City College’s Pride Program held an ally training event in the spirit of “Gaypril” on April 9.
The Center for Equity and Social Justice (CESJ) will have pride events throughout April.
The ally training is part one of an ongoing series of training sessions. CESJ Adviser Selena Martinez said one session doesn’t cover everything, but that it’s a starting point for deeper conversations on multiple topics. Martinez expressed excitement for Edgar Euan who was a presenter lined up with The Diversity Collective of Ventura County o for the event.
“Bringing them into the campus to kind of shed light more not just because there’s Pride Month on campus, but just to continue educating all of us,” Martinez said.
Through open conversation and hands-on exercises, Euan took his time explaining multiple topics and how they are all helpful when it comes to being a good ally.
“Diversify your experiences and your interactions,” Euan said. “This is education, awareness, and promoting inclusivity and diversity.”
When talking about privilege, Euan elaborated on how it’s possible for one to be privileged in one room yet marginalized in another. This idea helped attendees understand that privilege is not fixed, but something that shifts based on race, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, ability/disability and more. He also emphasized the importance of continuous learning in allyship. Euan said that being a good ally is not about being perfect, but about being present, willing to listen and open to growth. In the topic of allyship he said defensive thinking and behavior have no place in being an ally.
The session also covered easy and everyday ways to support the LGBTQ+ community including using more inclusive language, challenging others discriminatory behavior and creating safe spaces for others’ expression.
Introduced was a conversation on gender and sex emphasizing that gender is not fixed or binary.
“Gender refers to socially constructed roles, behaviors, expressions and identities,” Euan said. “If it’s socially constructed then of course it changes with time and place.”
To help illustrate this, he spoke about the Victorian Era of fashion and what was considered masculine then with high heels, wigs and makeup being extremely common. This is a stark contrast to the fashion that would be considered masculine today.
His point was that our understanding of gender has always evolved and will continue to evolve. This gave attendees a better understanding of how gender roles are constructed and reimagined over time.
Wrapping up the presentation, Euan said that everyone has a SOGIE. That is one’s sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. He said no matter who you are or where you come from we all have these parts of ourselves. It’s not just something that applies to LGBTQ+ people. Euan made it clear that SOGIE isn’t about putting people in boxes, but rather understanding that identity is deeply personal and can shift over time.
Something Euan highlighted and pushed for at the training was respect; respect for ourselves and respect for each other. To wrap up the event he said the more people understand that we all have a SOGIE the more we can create space for people to just be who they are.
