gender

Painting a Picture with Numbers

/ Dave Eberwein / 2 Comments

Numbers are a great place to start a conversation. While they never tell the whole story, they do offer a launching point.

Take a look at the ones above.

They represent some statistics on an important topic — a part of a story from across our province and country. And while they don’t offer a complete narrative about the topic they do help to paint a compelling picture — a picture that reaffirms for me why schools need to be an important place of understanding and acceptance.

The topic I want to talk about today is also a polarizing one in our communities. My experience has shown that few people are without a strong opinion on the topic.

Let’s begin today’s discussion by looking at the two largest numbers …

1,000,000

  • The approximate number of persons in Canada who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or questioning (2021)

75,000

  • The approximate number of persons in Canada who identified as trans or non-binary (2018)

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“You People Are So Inspiring!” and Other Microaggressions

/ Dave Eberwein / 2 Comments

My daughter is studying to become a counsellor. She has an innate ability to connect with others, and in particular with children — I view her as a “child whisperer”. In her studies, they have been discussing microaggressions and she thought it would make a great blog topic. She was right!

Let’s start with a definition:

MICROAGGRESSION – A term used for commonplace daily verbal, behavioural or environmental slights, whether intentional or not, that communicate hostile, derogatory or negative attitudes towards stigmatized or culturally marginalized groups.

Remember, they can be intentional or unintentional slights. The important part is that they communicate negativity.

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