What does the + in LGBTQ+ stand for?

There are so many more marginalized/diverse gender and sexuality identities beyond LGBTQ. Which is why you might see longer acronyms used. Rather than continue to add letters (and make an unwieldy thing) the + is often added to the end of an acronym to indicate this expansive list of gender/sexuality identities.

Tuition for Groups, Orgs, & Institutions

Our courses and standard tuition options are generally designed for individuals who do not have access to in-person learning and professional development. That said, we are thrilled to do what we can to support your group in learning. We have several options available for folks looking to enroll a group of people (e.g., a university… Read more »

Lead

Are you here to lead a Safe Zone initiative in your community? To roll out a program that create opportunities to learn about sexuality, gender, and LGBTQ+ identities? You, friend, have come to the right place. Creating a Safe Zone program involves a lot of work, but it’s well within the scope of what a… Read more »

How long will it take to complete the course?

That’s entirely up to you. In our Self-Guided Foundational Safe Zone Training, for example, we have enough material, prompts, and exercises to keep you occupied for several days of intense learning. Or you could complete it in 2 – 3 hours. Because our courses are self-guided, you determine how long they’ll take. Some of our activities… Read more »

Profile

Your Profile, including courses you are enrolled in and your other details.

Do you offer refunds?

Yep! It’s important for us that our courses are offered in the spirit of the gift, and that you’re grateful with what you’ve received. If you’re not, we want to make it right. If you enroll in a course and aren’t satisfied, simply fill out this form to request a full or partial refund. We’ll process… Read more »

Does my course registration ever expire?

Nope! Once you register you’ve got “lifetime access” which means you can access the course indefinitely (as long as the Safe Zone Project, and our online courses, exist). Bonus: whenever we improve/update/add to the course, your materials will be automatically updated and added to.

How will I access the course materials?

Right on this website. You can complete the course and never leave this website or need to download anything. There are options to add some materials to your Google Drive, or to print them if you prefer, but that’s all optional and you can do everything right here.

When will I be able to access the course?

Immediately! As soon as you enroll in the course, you’ll be able to jump right in. All the course material is all right there at your disposal for you to work through at any speed you like.

Why do you encourage people to attend in-person Safe Zone trainings?

Here are four, of so-many-more-we-could-list, reasons. At an in-person training, you have the chance to… Meet other people in your community who are interested in learning more about gender and sexuality. While workshops and trainings are awesome they often are just the start of the conversation and it’s great to have folks you’re already connected… Read more »

Are all transgender people gay?

Nope! It’s easy to get this confused, particularly because T is included in the LGBTQ+ acronym (T standing for “Transgender”). The key is to remember that transgender is referring to someone’s gender identity and not their sexuality orientation. Transgender people can be gay, straight, pansexual, queer, asexual, or any other sexual orientation (just like cisgender… Read more »

S.T.A.R.L.A.B.

S.T.A.R.L.A.B. is an academy for aspiring Safe Zone Facilitators.  Soon, we’ll be sending out invites to recruit our first Cohort of Cadets. You can read about that in our announcement post on our blog, or sign up using the button below to get an email from us when there’s an opening.

Safe Zone Train-the-Trainer Toolkit

The Safe Zone Train-the-Trainer Toolkit is an in-development set of resources is for individuals and organizations hoping to roll out Safe Zone programs in their community. In 2018, we stopped facilitating Train-the-Trainers (TTTs) as a service, and started working on putting all of the lessons we learned, the best practices we discovered, and the activities… Read more »

Did you make up all these activities?

Nope! Much of the content and structure of these activities exists in what we think of as “the commons,” or the collective knowledge and wisdom of educators who have been doing gender and sexuality education/activism for a long time. Most of the activities exist out there already in multiple iterations and variations, and we (Meg… Read more »

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

A 101 activity is one where the participants/learners do not need any prior knowledge in order for the activity to go well and for them to learn/get something out of the activity. However, those with prior knowledge will still likely benefit! On the other hand, a 201 activity requires some prior familiarity with the topic… Read more »

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?

Yes, it 100% is. And there are no catches. For serious. We get it. The way we do things is a little, well, different. A lot of people have grown to expect curriculum to cost hundreds of dollars to use, and to come with a lot of caveats, usage restrictions, and hoops to jump through. A lot… Read more »

I want to attend a Safe Zone training. How do I do that?

Google! We’re not being snarky, either. We suggest searching [Your Town/City/Region Name] + “Safe Zone LGBTQ Trainings” and seeing what comes up. Even if the training isn’t called “Safe Zone,” (and they often won’t be) you’ll likely find something that will scratch a similar itch. If that doesn’t work, reach out to any local LGBTQ+… Read more »

Courses

Safe Zone Project Courses are online trainings for self-directed learners to engage with concepts related to Gender, Sexuality, LGBTQ+ Identities, and Facilitation.

Privacy Policy

Following is the Privacy Policy for The Safe Zone Project This Privacy Policy describes how your personal information is collected, used, and shared when you visit or make a purchase from thesafezoneproject.com (the “Site”). PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT When you visit the Site, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including information about your… Read more »

Terms & Conditions

Following are the Terms of Service for using the Safe Zone Project. OVERVIEW This website is operated by The Safe Zone Project. Throughout the site, the terms “we”, “us” and “our” refer to The Safe Zone Project. The Safe Zone Project offers this website, including all information, tools and services available from this site to… Read more »

Download Safe Zone Curriculum

Just to make sure, you’re choosing to not receive email updates with improvements to the curriculum in the future.  (No? Click here to get curriculum update emails) Generally speaking, we hate email more than the average bear. That said, we strongly encourage people to sign up for this particular list because there’s no other way we… Read more »

Training Timelines

A few different timelines we suggest for the Foundational Curriculum, as well as some notes on how to create your own.

Teach

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… Read more »

Learn

Are you looking to learn about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) identities? You, friend, have come to the right place. Thankfully, the internet has provided a lot of outlets for LGBTQ+ education. Unthankfully, when you’re googling around it’s sometimes hard to sort out the accurate from the misleading, the positive from the stigmatizing,… Read more »

Help

Are you looking for help, or looking to help? In either case, we’re ready.

Is your curriculum evidence-based?

Nope. Our curriculum is evidence-informed, but not evidence-based. Here’s why: We tweak the curriculum several times a year based on changes in culture, research, and feedback from facilitators. We overhaul the curriculum every year (including frequent substantive changes to the structure, or replacing activities) Our curriculum is used in over 100 countries in more capacities… Read more »

Can I submit my own project?

Absolutely! If you have a specific project that you’d like to do for The Safe Zone Project, email us at [email protected] — we’d love to hear about it and if it’s a good fit, support you in doing it!

When are applications due?

Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis. When someone applies for a project we review their application and get back to them about next steps. We do our best to get back to folks within 2 weeks of submitting their application.

How are project interns selected?

Intentionally. All applications are reviewed personally by Meg & Sam. Beyond meeting the minimum requirements for that specific project, we consider an intern’s passion for the project, ability to commit to the project, and ensure we’d be a good match to supporting them in completing the project.

Project Internships

Complete a specific project that will meaningfully contribute to The Safe Zone Project, expanding the resources available to everyone who accesses this site.

Seasonal Internships

The Seasonal Intern role is more of your general internship experience: help us with core tasks that will keep improving the Safe Zone Project, and spend some of your time on a personal project to leave a lasting impact. Apply to be a Seasonal Intern Seasonal Internship Terms We have three internships terms throughout the… Read more »

Handouts & Edugraphics

Sometimes you don’t have time for a full activity or training, but still want to get some LGBTQ+ awareness or education accomplished. Enter handouts & edugraphics. We’ve developed these little puppies in response to asks from folks using our curriculum, or clients from train-the-trainers. If you have an idea for a handout you’d like us… Read more »

Internship Program

Started in 2017, the SZP Internship Program was designed to create an opportunity for up-and-coming LGBTQ+ equality advocates and educators to get insight into the field, and hands-on training, and invaluable experience to apply to their future endeavors. The SZP Interns help with everyday operations, website and content improvements, outreach efforts, content development and upkeep,… Read more »

Who funds the Safe Zone Project?

The Safe Zone Project is volunteer-run labor of love by Meg and Sam. We do the content creation, website design, coding, graphic design, writing, and communications (and other things we forgot to list here) all on a volunteer basis. Funds to support the operations and content on the site come from gifts and donations (from… Read more »

Where is The Safe Zone Project located?

On the internet! Really though, we don’t have a physical headquarters. Meg lives in Seattle, WA and Sam lives in Austin, TX the vast majority of the work happens through using online communication and collaboration tools (here’s to you Google Drive).

When are applications due?

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and are generally due two weeks before the intended internship term begins (e.g., Fall Term applications are due August 15th, two weeks before September 1). We’ll announce deadlines for each term on our blog, particularly if the deadline falls outside of this rule.

How are interns selected?

Thoughtfully! All applications are reviewed by Meg & Sam personally. Beyond meeting the minimum requirements, the following criteria are considered: in what unique ways will this person complement our team, how well does their intern project mesh with our abilities to provide guidance and a platform, and what special skills or gifts do they have… Read more »

Is the internship paid?

No. Generally speaking, this is an unpaid, volunteer internship. We’re happy to work with interns to receive college credit, and if an intern facilitates or co-facilitates a training for which the SZP is gifted money, the intern is paid the same as any other facilitator.

About Sam Killermann, Safe Zone Project Co-Creator

Sam Killermann is a multi-disciplinary artist who puts his gifts to work to achieve global justice as the Director of Creativity for hues. Sam is also the person behind It’s Pronounced Metrosexual, the comedy show performed at colleges and universities, as well as the online resource, which has educated millions of readers on themes of… Read more »

About Meg Bolger, Safe Zone Project Co-Creator

Hey! I’m Meg and I’m a social justice facilitator, educator, and writer. I am one of the co-creators of The Safe Zone Project. Safe Zone trainings are near and dear to my heart both as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and as the place I started facilitating social justice. I’m a huge facilitation geek…. Read more »

Curriculum

Our foundational curriculum is recommended for all groups to introduce them to core concepts of marginalized genders and sexualities

Are Safe Zone trainings just for universities?

Nope! Not just for universities. While Safe Zone programs are concentrated in higher education (and often at four-year universities in particular), there are organizations in all different fields who have and are starting Safe Zone programs. There are Safe Zone programs and folks conducting Safe Zone workshops in: Hospitals & medical schools Small local non-profits… Read more »

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.

Isn’t “Queer” a bad word?

No, Sometimes, and Yes. For many people (especially those who are younger, or in more urban areas) queer is a word of pride and the best way to “umbrella” diverse sexualities and genders. For some, queer is considered a “bad word” (i.e., a slur) in some contexts, and okay in others (e.g., who is saying it,… Read more »

I did a Safe Zone [some # of] years ago. Do I need to do another one?

Depends. The material covered in Safe Zone trainings evolves over time — at least, it should. If you’re doing a Safe Zone where the material hasn’t been updated in years, it’s at best out of date, at worst harmfully inaccurate. And tons of folks do trainings using the “Safe Zone” moniker that include very different activities and… Read more »

Can I modify the curriculum / resources?

Yes yes yes! Please do. Everything is uncopyrighted, and we did that for YOU. No need to ask permission, but we would appreciate you sharing back anything cool you make, so we can spread the word.

LGBT vs LGBTQ vs GLBTQ vs GLBTQQIAPTS vs …

As you may have noticed, on the site and in our curriculum we tend to use the acronym LGBTQ+ when referring to the queer community. Is this the right acronym to use? No, there really isn’t a “right” one — they all have their pros and cons. This is just the one we feel has… Read more »

Why do you include an asterisk in Trans*?

The term transgender is often used as an umbrella term for many other terms that indicate an individual is not cisgender.  We use the word trans* throughout this site to indicate this umbrella term-y-ness and as an inclusive way to indicate a variety of non-cisgender identities in one simple term.  We pronounce this term simply… Read more »

What about advanced workshops? Safe Zone 201 perhaps?

Our Foundational Curriculum is a designed to create a Safe Zone 101 overview workshop. We recommend this workshop for all audiences – gay, straight, queer, allied, and anywhere in between (or outside) those categories. While some of it may be old information for some, we believe that everyone, no matter their knowledge level, will get… Read more »

Boys & Girls Club of America + The Safe Zone Project

Greetings! You’re [hopefully] a BGCA-affiliated person who is hoping to make the club more inclusive of kids of all genders and sexualities. Great! We’re a non-officially-BGCA-affiliated organization who is doing everything we can to help. Let us know if there’s anything else you need, and use anything on this page (or this site) to keep… Read more »

What is Safe Zone?

Safe Zone trainings are opportunities to learn about LGBTQ+ identities, gender and sexuality, and examine prejudice, assumptions, and privilege.  An example of a Safe Zone Trained sticker often given to participants upon completing the training You may have seen a sticker or sign that says “Safe Zone” or “Safe Zone Trained.” These visual indicators can… Read more »

Unlocking the Magic of Facilitation

Have you ever been in a training and marveled at how quickly the time flew by? Genuinely enjoyed a meeting you were expecting to dread? Learned something powerful about a topic you thought wouldn’t engage you? Experienced an intimate, vulnerable, transformative moment with a group of total strangers? Then you’ve witnessed the magic of facilitation…. Read more »

To 2016…and Beyond!

This year we got to do a lot of awesome things, w/ some awesome people. Here’s to another great year!

Consulting

We spend a lot of time talking about and working on gender and sexuality inclusion and education. If there is something you think we could uniquely help with, please feel free to let us know. Have a question for us about our consulting services? Email us at yo [at] thesafezoneproject [dot] com. 

We Are No Longer Doing Train-the-Trainer Visits

The Safe Zone Project Team (Meg & Sam) are no longer offering train-the-trainer visits. However, we are no less excited to help you get your Safe Zone program off the ground please read below to learn more! We are incredibly passionate about ensuring that people who want to start a safe zone program in their… Read more »

Core Vocabulary

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