[jds2001]

As a gay mentor (who, as some others in this thread have said, doesn't make a big deal about it to my team - in fact, I am so heteronormative that my team likely has no idea) I can see where there's non-inclusive language being used even on my team that makes me slightly uncomfortable. I'm able to just shrug it off and not worry about it. However, when I put myself in the shoes of a student, I can easily see how some of this language could make a student feel unwelcome and ostracized, especially if they weren't yet comfortable enough with themselves and figuring out their identity.

I think that this blog is a great idea. There definitely should be a diversity aspect to FIRST, and not just about sexual orientation and gender identity. Someone earlier in the thread said that discussions about racism, anti-Semitism, etc don't belong in FIRST. I couldn't disagree more - it's a discussion that needs to be urgently had. If a member of a group, whatever that is, is made to feel uncomfortable (or would be made to feel uncomfortable if they were present) in any way it is unacceptable. The conversation needs to happen right then and there about why the behavior is unacceptable and how to avoid it in the future.