories.”

Why USGA?

I have recently become interested in the LGBTQ movement as it has been such a prevalent topic in society as well as in the Church in recent years. I wanted to learn more about the LDS members of the LGBTQ community and how they reconcile these two parts of their identities. I also wanted to break down any prejudices or misconceptions I may have about these people and the choices they make. Gender norms are deeply rooted in how I think, so people who differ in these areas often disrupt me and I don’t understand them. In addition, I was interested in learning more about this resource and decide whether it would be something I would like to participate in or support further.

Expectations/Disruptions:

Going into the experience, I had a few assumptions in my mind, some of which were immediately disrupted. First, I was not expecting very many people to be there. I knew there was a Mormon LGBTQ community, but I did not think there were so many in the Provo area. In this sense, I was influenced by the culture of power, specifically the Mormon culture, that has such a strong hold on the area; thus, I was blind to this minority group. The meeting room was overflowing with probably over 100 people, and others not there were participating online where there was a live video stream. I was humbled and impressed that so many people were open about their sexuality and that so many others were interested in and supportive of the Mormon LGBTQ community.

I was also disrupted by certain aspects of the panel members' identities. One of the panelists, as previously mentioned, had left the church about a year ago and I found myself immediately less trusting or open to his ideas and opinions. In contrast, another of the panelists was a gay man, still in the Church, whose plan was to someday marry a woman and have a family. I found myself thinking that this was the "best" path to take. As I listened to the panel, however, I was again humbled as I came to understand the importance of respecting the choices that others choose to make and the identities they choose to embrace.

Another of the panelists was transgender, which disrupted me heavily. I did not (and still do not fully) understand how transgender people can maintain a transgender identity and remain LDS. This lack of understanding made me desire to learn more about transgenderism and seek for answers through Church policy and practice. I want to move beyond my primary discourse of Mormonism and gain a secondary discourse in transgenderism, the culture involved and what it means to be transgender.

I did not have many expectations about the discussion itself. One thing that disrupted my expectation was the wide variety of paths and opinions that members of the LGBTQ community take and have. As the LGBTQ movement has seemed so united, I went into the experience thinking that the opinions and ideas of right and wrong would be relatively similar across the board. I had a single story in my mind for these people. However, I soon realized that this was a very broad assumption to make about such a large group of people. In reality, their ideas varied widely.  Some supported one another's differences and some had a hard time doing so - just as all people do. 

Takeaways:

First of all, LGBTQ people are unique and different from one another, just as all people are. I held this stereotype along with the idea that all LGBTQ people supported one another in everything they did. Even if a stereotype is positive, it can still be problematic. Believing that all LGBTQ people have the same beliefs and opinions is dangerous because it takes away each's individuality. Being LGBTQ is an important part of one’s identity, but it is not one’s whole identity. I need to work on looking at every person as an individual and not reducing them to a single story. For high-schoolers, this will be especially important because often they reduce themselves or one another to a single story. I want to be able to avoid jumping to conclusions and get to know my students individually, so that I can show them and their classmates how unique and special they really are. 

My second major takeaway was that everyone has agency and it is not up to me to judge them for the choices they make.  Especially within the church, I considered a gay person marrying the opposite gender as the “best” or “most noble” path to take. This idea, I realized, was influenced by heteronormativity, or considering heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation, something that I thought I did not buy into these days. I will never understand what it is like to have same-gender attraction. I will never understand what it is like to feel like I should be a different gender. Even if I did, everyone has different experiences that shape the choices they make and it is impossible for me to determine which path is right or "best" for them. This concept was heavily emphasized during the panel as the panelists stressed how important it is to support those around you, whatever the choices they make. When I am a teacher, there will be students whose beliefs differ from my own and whose choices I may disagree with; however, it is of utmost importance that I love them and support them no matter what. I want to pay closer attention to Gender and Sexual Minorities and stay updated on how they are doing as a whole and individually. Though pop culture makes it seem like different sexualities especially are widely accepted, there are still many areas in which they are not. I believe that we as citizens have a duty to be allies and work towards reaching a level of nurturance with GSMs as well as other minorities in our communities.