{"id":6113,"date":"2022-07-07T15:33:34","date_gmt":"2022-07-07T19:33:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=6113"},"modified":"2022-07-07T15:33:37","modified_gmt":"2022-07-07T19:33:37","slug":"born-this-way-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=6113","title":{"rendered":"Born This Way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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1st Place, Diversity Coverage<\/strong>
2021-22, Division 3, News Writing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Myah Shelton, Sophia Vidergar & Mia Huey<\/strong>
Focus
Midland HS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students who are members of the LGBTQ+ community have faced everything from homophobia to harassment. Despite this, they have been able to find confidence and strength in themselves and their sexuality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hannah Admire (she\/they)<\/strong>

Two sixth grade girls walked down the hallway, hand in hand. Two boys approached them, pushing one girl aside. They shoved the others\u2019 books out of her hands, and began to kick and beat her, as the books scattered across the hallway.

A nearby teacher offered little sympathy: \u201cServes you right.\u201d

When this happened to Hannah Admire, she was growing up in Virginia. Even though Admire was met with hostility from her old classmates, she has had the pleasure of growing up in a very open and sex-positive household. With many of her family members also being a part of the LGBTQ+ community, Admire has always felt a sense of inclusion and confidence.

\u201cMajority of my aunts and uncles are gay,\u201d Admire said. \u201cI have some transgender women in the family and so all of their courage and confidence passed on to me.\u201d

Admire was also met with a variety of emotions from her loved ones she had come out to. Her older brother, who was the first person she came out to, had nothing but love and support for her. The second person was her childhood best friend who she had known since kindergarten. Their friendship remained the same until a rumor started going around saying that Admire was being predatory towards her, which dissolved their friendship. Another person Admire opened up to was her grandmother over this past summer. Instead of hearing love and acceptance, as she had from most of her family, she was faced with homophobic slurs and bias.

\u201cDon\u2019t come out, if you know it\u2019s dangerous,\u201d Admire said. \u201cIt\u2019s okay to stay in the closet just a little bit longer, even though it kind of sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kyle Bacon (he\/him)<\/strong>

Senior Kyle Bacon opened his phone to a Snapchat from a fellow classmate. Instead of seeing \u201cstreaks\u201d or a filtered selfie, the Snapchat contained a death threat. The person also made it a point to tell Bacon they knew his deadname, and had plans to expose it to the entire student body.

As a transgender man, this is just one of the many times Bacon has had to face adversity and hostility. Due to the homophobia and transphobia he faced at his old school, Bacon transferred to Midland High during his sophomore year.

\u201cI\u2019ve been targeted in public because I was trans,” Bacon said. said. \u201cI\u2019ve been harassed in men\u2019s bathrooms before. We go through so much crap all of the time because of it.\u201d

Before coming to Midland High, he also faced many obstacles in his academic environment. Bacon brought his girlfriend at the time to Homecoming before transitioning, unaware that after he would be targeted by his homophobic peers. The day after the dance, he watched as pride flags were ripped down and defaced in a homophobic opposition at his school.

\u201cThat\u2019s something that from a young age you have to be subjected to: hoping you don\u2019t get beat up for holding hands with someone,\u201d Bacon said.

The day Bacon legally changed his deadname, he brought cupcakes to his Meistersingers class, throwing a makeshift party on what was dubbed as \u201cKyle Day.\u201d When his court appointment was over, Bacon took his friends out to celebrate.

With all the paperwork and transferring he would have to go through, Bacon knew he needed to get his name changed before it became a larger problem.

\u201cI was really glad that my parents let me do it because it was something that was really important for me to get done before I got my driver\u2019s license,\u201d Bacon said.

Over the course of his middle school and high school experience, Bacon became more comfortable with his gender identity and sexuality.

\u201cIt\u2019s what makes me unique, and I\u2019m proud of it,\u201d Bacon said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that I didn\u2019t want to hide anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helen Haight (she\/they\/he)<\/strong>

“Dear Jesus, please let me not die in Hell.\u201d

Junior Helen Haight, then a middle schooler, had just successfully \u201cprayed the gay away\u201d at the altar of her church. Or, so she had thought.

Now, Haight can proudly say that she is a lesbian, though her journey to both realizing this and accepting it wasn\u2019t an easy one. Having been raised Catholic, the majority of Haight\u2019s experience coming out was to herself, rather than to those around her.

\u201cIt\u2019s really hard,\u201d Haight said. \u201cComing to terms with something that you\u2019ve been raised your entire life is bad or, or wrong.\u201d

While in middle school, Haight participated in theater and found herself befriending people in LGBTQ+ community for the first time. Because of this, she began educating herself about the LGBTQ+ community, and even debating her own sexuality.

\u201cThere was this one girl in theater, and I was like, \u2018Wow, I have a crush on you.\u2019 So I was like, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m bisexual,\u2019\u201d Haight said. \u201cIt didn\u2019t really process to me at the time because I had kind of forgotten about the church at that moment. I was like, \u2018This is cool, this is new, this is exciting.\u2019\u201d

Not long afterwards, Haight attended her regular youth group, and this particular week\u2019s lesson almost entirely consisted of negative statistics and messages about the LGBTQ+ community. Haight felt that the presentation was encouraging them not to be gay, and further pushed the message that homosexuality is a bad thing. Haight\u2019s devotion to the church led her to decide, after this lesson, that it would be safer for her to continue on as if she was straight.

\u201cThis was my entire life,\u201d Haight said. I volunteered after school at church, I was in special programs, I would memorize Bible verses, I would teach the younger people about Jesus, I would go out on mission trips. I was so heavily rooted in the church, so I would just take everything that they said without any second thought.\u201d

It wasn\u2019t until in quarantine during 2020 that Haight was finally able to accept her sexuality. After first coming out to a close friend and her brother, she began coming out to her other friends, and then her parents, which was more difficult.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a totally new concept to them, but it\u2019s hard to grasp,\u201d Haight said. \u201cAs the time started to change, I\u2019m very lucky in that my parents could put aside a lot of the misconceptions they had because they loved me.\u201d

Because of the huge role religion had played in her life, Haight is no stranger to homophobia, both internalized and from external sources. Over the years, however, Haight believes she\u2019s learned to handle it in a way that doesn\u2019t take away from her happiness, and hopes others can as well.

\u201cThere comes a point where I cannot spend every single waking part of my life being angry about this, and about the unfairness, and the hate,\u201d Haight said. \u201cI can\u2019t do that, that\u2019s not who I want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria Toner (she\/they)<\/strong>

After going back and forth for a few years, junior Maria Toner now identifies as pansexual. Since coming out can be an extremely hard thing to do, Toner is lucky in that they\u2019ve been able to find several inspirations and influences along the way.

Did you have a moment you realized you were not straight?<\/em>
“I was watching Orange is The New Black<\/em> and Stella was introduced; immediately, I was just kind of like oh, ‘I like you.'”

Who is your biggest inspiration in the LGBTQ+ community?<\/em>
Harry Styles. Watching him wave the flags at his concerts makes you feel like you’re worth something.

Do you have advice for anyone in the LGBTQ+ community who is still in the closet?<\/em>
Reach out to someone that you know would support you and that you’re comfortable with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NW-16. Diversity Coverage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This story tells about the lifestyles, challenges and potential of those from a diverse background. It will cover not just the plight of the subjects, but may also look at how subjects deal with their diverse backgrounds and how diverse backgrounds are dealt with by others. The term \u201cdiverse\u201d is not limited to ethnicity and may focus on a wide range of subjects, depending on the author\u2019s story angle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judging Criteria<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
  • Topic relevant to the school or students and reflects lifestyles, challenges and potentials of those from a diverse background<\/li>
  • Sharp, attention-getting lead grabs reader and arouses curiosity<\/li>
  • Shows thorough reporting skills through research and interviewing<\/li>
  • Effective use of facts\/quotes from both primary and secondary sources<\/li>
  • Balanced, fair and sensitive presentation<\/li>
  • Sentences, paragraphs of varied length; written clearly, concisely and vividly<\/li>
  • Proper diction\/grammar; use of third person<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    1st Place, Diversity Coverage2021-22, Division 3, News Writing By Myah Shelton, Sophia Vidergar & Mia HueyFocusMidland HS Students who are members of the LGBTQ+ community have faced everything from homophobia to harassment. Despite this, they have been able to find confidence and strength in themselves and their sexuality. Hannah Admire (she\/they) Two sixth grade girls […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":6114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[64,4],"tags":[182,22],"class_list":["post-6113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-diversitycoverage","category-nw","tag-2021-22","tag-division3","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/diversity-coverage-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/diversity-coverage-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"Morgan Womack","author_link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?author=12"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/diversity-coverage-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1414&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6K0n6-1AB","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}