Sensitivity

Gah! Have I been gone that long that my DA notices have gone up to 109!? Geez I need to visit more -.-

I figured it was about time for a journal update. Nothing special going on in life right now...just feel that I need to refresh the journal with...SOMETHING! That bravery post a while back just seemed really...pitiful -_-

But anyway, I won't talk about that! I'll organize this journal a bit differently.

FIRST: I have some questions for my Viewers...

How do get a Journal skin?? I've been on DA for about 5 years or more and I still don't know basic things like changing my DA Journal skin or even tagging a DA member's username and avatar in the description of my submissions.
Example being that if I want to give credit to someone for something, I'll say: This was :insert DA Member's Avatar/Icon here: 's idea.

Also, how do I make my text Bold or Italic?

I've been meaning to ask those questions for a while, and now I have a chance to ^^

OH! I just realized what my journal could be about! All right, gather thoughts.

First off (second technically), I've cut my hair ^^ It's shorter than I've ever cut it before and I'm super excited about it XD I'm planning on changing my DeviantID to an image of me. I've been experimenting with my camera to see what I can do with it (as well as Photoshop) so my new DeviantID will be my first experiment ^-^

But there's something I saw happening at school recently that I feel I should talk about. Some of you may know that I am the President of my College's Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) for short. I hang out with several members on a daily basis and for the most part they're good company, but they recently did something that I plan to bring up at our next meeting and I feel could become a serious issue.

One woman, a mutual friend, sat with us for dinner in the commons and she listened in to what we were talking about. We were on the topic of Drag Shows and when the club will host it's next show on Campus. The woman posed a simple question since she wasn't suite sure what Drag was and so naturally was curious and wanted to know more.

"Is Drag only just Drag Queens?" was her question.

I was never more disappointed at my club members than I was then.

Three of them, all at once (in different yet still vicious tones), said "NO IT'S NOT." The woman was taken aback and felt as if she'd committed a terrible offense. I frowned at my fellow members. This woman was clearly an ally of ours and was only asking a question that deserved to be answered...NICELY.

It makes me sad to see people preaching so much about diversity, acceptance and patience, react so angrily and volatile toward others because they expect the worst of them. I later talked to the woman about it and SHE apologized to ME about what happened.

She apologized that she had asked such a stupid question...

The only stupid question is the one not asked and I don't believe that she deserved to feel stupid or dumb for wanting to know more about something. For those of you who would like to know the answer to the question above:

Drag is a performance art, just like Theater and Dance. The difference is that Drag focuses on exaggerating "gender" and making it artistic. It doesn't have to do with one's sexual preference or gender identity. There are many different types of Drag too. The one most are familiar with are Drag Queens, which are males exaggerating the female gender. There are Drag Kings which are females exaggerating the male gender and there's even Fem!Drag Fem!Drag is a female exaggerating the female gender and (don't quote me on this one because I actually am not sure) I believe there's a male equivalent.

When I first started doing Drag for the GSA I compared to to cosplaying, which is kinda what it is. There are no boundaries in cosplay, meaning that a female can dress as a female or male character and the same for males I'm often known for doing both.

So I just wanted to get that out there and really emphasize the sensitivity aspect. It's better to assume that someone who asks those kinds of questions sincerely means it as a way to gain knowledge, rather than as an insult. Even if it is an insult, then they obviously need to be educated anyway. Just walk away from those people. It's our ALLIES that we need to look out for. They're called ALLIES for a reason!

Homophobia, like all forms of discrimination, is awful and hateful...but so is Heterophobia, which is what I fear many members of our GSA have.

To all of you, please don't make harsh assumptions of people and remember that no matter whether you're Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Straight...we're all people! It's corny to say, but it needs to be said! There is no Good v.s. Evil here. Gay's aren't better than Straight's and Straight's aren't better than Gay's. Disregard the Gay and Straight labels and what are we?

PEOPLE

*deep breath*

Thanks for everyone who read all the way to the end ^^' That was a lot of info. If any of you would like to know more about the LGBT community, etiquette, or anything else, feel free to send me a note ^^ I don't want anyone to ever think that they're inferior because they asked a simple question. Thanks everyone!