Are you here to teach about sexuality, gender, and LGBTQ+ identities? You, friend, have come to the right place.

For several years, we’ve been creating materials here with you in mind. As a quick note up front: everything here is offered to you in the spirit of the gift. That means that it’s yours to freely use, customize, improve upon, and share — do some good.

Here at The Safe Zone Project, all of the resources, curricula, and activities we create are:

  • Queer-positive
  • Evidence-informed
  • Accessible, engaging, and — ideally — fun!

So scroll down this page, use the search bar, click around in the menus — do what you need to do the find the resources you’re looking for. (And if you can’t find them, let us know what you need!)

Curricula & Activities

Head over to the Curriculum Page to get a sense of what we’ve put together for you.

All Curricula include:

  • Participant Packet, Facilitator Guide, and all handouts
  • .ZIP Folder containing .PDFs and Google Drive Documents
  • Files for stickers and extras

Our Foundational Curriculum is modular, and composed of a bunch of the activities, all of which you can find in a collection on the Activities Page.

All Activities are:

  • Tested & tweaked by us over years of training
  • 100% our (free) gift to you — to download, distribute, customize, etc.
  • Accompanied by facilitator guides, tips, discussion questions, and participant handouts
  • Available as .PDFs and editable Google Drive Documents

Looking to improve your facilitation skills? 

Learning the content can sometimes be the easy part. But if you want to make your trainings dynamic, enjoyable, and safe environments for people to ask challenging questions—that can be mighty tricky. Here are a few resources to explore:

All-Star Facilitator Series

This is a series of articles that we wrote to help folks learn some fundamental concepts of facilitation including

  • How to read a group
  • Navigating triggers
  • The importance of self-feedback 
Learn more.

All Articles, FAQs, Activities, & Courses for Teachers

How can I hire someone to come in and do a Safe Zone training for my organization?

Announcing S.T.A.R.L.A.B. and a Train-the-Trainer Clearinghouse

An academy for aspiring Safe Zone facilitators and a bunch of tools and resources for training trainers coming your way

Announcing Spanish-Language Safe Zone Curriculum, and Safe Zone 201: Race + LGBTQ

Because we know this conversation needs to keep going.

I’m looking for activity about [blank] but you don’t have one. What should I do?

Did you make up all these activities?

What is the difference between a 101 and a 201 activity?

Privilege for Sale & Coming Out Handout

This combo activity invites participants to deeply engage with privilege and segues into a conversation about the coming out process.

LGBTQ Umbrella

A mini explanation of queer, LGBTQ. A useful place to start helping folks separate genders from sexualities.

Group Norms

Set your training up for success by beginning with shared group expectations.

Is your curriculum really free? What’s the catch?

I want to customize your curriculum for [some specific population]. Is that okay?

A Few Pronoun Best [Preferred?] Practices

Tips for how-to, when, and how-not-to ask for someone’s pronouns.

Is your curriculum evidence-based?

New Curriculum, Internship Program, & More: Our 4th Birthday Update

Adding a little silver lining to the storm cloud that is 2017.

Why we don’t certify “Safe Zone Trainers” (and don’t plan to).

It would create a problematic power relationship, add to a specific problem we’re trying to solve, and is simply beyond our capacity.

Are Safe Zone trainings just for universities?

New Curriculum for our 3rd Birthday — version 3.0!

It’s birthday #3 and we’ve got a new 3.0 curriculum to match!

F(earfully) Asked Questions

Creating an opportunity for people to ask the questions they’re afraid to ask — with less risk.

Demystifying Coming Out

A handout (and handy activity) for demystifying coming out as well as some easy do and don’ts when it comes to supporting someone’s coming out process.

Do I need to be “certified” to use your curriculum?

Can I modify the curriculum / resources?

I have an activity I think you should add to the site. Do you want to see it?

All Star Facilitator Series – Meet Unlocking the Magic of Facilitation

Meet the newest member of the Safe Zone Project toolbox – Unlocking the Magic of Facilitation

First Impressions of Trans* People

Activity for participants to reflect on their early lessons and impressions of trans* people and identity.

LGBTQ+ Terminology – An Evolution Over Time

The world keeps changing and so do the words that we use to describe it.

Core Vocabulary

This activity focuses in on the essential vocabulary and LGBTQ terminology relating to gender and sexuality.

Your Stereotypical Life Story

Highlighting the pervasiveness of stereotypes, as well as their inability to accurately tell individuals’ stories

First Impressions of LGBTQ People

An activity that will provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on their first understandings and assumptions of LGBTQ individuals.

Participant Feedback

How to get feedback from your participants! Guaranteed.

Privilege for Sale

This activity helps participant investigate privilege by inviting them to identify what privileges they find personally important.

Wrap Up & Feedback

To make the biggest impact it’s important to stick the ending.

Vocabulary Extravaganza

An activity to get to know common (and some less common) LGBTQ related vocabulary!

Self-Feedback

The best way to get better.

Mastering the “Yes, And…” Rule

How to redirect a someone in a social justice conversation without shutting them down

How to Read a Group

The importance of responding to the group’s needs, checking in with individual members, and how to pick up what they’re putting down

Compassionate Curiosity

How a style of question asking and digging in for more information can bring your workshop to new heights

Letters to Self: The Importance of Reflective Feedback

The HOWs and WHYs of something that is simply a MUST if you want to continuously improve as a facilitator

Speaking for a Group Identity: A How-Not-To

Responding to the request to speak on behalf of all [blank] people

Finding Your Style: You Gotta Werk at Your Work

The importance of putting your personal spin on any curriculum you facilitate

Facilitation is the Name of the Game

How facilitation and social justice are like peanut butter and educational jelly

You Don’t Have to Know it All: Getting Started and Diving In

Some things you do (not) need to know before you start your journey as an all-star social justice facilitator

Marked vs. Unmarked Identities with Deborah Tannen

Exploring the concept of identity from an important perspective: when it matters more, and when it goes unnoticed

Navigating Triggers with Kathy Obear

There are lots of different moments where we get thrown off our metaphoric game. Let’s prepare for those moments before they happen. Together.

Coming Out Story

An experiment in empathizing with a hypothetical person’s experiences, struggles, and setbacks with the lifelong process that is coming out.

Genderbread Person

Using the Genderbread Person as a guide, the activity leads participants to understand the important difference between gender, sex, and sexual orientation.

Ace Inclusivity

A lecture to help participants become more aware of and sensitive to asexuality.

Scenarios

An opportunity for participants to work through how they would handle particular situations regarding gender, sexuality and LGBTQ issues.

Anonymous Q&A

This activity creates the opportunity to for participants to ask what they are most interested in with anonymity.

Identity Time

An activity that provokes reflection on the different aspects of your life that would be altered if you identified with a different sexuality or gender identity.

Identity Signs

This activity focuses on what are our salient identities in particular circumstances. How do our different identities intersect, interact, and affect our daily lives.

Introductions

An essential component to any workshop, intros are when participants learn a little bit about you, and you a little bit about them.

Changing Perspective

This tiny activity demonstrates how changing your perspective can make something look completely different!