-Question submitted by Anonymous

—

Dannielle Says: 

I always go the FUNNY route. You can’t go wrong with something hilarious. There’s a box of chocolates at rite-aid that literally has the cast of twilight on the front and a plastic necklace attached… it’s ridiculous and hilarious. 

OMG. I JUST HAD THE BEST IDEA. YOU GUYS STROKE OF GENIUS IN THE MIDDLE OF ANSWERING. HERE IS WHAT YOU SHOULD DO. 

The day before V-day give your n00b00 a card that says “Valentine’s day has been postponed to Feb. 15th, please do not eat any candy or do anything romantic until then,” y’all can hang out, but like DON’T DO VALENTINE’S DAY until the day after. On the 15th, when n00b00 comes over, tell her you have a surprise, but it’ll be a low key. She’ll probably be confused bc surprises are soconfusing. 

Take her to walgreens/rite aid/ cvs and say ‘alright, now we spend 30$ on discount candy, all of which we have to eat tonight’ get the GOOD STUFF and the cheap stuff, get so much candy bc everything will be on sale. Also buy a tiny small beanie filled bear for her and then go back to your apt. Watch movies and pig out on candy and have a blast. Get sick to your stomach with cheap chocolate, kiss on the mouth, and present her with the tiny bear as a KEEPSAKE and be so excited that you had the best valentine’s day ever AAAND tell her that Dannielle Owens-Reid planned the whole thing. 

**if she says, “who is Dannielle Owens-Reid” then break up with her on the spot**

Kristin Says:

You should make heart-shaped pancakes and watch Freaky Friday and then make-out and/or cuddle.

Or, you could write her a note that says, “come to my house at 7pm,” and give it to her with a red hershey’s kiss… then leave a trail of red hershey’s kisses leading from your front door to your living room where you have brought out all the blankets and pillows from your bed and you have coloring books and dvds and take out menus setup for a night of awesome.

Or, you could take her on a date to the local arcade and play video games all night and buy her a gift with your ticket winnings from skeeball.

Or, you could buy her a copy of your favorite book and write her a sweet note on the inside cover.

Personally, my vote goes with pancakes n make outs.
AKA PANMAKE-OUTS.

-Question submitted by Anonymous

—

Dannielle Says: 

I HAVE WAITED MY WHOLE LIFE FOR A REASON TO SAY THE FOLLOWING:

ICE. CREAM. SOCIAL. ICECREAMSOCIAL. 

Ok, now that that’s out of the way. I would do stuff that isn’t all about being ‘gay’ and ‘out and proud’ bc I PERSONALLY think the people who need a GSA the most, are the people who are scared shitless to be seen in a GSA meeting. SO MAKE THAT SHIT ALL INCLUSIVE. It’s like, the point of the GSA isn’t to tell each other facts about gay kids or to give coming out stories, you know? That all can be very beneficial, but I stand behind the idea that GSA is a place to feel safe and comfortable.

AND ALSO, I think if you had a meeting where you played “Miss Congeniality” on the giant projector screen and you had another meeting where you played your own version of ‘real world road rules challenge’ (i.e. mash up gross food and eat it, stand on one foot for the longest, partners do ‘miss mary mack’ for the longest) and whoever wins gets to come up with the next meeting activity….THAT KIND OF SHIT IS SO FUN. 

And you guys, I know, growing up and not knowing who you are is THE WORST, but what makes it better is getting together with a huge group of kids who YOU KNOW don’t care who you like and just having a blast. Informative GSA meetings are cool and definitely should exist, but don’t think every meeting has to be like that. Make your number one rule this: 1. Always have a blast together. 

aaaaand then have an ice cream social.

Kristin Says:

I just got really jealous of your GSA meetings.  CAN YOU PLEASE INVITE US TO THE ICE CREAM SOCIAL***?! (What’s hilarious about how excited Dannielle is about that event is that she doesn’t even like ice cream…meaning, I will have her portion as well. Thank you.)

I want to  elaborate on one of the things Dannielle said up there, add two more, and then say a few things for fun:

elaboration: A GSA is absolutely, one million percent a place for y’all to feel safe, comfortable and welcome.  Last night we had a chat with two lovely humans from UVA and they were telling us all about how their Queer Union prides itself on making a space where students can get together and not have to be all, “I AM SO GAY, CHECK ME OUT!”  …That is actually not at all what they said, but what they did say was that they had a lot of members who are not out and who can feel comfortable being a part of their community - regardless of how open they are about who they like to bone.  Get me?  That is important.

other thing one: Involve. Other. Groups.  Here is what I want for all of you GSAs out there.  I want for you to think outside the GSA and find ways to collaborate with other departments in your school.  Sponsor a school-wide event (LIKE A PIZZA PARTY) where ALL students can come and grab a slice during lunch and find out about who you are, what you have planned for the year, and that you are open to ALL of them, again, regardless of who they like to bone.

other thing two: Make at least some of your meetings focused around organizing events for awareness; this doesn’t have to be every week, it can be planning for two events for the whole school year.  Check out GLSEN for really helpful tools in this department.  They are pretty great.

for fun: Ice Skating Outing (nothing makes people feel closer to one another then having abslolutely no ability to remain standing); Coloring Book Party (whoever had the idea that coloring is for little kids is a total moron); Hula-Hooping contest (I will always beat you); ‘My Grandma is Better Than Your Grandma’ Game (this isn’t actually a game, so, just run with the title).

***Do you happen to be at a high school in the Charleston, SC area?!  BECAUSE.  We will be in town in October so like, maybe we can visit for a real ice cream social…if you are, email us at tour [at] everyoneisgay [dot] com!! Boop!

Dannielle Says:

You guys, I eat so much food. SO MUCH. I started this thing with this calorie counting app. I EAT SO MUCH ALL THE TIME. Also, I love poptarts.

AAAAAAAND this weekend my dad is in town. He is the best and last night we went to dinner and I paid and I felt like a grownup. It was cool.

Also, kristin and I had a meeting this week that restored my faith in all of humanity. I think it’s pretty cool that we are doing something that other people believe in. It’s like more than just us, you know? There are a TON of people who are like “I mean, I’m not gay and I don’t read your site for advice but I fucking love what you’re doing and I think it’s necessary and I hope you never stop bc it’s amazing” and THAT SHIT is so cool. People who have no connection to us directly, yet still think we are awesome.

I love that feeling. I feel so good about that and us and this and you guys. Just, like, thanks guys. Thanks for liking what we say and how we say it and making us feel needed.

<3

Kristin Says:

I know you won’t be able to see this when I post it, but I am typing right now and the letters are purple.  This has never happened to me before, so I am now convinced that my computer knows that it is in Los Angeles, and has put its party goggles on accordingly.  #purplepartygoggles

I normally talk about something totally unrelated to what Dannielle addresses in her personal posts, but today I want to say the same damn thing as her, and take a hot second to let you all know how much this work means to us.  So many of you reach out to us to let us know how our words helped you through a decision or a day or just a moment, and it might not feel like you are doing much by sharing your support and your stories, but jesus christ and mary and joseph and hannukah harry and mila kunis, YOU ARE.

We have days, just like anyone else, where we feel like everything is stupid and grey and dumb and nothing matters or makes sense…and when we open an email or a letter from one of you, your words act as the environmentally-friendly fuel that we need to keep going.

So, thank you.

Also, I promise next week I will write about something light and jovial…like that time Alyson scaled the grocery store cereal boxes to get a beer cooler for me (aka last night).  Okay?