A Safe Space is a place where everyone can relax and be able to fully express themselves, without fear of being made to feel uncomfortable, unwelcome, or unsafe. We require everyone to respect others.
In everyday conversation, we often make assumptions about someone’s gender. It takes thoughtful effort to create a space that’s safe for non-binary people. If someone says something questionable, they will be gently redirected. Don’t be embarrassed- everyone makes mistakes.
If someone keeps on misgendering or invalidating others, they will be asked to leave the meeting.
Safe Space Guidelines:
- No racism, sexism, ableism, or other discrimination.
- Don’t comment on appearances unless someone specifically asks for advice. We don’t know anyone’s gender, story, or how they feel about how they look. Even a compliment can hurt.
- Please allow others to speak, try not to interrupt, and limit side conversations. Not everyone is comfortable speaking in a group, but everyone here deserves the chance to share.
- Please feel free to use any name and pronouns, especially if you are considering a new name and would like to try it out. Don’t say negative things about other people’s pronouns.
- Offer sympathy and understanding instead of judgment or advice, unless someone asks for it.
What does it mean to be genderqueer?
Gender identity is the internal sense of one’s true gender- this could be male, female, or something else.
A binary gender identity refers to an identity that is either female or male.
The gender binary is the idea that all gender identities must be either male or female.
Genderqueer and non-binary are catch-all words for gender identities other than female and male, identities that do not fit into the gender binary. This can mean:
- Feeling that your gender identity does not fit into the binary
- Having two or more genders (bigender, trigender, pangender)
- Not having a gender (nongender, genderless, agender, neutrois)
- Moving between genders or with a fluctuating gender identity (genderfluid)
- Other words people can use: androgyne, other-gender, non-binary, genderqueer.
Transgender refers to people whose true gender identity is different from the sex or gender they were assigned at birth.
Some genderqueer people identify as transgender, and some do not.
Some transgender people identify as genderqueer, and some do not.
To view out Safe Space Handout, click the link below: