ROdown Blog
U R Not Alone
Towards the end of 2010 four other young people and myself became involved in video workshops in Sydney made possible by the combined effort of ReachOut and Twenty10.
In the workshops we talked about our own experiences growing up and ‘coming out’, how these experiences have shaped our identities and what would've been and was helpful for us in combating the impacts of homophobia. We also learnt how to capture our ideas with a camera and a microphone.
These workshops happened around about the same time as the It Gets Better Project, a campaign where LGBT people filmed and broadcasted themselves talking about their experiences growing up with the message that everything will get better in the end, ie. and they they lived happily ever after. The project started in response to the alarming rates of suicides related to homophobic bullying in high schools.
So in these workshops we discussed the good and bad of this project and decided to make our own version entitled You Are Not Alone. Though we thought the project’s message was wonderful and positive, one criticism that we had was in it's title, things don't always get better, life is a roller coaster ride, some days are bad, some days are good and things don't magically fix themselves.
Even when you are older, in a happy relationship and completely comfortable with your sexuality, things can go wrong and people can still cause you grief, so we decided that our message instead would be that You Are Not Alone, in good times and in bad. SammiBear, Lisa, Richard and myself decided to share our stories about 'coming out' and living queer.
We also chose to discuss what and who helped us during the tough times and what changes could be made to make life more livable for LGBT and questioning young people. We all interviewed and filmed each other (I also need to mention Nik here who was behind the scenes and an important piece of our puzzle), brainstormed ideas about how to put it all together, Rebecca at Twenty10 found us some supporting stats which we did some crafty things with and so our video was born unto the world.
I'm sure that everyone involved in the workshops would like to thank Denise at ReachOut and Rebecca at Twenty10 for letting us share our stories and teaching us some new skills, and we hope that everyone checks the video out and leaves feedback. This video is only four young people's stories and we know there are tonnes more out there, so we'd love for you to share yours and let us know what or who has helped you through tough times. We will be having a forum around the video in the near future and encourage you to come join us.
Obviously a place we have turned to when times got tough is Twenty10, you can check out there web page and other services for Australian LGBTI young people at http://www.twenty10.org.au/services.
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1 Comment
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Janice-RO Crew
12 months ago
Reply ReportHi guys,
This is an amazing piece. Congrats to all involved. I'm sure it will provide inspiration and encouragement to many young people in the future!