Horizons Online Edition

How much do you know about LGBTQA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and ally) issues on campus? How much do you think it pertains to you? The real answers may surprise you.

All students, faculty, and staff, regardless of sexual orientation, are encouraged to participate in Safe Zone Awareness Education. Safe Zone is a dynamic education program designed to increase awareness and promote LGBTQA in the community.

Safe Zone at Embry-Riddle Prescott is part of a national program. Many colleges and universities around the nation have Safe Zone programs, though some large universities are still without this kind of awareness education. Many say that Embry-Riddle has shown forward thinking by taking the initiative to bring Safe Zone to the Prescott campus. Forerunners of the Safe Zone program include Dave Bockmann, Jody Misovec, and Heidi Thompson.

About forty people at the Embry-Riddle Prescott campus have participated in Safe Zone Awareness Education. Facilitators have a short term goal of getting 25% of the campus population involved in this education, though 100% participation would be ideal. This program is not a requirement for any person or position on campus.

Safe Zone educational sessions are facilitated by three trained members of the Embry-Riddle community: two faculty members and one student. Sessions are begun with an introduction that addresses respect and confidentiality. Warm-ups, visualizations, and discussions are then implemented to increase participants' awareness. Questions such as, "How tolerant are you?" and, "What issues do you face?" help people think about how equality, respect, and other LGBTQA issues that pertain to them.

As student facilitator Kimi Benson says, some people "may not realize how they feel until it's addressed."

Graduates of Safe Zone Awareness Education are given a placard to post. A Safe Zone sign indicates that students are welcome to enter that space and feel comfortable being themselves without facing judgment.

Any resistance to Safe Zone Awareness Education on the Prescott campus has been reported as being minor and subtle. Benson says that the only noticeable resistance to Safe Zone has been part of the more encompassing LGBTQA resistance.

Benson encourages everyone to be a part of this awareness education. "LGBTQA issues are very real and present on our campus." To learn more about Safe Zone or to find out how to attend an education session, email prsafezn@erau.edu.

Information about LGBTQA issues can also be found through the Gay and Lesbian Association of Students and Supporters (GLASS). GLASS is an ERAU Prescott student organization open to all members of the GLBTQQI (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and intersexed) community and their allies. Questions can be addressed to prglass@erau.edu.

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