Youth Civic Engagement
As part of IEPC, we have been working with LGBTQ youth and allies at the six comprehensive high schools in the city of San Bernardino. We are working on several campaigns that are all student led:
Reimagining School Safety Campaign
For the past year, we have been mobilizing youth around the issue of school safety. Students gave us testimonies of homophobia and transphobia in the classroom that make LGBTQ students feel unsafe. As we dug deeper into the issue, we learned that youth want access to programs that will give them the necessary tools to tackle the daily traumas they experience. Our Reimagining School Safety campaign is focusing on three key areas: 1. Reallocating funds away from punitive safety measures that feed into a culture of criminalization 2. Creating access to mental wellness centers on high school campuses and 3. Advocating for mandatory implicit bias trainings that address homophobia, transphobia, and racism for all teachers and school staff.
LGBTQ Identities and Pronouns Trainings for Teachers
Students have expressed that LGBTQ education for teachers is a necessity for their safety at school. Largely, students have told us that teachers don’t always have the proper education when it comes to treating trans, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming students with the respect they deserve. Because of this, youth have taken it upon themselves to create LGBTQ identity and pronouns trainings to educate their teachers.
LGBTQ Student Led Workshops
We have been working with LGBTQ youth to provide them with leadership development and learning such as logistical event planning, workshop facilitation, and community engagement. Through this work, we are taking the lead on creating spaces where LGBTQ youth narratives are centered and where they are at the forefront of shifting culture through educating their immediate communities.
For more information, contact:
Erika Del Carmen Ruiz
They/Them
