First meeting of the year
Hey guys, Jenna here. Sorry for the late post.
As the TWENTY-TWO PEOPLE who showed up know, this week’s meeting was a way to get to know everyone, go over the rules, talk about plans for this year, etc.
The most important (and pretty much only) official rule of the club is our Tolerance Policy. As a GSA, we can hardly expect people to be tolerant towards us if we do not extend the same courtesy. This means respecting anyone who walks through that door, regardless of their sexuality, gender identity, religious affiliation, opinions, etc. It also helps us to avoid spending entire discussions bashing one group for their beliefs. If you believe that someone is breaking the Tolerance Policy in any way during the meeting, simply say something along the lines of, “Hey, Tolerance Policy against blahblahblah.” If you get called out on breaking the policy, just apologize and try not to let it happen again. Don’t feel too bad; we all do it sometimes.
This year our plans are still going to include AIDs Walk and Day of Silence. We would also like to try and do something with Youth Pride, and perhaps even attend Pride whenever it rolls around. Our lovely new president Erin has also stumbled a program called “No Place for Hate” that she shared with us at the meeting.
On the subject of future plans, we have to keep in mind that all of this costs money. While we will not ever require dues to be paid in order to join GSA, we would very much appreciate it members could donate $5 to $10 dollars so we can do fun things.
Last but certainly not least: THE SUGGESTION BOX. We had two people put something in at the last meeting, and that’s just not gonna fly. Erin and I want to know what you guys want us to discuss/do/improve upon. We are new at this, and we would really appreciate your comments on how we’re doing.
On a final note, it was absolutely wonderful seeing so many people there. Towards the end of last year the meetings gradually grew smaller, and yesterday it was amazing seeing twenty-two people packed in a classroom just for GSA. Thank you all so much for coming. We hope to see you again.
Next week we will be discussing gay marriage and the recent overturning of Prop 8 in California. Your GShomework is to simply form an opinion on the subject and be prepared to back it up. If you wish to bring in articles, that’s good too.
