Good Afternoon! The LGBTQ+ of FIRST would like to issue the following update as to the current state and the future of our organization.

It is with no surprise that with the current COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently the cancellation of all FIRST Robotics events that our organization is currently stagnant. With no competition outreach, pin distribution, partner team held events, official meetups, or world championship conferences, it has been quite difficult to increase the scope of our organization. However, this is no excuse for the radio silence and missed opportunities like for example, pride month social media events and blog posts done in previous years, an official acknowledgement of the Black Lives Matter protests across the world, and mental health advice to deal with the current pandemic. It is also with poor timing that this time period normally marks the change of management of our organization’s Administrators, of which all but one have retired.

It would be a failure of our duties to hand off the organization we love in its current state to the next round of Admins, so we would like to take this time to make some long overdue changes to our structure, cement some previously relaxed policies, and be more transparent on certain issues. Most of these are minute formalities of previously in place structures, but there are some changes that we would like to be transparent about.

I. Updated Partner Team Tiers

Our current partner team system is centered around material distribution and hosting outreach events. The following is an excerpt from our old Partner Team Guidelines:

• Gold
  • Highest level of involvement
  • Team commits to hosting at least one LGBTQ+ of FIRST event each season
  • All responsibilities of lower levels
• Silver
  • Intermediate level of involvement
  • Team commits to assisting with at least one LGBTQ+ of FIRST event each season
  • All responsibilities of lower levels
• Bronze
  • Team commits to promoting LGBTQ+ of FIRST at competitions and other events by handing out informational flyers, displaying promotional materials in their pit area, and answering questions about LGBTQ+ of FIRST
  • Team, and all members of said team, commit to acting as supporters for LGBTQ+ of FIRST at all times

The following is what we would like to see become our new Partner Team tier structure:

• Bronze
  • Team commits to promoting LGBTQ+ of FIRST at competitions and other events by handing out pins, displaying promotional materials in their pit area, and answering questions about LGBTQ+ of FIRST
  • Team, and all members of said team, commit to acting as supporters for LGBTQ+ of FIRST at all times
• Silver
  • All responsibilities of lower levels
  • Team commits to either or optionally both of the following:
    • Hosting at least one official LGBTQ+ of FIRST meetup per season at a regional, district, or district championship competition, or at a public community center.
    • Printing out professionally made and approved LGBTQ+ of FIRST brochures, business cards, or other future materials.
• Gold
  • All responsibilities of lower levels
  • Team commits to host at least one original LGBTQ+ of FIRST themed presentation or event (meetups not included) approved by the LGBTQ+ of FIRST Admins per season. Examples include: roundtable discussions, presentations, seminars, community service events, and others.

The most notable changes are the substitution of the silver tier’s “assisting with an event” requirement for the option of either producing materials or hosting a meetup and the specification for gold tier events to original presentations or events. There are a few reasons for these changes:

1. Teams that don't have the ability to host their own event, but also don't have any nearby partner teams to assist host an event may be discouraged from applying for the silver tier.
2. Teams where it even is geographically feasible may find it easier to just apply for gold tier and host their own event.
3. To make the original events more “special” and a proof of going above and beyond the usual meetup event.
4. To provide an incentive for teams with either the means or the financial resources to produce promotional material to apply for silver or gold tiers.
5. To provide an alternative for teams without the resources to produce promotional material to host a local meetup and still qualify for the silver tier.
   
   

We hope that these changes will provide many opportunities for partner teams to help the organization, but we also recognize that existing partner teams may be unhappy with their new responsibilities since they are not what they originally committed to. This is why in our address to partner teams we will provide an opportunity to change tiers and provide feedback on these changes. If you are a Partner Team, be on the lookout for that email.

II. Moderator Role

The LGBTQ+ of FIRST Discord has always been a large part of the organization, but it always has and always will be just one of our many community outreach programs. The Admin team’s responsibilities are the maintenance of the organization and the upkeep of our brand, but the Discord server moderation has always been lumped in with that as well. The organization has always been tied to Discord, so this is understandable, but the Admin role should be about more than just being a Discord mod.

There has also recently been a lot of tension regarding the trustworthiness of Staff and their ability to understand the Discord server population. Because of these reasons, the Admins have created a new Moderator staff role solely devoted to the upkeep of the Discord server. We are thinking a group of 8-10 individuals who are online frequently, are active members of the server, know the community well, and know how to keep things civil.

Moderators will act much like the Admins do in the server, but their jurisdiction ends at server moderation decisions and civil upkeep. Representatives and Ambassadors may also hold the title of Moderator, but Moderators themselves will not have jurisdiction over organization decisions. We’ve noticed server members often fluctuate in frequency of activity (which is not a bad thing!), so the Admins will enforce the activity requirement for Moderators more strictly. Because of this, Moderators may come and go, but because of their status as active members of the community, the idea is that the current Moderators will always be trusted individuals who can resolve server conflicts. Admins will continue to be the main governing body of the LGBTQ+ of FIRST and still have moderating powers.

Because of this new dedicated Mod role, Representatives will no longer be expected to moderate the server, but they should still report misconduct if they see it, just as any other server member should. Ambassadors were never expected to moderate, but the same will go for them; it is up to the Moderators and Admins to make disciplinary response decisions.

If you are interested in applying for the Moderator position, you may do so here.

III. Updated Staff Structure

The role of Administrators will mainly stay the same in that they will still be the main governing body of the LGBTQ+ of FIRST. There will, however, be stricter guidelines on Admin participation and clearer communication with inactive Administrators. Administrators will still be responsible for actively participating in organization projects and contributing to the betterment of the organization.

The role of Representative will also see stricter guidelines on participation, but not change much from its original purpose. An already existing responsibility of Representatives is active engagement in organization projects, however this requirement has not been enforced for some time. We would like to make the Representative role more distinguished from the Ambassador role, so we will be requiring a higher level of participation. These are outlined in the Representative Application as well as the LGBTQ+ of FIRST Handbook.

In addition, Representatives were recently informally asked to help with moderation, but with the addition of the new Moderator role, this is not necessary, and in fact is discouraged. If Representatives would like to see change with regards to server moderation strategies, they are encouraged to apply as Moderator here.

Ambassadors will still be the main representative body of the LGBTQ+ of FIRST at competitions and events. As for Discord moderation, we appreciate the initiative for Ambassadors to moderate. However, because the Moderator and Admin positions are more heavily vetted, we ask that Ambassadors report conflicts in the server to Moderators and Admins directly. They are also encouraged to apply as Moderator, if they would like to contribute this way.

Similarly to our update of the Partner Team Guidelines, we acknowledge that everybody may not agree with these changes and did not sign up for some of these responsibilities, so we will offer similar opportunities to provide feedback and change staff positions, if needed.

IV. Updated Representative Application Cycle

With the increased responsibilities of Representatives and a heavier focus on contributing to organization projects, we would like to provide more of an opportunity for those interested to contribute to the organization to do so. In the past, the Representative application window has coincided with the Admin application window. Starting now, we will be opening up Representative applications year round. If you are interested in applying, you can do so here.

V. Black Lives Matter Protests and Healthy Server Discussion

The following goes for all political discussion in the Discord server, but is most recently applicable to the Black Lives Matter protests and the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, and countless others. It is with recent crackdowns on political discussion in our Discord server that we feel the need to rethink the way we handle moderating political discussion.

Political discussion is notoriously difficult to moderate on Discord servers, especially with our small Admin team, but given that we will be welcoming new Moderators to the staff team, it is only right we allow more political discussion in our server. Our plan is to create a politics channel to provide a safe, quarantined environment for people to express their opinions while maintaining the healthy atmosphere of the rest of the server. The politics channel is only open Fridays from 8PM - 1AM and Sundays 12PM - 4PM and has a 60 second slowmode. Admins and Moderators will be responsible for moderating these discussions

The African American community and other minority communities have been silenced in America through systemic racism and oppression and with the mission our organization has and the mission of FIRST, it is not right to suppress discussion of these topics. It is our duty to provide a safe space for people of all backgrounds to gather and part of that includes providing the means to acknowledge the prejudices that these communities face. We would like to take this moment to apologize for any suppression of political discussion. Your voices deserve to be heard and we will stand by you in these difficult times.

VI. LGBTQ+ of FIRST Handbook

The goal of the LGBTQ+ of FIRST Handbook is to outline the guidelines, procedures, and timelines for this organization. It is our hope that this structure will increase efficiency and ensure the passing down of knowledge between Admin teams. It also includes a much needed project timeline and proposed deadlines for certain tasks and milestones. All of the changes to the organization in this email are reflected in the Handbook, but there may be some minute additions in the Handbook we forgot to mention here. Please let us know if this is the case and we can address the issue.

LGBTQ+ of FIRST Handbook

It is our hope that with these changes come improved efficiency, better allocation of resources, and better communication, but we understand if you may not agree with some of these changes. Please feel free to email us at contact@lgbtqoffirst.org with any feedback on these updates. We look forward to the next FIRST season and we hope you all stay safe during these unprecedented times.

For young people coming up through the range of FIRST programs, there are stereotypes about the kinds of people who participate in robotics, including assumptions about everything from race and gender to body type and intellect. It’s visible in how team members interact with each other, in the ways that mentors treat their students, and even in how students are treated by non-participants.

In the same way that blatant acts of homophobia can make LGBTQ+ students feel unwelcome, reinforcing stereotypes about skill and talent has the effect of making STEM feel inaccessible for certain demographics.

This organization was created by a group of students who felt that their needs weren’t being met within the FIRST community. In those first days, many of us rallied around the fact that we felt we were being pushed into certain roles specifically because we were LGBTQ+. We were taken less seriously than our straight/cis counterparts because of misconceptions our fellow students and mentors had about us. We were passed over for opportunities or treated differently by those around us.

These issues were specifically relevant for LGBTQ+ men and trans individuals. It’s important to note that these experiences are similar to the experiences of women in STEM, regardless of sexual orientation. It boils down to the perception of the role masculinity plays in the STEM community. Despite continuing efforts to make STEM more accessible, it is still a predominantly male field. Many stereotypes about LGBTQ+ men and trans individuals target their failure to achieve society’s expectations of masculinity. This failure is translated into internalized biases about their skills and talents.

In action, it’s the assumption that an LGBTQ+ person can’t perform certain tasks as well as a straight/cisgender person, so they should be delegated to different things. Often, they’re moved away from things like mechanical and fabrication, the traditionally “masculine” roles on a team, because of the belief that they won’t be interested or won’t do as well.

Limitations are placed on what students can accomplish by assuming what they’ll be interested in or skilled at based on sexuality or gender identity. By categorizing or treating students differently based on these factors, access to opportunities is cut off.

When I joined a FIRST team, I was almost immediately funneled into the business aspects of the team. My desire to learn how to design and fabricate was slowly stifled, because I was assigned busy work while my straight male teammates learned important skills. Alternatively, I was given every opportunity to take initiative within awards and documentation, a section of the team my mentors thought I’d do better in. Eventually, I gave up trying to be actively involved in the mechanical elements, because I felt like I was ramming my head against a wall. Instead, I poured my time and energy into the things that my teammates and mentors let me do without any opposition.

This type of environment deters LGBTQ+ students from being involved in FIRST and pursuing careers in STEM. When spaces feel constrictive or discriminatory, people don’t want to stay. When these students are treated differently or pushed into certain aspects of their teams, the message sent is that they don’t belong.

By reinforcing stereotypes, spaces become increasingly homogenized, stifling diversity and making those who are different feel unwelcome. Students who would have excelled are driven away, because those around them are saying it’s just not for them. In the process, this removes opportunities for great innovation, weakening teams, FIRST programs, and the future of the STEM industry as a whole.

As mentors, teachers, and coaches, the worst thing you can do is assume the strengths of your students based on arbitrary factors. When dealing with a lot of students, it can be difficult to get to know everyone individually and help them discover their strengths and talents, and this type of categorizing may even be completely unintentional. However, activities that gauge interest and allow students to try different things give opportunities for growth and development of new skills. Instead of thinking you know what’s best for them based on stereotypes about LGBTQ+ people, consider the internalized biases that influence those misconceptions and challenge them. This creates a better team environment and sets your students up for success.

Coming out for anyone is hard. Whether you’re coming out about being Gay, Bi, Trans, or anything else on the spectrum of queerness, there is always a little bit of nervousness that you feel. The thought of “Will they accept me?” or “Do I really need to tell them this?” or something else might pass through your head. And people get different results. Some people are accepted with open arms, and the feeling of relief washes over them as the friend/family member or whoever they came out to accepts them for who they are. However, a lot of people experience something that isn’t quite approval but isn’t quite rejection either, and others aren’t so lucky, where they experience rejection, being shunned, and are even sometimes kicked out for being who they are. And there are those that because they are fearful of being shunned, rejected, or kicked out must stay hidden, or they choose to not come out because they already know what will happen if they do.

I had an eye-opening experience my Junior year when I went to Worlds. It was my first year as a Representative for LGBTQ+ of FIRST, and I was excited for many reasons, one of the reasons being that I got to hand out the pride pins and ribbons and hopefully meet new people. I remember walking with one of my friends when there was a person who stopped me and asked where I got the pin and the ribbon I was wearing. I explained to them that I was a Representative of LGBTQ+ of FIRST, that I was handing them out, and that they could have one if they wanted it. They told me that while they did want one, they would have to decline my offer, because their team would make fun of them, that they weren’t out to their team, and it wouldn’t be a good idea for them to have that. But I still gave them a pride pin and a “They/Them” ribbon, saying that they could have it in secret and that their team didn’t have to know about it.

That experience changed me, because although I knew some of the hardships that LGBTQ+ people went through, all the hatred and stereotyping and other awful things they had to either endure or be afraid of, I was lucky enough to live in a community where I didn’t experience a lot of those things. And while I and a lot of others were lucky, there are others, like that person I met, who don’t have the luxury of being able to be open about who they are. There are people who live in communities that aren’t as open-minded, and they have to deal with things that people in more open-minded communities don’t have to deal with. And to everyone who has to deal with that, who has to stay in the closet or deal with rude, stereotyping, or even hateful comments, there will always be someone out there who likes you and accepts you for who you are. In some cases those people might be a friend or a family member, but in other cases they might be someone who lives far away from you or someone that you haven’t met yet. However dire your situation might seem, however small you may feel, and however many people don’t accept your queer identity, there will always be people out there that will welcome you for who you are and will love you because of that queer identity. So for anyone who has to deal with the stereotyping and the hateful comments, just remember, that for the number of people that dislike you, there are the same if not more people out there that will like you, despite or even because of your queerness.

I have always been different; I just didn’t know why until about two years ago. I started to discover myself through robotics and the friends I had at the time. Once I found out that I was a lesbian, I felt a sense of clarity. With this clarity, however, came the question that comes to every person who is LGBTQ+: “Should I come out?” This question comes with a lot of sub-questions. “Who all should I come out to?” “When should I come out?” “How should I come out?” There are an infinite number of answers to these questions, but your answers will have an impact on yourself and the people around you.

The first people I came out to were some of my closest friends. They had already come out themselves, so I knew that they would be accepting. Their positive reaction gave me the confidence to continue coming out to those closest to me. I even found that some of my friends already suspected that I was gay.

By this point, I had gained the confidence to come out to the most important people in my life: my parents. The overall positive reactions I had gotten from people thus far had helped me to gain courage in order to make this huge jump. Since my friends had already suspected I was a lesbian, I had just assumed my parents suspected it too. I came out to my mom after a robotics meeting. Looking back, it probably wasn’t the best time to do so, because she was already in bed and super tired. Long story short, she was very confused. Judging by her reaction, she had no idea whatsoever, and I had caught her completely off guard. Other than this, however, nothing negative had really come out of the situation, so I counted it as a success.

I had plans to come out to my dad the next day. He had been working late the day I came out to my mom, so I figured I’d tell him after school. When I got home, my mother immediately pulled me aside to talk about my sexuality, which is understandable. After only a few minutes, I realized that she had told my dad without my permission. While it wasn’t really a big deal in my situation, this action could have dire consequences for other people. I quickly realized that my mom didn’t know that she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. I told her this, but it didn’t seem to stick with her because she continued to out me to people, some of which were not accepting at all.

The important takeaway from this situation is to make sure that you clarify to people you come out to that they shouldn’t out you to other people. Unless you give them explicit permission, no one should out you. If you find that someone has been outing you, make sure that they understand why what they’re doing is wrong. Explain to them that coming out to someone can be such a fragile process. It is a very personal journey, and if they truly want to accept you then they should respect that fact. Luckily, my mom stopped outing me to people after I explained this to her in more depth.

When coming out to people, it is important to explain everything, even if you think it is basic knowledge. Taking your time to fully explain things can help to prevent situations like mine. Even if you do this, however, not everyone will be accepting. The important thing is to remember this, and be prepared for it. Personally, there have been people in my life who were not accepting, and I’ve had to drift apart from them. Even though this made me sad, I am overall better off. Surrounding yourself with negative people can lower your self confidence and make you feel bad for being who you are. If you surround yourself with accepting people though, you will have a more positive mindset and healthier relationships that will lead you to accepting yourself.

Today we would like to invite our friends at the Rainbow STEM Alliance for a guest blog post!

Here’s what RSA has to say:

Thank you to the LGBTQ+ of FIRST student group for allowing us to have a guest blog post this week! First off, a bit about The Rainbow STEM Alliance. The mission of The Rainbow STEM Alliance, Inc. shall be to promote acceptance and inclusion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, etc. youth within the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics educational fields. The Rainbow STEM Alliance (RSA) was founded by Jon Kentfield, Brian Boehler and Tom Wexler. These three individuals are alumni and volunteers of FIRST , an organization that plans and hosts robotics competitions for young people. They saw through the students involved that there is a need to help and support LGBTQ+ youth competing on teams. RSA’s initial focus will be to support LGBTQ+ youth in the FIRST Progression of Programs, with goals to expand to other STEM Education programs in the near future. The RSA is running a Go Fund Me as a means to get funding for LGBTQ+ of FIRST lapel pins (something co-founder Jon Kentfield has previously done in the past), as well as pronoun ribbons, etc. We look to have funding complete by January 5th, 2019.

If you would like to support this project, please visit our Go Fund Me at:

https://www.gofundme.com/support-the-rainbow-stem-alliance

We are also set up on AmazonSmile!  You can donate to us just by buying things on Amazon, but starting at the smile.amazon.com address! To sign up, go to smile.amazon.com and choose The Rainbow Stem Alliance Inc. as your favorite charity. The best part is, you can start an order in your amazon app, and finish it on smile.amazon.com

A bit more about the founders:

Jon Kentfield, President of The Rainbow STEM Alliance, has been a participant in FIRST since 2000 as a student on a FIRST LEGO League team, and went on to be a part of FIRST Robotics Competition Team 173, as well as mentor their FIRST initiatives through, at the time, the FIRST Vex Challenge, and FIRST LEGO League. He has gone on to volunteer for the different FIRST programs in some capacity since 2003, and currently works for a Crown Supplier to the FIRST Robotics Competition. He has seen first hand what it means to students to have this resource, and continues to promote LGBTQ+ of FIRST at every event possible, usually by wearing a lapel pin, and attending the LGBTQ+ of FIRST meet ups whenever possible.

Tom Wexler serves as the Treasurer of RSA. He started as a student in 2000 on a FIRST Robotics Competition team, and began volunteering in 2003.  As a volunteer, Tom has served as a former Senior Volunteer Coordinator for FIRST Mid-Atlantic and a current MC in FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge. He has also mentored FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition Teams in the greater Philadelphia area. Tom currently works in the Technology Department for a suburban K-12 public school district. He sees how important representation and equity are for LGBTQ+ students within STEM competitions, and hopes that this new organization can have a meaningful impact on students across the globe.

Brian Boehler is the Secretary of The Rainbow STEM Alliance. He has been a part of FIRST since 1999 when he joined a FIRST LEGO League team. Since then, he has helped to mentor and coach various teams. In 2007, he began judging and volunteering at events and in 2011, became the Robotics Director for an education-based non-profit. Now, he runs events for all 4 levels of FIRST Programs within the Northern Indiana area.

For more information about The Rainbow STEM Alliance, please visit our website and social media:

Twitter:  @STEMRainbow

Instagram: @STEMRainbow

Facebook: facebook.com/STEMRainbow

Web: therainbowstemalliance.org