Comments (19)

By Rebecca, January 5, 2011 5:08 pm

That title is pretty sensationalist. It’s intended to be. That said, I want to clarify up front that A) I wasn’t fired from a job that I needed as a primary source of income (though it still sucks to have lost that money) and B) I wasn’t fired from any of organizations I’m super-close with, or have long-term relationships with, and C) yes, this is the transphobia I briefly mentioned back in October.

So what happened?

I teach with the Piven Theatre Workshop, an absolutely fabulous organization founded thirty-plus years ago by the parents of Jeremy Piven (of Entourage fame). I’ve taken classes there since I was about ten years old, and have been teaching with them – first as an assistant and now as a lead teacher – for almost eight years. Piven does most of its teaching at its facility in Evanston, but is sometimes hired by outside organizations to do on-site workshops, usually at schools.

This is where the Neal Math and Science Academy comes in. They had a longstanding contract with the Boys and Girls Club of Lake County, where the BGCLC provided after school services. The BGCLC decided to hire Piven to provide an after school theatre program. Piven, in turn, hired me to teach the actual workshop. So I was hired by Piven, who was hired by BGCLC, who was hired by Neal.

Confused yet?

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Comments (6)

By Rebecca, October 22, 2009 5:43 pm

I just got back from speaking to a class at Loyola in Chicago, and wanted to share some thoughts. (Hello to any of the members of the class who are now stopping by my blog! Y’all were awesome.) (Also, in the interest of full disclosure, saying I “just got back” is a slight exaggeration. I did just get back, but between speaking at the class and getting home I also stopped at H&M and DSW and, between them, spent $110. Consider yourself disclosed.)

The class was on social work in LGBT communities, and was made up of masters students looking to become therapists/social workers/etc. I’ll admit my ignorance here, in that I don’t know the technical difference between all those categories. The class has been talking all semester about what treating the LGBT population means, and the professor said he tries to bring in representatives from those communities – both individuals and therapists working within LGBT communities – to talk about their experiences. I was there because I’d been put in contact with the professor by my therapist, who has worked with him before.

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