All Categories - LGBTQ Families Speak Out

Today is Trans Parents Day!

3/11/2019

The LGBTQ Families Speak Out Research Team celebrates Trans Parents Day! This day celebrates the life, love and diversity that exists between transgender parents and their children and transgender children and their parents. This week, we feature the story of Syn Scully, a trans male navigating the educational system. For more videos related to trans parents, please check out the link below:
http://www.lgbtqfamiliesspeakout.ca/videos/category/transgender

LGBTQ Families Speak Out Project Celebrates Ace Week

27/10/2019

This past week, we celebrate Asexual Awareness Week which aims at recognizing the diverse lives and experiences across the asexual spectrum. Ace Week provides an opportunity to recognize the significant strides the community has made in becoming more visible in not only mainstream media, but also within the LGBTQ community. For more educational resources along with events in the community, check out the links below:

https://aceweek.org
https://acetoronto.wordpress.com/
https://www.thetrevorproject.org/trvr_support_center/asexual/

International Day of Pronouns

16/10/2019

Today is International Day of Pronouns, an annual celebration that aims to make sharing, respecting, and educating personal pronouns commonplace. Referring to people by pronouns of their choosing is basic to human dignity.

In this blog, we feature the story of Dan who identifies as non-binary. In this video, Dan and their mother, Chantale, explains their experiences navigating the complexities of pronoun use in the French schooling system.

For more stories related to pronoun use, please refer to the following link:
http://www.lgbtqfamiliesspeakout.ca/videos/category/pronouns.

National Coming Out Day: Kiran

11/10/2019

Many of the stories the LGBTQ Families Speak Out team have collected over the years feature families and youth speaking about the challenges and celebrations of coming out. In recognition of #ComingOutDay we are profiling Kiran, who speaks about the nuances of coming out as a person of colour in their community.

Kiran speaks in depth about their realization that they do not have to come out right away and that they do not owe an explanation of their identity to anyone. Kiran talks about how “coming out” has to be safe and feel right for an individual, rather than forcing yourself to explain before you are ready.

When we talk about coming out, we must recognize that it is a deeply personal choice and not one everyone makes. That decision may change throughout a person's life, but their decision must be respected. People may choose to disclose their identities for many reasons if they felt safe and supported, but it’s important for educators to understand that often youth, especially youth of colour, transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary people do not feel this way. What educators can do is provide a safe, welcoming and supportive community for all youth to celebrate themselves without assumptions or judgements, regardless of where they are in their journey of self-recognition.

You can watch more stories featuring LGBTQ Families speaking about coming out here: www.lgbtqfamiliesspeakout.ca/videos/category/coming-out

Gender. Sexuality. School. Podcast Season 2: Episode 1 (Queer/Trans @OISE with j wallace)

1/10/2019

The first episode of Gender. Sexuality. School Season 2 is now live. Tara spoke with j wallace about the work that j does with the student group Queer/Trans @ OISE. Both j and LGBTQ Families Speak Out team member Yasmin Owis facilitate the student group, which runs biweekly during the lunch hour as well as one evening even per month.

Queer/Trans @ OISE is a space for Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Queer, Questioning, Assexual, Non-binary students at OISE. It is a space for everyone outside of heterosexuality and/or cissexuality. The goal of the group is to create a space that centres the needs of queer and trans students at OISE. Students who are cis or het are welcome to events and meetings, but are reminded that the group is focused on creating a cultural space that is queer and trans focused.

In the podcast, j spoke about what the group has planned for the year and how to implement the updated 2019 Health and Physical Education curriculum in classrooms. You can find the podcast by clicking the PODCAST tab, or by clicking here

Bisexuality Awareness Week: Jessica Skinner

20/9/2019

In recognition of Bisexuality Awareness week (September 16th - 23rd) the LGBTQ Families Speak Out research team would like to highlight Jessica from the Skinner Family. Jessica identifies as bisexual and her family have been strong and outspoken advocates for their daughter who transitioned in elementary school. Jessica and her family have been huge supporters of the LGBTQ Families Speak Out research project, often speaking in Tara’s Gender, Sexuality and School course and have been featured in an article about teacher allyship. You can watch the Skinner Family videos here and learn more about how you can support the bisexual community below:

glaad
Bisexuality Org
Xtra
Bi Visibility Day Events

More Video Interview Spotlights: Ian, Ben and Alexis

19/9/2019

Since we began this study 5 years ago we have compiled a collection of over 300 videos! There are multiple ways to access the stories families tell about their experiences at school. To help you find some compelling interview excerpts, we are, once again, starting to feature a new video each week. Today, we are featuring a video of Ian, Ben and Alexis talking about heteronormalcy in kindergarten (Tara Goldstein).

LGBTQ Resources for Educators

4/9/2019

With the new school year underway and classes starting next week for many univeristies the LGBTQ Families Speak Out research team wanted to share some helpful resources for supporting students both in and out of the classroom.

We've heard from educators in our classes that sometimes there isn't enough support in the school system to provide the support LGBTQ students and families need. That's why community organizations are a great resource. They can provide free and/or accessible services either online or in person for youth and families. There's also a lot of information online including books and videos that can be educational for new teachers as they begin their advocacy for queer and trans students.

We're always updating this list, with new workshops, programs and books that become available in our community. Let us know if there's something we're missing, and please share with your networks! You can find our list of resources under the RESOURCES tab on the website or by clicking here

Welcome Back to School!

3/9/2019

The LGBTQ Families Speak Out research team would like to welcome everyone back to school! We hope you have an amazing and inspiring year, full of learning and personal growth. We have many resources for students, families and educators that can be found in the resources tab as well as the growing collection of videos and podcasts available on the website. These are great starting points to create LGBTQ inclusive classrooms and spaces as we start a new, exciting year.

QSEC: Queer Studies in Education and Culture

2/9/2019

We are delighted to share the news that two Members from the LGBTQ Families Speak Out team are now members of the Executive Committee of QSEC -QUEER STUDIES IN EDUCATION AND CULTURE (www.qsec.ca). Tara Goldstein is Co-President of QSEC with Lee Airton from Queen’s University and Kate Reid is one of the Grad Student Representatives. QSEC’s mandate is to bring together scholars of gender and sexuality within the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE) (https://csse-scee.ca) which meets once a year at the annual Congress Conference. The 2020 CSSE conference will take place from May 30-June 4, 2020 at Western University in London, Ontario.

For its program at CSSE QSEC encourages submissions from the wide-ranging topics presently constituting queer research and practice in education and culture from cross-cultural, historical, political, policy, comparative, and other perspectives. Proposals need be submitted to through the CSSE website by October 1, 2019