The GSA Leadership Summit

The GSA Leadership Summit is an opportunity for students, teachers, counselors, social workers, administrators, and community members to meet, network, and participate in workshops designed to help everyone better understand and advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students in central Pennsylvania and beyond.

Over 240 high school students, college students, and professional staff gathered at Dickinson College on February 25, 2011 for our 4th annual GSA Leadership Summit. Attendees heard a keynote address from theatrical performance activist Peterson Toscano on “Identity, Bullying, and Building a Better School,” and attended three workshops from a diverse selection aimed at building skills for improving school and campus climate for all students, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. See Dickinson College’s review and check out photos on facebook.

Here is a short video containing video clips and pictures from the 4th Annual GSA Leadership Summit.

The Day Of Silence

Tomorrow, Friday April 15th, is the Day Of Silence! On this day, youth all across the country will be taking a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBTQ bullying. This is a great way for LGBTQ teens and allies to join forces to create one big push to end anti-LGBTQ bullying. By taking a vow of silence, supportive youth can have such a powerful message without saying a single word. For more information on the Day of Silence, please visit the Day of Silence website at www.dayofsilence.org.

Taking a vow of silence isn't the only thing youth are doing for the cause. Tomorrow in Lancaster City, the Lancaster Pride Youth Outreach Committee is holding a Silent Rave at Lancaster Square, across from Binns park at 6 pm! Teens from the area will be bringing iPods, MP3 players, etc, along with headphones, and will be dancing to their own music. However, there will be no music playing out loud, giving the appearance that all of these teens are dancing in silence! Anyone is welcome to attend.

Welcome to the Common Roads Blog!

So, What Is Common Roads?

Common Roads brings together lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) and allied youth from central Pennsylvania for education and advocacy. Common Roads educates LGBTQ and allied youth about many LGBTQ-related issues, such as discrimination, harassment, and homophobia that affects many LGBTQ youth. Common Roads also provides programming and acts as an outreach for many LGBTQ youth in the community. Overall, Common Roads can be seen as a wonderful resource for LGBTQ and allied youth from central Pennsylvania.

What Does Common Roads Hope to Accomplish Through This Blog?

This blog gives Common Roads an easy way to reach out to LGBTQ and allied youth in the area, while allowing them to connect with one another, creating a more stable sense of an LGBTQ and allied youth community. This blog will give Common Roads the ability to keep LGBTQ and allied youth up-to-date with LGBTQ-related issues and community events. Additionally, this blog will act as a resource for LGBTQ and allied youth, allowing them to ask questions and get help when needed.