OutSpeaking: groups join to train speakers, educate on LGBTQ concerns

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Out on Campus Speakers Bureau has joined with Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays and Citizens For Equal Protection to develop OutSpeaking, a collaborative effort to share information about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and ally individuals and their communities. The organizations are united by the common goal of increasing visibility and providing information to foster safe, respectful and inclusive communities, as well as helping families and their gay members understand one another.

OutSpeaking will provide information through personal stories and panel discussions about systems and factors that impact gay people, their families, their children, and their friends. Additionally, educational sessions will foster communication about issues including bullying and institutionalized discrimination.

OutSpeaking will provide training -- as well as information on legislative and civil rights issues -- for individuals interested in being panelists and/or moderators. Panel members will lead conversations about the impact of misperceptions about sexual orientation, gender identity and legislation, as well as oppression as it relates to people of color, people with disabilities, and others who are included in one or more of these groups. Training sessions will provide panelists with guidelines in clear communication, courtesy, and staying on topic. Moderators will receive training for their role in keeping discussions informative and focused.

The next panel training will be Saturday, Sept. 22, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 2723 N. 50th St. in Lincoln.

Last spring, around the time the OutSpeaking partnership was forming, a bill expanding Nebraska's employment protection laws to include sexual orientation failed in the Nebraska legislature. Community members were particularly disappointed in senators' failure to discuss adding protections for Nebraska's transgender citizens. OutSpeaking organizers believed that comments made by some elected representatives and others demonstrated a need for proactive education and communication about what it is like to be a gay person living in Nebraska.

"The discussion about OutSpeaking and the need for the collaboration started before the bill failed," said Tyler Richard, a CFEP board member. "The failure of the bill and the voices of those upset by it, including letters in the Lincoln Journal Star, provided momentum for the collaboration. People wanted to speak out and we see OutSpeaking as a way to help them."

Stephen Griffith, PFLAG Board member and minister at Saint Paul United Methodist Church added, "On a practical level, people understand discrimination only when they can put a personal face on it. When people hear one another's stories, they make personal connections and begin to respond with empathy."

Allied clergy and other people of faith are an integral component of OutSpeaking. Organizers said it is important to raise awareness within communities of faith about the pain that injustice causes, and that faith leads many people to advocate for equal rights for the gay community. OutSpeaking intends to foster personal connections showing that gay people are real, ordinary people with religious beliefs, moral values, and family relationships.

For additional information on OutSpeaking and the upcoming training, visit or call the following organizations: UNL LGBTQ Resource Center, (402) 472-1752 (http://si.unl.edu/lgbtqa); CFEP, (402) 398-3027 (http://www.cfep-ne.org/); PFLAG-Cornhusker, (402) 434-9880 (http://www.pflag-cornhusker.org.)

Contacts: Tyler Richard, (402) 202-6211, or Pat Tetreault, assistant director LGBTQA programs and services, student involvement, (402) 472-1752