from the June, 2010 issue of Kiai!

LGBTQ College Students and Allies in
Hastings, Nebraska Find their Voice

By: Kate Webster

Our journey to teach a 6-hour Self-Defense and Empowerment workshop to LGBTQ students and allies in Nebraska began with the frustration and dedication of one Hastings College professor: “I was tired of waking up every morning, listening to the gay news and hearing about yet another gay guy getting beaten up,” he said, “and usually these guys are defenseless.”

Over the past three years, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) community in the United States has seen an alarming increase in hate-based violence directed against them.  According to the Human Rights Campaign, anti-LGBTQ violence is now the third most common type of hate-based violent action (preceded only by violence targeting race and religion.) 

(photo)“I am a gay man and didn’t want to just sit around and keep hearing about this,” said the Hastings professor.  He decided to take action, and began searching for a self-defense workshop that would target the unique issues faced by LGBTQ students and their straight allies.

This task proved more difficult than he’d expected, and his search for self-defense programs in Nebraska produced only one result—not what he was looking for. “From the website of this one school I found,” he said, “they seemed to be very martial arts focused and didn’t appear to be gay friendly. I also sensed an extreme male focus and did not want a program where you just learned to kick and scream for an hour. I didn’t want this for myself or my students.”

For this reason, the professor broadened his search, and was surprised to find that Thousand Waves Martial Arts & Self-Defense Center in Chicago was in fact the resource closest to Hastings.  More importantly, however, he felt that Thousand Waves looked to offer the type of focus that he was looking for—verbal de-escalation and defense, violence prevention, and self-empowerment—rather than only fighting skills.  Over the next weeks, the professor worked with Thousand Waves Violence Prevention instructors to develop a 6-hour program focused on the unique vulnerabilities of the LGBTQ population, but that also included ways for straight allies to show support and interrupt homophobic violence, as well as general self-defense and empowerment themes appropriate for all participants.

Everything seemed set…except for the funding necessary to bring the instructors to Nebraska. The professor turned to “the Alliance,” Hastings College’s student-run Gay Straight Alliance. The student leader of the group saw the immediate need for this type of program.  He commented that “whenever you hear about LGBTQ violence, you always hear about the physical aspects and the physical ways a person was hurt—as in the Mathew Sheppard case. However, there is not much here in NE about prevention and what to do in a situation before it gets to the physical part. Also, NE and Hastings are conservative and are not so accepting of LGBTQ making it uncomfortable to be here and be gay. No students on campus are out and if they were out, they could easily get shunned. I thought this workshop would provide a comfortable and safe space to deal with these issues of violence.”  He went on to emphasize that this situation isn’t unique to Hastings—at other college campuses (where he had friends), LGBTQ issues and organizations continue to have very low visibility and support. 

The Hastings student senate exemplified this attitude when they twice denied sufficient funding to “the Alliance” for the workshop.  Yet despite having to go to the student senate three times to obtain all of the funding, eventually the student leader of “the Alliance” was successful, and two instructors from Thousand Waves, Jeff Edwards and Kate Webster, flew out to conduct the 2-day, 6-hour program.

The program provided an overview of our basic Five Fingers of Self-Defense (Think, Yell, Run, Fight, Tell) with a built-in emphasis on LGBTQ issues.  Participants engaged in a discussion about the dynamics of healthy relationships, and conducted role-play scenarios on boundary-setting, de-escalation, and physical defense.  The goal was for each participant to leave the workshop with a “back-pack” of violence prevention tools—tools that they could take away from the workshop to apply in any situation they might encounter throughout their school-year and in their daily lives.

The participant evaluations taken at the program’s end reflected the success of this collaboration:

A 21-year-old lesbian female participant wrote: “This self defense course was not what I expected. It was infinitely better. It examined the entire mindset behind defending one’s self and all the iterations that can have. Awesome.”  (21-year-old lesbian female)

A 21-year-old bisexual male participant wrote that he “appreciated that it [this course] wasn’t just ‘let me punch your face for invading my space’ but taught ways to de-escalate and use violence only when necessary.” (21-year-old bisexual male)

Participants also expressed how empowered they felt after taking the course:

A 21-year-old lesbian female wrote that the course was “great. I think the five fingers really serve to address every aspect. For me, to be told that running can be brave was most beneficial. That it’s important to pick what is worth fighting over and what is best to let go of. And I loved the healthy relationships portion. That was so well done.” (21-year-old lesbian female)

“This course is unlike others in its field in that it both empowers and educates the audience it serves, teaching them to first exhaust methods preventing violent escalation but also enabling them to protect their self if necessary. It also established a degree of confidence in its audience, not to go seeking potentially dangerous situations, but rather to prevent violent ones.” (21-year-old bisexual male)

“This course was a great experience. It really helped me understand what I was really capable of both with my voice and my body. I’m small, and I’m female and I’m a lesbian, but I don’t have to submit and be a victim!” (20-year-old lesbian female)

After the program, the professor who had organized the workshop was energized:

“Finding workshop leaders that will have the sensitivity to respect an LGBTQ group is hard, especially in our Mid-Western rural community. Providing a non-male-centered training worked so much more efficiently for our group,” he said.  “It was life-changing.” 

Perhaps, the workshop will be a milestone for Hastings, on the road to a community more engaged with the issue of violence prevention for all students, and particularly with the unique issues faced by the LGBTQ community.

For more information about our LGBTQ violence prevention program and other programs we offer and how they might assist your organization or group’s needs, please visit our website at: http://www.thousandwaves.org/VPOrganizations.htm#NonProfits

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