Providing a safe space has been a goal for the LGBT Center, and now they are looking to train others to make that safe space stretch all over campus.
The center will be hosting SafeZone: Train the Trainer, open to students, faculty and anyone wanting and willing to learn.
“The ‘Train the Trainer’ is an opportunity for folks who want to facilitate SafeZones, to be able to sort of just go over the training, do’s, don’ts, things that we’ve learned for them to provide input on the trainings,” said Delfin Bautista, director of the LGBT Center. “We’re constantly updating and changing them to meet the needs of the community.”
Although “Train the Trainer” events have been held in the past, with the center hosting more than 40 SafeZones last semester, Bautista said there is a need to build the team of people who can lead these events and spread the word.
“We can’t be everywhere and so, if we get a request, and we’re not available, we know that there’s a team of people who could facilitate in our place, especially as more and more people are requesting (SafeZones),” Bautista said.
Sarah Tucker Jenkins, program coordinator for the LGBT Center, said
SafeZones and expanding training can help spread the word and presence of the center, and the center will be there as a guide to help when people conduct their first SafeZones.
“(The training is) a great way for us to kind of branch out,” Jenkins said. “The more people who are trained to do SafeZones, the more SafeZones we can provide folks.”
Both Jenkins and Bautista said that attending a prior SafeZone would help before attending training. One benefit, Bautista said, of leading SafeZones is it’s a great way to get involved and learn more about the LGBT community; another is serving as a vital resource and facilitator to an area that lacks these for LGBT issues.
“(A benefit of participating) is education in that area is very limited, given where we are geographically, so being able to cultivate a team of folks who can not only go throughout the university, but also hopefully, eventually, into the Athens community, is exciting just because there is a need for more resources and more education on sexual orientation and on gender identity and expression,” Bautista said.
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