Blog Meeting Tonight!

If you don't think that making these posters is the best part of my week, then you clearly don't know me. This one is my appeal to the more artsy crowd (Ari), so I'm hoping my pointed advertising works.

Anyway! It's already been a week since there was a trillion people in my room for the last meeting. That was so many people! Things got a little squeezed in here and we had to get a little comfortable with one another. With this in mind, I've decided to have the meeting here again this week because duh, that is how families should be.

Maybe bring blankets and pillows and stuff? I don't know.

Tonight we'll be going over a lot more concrete things - setting up people to write, when they're writing, what they're writing, etc. A timeline for advertisements and such.

Again, no matter what you're involvement's been so far or what you want it to be in the future, you're more than welcome. Come visit!

My Room

Kilgo J210

Tonight, 9PM

Womyn Wednesday!

WOMYN magazine is excited to announce that we will be featuring polls from our community in the magazine! We want to hear what you have to say about LGBT issues, queer women, Duke, and a combination of the three! To this end, we're going to post a weekly poll here on the blog so that we hear everyone's voice in the magazine. The general goal of WOMYN magazine is to increase the visiblity of queer women on this campus, and we can't think of a better way to reach our community and beyond than the BDU blog. A special thank-you to Chris Perry, the editor of the BDU blog, who is letting us post a weekly poll!

Our first WOMYN poll is:

Who is your favorite out, queer, woman-identified celebrity role-model?

Click here to take the first WOMYN poll.

Want to view the results? Check out the UPB newstands when WOMYN is realesed on campus in late October!

Why are there so many options to choose from? The honest truth is that, we (Jack, Jess McD., Summer, Brandy, and Michelle) had difficulty providing just the 11 names (well, its technically 12, unless you want to count Tegan and Sarah as a unit). At one point we had a list of 15-16 women. It was actually a pretty powerful exercise to work on and realize the countless LGBTQ-identified women who have so profoundly impacted our culture. We picked 11 names but there are so many others that we're missing, so we also added a "submit your own" field if you have a different favorite.

And don't forget - submissions are now being accepted for the magazine! Click here to look at some ideas of what to submit. (Remember, submissions are rolling, which means that you have a better chance of getting your piece published if you send it in earlier, and it's less work for us!) Contact WOMYN by emailing us (womynatduke@gmail.com) or by visiting our website.

Womyn magazine now accepting submissions!

What is it like to be a queer woman at Duke? Let's talk about it!

Coming this fall, WOMYN, a brand new undergraduate publication published by and for LGBTQ-identified women and their allies at Duke University will hit the stands.

Why are we so excited about today specifically? Starting TODAY, Womyn magazine is now accepting submissions! We really encourage everyone-straight and LGBTQ- to submit to Womyn in order to include a diverse group of experiences of queer women and their allies!

Why WOMYN? Our goal is to promote a sense of community and validation of queer women at Duke University by reaffirming their experiences as an integral part of student life. We hope to encourage dialogue of queer women’s issues on campus and foster a sense of community and interaction between queer women themselves and to challenge perceptions of the Duke woman.

Who can submit? Any Duke University undergraduate or graduate student, staff or faculty member! All are welcome - (straight-allied or LGBTQ)- to submit!!

What submissions will be accepted? Any piece that has a queer woman’s focus will be considered for the magazine!

Interested? For more information, along with how to submit a piece, check out the website and facebook group. Have a question? Feel free to contact Womyn: womynatduke@gmail.com.

Ready to change campus? Let's make queer women an integral part of Duke!

-Megan Weinand, Jack Grote, Summer Puente, and the Womyn Review Board team.

[Note: Today, July 1st, submissions for Womyn are officially open!! We'd like to get the word out!! The above BDU blog post can be used as a list serv annoucement. We need your help in promoting the magazine! Sending this email out to any listserv that you are a part of helps get our publication information to more individuals! Let's do this!]

Glee Party Tonight On The Blog!

The Glee season finale is tonight at 9, Everybody. This is going to be an epic event because we are so not certain about what is going to happen! Will New Directions almost definitely without a doubt win regionals?! We just don't know! (We know.) Will Quinn give birth at the end of the episode, going into labor at regionals?! MAYBE. (Yes.) Glee is an emotional roller-coaster and is sure to have some surprises up its sleeve! Maybe we'll get the rest of the songs that should have been in the Gaga episode.

Anyhow. Let's all treat the blog like Kilgo commons and meet here for it. That way we can more efficiently discuss the CRAZY things that will be happening.

*Note: To those not on the East Coast, be careful of spoilers, but you are invited, too! Come whenever! Parttyyyyyyy.

* * *

[8:52] Ok. Vivster and Michelle will be here momentarily. So ready for this.

[8:59] Wasting no time with Schuester being annoyingly overdramatic. I. Will. Not. Let. You. Do. This.

[9:03] I'm not already crying.

[9:04] Um yeah we miss her, too. Where HAS Emma been all of these episodes?

[9:05] Matthew Morrison: Best. Actor. Ever.

[9:07] lmfao Look at Professor Hyperbole, over here. What, do they go to Hyperbole High?

--Break 1 of 3470--

[9:08] OMGGGECLIPSE*DIES*

[9:11] "I'm a Winner and You're Fat" hahaha.

[9:13] Finn's... what? Really?

[9:14] This sounds good / Who did Lea's hair today?

[9:19] Oh sweet! That was so good! I guess that's the end of the show and nothing is going to go wrong! Great season.

[9:20] Oh her water just bro-...ZACEFRON. Kudos to the Demographics Dept. at Fox Advertising.

--Break 2--

[9:22] A Full House star on Glee? Probs Stamos but let's all hope it's Dave Coulier to set up a really awkward "You Oughta Know."

[9:25] I am so surprised that she is giving birth on the season finale!

[9:28] So many Bump Its.

[9:29] Vocal Adrenaline is murdering it right now. Ugh, if ND loses and we have to go back to square one next season and do the whole "Sectionals here we come!" thing again...

--Break 3--

[9:36] Oh SNAP. Haven't they seen this whole season? Don't fuck with Sue.

[9:38] ...

[9:39] OMG. Ugh. For real?

--Break 4--

[9:46] Too much right now.

[9:47] But Schuester didn't really do that much, really! He just fake rapped, and was The Worst all season. Unmoved.

--Break 5--

[9:52] Awww Sue.

[9:55] One more year! Sort of! I mean Glee was picked up for a third season, but whatever! I'll pretend to not know that so I am invested and buy into the stakes they sell for next season.

[9:57] Alrighttttt. I'll take that, Glee. It was not the greatest episode of the season, but it was pretty solid! The Kurt's Dad ep trumps it by far, but ok! Here's to looking forward to next season :)

Gaga's Alejandro Video OR The Debut of The Machine Gun Bra

Wow.

That is sort of a lot to process and I cannot wait for Ari to Pop Up Video me through it with factoids and gagasymbolism. "That snow was also used in the Sound of Music" -Ari, probably.

Letter From The Editor: Anonymous Columnists

I think a major strength of our site, and something that differentiates it from its predecessor is complete absence of anonymity of our staff writers. When redesigning the blog in the Fall, we decided that the use of pseudonyms connoted that there was sense of fear among Us, and that couldn't be further from the truth. To reiterate our mission statement, we are not afraid, and we feel safe here. We've gotten so much positive feedback from people that have commended the openness of the writers, and this comment is pretty much Sentence Of The Year for me. The Out Community is blowing up on campus, and I feel as if all of these pictures and full names effectively convey that.

We were not so stupid, though, to think that everyone would be willing to be so visible. Our goal is to effectively and honestly capture what life at Duke and in America is like for LGBTQA students, and this cannot be done without also providing a podium for our closeted peers or those who just could not be as open were they writing under their full name. We set up the anonymous posting system to address this, and it's been hugely successful. 65 entries since November 9 is so many entries!

But! But. I think we may've overlooked a major possibility - that some of our out friends in BDU, more than willing to display their full name and picture, would not be able to out of fear of repercussions at home. A quick Google search of a columnist's name+"Duke" would lead here, and could very well mean a cutting off of tuition funds by parents for some or a revoking of scholarship by ROTC for others. As valued, awesome and all-the-more important as their visibility on the blog would be, it would not be worth being disowned or financially cut off. I know some that would argue otherwise and I understand their point of view, but I'm going to stick by this one.

At the last blog meeting, though, we all agreed that we should find a way to include the voices of those who were still willing to be regular columnists. Our current anonymous posting structure is not conducive to the frequency or length of columns, and I personally don't like the connotation of putting longer entries in a separate post like I did last week. So from now on (starting today) we will have some anonymous columnists.

Here's what I'm worried about. I don't want Readers to assume that anonymous columnists are not sharing their name out of fear of being out on campus. This is no doubt the case for many Duke students, and may even be the case for some anonymous staffers in the future, but I urge y'all to recognize that the choice to not identify one's self is not necessarily a reflection of campus culture (however discouraging campus culture can be). More often, I'm finding, this is a testament to what life's like back home.

Anyhow! While this seems like an obvious solution, it was a decision and precedent we had to discuss quite a bit. Like I said, pseudonyms didn't work too well on the old blog, but I'm confident that we will differ in our huge volume of identified writers that'll be right alongside :)

Okay! Let's do this!

Special BDU Meeting Tonight

8:30 PM, Duke Center for LGBT Life

By now, most people have read this or this and are outraged. In order to channel this energy into constructive, informed discussion, BDU is holding a meeting tonight at 8:30pm in the Center for LGBT Life . Please come, ask questions, and discuss.

Day of Silence at Duke Today

Duke University participates annually in the Day of Silence, a nationwide annual day of action wherein students take a vow of silence in support of the LGBT persons and their allies who have felt silenced by intolerance or injustice. This year, the Day of Silence is on Friday, April 16th.

"Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence (DOS), a national youth movement bringing attention to the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by anti-LGBT bullying, name-calling, and harassment. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward building awareness and making a commitment to address these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today"

One again, Matt Lyons has organized a MASSIVE poster campaign, and has photographed 60 students and faculty, including Summer's shown above. The rest of the posters can be seen here! #35 is a personal favorite :)

Blog Meeting Tomorrow Night!

BDU Blog Meeting, Tomorrow Night

Wed. April 7 at 6PM

Kilgo J216

All are welcome!

I know I originally said that the meeting would be tonight, but I sort of forgot it'd be my birthday? Yeah. But! We're on for tomorrow in my room. Also, it's three hours earlier, People On Central!

hate speech hurts. no homo(phobia).

IT'S HERE! BDU'S ANTI-HATE SPEECH CAMPAIGN IS THIS WEEK, AT LAST!

Our slogan is "hate speech hurts. No Homo(phobia)".

Cause, let's face it. Hate speech sucks and homophobia is stupid.

The point of the campaign is to raise awareness about hate speech. So many people use it without thinking about what they're saying--who they might be offending, the hate they're perpetuating and normalizing, what it really means. BDU is calling those individuals out.

We will be sponsoring various events through out the week.

3/22 MONDAY: If you want to help with the campaign, we're going to be having a work party today, Monday, at 6pm in the BC. Following that, come to bridge painting at 8pm.


3/23 TUESDAY: We're going to be spreading our brilliant posters around campus starting at 10AM. You can meet in the LGBT center to pick up supplies! We also will have representatives tabling on the plaza from 11:00 to 3:00. Tabling on the plaza includes making spray paint t-shirts, serving rainbow cupcakes, and getting people to take a pledge not to use hate-speech and speak up when they hear it in return for a rainbow ribbon!

2/25 THURSDAY: More tabling on the plaza from 11-3! (see above, 3/23 Tuesday for details about tabling).

We need people to sign up to help with tabling! Please visit the doodle poll and sign up. Even if you've never done anything with BDU, come by the table, make friends and lend a hand. In all honesty, tabling for last year's Day of Silence was my first real BDU event--so don't be shy. Tabling is a great way to get to know people and help change the world!!

To sum it all up...BDU's anti-hate speech campaign includes:
1. AMAZING/gorgeous posters w/ snarky, in-your-face messages!
2. Pledge-signing!
3. Banners!
4. RAINBOW CUPCAKES!!!
5. Ribbons!
6. To-die-for t-shirts! (Seriously, you'll want one, they're awesome!)

Questions? Email me, Risa, at rfi@duke.edu.

I effing hate hate speech, but I LOVE BDU!!

Anti-Hate Speech Campaign Photo Shoot!!

Calling all BDUers or LGBT and Ally Identified Students at Duke!!

You may know that a committee of BDU has been working on an anti-hate speech campaign. Well, we've got it mostly figured out. And now we need your help to make it come to fruition!

We've chosen to use black/gray scale and purple (cause purple is just the best color, is there any question about that?). We'll have three different posters (see below). The campaign tag line is: Hate speech hurts. No homo(phobia).

Poster 1) Some posters will be modeled after GLSEN's "Think B4 You Speak" Campaign. We'll be using the definition theme. We've chosed to create posters for "fag" and "dyke." GLSEN's definition posters are pictured below:

Poster 2) Some posters will feature two people with talking bubbles. Person A's talking bubble says "oh dude nice shoes...no homo" and Person B's talking bubble says "yeah, that ignorance really brings out your eyes."

Poster 3) Some posters will feature students like YOU. They will be formatted like GLSEN's (see picture below), but the text will say: "I'm gay. Your homework isn't." or "I'm gay. Your test isn't."

THE PHOTO SHOOT FOR THE ABOVE POSTER IS TODAY. AFTER THE BDU MEETING. AT THE CENTER FOR LGBT LIFE (02 WEST UNION).

PLEASE WEAR A PURPLE SHIRT AND JEANS. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PURPLE SHIRT PLEASE WEAR A BLACK ONE.

THANK YOU,

Brandy, Cody, Matt, Aliza, Risa, and Alyssa

Blog Meeting Tonight!

BDU Blog Meeting, Tonight at 9PM

Kilgo J216

All are welcome!

See You Soon! Directions On How To Use The Blog For The Next Month Or So

Today is officially the first day of winter break for Duke students. You may not be able to see me smiling right now wearing pajamas in bed at 1 PM on a Monday, but make no mistake: I am smiling right now wearing my pajamas in bed at 1PM on a Monday. Last week was finals week on campus, which is a time when engineering students pore over textbooks and notes in order to master the derivation and application of several centuries worth of scientific progress and theory in order to even have an infinitesimal chance at passing their exams while the arts and sciences kids procrastinate their papers on topics like "Philosophy of the Alphabet" ("But how does the letter T feel?") and "My Breakfast This Morning: A Closer Look at My Breakfast This Morning." The bottom line is that this is what was behind our lack of columns and features last week (besides Summer's interview with Ari, because she's a baller like that).

The Blog Staff is now on break until next semester, though by no means does that mean that this blog will be dead until then. I will definitely continue to post anonymous entries every Monday as I get them. If someone sends in a coming out story (using the link on the side bar or by emailing us at bluedevilsunited@gmail.com) I'll also post that the following Wednesday. I would also stay tuned for news updates, and wouldn't count out the random appearance of a column or two.

This is also a great opportunity to go through any of the 124 previous posts that you may have missed or want to read again. Especially those that you forgot to comment on. Remember when you forgot to comment on that post? Me too. Take care of that!

A list of links to all non-news posts for your convenience after the jump...

Columns:

Aliza: "Election Round-ups: What We've Lost and What We've Gained"

Ari: "Movie Review: The Bubble"

John: "Mommy, can you help me tie my shoes? Oh…and by the way, I’m gay"

Jack: "Oh Hell No! Grrl, hold my earrings."

Oli: "Friday Night"

Aliza: "The Effectiveness of Having Principles"

Robert: "PDgAy? Fine with Me"

Patrick: "This Is What Happens When You Switch Your Major From Engineering To Linguistics…"

Nick: "Bro-sex (and other subtleties of being out and Greek)"

Matt: "Oh, him? He's gay."

Aliza: "Don't Forget to Remember"

Chris: "Love, Survive, Organize: The Bull City Vigil for Jorge and Jason"

Ari: "Movie Review #2: Get Real"

Aliza: "Identity Crisis: does the Movement require that we check a box?"

Robert: "Mixed Blood"

Nick: "A Strange Encounter"

Justin: "Party Boy Chad, Psychosexual Revelations, G-Bombs, and Other Thoughts"

Jack: "Sex, Sex, Sex and More Sex"

Oli: "Velociraptors"

Matt: "Rainbows, Buttons, Flags, and Umbrellas"

Features:

Anonymous Posts (11.9.09-11.15.09)

Anonymous Posts (11.16.09-11.22.09)

Anonymous Posts (11.23.09-11.29.09)

Anonymous Posts (11.30.09-12.6.09)

Anonymous Posts (12.7.09-12.13.09)

Every Gay Should Know #1: Maine's Question 1 Ad Campaign

Every Gay Should Know #2: Gay Media Pioneers Bert and Ernie

Coming Out Story #1

Coming Out Story #2

Coming Out Story #3

Interview #1.1: Viviana Santiago

Interview #1.2: Viviana Santiago

Interview #2.1: Ari Bar-Mashiah

Interview #2.2: Ari Bar-Mashiah

Every Duke Gay Should Know #1: 2007 Addition of "Gender Identity" to Duke's Non-Discrimination Policy

Every Duke Gay Should Know #2: The Gothic Queers

So Far, So Very Very Good.

Our blog recently celebrated its one-month birthday. And what a month it's been! Including news blurbs, we've had 124 posts written by 13 different BDU members. Google Analytics tells me that the site has been visited 4,066 times by 1,172 people from 33 different countries. We're only 8 states short of the full 50. Our post on the Durham Vigil for Jorge and Jason was featured on Pam's House Blend, which is read nationally and revered personally.

I don't think any of us foresaw this level of success! At the same time, though, I'm not surprised. The entire staff has come up so big for this blog, and every incredible outcome is largely due (and directly proportional) to the hard work and passion of the people involved. So thank you, Staff, for everything. Y'all rock, and I hope you are witnessing the positivity and progress you are effecting in the comments section, the anonymous posts, and even around campus. Keep up the good work! I'm looking forward to a ton of fun next semester :)

To the Readers. You have carried this blog as well! Your questions and input alike are so important to a Duke (and evidently national) Community that is starving for these conversations. Continue to visit, and spread the word. This project is only going to get bigger. We've got some sweet ideas for next semester...

Happy Holidays,

Chris Perry

Editor

P.S. Today is also the five-day anniversary of the Glee season finale, where this happened:

So I'll be celebrating (read: "performing") that, too, today (in my underwear, most likely) if you'd like to follow suit. Just saying.

On Campus For World AIDS Day

Free screening of RENT

Griffith Theater, 8:00 pm

(Sponsored by Duke's Know Your Status, Freewater Presentations, Blue Devils United, Center for LGBT Life, and DELISH)

Free HIV Testing

Bryan Center, Meeting Room B

10:00am - 6:00pm

Sponsored by Know Your Status. Stop by, get tested, and receive a free t-shirt. It only takes 20 minutes!

Visit the Facebook event page here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey y'all! We're taking a little break for Thanksgiving recess (though Aliza may still post news stories because she is The Best), but we'll see you on Monday!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend!

BDU DRAG SHOW TONIGHT: 7PM IN THE DUKE COFFEEHOUSE!

Come to the BDU Drag Show TONIGHT @ 7PM in the Duke Coffeehouse!!!! We have some amazing queens and kings... so come show your support!!!

[Ed. Note: This is going to be hands down the greatest thing you see all year.]