*Note: This video is an audio file with a still image.
Keywords:
ally, action, support, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, curriculum, training, listen, preferred names, preferred pronouns, support, parent, caring adults, teachers
ally, action, support, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, curriculum, training, listen, preferred names, preferred pronouns, support, parent, caring adults, teachers
Transcript
Vincent:You can’t force somebody to be an ally. It means you are somebody who really wants to do that extra work to be there. Because ally isn’t something you just call yourself because you have a friend who’s trans.
Tara: Right.
Vincent: We all know ally is a verb it’s not a noun. It takes work. So those who really want to put in that extra work to be part of this movement and work with community are getting this extra training
...
Vincent: Um, but in schools we have a large number of trans kids. You need allies in the school. You need teachers who know what this means and knows what this is. And it should be mandatory in order to be a teacher to be somebody who gets gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation - orientation, all those things. So this needs to be in the curriculum for new teachers. I recently spoke to a group of education students. And it wasn’t a mandatory session. There were only several people there. And it was kind of disappointing, because I have gone to classes where they had worked it into actual class time, so everyone in that class received the training.
Tara: Right.
Vincent: I want to see this as part of the curriculum. I want to see this as part of the HR policy as the training that teachers receive. And it doesn’t have to be an extensive, you know, one week training session. But at least knowing the basics
…
Vincent: The most important thing is to listen to the young people. They know more than anyone else who they are. Ninety percent of us know we are trans before we reach our twenties, so we know who we are. We know what it is that we want to be called, and we, we should be the ones who are steering the ship which is our journey. Your role as a teacher, as a parent, as a guardian, as a caring adult is to help us see the obstacles in our way, and shine light on those, but it’s up to the person to choose their journey.
Vincent:You can’t force somebody to be an ally. It means you are somebody who really wants to do that extra work to be there. Because ally isn’t something you just call yourself because you have a friend who’s trans.
Tara: Right.
Vincent: We all know ally is a verb it’s not a noun. It takes work. So those who really want to put in that extra work to be part of this movement and work with community are getting this extra training
...
Vincent: Um, but in schools we have a large number of trans kids. You need allies in the school. You need teachers who know what this means and knows what this is. And it should be mandatory in order to be a teacher to be somebody who gets gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation - orientation, all those things. So this needs to be in the curriculum for new teachers. I recently spoke to a group of education students. And it wasn’t a mandatory session. There were only several people there. And it was kind of disappointing, because I have gone to classes where they had worked it into actual class time, so everyone in that class received the training.
Tara: Right.
Vincent: I want to see this as part of the curriculum. I want to see this as part of the HR policy as the training that teachers receive. And it doesn’t have to be an extensive, you know, one week training session. But at least knowing the basics
…
Vincent: The most important thing is to listen to the young people. They know more than anyone else who they are. Ninety percent of us know we are trans before we reach our twenties, so we know who we are. We know what it is that we want to be called, and we, we should be the ones who are steering the ship which is our journey. Your role as a teacher, as a parent, as a guardian, as a caring adult is to help us see the obstacles in our way, and shine light on those, but it’s up to the person to choose their journey.