By Christopher Loupeda & Krista Chouang
Staff Writers | The Pacific Times
During the 2021 spring term NP3’s Queer Straight Alliance Club tackled topics surrounding the LQBTQ+ community.
The club is led by adviser Stacy Asher. Meetings are meant to be a safe space for students to hold discussion.
“The goal was to discuss pronouns and making sure you are using the correct one,” said Asher of a meeting held earlier in the term.
Examples of different pronouns include they/them, she/her/they/them, he/him/they/them, she/her/he/him, and more.
Asher said ultimately, picking a pronoun relies on how the individual feels. Individuals may create their own pronouns and some don’t have any and rather be addressed by their name.
Sometimes, someone’s pronouns do not dictate what their exact gender is and vice versa, so it is not safe to assume their gender based on their pronouns or to assume someone’s pronouns based on their gender.
To ensure correct pronoun usage and to respect the decisions of others, Asher says, “Just ask.”
Pronoun usage can be different around other people. Before referring to an individual by their correct pronouns around other people, ask them who they have come out to. This is to find out which people are safe to use the individual’s correct pronouns around to avoid outing them.
It was also advised to ask them to elaborate on their pronouns. For example, ask if they only use one set of pronouns or if they change, and if so, when?
The Queer Straight Alliance Club also seeks to spread awareness about broader topics concerning the LGBTQ+ community. Each letter of LGBTQIAA+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, queer, intersex, pansexual, two-spirit (2S), androgynous, and asexual respectively.
“I think a big thing Queer Straight Alliance club wants to do is bring visibility to the queer community,” Asher said.
The club discusses experiences, hardships, and also touches on more light-hearted subjects such as the prominence of LGBTQ+ individuals in anime.
The club is looking to provide advice to families and friends on how to support members of the LGBTQ+ community close to them, including how to respect pronouns and understand what each sexuality means.
“The more people out and open the more comfortable people are,” Asher said.
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