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

[nrgy_blast]

Originally Posted by Mr_Moko

Putting them I'm a room with the gender they identify as would be much better.

My friend (and co-founder of the blog) had to be stuck in his own room because he's trans and his school/the parents of his team saw him as a liability.
This is extremely unfair to separate people just because of their gender, is it not?

No, it's not unfair. My team treats students just as we would junior coworkers in a professional environment. That means avoiding any potential interpersonal issues before they arise, if at all possible. This includes intentionally rooming guys/girls in separate rooms, keeping students that don't get along very well separated, and addressing any other potential issue with the least amount of conflict possible. FRC isn't here for social/sexual experimentation - it's here to begin developing our next generation of professionals and leaders.

[Liam Fay]

Originally Posted by nrgy_blast

No, it's not unfair. My team treats students just as we would junior coworkers in a professional environment. That means avoiding any potential interpersonal issues before they arise, if at all possible. This includes intentionally rooming guys/girls in separate rooms, keeping students that don't get along very well separated, and addressing any other potential issue with the least amount of conflict possible. FRC isn't here for social/sexual experimentation - it's here to begin developing our next generation of professionals and leaders.

And these trans students aren't "experimenting". They're simply trying to express who they are.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by nrgy_blast

FRC isn't here for social/sexual experimentation - it's here to begin developing our next generation of professionals and leaders.

What does placing people in rooms according to their identified gender have to do with sexual experimentation? Transgender students are not "social experiments" - they merely have a gender that does not match the one assigned to them at birth.

Ultimately, the entire practice of assigning rooms by gender is heteronormative and cisnormative, and it is difficult to get around these issues within the policies of many schools.

[FrankJ]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

What does placing people in rooms according to their identified gender have to do with sexual experimentation? Transgender students are not "social experiments" - they merely have a gender that does not match the one assigned to them at birth.

Not to put words in Chris's mouth. But. I think what he was trying to say is what is essentially a youth field trip is not the place for sexual contact. LBGT, Hetro, ETC. In a perfect world everyone would conduct themselves in a professional manner. The reason why this thread is so long is that we don't live in a perfect world.

[nrgy_blast]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

What does placing people in rooms according to their identified gender have to do with sexual experimentation? Transgender students are not "social experiments" - they merely have a gender that does not match the one assigned to them at birth.

Ultimately, the entire practice of assigning rooms by gender is heteronormative and cisnormative, and it is difficult to get around these issues within the policies of many schools.

If other students of the opposite(mechanical) gender aren't comfortable rooming rooming together, I'm not going to make them. Reaffirming my previous statement, I'm not going to assign anyone to stay with anyone else they're uncomfortable with, no matter the reason. Doing so would be a 'social experiment', and is not what FIRST is here for.

[Carolyn_Grace]

Originally Posted by nrgy_blast

If other students of the opposite(mechanical) gender aren't comfortable rooming rooming together, I'm not going to make them. Reaffirming my previous statement, I'm not going to assign anyone to stay with anyone else they're uncomfortable with, no matter the reason. Doing so would be a 'social experiment', and is not what FIRST is here for.

No where in the personal story (quoted below) does it say that anyone would have been forced into a rooming situation that was uncomfortable except for the poster, who was forced into an uncomfortable rooming situation by being isolated.

Originally Posted by sean-from-5113

Imagine hearing all your friends giggling in their hotel rooms while you are alone and lying awake. No one on the team wanted me to room by myself, my mentors didn't want me by myself, but at the end of the day, the school administration decided for me. I wasn't told about my rooming situation until the day of.

[nrgy_blast]

Originally Posted by Carolyn_Grace

No where in the personal story (quoted below) does it say that anyone would have been forced into a rooming situation that was uncomfortable except for the poster, who was forced into an uncomfortable rooming situation by being isolated.

And 'being isolated' is the default situation if no suitable assignments can be made. It's how many (if not most) big corporations travel, by default, and it's how we're forced to assign room if we can't resolve all of the issues, real or perceived.

[Carolyn_Grace]

Originally Posted by nrgy_blast

And 'being isolated' is the default situation if no suitable assignments can be made. It's how many (if not most) big corporations travel, by default, and it's how we're forced to assign room if we can't resolve all of the issues, real or perceived.

You are taking a student's very real and personal story and making it about other people, about the status quo.

I understand, as a mentor and teacher, that we are held to following the laws of our state and the rules of our administration. But I hope that I never tell a student, "this is how the real world is, so suck it up, kid." Because that's how you sound with your justification.

I want students reading this to know that I'm listening. I'm sorry if you've ever felt isolated. I can't personally change the law, no matter how hard I try, my one vote only goes so far in the southern Midwest, but I will always try to hear you, to listen to you, and to do what I can to make you feel welcome and supported.

I will read this blog, read your stories, learn from you, and be a better mentor because of you. You give me hope. Your diversity brings me joy.

[Mr_Moko]

Originally Posted by cadandcookies

A friend of mine (who is trans) did not feel comfortable posting in this thread, but asked me to post this for them:

Seeing this makes me quite sad and I agree with Liam about this being one of reasons why this blog was started.
FIRST is supposed to be a place for everyone to feel accepted as well as a place to get students into the field of STEM

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I find it interesting to see everyone's views on this, even if it's not something that I exactly agree with
Just remember to try and keep things civil and do your best to respect people's opinions.

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Just a note: We'll be going through staff applications over the next few days, so if anyone wants to apply you should do so now!
App HERE

[Madison]

Originally Posted by nrgy_blast

And 'being isolated' is the default situation if no suitable assignments can be made. It's how many (if not most) big corporations travel, by default, and it's how we're forced to assign room if we can't resolve all of the issues, real or perceived.

Four men are meant to share a hotel room. One of them is black. Another is an unrepentant racist.

Who do you move?

[bduddy]

Originally Posted by Madison

Four men are meant to share a hotel room. One of them is black. Another is an unrepentant racist.

Who do you move?

I move the racist out of whatever organization I'm an administrator for.

[MooreteP]

Originally Posted by Madison

Four men are meant to share a hotel room. One of them is black. Another is an unrepentant racist.

Who do you move?

Madison, I think this is a more relevant situation:
My Post from the Making STEM a better place for women thread:

Originally Posted by MooreteP

How do you handle room assignments on a field trip to a travel competition when students are openly LBGTQ?
We usually packed 4 students to a room.
When their sexual orientation would be taken into account, the math became more expensive.

The students were cool about it, but us mentors were befuddled.

I am assuming that being an "unrepentant racist" is a lifestyle choice.
You have a binary solution here: Get two rooms. Two team members in each.
But when you have a panoply of situations as has been elucidated here, you may need to get separate rooms for every member of the team.

Fortunately, the students of the 2010's are far more understanding of identities and boundaries than my generation.

Just make sure that us mentors discuss the room assignments, individually, with each student beforehand.
This may maintain a status quo, keep lodging costs down, and hopefully lead to a relatively cohesive team dynamic. (Not the inevitable Robot Romances)

I never thought I would see this discussed on CD, but I think I am glad it has happened.

Thank you Mr_Moko

[Mr_Moko]

Originally Posted by MooreteP

Thank you Mr_Moko

Personally I don't believe that I should receive any thanking for the project. For me it's simply a matter of giving back to a community that I love and has given a lot to me.

I appreciate being thanked, though in my opinion the support that we'll be working on giving people is what I see as thanks enough. Helping one person feel more welcomed will make me beyond elated.

I hope that makes sense and didn't sound too rambly

[Van.Augur]

As a believer that an individual of the LGB+ community deserves all the rights of any other individual, I don't see an issue with the blog. I hope it's expected that all FIRST teams are accepting of people of any orientation/gender/identity/etc. On my team, things of that nature have never really been an issue for anybody. On our team, everybody generally judges our members by their character and how they positively contribute to the team. So long as you contribute positively to the team and are a decent person (and keep your grades up), we love you! It doesn't really matter to the team whether you're gay, straight, bisexual, transgender, etc. I think judgement on any other basis would be inappropriate, ungracious, and unprofessional.

While I don't think that the LGB issue is any more or less important to FIRST than it would be to any other organization, that doesn't mean it's not worth talking about as needed. I couldn't see a issue with starting a blog about it. That being said, the issue is inherently socio-political (it is, by definition, a political issue). Some people would rather not get tangled up in such politics, so I can also understand people's desires to not delve any deeper than absolutely necessary.

I hope that the accepting atmosphere that I have experienced through the dozens of teams I have encountered during my time in FIRST continues to give any and all dedicated students an opportunity to find fulfillment.

[Jaci]

I'm glad this project is starting up, and hopefully it becomes a useful resource to both students and mentors alike. As a trans person, I feel this is very important to help teams become more accepting, understanding and progressive. I put my full support behind this effort (and many others such as FIRST Ladies), and hope to see it become a resource utilised by many teams, students and volunteers.