Live Out Loud is a nonprofit organization committed to connecting LGBTQ students with positive role models from our community. For more in- formation about our resources and programs, visit us online at www.LiveOutLoud.info or email [email protected] Lesson Plan 2 Born This Way: Developing a Positive Identity Summary LGBTQ students often struggle with issues of identity in ways their heterosexual classmates do not. Students may feel that they have to conform to a certain image to “fit” within the LGBTQ community. These youth need role models to help them develop a positive identity and love themselves fully. This lesson will help students both explore their identity and find community with their peers. Goals • Students will be encouraged to find role models to help them develop a positive identity. • Students will realize that the LGBTQ community is extremely diverse – there is a place for everyone to “fit.” • Students will be challenged to both discover and accept their own identity. Objectives • Students will identify ways in which they both identify with the LGBTQ community and are unique within it. • Students will hear a role model talk about his/her experience discovering and accepting their LGBTQ identity. • Students will be encouraged to build relationships with people who can help them build a positive identity. Supplies Needed • “Born This Way” activity sheet (see “Resources” on page 5) • “I have, I like, I am” activity sheet (see “Resources” on page 6) • “Who Are Your Role Models” worksheet (see “Resources” page 7) Session Outline As always, start the session by reinforcing the ground rules of your group – boundaries you have set to ensure that youth feel safe to talk openly with each other. For example: • Keep the conversation door closed – everything said in this room stays in this room. • Respect the person who is talking – listen to what they say until they’re done saying it. • Understand that everyone’s opinion is valid – we don’t all have to think the same things. • Don’t dump on people’s ideas – it’s fine to disagree, as long as you disagree respectfully. WWW.LIVEOUTLOUD.INFO PAGE 1 Warm Up (option 1): Born This Way (15 minutes) Print the “Born This Way” activity provided on page 5. Divide students into groups of 2-3. Give each team a copy of the “Born This Way” activity. Tell the group that the team who can correctly complete the lyrics to Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” first wins! If students don’t know what words correctly fill the blanks, tell them to guess! Check students’ answers and briefly discuss the song’s lyrics. Their answers may help start an interesting discussion about identity. Use the “Born This Way” lyrics as a way to encourage students to both love themselves and accept others. Discussion Questions: Born This Way • Has anyone ever told you that being LGBTQ is a choice, not the way you were born? How did you answer? • What are the main messages of this song? Which phrases “speak” to you? Why? • Did you add lines to the song that you like better than Lady Gaga’s? Which ones? Warm Up (option 2): Cross the Room (15 minutes) Print the “I have, I like, I am” activity provided on page 6. Ask students to complete the questions and give them to the facilitator. The answers to these questions will be used during the “Cross The Room” activity. Separate students into two groups according to something they have in common. Instruct these groups to stand on opposite sides of the room (for example, everyone who enjoys action movies stand on one side of the room; everyone who enjoys comedies stand on the opposite side). The facilitator will read students’ answers from the “I have, I like, I am” activity (if you need additional state- ments, use supplementary statements below.) Every time a statement is read that applies to a student, that student should cross to the other side of the room (for example, if the facilitator says “I like rap music, every- one who likes rap music crosses to the other side of the room). Do not tell students whose answer is being read. This activity should challenge youth to see both how they are like each other and how they are different from each other. Help students to feel “safe” during this activity by reading the following: “There is no pressure to cross the room! Anyone who chooses not to cross the room is not necessarily making a statement about their identity. For example, if a person does not cross the room for “I am ‘straight,’” they are not necessarily saying that they are LGBTQ. This student might simply be choosing not to answer.” Supplementary Cross The Room statements • I enjoy school • I am a good dancer • I have never failed a class • I don’t care what people think of me • I plan to be the first in my family • I am proud of who I am to go to college • I feel like my family supports me • English is not my first language • My family doesn’t understand me • Sometimes I feel like I don’t fit in • Teachers and students at school • I am funny don’t understand me • I am serious • I like to read • I enjoy art • I am happy with my life • I enjoy music • I like Lady Gaga • I enjoy science • I enjoy fashion • I take care of younger brothers and sisters • I am good at sports WWW.LIVEOUTLOUD.INFO PAGE 2 Discussion Questions: Cross the Room • Did you ever feel pressure to move with the group? During which questions? Why do you think you felt this way? • Did you ever change sides of the room to distinguish yourself and highlight something that is unique about your personality, talents, interests, etc.? • Did you ever feel vulnerable during the activity? Were you ever afraid to cross to the other side of the room? Why? Do you think others felt that way, too? • Were there times during this activity when you felt pride about your identity? Why? When? • Was there ever a time when people’s reaction to a statement surprised you? • Was there ever a time when every student was standing on the same side of the room? Do you think this is significant? Why? Reflection: Living Beyond the Stereotypes (5 minutes) (This statement can be read by a student or facilitator to close the “Cross The Room” activity.) As you moved through this activity, there were probably very few times when everyone was standing at the same wall. You were likely forced to stand at different walls because we all have different interests, abilities, and histories. High School is a time when a lot of people try to define their identity and decide where they “fit.” Some people want to blend in with a group. Some people like to stand out. Especially in the LGBTQ community, it’s helpful to remember that we are all unique… but we all also have some things in common. We must learn to band together over what we have in common, but also celebrate our differences. Whether you’re LGBTQ or “straight,” you shouldn’t have to conform to a certain image to fit into your community! If we want to bring awareness to issues facing the LGBTQ community we must first be clear about who we are. It is important for us to work on “self” before we reach out to others! “If you don’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?” (Rupaul, from Rupaul’s Drag Race). Role Model (20 minutes) Live Out Loud connects LGBTQ youth and their allies with role models from the LGBTQ community. All of our role models were once teenagers. Each of them went through the same process of searching to define their own identity as current teenagers do. Members of the LGBTQ community often face unique struggles as they discover and explore their identity. The following questions will help this lesson’s role model address issues of identity and stereotypes in the LG- BTQ community. 1. What role model taught you that your own identity was unique and important? How did they teach you to value your identity? 2. Were you aware of your LGBTQ identity when you were in high school? If so, how did you feel about yourself during high school? How is that different from the way you feel about your identity now? 3. What was it like for you to “come out” to your family and friends? If you “came out” during high school, what was that like for you? 4. Was there a defining moment or struggle in your life that really defined who you are (or want to be) today? 5. How do you think stereotypes – either within the LGBTQ community or about the LGBTQ community – affect how LGBTQ people see themselves? How do they affect you? 6. What would you say to an LGBTQ youth who was facing a real identity crisis? How would you convince them that the struggles they are facing today may ultimately define who they are and one day strengthen them? WWW.LIVEOUTLOUD.INFO PAGE 3 7. It’s important that students don’t simply listen to the role model’s story, but also become engaged in the conversation. Suggest that the role model ask the students these questions to get the con- versation started: • Today we’ve been talking a lot about identity. Is it easy or hard for you to be proud of who you are? Why? • Oscar Wilde – a gay author – once said “I am my own masterpiece.” What do you think of this quote? Do we build ourselves, or should our community be given “credit,” too? Action: Interview a Role Model (5 minutes) Close today’s session by encouraging youth to find a role model with whom they can relate – someone who can help them explore both who they are and who they want to be.