As If It Matters FREE Download Available Now GSAs can download the entire As If It Matters Tool Kit and Movie! Download the MOVIE HERE. Download the Curriculm and Organizing Guide Below!

As If It Matters six stories beneath the surface Nine youth wrote, directed, produced, and edited As If It Matters, a 25 min. video that voices the actual stories we see in our everyday lives. It deals with issues of homophobia, cultural acceptance, body image, relationships, and labels through the stories of six students at one high school over 24 hours. As If It Matters is intended to spark dialogue, increase the visibility of LGBT youth experiences, and inspire people to take action against discrimination and harassment in their communities and schools. We hope this video will create positive change in how LGBT youth and their peers are treated in schools across the U.S. We came together to create this video through Free Zone, an arts for social change program of Gay-Straight Alliance Network and LYRIC (Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center). We collaborated with TILT (Teaching Intermedia Learning Tools) for media literacy and video education. The Free Zone class was made up of 9 youth and 4 facilitators that met throughout the summer of 2001 to discuss oppression and power and encompass our learning into our script writing and other forms of pre-production. We then shot, directed, and edited those thoughts into something that we feel honestly represents us and the stories we have to tell. Credits: Produced by: Caitlin Bailey, Nykki Bickerstaff, Vanessa Duran, Eleanor Gerber-Siff, Alia Gilbrecht, Harjant Gill, Stephen Hart, Sean King, Alexis Murrell Facilitated by: Kara Hearn, Al Hernandez, Robyn Richardson, Jill Shenker As If It Matters was created through a collaboration of Gay-Straight Alliance Network, LYRIC (Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center), and TILT (Teaching Intermedia Literacy Tools). As If It Matters was supported in part by grants from National Endowment for the Arts, Youth Initiatives Program of the Open Society Institute, Walter and Elise Haas Fund, and Zellerbach Family Fund.

As If It Matters ONLINE As If It Matters comes with an organizing manual and curriculum guide. Download it here for free. (We no longer send hard copies of DVDs to GSAs.) Make sure to register your club here! If you have questions about As If It Matters, contact GSA Network at 415-552-4229, freezone@gsanetwork.org Articles and Reviews Click here to read articles and reviews about As If It Matters. Photos The As If It Matters team in action! Evaluation We really want to know how you use As If It Matters and how effective you feel it is for your school and community. Your evaluation enables us to continue to develop better resources for GSAs in California. Please fill out this short survey about your experience with As If It Matters. Curriculum Guide (Contact GSA Network for copies of the curriculum guide and organizing manual or print them from this web site. Feel free to make copies of the curriculum guide for all the teachers who want to use As If It Matters in their classrooms.) The curriculum offers discussion questions and activities for teachers and peer educators to use after viewing the video. It includes information on AB 537, the Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000;helpful definitions; facilitation tips; discussion questions; and activities about media literacy and homophobia. Organizing Guide The organizing manual is to help your GSA make plans to use As If It Matters as a tool to make change at your school. The manual includes discussion questions specifically for GSAs, ideas and strategies for how to use As If It Matters at your school, tips for peer education, an information flyer to share with teachers. It also includes a lot of resources to help build the power of your GSA overall, like information on GLSEN'S Day of Silence and doing a “Hate-Free Zone” campaign, as well as helpful tips for planning events, fundraising, public speaking, building coalitions, recruiting more members, using the media, and conducting a school survey. Film Festivals and Awards As If It Matters is receiving honors and acclaims from film festivals around the country, including: San Francisco International Film Festival. Screened in the 'Youth or Consequences' program and awarded a Certificate of Merit in the Youth Works category of the 2002 Golden Gate Awards. deadCENTER Film Festival, in Edmond, Oaklahoma, June 7-8, 2002. "Keeping It Reel" San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, hosted by Teen Visionaries Program and Youth Leadership Institute, May 24, 2002. San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, June 13-30, 2002. Fresno REEL Pride Film Festival. Screening on Saturday, September 28, 2002 in the youth shorts program.

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