A surging interest in social justice topics that were ignored in the past has emerged in the last 20 or so years. One of the topics surging interest is LGBTQ+ education, including the taboos that surround LGBTQ+ topics, particularly involving children, as these topics are viewed as “adult” or “inappropriate” by many.
To combat lack of education among LGBTQ+ topics, events are rising up with the intent of educating and uplifting queer and transgender youth by highlighting LGBTQ+ culture and history. WSU Vancouver plans to hold the Queer & Trans Youth Leadership Summit, which has been postponed for safety concerns regarding COVID-19.
Queer and Trans Resource Coordinator and organizer of the event Abigail Soto, said the event has exclusively been a recruitment effort for potential students in previous years. However, Soto and the other organizers are updating the event into an educational event that promotes resources for queer and trans students, while connecting them with recruiters from WSU Vancouver, Clark College and Lower Columbia College. Soto hopes the event will serve a bigger purpose than just college recruitment.
“If they don’t see about themselves represented, if they don’t know about themselves, their risk of suicide goes up. I’m worried about that. So I want us to provide that critical education,” Soto said.
Soto explained the importance of the event for not only the youth in attendance, but the surrounding community.
“We hope the outcome is an increased sense of capacity for leadership and activism for confronting today’s issues in Southwest Washington. We want to empower more queer and trans youth leaders to continue making it an increasingly welcoming area. … We want to increase education that is missing in this area,” Soto explained.
While Washington is considered a liberal state, Clark County and surrounding areas have traditionally been split in voting conseravtive or liberal. This has led to a lack of LGBTQ+ education. Battle Ground Public Schools completely eliminated their sex education, before creating a new program that students and parents are able to opt out of, that educates individuals on LGBTQ+ topics like sexual orientation and gender identity, according to The Columbian.
Ace Schwarz, keynote speaker of the event, is a non-binary teacher in Maryland and the author of the blog Teaching Outside The Binary. Schwarz plans to discuss queer and trans history at the event, leading the attendees in an interactive workshop that shows “epic and vibrant” images of LGBTQ+ resistance and asking the audience what stands out. Schwarz said that this type of education is important because, without it, queer and trans youth may not have the knowledge to identify what they are feeling.
“I spent a lot of time figuring out who I was. If I had the language, it would have saved me a great identity crisis in college,” Schwarz said.
Schwarz explained that organizers hope students leave the event not only knowing about LGBTQ+ history, but also knowing about events that include moments of queer and trans pride celebration. Schwarz emphasized that it is important to know the history of your community, the good and the bad.
“Everyone is part of history. I am who I am because of the people who came before me”, Schwarz said.