It's official. I'm an LGBT ally at work. I had my training a few weeks ago and I just got sent my rainbow pin, rainbow sticker and rainbow cards (to stick on my door) to prove it.
When I told one of my (straight) colleagues that I was doing LGBTI ally training, he asked whether a gay man can be an ally. I had to think for a few seconds but the answer is, of course, 'yes': I can be an ally to the L, B, T, I, A and Qs in our community.
The training itself was lots of fun and a real eye opener. It made me realise that I was quite an ignorant gay man. If nothing more comes out of the training, at least I now know what pansexual means (I was pretty certain it had nothing to do with cooking implements but that was the extent of my knowledge prior to LGBT training).
I have been doing a bit of reflection over the past couple of months and have decided my new year's resolution is to try to promote greater diversity in academia. There aren't a lot of gay Asian professors out there. Visibility and representation are both important.
2 comments:
You are the perfect person on both counts. Well almost. You were born here. I expect many of us gay men could do with some sensitivity training when dealing with other gays and lesbians, and others.
The community is full of prejudices. Most of the people at the training session were straight. Felt like he was preaching to the choir.
Post a Comment