For Learners

Are you looking to learn about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) identities? Gender & Sexuality? Allyship & Inclusion? You, friend, have come to the right place. The Safe Zone Project has you covered!

We have safe zone activities, self-guided courses, articles about LGBTQ+ identities and issues, and lots of answers to common questions.

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.

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 »

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 »

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 »

Coming Out Story

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

Ace Inclusivity

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