Did you know?

1) Over one forth of domestic violence incidents go unreported.

2) 20% of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems.

3) 9 out of 10 LGBTQ students have experienced harassment at school.

LGBTQ Rights

About 9 million US citizens, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning.   To put that in perspective, in America, there are more LGBTQ people than Massachusetts’ residents.  The question is, how can such a prevalent minority of our country’s population be denied basic rights such as marriage?

Did you know?

1) Only 6 states, as well as DC, issue same sex marriage licenses: New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Iowa, and Connecticut.

note: solid blue states allow same sex marriage.

While Americans across the country celebrated the passing of the same sex marriage bill in New York in June 2011, many residents in Massachusetts continue to fight for the Transgender Equal Rights Bill.  This Bill would include “gender identity and expression” in Massachusetts civil rights laws.  The bill would make it illegal to discriminate against the transgender population and would protect them from hate crimes.

Did you know?

1) 76% of all transgender residents in Massachusetts have been mistreated or harassed in the workplace.

2) To find out more information about the Mass Transgender Bill check out this article about lobbying from The Rainbow Times (http://www.therainbowtimesmass.com/2011/06282011/statehouse.html)

3) Just to keep in mind the importance of passing the bill in Massachusetts and states all across the country, here is a video of a transgendered woman being beat up in a McDonald’s in Baltimore by two young women because “she dared to use the ladies restroom”.

While the attackers actions are disturbing, the bystanders watching and not stopping the attack is more troublesome. Sadly, this attack is being questioned as a hate crime, even though it clearly is.  With the passing of the transgender bill, transgendered women such as Chrissy Lepolis can be protected.

Stepping away from the political side, there are simple ways to improve equality in the LGBTQ community.  It can start when you’re hanging out with friends or in school.  Surely, everyone has heard the phrases “NO HOMO” or “THAT’S GAY.”  According to a recent study, LGBTQ students hear “anti-gay” slurs at least 26 times a day.  Even though they may be just sayings to some people, these phrases and terms are offensive and make many people uncomfortable.  So next time you feel the urge to say faggot, dyke, gay, or queer, stop yourself and check out Think B4 You Speak, an organization that raises awareness about LGBTQ bullying.

http://www.thinkb4youspeak.com/

Believe it or not, these issues also overlap.

Domestic Abuse

Contrary to popular belief, domestic abuse does not just pertain to physical violence or female victims.  Abuse also includes emotional, sexual, and financial harm or dependence.  Most people think domestic violence is not that common, but in reality 1 in 4 women have experienced domestic violence.

Although domestic abuse is bad, many aspects of our society still glorify abuse.  The 2009 domestic violence conflict of Rihanna and Chris Brown not only highlighted the prevalence of abuse, but it made many people question the music industry’s tendency to glorify domestic abuse and make it socially acceptable.  So next time you hear a song about slapping, raping, or killing a woman, don’t take the lyrics lightly.

For example. Tyler the Creator- a twenty year old up- and- coming rapper- is known for his references to rape and hitting women.  He justifies it because it’s his form of artistic expression.  Last time we checked, rape and violence was an illegal form of “artistic expression.”

IEds

lyrics:

This isn’t rape, this is fuckin’ without a condom on

Throw her slightly to the right, so dyke I’m kinda wrong.

While Tyler the Creator and many other musicians focus on abusing women, as stated before, women are not the only victims in domestic abuse.  In abusive teen relationships, 40% of the victims are estimated to be young males.  A person of any gender can be forced to stay in an abusive relationship through rape, threats, and financial dependence.

Unfortunately, it can be hard for victims to find dependable and safe resources since abuse shelters are limited.  About one third of emergency shelters in domestic violence programs are regularly full, so they often exceed capacity (http://www.cpedv.org/Shelter%20Facts).  While shelters are meant to be temporary places for victims to stay, many victims need housing and assistance for months, even years. In Massachusetts, shelters reported that victims’ average length of stay had more than doubled in 2005, due to housing shortages.  Many victims aren’t able to find secure jobs to build up finances, are still traumatized by the abuse and in need of therapy, and have kids to watch, therefore it is hard to be completely independent from shelters. This means that thousands of victims are turned away every year!

Body Image

The media is constantly feeding TV viewers and magazine readers the idea that they are too fat or not pretty enough.  Everyone is constantly bombarded with images of skinny models, buff men, and perfect bodies.  The images don’t reveal the make- up these women put on or all the airbrushing that occurs for both men’s and women’s pictures.  These false images make readers strive for a perfect body that doesn’t exist.  People Magazine’s list of most beautiful people listed in the table below contains celebrities that are known for their muscles, butts, or petite figures.  For example, Jennifer Hudson’s singing career and fame has now soared, coincidentally right after she lost a significant amount of weight.  While there is nothing wrong with showing support for healthy living, the media misleads healthy individuals to believe that they are overweight.  These images lead young men and women to think there is something wrong with their bodies.   The media’s mentality of never being too skinny for women and the need for excessive muscles for men has contributed to the prevalence of eating disorders and body dissatisfaction in our society.

Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia, and binge eating are three of the most prevalent eating disorders.  While these are the most common- 5.1% of college women suffer from bulimia nervosa- there are more than just three eating disorders.   Below is a list of other types of eating disorders:

Rumination-an eating disorder which involves involuntarily regurgitating food and rechewing it.

Compulsive Overeating- involves uncontrollably overconsuming food.  Unlike bulimia, victims don’t partake in the act of purgingIt’s a food addiction where victims constantly think about eating food, especially when alone.

Orthorexia Nervosa- a non-medically diagnosed syndrome that involved an obsession with healthy eating, which in some cases can lead victims to a malnourished state.

Night Eating Syndrome- involves late night binge eating.  Many people with this disorder eat at least 25% of their calories throughout the nighttime and after dinner, involving many trips to the kitchen and sleeping very little.

Pica- an eating disorder where victims eat nonnutritive food (ie  chalk, wood, ciagarete butts) at an age where normal eating behaviors should be developed (meaning they aren’t infants or toddlers).

Even though some of these disorders seem completely different from each other, all of them are psychological disorders related to eating and food.  It is important to remember that eating disorders don’t just involve physical acts, such as binging or purging.  They are a psychological disorder where the sufferer’s psychological distress is shown through their interaction with food, exercise, and body image.

If you would like to help someone suffering from an eating disorder, it’s important to approach the situation with an open mind.  Focus on the health of the sufferer and remember these things:

1)   Avoid threats and scare tactics

2)   Do not comment on ther physical appearance.

3)   Avoid power struggles about eating

4)   Avoid giving simple solutions (i.e., “Why don’t you just eat?”)

5)   Talk about feelings and relationships, not food (for more advice check out www.helpguide.org/mental/eating_disorder).

6)   Talk to a doctor or mental health professional – let them know that you are concerned for a friend’s safety and well-being.

Let them know that they have your support.  You also have support!  Check for local eating disorder support groups, nutritional counseling services, psychotherapy services,  and residential treatment services in your area.  You can also call the National Eating Disorders Association 24 hour hepline at 1-800-931-2237 for more guidance

A Little Fusion

Even though LGBTQ rights, domestic abuse, and body image all seem like very different issues, they tend to overlap.  Domestic violence is very prevalent for men in same sex relationships. According to statistics, 1 in 4 gay men experience domestic violence.  A form of abuse which homosexual individuals experience that heterosexual individuals don’t is identity abuse.  Identity abuse occurs when the abuser threatens to out (reveal their sexuality) their partner to their family or community.  It also involves blaming the abuse on the victim’s sexual identity or using homophobia as a reason to abuse.  Identity abuse shows that homosexual victims have another factor forcing them to stay in abusive relationships.

Eating disorders are also prevalent in the LGBTQ community.  Many homosexual men feel pressure to be as skinny as possible.   This pressure explains why 20% of gay men are anorexic and 14% suffer from bulimia.   Members of the LGBTQ community need to know that they can access the resources listed earlier to recover from their disorders.

Sources

Lawblog.com

MassEquality

Helpguide.org

National Youth Association

The Rainbow Times

Youtube.com

TheChange.org

Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth Support Project

FYSOP is just a few short, short weeks away, and we know some of you are wondering, what exactly are we doing as while we volunteer as part of GF? Quick side note: GF = Gender Focus. If you want to show that you know the FYSOP lingo before you get here, say GF instead of Gender Focus. All the cool kids are doing it. End side note.

We are going to give you a little sneak peek into three different organizations that we are going to be helping out during the week of FYSOP. First we are going to shine the spotlight on MassEquality. MassEquality is a non-profit organization that works to achieve equality and fair treatment for everyone in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. Currently, they are working hard to help pass the Massachusetts Transgender Bill, which would make discrimination against the transgender community in schools, work, and housing sectors illegal. While volunteering with MassEquality, we will be helping them gain and calculate support for the bill by going out on the town and canvasing.

The second site we are going to give you a little sneak peek into is Emerge. Emerge is a domestic abuse prevention organization, but its approach is very different from most organizations in the field. Emerge’s approach is to educate the abuser and teach them what is abuse and other was to express themselves. Emerge is currently in the process. While volunteering with Emerge, we are going to be helping them transfer their records from paper to digital.

The final site we are going to preview here is the Elizabeth Stone House.  The Elizabeth Stone House provides safe housing and community support services to families who have faced abuse. They house numerous families, and typically have 25-30 children living within their building at any given time. While volunteering with the Elizabeth Stone House, we are going to help make sure that these children have a clean, safe play area and backyard.

We hope you’re getting pumped to volunteer over FYSOP! These are only three of the many sites that we’ve set up volunteers with, and we think we have some pretty creative and exciting surprises for y’all set up. We’ll see you on August 29^th and enjoy the last few weeks of summer!

*states in all blue have legalized same sex marriage.

We need your opinion.  Seeing as how the same sex marriage law took effect in New York on Sunday, one month after it was passed, we have been trying to figure out which state will be the next to pass gay marriage.  Since we are not politicians, we actually have no idea but we wanted to know what you all think and why.  We encourage educated guesses since we cannot make any.  The person with the best reasoning will win a special prize.

Sam & Kiera

We hope you’re enjoying your summer, and we thought we’d share a little bit of what we’re doing this summer with you! A large part of our job as coordinators this summer is to find numerous non-profit organizations for you all to volunteer with, and we’d like to share with you one on of these sites. The first site we went to was MEDA, the Multiservice Eating Disorder Association.Unfortunately this image is all we have to show you about MEDA, because forgot to bring a flipcam to shoot video with #sorrywe’renotsorry

While we were at MEDA, we were given a tour of their facilities and given an overview of what they do. We also got to meet with their Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator, Katie. You all we have the pleasure of meeting Katie come FYSOP, for she will be giving a presentation on eating disorders on our Education Day.

Anywho, MEDA works to treat women who are battling with eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia. They do this through support groups led by women who have recovered from an eating disorder, setting up consultations with nutritionists for their patients, and providing other clinical services.

Volunteers who are sent to MEDA will not only have the opportunity to learn more about the organization and eating disorders, but they will be doing community outreach. This will entail traveling different locations around Boston and helping to spread the word about eating disorders treatment prevention.

If you’d like to learn more about MEDA, visit their website at http://medainc.org/ . Also, here is a PSA from the National Eating Disordor Association:

Sam & Kiera back to give you a few updates about our lives.  We’ve been hitting up the beach, catching up on some of out favorite TV shows (i.e. watching hours and hours of Keeping up with the Kardashians), and, most importantly, sleeping.  Due to our busy lives, we haven’t had much time to plan FYSOP.  We’re afraid that we have to announce that FYSOP is cancelled.

We work hard.

… cricket

really hard

…cricket

Just kidding! We have been working our rumpuses off to plan the best FYSOP Gender Focus in the history of the world.  While we are sure that you are interested in reading/viewing our sleeping patterns, we want to use this blog to tell you about our VISION for Gender Focus (GF) this year.

We want to plan the GF issue area around the idea of “It Gets Better” this year. Many of you all have probably seen the “It Gets Better” videos sponsored by The Trevor Project. This project started due to the increase of gay teen suicide attempts (If you haven’t seen them, check them out ASAP at http://www.thetrevorproject.org/) They are pretty inspirational.  After learning more about the Trevor Project, we realized that their motto would be a great way to enhance our service opportunities for GF this year. This would allow us to focus on three things:

1)   Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Questioning  (LGBTQ) Equality

Since marriage is always a hot topic in our society, we want to showcase the importance of LGBTQ rights; marriage, health benefits, safety, and security are human rights and everybody should be able to access these things easily.  These liberties may not seem possible to many young people in the LGBTQ community but we want to show that “it does it get better” if you find allies and continue to fight the fight.

Fact: Gay teens are 5.9 more times likely to suffer from depression than heterosexual teens.

2) Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence is an issue that hurts people of all sexual orientations, ages, and races.  Many people quietly suffer through abusive relationships without realizing that there are others that care.  The psychological effects of domestic violence are long lasting; people who were once abused become abusers, making domestic violence a vicious cycle.  That ‘s why we plan on working with organizations that break down that that cycle, including women’s shelters who prove that “it does get better”.

Fact: Every 9 seconds in the US, a woman is battered by her husband, boyfriend, or live-in partner.

3)   Eating Disorders/Body Image Issues

Everyone has struggled with some type of insecurity about their body, which often can lead to unhealthy habits, such as eating disorders.  The media has distorted the way we think we should look; by making us aspire to be unnaturally skinny or ridiculously muscular.  The organizations that we will work with, serve as outlets and support for those who have physically and psychologically suffered with body image issues.

Fact: Among gay men, nearly 14% appeared to suffer from bulimia and over 20% appeared to be anorexic.

Mika says it best:

So, we hope you all are down with our vision and are excited to jump on board (we can feel your enthusiasm through the screen).  We will reveal more and more to you as the summer goes on, so stayed tuned for more GF surprises.

We want to leave you with an inspirational song of the day from a GF queen.

Stay Merry & Gay!

Sam & Kiera