June 2021, Letter from the President
Happy Summer neighbors!
We’ve got a lot happening this month, including the first Dumpster Day and neighborhood cleanup on the 5th and the virtual Garden Tour on the 27th! More information about these events in the articles below this letter.
I’d like to use this month’s letter to get a bit more personal. June is Pride Month, and, as a member of the LGBTQ community and knowing that a number of neighbors are also part of the community, I wanted to highlight some things. LGBTQ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer. Other letters are sometimes included, but this is the most popular acronym for the community. The LGBTQ community includes people who have different gender identities and sexualities, and sometimes none of either!
One thing that happens often in society is that gender and sexuality are treated as an “adult” topic that we must spare children from hearing or discussing, but in fact, we MUST talk positively about this stuff with our kids. Research has shown that the suicide rates for LGBTQ kids are significantly lowered when they live in homes that talk openly and accept their sexuality or gender identity. Ideas of gender and sexuality are formed at a young age, and when we as a society discuss these concepts from a “traditional” standpoint (think calling a little boy a “ladies man” or obsessing over a baby’s gender while still in the womb) the argument that it’s an adult topic is made of straw. So I urge all of you to take a moment to reflect on your interactions around LGBTQ issues with the young people in your life - especially if they’ve already begun to verbalize their identities.
Coming back to my personal story, I know in my first letter that I introduced myself as non-binary and that some of you may have been confused by that - and my pronouns. Non-binary can be under the transgender category because it concerns gender. Typically, it means that someone does not fall, or falls within the middle, of the binary spectrum of “Man” and “Woman.” To me, I don’t really feel aligned with either binary side, and I never really have. My pronouns are “they/them/theirs” instead of “she/her/hers” or “he/him/his,” and while most think of the they/them pronouns as only plural, they are most definitely singular too. (It is also grammatically correct). Non-binary people typically use they/them pronouns because they feel correct, and the general public is already familiar with them. There are things called “neo-pronouns,” and I encourage you to do some research into them as well. For an example of how to use my pronouns, you might say, “Bri is the BHA president, and one of their duties is to run community meetings.” And if you’re talking directly to me, you can still use “you” - for example, “Bri, will you be stoop sitting this summer?” (The answer is: Yes, as long as the cicadas aren’t too bad!)
I hope this has been interesting information about identity, thanks for reading this far. Happy Pride to all our LGBTQ neighbors, and thanks to everyone for making our neighborhood so friendly!
Be well,
Bri McNamara
(they/them)
