Introduce yourself
• Be yourself, be present and be on time
• Dress comfortably and professionally
• If you have never come out publicly, a training session may not be the right time to disclose your sexual orientation or gender identity
• If you are publicly out as LGBT, it is important to reflect your comfort being LGBT in front of the audience
• Be confident and be grounded with yourself, your presentation and it will flow smoother
• If the audience is new to LGBT, your presence speaks volumes about the LGBT community
• For general presentation tips please refer to, Practical Tips for an Effective Presentation available at RHO’s Training webpage
Preparing Yourself for an LGBT presentation
• Do not stereotype other groups, religions, organizations, cultures, or countries as homophobic
• Stereotyping groups can cause an “us versus them” mentality and audience can be turned off. The opportunity for building allies may be lost
• You are to present on health promotion, with a blend of equity, human rights and diversity
• Be prepared to address unexpected situations, comments, etc.
Create Ground Rules
• Create a list of ground rules to encourage discussions on LGBT
• Create safe space for audience to bring up issues, questions, myths and stereotypes
• Confidentiality must be maintained.
o The audience may choose to share personal values, beliefs, experiences and it is important to reiterate these are not to be shared outside of the training room with others not at the presentation
• Share air time and allow others to speak and contribute
• Use “I” statements e.g., I feel …., I believe, etc.
• Ask for other ground rules from audience
Preparing your LGBT presentation
• Learn about your audience’s learning needs, expectations and demographics
• The contents must not be blaming or finger pointing at service providers, educational institutions, specialized work sectors or at heterosexual communities
• The presentation should not incite anger or condemnation of heterosexuals or religious organizations or other non-LGBT friendly groups, organization, etc.
• Who is the audience and/or who will be in the audience
o It could be youth, adults, older adults, counsellors, racialized community members, new immigrants, elementary school students, or students from professional schools e.g. medical, nursing, social work, etc.
• Example, if your audience is from the racialized community.
o Does your presentation reflect the values or belief system and do the images used reflect racialized persons? Are you presenting the session with a racialized presenter? It is important to establish connectivity with audience and adhere to anti-oppression principles
• Example, if your audience is from the medical sector.
o Does your presentation use medical terminology, case studies, checklists for clinicians?
• Example, if your audience is from the social service sector.
o Are you informed about the various services and programs available? Do your case studies reflect the populations and services they offer at the organization?
Get Your Facts Straight on LGBT Research
• Every time you quote a fact about discrimination, mental health, health disparities, etc. specific to LGBT, you must have adequate research to back your statements
• Review the content and source(s)
• Who did the research?
• When was it done?
• Where was it conducted?
• Is the research relevant to the Canadian LGBT population?
Interactive Exercises on Values, Beliefs, Attitudes and Porcupine Exercises
• Provide a rationale as to why the exercise is important for critical thinking when serving LGBT persons
• Have you built in adequate time to discuss feedback?
• Have you mentioned the exercises are confidential? Not everyone may want to share their values and beliefs with others at the room.
Issues that Surface in LGBT Presentation and When You Are Challenged
A: Audience member discloses sexual orientation and/or gender identity
• An audience member may choose to disclose their sexual orientation and/ or gender identity in the training for the first time to their friends and colleagues
• Thank the person and congratulate if appropriate
B: Homophobic statements expressed in training
• Someone may express disgust or homophobic statements in the training
• Do not get defensive and do not internalize the statement
• Diffuse the situation by asking the audience their response to the question(s) or statement(s)
• This allows you time to formulate a response if needed
• The audience is watching your reactions- respond calmly and respond according to the question or statements
• Be aware of your facial expression and body language when responding
• Example, statement from audience member, "I think pansexual people are disgusting.”
o Presenter response: “Why do you think so?” Audience member, “They want to have sex with everybody.”
o Presenter response: “Pansexual people see everyone as a beautiful and attractive. It does not mean they want to or will have sex with everyone."
If responding to someone who has strong religious beliefs. One response might be, “Isn’t everyone perfect and a beautiful creation of a higher being or God” or “pansexual people choose not to see people in boxes according to the binary system of male and female.” Use your judgment about what would be an appropriate response.
C: Why are there special programs and organizations to serve LGBT persons?
o Presenter response: "Every group and culture has unique needs. As service providers, we provide programs and services that are free of bias, non-discriminatory and culturally competent for the specific needs of each diverse community or culture in Ontario. In providing culturally competent care, we strive to provide health care and/or services that are sensitive to and knowledgeable about the beliefs, values and behaviours of each community."
o Presenter response: "We try to adhere to a holistic model of service delivery and healthcare based on an evidence-based model and practice. One size does not fit all. Some examples of offering sensitive and culturally competent care are programs for new immigrants, seniors, Francophones, HIV positive people and other linguistic or racialized communities."
D: Religion and LGBT
• Statements such as, “But the religious text forbids same sex love, intimate encounters between same sex, etc.”
o Presenter response : “All the common religions have differing opinions, and there are LGBT groups in each of the religions. RHO’s mission is to improve services and promote the health of Ontario’s LGBT communities. We do not engage in the debate of religious texts."
• Resources on Religion and LGBT
o West Wing Biblical Quotes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHaVUjjH3EI&feature=player_embedded
o A comparison chart on Religious View of LGBT, http://www.religionfacts.com/homosexuality/comparison_chart.htm
o Homosexuality and religion http://www.religionfacts.com/homosexuality/index.htm
o What the Research Tells Us about Sexual Identity and Being a Christian
Mark A. Yarhouse, Psy.D. Regent University
http://www.cccu.org/filefolder/Sexual_Identity_and_Being_a_Christian.pdf
E: Statement from audience, “My country does not discriminate against LGBT people.”
o Around 74 countries practice state sponsored homophobia based on the penal code 377 or 164. Full details are at, http://old.ilga.org/Statehomophobia/ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2010.pdf
o Even countries like Canada that have abolished most homophobic laws still deal with systemic homophobia because this has been the norm for so long (same with racism, sexism, etc)
F: Why are many of the LGBT research studies from US?
• There is little research funding in Canada for research on LGBT. Most research in Canada is based on HIV research. RHO is slowly working with the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) and the various other funders to build capacity of LGBT research in Canada.
G. Lesbians and gay men are protected by the Ontario Human Rights code, aren’t they immune from harassment, discrimination and violence?
• LGBT persons are not immune from discrimination, harassment, prejudice and violence.
o Recent violent attacks against lesbians and gay: Oct. 2009, two lesbian moms in Durham region were attacked by a man when they went to pick up their child at school.
o Feb. 2010, a young man returning from his sister’s birthday celebration was run down three times by unknown driver(s) at Wellington and Yonge St.,Toronto
o Dec. 2008 two lesbians filed a complaint with Manitoba HR commission and College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, They were refused medical care by physician, “ she has no experience treating lesbians and gays who sometimes have "sexual problems" and "get a lot of diseases and infections." http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/MD-did-not-refuse-lesbians-clinic-says38528377.html
http://www.canadianmedicinenews.com/2009/01/whats-in-news-jan-28-winnipeg-lesbians.html
o April 30, 2010, lesbian school teacher fired from Catholic school Little Flower Academy, Vancouver
At the end of presentation
• If time permits, address any questions, disagreements and comments noted on the side bar of the flip chart
• Thank the audience members for asking challenging questions as it bring into the discussion critical questions we all think about
• Always thank the audience for attending and provide business cards or contact information for follow up requests and/or questions
• Thanks the organizer(s)
• Solicit feedback via evaluation forms
Final thought: Every LGBT presentation experience will build your resilience to handle challenging situations and can be very empowering to present more in-depth topics on LGBT health needs.
