FIRST LGBT+ (A blog by and about LGBT+ people in FIRST)

[Mr_Moko]

Greetings Chief Delphi users, my name is Josh from FRC 2729, though I am not here to talk to you as someone from 2729.
I'm here to talk to you about a blog that I have been working on with my friend Sean from FRC 5113. What is this blog?
FIRST LGBT+ is a blog that we hope will help provide resources and increase confidence for LGBT+ people to follow their passion for STEM in and out of FIRST.
We hope to harbor more acceptance and visibility for LGBT+ people in FIRST.
We hope that this blog will be something that everyone in FIRST can benefit from no matter who they are
We hope that this blog will be a fun and helpful entity that is not affiliated with any one team, but is run by students all over the world.

We are currently looking for staff before we really get the blog going (being that there are only two of us at the moment)
We are looking for 1 person per region/district at the moment, though once the blog becomes properly started up we will increase that number to 2 staff per region/district
If you're interested in helping out you can find the application HERE

tldr: Trying to start up a blog for LGBT+ people in robotics, though we need support from the community, it's run by students and if you want to try help you, check out the application above

Have any question, opinions or comments? Respond to this thread, mention us on Twitter (@LGBT_of_FIRST), send us an Ask on Tumblr (lgbt-of-first) or email us (lgbtplusfirst@gmail.com)
Tumblr(Main Page)
Twitter

[Madison]

There were a few interesting posts in a recent thread (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=147043) about representation and accommodation of LGBTQ folks in STEM.

I've become increasingly interested in ways FIRST can, institutionally, be a better place for groups like these and how I, as a mentor, can be aware of my impact.

Looking forward to hearing more about this.

[Liam Fay]

This looks like it'll be great - there's a surprisingly small amount of talk about LGBT+ issues in FIRST.

[indieFan]

Originally Posted by Liam Fay

This looks like it'll be great - there's a surprisingly small amount of talk about LGBT+ issues in FIRST.

Am I the only one that wouldn't expect there to be much, if any, talk about LGBT+ issues in FIRST?

There is a time and a place to discuss various things. An event about Science and Technology just doesn't strike me as the right time and place for LGBT+ discussions.

The same would be true for racism, anti-semitism, pro-life/pro-choice, etc.

[1493kd]

Originally Posted by indieFan

The same would be true for racism, anti-semitism, pro-life/pro-choice, etc.

Sorry but your comparision of racism, anti-semitism, and pro-life/choice to LGBT is completely off.

You can choose to not be one and the other is who you are....

That is why such a blog can be helpful

[indieFan]

Originally Posted by 1493kd

Sorry but your comparision of racism, anti-semitism, and pro-life/choice to LGBT is completely off.

You can choose to not be one and the other is who you are....

That is why such a blog can be helpful

How exactly does one choose their race? How exactly does one choose to be Jewish if they were born into a Jewish family? Racism and anti-semitism are the rhetoric that disenfranchises people in the situations.

[throwaway]

Originally Posted by indieFan

Am I the only one that wouldn't expect there to be much, if any, talk about LGBT+ issues in FIRST?

No you're not.

[Liam Fay]

Originally Posted by throwaway

No you're not.

While I do think this blog is valuable, the writers need to make sure they're going for quality over quantity. A bunch of blog posts that just happen to be by LGBT+ authors won't cut it. I'd rather see just one a week that is relevant and thoughtful.

This is coming from a gay FIRSTer.

[bdaroz]

As a mentor of a rookie team we have not really had to deal with LGBT+ issues, yet. I hope this could be another resource to help us make the experience inclusive, comfortable, and just as inspiring as it is for all the other students.

(As an example, I look forward to, and do read threads on how other teams handle transgender students in traveling situations. I would think (and hope) this would be our most challenging issue to overcome.)

[Mr_Moko]

Originally Posted by Liam Fay

While I do think this blog is valuable, the writers need to make sure they're going for quality over quantity. A bunch of blog posts that just happen to be by LGBT+ authors won't cut it. I'd rather see just one a week that is relevant and thoughtful.

The idea is for us to take time to take posts, because the ideal of quality over quantity is one that should be followed by as many people as physically possible.
Staff members will start their own posts about things relevant to LGBT+ in FIRST, whether that's an interview, resources or stories of their experiences in FIRST being LGBT+! So we do not intend to rush posts to come out or set deadlines for our staff.

Originally Posted by dakota0000

I hope the blog is inclusive of other marginalized and underrepresented communties in FIRST and successful in impacting robotics culture.

Of course! We'll being doing our best to be as inclusive as we can to everyone in FIRST.

Originally Posted by bdaroz

As a mentor of a rookie team we have not really had to deal with LGBT+ issues, yet. I hope this could be another resource to help us make the experience inclusive, comfortable, and just as inspiring as it is for all the other students.

Once the blog is properly started (which may not be until after Worlds because I know how busy people are) we hope that we can be a resource for both you as a mentor and for your team members!
We love to see teams that are publicly supportive of their LGBT+ members and hope that more will follow in their footsteps.

[trumpthero786]

Hey Josh. This is a great thing that you are doing and it is a wonderful idea. I hope it springs off and makes the FIRST community even more accepting of differences than it already is.

[dmaggio744]

Just my two cents, i think this is a really cool idea! Sent my application in on the tumblr, cant wait to hear back!

[Mr_Moko]

Originally Posted by trumpthero786

Hey Josh. This is a great thing that you are doing and it is a wonderful idea. I hope it springs off and makes the FIRST community even more accepting of differences than it already is.

Thanks Humza! I hope that everyone, including our team can benefit from this!

[Red2486]

What a great idea! I've been hoping for something like this for a while!

Like mentioned earlier, I hope you include resources for mentors who want to make sure that their teams are as inclusive as possible! I can think of a number of ways that teams might be accidentally excluding students just because they don't know they are (it may be as little as using gender/sex interchangeably on team forms or as big as a mentor accidentally 'outing' a student to their family). As mentors, we spend a lot of time with these kids and I think it is important for us to understand their situations and hardships and to accomadate them accordingly.

I also think that if we want kids to dream of becoming "science and technology heroes" we have to make sure that they feel represented and welcome in science and technology. Well done!

[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.