University of North Texas - Ally Training Program
WHAT
Ally Training educates and trains students, staff and faculty to create a safe zone for GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) people at UNT. You don’t have to be GLBT/LGBT to go through training. Ally training is for anyone who’s interested.The goal is to achieve a culture where any person can study and/or work in an environment free of discrimination and harassment. Participants receive an Ally certificate to display in their office, workspace, or dorm room. The certificate signifies completion of the training, but it also helps others identify individuals on campus (“Allies”) who are open and understanding and who they can talk to, in confidence, about issues, questions, fears and concerns.Ally Training supports UNT’s mission of providing a culturally diverse and mutually respectful environment where every member of the university community can feel safe, respected, and accepted.
WHY & WHO
The need for spaces or zones where GLBT students, staff and faculty can go (to talk about issues, fears, and concerns) prompted the creation of UNT’s Ally Training program. Dan Emenheiser, Mary Finley, and Sue Young, consulting with a team of faculty and staff from various departments on the UNT campus (including the Division of Equity and Diversity, University Union, Student Development, Human Resources, Housing and Residence Life and Public Affairs and Information Services) launched the Ally Training program in the spring of 1999. Through Ally Training, participants will learn the words and meanings relevant to the GLBT community, helping them to make conversations easier and more comfortable. They will be given practice scenarios to understand what to do and say to be supportive, respectful, and understanding (for example, what to say when their roommate comes out to them).Honorary allies of the UNT Ally Training program have included Maya Angelou (novelist and poet), Coretta Scott King (civil rights activist and wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.), and B.D. Wong (actor).
The Division of Institutional Equity & Diversity, under Dr. Gilda Garcia, now hosts the Ally Training.
Interested students, faculty, staff, allies, potential allies and members of the community may attend Ally Training, which is open to everyone. Just click on http://ally.unt.edu/content/ally-trainings for more information.
TRAINING is offered every FALL & SPRING SEMESTER.
WHAT is an ALLY?
An Ally is a person who is a member of the dominant or majority group who works to end oppression in his or her personal and professional life through support of, and as an advocate for, the oppressed population. Allies to racial, religious and ethnic minorities have been remarkably effective in promoting positive change in the dominant culture, and only recently has their instrumental position been extended to the area of sexual orientation. The past few years have witnessed the development of heterosexual Ally organizations which have attempted to make the culture of a campus or workplace more aware and accepting of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals.
12 POWERS OF AN ALLY
1. The power to understand that the world is enriched by everyone – including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people.
2. The power to believe in the equality and dignity of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and their right to live and pursue freedom from discrimination, intolerance and bigotry.
3. The power to grow as an individual in your own personal development as a result of knowing and accepting those with different sexual orientations and gender identities/expressions.
4. The power to deeply learn about the civil injustice and human indignity faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender people today.
5. The power to lend your voice to those silenced, stand together and take action for others.
6. The power to listen with your heart, not with your ear ready to respond.
7. The power to lend hope and love to someone who feels alone, isolated and without a place to go.
8. The power to live with discomfort, take risks and challenge humanity to change.
9. The power to acknowledge your own privilege and be willing to use your privilege to advocate for others.
10. The power to have a vision, a dream, a passion for an inclusive, multicultural world for all people.
11. The power to create a ripple-effect of change one person at a time.
12. The power to be who you are for someone else.
Source: Power of an Ally Action Guide by CampusPride.Net
