The Student Alliance for Everyone (SAFE)
SAFE is MCC's student organization for LGBTQ+ and Allies. The primary mission of SAFE is to provide a sense of community and a safe space by fostering a social network where all identities are respected and by organizing events to facilitate connections and friendships among queer students and with others. SAFE is free to join, and you can participate to the extent your schedule permits. Being a member can even remain anonymous, if you prefer.
MCC students or personnel interested in being a SAFE member
may sign up on MyHub at this link: SAFE
HYBRID Lecture: How to Fact Check anti-LGBTQ Legislation
Joni Watke, J.D., she | her | hers, Academy LGBTQ
Learn steps to becoming a stronger ally to the LGBTQ+ community in the face of a nationwide effort to pass anti-LGBTQ legislation.
Joni Watke has been an attorney in private practice and a professional speaker since 1996. She co-founded Academy LGBTQ whose mission is to educate organizations and families to elevate themselves so they can celebrate LGBTQ+ individuals. Educating to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ issues across the country, she’s been featured on CNN and the Advocate.
DATE: Monday, June 12
TIME: 12:30-1:50 p.m. CDT
LOCATION: In Person: South Omaha Campus, CAM Building, room 120, 2800 Edward Babe Gomez Ave, Omaha NE 68107
ZOOM LINK for How to Fact Check anit-LGBTQ Legislation
HYBRID Panel discussion: Strength in Solidarity
PFLAG Omaha representatives
The challenges and struggles that face LGBTQ+ persons in the United States are immense. Across LGBTQIA+ communities, studies show that 77 percent received unwanted sexual comments or jokes, 73 percent experienced verbal threats due to their perceived gender identity and 78 percent heard members of their family make negative comments about LGBTQ+ individuals. By January 2023, over 120 bills restricting LGBTQ rights were introduced nationwide. Join in conversation about these issues with the local LGBTQIA+ community.
DATE: Tuesday, June 20
TIME: 10:30-11:45 a.m. CDT
LOCATION: In-person: Elkhorn Campus, 829 N 204th Street, room 114, Elkhorn NE 68022
ZOOM LINK for Panel discussion: Strength in Solidarity
VIRTUAL LECTURE: Finding Your Chosen Family
Ryan JamaAl Swain, actor & activist, star of FX’s award-winning show, Pose
Marginalized communities have long relied on “chosen family”: friends who fulfill the roles of support, acceptance — and in some cases, security and protection — that one’s biological family either cannot, or will not provide. As portrayed in the hit show, Pose, and by Ryan Jamaal Swain’s character, Damon, these bonds can be a critical lifeline for those rejected by the family that they were born or adopted into. In this moving talk, Ryan explores how “chosen family” can be extended to all who seek to create their own emotional and social foundation — celebrating that we all have the power to choose the family we journey through life with. “With your biological family, sometimes there’s this pressure to fit into these molds of who they think you are or should be,” says Swain. “Your chosen family allows you to break all of that.” Ryan explores the journey to finding this comfort group on campus and in the larger world.
YOUTUBE LINK TO WATCH FINDING YOUR CHOSEN FAMILY
VIRTUAL PANEL: At the Intersection: Strategies for LGBTQIA+ International Student Support
Dr. Sambuddha Banerjee, Ph.D., Eastern Carolina University
William Patrick Bingham, Ph.D., Wake Forest University
Icole Ianieri, M.A., University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Sarabeth Trujillo, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Considering the intersection of LGBTQIA+ and international student identities, particularly in the areas of lived experiences and student support, presenters will discuss considerations for student services personnel and other student-facing campus constituencies when supporting LGBTQIA+ international students, including socio-cultural factors and potential barriers to communication and comprehension.
DATE: June 22
TIME: 12:30-1:30 p.m. CDT
ZOOM link for to register and attend At The Intersection: Strategies for LGBTQIA+ International Student Support
VIRTUAL Film & Discussion: We Exist: Beyond the Binary
Discussion led by Lauren Lubin, Producer
What if the world told you that you don't exist? For many gender non-conforming individuals, this is the reality. WE EXIST: Beyond the Binary is one of the first films to document this growing community living life “beyond the binary” construct of gender, offering a first-hand account of what it is like to exist as other than strictly male or female. Designed with education in mind, WE EXIST features non-binary individuals, activists, and doctors who all weigh in on subjects ranging from gender binary/social constructs, pronouns, access, and safety. It also tells the riveting and deeply personal story of Lauren Lubin: a person in their mid-twenties who identifies as gender neutral. Lauren shares the emotional, physical, and mental changes and obstacles they face in order to be their authentic self. From abandoning a promising basketball career to a near-death experience in the depths of the rainforest, to top surgery, Lauren’s journey is one of transformation. While their story is unique, it also echoes the stories of so many other non-binary people around the world. Featuring non-binary activists Tyler Ford, and Kristen Russo, as well as Dr. Anthony Vivasis, the Clinical Director of Medical Services at Callen Lorde Community Health Center and Dr. Charles Garramone, Board Certified Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon at The Garramone Center
DATE: Monday, June 26
TIME: 2:15 p.m.-3:45 p.m. CDT
Register for ZOOM for We Exist: Beyond the Binary
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Questions? Contact: interculturaled@mccneb.edu
ACCOMMODATIONS: Audience members requiring accommodations due to a disability must contact Barbara Velazquez, bvelazquez@mccneb.edu, 531-622-2253 at least two weeks prior to the program.