The Olympic game of discrimination?
Welcome back and welcome to all of our
students as they again become active in our
college community!!
Over the years, I have witnessed changes in our students as we see greater influx of international students. With this influx, we have the amazing opportunity to learn and exchange ideas about our varying cultures.
What is important is not whether we agree with one another, but that we listen to one another and try to understand. This can be one of the greatest gifts anyone — staff, faculty or student — can take with them through life. We must understand that these students are arriving very much alone and often frightened. It is our job as ambassadors, yes ambassadors, to make them feel welcome and a part of our community. To do so is to listen. Sometimes this will challenge our preconceptions of people and other cultures; sometimes they will reinforce our own.
For some of these students who are closeted LGBTTQQI community, this experience can be even more overwhelming as they try to dig even deeper into the closet. Our international students naturally seek one another out and in doing so, their own lives and experiences are exposed, so for a gay or trans student, the anxiety of being outed is often overwhelming. Again, I know of this firsthand as I have assisted students who have “come out” to me in the past; some of them have been international students.
As an instructor, I am very open about my support for the LGBT communities and my personal involvement both within and outside of our campus. It is something I am very proud to be a part of as a member of our Positive Space group on campus and PFLAG outside our college.
It is my most deeply held wish that our LGBT international students reach out to our Spectrum group at the college where they will be welcomed and their identities will be protected.
As one who has some exposure to supporting Rainbow Refugees, I have heard firsthand accounts of the horrors that gay, transgender and queer people suffer in other countries. As one who stands each year and cries during Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremonies as the names of the dead are read, then the horrific ways in which they are murdered, being sensitive to these students is paramount for me. This is an extremely moving ceremony.
This kind of experience changes a person in some of the most profound ways. I know it did for me. The immediate reaction is emotional and rightly so. We should be outraged that people can be treated so maliciously. Globally, the penalties for being LGBT can range from being mild to states anctioned death. Often death sentences are the result of vigilantism. It truly is only a handful of “enlightened” societies that have outlawed in whole or in part discrimination against LGBT communities.
We in Canada are one such society and over the years have come to accept that LGBT people can make wonderful contributions to society; when they are allowed. We still have a ways to go with transgender people, but we are slowly making gains.
Even with our liberal attitudes legally, we still have a long way to go at a societal level. There is no question that even here in Canada, it is not always safe to be exposed, especially for the transgender community. However, most Canadians are either supportive or noncommittal about LGBT in our society. In my dealings with young people, I hold great hope for the future.
As a result of our own attitudes, many Canadians are appalled at the changes in Russia, where it was once tolerant; it no longer is. The reactions have been from outrage to activism to have the 2014 Olympic Winter Games moved.
The blogosphere, Facebook and Twitter are abuzz with strong and often divisive opinions on this issue. I, however, ask, why we are so concerned about Russia when people are dying around the world every day for no other reason than being gay or transgender? Is this not displaced anger? In taking such solid stances in opposition, are we any better than the Russian government? Do we believe that we can actually change this?
Some people point to the cancelled games of the past but forget they were during times of world war. Others point to boycotted games of 1980 and 1984. The question we have to ask is whether these boycotts are effective. Realistically, they were little more than public statements of objection by governments around the world. They provided little to no change, and it was the athletes who suffered.
So, how does this recent spate of calls for moving the games, or boycotting them benefit the LGBT community? Does anyone actually believe that Russia is going to cave to international pressure? Do we think that the International Olympic Committee will take a side in this? We need to think this through. This is a highly charged topic these days and has brought out the worst in people. We all have an opinion, like it or not. What we need to do is carefully examine that opinion for our own prejudices.
We in our multi-national and diverse college community need to question ourselves in this. We need to be respectful of the opinions of others. We need to realize that we will not change the opinions of others, but if we are sensitive to them, we can show them that in the grand scheme of life, being LGBT is not a crime but, in fact can add wonderful dimensions to our respective societies.
As ambassadors to the world, we have a golden opportunity to show people that there is nothing to fear but fear. We can show the world that people are far more important than the Olympics, or national policies for that matter, because a friend is a friend regardless of their sexual preferences or gender identity, and all of us need friends. So, let us reach out and show an empty and helping hand. It is a win-win situation for all of us.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
Over the years, I have witnessed changes in our students as we see greater influx of international students. With this influx, we have the amazing opportunity to learn and exchange ideas about our varying cultures.
What is important is not whether we agree with one another, but that we listen to one another and try to understand. This can be one of the greatest gifts anyone — staff, faculty or student — can take with them through life. We must understand that these students are arriving very much alone and often frightened. It is our job as ambassadors, yes ambassadors, to make them feel welcome and a part of our community. To do so is to listen. Sometimes this will challenge our preconceptions of people and other cultures; sometimes they will reinforce our own.
For some of these students who are closeted LGBTTQQI community, this experience can be even more overwhelming as they try to dig even deeper into the closet. Our international students naturally seek one another out and in doing so, their own lives and experiences are exposed, so for a gay or trans student, the anxiety of being outed is often overwhelming. Again, I know of this firsthand as I have assisted students who have “come out” to me in the past; some of them have been international students.
As an instructor, I am very open about my support for the LGBT communities and my personal involvement both within and outside of our campus. It is something I am very proud to be a part of as a member of our Positive Space group on campus and PFLAG outside our college.
It is my most deeply held wish that our LGBT international students reach out to our Spectrum group at the college where they will be welcomed and their identities will be protected.
As one who has some exposure to supporting Rainbow Refugees, I have heard firsthand accounts of the horrors that gay, transgender and queer people suffer in other countries. As one who stands each year and cries during Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremonies as the names of the dead are read, then the horrific ways in which they are murdered, being sensitive to these students is paramount for me. This is an extremely moving ceremony.
This kind of experience changes a person in some of the most profound ways. I know it did for me. The immediate reaction is emotional and rightly so. We should be outraged that people can be treated so maliciously. Globally, the penalties for being LGBT can range from being mild to states anctioned death. Often death sentences are the result of vigilantism. It truly is only a handful of “enlightened” societies that have outlawed in whole or in part discrimination against LGBT communities.
We in Canada are one such society and over the years have come to accept that LGBT people can make wonderful contributions to society; when they are allowed. We still have a ways to go with transgender people, but we are slowly making gains.
Even with our liberal attitudes legally, we still have a long way to go at a societal level. There is no question that even here in Canada, it is not always safe to be exposed, especially for the transgender community. However, most Canadians are either supportive or noncommittal about LGBT in our society. In my dealings with young people, I hold great hope for the future.
As a result of our own attitudes, many Canadians are appalled at the changes in Russia, where it was once tolerant; it no longer is. The reactions have been from outrage to activism to have the 2014 Olympic Winter Games moved.
The blogosphere, Facebook and Twitter are abuzz with strong and often divisive opinions on this issue. I, however, ask, why we are so concerned about Russia when people are dying around the world every day for no other reason than being gay or transgender? Is this not displaced anger? In taking such solid stances in opposition, are we any better than the Russian government? Do we believe that we can actually change this?
Some people point to the cancelled games of the past but forget they were during times of world war. Others point to boycotted games of 1980 and 1984. The question we have to ask is whether these boycotts are effective. Realistically, they were little more than public statements of objection by governments around the world. They provided little to no change, and it was the athletes who suffered.
So, how does this recent spate of calls for moving the games, or boycotting them benefit the LGBT community? Does anyone actually believe that Russia is going to cave to international pressure? Do we think that the International Olympic Committee will take a side in this? We need to think this through. This is a highly charged topic these days and has brought out the worst in people. We all have an opinion, like it or not. What we need to do is carefully examine that opinion for our own prejudices.
We in our multi-national and diverse college community need to question ourselves in this. We need to be respectful of the opinions of others. We need to realize that we will not change the opinions of others, but if we are sensitive to them, we can show them that in the grand scheme of life, being LGBT is not a crime but, in fact can add wonderful dimensions to our respective societies.
As ambassadors to the world, we have a golden opportunity to show people that there is nothing to fear but fear. We can show the world that people are far more important than the Olympics, or national policies for that matter, because a friend is a friend regardless of their sexual preferences or gender identity, and all of us need friends. So, let us reach out and show an empty and helping hand. It is a win-win situation for all of us.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
