Have you heard of the position of trans advisor?
That乌鸦传媒檚 Claire Millar乌鸦传媒檚 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.
乌鸦传媒淢y role is just to help with internal and external communications, to make sure the language is inclusionary and there were no issues,乌鸦传媒� said Millar. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 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.乌鸦传媒�
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 乌鸦传媒榝aggot乌鸦传媒�.
乌鸦传媒淚 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,乌鸦传媒� said Millar. 乌鸦传媒淎nd that hurt, that hurts to this day. From the time when I was a little kid until now, and I乌鸦传媒檝e been scarred by that.
乌鸦传媒淪o words like that will carry their weight for as long as you remember them.乌鸦传媒�
While the position is still formative, Millar says she乌鸦传媒檇 like to see more companies embracing a role that has someone analyzing messaging through an inclusive LGBTQ+ lens. Eventually she乌鸦传媒檇 like to expand her services to help other local companies identify gaps in their messaging and provide a secondary perspective.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 to make sure that nobody is overlooked,乌鸦传媒� said Millar. 乌鸦传媒淲ith Boundless I really don乌鸦传媒檛 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 wasn乌鸦传媒檛 missing anything.乌鸦传媒�
Millar said she can see companies are trying to better identify with their customers and referenced the recent Gillette commercial that address toxic masculinity.
乌鸦传媒淚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,乌鸦传媒� said Millar. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 still very prevalent, and in today乌鸦传媒檚 day and age how many people even get married anymore? We don乌鸦传媒檛 have that nuclear family so much.
乌鸦传媒�(For example) there are gay couples adopting children or having children naturally through in vitro fertilization or surrogacy. There乌鸦传媒檚 just so many other ways to include the title family.乌鸦传媒�
Millar said it乌鸦传媒檚 important for everyone to see themselves represented in the media, as it helps shape a person乌鸦传媒檚 identity.
乌鸦传媒淔or example in television media or fictional media that we consume, it乌鸦传媒檚 okay now to have a gay character. But generally, they suffer from the trope of dying by the end so it乌鸦传媒檚 this tragic kind of heroic figure that doesn乌鸦传媒檛 get to have a happy ending,乌鸦传媒� said Millar. 乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e still seeing that even 30 or 40 years after it乌鸦传媒檚 okay to have gay folk on television, let alone trans folk.
乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙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.乌鸦传媒�
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, it乌鸦传媒檚 taking a second look at language that has become common place in our society and using empathy to put yourself in another乌鸦传媒檚 shoes.
乌鸦传媒淚t sounds so simple, but a big thing is referring to gender-mixed folks as guys or dudes. And everybody does it but when it乌鸦传媒檚 a group of all girls people still say 乌鸦传媒楬ey guys乌鸦传媒� when there isn乌鸦传媒檛 one amongst us,乌鸦传媒� said Millar. 乌鸦传媒淵et if there was one guy, we乌鸦传媒檇 still all be called guys and that can be problematic.
乌鸦传媒淚f you turn that around, there乌鸦传媒檚 always one person who says they call everybody dude and it乌鸦传媒檚 like 乌鸦传媒極h really, how many dudes have you slept with?乌鸦传媒�. So turn it around and ask the question if you were being asked the reverse of this, would it offend me?乌鸦传媒�
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<>Jordyn Thomson | Reporter
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