He, She, They

Pixabay

At my library we hosted "A Day of Learning: A Conversation about Transgender Youth". GSAFE created the event toolkit but the local high school chapter of GSA (Gender and Sexuality Alliance) hosted the program. The library provided space and snacks along with helping with promotion. The event included a reading of I Am Jazz and discussion plus two videos about transgender and gender fluid people.

I attended a few GSA meetings in preparation of the event. At the beginning of each meeting, the students would tell the highlight of their week and what pronouns they were using this week. I'm Kelly. She, Her, Hers. I love the nice weather.

From the meetings and the event, I learned young people don't necessarily believe in two genders. They don't worry about the labels. They are who they are. The NPR article "A New Generation Overthrows Gender" has an interview with a non-binary young person. At the Day of Learning event, the students showed the short movie "Tomgirl" about Jack who doesn't fit easily into the boy or girl gender categories.

Besides broadening my perspective on gender, I was lucky to work with such well-spoken and dedicated teen advocates for inclusion and diversity.

If you are interested in the event toolkit, please email Shawna Kollath, shawna@gsafewi.org.

Here is the 2017 Rainbow Book List - GLBTQ Books for Children & Teens from ALA to help with displays and collection development.