Women's Crisis Support Team // Grants Pass, Oregon

Links.

PFLAG
http://www.pflag.org

Grants Pass Contact Information for Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays:

PFLAG Grants Pass/Josephine County
P.O Box 601
Grants Pass, OR 97526
bonniecameron@cameron.com
Phone: (541) 659-9366
Phone 2: (541) 955-7414

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Gay Men's DV Project
http://www.gmdvp.org

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"Everybody Deserves to be Safe!"

Sexual and Gender Minority Services Program, Bradley-Angle House Portland

*providing options for all sexual and gender minority domestic violence survivors (LGBTIQ)

*for more information about current services, to speak to an advocate, or to request an educational presentation please call:

(503) 232-7805 x 3

www.bradleyangle.org

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Straight But Not Narrow.
How to Be an Ally to the LGBTIQ Community

Respect people’s pronoun choices and how they identify themselves.
Don't assume that there are no trans, intersex, lesbian, gay, bisexual people in the room.
Don’t inquire about a trans or intersex person’s genitalia or surgery status.
Allow for gender fluidity in programs: there is more than just male/female.
Find out what terminology people are comfortable with and then use it.
Use non-heterosexist language. Use the term “partner” or “significant other” instead of “boyfriend/girlfriend” or “husband/wife.” Ask, “are you seeing someone?” or “are you in a committed relationship?” instead of “do you have a girlfriend/boyfriend?” or “are you married?”
Do not assume anyone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Educate yourself about LGBTIQ history, culture, and concerns. Read LGBTIQ magazines, books and newspapers such as JUST OUT. Attend community events such as Pride week, or the Gay Men’s Chorus. Donate time or money to an LGBTIQ organization such as Vanguard Youth Services, Love Makes a Family, PFLAG or Lesbian Community Project.
Speak out against anti-LGBTIQ statements and jokes. Letting people know that you find anti-LGBTIQ statements and jokes offensive and unacceptable can go a long way to reducing homophobia and making LGBTIQ people feel safer to come out.
Educate yourself about the LGBTIQ and/or LGBTIQ-friendly resources in Grants Pass.
Be aware of your own biases.
Learn about homophobia through experience:
o Read an LGBTIQ publication in public
o Hold hands with someone of the same sex in public
o Try keeping your heterosexuality in the closet for a week by not disclosing it to anyone.

LGBTIQ Vocabulary.

Lesbian	A woman or girl whose primary sexual and romantic feelings are for people of the same sex.
Bisexual	A person whose sexual and romantic feelings may be for people of either sex.
Gay	A man or boy whose primary sexual and romantic feelings are for people of the same sex. Whole many people use this term only to refer to gay men, others use it as a general term to include both men and women: for example, “the gay community.”
Homosexual	Refers to any person, male or female, whose sexual and romantic feelings are for people of the same sex. While this term was once widely used, it is preferred less today. One reason many people do not like it is because it sounds so technical, and because it is not a label that emerged from inside the community. The term “homosexual” also has negative connotations for a lot of people because “homosexuality” was once defined as a mental illness. Although the medical and psychiatric professions have since said that being queer is not an illness, the term still feels oppressive to many people.
Transgendered	A person who is transgendered chooses ways of presenting themselves that are different from what is expected of the gender they have been assigned. For example, a person who is assigned a role of “boy” by a doctor at birth but experiences herself as a woman is transgendered. This term may also include people who identify as transsexual and trans A person who is transsexual chooses to change their physical body to match the gender they want to express.
Trans:	An inclusive term which refers to transgendered people, transsexuals and others who transgress societal norms of expressing gender.
Heterosexual/ Straight	Refers to any person, male or female, whose sexual and romantic feelings are for people of the other sex.
Queer:	An inclusive term which refers collectively to bisexual people, lesbians, gay men, trans folks, and others who may not identify with any of these categories but do identify as queer. While “queer” has often been used as a hurtful, oppressive term, many people have reclaimed it as an expression of power and pride. It is also preferred by many because of its inclusiveness. However, there are others who do not identify with this term, and still experience it as insulting.
Fag/dyke/etc.:	These are terms which some people have also chosen to reclaim for themselves, although they have a history of being used in hurtful ways. While many people may use these terms to refer to themselves and their communities, most people still find these terms oppressive if they are used by people outside of the community.
LGBT	This is an abbreviation some people use to refer to gay men, lesbians, bisexual people and transgendered folks collectively.
“In the life”	A term which refers primarily to lesbians and gay men, but may refer to anyone who identifies as living outside of heterosexual and/or gender norms.
Homophobia	The systematic oppression of gay men, lesbians, and bisexual people because of their sexuality. Some people also define homophobia as the fear and hatred of queer people.
Transphobia	The systematic oppression of transgendered people because they do not fit society’s expectations of what men and women are supposed to act like and look like.
Biphobia	The systematic oppression of bisexual people specifically because they are neither gay nor straight. For example, many bisexual people feel that they are forced to “choose” between two identities which do not fit.
Heterosexism	The belief that heterosexual (straight) relationships and people are the ideal, and that they are better or more normal than queer relationships and people. Heterosexism also includes the denial that queer people even exist, and the assumption that everyone is straight unless they tell you otherwise.
Heterosexual Priviledge	Unearned privileges that go to straight people simply because they are straight. The ability to legally marry a partner, to take a date to the prom, and to talk publicly about crushes and intimate relationships are examples of heterosexual privilege.
Bashing/Hate Crimes	Violence, or the threat of violence, that is used against queers either because they are queer, or because they do not fit society’s expectations of what men and women are supposed to act like and look like. While hate crimes can be use to reinforce and support homophobia, they can also be used to reinforce and support other kinds of oppression, such as racism, anti-semitism, sexism, etc.
Gender Identity	Person view or experience of one’s own gender.
Gender Expression	The behaviors and ways of acting a person uses to perform or express gender
Gender Attribution	An assumption made about a person’s gender. How a person’s gender is “read” by others.
Gender Assignment	Initial gender attribution, usually made at birth by doctors or parents, which determines gender role.
Gender Role	Aggregate of a culture’s assumptions and expectations that define a gender’s role or place within society.
Intersex, Iintersexed	Describes a person whose physical sex characteristics (genitalia, hormones, chromosomes) are not clearly male or female, or are characteristic of both male and female. Intersexed people were formerly referred to as “hermaphrodites:” this term is now generally considered offensive and inappropriate.
Transgender, Trans	Transgender and trans have recently been used as broad umbrella terms, referring to an enormous spectrum of expressions and identities that transgress “normative” ideas of male/masculine/heterosexual and female/feminine/heterosexual genders. Transgender maybe or may not be understood to include transsexuals.
Transexual	Refers to a person who undertakes some physical process to transition from one sex or gender to another, which often involves medical intervention including hormones therapy and sex reassignment surgery.
Transition	The process by which a trans person changes his/her/hir sex or gender. May or may not include hormone therapy, surgery, and legal name change.
Pre-op, Post-op:	Trans people may use these terms to describe themselves as pre-operative, post-operative or non-operative referring to sex reassignment surgery.
Non-op	Describes a transsexual who is not having sex reassignment surgery.
FTM	Female-to-male, can be used as a noun or adjective.
MTF	Male-to-female, can be used as a noun or adjective.
Two-Spirit	An umbrella term used by many Native American/First Nations people to refer to sexuality or gender expression recognized in Native cultures that are outside of the dominate Western sex/gender system.
Genderqueer	A term used by some people whose identity and gender expression are outside the dominant sex/gender system. People who identify as genderqueer may identify as both male and female, neither male nor female, or they may reject gender categories altogether. Genderqueer folks may or may not identify as trans.
24/7, Full time	Many domestic violence programs only offer services to MTF women who live 24/7 as a woman. Like sex reassignment surgery; it is really important to consider the class privilege that is involved for transitioning when making this kind of delineation. Also, it is important to consider the cultural assumptions involved in expecting people to categorize and present their gender in ways that match your cultural experience of gender.
Standards of Care	A set of guidelines set forth by the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, which set the professional standards for psychologists and medical doctors treating “gender identity disorders.” These standards regulate transsexuals’ access to hormone therapy and surgical reassignment. The extent to which these standards are enforced varies widely depending on location.
Transvestite/Cross-Dresser	Someone occasionally or regularly wears clothes assigned to the “opposite” sex. Can refer to a person of any gender identity or sexual orientation.