Telling LGBTQ Stories with GLSEN

My name is Sean Nonnenmacher, and I am a fifth-year Ph.D. student in Linguistics at the University of Pittsburgh. I came to Pitt in 2016 after working for several years with a non-profit organization in Phoenix, AZ – the same non-profit I am completing a Humanities Engage project with this summer. While I have always considered a career in academia to be one possible outcome of a Ph.D. in Linguistics, I have also kept my eyes open for ways of using my knowledge and training in contexts “outside the academy.” The Humanities Engage summer immersive fellowship presented an opportunity to do just this and cross over from “Sean, the linguist-in-training” to “Sean, the program coordinator (in-training)” for an organization whose mission aligns closely with my personal values and professional goals.

GLSEN Phoenix is an education non-profit that works to ensure K-12 schools are safe and affirming environments for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) students in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. It is one of more than 40 local chapters of GLSEN (https://www.glsen.org/), a national organization founded by teachers and students in 1990. Among GLSEN’s founders were individuals who established the first Gay-Straight Alliances or GSAs, which have in the decades since evolved in both function and name. Today, the acronym “GSA” more frequently refers to Gender-Sexuality Alliance than Gay-Straight Alliance, and it is common to encounter creative coinages for school-based LGBTQ student organizations like “Club SODA” for Sexual Orientation Diversity Association (a personal favorite of mine as a language nerd). In addition to directly supporting student organizations, GLSEN offers professional development trainings to educators about how to create safe and inclusive school environments, engages in local and national policy work, and conducts its own research into the school experiences of LGBTQ students through a biennial National School Climate Survey. The Phoenix chapter alone supports more than a thousand LGBTQ elementary, middle, and high school students – as well as their teachers! – in approximately 100 schools.

The project I am completing with GLSEN Phoenix this summer is the creation of a StoryBank or database of interviews with individuals connected to the chapter’s work: former student organizers in LGBTQ student clubs, educators that have participated in teacher trainings, and chapter folks such as board members, staff consultants, and volunteers. Hour-long interviews between me and various GLSEN Phoenix storytellers are recorded on Zoom and then transcribed, and they will serve as the basis of a qualitative analysis of the impact of the chapter’s work as well as a set of quotes or soundbites for chapter communications in the future. Open-ended interview questions cover a range of topics about the storyteller’s background, their experience as a student in school, and their involvement with GLSEN Phoenix. The StoryBank is something GLSEN Phoenix has wanted to create for several years, but they have lacked the personnel with time and expertise in interviewing storytellers and transcribing/analyzing interviews.

It has been great to re-engage with GLSEN Phoenix, a non-profit organization that I have known for a long time. So far, the Humanities Engage experience has shown me some of the specific ways my training in linguistics can translate into collaborative work with a non-profit organization. This project has also given me the opportunity to participate in planning meetings with chapter board members, staff consultants, and volunteers as they discuss their vision, goals, and programs for the upcoming year – virtually all of which have been impacted by COVID and widespread calls for racial justice and institutional reform. At the end of the day, GLSEN is committed to improving the lives of LGBTQ students, and being able to help move this work forward is incredibly rewarding.

Sean Nonnenmacher
Linguistics
July 28, 2020
 

For my reflections post-immersive, please see A StoryBank for GLSEN.

Learn about all the Summer 2020 Immersive Fellows and their experiences with their host organizations.