{"id":150315,"date":"2021-10-22T16:06:03","date_gmt":"2021-10-23T02:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=150315"},"modified":"2021-10-22T16:06:03","modified_gmt":"2021-10-23T02:06:03","slug":"safe-zone-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/10\/22\/safe-zone-training\/","title":{"rendered":"LGBTQ+<\/abbr> inclusion, equity focus of monthly Safe Zone Training"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

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Safe Zone Training, conducted by the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa\u2019s LGBTQ+<\/abbr> Center<\/a>, promotes LGBTQ+<\/abbr> equity and inclusion. Anyone in the UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa community looking to address oppression and be part of a university-wide campaign to build a safe and welcoming campus community for LGBTQ+<\/abbr> people, is welcome to the monthly sessions. These sessions are a campaign of visibility and allyship for LGBTQ+<\/abbr> people. Past attendees of the training said it has allowed them to become more effective advocates for integrating diversity, equity and inclusion in the classroom and in curriculum.<\/p>\n

K. Uilani Chow-Rule<\/strong>, assistant professor in the Nancy Atmospera-Walch School of Nursing<\/a>, said it was important for LGBTQ+<\/abbr> students to know they have an ally in the nursing school.<\/p>\n

“It is important for instructors to create a safe environment. Students haven’t always had a safe place to ask questions or be at risk for feeling stupid for speaking up. Then add the historic way the LGBTQ+<\/abbr> community has been treated and this adds to the anxiety of students,” said Chow-Rule, who attended a training session in July 2021. “Being an ally and creating an inclusive environment is not the same as agreeing with or adopting their beliefs; it’s about recognizing that we are all human, we all have the agency to choose for ourselves and to respect the choices of others.”<\/p>\n

School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology<\/a> Associate Specialist Aaron Pietruszka<\/strong> attended a training session in October 2021. He said the experience helped him to better understand the challenges that LGBTQ+<\/abbr> students still encounter today, and plans to help promote diversity and inclusion within the Department of Earth Sciences<\/a>, where Pietruszka is a faculty member.<\/p>\n

“I enjoyed the ability to interact with the other participants during the training as we discussed challenging scenarios that LGBTQ+<\/abbr> students, staff and faculty might face during their time on the UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa campus,” Pietruszka said. “We all learned from each other during the training, which is a good approach to make a lasting positive impact on behaviors. I think the Safe Zone Training would be useful to experience annually, so I plan to sign up again next year.”<\/p>\n

Specialist Thanh Truc Nguyen<\/strong> of the Curriculum Research & Development Group<\/a> in the College of Education<\/a> said she has always been an ally for LGBTQ+<\/abbr> inclusion and equity, but this workshop helped with actionable strategies and techniques.<\/p>\n

“I would say that it is an enlightening workshop,” Nguyen said. “I learned more about our campus-wide policies, our state’s gender designations, the number of gender-neutral restrooms on campus, and met some wonderful people who were brave in sharing their stories.”<\/p>\n

Upcoming training sessions<\/h2>\n

The LGBTQ+<\/abbr> Center has scheduled virtual monthly training sessions through July 2022. Topics covered will include, the difference between “assigned sex,” “gender” and “sexual orientation,” the rights of the LGBTQ+<\/abbr> UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa community, how to maximize gender and LGBTQ+<\/abbr> inclusion in your daily life, and how to be an effective ally or advocate for LGBTQ+<\/abbr> people. For a list of upcoming sessions and to register, visit this website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Everyone in our UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa community is welcome to attend an upcoming Safe Zone training. While many of the examples are specific to LGBTQ+<\/abbr> communities, many of the strategies for allyship can be used to stand in solidarity with many marginalized groups,” LGBTQ+<\/abbr> Center Director Camaron Miyamoto<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n

This program is an example of UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa\u2019s goal of Enhancing Student Success<\/a> (PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), one of four goals identified in the 2015–25 Â鶹´«Ã½<\/a> (PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), updated in December 2020.<\/p>\n

—By Marc Arakaki<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The LGBTQ+<\/abbr> Center has scheduled virtual monthly training sessions through July 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[690,1466,9],"class_list":["post-150315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-lgbtq","tag-manoa-enhancing-student-success","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150315"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150372,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150315\/revisions\/150372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}