Derek Demeri, a 2011 Hawthorne High School alumnus who has dedicated his life’s work to helping gain understanding and acceptance for the LGBTQ community, recently brought his efforts to Ghana, West Africa.
In 2014, Demeri, a Global Politics major at Rutgers University, studied abroad at the University of Ghana in Accra, Ghana. Demeri has had a regional focus on Africa throughout his undergraduate studies and was thrilled to experience the country’s society and culture and to see first hand the issues of neocolonialism and the relationship between western communities in African cities and Africans themselves. While he was there, Demeri also coordinated with Ghanaian film makers and community activists to produce a short documentary on the lives of the local LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, queer/questioning) community in that area.
Demeri’s work in Africa has its roots in Hawthorne High School. During his sophomore year, Demeri started organizing students to support LGBTQ rights. At first, his campaign focused on raising awareness about Proposition 8, the ballot measure in California that banned same-sex marriage (until it was overturned by the California Supreme Court), and then getting students and faculty to participate in the National Day of Silence. With the success of these projects, Demeri decided to work with other students and start a Gay-Straight Alliance. “Although we were never formally a club,” he remembers, “we meet weekly as a safe-space for LGBTQ-identified students and allies to come and, for just a short period in our week, be free from the daily homophobia we experienced in our lives.”
Since then, that desire to support others has led Demeri to co- found the New Jersey Red Umbrella Alliance, which her describes as “an organization dedicated to promoting the human rights of sex workers living and/ or working in NJ.” Most recently, Demeri coordinated an event for “International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers” on December 17 and is planning an event for March 3, International Sex Worker Rights Day. A big part of the organization’s efforts goes towards supporting one of the co-founders legal battle for justice against police brutality in Atlantic City. Demeri explained that the organization is currently working on a grant so he can do community organizing of people involved in the sex industry in Atlantic City.
Although he will not graduate college until May 2015, Demeri has already dedicated himself to following his passions. Demeri sees both LGBTQ and sex workers rights as human rights issues, and he seems ready to dedicate himself to advocating for both in the days, months, and years to come. In an article Demeri wrote in May 2014 on sex worker rights for The Bilerico Project, a large LGBTQ group blog on Bilerico.com, Demeri wrote: “I am a sex worker advocate because I am an LGBTQ advocate.”
When Demeri learned that the Gay-Straight Alliance at Hawthorne High School has been having some difficulty re-establishing itself as a strong presence in the school, he noted: “I hope students who read this are inspired to continue their efforts to organize and to educate others on these important issues.”