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"These are my last few months of high school and I want to do epic stuff. What are some good ideas of having fun?"

- Question submitted by Anonymous

Dannielle Says:

I’m just going to tell you how to have the perfect senior year. PAY ATTENTION.

Hang out with your friends as much as possible. Exams and shit are important, sure, but I can absolutely guarantee that you will regret not going to Splash Island.

Go to all the stupid events your school puts on for “seniors.” I know, a slide show of ‘fun times’ with sarah mclachlan songs playing in the background sounds terrible, but actually, it’s the only thing I remember about my senior year and it makes me die laughing.

Drive around town with your bffs scream-singing all of your favorite songs. It is the most fun you will ever have in your entire life and 10 years later you will wish that Britney Spears was new to you, so you could experience those drives all over again.

Have sleepovers. Seriously, they’re not just for youngins, have sleepovers with five of your best friends and stay up until 4 in the morning talking about anything and everything.

Don’t sleep in. Don’t stay home. Don’t skip anyone’s birthday. Don’t put anything off. Don’t make excuses. Don’t ignore people. Don’t make fun of each other. Don’t put work first. Don’t miss out on anything. Just do. Do Everything.

Kristin Says:

When given the time and space to become so, the simplest things become epic.

Here are some things you should definitely do:

– Read Perks of Being a Wallflower. Read it again.

– Organize a trip with your friends. Even if it means saving up every penny you can and pitching a tent at a nearby campsite for the weekend because you can now afford six hot dogs and a bottle of lemonade.

– Document something hilarious. You don’t have to spray paint boobs on the side of the school building to make a memory. Instead, cram all six of your closest friends in a bathroom stall for a photo at every single place that you go to for the next four months and then make an album called, “Sisterhood of the Bathroom Crammers.”

– Watch movies. Laugh. Listen to music. Cry. Repeat.

– Take a risk. If you always wanted to tell that guy in your homeroom that you love his shoes, do it before the year is over. If you’ve always wanted to write a paper on the legalization of marijuana but thought it wasn’t a worthy subject, just DO it. If you have pined for months over the girl who sits across from you at lunch, tell her she’s cute. Pick one thing out of your comfort zone and DO IT.

Also, a word to the wise: Write down your thoughts at the end of the day or the end of the week. Be specific. You’ll look back on those words and treasure having them.

SENIORS 2013 RAH RAH RAH. MAKE IT COUNT. WHOOOOO.
{applies face paint and runs a lap around the football field}

11.12.2012
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"Every year I’m like ‘I should join the GSA!’ and every year I’m like ‘but there’s no point cramming it into my already nonstop busy schedule because they NEVER DO ANYTHING.’ What do I do?"

- Question submitted by Anonymous

Dannielle Says:

-______-

Join the GSA and do stuff… THAT WAS EASY.

But seriously you guys. At the very first meeting (usually the most popular) raise your hand and give them some suggestions. No one is gonna be mad at you for having good ideas. Literally sit there let them say all the stupid-boring-not-doin-anything-stuff they’re gonna say and raise your hand and say ‘i had some ideas for things that we could do this year, should i just say them now?’ and they’ll be like ‘uuhhh okay’ and then you give them this list:

1. Ice Cream Social
2. Bring Everyone is Gay here to do a school-wide event
3. Fundraiser
4. Skate party
5. Pizza Party
6. Movie Nights
7. Everyone is Gay webcast marathons
8. School-wide GSA T-Shirt design contest
9. GSA Alum come back and talk about college experiences
10. Everyone High Five at the end of every meeting.

Kristin Says:

Oh snap SHE TOLD YOU.

Here’s a thing, y’all: Shit ain’t ever gonna get done if Y’ALL DON’T DO IT.

I get that you are busy, I know how jam-packed a schedule can get, and you certainly shouldn’t overload yourself to the point of exhaustion. However, if you want to join the GSA, and you are bummed because ‘they’ never do anything, then just like Dannielle said DO. SOMETHING.

See that list up there? Maybe you are too busy for nine out of ten of those items. Pick one. Literally just pick one. Say, “I would like to set a goal for us this year and I have decided that it will be _______________.” Work toward that goal with the others in the GSA, and work together so that you all have different tasks. Make a list. Check it twice. NOW YOU’RE SANTA. BOOM.

Seriously, everyone. Making change doesn’t have to mean you give forty hours a week to running a non-profit organization. It doesn’t have to mean that you spend ten hours a week organizing a community wide protest of Chik-Fil-A. It can literally mean that you help the others in your GSA gather around a list of things, and that you work toward having an ice cream social in June that raises funds for a charity. It can mean that you meet each week and tell each other a story of how you were kind to another student that week and why that kindness is important. It can mean that you decide to put up signs on the school bulletin boards that encourage people to volunteer.

Decide on it. Commit to it. Do it.

It’s that easy.

08.27.2012
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"my math teacher makes a lot of jokes about gay people and it makes me feel really uncomfortable. i want to approach the situation without drawing attention to myself though, help?"

- Question submitted by Anonymous

Dannielle Says:

If I were you, I’d leave an anonymous letter for your teacher. Either on your desk or go to the front office with the letter and say ‘can you get this to DOCTOR POOPS (your teacher)’ and they’ll stuff it in teacho’s mailbox.

I’m sure you’re not the only one affected by this and I’m sure everyone else feels the exact same way you feel. BUT we’re all so scared to stand up to our teachers for some reason. Which is why I suggest an anonymous letter. ORRR you can talk to a principal SLASH dean SLASH headmaster SLASH administrator SLASH WHATEVERMAHDOODLE about the situation and perhaps you can change your whole school for the better.

It’s just like… it sucks that you have to say something in the first place, you shouldn’t, this teacher should know better BUT… if you don’t say anything and no one else says anything, this teacher will forever think it is okay to talk that way and more and more students will be forever alienated. Which is not fair TO ANYONE.

Kristin Says:

This is when it becomes really important for you to have an ally of some kind who works at your school. If your science teacher from two years ago is someone who you know you can trust, that is who you should speak with first. Think about who has shown you and your classmates the most respect over the years – perhaps the teacher who heads the school’s GSA (if you have one), perhaps the English teacher who included gay history in his coverage of civil rights, perhaps the art teacher who has always been warm and welcoming to all of his students.

If you have someone like that, ask them if you can talk to them after class or after school one day. Explain what is happening in your math class, and that it makes you feel extremely uncomfortable, but that you don’t want for the school-at-large to know that you are the one complaining, so you’d like to remain anonymous. They will be able to help you take the next steps to make sure that this teacher knows that he is offending students.

Here’s the thing you guys. Teachers can be the most incredible, influential, inspiring people. They can also be the most ignorant, damaging, juvenile people. Just because someone is twenty years older than you doesn’t mean that you aren’t smart enough to make a difference, and certainly doesn’t mean that you should have to sit idly by as they hurt others. You most certainly are not the only one being hurt by this.

If you don’t have an ally anywhere in your school, email us and we will see if there’s any way that we can help: info [at] everyoneisgay [dot] com

07.25.2012
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"I lost the love of my life and now I see him walking around holding hands and kissing his new girlfriend all over school. I’m slowly dying inside each time…what do i do?"

- Question submitted by Anonymous

Dannielle Says:

OMG this is literally the worst.

Can I be totally honest and tell you that trying to be strong is almost worthless in this scenario? I remember being in college and seeing the first girl I ever had strong feelings for holding hands with her new girlfriend and it basically made me want to die inside every single time I saw them. I pretended to be strong and we hung out in the same group of friends and I just felt like an idiot constantly. I felt like there was something wrong with me because why was this girl better than me? I felt like everyone was looking at me like I was a fool. I felt like it would never be easy and I felt completely stupid for letting myself get so wrapped up in someone who clearly must’ve had no feelings for me.

It was the worst and it didn’t get better until it got much worse. I spent a what seemed to be forever feeling like a moron and tried everything in my power to be okay with it. It wasn’t until LITERALLY A YEAR LATER that I finally felt okay, and it was 100% because I started dating someone who finally made me feel awesome. I didn’t even care that my ex was still with this girl because I had totally moved on. I pushed through the year of extreme heartache and physical pain NOT BECAUSE I FELT STRONG, but simply because I knew I had to…it was hard, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do…but I did it, and I know you can too.

Life has this funny way of being the absolute worst. No one ever said life was supposed to be easy, HOWEVER, it does get awesome, wonderful and incredibly fulfilling once you’ve made it through something you never thought you’d be able to overcome. Push through because that’s all you can do, and when you feel like hiding from your ex, hide. When you feeling like ducking into a bathroom and crying, duck into a bathroom and cry. When you feel like not going to a friend event because you KNOW they will be there, don’t go. Feel all of your feelings and deal with them, if you try to push them away it will just hurt for much much longer.

Kristin Says:

The kind of hurt that you are going through is the kind of hurt that reminds us that we are human beings. It’s the kind of hurt where, no matter what logic you work out in your head, your heart says, “HAHAHAHAHA YOUR BRAIN IS A DICK, TAKE THIS!” and then slams us in the gut with a 2 x 4. It’s the kind of hurt that music was made to accompany.

At the very least, know that so, so many of us understand that hurt and that, despite all of your feelings to the contrary, will subside with time.
Dannielle is correct, you have to feel the hurt. Many of us process that kind of pain differently – some go out and have a meaningless bone-town party to drown their sorrows, some hole up in their room and tear up all of their memories bit by bit, some triple their workload in an effort not to think or feel the hurt. The most important thing you can do for yourself is to allow yourself, regardless of your method of coping, to feel those feelings and to understand that feeling them doesn’t make you weak, stupid or less-than.

Try to write some words about how much you hate both of them, how you feel when you see them, all the ways in which he meant everything to you and all the ways in which you wish that you never knew him. Next, figure out what ways you like to express yourself. Do you love to play sports? Listen to music? Create art? Whatever the thing is for you, take that pain and apply it there —- if nothing else, when we are all crumpled in agony we have the ability to channel it into some pretty serious shit.

Apart from those things, you need time. Take it day by day. Forgive yourself for hurting, take a deep breath, step forward, run away, and do it all over again until the day when you forget about the running away part and you realize you’ve moved on.

04.20.2012
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"im still in the closet and i was wondering how to not go bright red with embarrassment every time im in the girls changing rooms at school, it’s like, everyone eles is talking and geting changed and i’m just stood in the corner going bright red and looking at the ground with my friends asking why i’m so embarrassed."

- Question submitted by Anonymous

Dannielle Says:

Liiiiiiiiiiisten. I know you’re in a room full of girls taking their clothes off, but just remember that a most girls with their clothes off are just as lame as they are with their clothes on. YOUKNOWWHATIMEAN?! It’s not like you have a crush on them all, and even if you do have a crush on one or two of ‘em, it’s not like they’re taking their shirt off and dancin on you.

Here’s what I think you should do, when getting dressed with 65 other people remember these key items:
1. Everyone is gay*
2. Everyone is an idiot
3. Everyone forgets to wear cute underwear ALL THE TIME.

Now that you know your key items, I will walk you through a changing session (that sounds so weird). You go into the locker rooms and girls are talking about PrettyLittleLiars and chewing sour patch kids and BOOM REMEMBER THEY’RE ALL SUPER GAY SO THEY FEEL WEIRD TOO…You continue to walk to your locker stall and you over hear two girls arguing because one of them got nail polish on the other’s coat pocket and BOOM REMEMBER THEY ARE ALL IDIOTS…you’re putting on your gym shorts and you look down and realize you’re wearing granny-panties that say ‘Friday’ (p.s. today is wednesday) and you look to your friend who is wearing undies that sag right at the butt part and say ‘sugar mama’ and BOOM REMEMBER THAT EVERYONE FORGETS TO WEAR CUTE UNDERWEAR ALL THE TIME…

We are all a bunch of dummies swimming in a sea of weirdness, you know?

*you guys, i dont think everyone is actually gay, but YOU GET THE POINT.

Kristin Says:

I think Dannielle is on to something with the idea that you should probably try to re-imagine what is happening in the locker room, but I am going to give you an alternate list of three things. Feel free to MIX AND MATCH.

1. Remember that just because you are gay doesn’t mean that you like to ogle every girl in the locker room, and that you talking to a girl in her underroos will not make you seem like you want to totally bone her. Human beings look at the bodies of other human beings in so many different ways – and unless you are smashing your whole eyeballs into other girls boobs in the locker room, no one is going to think anything of it AT ALL. Plus, girls who like boys still look at the bodies of other girls, we are all CURIOUS PEOPLE. If someone says to you (and this won’t happen but just in case) “Why did you just look at my boob, OGLENONYMOUS?” you can just respond, “OMG because did you get that bra at Forever 21??” Tadaaaaaa. Boob-crisis averted.

2. Sing the Flinstones Theme Song in your head over and over again. It is really, really catchy and fun to sing to yourself, so it will keep your brain in a happy place where people drive dinosaurs as cars instead of in a scary place where girls think you are looking at their hoo-has. If you get distracted remember that YOU AREN’T EVEN LOOKING AT THEIR HOOHAS YOU ARE JUST IN GYM CLASS AND CHANGING. (That was how you should mentally shout at yourself).

3. Know that you can say you are ‘embarrassed’ because of your own privacy issues! If you are still going red like a tomato in the hot July sun, and your friends ask you why, just laugh a little and tell them that you were raised in a totally non-naked house and so it is hard for you to be comfortable shedding all of your layers in front of a bunch of other humans. I promise you that you are not wearing a big sign that says “GAYWAD” with a neon arrow pointing to your head… being a little naked-shy is a totally and COMPLETELY understandable thing. Plus, then you can all collectively make fun of the red blotches on your face and laugh together. Being embarrassed doesn’t have to be the worst thing, it can be totally adorable and endearing.

03.13.2012
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