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SAFEZONE:
W H Y
[ W H Y | W H A T |
W H O | H
O W ]
• Upcoming Safe Zone Training Dates
• Purpose of GMU Safe Zone program
• Challenges to a Safe Environment for LGBTQ folks at Mason
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Safe Zone Training Dates for Summer and Fall 2008
- Summer 2008
- July 18th, 2008 from 9:30 - 4:30
- July 28th, 2008 from 9:30 - 4:30
- August 13th from 9:30 - 4:30
- Fall 2008
- September 16th & 18th from 1:00 - 4:30 each day
- October 10th from 9:30 - 4:30
- November 17th from 9:30 - 4:30
Group / department specific trainings can be organized upon request
Purpose of GMU Safe Zone program
The primary mission of George Mason’s Safe Zone Program, like our LGBTQ Office, is to create a
safer, more welcoming & inclusive campus environment, to strengthen community
and encourage networking among faculty, staff and students toward
the goal of supporting the well-being of LGBTQ people.
Mason’s Safe Zone program seeks to:
• Provide visible support and resources for
LGBTQ students, faculty and staff.
• Provide a way for allies - supportive students, faculty, and staff
- to visibly indicate that they are safe contacts
for LGBTQ people at Mason.
• Promote increased awareness and understanding about sexual orientation
and gender identity across the Mason campus.
• Promote an open-minded, safe, and welcoming campus environment in
which students of all sexual orientations and gender
identities can live and learn fully. |
Challenges to a Safe Environment for LGBTQ folks at Mason
The Safe Zone Program exists to counter the challenges facing LGBTQ members
of the Mason community, such as:
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• Homophobic remarks and jokes
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Defacing of property with anti-LGBTQ remarks & references
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Invisibility of LGBTQ students amidst an often-heterosexist environment
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Lack of visibly-out LGBT faculty and staff, due to fear of reprisal
and a legal/political climate which does not guarantee them safety
or security
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Potential isolation and loneliness of LGBTQ students because of inability
to
identify supportive allies and resources
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Anxiety, stress, and depression often felt among LGBTQ students
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Threat of physical injury and/or death to LGBTQ students from incidents
of hate
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LGBTQ young adults today face a wide variety of experiences and circumstances that can
profoundly impact their physical, emotional, academic, and social well-being.
Studies have found that a vast majority of LGBTQ youth have experienced verbal abuse
targeting their sexual orientation and/or gender expression. Many also report being
threatened with bodily harm, having been followed or chased, having had objects thrown
at them, having been physically assaulted, or having been assaulted with a weapon.
When asked about their mental health concerns, many LGBTQ college students
report feeling sad or depressed, and/or anxious. Coming out to family
and friends, being ridiculed for being LGBT-identified, and having one's
sexual orientation and/or gender identity discovered by others without
their consent are often identified as major stressors by these students.
In one example of such research, every two years the Massachusetts
Department of Education conducts a version (MYRBS) of the National
Youth Risk Behavior Survey, exploring the health-related attitudes
and behavior of high school students. The 2003 survey
(http://www.mass.gov/gcgly/yrbs03.pdf)
found that LGBT students, when compared with their heterosexual peers, were:
(a)
over 5 times more likely to have attempted suicide in the past year;
(b)
over 3 times more likely to have skipped school in the past month because
they felt unsafe at or en route to school; and
(c)
over 3 times more likely to have been threatened or injured with a weapon
at school in the past year.
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Similar findings have come from recent reports issued by the Gay, Lesbian, Straight
Education Network (GLSEN)
and National Gay Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF).
Thus, it’s well documented that many LGBTQ students face significant
stressors and hostile environments with the potential to place their
mental and physical health (and therefore, success in college!!) in jeopardy.
However, when LGBTQ students can identify and access safe and competent peers
and authority figures they can turn to as allies for support, advice, information,
and advocacy, the effects of these stressors are countered. The Safe Zone program
is one significant way in which LGBT students learn where they can turn for support
and information.
Many universities (as of 2005, approximately 200 U.S. institutions)
have implemented similar programs, including American University, College
of William & Mary,
Georgetown, James Madison University, University of Maryland, University
of Virginia, and Virginia Commonwealth University.
See a list on-line at:
http://www.lgbtcampus.org/faq/safe_zone_roster.html
Find out more information about similar safe space programs at:
http://www.lgbtcampus.org/faq/safe_zone.html
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