Here's a great new resource for queer teens, endorsed by the It Gets Better project:
imi is a free, digital, science-backed mental health web tool for queer teens to learn coping skills, hear stories from real LGBTQ+ teens, and explore resources that affirm queer identities and boost mental health.
Happy Pride Month to All!
And especially to the youth -- you are loved and you matter!
Created by DisArt and Oaklee Thiele, the My Dearest Friends Project is an international, disability-led art collaboration archiving disabled stories. The collected stories are featured as part of various exhibits, and the writers are compensated for their contribution. The site includes video and audio resources, and features the amazing drawings of Oaklee Thiele (see image above as an example).
Sections include:
I would like to say that the drawings that appear throughout this site are a real treasure, as is watching some of the videos in which Oaklee is creating drawings. The video I watched was descriptive - meaning, along with the closed captioning that captured the words the narrators and speakers spoke, another voice described what was happening on screen. This is something that is not often done, but useful to be more inclusive for those who are visually impaired.
Here is an amazing resource for transgender folx: Strands for Trans. As they put it:
A HISTORY OF REJECTION
Haircuts are historically gendered: Salons for women. Barbershops for men. This leaves the trans community feeling uncomfortable, unwelcome and unsure.
A FUTURE OF ACCEPTANCE
Strands For Trans is bringing gays, straights, women, men, anyone, together to create more trans-friendly barbershops and hair salons. Join in and let’s help this community feel welcome.
This great site includes videos of people sharing of why this matters and asks people to support the site by approaching their own barbershops or hair salons, as well as through social media. The site also invites shop owners to request a sticker and add their businesses to the map.
And the map shows 6,000+ listings of trans-friendly salons and barber shops, mostly in the US and Canada but also in other countries. Zoom in to your city, find a marker in your neighbourhood, and click to get details!
https://www.strandsfortrans.com/
You may have read my previous post about PIE: about being public, intentional and explicit -- three key components to being a faith community that affirms LGBTQ2S+ people. (if you haven't read it, do so first: https://exclusionandembrace.blogspot.com/2017/01/pie-public-intentional-explicit.html)
I'd like to first suggest that we add an "S" to PIE to make PIES (cuz, you know, lots of pies are better than just one pie): S for Self-Examining >
A community that examines itself discovers those areas in which more change is needed, those aspects in which they could improve how they love and embrace others.
Here's a brief example of a church being self-examining:
A church is located in an older building. There is one main women's and one main men's washroom, both outdated and badly designed. The church has begun holding some learning sessions where they asked some of their queer members to share, and also invited speakers from the queer community to come in. After one of these sessions, where they heard that some transgender people feel uncomfortable in public washrooms, some of the members involved in managing the facility got together. "What can we do to make this better?" they asked. They looked around and realized that there was a storage room located behind the washrooms, which could be converted into a single user washroom. Conveniently, the plumbing connections were nearby. "What if we use the whole space, and make it an accessible washroom while we are it?" someone added. The "accessible" stalls in the existing washrooms were unfortunately based on outdated standards for what is considered accessible and in reality, are very awkward. So they proceeded with their plans and, once the washroom was complete, made sure to post on the church website that the building now has a "accessible, inclusive gender-neutral washroom".
Now, such a washroom serves a wide range of people: transgender folx who feel unsafe in gendered washrooms, people in wheelchairs, a parent with a child, a person accompanied by an attendant or caregiver. And it happened because they were learning, thinking and examining their church community and facility.
"Louis Riel's prophecy is coming to pass! The Indigenous artists are the Awakeners!
That's certainly what you'll witness in this 6-part, 1 hour documentary series in both English and French (12 Eps in total) in which Canadian acclaimed, indigenous singer and song writer, Laura Vinson embarks on a journey to meet extraordinary Indigenous people with disabilities who are artists. Laura's sudden loss of her mentally challenged sister, Noreen, combined with her own challenges with an anxiety disorder, plus the progressive loss of her hearing cause her to have a great deal of empathy and respect for those Indigenous and disabled people who are often underappreciated and underestimated." (from http://theawakeners.ca/)
Read more about this incredible project: http://theawakeners.ca/
Watch the series here: https://www.ami.ca/category/Awakeners/episodes
Note: at the point of posting, I have finished watching the first episode. I learned a lot and it also challenged some of my unconscious biases.
"The word I have coined in te reo Māori for autism is ‘Takiwātanga’. It is a derivation of my phrase for autism: “tōku/tōna anō takiwā” – “my/his/her own time and space”."
Read more about how this word came to be in Keri Opai's story (video and text): https://www.altogetherautism.org.nz/a-time-and-space-for-takiwatanga/
Read the short BBC article on this project: https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-40493398
Check out the very cool language glossary, featuring te Reo Maori <> English translations, word collections, plus phrases and proverbs: https://www.tereohapai.nz/
I'm currently reading this book, the first one I've read by a trans author and the first that's about the Bible and the lives of transgender Christians. It's especially interesting in light of a recent panel that I attended on "Being Transgender in the workplace".
Love the book so far! Keep your eyes open for future posts inspired by this...
Find out more at http://austenhartke.com/book or get a copy from your local bookshop or library.
Austen's site also includes a lengthy resources page and a link to Transmission Ministry Collective:
"We’re an online community of transgender and gender-expansive Christians committed to growing our faith, supporting each other, and healing the world."
The Transmission Ministry Collective offers:
This is a free, online tool which is intended to give those who are working with new immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers a basic understanding of trauma as it tends to be experienced by this group of people. The topics covered, each in a page or two, are:
Immigration: An Introduction
Why Does Migration Occur?
Who Are Lawful Permanent Residents?
Phases of Adjustment
Refugees and Asylum Seekers
Trauma: An Introduction
The Injury Mental Model
Triple Trauma Paradigm
Vicarious Trauma
Consequences of Trauma
"Research from the Family Acceptance Project found more than 50 family accepting behaviours that help protect your lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer-identified (LGBTQ) / Two Spirit child against health risks like depression, suicide and illegal drug use and help to increase your LGBTQ / 2S child's self-worth, health and well-being." (from poster)
"A little change makes a difference in decreasing your child's isolation and risk
and giving them hope that their family will be there for them."
This project has several great posters available for free in PDF, sized for various printing purposes. This image shows a portion of one of the posters.
Article on this project: https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2021/11/26/saving-two-spirit-and-indigenous-lgbtq-youth
Direct link to project page and posters: https://familyproject.sfsu.edu/content/family-acceptance-project-healthy-futures-posters-american-indian-communities
Are you in contact with newcomers to Canada? Whether as a volunteer, at your place of worship, or during your daily routine, you likely are in contact, and some of the newcomers (whether you know it or not) will be LGBTQ.
The titles of the five videos are:
 |
| Skyways, 2019, Bartram's Garden (c) Andrea Walls |
https://www.museumofblackjoy.com/
You can read an article the NPR wrote about her:
https://www.npr.org/2021/08/14/1026447517/museum-of-black-joy-andrea-walls?s=09
Affirmation Guide for Trans & Gender-Expansive Identities, plus Trans & Gender-Expansive Identities eCourse
"Q Christian’s second Affirmation Guide features Taj Smith. This guide is designed to counter the idea that transgender and gender-expansive people cannot be Christians. This guide is also meant to support anyone who is and/or loves someone who is transgender. Taj dives into the Scriptural, theological, and relational affirmation of trans people in this foundational resource. Video content for the guide can be found below." (from webpage)
The guide is free though a donation is requested from those who are able. The page also features five videos that relate to content in the guide:
