By AL STOVER
Staff Reporter
The Eastern Washington University Pride Center kicked off Pride Week 2017 with a Welcoming Project Ally Training session, April 10.
The training session is an informative and interactive workshop for faculty, staff and students to become a certified ally to Eastern’s LGBT communities.
Nick Franco, the Pride Center manager, said he holds open ally trainings once per quarter, as well as sessions for university departments, offices and student-led organizations upon request. Before they attend the training, prospective allies must complete the LGBT terminology quiz and pass with a score of at least 80 percent.
This quiz is a tool to advance an ally’s knowledge and understanding of LGBT terminology before the training. The quiz includes well-known terms like gay and lesbian, as well as newer words including pansexual, who is a person who experiences sexual, romantic, physical, and/or spiritual attraction for members of all gender identities or expressions.
“The purpose of the training is for folks to be more culturally competent when dealing with people who are different than you,” Franco said.
Part of the training includes the explanation of the updated terms relating to the LGBT community.
One example Franco gave was how the term “homosexual,” which is someone who is sexually and romantically attracted to their own gender, is no longer preferred among the community because of the association of the word stemming from its use in describing same-sex attraction as a mental disorder. Bisexual, which is used to identify someone who is attracted to men and women, is another term that’s no longer being frequently used.
“Bisexual reinforces the idea that there are only two genders,” Franco said. “There are more than two genders. Some people use ‘polysexual’ which means they are attracted to more than one gender.”
During the session, trainees also learn about some of the stereotypes and misconceptions associated with the community, such as the idea that all gay men are less masculine than non-gay men, or that gender identity is a choice.
There is also clarification on what constitutes as an “ally.” According to Franco, ally is described as an active accomplice who is an amplifier for LGBT voices, but does not speak on their behalf.
“They’re actively using their position to advocate for change,” Franco said. “Rather than speak as if you’re an authority in the community, an ally asks ‘how does this impact them?’”
Once someone becomes an ally, Franco recommends they “expand their self-awareness,” continually educate themselves on the issues affecting the community and develop their listening skills. When an ally has a friend or relative who comes out to them, Franco said they should not act overly surprised, respect that person’s privacy, listen and ask questions when it’s appropriate to do so.
One question an ally should never ask is “why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Franco explained that the question presumes that the person coming out had always known their sexual identity.
Franco said this assumption is not true in that some people don’t know their sexual identity until later in life. Another reason not to ask the question is because the conversation now centers on the ally and not the person who came out to them.
“One thing you can say to them is ‘thank you for sharing this with me,’ or ‘It must have taken a lot of courage for you to share that with me’,” Franco added.
Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].
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