Community Interaction 1

     I attended the LGBT Center’s Welcome Back party. There were at least 40 people in attendance, many that I had never seen before and most of whom I didn’t know. 

     I noticed that those employed at the LGBT Center who organized the event are more considerate than most other groups: all of the food was vegetarian, much of it was vegan, and a lot of it was even gluten-free! They didn’t have any meat at all, eliminating the problem of cross-contamination. 

     There was also a film crew recording the event. Many people seemed uncomfortable with being on camera (although the sign on the door warned that they would be filmed if they entered the room). It seems that they will be potentially including the footage in a documentary. While I think that some people generally avoid pictures and video, others may not have felt comfortable being caught on camera in a “safe space.” One reason may be that they have conservative, unsupportive parents, relatives, or friends who would either confront and punish them for their presence at such a party or disown them for associating with people they see as “unnatural” and “perverted.” Others may believe social stigmas surrounding gender nonconformity and non-heterosexuality; they may want to avoid associating themselves with the people in the LGBT Center--even allies--because there are negative stereotypes and attitudes about LGBT people (I suppose there might be some about queer people, too, but I don’t know any yet--it seems that people just apply LGBT stereotypes to them instead). No one admitted feeling this way to me, but there were some that admitted that it was their “first time at an event like this,” and they looked starkly different from the regulars who just didn’t want to be on camera (with the exception of one talkative, friendly woman who walked around introducing herself to everyone).

     What always surprises (and comforts) me is how community spaces like the LGBT Center feel so friendly and supportive--even when the people in them don’t know one another! I find that even people there with groups of friends are welcoming to newcomers and people they haven’t met before, willing to talk and include them in their jokes and even serious conversations. My guess would be that a lot of those people have been bullied or excluded in the past, and they want to give others a different experience by reaching out, welcoming, and sharing their experiences to let others know that they understand. While I think it’s unfair and destructive, even violent, for our society to discriminate against and prejudge people ultimately based on stereotypes, it seems that at least one good thing has come out of it. A level of solidarity and a number of safe spaces, including several friendships, improve the lives of even those who only come in contact with the community once. If that environment can make a shy trans-identified woman feel comfortable enough to confess her emotions, tell her story to strangers, and interact with others normally after being assaulted and abandoned by her “friends,” then we can’t ever say that only bad has come out of the homophobia and transphobia  in our society today.