Rayna Porter - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Rayna Porter

Research paper thumbnail of Gender and Sexual Diversity: LGBTQ+ Students

Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) Policy Paper, 2019

Students pursuing post-secondary education should never face discrimination, harassment, or exclu... more Students pursuing post-secondary education should never face discrimination, harassment, or exclusion on their campuses. Yet on many Ontario university campuses, LGBTQ+ students face such realities and are marginalized because of who they are. In some cases, these students become the targets of deliberate, hate-motivated actions, and in other instances, the blame lies in ignorance or apathy. It is OUSA’s hope that the recommendations provided in this paper will contribute to improving access to and safety in post-secondary education for LGBTQ+ students.

NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY
This paper uses the acronym LGBTQ+ to refer to anyone who identifies as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Two-Spirit, Asexual, Pansexual, and other identities and sexualities that are not cisgender or heterosexual. Over the years, this acronym has evolved and variations, including LGBTQIA+ and LGBTQ2+, have become more commonly used. This paper uses the term LGBTQ+ because it is more widely used and recognized at this time, particularly when
compared to alternatives, such as MOGAI (Marginalized Orientations, Gender, and Intersex). It is important to note that language and nomenclature continues to evolve and terminology may be adjusted. The plus sign (+) in LGBTQ+ indicates the intention to recognize a diverse and fluid range of gender identities, gender expressions, and sexual orientations. Additionally, in this paper the terms “trans” and “transgender” are
used interchangeably.

SCOPE AND LENS
It is important to note that not all individuals under the umbrella term LGBTQ+ face the same issues and barriers. The identities and communities to which the term LGBTQ+ refers face distinct experiences and challenges. While efforts have been made to address specific issues, such as bi-erasure, it is not within the scope of this paper to
engage in all of these important and more nuanced discussions. As such, this paper
attempts to explore more general issues of inclusion, awareness, safety, and respect.
Though this paper recognizes and discusses problems that are manifestations of larger systemic and historical structures that continue to oppress the LGBTQ+ community, it is also beyond the scope of this paper to offer an academic exploration of these root causes. Rather, it is our hope to address some of these underlying causes through the tools we propose in this paper, including education and policy change. Ultimately, however, this paper maintains a problem-solving and policy-oriented lens, primarily offering short-term prescriptions intended to improve the experiences of LGBTQ+ students on their campuses. Further, the topics discussed cannot be fully understood without a greater examination of intersectionality and the role of racism, ableism, ageism, and other forms of discrimination in the oppression of LGBTQ+ folks. The authors of this paper have taken steps to address intersecting identities; however, to maintain a problem-solving oriented scope closely tied to consultation, this paper treads lightly on issues of intersectionality and has not adopted an intersectional lens as a whole. The following paper attempts to offer policy solutions in the context of broad and complex topics and, as such, there are still many important issues to be discussed. This paper does not claim to serve as a comprehensive list of challenges faced by all student s who identify as LGBTQ+, nor as an authoritative description of the nature of these problems. Instead, it intends to serve as a first step towards introducing improvements.
LGBTQ+.

Research paper thumbnail of Gender and Sexual Diversity: LGBTQ+ Students

Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) Policy Paper, 2019

Students pursuing post-secondary education should never face discrimination, harassment, or exclu... more Students pursuing post-secondary education should never face discrimination, harassment, or exclusion on their campuses. Yet on many Ontario university campuses, LGBTQ+ students face such realities and are marginalized because of who they are. In some cases, these students become the targets of deliberate, hate-motivated actions, and in other instances, the blame lies in ignorance or apathy. It is OUSA’s hope that the recommendations provided in this paper will contribute to improving access to and safety in post-secondary education for LGBTQ+ students.

NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY
This paper uses the acronym LGBTQ+ to refer to anyone who identifies as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Two-Spirit, Asexual, Pansexual, and other identities and sexualities that are not cisgender or heterosexual. Over the years, this acronym has evolved and variations, including LGBTQIA+ and LGBTQ2+, have become more commonly used. This paper uses the term LGBTQ+ because it is more widely used and recognized at this time, particularly when
compared to alternatives, such as MOGAI (Marginalized Orientations, Gender, and Intersex). It is important to note that language and nomenclature continues to evolve and terminology may be adjusted. The plus sign (+) in LGBTQ+ indicates the intention to recognize a diverse and fluid range of gender identities, gender expressions, and sexual orientations. Additionally, in this paper the terms “trans” and “transgender” are
used interchangeably.

SCOPE AND LENS
It is important to note that not all individuals under the umbrella term LGBTQ+ face the same issues and barriers. The identities and communities to which the term LGBTQ+ refers face distinct experiences and challenges. While efforts have been made to address specific issues, such as bi-erasure, it is not within the scope of this paper to
engage in all of these important and more nuanced discussions. As such, this paper
attempts to explore more general issues of inclusion, awareness, safety, and respect.
Though this paper recognizes and discusses problems that are manifestations of larger systemic and historical structures that continue to oppress the LGBTQ+ community, it is also beyond the scope of this paper to offer an academic exploration of these root causes. Rather, it is our hope to address some of these underlying causes through the tools we propose in this paper, including education and policy change. Ultimately, however, this paper maintains a problem-solving and policy-oriented lens, primarily offering short-term prescriptions intended to improve the experiences of LGBTQ+ students on their campuses. Further, the topics discussed cannot be fully understood without a greater examination of intersectionality and the role of racism, ableism, ageism, and other forms of discrimination in the oppression of LGBTQ+ folks. The authors of this paper have taken steps to address intersecting identities; however, to maintain a problem-solving oriented scope closely tied to consultation, this paper treads lightly on issues of intersectionality and has not adopted an intersectional lens as a whole. The following paper attempts to offer policy solutions in the context of broad and complex topics and, as such, there are still many important issues to be discussed. This paper does not claim to serve as a comprehensive list of challenges faced by all student s who identify as LGBTQ+, nor as an authoritative description of the nature of these problems. Instead, it intends to serve as a first step towards introducing improvements.
LGBTQ+.