Talking About Gender with LGBTQ+ Youth
Lesson 5: "What Has Your Gender and Sexuality Journey Been Like?"
HEAL Plus NM collaborated with the New Mexico Genders and Sexuality Alliance Network (NNMGSA Network) and youth volunteers to create a digital curriculum called “SQUINCH” — Sharing Queer Understanding, Inclusion, Nonviolent Communication, and Health.
SQUINCH is a series of videos and supplementary materials designed for young LGBTQ+ folx to practice healthy relationship skills and understanding about queer and trans identities.
In Lesson 5 of the Queer Futures Now Network Curriculum, you are invited to:
Make a date with a young person or small group of young folx you care about. Make sure you all have about 45 minutes of uninterrupted time to hang out.
Pick a place that is safe and comfortable for all of you.
Take approx. 12 minutes to watch the Nonbinary People and Respecting Them video (below) together.
Allow the lessons from this video to make space for an honest conversation about gender and identity. Open up the conversation by asking each other:
What has your gender and sexuality journey been like?
Pro Tip
Be sure to reflect on this question yourself too. If you identify as binary or cis or straight, you may not have had to think that much about the role gender and sexuality play in your life. But that doesn’t mean they haven’t had a big impact on who you are and how you move through the world. Think about:
Where has your gender and sexual identity been spotlighted?
Where has it been erased?
What elements of your identity changed over time?
As you listen deeply and empathetically to the young person you love, allow yourself to find those places in your own experiences where you might relate even more than you thought.
Let us know know how it goes in the Comments below!
Make sure to subscribe to Queer Futures Now here on Substack. When you do, you become part of the Queer Futures Now Network, a virtual support community facilitated by our partners at HEAL Plus New Mexico. The Queer Futures Now Network is for parents, families, educators and the rest of us who are ready to show up on behalf of queer and trans youth…now.
Each week, you will receive an email with new lessons like this one with tools and resources to add to your ally toolbox.