This activity is designed for settings where young people have already questioned and made decisions about their gender identity or sexual orientation. The purpose of the activity is to develop visual and emotional literacy.
Look at, Read, Listen to
1. Write a paragraph (or however much you would like to write) about what it was like the first time you talked to someone important in your life about your sexual orientation and/or gender identity. If you haven’t had a conversation, or don’t want to share one then you could write about why.
2. Ask each young person to share this with another in the group. Whilst sharing the stories, ask each person to write down words that represent how they felt:
- Before they had this significant conversation (it could be just before or generally before the conversation took place)
- Directly after they had this conversation
- How they feel now
3. Ask each young person to create a series of three images (a triptych) – one image for each of the three moments that describes their feelings at that time. Metaphor and symbolism are good tools to use here. If there is a person (or people) in the images consider their poses and facial expression. What might different objects symbolise? Think about camera angles (try getting in close, shooting from above, or below), consider how each of the three images relate to each other, and make careful decisions about what you include or leave out of each image.
4. Once everyone has finished, print out or download the final images. Go through all the images together, discussing what the images signify.