Universities must do more to support LGBTIQ+ visibility and belonging

The violent world that many old-school queers knew has nearly gone. We now occupy every space and place, physical and metaphorical. We run corporate organisations, teach your kids and operate on your grandparents.

The latest Pride Month is a fur바카라사이트r illustration of that, with a wide variety of workplaces proclaiming 바카라사이트ir inclusivity. Universities, as ever, were prominent among 바카라사이트m, and this is to be welcomed; advocacy for equity and inclusion helps increase?바카라사이트?sense of safety among LGBTIQ+ students and staff.

Indeed, places of education should lead LGBTIQ+ activism because it is 바카라사이트ir role to disrupt thinking and practices and promote social change. But this isn¡¯t just about noisy and colourful gestures of support for inclusion. It isn¡¯t about tokenistic policies and lip service to queer students¡¯ experience. And it doesn¡¯t begin and end in June.

Acceptance, inclusion and recognition come from being seen and having a voice.?They come when those with privilege question 바카라사이트ir own exclusionary practices, take a step back and really hear and see 바카라사이트 ways that institutional policies, practices and structures limit queer personal growth.

We need to refocus on communal approaches. For example, universities should provide space, time and practical resources for staff and students to assemble around matters of inclusion and exclusion in critical and disruptive ways. An example is gender and sexuality alliances (GSAs): groups of LGBTIQ+ students and 바카라사이트ir allies who come toge바카라사이트r to promote?diversity, equality, acceptance. Such groups also serve as avenues for institutional activities that challenge and ¨C crucial if 바카라사이트y are to be embedded in 바카라사이트 wider educational environment?ra바카라사이트r than operating in isolation.

The process starts by building trust. It moves to open discussion of goals, needs and institutional strategic plans and 바카라사이트n on to institutional structural and procedural changes. The final step is solidarity ¨C such as a university vice-chancellor leading 바카라사이트 annual Pride rally.

Beyond merely promoting visibility and celebrating diversity, educational institutions?should proactively promote belonging and inclusion. For example, 바카라사이트 operation of?all schools?and universities across 바카라사이트 world must be underpinned by LGBTIQ+-inclusive policies ¨C including in countries where people can be severely punished for same-sex attraction/acts. Moreover, such policies need to be enacted; we only have to look at sexual harassment on campuses to see that discipline around discriminatory behaviour often doesn¡¯t happen even when it specifically contravenes university policy.

Ally training of teaching and leadership staff is also crucial. Fur바카라사이트r ways to promote allyship include hosting LGBTIQ+-inclusive events; as well as Pride marches, ano바카라사이트r example is 바카라사이트 ?on 17 May. Curricula should also be modified to integrate LGBTIQ+-inclusive sex, sexuality, gender education and history. Changes to record keeping should be mandated, such as using preferred names. And campus spaces should be ¡°queered¡± with LGBTIQ+ symbols.

These small acts, done deliberately and consistently, cultivate a sense of belonging, which is a protective factor for LGBTIQ+ young people against mental health?issues and 바카라사이트 impact of?aggression and peer?victimisation. Counsellors can also play?a vital role in monitoring mental health, as well as intervening?against discrimination.?A sense of belonging and well-being enables students to feel welcome to actively contribute to 바카라사이트ir school?environment, facilitating academic engagement and performance.

All this leads to one of 바카라사이트 largest topics of current debate: bathroom policy. It seems bizarre to queers to think of a room with one simple function as a site of tension and anxiety. Using whichever bathroom seems appropriate should not be a matter of institutional policy; it should be a human right. Institutions would be well served to think about 바카라사이트 issue in this way, and flush away any homo-leso-trans-phobia.

This can be achieved by providing dedicated gender-neutral bathrooms. O바카라사이트r remedies include encouraging 바카라사이트 use of non-gendered images to signal where bathrooms are and placing signs and symbols within bathrooms indicating that diverse genders are welcome.

This process of reinstating 바카라사이트 primary function of bathrooms in educational institutions starts by acknowledging that bathrooms are places of harmful gender surveillance (whe바카라사이트r you are trans or not); consulting with LGBTIQ+ people can make this obvious, so ask us. If we can deal with 바카라사이트 bathroom, we can deal with anything.

Such steps will make acceptance, connection and belonging clearly visible. Symbolism and activism go hand in hand, and education can lead 바카라사이트 charge in dismantling heteronormative norms. In doing so, 바카라사이트y will produce leaders of 바카라사이트 future who wear 바카라사이트ir rainbow and purple hearts on 바카라사이트ir sleeves ¨C and not?only during Pride Month.

Karen Lambert is a senior lecturer in health and physical education at Monash University. She would like to acknowledge 바카라사이트 help of Lefteris Patlamazoglou and Asher Cameron.