Students
Transgender, Other-identified, Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Allies for Diversity (TOBGLAD)
Contact
E-mail: tobglad@poets.whittier.edu
TOBGLAD is a confidential group that serves as a support system for students and involves them in crucial social and political issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and ally communities. The organization's focus is to end discrimination through educating the Whittier College community.
LGBT HISTORY MONTH IS IN OCTOBER!
Day of Silence
Whittier College's Day of Silence is an annual program sponsored by TOBGLAD and the Cultural Center. This program is coordinated on college campuses across the country in conjunction with National Day of Silence. http://dayofsilence.org/ " ...hundreds of thousands of students nationwide take a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in their schools."
Whittier College participants maintain silence from dawn until dusk, distributing small note cards to explain the reason for their silence. The note cards read: "I am participating in The National Day of Silence, bringing attention to anti-LGBT behavior in school, and will maintain silence throughout the day. Please support me in my protest and validate my activism as I advocate for the LGBT community.”"
This year's Day of Silence (DOS) slogan was "Close your mouth and open your mind." The front of each shirt had "Silent..." printed on it, so that students could write on their shirts to finish the phrase. Some students wrote names of people they supported or statements of advocacy. Minority Caucus conducted their entire meeting in silence that day; even members who were not wearing DOS shirts chose to communicate in written form out of respect for those who were participating.
The picture is of Colleen Mundy (2009-2011 president of TOBGLAD) and Jordan Robledo (TOBGLAD Minority Caucus Representative) communicating in the CI.
TOBGLAD Reception
Students and alumni are also invited each year to attend a reception hosted by TOBGLAD during Whittier Weekend, in celebration of differences and diversity among the extended college community.
To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) Day
To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) Day is an event designed to bring hope to victims struggling with depression, self injury, addiction and/or suicide. The execution and participation of the program is simple: write the word "love" on your arm. This action may seem small, but it carries a great deal of support and solidarity. TOBGLAD (Transgender, Other-identified, Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian and Allies for Diversity) offered a convenient outlet for Whittier community members to write the word "love" on their arm in diverse languages, promoting the diversity of TOBGLAD and the range of awareness for the program.
Educational Campaign
TOBGLAD is sponsoring the "That's So (not) Gay" campaign, by passing out awareness/ally ribbons as well as the "That's so (not) Gay" buttons during the homecoming carnival. The campaign is TOBGLAD's challenge to the entire Whittier campus to remove this phrase from daily life. It implies that gay is synonymous with annoying or stupid and those implications tend to shape how people view the LGBT community. The phrase also implies a negative connotation which perpetuates society's recognition of the LGBT community as a lesser people than those who are straight.
If you want to support the campaign to take "That's so gay" out of your vocabulary, please log on here, click on the black box with "Have something to say?" and speak your mind! You can also read what others have to say!
On March 4th, 2010 TOBGLAD partnered with Poet Entertainment to host Isis King, the first transgender contestant to compete in America's Next Top Model. Isis was post-op and agreed to a candid Q&A after her presentation. She also hosted a photo shoot for three lucky drawing winners at the end of the evening. This event was sponsored by ASWC Senate, RHA and Gender and Women's Studies.
On October 24th, 2010, members of GMCLA, along with their friends and supporters, gathered at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles to sing a song of hope to LGBT Youth everywhere.
What follows is the result of that extraordinary afternoon.
IN SOLIDARITY and in memory of:
Tyler Clementi, Justin Aaberg, Asher Brown, Seth Walsh, Raymond Chase,
and Billy Lucas
TOBGLAD provided an opportunity for the Whittier College community to
share their feelings about the tragedies and spread the message of
anti-hate.
TOBGLAD representatives sat outside the CI from October 18-22 during
lunch, distributing different colored post-its (colors of the rainbow).
Participants were given the opportunity to write messages of
non-violence and/or acceptance on the post-its and stick them on a
rainbow which was in the CI all week.
In addition, there was a campaign on Facebook to wear purple (the spirit
color of the rainbow flag) on October 20. Many people in the Whittier
College community wore purple that day, in solidarity with other LGBT
communities and Allies nationwide.
Allies Training is Wednesday, October 12 from 6:00-9:00pm in The Memorial Chapel. Sign up by emailing Helen Romero at hromero@poets.whittier.edu. This training is FREE. Sponsored by TOBGLAD, Cultural Center, ASWC, Dean of Students, Associate Dean of Students, and Residence Life.
What is Allies Training?
Allies Training affords students, faculty, and staff the opportunity to
learn about challenges that LGBT persons face and confronts the
pervasive socialized perceptions of the LGBT community that perpetuate
discrimination and oppression. The training offers tools to actively
advocate for LGBT persons and encourages participants to create a more
safe and compassionate campus environment.
The Facilitator:
Raja Bhattar, the Director of UCLA’s LGBT Campus Resource Center, will serve as this year’s facilitator. Raja is a social justice educator, community activist, author and speaker. He has facilitated numerous social justice retreats, safe space ally programs and diversity leadership trainings. He holds amasters degree in education from the University of Vermont and bachelors degree from Boston University.Hehasheld leadershiproles with the Consortium of LGBT Resource Professionals in Higher Education and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). His research interests are assessment of ally development, South Asian Queer identity development& intersectional perspectives on identity.
FREE film screening of Priest (1994) in Garrett House
with a facilitated discussion by
Dr. Rosemary Carbine (Religious Studies), Dr. Christina Scott (Psychology), and Luke Seltzer (Counseling Center)
Thursday, October 27; 7:00pm
A priest tries to reconcile his love for another man with his love for God,
but when a girl steps into the confessional and reveals that her father sexually abuses her,
he's frustrated by the laws of the church and questions his faith in a God who would allow this to happen.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110889/plotsummary
Sponsored by ASWC, TOBGLAD, Newman Club, Cultural Center, and Garrett House
For more information, please contact Helen Romero at hromero@poets.whittier.edu
