November 13-19 marks Transgender Week of Awareness which leads into the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20. During this time, we are called to bring attention to issues faced by transgender and gender diverse communities. Awareness is one aspect which can bring us closer to liberation, but it cannot be without action and a commitment to end the violence against Two Spirit, Transgender, and gender diverse people.
This Transgender Day of Remembrance, Out In Schools invites educators and students to reflect on the ways which transgender, nonbinary, Two Spirit and otherwise gender diverse people experience the world, and how you, as allies, might come together to create safer and more celebratory spaces for gender diversity in your school and community. Educators can access our Film Catalogue to share short films in educational settings.
From Danny Lybbert (he/they), Out In Schools Program Manager:
When I started as a facilitator with Out In Schools back in 2016, our presentations were primarily focused on building awareness of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community; the majority of our time was spent on defining terms and explaining how various identities exist across spectrums. Our approach was based on the knowledge that hate often stems from ignorance and the assumption that awareness would therefore decrease hate. And, for many years, this assumption was correct; in 2018, SARAVYC found that students at schools who received an Out In Schools presentation experienced lower levels of harassment, discrimination, and exclusion.
However, the landscape has changed, due in part to the rise of polarizing social media algorithms on apps like Tiktok, Instagram and Twitter, and an increase in mis/disinformation campaigns. Where once, visibility helped our cause, it now can also have the opposite effect; trans visibility is a double edged sword which sometimes gives us access, and increasingly, makes us targets of hate.
Awareness is a necessary first step in creating social change and moving society towards acceptance, but it can’t stop there. Trans equality and trans liberation are essential in the fight for gender equality and equity – they are synonymous with supporting people of all genders to express themselves freely. For generations, the existence of gender diversity has been actively suppressed, largely by the forces of colonization and white supremacy. The resurgence of these identities is critical to creating communities where all of us can thrive.
When the Out In Schools team travels to schools throughout the various communities in British Columbia, the majority of students know what basic terms like queer and trans mean, but language and terminology don’t build empathy – stories do.
How do we tell our stories when people are not willing to listen?
We need you. We need you to help share our stories.
Out In Schools uses personal narrative and short films as a way to engage our audiences in developing a deeper understanding of who we are and how to support us.
Thanks to the transgender ancestors and activists who came before me, I have access to the language I need to understand myself.
Effective awareness showcases both our struggles and our celebrations, and can move people to support us in our right to exist.
Positive and plentiful narratives can help trans folks have hope for the future. Affirming and authentic representation of our stories can help humanize our experiences, and build empathy and understanding.
Awareness is where our work begins, not where it ends.
To our cisgender allies: you can use your privilege to offset our vulnerability; when my cisgender friends and colleagues take on the work of introducing and explaining pronouns at meetings, correcting gender mistakes, or ensuring that I can safely access a bathroom, it makes it easier for me to exist.
I have been so heartened by the work of educators across BC, many of them cisgender allies, shaping school environments where trans students feel valued and protected. These allies continue to advocate for inclusive policies in the face of direct backlash, holding firm to the belief that all youth deserve a safe, supportive learning environment where they can be their authentic selves.
This Transgender Day of Remembrance, we encourage you to keep the learning alive and ongoing with your students. Seek out stories, check out our Film Catalogue, and explore the resources below.
If you’re an educator, consider using our curated film playlists to start conversations and explore the topic of gender identity in your classroom. You can also find additional resources below.
If you made use of these resources, we would love to hear how your lessons went and any other feedback! Get in touch with us at info@outinschools.com.
My name is Gavin (they/them), and I am the Education Director at Out On Screen. After nearly a decade with the Out In Schools program, I found a renewed sense of purpose in my work when I became a parent a year and a half ago.
This is my story.
I was born in 1987 in a small town called Pincourt, Quebec. I grew up a tomboy, excluded from sports because I was a “girl” and excluded by other girls for my baggy clothes and hand-me-downs. I was bullied for existing outside of expected gender norms and had homophobic slurs thrown at me in hallways. The message I received as a young person was clear—queerness is shameful, can only be expressed in secret, and should be suppressed.
I had no language to describe my queer experiences. Going to school in the ’90s and early 2000s, there was no mention or knowledge of queer attraction or gender in classrooms.
This is how I know that the work we do at Out In Schools is essential.
Since its founding in 2004, Out In Schools has used film and facilitated dialogue to catalyze compassionate and life-affirming conversations around sexual orientation and gender identity. When a young person receives an Out In Schools presentation, they learn that who they are is perfectly okay, that they are allowed to grow into their fullest self, and that they deserve to feel unconditional love and belonging. An Out In Schools presentation also creates a brave space for youth to ask questions, practice listening and empathy, and shift behaviors.
Out In Schools facilitator Phoebe (left) presents to a class.
Hear what an educator had to say after an Out In Schools presentation:
One of my students is a trans woman, and she had never met an adult trans person in her life so she was very excited, and said she felt seen. That warmed my heart – an important moment for a great kid.
This is the kind of environment I wish I had growing up and that I hope my own child will have regardless of their identity or orientation. Imagine the difference that robust Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) education would have made to your childhood and those of your 2SLGBTQIA+ peers.
If you have seen the news lately, you will know that anti-queer and anti-trans sentiment is pervasive right now. Anti-drag protests are disrupting kid-friendly community programs, homophobic and transphobic legislation are being proposed and passed into law, and numerous groups are organizing to remove life-affirming SOGI education from schools.
To our entire community, this is cause for concern. Scapegoating the queer community in times of uncertainty is a conservative tactic we have seen before. When we hear threats to 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, we take action.
Today is the International Day of Pink, a day started to combat homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools. We do this work year-round through the Out In Schools program.
This year alone, Out In Schools has already reached 5,919 youth, educators, and parents with the affirming, nuanced, and positive stories that are so scarce in the media today.There is a hunger for our programming, and we are working hard to meet this demand.
Gavin (second from the left) poses with four Out In Schools facilitators at a school in front of a rainbow staircase.
We wouldn’t be able to do this work without the activists and allies that support our work through their donations. Individual donations are the second largest source of revenue for our work at Out On Screen, after grants from the public sector. Individuals like yourself help us to share joy, reduce stigma, and foster safer spaces for queer youth to be themselves. If you are interested in becoming a donor, visit our Donate page or get in touch with our team at donorservices@outonscreen.com.
Thank you for taking the time to read about why Out In Schools means so much to me as an educator and parent, and thank you for helping us make a difference for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
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