The 4th Annual Gender Bender Dance [Movie Transcript]

Do you plan to attend the Gender Bender Dance?

Bryan: Of course!

Alex: Yeah... I guess I could go.

Becky: Yeah, definitely. We always go. It's a lot of fun.
Gwen: Every year.
Kat: Yep.

Jimmy: I'm definitely going to the Gender Bender Dance.

Lyndsey: I do.

Megan: I do plan to, it sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun.

Are you going to dress as the opposite gender?

Renny: Me and my girlfriend are going to switch clothes.

Megan: I plan to, I ordered these really awesome rainbow pants that have rainbow stars on them.

Lyndsey: No, unfortunately not. It's right after work and I get off at 9:30 so I'm just gonna head over after work.

DeLue: Yeah, I think I'll dress up.

Alex: I will not be dressing up.
James: ...Any reason why?
Alex: Because I like pants! (laughter)

Bryan: I really want to, I hope I have time to get some stuff together. It should be fun.

Gwen: Yes, of course!
Kat: Yeah, why wouldn't we? 'Cause half the fun is dressing up.
Becky: And we try to one-up ourselves every year.
Gwen: Makes me worry about senior year.
Kat: I know, we really can't top what we have planned for this year.
Gwen: No. (laughter)

Travis: I kind of get freaked out by drag queens.

Jimmy: Um, sort of. I've got a lot of stuff this week, so I'm just gonna wear this little sign here that says, "THESE BE GIRL CLOTHES," with this little Commie Pirate Drag Queen on it.


(Playing ♫ We Are Rockstars ♫ by Does That Offend You, Yeah?)

LIVE AND LET LIVE: Gender Should Not Be Confined To Two Boxes (Bryan)

I don’t think anything should be considered inherently masculine or feminine. Masculine and feminine are social constructs, and they vary from culture to culture. It’s ridiculous and supremely arrogant to assume that definite spheres exist simply because it’s easier to categorize than to allow things to remain in the grey, where they should be.

Do I think there is any merit to the ideas of "man's work" versus "woman's work”?
Absolutely not. These constructs are meant to divide the genders; we have far more in common than we have in difference.

I think our society dictates that it’s OK for men to be more violent, that it’s more acceptable than seeing a violent woman. And likewise, it's socially acceptable and expected for women to be the more nurturing, emotional, loving one in a relationship. But it’s all bull. Remove these socio-cultural constructs and let people be who are they are inclined to be without fear of alienation, and we would see a lot more gender variance in issues like these.

How does it make me feel to see people transcending these boundaries of so-called gender-determined behaviors?” It’s awesome! We need to be ourselves. Gender doesn’t need to be nor SHOULD it be confined to two boxes, which most people don’t neatly fit into but feel forced to in order to fit in and maintain face and image.

I’ve always hated sports. Playing them, watching them... it’s all so boring. It’s a bunch of imbeciles running around playing out mini wars and taking out their aggression through a series of silly rules. You won’t see me “protecting my masculinity” by calling anyone out and exchanging insults and blows. I like to look nice. Instead of going out to play sports with the other boys in elementary school I hung out with the girls and played jump rope and hop-scotch. I didn’t really have good straight male friends until my senior year of high school, and I’m still far more comfortable discussing how I feel with women rather than with other guys.

HELL FROZEN OVER: Frostburg, Maryland (Bryan)

Frostburg, Maryland is about two hours away from Gettysburg. It's a town a tad smaller than Gettysburg, without a liberal arts college to balance things out in very, very western Maryland. I’ve been there all my life.

“How large was/is the population of openly gay citizens?” If they’re here, I don’t know where they’ve been hiding all my life.

“How accepting were people at my high school?” NOT accepting. Completely homophobic. Frankly, my family and I were concerned that I would be beaten up and alienated if I had come out during high school. Outside of the school, the area’s pretty conservative and homophobic. Given there isn’t even a sizable out population here of “townies,” I would say my town isn’t accepting at all.

I’m not proud of my hometown in the least. In fact, I’m supremely disappointed and truly, truly wish I could have grown up somewhere else.

“Did I come to Gettysburg to "escape" my hometown?” YES, yes, and YES! What kept me going for the past 3 years was the thought of going to college and finally being able to be open and with other GLBT people my age. I know people say that there are very few GLBT students, but compared to knowing NO GLBT students in my high school, Gettysburg is a small paradise.

I didn’t feel safe or comfortable being openly gay in school, and that’s why I didn’t come out there.

Frankly, I hate this town. Minus a few dozen friends and family members, I would be happy to never set foot here again. I tend to get sad and irritated if I’m here too long. I will never live here again. I just can’t… It’s been really hard staying here even over this break [3-week Winter Break]. A huge part of me just wanted to stay on campus and hang out with my international friends. I would have been fine seeing family members and friends for a few days and then leaving. Sadly circumstances prevented me from doing just that.

I’m completely open at Gettysburg. And it’s fucking awesome. I feel totally comfortable in being who I am. For the first time in my life, all my friends know and we can joke about it and everything. It feels pretty amazing, honestly.