Have you heard of the position of trans advisor?

Thatsa国际传媒檚 Claire Millarsa国际传媒檚 role with Boundless Belly Dance, ensuring the local dance group is inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community in its language and communication. Millar said she was involved as a dancer with the group before taking on the position in December 2018.

sa国际传媒淢y role is just to help with internal and external communications, to make sure the language is inclusionary and there were no issues,sa国际传媒� said Millar. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a good fit for me because I was involved with Boundless Belly in the first place and it was very serendipitous. I come from a very low-income background so for me, it was a flow from being sponsored for my classes to being able to help pay for my classes so to speak.sa国际传媒�

Millar identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community and knows the power words can have, especially for groups that have long faced abuse from derogatory terms such as sa国际传媒榝aggotsa国际传媒�.

sa国际传媒淚 think back to my youth and there was no evidence or reason for people to call me that, but I was called a faggot over and over and over,sa国际传媒� said Millar. sa国际传媒淎nd that hurt, that hurts to this day. From the time when I was a little kid until now, and Isa国际传媒檝e been scarred by that.

sa国际传媒淪o words like that will carry their weight for as long as you remember them.sa国际传媒�

While the position is still formative, Millar says shesa国际传媒檇 like to see more companies embracing a role that has someone analyzing messaging through an inclusive LGBTQ+ lens. Eventually shesa国际传媒檇 like to expand her services to help other local companies identify gaps in their messaging and provide a secondary perspective.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 to make sure that nobody is overlooked,sa国际传媒� said Millar. sa国际传媒淲ith Boundless I really donsa国际传媒檛 see that because Keisha McLean (founder) is very socially conscious herself. But I think she wanted another lens to look through to make sure she wasnsa国际传媒檛 missing anything.sa国际传媒�

Millar said she can see companies are trying to better identify with their customers and referenced the recent Gillette commercial that address toxic masculinity.

sa国际传媒淚t of course had a huge uproar - but they were kind of on that good side. But there are so many companies that only represent the nuclear families, like husband and wife and two and a half kids,sa国际传媒� said Millar. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 still very prevalent, and in todaysa国际传媒檚 day and age how many people even get married anymore? We donsa国际传媒檛 have that nuclear family so much.

sa国际传媒�(For example) there are gay couples adopting children or having children naturally through in vitro fertilization or surrogacy. Theresa国际传媒檚 just so many other ways to include the title family.sa国际传媒�

Millar said itsa国际传媒檚 important for everyone to see themselves represented in the media, as it helps shape a personsa国际传媒檚 identity.

sa国际传媒淔or example in television media or fictional media that we consume, itsa国际传媒檚 okay now to have a gay character. But generally, they suffer from the trope of dying by the end so itsa国际传媒檚 this tragic kind of heroic figure that doesnsa国际传媒檛 get to have a happy ending,sa国际传媒� said Millar. sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e still seeing that even 30 or 40 years after itsa国际传媒檚 okay to have gay folk on television, let alone trans folk.

sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e still seeing cases of (trans people) being misrepresented that way where you have male actors playing trans women for very high profile roles, and they win Oscars, but that opportunity would not be afforded to a trans actor.sa国际传媒�

Millar said people can take a few simple steps to ensure they are being inclusive when creating content or even in their everyday life. In a lot of cases, itsa国际传媒檚 taking a second look at language that has become common place in our society and using empathy to put yourself in anothersa国际传媒檚 shoes.

sa国际传媒淚t sounds so simple, but a big thing is referring to gender-mixed folks as guys or dudes. And everybody does it but when itsa国际传媒檚 a group of all girls people still say sa国际传媒楬ey guyssa国际传媒� when there isnsa国际传媒檛 one amongst us,sa国际传媒� said Millar. sa国际传媒淵et if there was one guy, wesa国际传媒檇 still all be called guys and that can be problematic.

sa国际传媒淚f you turn that around, theresa国际传媒檚 always one person who says they call everybody dude and itsa国际传媒檚 like sa国际传媒極h really, how many dudes have you slept with?sa国际传媒�. So turn it around and ask the question if you were being asked the reverse of this, would it offend me?sa国际传媒�

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

Jordyn Thomson | Reporter
 
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