Dancing On A Friday Night

So, I ended up on the GSA Network Youth Council, and at the meeting last Sunday I learned that many people experience ineffective GSAs and general apathy. This was sort of a relief, but mostly in a misery-loves-company sort of way.

The organization of the day of loudness is going rather well. I've only flown into apoplectic rage once, and that was for good reason. A certain GSA member believed we should not include mention of the Boy Scouts' discriminatory policies because some Acalanes students are Boy Scouts and it might offend them. In response to this, half the GSA shouted apoplectically, half muttered disapprovingly and general consensus was that that was completely fucking wrong and insane. The guy in question backed down, and all proceeded without incident. I apologized later for howling obscenities (something along the lines of "TAKE YOUR FUCKHEADED CONCILIATORY BULLSHIT AND GET THE FUCK OUT!"). I do not apologize for the sentiment, however. Conciliatory soft walking-on-eggshells bullshit has no place in activism.

Did Day of Silence this year. Was reminded of how shitty it feels to be silent, and ran up against the perennial problem: why are the only people being silent the ones who already know how shitty it is to be silent? I know what being closeted and oppressed and silenced feels like, thank you very much, and the people who need to empathize with that don't do Day of Silence, and correspondingly nothing changes. Add this to the general privilege and apathy rank in the air at Acalanes, and nothing good happens. It is my considered opinion that Day of Silence has ceased to be useful. Moreover, being quiet makes me cranky.

For the day of loudness I've instigated speechmaking at strategic points at school. I'm confident in the attention-getting, speechifying, yelling capabilities of about a quarter of the GSA. Which means I'm sending them out mostly in twos, and will be instigating Making Lots of Noise and Public Speaking 101 shortly. I hope they can pull it off. I'm not too worried, but timidity runs deep in many members, and it must be overcome.

Evil Tranny, off to not be silent.