Does Your Community Influence Your Values ?

He then went on to say that the nice "dinner bell Gus" would be replaced with the old "door bashing Gus" and everyone would be on time tomorrow. My faith in humanity was reaffirmed when Dan announced that his cigarettes that had gone missing had been returned to him, he then went on to say that this conference gave everyone the opportunity to change. We had a wicked panel speak on how community and sexuality are linked; Mona spoke about how coming from a family that has raised her with some really strong and reserved values was really difficult for her. She spoke on how she had been alienated in her community and the struggle she had trying to sway her parent's decision to not let her date. Jackson told us of the struggles of being openly gay in Saskatoon. He said that there were not a lot of supports available to the homosexual community except for the bar scene and even that is sparse. Lea has grown up in Toronto. She has only told her mother, friends, half sister and us that she is gay. There are lots of supports for the gay community in Toronto but she feels that the community has not played a role in her sexuality. Lea claims that she would have been gay no matter where she lived. She wonders if not having a father figure growing up had an effect on her sexuality. Jaime then followed Lea sharing what life was like growing up in catholic community. She shared that in the Catholic religion, people believe if you were in a homosexual relationship you would go to hell. She told us about her sister who was the "rebel in the family and how she had been motivated to not be like her. Jaime chooses not to have sex before she gets married, but she says that the community did not play a part in that decision. Finally Jonathan presented on what it is to be a "player" and how guys are stereotyped and expected to treat women that way. He said that the media plays a part in encouraging guys to be unfaithful to their partners. The five panelists all did an excellent job explaining the effect that community had on their sexuality and the decisions that they make.

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