Join Maddie and our new host Malcolm as start a new series. The Grove Allyship series will cover the next 5 episodes and talking about the best way to be Allies.
Join Maddie and our new host Malcolm as start a new series. The Grove Allyship series will cover the next 5 episodes and talking about the best way to be Allies.
Hey folks, welcome back to the Get with the growth Podcast. I'm Maddie.
Malcolm:I'm Malcolm.
Zuha:And I'm Zoho.
Maddie:taking over from Gabby last semester. So Malcolm and I are going to be doing the podcast for the next month or two. And we have our other amazing YA Zuha who works part time at the University of Guelph have joining us today. And for this week's episode, we are going to be talking about the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and how to be an ally. So, without further ado,
Malcolm:for a disclaimer, we're going to be using the 2SLGBTQIA+ allyship guide that was created by Andrea Monroe Morrow, Olivia Martel photo and Jonathan Fang. Just so you know, I hope I didn't say any of the names incorrectly.
Maddie:Yeah, they created an ally ship guide and 2021. So we're just using that ally ship guide as a bit of a reference for this podcast, because we want to make sure we get lots of information and because it is Pride Month,
Malcolm:and by the way, we provide this ally ship guide at our Grove sites, just so you know. Yeah, everyone to read them.
Maddie:So what is the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. So that is a term used to describe individuals who don't identify as heterosexual and or people who possess a gender that does not assign with their doesn't align with their assigned sex at birth. So this stands for to spirit lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, queer questioning, and asexual along with many other different acronyms. So with that, that also comes sexual orientation. So sexual orientation involves different forms of attraction in relation to the gender or genders that folks are sexually attracted to. So what is gender identity and expression?
Zuha:Well, under the umbrella of 2SLGBTQIA+ falls gender identity, I think it's really important to kind of highlight that Gender refers to attributes and behaviors typically associated with someone's assigned sex. So that's something to note. I and gender is a social construct, which is often not discussed, and we just blindly assign folks with the gender that we assume that they are, which is not often is not always accurate. And of course, like gender is influenced by culture ideas, and is not related to biology. That's also something really important that we wanted to highlight. gender, gender roles, traditionally expect men and women to act in a specific way. But people do not necessarily stick to these assigned roles, and can express your gender in whatever way they want. So with that being said, with all that information being covered, how can we be good allies? What is Ally ship? Ally ship is a state or condition of being an ally to a person or group. I like stand up for equal and fair treatment of people who experience oppression and discrimination. I think I want to open up the conversation to my peers, how can we be good allies to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community?
Maddie:something I find really important is asking people what their pronouns are. So I like to always not assume how people like to identify, even though I do still have biases, like I might think someone's pronoun is he him, but I always like to refer to them as they are folks, or I just call them by their name until I feel comfortable enough to ask them how they'd like to be addressed. And I feel like that's a really great way for people to feel safe and to create that rapport. So yeah,
Zuha:I think it's, I think it's really important to be aware of our language, and just utilize like gender neutral language, especially when we're interacting with our youth that come in and not like make assumptions. I think that that part is really important that it's kind of like the foundation of ally ship, right? Being just being more aware, and just providing them with a safe space to be themselves.
Maddie:With that, have no shame in making mistakes 100. So it's okay to make mistakes. But acknowledge that and take responsibility and apologize. Yeah, I feel like it's really reaffirming for people. When if you do make a mistake, you acknowledge it, and then you correct yourself. Yeah. Because then it's less likely for you to make a mistake again. And it makes that other people, that other person feel comfortable enough to have to express themselves.
Malcolm:I think another important thing of being an ally is being able to recognize and call out problematic behavior that you see, just in everyday life, in the world we live in nowadays, you're going to be hearing people that aren't respectful of people's choices. And it is important that everyone as a group, is calling out these people who are being problematic, because we can't just watch this happen and sit back. But the key part of being an ally, is being there in these difficult situations. You can't be afraid to call out the people that are being disrespectful.
Maddie:Yeah, I always like to think use your privilege. So like, yeah, Malcolm, as we know, but you are,
Malcolm:yeah, I am a straight white man.
Maddie:I'm quite aware, you're an ally. And
Malcolm:yeah, my ally ship,
Maddie:it's important that like, you might hang around or be around a different group of people who would perhaps feel more comfortable saying homophobic things or doing things just because of your appearance. And it's super important that you call out things that you notice, and you use your privilege in order to help and protect the community.
Zuha:So I think that's a great segue into our like, I think like the topic that builds on top of Allyship, which is intersectionality. So what is intersectionality? It examines the fact that everyone has multi dimensional identities that shape our experiences. So like Malcolm mentioned, he has his privilege in society as a white cisgender straight men? And how can he like he has he's examined? How can he use that privilege to be a good ally? Now, this allows for us to understand how a single person might be privileged within some situation, but oppressing another group. So yeah, I think that's a really important topic that is intertwined within ally ship, because we need to recognize an individual that is part of the 2SLGBTQIA+, may also be part of another underserved community, and that may intersect in a certain way that, you know, creates a space for them that they may not be feeling safe to be themselves in a multi dimensional way. So I think intersectionality really does shape how we approach Allah shaped but also how folks part of the community are, you know, perceived and how they coexist within the community as well. Yeah.
Maddie:And I'm, I'm really glad that it feels like we're kind of on the right path. Every Pride Month that comes within every year, I feel like it's more and more inclusive, not just the community, but allies, because it is super important for allies to be educated, and to be involved in different areas of the community. So like, two weeks ago, Malcolm and I attended a pride walk event for a high school in Guelph. And it was just really special to have a bunch of young folks who either identify as part of the community or as allies, just starting those conversations and seeing like, how have they been experiencing pride? How have they faced any issues? What services that we provide at the grove specifically, that can help them or what they need from us. And it was just like a really special day where, with pride, we could start a new conversations.
Malcolm:Yeah, I definitely enjoyed seeing so many young youth getting the opportunity to do an event such as that I remember growing up back in Waterloo, I would have been very surprised if any of the grade schools or high schools in the area had an event, right, even remotely similar to that. And it was amazing to see these young folks getting the opportunity to show them their true selves and walk around with their their pride capes and all sorts of fun outfits. And you could just tell they were having the time of their lives, despite the fact that it was so hot. It was very there was a huge amount of people that came Yeah,
Zuha:this species allowed them to be themselves and I think that's really important. It's a really important aspect of ally ship, providing them a safe inclusive space to be themselves. Yeah.
Maddie:So with that, I'm We have also provided some resources. So for more information on ally ship or the 2SLGBTQIA+ community locally we are recording out of Guelph. So some of our resources are from Guelph. The first one is arch. Arch golf provides to 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusive health care. And they provide many services that support the well being of trans and non non binary folks. And the whole community. They were actually with milk and I at the pride walk event, and not many people knew about them. So they're a really good organization that can provide different services for those in the community,
Malcolm:2SLGBTQIA+ is a tool free phone line offering peer support and referrals, or resources for 2SLGBTQIA+ plus people ages 29 and under in Ontario. So
Zuha:another resource that we'd like to kind of recommend is the black queer network, which is a community that centers black queer voices and experiences to work towards eradicating homophobia and racism within a systemic context. So yeah, for more information on 2SLGBTQIA+ allyship, and accessible resources, please feel free to pick up a copy at the University of Guelph Grove hub site. We also have the guide book available on our website as well. So if you want access to a digital copy, feel free to go on our website, which is the growth hubs.ca. And check out that there.
Maddie:Yeah. Feel free to come to any of our hub locations and ask questions or ask for resources. We're always looking to help out folks in need. So that is a summary of our first podcast back. Thank you. So VA for joining us for our first episode. And thank you, Malcolm, this is our first podcast together out of a few for this semester. I'm excited to
Zuha:thank you for welcoming me in and yeah, I'm really glad we could have this conversation. Yeah,
Maddie:so with that being said, thank you everyone for tuning in for this week's episode.
Malcolm:Be kind to your mind, and we'll see you next time.
Maddie:Bye.
Zuha:Bye, everyone.