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This is a PDF of policies from the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport that details how we create inclusive environments for Trans participants in Canadian sport. Though in contrast to the other artifacts in this portfolio this is lengthy read with a great deal of information, due to the fact that this is a very current debate and important one, it is necessary to read.
For the purposes of the classroom, teachers are encouraged to simply review and utilize this document in order to ensure an equitable classroom when it comes to sport participation.

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Here we have a fantastic video from MTV exploring why the concept of privilege makes people upset or angry. I really enjoyed this watch and though it broke down the idea into digestible content for students to consume.
This resource would be wonderfully at home in a Media Arts class where we could dissect the style of video essay and have students write and produce their own video essays.

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Why Does Privilege Make People So Angry? | Decoded | MTV News

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This is an article on white privilege which explains in no uncertain terms how practically white privilege can be a part of ones life. I specifically liked where the offer created a list of daily experiences in which they experience their white privilege.
In the context of an English class, students can create their own lists of either the privileges they experience on a daily basis, or perhaps the ways in which they do NOT experience privilege, as a writing exercise.

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White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
Downloadable PDF © 1989 Peggy McIntosh "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" first appeared in Peace and Freedom Magazine, July/August, 1989, pp. 10-12, a For use in a bound volume there will be a copyright fee. McIntosh's lists must not be taken out of their autobiographical contexts. These articles may not be electronically posted except by the National SEED Project. publication of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Philadelphia, PA.
I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group.

Through work to bring materials from Women's Studies into the rest of the curriculum, I have often noticed men's unwillingness to grant that they are over-privileged, even though they may grant that women are disadvantaged. They may say they will work to improve women's status, in the society, the university, or the curriculum, but they can't or won't support the idea of lessening men's. Denials which amount to taboos surround the subject of advantages which men gain from women's disadvantages. These denials protect male privilege from being fully acknowledged, lessened or ended.

Thinking through unacknowledged male privilege as a phenomenon, I realized that, since hierarchies in our society are interlocking, there was most likely a phenomenon of white privilege that was similarly denied and protected. As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage.

I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege. So I have begun in an untutored way to ask what it is like to have white privilege. I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was "meant" to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks.

Describing white privilege makes one newly accountable. As we in Women's Studies work to reveal male privilege and ask men to give up some of their power, so one who writes about white privilege must ask, "Having described it, what will I do to lessen or end it?"

After I realized the extent to which men work from a base of unacknowledged privilege, I understood that much of their oppressiveness was unconscious. Then I remembered the frequent charges from women of color that white women whom they encounter are oppressive.

I began to understand why we are justly seen as oppressive, even when we don't see ourselves that way. I began to count the ways in which I enjoy unearned skin privilege and have been conditioned into oblivion about its existence.

My schooling gave me no training in seeing myself as an oppressor, as an unfairly advantaged person, or as a participant in a damaged culture. I was taught to see myself as an individual whose moral state depended on her individual moral will. My schooling followed the pattern my colleague Elizabeth Minnich has pointed out: whites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average, and also ideal, so that when we work to benefit others, this is seen as work which will allow "them" to be more like "us."

I decided to try to work on myself at least by identifying some of the daily effects of white privilege in my life. I have chosen those conditions which I think in my case attach somewhat more to skin-color privilege than to class, religion, ethnic status, or geographic location, though of course all these other factors are intricately intertwined. As far as I can see, my African American co-workers, friends, and acquaintances with whom I come into daily or frequent contact in this particular time, place and line of work cannot count on most of these conditions.

1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.

2. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live.

3. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.

4. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.

5. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.

6. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.

7. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.

8. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.

9. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods that fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser's shop and find someone who can cut my hair.

10. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.

11. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.

12. I can swear, or dress in second-hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race.

13. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.

14. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.

15. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.

16. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world's majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.

17. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.

18. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to "the person in charge," I will be facing a person of my race.

19. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my race.

20. I can easily buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children's magazines featuring people of my race.

21. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, or feared.

22. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of race.

23. I can choose public accommodations without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.

24. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.

25. If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.

26. I can choose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more less match my skin.

I repeatedly forgot each of the realizations on this list until I wrote it down. For me, white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject. The pressure to avoid it is great, for in facing it I must give up the myth of meritocracy. If these things are true, this is not such a free country; one's life is not what one makes it; many doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own.

In unpacking this invisible knapsack of white privilege, I have listed conditions of daily experience that I once took for granted. Nor did I think of any of these perquisites as bad for the holder. I now think that we need a more finely differentiated taxonomy of privilege, for some of these varieties are only what one would want for everyone in a just society, and others give license to be ignorant, oblivious, arrogant and destructive.

I see a pattern running through the matrix of white privilege, a pattern of assumptions that were passed on to me as a white person. There was one main piece of cultural turf; it was my own turf, and I was among those who could control the turf. My skin color was an asset for any move I was educated to want to make. I could think of myself as belonging in major ways and of making social systems work for me. I could freely disparage, fear, neglect, or be oblivious to anything outside of the dominant cultural forms. Being of the main culture, I could also criticize it fairly freely.

In proportion as my racial group was being made confident, comfortable, and oblivious, other groups were likely being made inconfident, uncomfortable, and alienated. Whiteness protected me from many kinds of hostility, distress and violence, which I was being subtly trained to visit, in turn, upon people of color.

For this reason, the word "privilege" now seems to me misleading. We usually think of privilege as being a favored state, whether earned or conferred by birth or luck. Yet some of the conditions I have described here work systematically to overempower certain groups. Such privilege simply confers dominance because of one's race or sex.

I want, then, to distinguish between earned strength and unearned power conferred systemically. Power from unearned privilege can look like strength when it is in fact permission to escape or to dominate. But not all of the privileges on my list are inevitably damaging. Some, like the expectation that neighbors will be decent to you, or that your race will not count against you in court, should be the norm in a just society. Others, like the privilege to ignore less powerful people, distort the humanity of the holders as well as the ignored groups.

We might at least start by distinguishing between positive advantages, which we can work to spread, and negative types of advantage, which unless rejected will always reinforce our present hierarchies. For example, the feeling that one belongs within the human circle, as Native Americans say, should not be seen as privilege for a few. Ideally it is an unearned entitlement. At present, since only a few have it, it is an unearned advantage for them. This paper results from a process of coming to see that some of the power that I originally saw as attendant on being a human being in the United States consisted in unearned advantage and conferred dominance.

The question is: "Having described white privilege, what will I do to end it?

I have met very few men who are truly distressed about systemic, unearned male advantage and conferred dominance. And so one question for me and others like me is whether we will be like them, or whether we will get truly distressed, even outraged, about unearned race advantage and conferred dominance, and, if so, what will we do to lessen them. In any case, we need to do more work in identifying how they actually affect our daily lives. Many, perhaps most, of our white students in the U.S. think that racism doesn't affect them because they are not people of color, they do not see "whiteness" as a racial identity. In addition, since race and sex are not the only advantaging systems at work, we need similarly to examine the daily experience of having age advantage, or ethnic advantage, or physical ability, or advantage related to nationality, religion, or sexual orientation.

Difficulties and dangers surrounding the task of finding parallels are many. Since racism, sexism, and heterosexism are not the same, the advantages associated with them should not be seen as the same. In addition, it is hard to disentangle aspects of unearned advantage which rest more on social class, economic class, race, religion, sex, and ethnic identity than on other factors. Still, all of the oppressions are interlocking, as the Combahee River Collective Statement of 1977 continues to remind us eloquently.

One factor seems clear about all of the interlocking oppressions. They take both active forms, which we can see, and embedded forms, which as a member of the dominant group one is taught not to see. In my class and place, I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth.

Disapproving of the systems won't be enough to change them. I was taught to think that racism could end if white individuals changed their attitudes. But a "white" skin in the United States opens many doors for whites whether or not we approve of the way dominance has been conferred on us. Individual acts can palliate, but cannot end, these problems.

To redesign social systems, we need first to acknowledge their colossal unseen dimensions. The silences and denials surrounding privilege are the key political tool here. They keep the thinking about equality or equity incomplete, protecting unearned advantage and conferred dominance by making these taboo subjects. Most talk by whites about equal opportunity seems to me now to be about equal opportunity to try to get into a position of dominance while denying that systems of dominance exist.

It seems to me that obliviousness about white advantage, like obliviousness about male advantage, is kept strongly inculturated in the United States so as to maintain the myth of meritocracy, the myth that democratic choice is equally available to all. Keeping most people unaware that freedom of confident action is there for just a small number of people props up those in power and serves to keep power in the hands of the same groups that have most of it already.

Although systemic change takes many decades, there are pressing questions for me and I imagine for some others like me if we raise our daily consciousness on the perquisites of being light-skinned. What will we do with such knowledge? As we know from watching men, it is an open question whether we will choose to use unearned advantage to weaken hidden systems of advantage, and whether we will use any of our arbitrarily awarded power to try to reconstruct power systems on a broader base.

*This is an authorized excerpt of McIntosh's original white privilege article, "White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences through Work in Women's Studies," Working Paper 189 (1988), Wellesley Centers for Women, Wellesley College, MA, 02481.
© 2010, Peggy McIntosh - Wellesley Centers for Women, Wellesley, MA
Some Notes for Facilitators on Presenting My White Privilege Papers

1. My work is not about blame, shame, guilt, or whether one is a "nice person." It's about observing, realizing, thinking systemically and personally. It is about seeing privilege, the "up-side" of oppression and discrimination. It is about unearned advantage, which can also be described as exemption from discrimination.

2. Please do not generalize from my papers. They are about my experience, not about the experiences of all white people in all times and places and circumstances. The paragraph in each paper before the list begins says this, and also allays fears of white people that a paper on white privilege will call them racist.

3. Keep "the lists" in their autobiographical contexts. It is a matter of scholarly integrity and accuracy not to claim more than I did. I compared my own circumstances with some of those of African American women I worked with. Being clear about this will actually increase your effectiveness as a facilitator. You can say, "This is from just one white woman coming to see she's white in her time and place and workspace. . . .She's writing about herself, not you."

4. The work goes best when you draw on participants' own personal experiences, not their opinions. Opinions invite argumentation. Telling about experience invites listening. Opinions tend to bring on conflict, whereas shared experiences tend to elicit curiosity and empathy. When participants move from experiential testimony to opinion, bring them back, knowing that most schooling discourages testimony.

5. When exploring privilege, it is useful to use "Serial Testimony," a disciplined mode in which each participant gets to respond in turn, uninterrupted, for, say, one minute, timed. I call this "the autocratic administration of time in the service of democratic distribution of time."

6. But without rigorous use of a watch or timer, Serial Testimony can be as undemocratic as any other form of discussion.

7. Understand that every participant has an intricate "politics of location" (Adrienne Rich) within the systems of social power. For example, all people in a workshop or class will have a lifetime of experiences of both advantage and disadvantage, empowerment and disempowerment, overwhelming or subtle, within many different systems of power.

8. Recognize that all people are both located in systems and also uniquely individual.

9. Co-presentations and panels of people speaking about their experiences one after another can be very effective. I do not usually arrange for "dialogues," since I feel they are often a veiled form of debating and fighting, rather than listening and learning. I discourage "crosstalk" after panels unless it further clarifies and respects what the panelists have said. This is what Peter Elbow called playing the "The Believing Game."

10. My lists of the unearned privileges I have relative to my colleagues are not "check lists" or "questionnaires." They are not "confessional readings."

11. Please draw attention to the specificity of "my sample." I compared my circumstances only with what I knew of the circumstances of my African-American female colleagues in the same building and line of work. This sample is very specific with regard to race, sex, region, location, workplace, vocation and nation.

12. Behind and within my examples are institutions that bear on my experience such as schools, the police, the IRS, the media, the law, medicine, business.

13. Do not get trapped in definitions of privilege and power. They lack nuances and flexibility.

14. Invite people to make their own autobiographical lists of privilege, for example, about:

15. Beware of gym-exercises which position people in only one aspect of their identities, asking them to step forward or backward from a baseline at a given prompt.

16. Urge participants to avoid self righteousness and preaching to family and friends about privilege, especially if it is something they have just discovered themselves. Explain the word "systemic." Help participants or students to think about what it is to see society systemically, and structurally, rather than only in terms of individuals making individual choices.

17. Think about why U.S. people, especially White people, have trouble seeing systemically. Explain the myth of meritocracy: that the unit of society is the individual and that whatever one ends up with must be whatever that individual wanted, worked for, earned, and deserved. Why do you think this myth survives so successfully, suppressing knowledge of systemic oppression and especially of its "up-side,"systemic privilege?

18. Help participants to strengthen three intellectual muscles: a) the ability to see in terms of systems as well as in terms of individuals; b) the ability to see how systemic discrimination , the downside, is matched by systemic privilege, the upside; c) the ability to see many different kinds of privilege systems.

19. You can argue that work on privilege in schools and universities makes people smarter, not necessarily better. Academic institutions do not claim that making us better is their primary goal, but accurate thinking is a goal they claim to foster.

20. When I present, or co-present with a person of color, on Privilege Systems, whether or not I am the first to speak, I usually:

tell how I came to see men's privilege and their obliviousness to it, which made me see laterally to my own race privilege and my obliviousness to it;

read some examples from my white privilege list, and sometimes read some of my heterosexual privilege list, class privilege list, Christian privilege list, and lists of privilege relative to Asian Americans, Indigenous people, Latino/as, etc.;

analyze some of the different misreadings of my paper by white people and people of color;

raise the question of how I can use unearned advantage to weaken systems of unearned advantage, and why I would want to.

The co-presenter and I take equal time to testify about how we came to see privilege systems in and around us. After this, we use Serial Testimony. We form either small circles of people, or pairs, to respond, in turn, uninterrupted, for one minute each, to the following prompts:
Round one: What are one or more ways in which you've had unearned disadvantage in your life?
Round two: What are one or more ways in which you've had unearned advantage in your life?
Round three: What is it like for you to sit here and talk about and hear about these experiences of unearned advantage and disadvantage?

Round three is like a debrief in itself. Any further debrief should be only on new learnings from the exercise. Random discussion of the exercise usually leads away from experience to generalizations and repetitions of the same opinions people came into the session with.

Some people "get" the idea of systemic privilege and ask "But what can I do?" My answer is, you can use unearned advantage to weaken systems of unearned advantage. I see white privilege as a bank account that I did not ask for, but that I can choose to spend. People with privilege have far more power than we have been taught to realize, within the myth of meritocracy. Participants can brainstorm about how to use unearned assets to share power; these may include time, money, energy, literacy, mobility, leisure, connections, spaces, housing, travel opportunities. Using these assets may lead to key changes in other behaviors as well, such as paying attention, making associations, intervening, speaking up, asserting and deferring, being alert, taking initiative, doing ally and advocacy work, lobbying, campaigning, protesting, organizing, and recognizing and acting against both the external and internalized forms of oppression and privilege.

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"White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" and "Some Notes for Facilitators" - National SEED Project

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White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack Downloadable PDF © 1989 Peggy McIntosh 'White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack' first appeared in P...

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The implicit association test page offers a number of implicit association tests to gauge whether or not implicit biases are present regarding a number of important social constructs. This was a very enjoyable and interesting exercise that really challenged my notions of what assumptions I could be automatically making or associating regarding different people groups.
This would be very useful in a media arts rooms to showcases how different web based applications can be used to measure and gather data about audiences, people groups, and to analyze different experiences and notions of identity. Students could create their own bias tests after taking their own tests in order to use multimodal art to gauge audience reactions.

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Here we have a video from the employers network for equality and inclusion that discusses and explains the idea of unconscious bias. This video was helpful for me in understanding that bias is not always something that is readily available for us to understand just by attempting to understand, but rather something that is implicit to our upbringing and modalities of being handed down to us.
A Media Arts classroom could benefit from this piece in terms of challenging it's notions of good and bad story telling. So often we base our ideas of what is good and bad based on upbringings and social norms and as such don't account for differing method of storytelling from different people groups - such as LGBTQ2S+ media, or media from different cultures and languages. Understanding and analyzing this video could help a media arts classroom understand different modalities of storytelling better.

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The Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion

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This list of example of cisgender privilege is a  wonderful resource for those who might not be aware of how their cisgender identification actually provides them with a myriad of benefits in common society. This list was very beneficial in my understanding of the invisible "leg ups" I have that I was previously unaware of.
In an English classroom, this can be used to teach the idea of subtext. After reviewing the list and discussing how our own lives can be effected by privilege we are unaware of, we can discuss and engage in an activity where we analyze dialogue and discuss what privileges, ideas, or philosophies underpin what a character is saying or doing.

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Heads up! I wrote a book all about gender that provides tools for standing up against gender-based oppression (like the things below) and working toward a socially justice society. If you appreciate all that jazz, you'll love this book.

Following is a list of cisgender identity privileges. If you are cisgender, listed below are benefits that result from your alignment of identity and perceived identity.

If cisgender is a new term to you, here's how I define it in my list of LGBTQ+ vocabulary:

cisgender /"siss-jendur"/ - adj. : a gender description for when someone's sex assigned at birth and gender identity correspond in the expected way (e.g., someone who was assigned male at birth, and identifies as a man). A simple way to think about it is if a person is not transgender, they are cisgender. The word cisgender can also be shortened to "cis."

If you are cisgender, there's a good chance you've never thought about these things (or even your cisgender identity).

Try and be more cognizant and you'll start to realize how much work we have to do in order to make things better for the transgender folks who don't have access to these privileges.

1. You can use public restrooms without fear of verbal abuse, physical intimidation, or arrest.

2. You can use public facilities such as gym locker rooms and store changing rooms without stares, fear, or anxiety.

3. Strangers don't assume they can ask you what your genitals look like and how you have sex.

4. Your validity as a man/woman/human is not based on how much surgery you've had or how well you "pass" as non-transgender.

5. You can walk through the world and generally blend in, not being constantly stared or gawked at, whispered about, pointed at, or laughed at because of your gender expression.

6. You can access gender-exclusive spaces (e.g., a space or activity for women), and not be excluded due to your trans status.

7. Strangers call you by the name you provide and don't ask what your "real name" (birth name) is and then assume that they have a right to call you by that name.

8. You can reasonably assume that your ability to acquire a job, rent an apartment, or secure a loan will not be denied on the basis of your gender identity/expression.

9. You can flirt, engage in courtship, or form a relationship and not fear that your biological status may be cause for rejection or attack, nor will it cause your partner to question their sexual orientation.

10. If you end up in the emergency room, you do not have to worry that your gender will keep you from receiving appropriate treatment or that all of your medical issues will be seen as a result of your gender.

11. Your identity was not formally (until 2013) considered a mental pathology ("gender identity disorder" in the DSM IV) by the psychological and medical establishments, and still pathologized by the public.

12. You don't need to worry about being placed in a sex-segregated detention center, holding facility, jail, or prison that is incongruent with your identity.

13. You don't have to worry ab out being profiled on the street as a sex worker because of your gender expression.

14. You are not required to undergo an extensive psychological evaluation in order to receive basic medical care.

15. You do not have to defend your right to be a part of "queer" (or the queer community), and gays and lesbians will not try to exclude you from "their" equal rights movement because of your gender identity (or any equality movement, including feminist rights).

16. If you are murdered (or have any crime committed against you), your gender expression will not be used as a justification for your murder ("gay panic"), nor as a reason to coddle the perpetrators.

17. You can easily find role models and mentors to emulate who share your identity.

18. Hollywood accurately depicts people of your gender in films and television, without tokenizing your identity as the focus of a dramatic storyline or the punchline of a joke.

19. You can assume that everyone you encounter will understand your identity and will not think you're confused, misled, or hell-bound when you reveal it to them.

20. You can purchase clothes that match your gender identity without being refused service, mocked by staff, or questioned about your genitals.

21. You can purchase shoes that fit your gender expression without having to order them in special sizes or asking someone to custom-make them.

22. No stranger checking your identification or driver's license will ever insult or glare at you because your name or sex does not match the sex they believed you to be based on your gender expression.

23. You can reasonably assume that you will not be denied services at a hospital, bank, or other institution because the staff does not believe the gender marker on your ID card to match your gender identity.

24. Your gender is an option on a form.

25. You can tick a box on a form without someone disagreeing and telling you not to lie.

26. You don't have to fear interactions with police officers due to your gender identity.

27. You can go places with friends on a whim knowing there will be bathrooms there you can use.

28. You don't have to convince your parents of your true gender and/or have to earn your parents' and siblings' love and respect all over again because of your gender identity.

29. You don't have to remind your extended family over and over to use proper gender pronouns (e.g., after transitioning).

30. You don't have to deal with old photographs that do not reflect who you truly are.

31. If you're dating someone, you know they aren't just looking to satisfy a curiosity or kink pertaining to your gender identity (e.g., the "novelty" of having sex with a trans person).

32. You can pretend that anatomy and gender are irrevocably entwined when having the "boy parts and girl parts" talk with children, instead of having to explain the actual complexity of the issue.

Please comment on Facebook or Twitter if you have any additions or revisions to make!
After reading this list, please read and share my article about making a more trans-friendly world and be part of the solution.
Thanks to BGSU's Safe Zone Program for the beginnings of this list.

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30+ Examples of Cisgender Privileges - ❤ It's Pronounced Metrosexual

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If you identify with the gender you were assigned at birth, here are a bunch of unearned benefits you get that many folks do not. Read them and consider them. It's not about shame. It's about understanding.

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Here we have an episode of a series titled "Small Town Queer" where folks tell their stories of what being part of the LGBTQ2S+ community has been like for them individually. Once again, as a cisgendered male, this perspective is invaluable for me as I attempt to become a better and more well educated ally for the LGBTQ2S+ community.
In my media arts classroom, there is a lot this video can be used to explore. The cinematography and colour is amazing in this series and could be used to explore how we attach feeling and emotion to aspects of our films.

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This video from ABC me showcases several young folks expressing what it is like to be Transgender in their own words. This resource was a wonderful way for me to experience and hear first hand what so many peoples experience has been like, both good and bad. As a cisgendered male, the perspective is so necessary.
In my media arts classroom, this video can be used a demonstration on the power of interview style videos and how they can be used to tell stories. Students can reflect and analyze what benefits interview styling offers them as apposed to fictional tales.

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What It's Like Being Transgender (Full Episode)

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This article showcases 8 common myths regarding LGBTQ2S+ youth. This is such a great resource due to the fact that I truly believe that assumptions without education are at the heart of many of the issues with see with LGBTQ2S+ youth in schools. As such, having a resource that can quickly dispel some of the common myths is invaluable.
As an educator, I would love to use this resource in my English classroom. Myths and Lore are at the heart of why I enjoy English as a whole. This resource could be worked into an assignment where we start with the negative myths, and then instead build positive myths in contrast, and then finally determine where the truth behind the myths actually rests.

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Diversity, Equity, Research
Eight common myths and misconceptions about LGBTQ2 youth

The time has come for educators and concerned parents to start challenging the myths and misinformation circulating about LGBTQ2 youth with facts that are based in evidence and research, to break through the fear and silence that still surrounds LGBTQ2-inclusive education in our schools.

In 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. Since that time, our nation has taken great strides towards the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and two-spirit (LGBTQ2) people in Canadian society. Despite these progressive moves forward, students in our K-12 school system still experience significant bullying, harassment, violence, and discrimination. In particular, our transgender, two-spirit, and LGBTQ2 youth of colour often face some of the most hostile and uninviting environments. Much of this discrimination and prejudice is rooted in stereotypes, fear, and misinformation that continues to be perpetuated by those opposed to LGBTQ2 equality.

This article provides the straight facts on LGBTQ2 youth by addressing the eight most common myths and misconceptions that surround sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in schools.

1. It's just a phase

Being LGBTQ2 is an identity, not a choice, lifestyle, or phase someone grows out of. Nor does someone become LGBTQ2 because they were physically or sexually abused as a child. Much of this misinformation is rooted in the belief that LGBTQ2 people are abnormal, disordered, or mentally ill. No credible medical or psychological association in the world continues to validate these harmful stereotypes. In fact, sexual orientation and gender identity are considered to be so complex that the exact origins are unknown. However, what is widely known is that any attempts to "fix," "cure," or "repair" a person's sexual orientation and gender identity is not only unethical and unprofessional, it can cause great harm and lifelong damage.

Unfortunately, prejudice, discrimination, stigma, and fear all contribute to youth feeling they have to hide or deny who they are.

2. You can tell who LGBTQ2 youth are

I once had a school principal say to me, "There are no gay or lesbian youth in my school." What this principal didn't realize is that there were no visible LGBTQ2 youth in the school, most likely because it was not a safe place. Visibility and safety are tightly interwoven together, especially in any school-related context.

The belief that you can tell who LGBTQ2 youth are by simply looking at or by listening to them is based in old, unfounded stereotypes and beliefs. Just as not all gay men are hairdressers, and not all lesbians are truck drivers, not all transgender kids are gender non-conforming or cross dress. These stereotypes are rooted in powerful beliefs about gender and how young people should express their gender identity in typically masculine or feminine ways. For example, little boys who like to dance or do ballet are often called "sissies" or "faggots." Girls who like to play sports or climb trees are frequently called "lesbos" or "dykes." In these examples, homophobic bullying is used as a weapon of sexism, targeting children who are deemed to be different from the norm. These kinds of stereotypical beliefs often keep young people trapped in "gender boxes," which serve to regulate and limit the full expression of their identities, hopes, and dreams.

3. LGBTQ2 youth are too flamboyant

"Why can't you just keep it to yourself? Why do you have to flaunt it? If you didn't wear those clothes, this bullying wouldn't happen to you." These are all-too-common messages that many LGBTQ2 youth hear on a regular basis. This victim-blaming positions LGBTQ2 youth as a problem that needs to be fixed, rather than focusing on the environment of homophobia, transphobia, and heteronormativity that creates a climate where it is OK to discriminate against and target those who are perceived to be different.

A person's sexual orientation or gender identity is often still thought of as an invisible difference that can or should be hidden. But at what cost? The cost to LGBTQ2 youth when they feel they can't be out and visible is well documented. Having to hide or deny who you are can lead to depression, self-harm, increased use of drugs and alcohol, and suicide ideation.

Sadly, in Canada, the three most targeted groups for hate crimes are the Black, Jewish, and LGBTQ2 community. Here we can clearly see the impacts of racism, anti-Semitism, and homophobia and transphobia. Of all the hate crimes committed, the ones that are the most violent in nature, and often require serious medical attention, are targeted toward LGBTQ2 people. This illustrates the power of stereotypes and the processes of dehumanization that position some individuals not as people, but as objects to be hated and destroyed.

No one should be targeted or discriminated against because of who they are, how they act, or whom they love.

4. Parents have the right to know

There is no doubt that parents play an extremely critical role in the health and well-being of their children. Research indicates having a supportive family is one of the most important resiliency factors in the lives of all young people. Without strong parental support, many LGBTQ2 youth experience poor psychological well-being, lower self-esteem, increased post-traumatic stress disorder, and much higher rates of suicide.

Recently there has been significant debate about parents having the "right to know" if their child comes out as LGBTQ2 at school. Some parents suggest that they should be immediately notified, for example, if their child attends a gay-straight alliance (GSA). Others maintain that it should always be up to the child to determine who should know about their sexual orientation or gender identity.

LGBTQ2 youth should always have the right to "come out" on their own terms and only when they are ready to share that important part of their identity. In some provinces, it is a breach of privacy legislation to disclose a person's sexual orientation or gender identity without their direct permission. The consequences of "outing," or unwanted disclosure, can be life-altering. For example, research indicates that between 20-40 percent of all homeless youth are LGBTQ2. In Edmonton, recent statistics indicate that more than 70 percent of youth at one emergency youth shelter identify as LGBTQ2. Sadly, parental rejection is one of the leading causes of youth homelessness. For some LGBTQ2 youth, places like GSAs may be the only safe spaces that they have in their lives.

Ultimately, if a parent wants to know about their child's sexual orientation or gender identity, all they have to do is ask them. If they are ready, children will gladly tell their parents. If they are not ready or don't feel safe doing so, no child should be forced to come out. Likewise, no professional should ever share a student's sexual orientation or gender identity without their direct permission. In fact, unwanted disclosure could be considered an act of unprofessional conduct with serious repercussions.

5. Gender-neutral bathrooms create unsafe environments

As the visibility of transgender youth has increased rapidly in mainstream culture, conversely, opposition to the inclusion of transgender students in schools has risen dramatically over the past several years. This opposition has been led by parental rights groups, far-right political parties, some conservative religious organizations, and even a few vocal school board trustees. One of the main arguments against trans-inclusive school policies is the creation of a perceived "loophole" for sexual predators to gain access to female-only spaces such as washrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams. The common refrain heard is that "men don't belong in women's bathrooms!" These opponents to trans-inclusion often frame their beliefs in opposition to what they perceive as "radical liberal political correctness," and call for a return to traditional "family values," which position and privilege cisgender heterosexual families as the moral bedrock of society.

Historical movements once designed to oppress and counter the advancement of lesbian and gay people have now changed tactics to focus on transgender people, especially in schools. While the focus of these oppressive movements has shifted, the tactics remain the same, with an emphasis on the potential harms of LGBTQ-inclusive policies and curriculum on vulnerable and impressionable children. The goal is to create a "gender panic," largely fed by emotionally fueled stereotypes and sensationalized claims about transgender people. Similar tactics, for example, were used to oppose the legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada with outlandish statements suggesting that legalizing gay marriage would lead to bestiality and the collapse of the family unit - none of which, naturally, have come true.

Thankfully, every province and territory in Canada, and over 20 states in the U.S., have now passed non-discrimination laws or ordinances that explicitly include gender identity. Many Canadian provincial ministries of education have also issued best practices to support trans and gender-diverse students in schools.

6. School policies already protect everyone

A common argument is that LGBTQ2-specific policies are unnecessary, because anti-bullying policies already include everyone. Singling out LGBTQ2 students gives them special treatment that is not afforded to other students. This "one size fits all" approach to policy making is popular, but seldom effective in actually reducing risk and improving the safety and educational outcomes of marginalized students. For example, most school districts now have comprehensive standalone policies in place to support Indigenous students. Educators understand that because of colonization, historical trauma, the legacy of residential schools, and ongoing discrimination in society, Indigenous students have unique needs and concerns that ought to be recognized and supported by all members of the school community.

Research demonstrates that generic or "catch all" policies are not effective when it comes to supporting LGBTQ2 youth in schools. Effective policies must be clear and comprehensive if they are going to have the desired impact. For example, how do school trustees and administrators expect policies to work effectively if they can't even say or use the words LGBTQ2? This form of structural invisibility, or silencing, tells LGBTQ2 students that their identities do not matter.

7. All schools are safe spaces

To help break this silence, some school boards now require each school to appoint a "safe contact" who acts as a public resource person on LGBTQ2 issues. Often these safe contacts serve as advisors to the school's gay-straight alliance (GSA). Gay-straight alliances are another important way to create safe spaces and to identify trusted teachers who can serve as important allies for LGBTQ2 students. Some provinces, like Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta, have passed legislation to support a student's legal right to start a GSA in their school. This legislation has led to a strong and growing GSA movement across Canada, which includes the creation of many new GSAs in private, Catholic, and faith-based schools.

8. Sexual health education is inclusive of all students

In many schools, LGBTQ2 issues are completely omitted from sexual health education classes. This often happens because of personal discomfort, embarrassment, lack of training, and fear of parental backlash. There is a common misconception that by talking about sex, youth will have more of it; or that by including LGBTQ2 issues, youth will experiment and become gay. In reality, considerable research has shown that abstinence-based education actually serves to increase pregnancy and rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Likewise, no one becomes gay by talking about LGBTQ2 issues. What we do know is that sexual health education should be comprehensive (which means LGBTQ2 inclusive), age-appropriate (with key concepts and terminology differentiated by grade level), science-based (with evidence-based facts), and non-judgmental (not steeped in one person's or culture's beliefs).

Unfortunately, STIs and HIV are on the rise among youth in Canada. These are only some of the critical reasons demonstrating why comprehensive sexual health education is urgently needed in today's schools. As an example, Quebec now requires all students to take sexual health education classes and offers very few grounds for exemption, while Alberta has the opposite approach and provides parents with the legal right to opt their child out of any sexual health classes without providing any reason.

The reality is that the vast majority of students want inclusive sexual health education, not from their parents but from their teachers. They trust their teachers to provide them with accurate information that is free from bias, prejudice, and stigma. And many schools are now approaching sexual health education as a public health imperative, with the belief that providing students with high quality, non-judgmental information is the best way to reduce risk and promote healthy relationships for all students.

The time has come for all educators and concerned parents to start challenging the myths and misinformation circulating about LGBTQ2 youth with facts that are based in evidence and research. We must use these truths to break through the fear and silence that still surrounds LGBTQ2-inclusive education in our schools. Every child should have the right to be themselves fully and completely. Perhaps the greatest gift we can give our LGBTQ2 children is to tell them: we see you, we love you, and we support you.

Transgender Youth: The stats

Research estimates that between .07% to 2.7% of the youth population identifies as transgender.

The 2015 Canadian Trans Youth Health Survey Report, which included 923 trans-identified youth from across Canada, found that:

Two-thirds experienced incidents of discrimination because of their gender identity

More than 70% were victims of sexual harassment

Nearly half of older transgender youth (18-24) reported cyber bullying

Nearly two-thirds engaged in self-harming behaviours in the past year

More than 1 in 3 attempted suicide

70% reported their families did not understand them.

LGBTQ2 Terms and Definitions

Language and identities are constantly evolving, especially among youth communities. If you're unsure what a term means, just ask!

A person whose gender identity and sex assigned at birth are congruent.

GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance or Gender-Sexuality Alliance): Student organizations found in many K-12 schools that create safe and supportive places for LGBTQ2 students and their allies.

Gender Diverse/Gender Non-Conforming/Non-Binary: A person whose gender identity and/or gender expression do not conform to the norms and stereotypes society expects of their assigned sex. Youth may identify with neither or both genders.

Gender Identity: A sense of one's self as transgender, genderqueer, woman, man, or some other identity, which may or may not correspond with the sex and gender one is assigned at birth.

Heteronormativity: A system or cultural bias that works, often unconsciously, to normalize behaviours and societal expectations that are tied to the presumption of heterosexuality and an adherence to a strict gender binary.

Homonegativity: Negative attitudes towards lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and relationships.

An initialism for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit. Sexual and gender minorities is a synonymous term. LGBTQ2+ adds a "plus sign" to represent other constellations of identities such as asexual, pansexual, questioning, etc.

Misgendering: Attributing a gender to someone that is incorrect/does not align with their gender identity. Can occur when using pronouns, gendered language (e.g. "Hello ladies!" "Hey guys"), or assigning genders to people without knowing how they identify ("Well, since we're all women in this room, we understand...").

Rainbow Flag: An international symbol of the LGBTQ2 movement designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978. Each of the six colours has a unique meaning. Red for life. Orange for healing. Yellow for sunlight. Green for nature. Blue for serenity. Purple for spirit.

Sexual Orientation: Feelings of attraction, behaviour, intimacy, or identification that direct people toward intimacy with others.

Transgender/Trans: A person whose gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth.

Two-Spirit: A spiritual identity for some Indigenous people. This term implies the embodiment of both masculine and feminine spiritual qualities within the same body, and has different meanings for different Indigenous communities. Some Indigenous people use this term instead of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, etc.

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First published in Education Canada, June 2019

Meet the Expert(s)

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Eight common myths and misconceptions about LGBTQ2 youth

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Diversity, Equity, Research Eight common myths and misconceptions about LGBTQ2 youth The time has come for educators and concerned parents to start challenging the myths and misinformation circulating about LGBTQ2 youth with facts that are based in evidence and research, to break through the fear and silence that still surrounds LGBTQ2-inclusive education in our schools.

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This is a sample gender-neutral dress code policy suitable for use in an Ontario school as created by the Ontario Human Rights Commission. As a cis-gender hetero male, I found this policy interesting because dress code was not really something that I had previously considered as a tool for subjugation of the LGBTQ2S+ community. I learned quite a bit regarding how the language of a policy could be detrimental and offensive to certain groups.
In an English classroom, this would be an effective way to explore writing for academia and policy and to explore formatting as well as bias in writing. Students could read through the policy and write a small reflective paragraph expressing if they felt it was truly "gender neutral" and then as a class we could discuss how this was accomplished.

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Appendix C: Sample gender-neutral dress code policy | Ontario Human Rights Commission

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These are examples of gender-neutral dress code descriptions based on dress codes already in use in Ontario restaurants, including a wide range of styles and degrees of formality. Note: all positions should include a pants option.

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Here we have an article from the CBC that showcases the struggle of 2 Toronto based transgender students who filed human rights claims against the province regarding the sex-ed curriculum. I learned a great deal regarding how students are capable of making boots to the earth change and how they can inspire their peers and fellow youth.
This article could additionally be used in the English classroom in order to showcase journalism and students could analyze language regarding transgender youth and how it could be biased for or against. Critiquing and analyzing bias is a valuable tool for a student that is often bombarded with fake news in the modern era.

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Two Toronto transgender high school students have filed separate human rights claims against the province because they say the new interim sexual education curriculum discriminates against all LGBT students in Ontario.

Ryan and Noah, both 15, whose last names were not provided to CBC Toronto to protect their privacy, want the 2015 health and physical education curriculum, which includes sex ed, to be reinstated because they say it is inclusive.

The two Grade 10 students are also seeking $15,000 in damages each because of the curriculum change. Both students were born female, but identify as male and transgender.

Andrea Luey, staff lawyer for Justice for Children and Youth, a legal clinic in Toronto that filed the claims for students on Friday with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, said the students are arguing that provincial changes to the curriculum will affect their ability to access education free of discrimination.

"For Ryan and Noah, they each brought a human rights complaint because they've experienced harm and will experience ongoing harm as a result of the change in curriculum," Luey said on Monday.

The claims themselves say the new interim curriculum "creates a learning environment that allows for bias, prejudice and intolerance" and will contribute to a hostile school environment for all students.

In the claims, the students say the $15,000 each would compensate them for injury to dignity, pain and suffering caused by curriculum change.

Both students came out as trans in their respective elementary schools. They have since transitioned and fully live their lives as males. Both started high school known to their peers as male students, not as trans students.

Students take issue with comments, snitch line

The pair want the 2015 curriculum to remain in place for this school year and they want any future sex ed curriculum to comply with the Ontario Human Rights Code.

They also want the tribunal to declare that comments made by Ontario Education Minister Lisa Thompson, and her officials, about the curriculum change, as well as the creation of a the "snitch line" teacher reporting website, are contrary to the code.

Thompson, who directed all school boards in the province to replace the 2015 curriculum for Grades 1 to 8 with an interim curriculum, in effect reviving elements of the 1998 curriculum, is named in the claims.

"... the Minister either fully or substantially removed all content from the elementary curriculum regarding gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirited identifies and issues," the claims read.

Thompson has "excluded all content regarding gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, same-sex families, negotiating consent to sexual activity, invisible disabilities, HIV and the impacts of HIV stigma, and online safety from the mandatory learning expectations," the claims read.

According to the claims, the students allege that the curriculum changes, public statements, and the "snitch line" teacher reporting website discriminate against Noah on the grounds of gender identity and expression and against Ryan on the grounds of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation and disability.

Change puts transgender people at risk, students say

Ryan told CBC's Metro Morning on Monday: "I think the repeal of the 2015 sex-ed curriculum was a really bad decision that puts people like me, transgender people, at huge risk. With a lack of education among elementary students, people are going to be confused.

"There is going to be a lot of students who ... don't know how to treat transgender people. And unfortunately, with a lack of education and lot of ignorance, that might cause a lot of disrespect towards trans people."

Noah said in a news release on Monday: "The 2015 sex-ed curriculum included everybody. The new curriculum leaves people out. Students won't be taught what they need to know to ensure everyone feels welcome."

The students said the 2015 curriculum was critical in reducing the level of discrimination and bullying they experienced as elementary school students.

It taught elementary students about different gender identities, sexual orientations and invisible differences as well as how to recognize and deal with transphobia, they said. They added that these issues are not addressed in the 1998 curriculum.

Luey said the claims are a reminder that children are the primary users of education and have rights.

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2 Toronto transgender students file human rights claims against province over sex-ed | CBC News

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Two Toronto transgender high school students have filed separate human rights claims against the province because they say the new interim sexual education curriculum discriminates against all LGBT students in Ontario.

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Here is an incredible podcast regarding sex-ed curriculum in Ontario and how it is changed over the years (and how those changes are currently being threatened by the Ford administration). This talk is an excellent tool for the modern educator who wants to understand sex-ed curriculum, where it has come from in the past, and where it is going and will go in the future.
In the classroom, this can be used in the consideration and building of curriculum for PE classrooms of course. But additionally, the podcast itself is a resource to those in Media Arts who might want to do a unit on podcasting and how the artform can be used to inform and inspire.

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Listen to this episode from Sex Ed Before Bed on Spotify. Carly is a sex educator, she visits schools to teach Ontario's relatively new sex education curriculum, launched in September 2015. Carly also remembers the old sex ed curriculum, you know, the one that hasn't changed since 1998. That one.

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This article in the National Geographic is a phenomenal exploration of how we are currently in the midst of a Gender Revolution. For the modern educator that was perhaps not as aware of gender identity and what that means to the youth of today, this resource is a fantastic way to hear from those experiencing this revolution in their own voice what is happening.
In my own classroom, there are many questions posed in this article that would be wonderful discussion questions for an English classroom. This could also be used in Media Literacy in such a way in which cross-curricular ideas can be possible.

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This interview regarding land acknowledgements is an incredible resource in educating folks as to why land acknowledgements are necessary. Many parents I have interacted with become very frustrated with the concept especially when confronted with how close in proximity it often is with the national anthem. This talk is a great way to break down why they are important.
In my classroom, specifically in my English classroom (which now also includes indigenous studies) this resource is an excellent jumping off point to begin discussions surrounding reconciliation and what steps have been taken by the Canadian government thus-far.

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What are land acknowledgements and why do they matter?

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This wonderful talk with Lindsay Amer takes the audience through an explanation of why it is important to discuss issues of gender and sexuality from childhood all the way to old age. This talk is a fantastic response to the question that often gets brought up in the wake of conversation surrounding LGBTQ2S+ conversations which is: just let kids be kids. This resource has given me a way to approach that conversation more effectively for my own personal life.
In my classroom, even simply showing this talk is a great way to engage my students in conversations surrounding equity. In addition, this talk shows how we can combine multi-modal art to work through concepts surrounding diversity, and I could bring those approaches into my own teaching.

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Why kids need to learn about gender and sexuality

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Lindsay Amer is the creator of “Queer Kid Stuff,” an educational video series that breaks down complex ideas around gender and sexuality through songs and metaphors. By giving kids and their families a vocabulary to express themselves, Amer is helping to create more empathetic adults -- and spreading a message of radical acceptance in a world where it’s sometimes dangerous to just be yourself. “I want kids to grow up and into themselves with pride for who they are and who they can be,” Amer says.