![IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Junior Zalie Mann performs “I Love to Cry at Weddings,” an ensemble piece from the fall musical Sweet Charity, to prospective students during the Fine Arts Showcase on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The showcase is a compilation of performances and demonstrations from each fine arts strand offered at McCallum. This show is put on so that prospective students can see if they are interested in joining an academy or major.
Sweet Charity originally ran the weekends of Sept. 28 and Oct. 8, but made a comeback for the Fine Arts Showcase.
“[Being at the front in the spotlight] is my favorite part of the whole dance, so I was super happy to be on stage performing and smiling at the audience,” Mann said.
Mann performed in both the musical theatre performance and dance excerpt “Ethereal,” a contemporary piece choreographed by the new dance director Terrance Carson, in the showcase. With also being a dance ambassador, Mann got to talk about what MAC dance is, her experience and answer any questions the aspiring arts majors and their parents may have.
Caption by Maya Tackett.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/53321803427_47cd17fe70_o-1-1200x800.jpg)
![SPREADING THE JOY: Sophomore Chim Becker poses with sophomores Cozbi Sims and Lou Davidson while manning a table at the Hispanic Heritage treat day during lunch of Sept 28. Becker is a part of the students of color alliance, who put together the activity to raise money for their club.
“It [the stand] was really fun because McCallum has a lot of latino kids,” Becker said. “And I think it was nice that I could share the stuff that I usually just have at home with people who have never tried it before.”
Becker recognizes the importance of celebrating Hispanic heritage at Mac.
“I think its important to celebrate,” Becker said. “Because our culture is awesome and super cool, and everybody should be able to learn about other cultures of the world.”
Caption by JoJo Barnard.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/53221601352_4127a81c41_o-1200x675.jpg)
Super Straight or Super Transphobic?
May 11, 2021
A new trend has arisen. One that is neither dancing nor pet related. It mocks sexuality and identity.
TikTok user Kyle Royce made a video in early March claiming to be “super straight,” a new sexuality he is proposing (although some claim he found it on the forum 4chan but it went viral there after his video).
This new preference has multiple in-depth definitions. For most it is someone who is attracted to a person of the opposite sex who was born that sex. There are some definitions that state they’d only date people with certain chromosomes.
This movement is typically seen with cisgender males who create videos that say they only date women who have XX chromosomes. But with this logic they’d date a transgender man, who is the opposite gender of who they claim to be attracted to.
Royce claimed he created this sexuality because he kept getting comments of people calling him transphobic for having a preference for cis-women. He claims he was getting hated on for a preference and he wanted people to take it more seriously.
However, a preference is not a sexuality. A preference is liking one thing over another, whereas sexuality is one’s attraction to a gender in a sexual and or romantic way.
If “super straight” is a sexuality and these people are super straight, then this means they believe a transwoman or transman is not a real woman or man. This belief is very transphobic and harms transgender people, invaliding their feelings and worsening mental health.
This is further proven with videos of self-proclaimed super straights regarding trans people as “a transgender,” making them seem non human. By putting a trait before the individual in a sentence, you are highlighting that trait (which can be seen as good or bad) rather than the individual.
If transgender people are told they aren’t the gender they identify as, that can worsen possible withstanding anxiety and depression, which can lead to an increase in suicides. This attitude toward transgender people is physically, mentally, and emotionally harming them. It needs to be stopped before any lives are lost.
In order for them to seem more legitimate, they have even created a flag: half orange and half black, another with the orange and black background with a male and female symbol bonded together in the middle. But the most disturbing one is one that has two “S”s that are based off the nordic sol rune
This rune was also used to symbolize the SS during the Nazi regime. Whether it is linked to the claims that super straight was encouraged by a group of Neo-Nazi on 4chan is unknown, it is still deeply disturbing.
Not only did they create a flag, but they also deemed September “Super Straight September,” which goes against their beliefs that they are part of the LGBTQ+ community. If they are, why not celebrate their “sexuality” during pride month? Or is this a new way for straight people to mock the LGBTQ+ community?
Another thing going against their belief of being part of this community is seeing super straights burning the pride flag in a video saying the supervillain Deathstroke was now super straight’s mascot because he wears black and orange.
Thousands of LGBTQ+ members have voiced their opinion on this, some okay with it but a majority are against it and its use of mocking LGBTQ+ struggles.
Lots of videos downplay and mock the seriousness of coming out. I’ve personally had to do it multiple times and it was anything but fun. When coming out to someone, you risk them harassing you or even kicking you out of your house because of your sexuality or gender.
The ‘oppression’ super straight people claim to experience isn’t oppression. There is no systematic oppression out to kill them or discriminate against them. Will they get bullied by people who are offended by super straight people? Maybe- but that’s not oppression.
Is it okay to have preferences? Of course! That’s how we find and decide relationships with people. Not dating a transgender woman because she doesn’t have or had gender reassignment surgery is different than not dating post-operation transgender women simply because they are trans.
This story was originally published on The Lancer Spirit on May 10, 2021.
