Yerson Padilla Anthony Borrero English 1101 November 26, 2012 UNC Charlottes Queer-Straight Alliance and Their

Literacy

When I hear the word Queer, I dont hear it as a derogatory word. When I was a little kid I heard it being used to bully others. But not anymore, now I take it as a takeback term. Its empowering the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*, Queer community (LGBTQ). Said Troy Laney when I asked him about the word Queer, and its use today with in the Queer community. As a member of People Recognizing Individual Diversity and Equality (PRIDE), UNC Charlottes Queer-Straight Alliance, and being an openly gay man, Troy Laney had some insight on the literacy used in PRIDE. PRIDE acts as a safe heaven for the gay community, its a place in which anyone can go to, and feel comfortable with being themselves. Claimed Omar Ramirez, another member of UNC Charlottes PRIDE group. In this essay I will be discussing UNCC very own QueerStraight Alliance, and how their literacy within the club differs from their everyday vernacular in the very heterosexist UNCC Campus. I will discuss about the history of the Queer-Straight Alliance, its purpose, and the literacy composed with in the group by its members. By doing this I hope to educate an audience on what exactly is the purpose of a Queer-Straight Alliance. Also I would like to educate my audience on what, and why Queer literacy is so important to PRIDE.

PRIDE has been UNCC fully pledge Queer-Straight Alliance. At a University level, Queer-Straight Alliances are very important (Beemyn). They act as a safe space in which students can be themselves (Beemyn). Not to long ago Queer students had no place to go and be themselves. It wasnt until Columbia University, in 1967 chartered the country's first student gay rights group (Beemyn). It wasnt easy for Columbia to start the countrys first gay rights group. They had so much opposition against them. In the 1960s homosexuality was seen as immoral, as an unnatural act committed by perverted deviants (Hall). Therefore the students wanting to start such a controversial group had so much criticism. Thankfully all their hard work paid off, and their acts helped fuel a large-scale political movement in the US (Beemyn).

Pride is the place my boyfriend and I can go together and not be harassed for holding hands, and being with each other explained Troy Laney. Queer people overall differ from their heterosexual, cisgendered counterparts (Survey Says). It makes sense then why they would build their own groups and areas to be a part of. Everyone always wants to feel welcomed and invited. And that is exactly what PRIDE does. PRIDE acts as the place in which Queer people can be who they are, without the repercussions of being marginalized. When I asked Omar Ramirez what he thought the purpose of the group PRIDE was, he had this to say: People from all different walks of live come to the pride meetings, with one goal in common, to feel accepted, and appreciated. And its true. As I looked around the room, while people were coming in, as the meeting was about to start, I noticed that people would sit with random strangers. I could tell by the way they introduced themselves to one another. They did this until the meeting started. Not one

single person was left isolated. Everyone had somebody right next to them. As if they as well all knew the purpose of the group, which is inclusion and acceptance.

As I made my rounds on observing people, I overheard people talking about what they did today, common tea-time talk. It wasnt until Bonnie, the President of PRIDE, introduced PRIDEs purpose and its executives. Bonnie then introduced hirself as gender-queer. Meaning that Bonnie does not identify as cisgendered, or Bonnies sex, does not match Bonnies gender. Right from the start Queer literacy was being thrown out. Much of the audience just listened because they knew what Bonnie was talking about. That was the first forum of Queer literacy that was introduced to me. Gender plays a huge role in the Queer community. Gays and Lesbians have been accepted finally in society at large (Van Buskirk). However the notion of breaking gender-binaries have yet to be accepted. Gender and sex, play a huge role in UNCCs PRIDE group. Gender is a culturally based therefore it shouldnt be important, we should all be seen as people said Troy Laney, when I asked him about his views on gender.

Since PRIDE is a functioning Queer-Straight Alliance some of PRIDEs members identify as Trans* (the * in Trans* signifies that Trans can include for example, transsexual, transgendered, transvestite etc) raising the question on what is a persons preferred gender pronoun (PDP) is. Knowing a persons PDP allows you to establish a relationship with that person, enabling communication. Its also a sign of respect for a person who identifies as Trans*. It all falls back to the theme of inclusion.

Whilst the meeting continued, and the discussion of the day came to a close and people started to talk amongst themselves more. I noticed that people started to talk about their lives more. About who knows if they are Queer or not, who they are and who they are not out to yet. Small talk. Which lead me to question their literacy outside of PRIDE. Does it change? And in fact it does. When I asked Omar Ramirez about the different types of literacy used within and outside of PRIDE he had this to say

Yes, of course the way I talk at PRIDE and the way I talk to other outside of Pride is different. When Im at a PRIDE meeting I feel more safe, more relatable to people Knowing that the people at PRIDE know what I am talking about when it comes to things as relationships is nice. I dont have to worry about the looks I would get from talking to a heterosexual crowd. It feels better when I have people I can relate to

And it is true; people that interact with people coping with the same issues tend to feel better (Beemyn). PRIDE is a place in which people can talk freely about who they are. When a queer person is out in public with the person that they love, and they hold hands they get funny looks. Unlike their heterosexual counterparts, who would not be judge as harshly. That is the unfortunate reality. Therefore queer people act different while in public, the way they speak, walk, and dress. Their self-expression is warped. Trying to juggle two very different worlds is hard. Two worlds in which people act way differently. Literacy with in a group such as PRIDE is redefined when they exit their safe heaven. The literacy they are comfortable with while at the PRIDE meeting is not the same comfortable literacy when out in the real world.

Queer literacy as a whole is very hard to understand from an outsiders perspective. Therefore I believe this paper has been a beneficial to introduce Queer literacy to someone who has never been enriched with queer literacy. I have outlined the difference between literacy in the queer community apposed to its heterosexist counterpart. I believe this paper has been helpful to better understand Queer-Straight Alliances, and their struggles as a group. I know that with this work my audience can began to understand a new perspective. By doing so better understanding what it means be queer, and what it means to be literate in the Queer Community at large.

Works Cited

Decter, Midge. "Homosexuality And The Schools." Commentary 95.3 (1993): 19. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. Beemyn, Brett. "The Silence Is Broken: A History Of The First Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual College Student Groups." Journal Of The History Of Sexuality 12.2 (2003): 205-223. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. Hall, Simon. "The American Gay Rights Movement And Patriotic Protest." Journal Of The History Of Sexuality 19.3 (2010): 536-562. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. Laney, Troy. Personal Interview. 17 November. 2012. Ramirez, Omar. Personal Interview. 18 November. 2012. "Survey Says.." Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide 12.1 (2005): 17-21. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. Van Buskirk, Jim. "Out Of The Closet?." Library Journal 130.6 (2005): 62-65. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 30 Oct. 2012.