Assembly on Intersectionality

During E-block, the Roberts-Dubbs Auditorium served a different purpose than it did for the “Telling Our Stories” blocks. It was transformed from a place of quiet respect for students and staff opening up to the school to a place where a lively, engaging and thought-provoking sermon of sorts could occur.

The assembly on intersectionality, which was hosted by juniors Emma Perez and Haley Bos, and featured guest speaker Reverend Irene Monroe, was one of contemplation, inspiration and motivation.

The assembly started with an activity in which Perez and Bos told everyone to stand up, and then sit down when a name was said that they did not recognize. The names started with white queer people, and then moved onto queer people of color. The exercise was designed to show that, even within a marginalized community like the LGBTQ+ community, there are differences in how people see and are aware of LGBTQ+ people, based on their race. This was their way of introducing the idea of intersectionality to the audience.

The term “intersectionality” was coined by Black feminist scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989. Crenshaw defined intersectionality as “analytic sensibility. A way of thinking about identity and its relationship to power. Intersectionality draws attention to invisibility that exist in feminism and in anti-racism and in class politics.”

Next, Monroe came onto the stage. Monroe is an African-American lesbian who is also an ordained minister who works on podcasts, on the radio, in the newspaper and in many more mediums. In 1998, she was the Grand Marshal of the Boston Pride Parade, marking the first time an African-American was honored in that position and the first time a woman led the parade.

Monroe started her speech with the powerful reminder that the 2019 Day of Dialogue was occurring on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and that “what he fought for is very much what we’re seeing in today’s assemblies.” This set the tone for the rest of her presentation, which Monroe concluded by asserting that, “while we try to live out loud, it’s important for us to have an intersectional approach. It’s not enough for me just to be fighting about racism. I have to be fighting about racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, because as King said, ‘What affects one affects all.’”

Monroe’s speech told the story of figuring out her sexuality and how it related to other aspects of her identity, such as her race and religion. She harped on the idea that there was really no representation of any LGBTQ+ people when she was growing up, let alone queer people of color.

When Monroe decided to apply to seminary school, she learned from one of the schools that even though she had one of the top applications, she would have to decide if she wanted to go to school there or be gay, because the school said they did not have any lesbians or homosexuals and they did not want her “recruiting” more. This was one step in her journey towards realizing how different aspects of people’s identities were connected.

The assembly concluded with a brief Q-and-A session, with Monroe’s answers further emphasizing the importance of intersectionality and fighting for what one believes in.

The Truth about Conversion Therapy

“My parents were coming from a place of love, but they put me in what can only be described as torture. They stuck needles in my fingers {and} shoved electricity through my entire body while images of men having sex with men played across the screen. I would scream, ‘Mommy make it stop,’” Sam Brinton, head of Advocacy and Government Affairs for Trevor Project, said in a video played during the E-block assembly in room 385. “I still carry those scars. When I had my first kiss with my fiancé Kevin, I threw up from the pain.”

Conversion therapy is a controversial pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender expression, usually through talking to a therapist. But in the past, treatments such as induced vomiting, electric shocks, chemical castration or ice pick lobotomies have been used.

The assembly showed videos of people telling their conversion therapy stories.

“Anger, pain, suicide: Conversion therapy’s lasting impact, as told by a survivor,”  a video by ABC News, followed Brain Sullivan, a man who went through conversion therapy and was married to a woman for 8 years, until he eventually accepted he was gay.

“You begin to hate yourself. You begin to say horrible things about yourself to change,” Sullivan said.

In a video called “I survived gay ‘cure’ therapy” by PinkNews, Garrard Conley, the author of “Boy Erased,” talked about his experience at the conversion therapy camp Love and Action.

“We were told that we were sexual perverts and that we were addicted to sex,” Conley said. “There are days when I still feel as though I can’t touch my partner’s skin without feeling like I’m on fire or I feel these extreme bouts of shame that wash over me and I have to convince myself to get out of them. I think about all the years I lost to that kind of thought. How do you possibly get those years of your life back?”

The assembly concluded with a conversation between students and teachers on topics from conversion therapy for minors versus adults to if being gay is a choice.

Performance by BETCo on LGBTQ+ Themes

During E-block in the Black Box, the Brookline Educational Theatre Company (BETCo) performed short skits about LGBTQ+ topics. The student-crafted scenes showcased a variety of genres, from a romantic comedy to a TV show to a superhero movie, and spurred dialogue about many of the LGBTQ+ issues present today.

A particularly poignant skit told the story of a transgender father (junior Clay Baker-Lerner) who was fighting in a court case for the right to keep his son. The prosecutor (junior Pablo Maytorena) argued that the father’s transition meant a second puberty. As a result, he contended that the father was basically a 15-year-old teenager and should not be trusted with the child. Although this scene was rather heart-wrenching, it successfully brought light to one of the many injustices faced by the transgender community.

Another scene depicted a lesbian girl (senior Masha Kazantsev) getting a cleansing because her family believed that her behavior was not normal. The girl was lying down on the ground while the priest (senior Greg Kim) read a prayer asking for forgiveness. As he did this, the girl kept physically shaking on the ground. This scene conveyed the harsh reality of how gay and lesbian individuals are treated in some places.

Following this skit was one that mimicked a children’s TV show. The host (junior Ben Kiel), speaking in an upbeat voice, taught the audience (“the kids”) about electricity. He started by explaining how electricity is important for lights and computers and then encouraged the audience to repeat the word “electricity” with him, which nearly everyone did.

He then introduced several guests, and this is when the seemingly innocent television program took a dark turn. The guests, who were homosexual, bisexual and asexual, took turns sitting in a chair in front of the host. The host proceeded to zap each of them with electricity to make them all “normal” again. He asked the audience to repeat the word “electricity” with him once more. This interactive part of the skit forced the audience to consider whether to repeat the word, which relatively fewer students did.

Following the performances was a short discussion during which students could reflect upon what they gained from watching the skits. Overall, BETCo’s performance did a great job of not only entertaining the audience, but also allowing them to open their eyes to the negative stereotypes and unfair discrimination faced by LGBTQ+ individuals.