[Grad-Cap Icon] Training

Safe Zone is a 2-hour training workshop offered to faculty, staff, and students of the VCU Community. Safe Zone provides didactic and experiential opportunities for participants to: Increasing their awareness of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQQIA+) communities and identities. Deepen their understanding of sex, gender, and sexuality, while also considering other intersecting identities (e.g., race, ethnicity, religious/spiritual orientation). Recognize the unique concerns/challenges (e.g., heterosexism, biphobia, transphobia) that LGBTQQIA+ (or Queer) people endure at VCU and in society at large. Build skills to advocate for and assist Queer staff and students with concerns that might emerge on campus. Examine and challenge their biases, assumptions, prejudice, and privilege in relation to different sexual and gender identities. Workshops are co-led by facilitators from University Counseling Services and other campus departments (e.g., OMSA, Equality VCU), all of whom have been previously Safe Zone trained. Safe Zone workshops are typically offered to VCU’s campus community multiple times a year.