JACKSON HOLE, WYO – An event this week will involve several male leaders from local organizations continuing a community discussion filled with straight-talk about integrity, love, consent, and courageous conversations.
“It’s hard to say this, but I think men have more safe places to have demeaning conversations about women than we have safe places to talk about our respect for women,” said Jimmy Bartz, pastor at St. John’s Episcopal Church. “Lots of us stay quiet when those conversations start. Seems like it’s time to speak up.”
Carrie Kirkpatrick, the program director for Raising Girls (a program of GAP!), thought of the idea to host this night as a result of so many people approaching her after a typical Raising Girls event asking why there weren’t programs like that for men and boys.
Kirkpatrick hopes men will benefit from having this opportunity to speak freely and openly with each other. This event is meant to be a beginning to an inclusive conversation moving forward. It is by men, for men.
When asked why this conversation is important, Heath Miller of the Jackson Hole Community Counseling Center remarked, “My family did not talk to me about consent, and that’s a problem for any community moving forward. As parents and role models, we need to know we have the support of each other to talk to our children.”
Andy Cavallaro, executive director of Community Safety Network, says dialogue like this is long overdue.
“This is such a public issue and relevant right now. There are potentially political, financial, social, and other repercussions, and people are being held accountable,” Cavallaro said. “ We really are trying to create a place just for men to discuss how we can be more educated, informed, and engaged in the conversation and how and what we can do.”
Thursday, October 25, 6-7pm at Hansen Hall in the St. John’s Episcopal Church. The event is free. Men, male coaches, and fathers only please for this event.
It is a partnership between Community Safety Network, Jackson Hole Community Counseling Center, Teton Youth and Family Services, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Jackson Hole Ski Club, and Raising Girls, a program of GAP!
For more information, email Andy Cavallaro or Jess Yeomans.
