The mission of our Educational Services/Speakers' Bureau is to facilitate a dialogue on issues relevant to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

Why are educational services important?

LGBTQ+ people are more visible than ever, and more businesses and services providers are invested in creating welcoming and affirming spaces for LGBTQ+ colleagues, employees, or clients. Our educational services team provides information and resources for anyone interested in learning about and engaging with the LGBTQ+ community. Each presentation or panel that we organize is tailored to the unique needs of the groups we work with, whether that’s developing the skills to hold sometimes-difficult conversations about gender and sexuality or a deep-dive into what LGBTQ+ affirming workplace policies look like.

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Potential learning topics:

• What steps can we take to make our organization more inclusive and welcoming to LGBTQ+ people?

• How can I respectfully ask for and use correct personal pronouns?

• What issues are specifically faced by queer and trans people of color (QTPOC)?

• How can we create inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ elders (those over age 50)?

• What can we do to reduce harm from substance use in the LGBTQ+ community?

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Why are educational services important?

Educational presentations will have around 45 minutes of content and one to two presenters. We recommend at least 15 minutes for questions at the end, but find that additional time allows for deeper processing and discussion with attendees. Speaker’s Bureau panels are more informal and consist of three to four volunteers sharing lived experience and answering questions from attendees.

What audience members have said:

“It is always an honor and privilege to hear the stories of individuals identifying as LGBTQ & the much needed information that we require in order to be more competent therapists.”

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“I found it very valuable to hear about coming out stories and to learn about the changes they’ve implemented in the community. I appreciated everyone’s openness and honesty (THANK YOU FOR THAT).”

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“I feel that it was great to be able to speak with all of them. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun connecting with real members of the LGBTQ community and real people.”

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