BREMERTON — The only place that there wasn’t blood, an actor from Central Kitsap High School said on stage, was where Mathew Shepard’s tears had flowed down his face.
A haunting silence engulfed the Olympic College theater March 25 as students presented “The Laramie Project,” a play about the 1998 beating death of Shepard, a gay college student, in Laramie, Wyoming.
The performance was a call for social change — as well as acceptance of individual differences and respect for human rights. It was a powerful part of the 21st annual Kitsap Youth Rally for Human Rights.
The student-run rally was hosted by the QSA (Queer Straight Alliance) at West Sound Academy; the theme was “Listen to Your Art.”
The one-day conference was attended by more than 300 students from junior and senior high schools in Jefferson, Kitsap and Pierce counties, and included discussions and activities focusing on a number of social issues.
“This is a really fun tradition that unites (the) hard work among schools,” said Ben Taylor, West Sound Academy QSA president.
“The youth present in a way that shares ideas from each other’s struggles …”
There were 11 breakout sessions on social topics, including acceptance, empowerment, identity, practicing peace, suicide prevention, and art.
As the play ended, actors discussed the theme with the audience.
“This was a heavy piece for me,” Central Kitsap student actor Wesley Baldwin said.
“I’m A-gender (someone who identifies as neither male or female), gay, bullied a lot at school. People wonder if I’m a drag queen or a trans. I feel this role (in the play) helped me as a person to grow and understand the people around me … We are changing people’s minds and perspectives.”
The young crowd was shocked to learn the details of Shepard’s murder. Equally shocking: it’s still hard, 20 years after Laramie, for a child in Kitsap County to be confident in who they are. Many hide under a mask for fear of judgment. They quietly submit and forfeit who they are inside.
Bella Quiñones, a West Sound Academy student, described in a poem the insecurity of living in a judgmental society. Her piece was titled, “Kids These Days.”
“They talk about us,
say that because we’re young we’ve never seen the world —
like our worlds are somehow less valid than theirs.
We can see the world falling apart at the seams and we are petrified. Kids these days are afraid. Afraid of failure and judgment … they have no faith, no sympathy for our kids these days … without support we will fall to the world — both outside and in.
All that we ask is they be careful with the kids these days, or we can’t guarantee there will be kids the next day.”
In other classrooms, students from the Kingston High School Native Group presented Native American history and culture.
Students learned about government-run boarding schools that were established in the mid-1800s to forcibly assimilate Indian children into the dominant society. Children were given new names and were banned from speaking their Native languages.
Fifteen-year-old Kingston High student Lucy Schaeffer expressed pride in her culture and in her school. Learning recently that her own grandmother was forced to attend a boarding school, she said she felt a deeper appreciation and acceptance in living her Native culture in her community.
“It’s all multicultural,” she said. “We’re not all the same but we should be treated equally.”
Down the hall, student groups were busy collaborating with the presenters from Sedgwick Junior High School’s One World Club, discussing the meaning of words like discrimination, equality, and tolerance. For each word, participants drew their thoughts as they listened to music videos that coincided with the theme of the word.
“Jeremy” by Pearl Jam played in the background. (The song, written by Eddie Vedder is loosely based on Jeremy Wade Delle, who, brought a .357 revolver to his English class in Richardson, Texas, and killed himself in front of his teacher and fellow students in the 1990s.)
A participant, who was female but identifies as male, said the youth rally encouraged him “to be more like himself.”
“I’m out to my mom, even though she doesn’t like it,” he said. “Being here I’m not judged, like over what bathroom I want to use. I’m not being judged.”
A group of students taking the “Listen to Your Art” theme to heart, drew their thoughts not on paper, but on their arms.
“On its most basic level, the event is giving people a voice,” Aiden Moore said. “Taking these raw moments of insight and experience.”
An open mic was available; participants could be heard across the student center.
Two students sang “Riptide,” by Vance Joy. The song most commonly known with an upbeat tempo, took on a more haunting rendition at the rally.
Brianna Miller, a senior serenaded her girlfriend, Lindsey, and asked her to the prom (she said yes). Even Baldwin, the Central Kitsap student-actor with a natural passion for the arts, rocked the stage, dancing gracefully in hot pink heels.
“The people make this [event] for me. It’s about building them up rather then tearing them down,” Baldwin said.
Arlis Stewart, chair of the Kitsap Youth Rally for Human Rights planning committee, said, “Some of these individuals are not often perceived as student leaders. This is an opportunity for them to be together and have their work valued.
“People ask me why I do what I do and I say, once a year, this is the place I want to live in.”
