Next Safe Space Workshops

Safe Space workshops are now scheduled for the 2009-2010 academic year.

They will take place on:

Wed. Sept. 30th, 2009	3pm - 4:30pm
Thurs. Nov. 5th, 2009	3pm - 4:30pm
Wed. Jan. 20th, 2010	3pm - 4:30pm
Tues. Mar. 9th, 2010	3pm - 4:30pm

To register for one of these workshops, please visit the Teaching and Learning Services website.

We will also come and provide a workshop to your group at a location of your choice. Contact us to schedule a date & time convenient for your department, unit, or team.

For further information, email us at the McGill Equity Subcommittee on Queer People.

What is the Safe Space Program?

The McGill Safe Space Program aims to enhance the acceptance and integration of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the McGill community. It delivers interactive workshops for faculty, staff, and student leaders. The core workshop, which addresses topics such as heterosexism, homophobia, and transphobia on campus, pursues the following aims:

• To help participants become more sensitive to the needs of a diverse community involving people of many different sexual orientations and gender identities;
• To affirm the sexual and gender diversity of the community; and
• To raise awareness of how forms of prejudice such as heterosexism, homophobia, and transphobia can adversely affect spaces of work and learning at the University, making some people feel unsafe in a way that compromises their ability to do their best work.

The Program seeks to create an identifiable network of “allies” on campus. Allies are participants in a workshop who agree to display a sticker or sign bearing the Safe Space logo in their office or other place of employment. The logo indicates to other members of the McGill community that they have received the training and are prepared to be an ally to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, and queer (LGBTQ) students, faculty, and staff.

Safe Space programs already exist on many other university campuses in North America.

McGill staff, faculty and student leaders (both queer and "straight") will be encouraged to complete a 2 hour interactive workshop that provides education around LGBTIQ issues. Concepts such as homophobia, transphobia and heterosexism will be discussed.

After completion of the workshop, individuals may choose to display the McGill Safe Space sticker in their office to indicate their role as an ally. Allies will work towards making McGill University safer and more welcoming for all students by:

• supporting the inclusiveness of LGBTIQ people in all aspects of their lives
  
• challenging homophobic comments and jokes
  
• being familiar with issues and resources that exist for LGBTIQ people
  
• respecting confidentiality

Anyone, queer or straight, can be an Ally!. To see our list of Allies, click here.

Some comments from workshop participants:

• Wonderful Program, keep up the great work"
• "Very useful! Thank you!"
• "The facilitators answered our questions, raised awareness, helped us recognize negative and positive attitudes, and showed us ways to be supportive to make the university a better, more caring and equitable environment for everyone."
• "After attending the Safe Space Program workshop, I plan to include the Safe Space Program logo in my course syllabus, indicating to students that there will be zero tolerance in my classroom for homophobic or heterosexist behaviour." - Mela Sarkar, Department of Integrated Studies in Education
• Very nicely and professionally done. Good dialogue. I know we don't have more time, but such a discussion needs to continue way more than 2 hours. Very informative and good talk. Thank You. Bravo." - Faculty of Education, staff
• "I think this workshop is a great idea and it certainly raised my awareness and willingness to do something in order to eliminate discrimination and homophobia." - Faculty of Education, professor
• "I just wanted to express my appreciation to you for giving the Safe Space workshop to us in the Philosophy department. Everyone that participated with whom I've spoken tells me that they found it to be a valuable experience--the only "criticism" I've heard is that they wish it could be longer, or that there could be multiple sessions of the workshop that one could attend, so that these issues that were raised could be treated in more depth. So thank you! I think this has been a significant step toward transforming the "culture" and climate of my department. Best of luck with the development of this important program." - Department of Philosophy, Graduate Student

Download a copy of the Safe Space Brochure [.pdf].

Structure and Funding of the Program:

The Safe Space program was developed by two graduate student members of the Queer Equity Subcommittee, during the 2004-2005 school year with a start up grant from the Mary H. Brown fund for student life. This funding was renewed for a second year in 2005. We began offering workshops in September 2005 and established a working group with two more staff volunteers from the committee. In 2006, we secured on-going funding from Queer McGill and a one-time donation from the Faculty of Education. We also receive in-kind support from the Social Equity and Diversity Education Office, The McGill Center for Research and Teaching on Women, and the McGill University Career and Placement Service. We would like to thank these campus offices for their support of this program.

The Safe Space Program is run by student and staff volunteers with the assistance of one work-study student. It has received endorsements from the Joint Senate Board Committees on Equity, the Post Graduate Students' Society and the Faculty of Education Faculty Council. Please contact us if you have further questions about the program.