A seminar called “Brick-by-Brick: Creating LGBTQ & Gender Inclusive Classrooms & Spaces” was hosted at Willis Auditorium on Thursday, Feb. 16.
The seminar was led by Priya Poehner, a professor in the Department of Middle, Secondary and K-12 Education at LHU, and Rick Schulze, a professor in the Department of Health & Exercise Science and the faculty advisor of the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA).
Several faculty members from LHU and Mansfield attended, as well as teachers and a member of administration from a local middle school. Only one student was present.
Upon arrival at the seminar, each attendee was given several papers. They listed the facilitators and their contact information, a document titled “Suggestions for Supporting Participants in a Bullying Episode”, a glossary of LGBTQ terms, and a matching game containing some of the listed terms with their correct definitions.
The last paper handed out was an opening activity asking each individual to identify how they might react to situations such as “how to stop harassment of LGBTQ+ students before it starts” and “how I can help my LGBTQ+ students develop a healthy sexual orientation identity.”
The opening activity sheet led into a series of introductions. The attendees shared why the seminar was important to them and a challenge or area of progress that they’ve seen in their community.
The word community, Poehner stressed, was to apply not only to schools and universities, but also clubs, classes, and residence halls. This dialogue took up nearly the whole hour allotted for the seminar, but resulted in a helpful exchange of ideas, strategies and techniques to build a stronger, better community of individuals who are accepting and understanding of the differences of others.
One administrator from the local elementary school remarked that they’ve seen more young children accept their LGBTQ+ peers without resistance.
