Welcome new members!

Welcome to the Diversity Network blog, a source of information and resources for the Fleming community on issues of diversity, accessibility, equity and inclusion at Fleming College. Network members listed in the lefthand column are champions of diversity in their school or department and share information with their teams. To receive regular blog updates, become a blog "follower" by entering your email in the right hand box "Follow By Email". Resources can be found by clicking on the gold Diversity logo to the right.



Tuesday 18 September 2012

What makes a space positive and safe?

On Saturday, a thousand people danced down George St. to celebrate diversity and LGBTQ Pride and Fleming students and staff were a part of the fun. Here is a link to a YouTube clip by the Peterborough Examiner:

http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/2012/09/16/peterborough-pride-parade-celebrates-10th-anniversary

Fleming students have been providing volunteer security and support since the event was founded 10 years ago. This year was no exception, and Pride organizers made sure to let me know how amazing Fleming students are - responsible, polite, engaged, professional are some of the words they used to describe them. Hats off to Jon and Anna (FAQS leaders) and Thomas (security coordinator) for their leadership!

Some of the same activists who founded Pride in 2002 also founded the Fleming Positive Space campaign, which we have expanded this year with training. This week I have added the Positive Space Education Program outline to the Diversity wiki for those who would like some background and indepth info on the program (click on the gold "Diversity" logo at upper right). The Level one launch is going well and we hope to see you at an upcoming session.

As we are reflecting on what a positive, safe space is, I thought I'd share a story from the weekend. After the parade, a show and all ages dance was held at Market Hall. This event always draws a wide range of people; gay, straight, trans, young, old, dressed down, dressed up, in drag, every body size, shape and range of the gender continuum you can imagine - but all there to have fun. It is an amazing experience of inclusion. I and several other middle-aged organizers were watching young people dancing and expressing themselves, and we shared how exciting it was to see them so happy.

You see, we hear more about the sad stories. Like when I drop in on a FAQS club meeting and hear students talk about being rejected by their families or high school peers. Or when PARN outreach workers like Peter and Anya who do our training meet clients in distress, after having been attacked in the streets, or who are homeless after being thrown out by their parents. The normative culture of college life can make it seem like this does not happen anymore but unfortunately it does. We continue to receive students here coming with terrible secondary school experiences, hoping that now they are adults, they can achieve some control of their lives.

Our class rooms, hallways, pubs and washrooms can be safe and positive for all students. Every person adds to that positive space when they decide that defending human rights is not just a role for the Diversity Coordinator, but their role as citizen.

Join us, give us your feedback, help us make Fleming an amazing college experience for LGBTQ students.

Saturday 1 September 2012

Positive Space makes learning safe for everyone

Positive Space is now officially launched – thanks to all the 75 faculty, support staff and students who participated in one of the educational sessions this week!

Whenever I am involved in some type of human rights education, whether it’s anti-racism, anti-homophobia, or sexual assault prevention, I am always reminded of how hard it is to dialogue about being “anti” or against something that almost all of us clearly know is wrong. We’d much rather be part of something that is positive, that tells us how far we’ve come. And it’s even harder to accept that we are part of the majority that is making things painful for others.

I heard people struggle with this again this week, as we discussed the “alphabet soup” of LGBTQ and tried to understand how complex our gender identity really is. PARN facilitators have been sharing this Genderbread Person, developed by Samuel Killermann. http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2012/03/the-genderbread-person-v2-0/

This work challenges the idea that everything is either/or, that being human is much more complex than simply being male or female, gay or straight. Heterosexual allies in the room are responding to the call from the queer community to open up safer spaces for them, and as we hear young people talk about how heterosexual  lives have been limited by old gender codes too, there is this empathic voice that stirs in us and says “me too, I have been put in that box, limited by my gender, or made to feel like parts of me aren’t quite masculine or feminine enough”.

I know when I think about my gay and lesbian friends, family members, and colleagues, I am thankful they have fought for a way of being that makes the world more open. As a woman, I have benefited by having a wider range of role models as to how to be “female” in the world, and I think this is true for men as well.

We have come a long way. There’s no denying that. But students still tell me how distressed they are by classroom discussions gone wrong, when a teacher has not challenged homophobic comments and left them to fend for themselves. Students who have been harassed downtown, or in the hallways, hearing “faggot” muttered under someone’s breath as they go by. Worrying who might see them in the GSA meeting and spread rumours about their orientation. Wondering if they are physically and emotionally safe here.

We need to be having these discussions in the classroom but we also need to manage that discussion in a way that keeps the space safe and respectful. Positive Space training helps teachers and students expand their vocabulary and get used to the discussion, so that the classroom becomes a liberating space for everyone, not just a "tolerant" one where we all end up being a little less human.

Get involved in Positive Space and become an ally. The fall training schedule will be posted by Week 2 and there will be sessions available on every campus.  Pride Week starts Sept. 15th and I hope to see you out at the parade (2pm on George St., Peterborough).

Positive Space makes learning safe for everyone.