Walk for Me Curriculum and Discussion Guide
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™ Creating Home: Queer Identities, Families, and Spaces Deep Run and Walk For Me Discussion Guide and Curriculum for Educators and Student Groups Creating Home: Queer Identities, Families, and Spaces Deep Run and Walk for Me TABLE OF CONTENTS 03 About This Collection & the Films 04 Directors’ Statements 05 How to Use This Collection 06 Before Getting Started • Why LGBTQ-Inclusive Curriculum is Important • Content Disclaimer and Context • Tips for Facilitation 10 Discussion Guide 18 Module 1: Given and Chosen Families 23 Module 2: The Power and Politics of Naming 28 Module 3: The Impact of Place and Spaces 34 Common Core Capacities of Literate Individuals 34 Previous Youth in Motion Collections 35 Acknowledgements CREATING HOME | 2 About This Collection & the Films ABOUT THIS COLLECTION Suggested grade levels: middle and high school Creating Home: Queer Identities, Families, and Spaces is a collection that features two films, a discussion guide, and modules that educators can use as classroom curriculum and student groups can use as activities. It focuses on themes that illustrate how members of the LGBTQ community, and particularly the youth we meet on screen, create a sense of “home” through their identities, their given and chosen families, and the spaces around them. Through using these materials, audiences can explore issues around experiences of trans youth, the value of family and community acceptance and support, and the complexities of LGBTQ life in both urban and rural areas. Deep Run DIRECTOR: HILLEVI LOVEN DOCUMENTARY, 2015, USA, 56 MINUTES Executive produced by LGBTQ supporter Susan Sarandon and shot by first-time filmmaker Hillevi Loven, Deep Run is a powerful verité portrait of trans life in rural North Carolina. Despite being exiled by his family and rejected by an ex, 17-year-old Cole finds love and family again and summons the courage to move forward with his journey as a young trans man. His candid humor, strong will, and steadfast, inclusive Christian beliefs counter the bigotry he experiences daily. This intimate documentary reveals rebirth and resilience within America’s Bible Belt. Walk For Me DIRECTOR: ELEGANCE BRATTON NARRATIVE, 2016, USA, 12 MINUTES Walk For Me is a contemporary coming out story set in New York City. A conflicted teenager is torn between their devotion to their mother and their desire to be their authentic self. When their mother finds women’s underwear and a flyer to a Gay Ball in their bedroom, she decides to track down her child and confront them. At the ball, the mother is shocked to find that her child has been taken under the wing of an adoptive Ball mother, Paris Continental, and assumed the identity of Hanna. The mother is confronted by a choice: deny her child or accept her for who she really is. CREATING HOME | 3 Directors’ Statements We completed Deep Run in 2015, and American millennial identity and politics were always on my mind over the many years it took to complete the film. I have always been interested in how people deemed to be outsiders negotiate their lives in challenging environments. I am a born and bred New Yorker, a straight girl-ally who went to a progressive Episcopalian grammar school not far from the Stonewall Inn. During the six years that I was filming Deep Run and doing research in the South, the young people I met and the conversations I engaged in took me by surprise. In rural areas, I encountered many seeming contradictions and so many political shades of grey. As I developed a working relationship with Cole, it became important to me to get at some of the complexities of American millennial identity. I wanted to make a film that challenged people across multiple perspectives, whether they identify as any combination of progressive, conservative, LGBTQ, people of faith, or those who are non-religious. First and foremost, I was drawn to Cole in order to create a portrait of Cole. It was always about Cole—the entire human being—and that is more than a trans story. At this moment in time, we need new heroes like Cole, and as a society, we need new models of masculinity that exhibit the power of love and integrity. — HILLEVI LOVEN, DIRECTOR, DEEP RUN My need to make this film was two-fold. On one end, I am deeply inspired by the creative genius that I’ve witnessed for years while photographing New York’s Gay Balls. On the other, I know too well the negative consequences that unfold when family members are unwilling to do the difficult work of understanding each other. At age 16, I was kicked out by my biological family. They refused to accept my gay identity, so I spent the next decade homeless. I am desperate to understand what my mother was thinking when she put me out. In writing and directing Walk For Me, I wanted to make a work that she can see and learn how to love from—and I want to free others through this work. Most importantly, my personal story is proof of the power of self-invention. Walk For Me posits that each and every person is in some form of transition and that that’s just a part of life. In the wake of so many horrifying recent tragedies as the Pulse shooting in Orlando, and ongoing murder of innocent black men at the hands of police, I believe it’s more important than ever to show the community real success stories of acceptance, love, and defiance against hatred of all kinds. — ELEGANCE BRATTON, DIRECTOR, WALK FOR ME CREATING HOME | 4 How to Use This Collection This resource is designed for middle and high school: • Educators, as all activities are designed to link with Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and can be integrated into existing classroom curriculum. See page 34 for information on how this curriculum aligns with CCSS. • GSAs (Genders and Sexualities Alliances) and student groups, who can screen the films at their schools and facilitate a post-screening discussion and/or adapt the suggested activities. It is divided into two categories, Discussion Guide and Modules, which can be used individually or collectively. • Discussion Guide: “Film Club” Style Conversations The Discussion Guide is great for GSAs, student groups, and teachers with limited time who may want to focus on watching the film(s) and having a post-screening discussion. The guide provides questions grouped by theme that can help the facilitator shape the conversation with suggested prompts to consider or adapt. The facilitator can prioritize the themes they think will resonate most with the group. We recommend reviewing the background information and resources in the Modules sections (see below), even if you do not plan to implement any of the activities. They contain important context that can aid you in facilitating a post-screening discussion. • Modules: Classroom Curriculum and Student Group Activities Modules include brief background information, resources, and instructions and materials for lesson plans and activities that can be implemented by educators in the classroom or by student groups such as GSAs. Each module delves into a particular topic, including: Given and Chosen Families, the Power and Politics of Naming, and the Impact of Place and Spaces. The three modules are developed to be flexible, so you can adapt them to work best with your interests, setup, and available time. » You can choose to use a single module alone, or two or three modules collectively as series of units. » Modules can be used individually, or in conjunction with the Discussion Guide. » Each module can be used for a single film, or both films if you want a cross comparison. » Each individual module has one warm-up exercise and two activities you can choose from, or you can use all three together if you have enough time. CREATING HOME | 5 Before Getting Started Studying LGBTQ history and culture encourages all students to think more critically about the world, helps to create safe and affirming communities for LGBTQ students and families, and has the power to transform lives. WHY LGBTQ-INCLUSIVE CURRICULUM IS IMPORTANT The following resources provide hard data and contextualize curricula as part of efforts for improved school safety, decreased bullying, and higher achievement across various schools and amongst all students, not only LGBTQ students: » GSA Network’s Implementing Lessons that Matter: The Impact of LGBTQ-Inclusive Curriculum on Student Safety, Well-Being, and Achievement https://gsanetwork.org/files/aboutus/ImplementingLessons_fullreport.pdf » GLSEN’s Developing LGBT-Inclusive Classroom Resources https://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/LGBT%20inclus%20curriculum%202014_0.pdf It is helpful for educators and students who are addressing LGBTQ-related topics at school to understand there may be potential push-back. It is important to know your rights when it comes to using LGBTQ-themed content at your school. For example, in California, teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity is not only protected, but mandated by the FAIR Act (http://www.faireducationact.com). However, laws vary from state to state and it is highly recommended you research where your state and/or district stand. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES • GLSEN’s Make Your GSA Transgender & Gender Nonconforming Inclusive: https://www.glsen.org/GSA/making-your-club-inclusive-transgender-and-gnc-students. • For more tips on how to respond to anti-LGBTQ language and harassment, see: » GLSEN’s Safe Space Kit: Guide to Being an Ally to LGBT Students https://www.glsen.org/safespace or email [email protected]. » Safe Schools Coalition’s An Educator’s Guide to Intervening in Anti-Gay (LGBTQ) Harassment http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/guide_educator_ interveneharass2005NAT.pdf. • Contact GSA Network’s Safe and Supportive Schools Project at [email protected] for further training, professional development, or guidance on implementing lessons that are LGBTQ-inclusive.