Category: LGBTI Roundtable
April 25, 2008
NJLA Conference - Magic of Love: LGBTQ Characters in YA Fantasy
If you will be attending the NJLA Conference on Thursday, May 1st please consider joining the
YA Section and the LGBTI Roundtable for:
Magic of Love: LGBTQ Characters in YA Fantasy
from 9:00 to 9:50 am in the McKinley Room.
This session has been reinstated so please disregard previous cancelation notices.
Here is the session description:
Fantasy and science fiction are often regarded both as windows to other worlds and mirrors on our own. This program will investigate how these dual roles, combined with other theoretical frameworks, can be applied to young adult novels and short stories that feature LGBTQ characters in fantastical settings. Using works by Ameila Atwater-Rhodes, Francesca Lia Block, Robin McKinley, Tamora Pierce, and others, the program will demonstrate ways in which speculative fiction texts can be viewed as forging positive new paths in LGBTQ literature for teens.
Jill S. Ratzan, Ph.D. student, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey; Moderator: Enola Romano, Montclair Public Library
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Intersexed Roundtable and Young Adult Services
The handouts for this session have been posted on the Handouts and Resources page of the NJLA Conference wiki at http://njlaconference.pbwiki.com/Handouts%20and%20Resources.
Hope to see you there!
Nola
Enola Romano
Chair,
LGBTI Roundtable
New Jersey Library Association
Posted by lgbti at 3:14 PM | Comments (0)
April 8, 2008
On February 19, 2007 the law changed.
On February 19, 2007 the law changed.
P.L.2006 c.103, the statute authorizing civil unions in NJ became effective.
Do you know what that means for your library?
Find out!
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Intersexed Roundtable and the Personnel Administration Subcommittee invite you to attend:
How to Ensure Compliance with the Law Against Discrimination (LAD)
at the NJLA Conference on Wednesday, April 30 from 11:30am to 12:20pm
Esther Nevarez* from the NJ Division on Civil Rights is our featured speaker.
What should employers do to ensure compliance with the new provisions of the LAD (Law Against Discrimination) with regards to the civil rights of GLBT employees? Nevarez is the state's lead trainer focusing on antidiscrimination and ensuring diversity and equal employment opportunity. The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, which was the nation's first statewide civil rights enforcement statute, is widely considered the strongest of its kind in the nation.
* Esther H Nevarez joined the NJ Division on Civil Rights in 1992. She initially focused on special projects and today develops and delivers training for businesses, municipalities, and advocacy groups on civil rights issues as covered under NJ law.
Posted by lgbti at 2:49 PM | Comments (0)
April 24, 2007
Graphic Novels- Not in the closet anymore!
Your guest blogger: Laverne Mann, Reference Librarian/Adult Trainer for the Ewing Branch Library, Mercer Cty Library System. My personal blog is Redhead Fangirl, where I write about comics, graphic novels, librarians, redheads in comics, my MidJersey Comicon, and lots of other stuff!
On a picture perfect spring day, librarians descended on the Ocean Place Resort for the first full day of the NJLA conference. A quick camera phone image shows the view from the conference center in Long Branch, which has gone through a lot of development in the last few years of conferences here. Remember when Ocean Place was the only large building?
I went to 4 sessions, and the keynote today, and I'm going to blog about Graphic Novels: Not in the Closet Anymore!, presented by Saleena Davidson (another redheaded librarian comic fan like myself!) of South Brunswick Public Library and Janet Rosolanko of Hillsborough Public Library.
There were three handouts: TokyoPop rating system [important to all school and public librarians!], some YA and Adult titles with gay characters, and a list of websites.
Janet suggested the title Serving Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Teens, ISBN 978-1-55570-566-4. Paraphrasing, Janet said that while the amount of GN literature is vastly improved and readily available, "a lot of hope but also still homophobia for the average queer teenager, who can experience harassment almost daily.".
For librarians, "adolescence can be a lonely time, and teens look for reflections of themselves, so we need to serve ALL our populations in materials"
Seleena gave an overview from The Gay League- LGBT Comics Timeline, an excellent resource:
Welcome to the GLA Timeline! In these pages we have attempted to catalog the representation of the LGBT community in comic books and comic strips. We start with the earliest days of the format, when gay content could only be hinted at; through to the time of the gay liberation movement when LGBT themes began to appear overtly
This table image shows some of the suggested titles: Y the Last Man, Death, Fun Home, Desire, Antique Bakery.
Saleena also discussed going to the NY Comicon [librarians given free passes- I've taken advantage two years in a row! Great librarian and comic/graphic novel special panels, and you can 'geek-out' completely!] She got a book from PrismComics for $5.95 on LGBT guide to comics.
Actually, I love to see that crossover into NJLA exhibits-- small or indie comics publishers who could promote and sell their work at NJLA...hint, hint...
Well, it was a 13 hour day and I hope this gives you some insight into just one session! Thank you Seleena and Janet! I even sat in front of David Lisa, one of the writers of the new Super Librarian comic, and the Director of the West Long Branch Library. All librarians should get a copy and help promote Super Librarian!
Posted by at 7:55 PM | Comments (0)
May 2, 2006
Advocating for LGBTI Programs At Your Library
Co-presenters Corrine O'Hara of HiTOPS, and Carol Watchler of GLSEN facilitated an excellent discussion of ways (large & small!) in which library staff can support and provide a safe space for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and intersexed teens.
According to one of the many information-packed handouts from the program (which I hope will be posted online soon) HiTOPS is "a peer health education/support organization in the Princeton area." GLSE, or the "Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network is a national organization working for a future in which every child learns to respect all people regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. Their site has a detailed annotated bibliography of up-to-the-moment library resources."
Corinne O'Hara explained that HiTOPS runs a teen health clinic, and that in her role there, she trains high school seniors to be peer educators in health and human sexuality. HiTOPS also runs support programs for sexual assault victims, and its 1st and 3rd program (so called because it meets on the first and third Saturdays of each month) is a comprehensive community program designed to jumpstart Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) at high schools.
Carol Watchler explained that GLSEN's goal is to make K-12 schools safe for all students regardless of gender or sexual identity. GLSEN chapters in North and Central NJ collaborate often with HiTOPS. One of GLSEN's main projects right now is public policy work at the municipal, county, and state levels, helping to develop anti-bullying legislation and legislation against race, gender, and national origin bias.
For those of us interested in co-supporting a GSA at the schools where you work or collaborate with, it's important to note the following:
1) Sometimes GSAs will not be terribly active, but that doesn't mean they aren't needed. Often, the students who might want to join can't, because they're out to their parents, but nobody else, or they're out to some friends, but not the whole school. Both Carol and Corinne have been told by these teens that just knowing that a GSA exists (even if it's dormant) makes these teens feel better about their school and safer while they're there.
2) The teenage years are all about finding out who you are, and learning to be comfortable in your own skin. GSAs help LGBTI and questioning teens by providing a space for them to develop relationships with their peers and friends.
3) Offer to host the GSA at your public or school library. This way, interested students can go to the library, and possibly, maybe, just happen to drop in on the GSA meeting.
A viable alternative to a GSA is a Diversity Club -- this would be an umbrella club for all different sorts of kids with all different sorts of differences -- multiracial kids, immigrant kids, kids with disabilities, and LGBTI kids, too.
Diversity Clubs also appeal to all teens who are interested in human rights in general, and to those who have family members or friends who are LGBTI or questioning.
The group also discussed how librarians can help LGBTI and questioning teens see themselves reflected in the society around them:
1) Booklists and book displays of LGBTIQ literature
2) Create a bulletin board of names of famous LGBTI people, asking "What do all of these people have in common?" -- leave the bulletin board up for a week or so, and then provide the answer.
3) Post Safe Zone stickers (available through HiTOPS, these stickers show the pink triangle surrounded by a green circle) in your Teen Section.
4) Challenge homophobic language when you hear it.
5) Call for faculty and staff training in LGBT youth issues.
Posted by at 7:10 PM | Comments (0)
May 1, 2006
Documenting Their Lives: LGBTIQ Identities
This program featured compelling and thought-provoking clips from two documentaries about LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, intersexed, and questioning) teens and families.
The first was a trailer for a forthcoming documentary by Chas Bennett called The Sakia Gunn Project, about a Newark teen who was stalked and murdered in 2003 for being an out African-American lesbian. In spite of the unusual circumstances surrounding her death, Sakia's murder received a tiny fraction of the media coverage accorded to Matthew Shepard's murder in 1998.
Although The Sakia Gunn Project is about Sakia, her family and friends, it also encompasses issues such as segregation within the gay community, poverty, gender bias, race and ethnicity, all of which Bennett and several of his subjects view as contributing factors to the lack of media coverage of Sakia's murder.
The second film showcased was No Dumb Questions, about the responses and reactions three girls have when their Uncle Bill comes out to the family as a transgendered person on the cusp of sexual-reassignment surgery. Each of the girls, ages 11, 8, and 5, responded differently, and were full of wonderful questions about their soon-to-be Aunt Barbara: How would they feel when she came to their house? Would they still feel the same about her as they had about Uncle Bill? Would they be "freaked out", as the oldest girl put it? How would Uncle Bill get rid of his beard and all the hair on his arms, one of them wondered.
The parents handled all questions with aplomb and truly admirable skill. They provided a space for their children to ask any question, and they answered them honestly and openly.
The Sakia Gunn Project is still in editing, but Mr. Bennett hopes to release it by May 2007. You can track his progress at The Sakia Gunn Film Project online. No Dumb Questions is available on VHS from NoDumbQuestions.com.
The LGBTI Roundtable prepared many excellent handouts, included a transgender filmography, a webliography of transgender-related websites, a booklist of transgender nonfiction, and perhaps most useful of all on a daily basis, a glossary of LGBTI terms. I'll post again when they are available at njla.org.
Posted by at 9:41 AM | Comments (0)