Bemidji State University is hosting an all-day gender diversity workshop covering topics such as gender diversity in youth, supporting gender-diverse social service clients and responding compassionately to gender diversity in the classroom.

The March 5-6 workshop is being presented by BSU’s women’s studies-gender studies program, the Bemidji School of Nursing and Sanford Health Services.

A daytime workshop on March 5 is open to faculty, staff and students at both Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College. An evening film screening and talkback panel discussion is open to all members of the Bemidji community.

The workshop continues with a pair of events at Sanford Health Center on Friday, March 6. Those events are free and open to anyone in the community.

Workshop schedule
Thursday, March 5
The Thursday worksop at BSU includes seven presentations, with one keynote presentation to kick off the workshop in the morning followed by six sessions running on two parallel tracks. These sessions will all be held in the Beaux Arts Ballroom in BSU’s upper Hobson Memorial Union.

8–9:30 a.m. — Morning keynote, “Gender Diversity in Youth” by Dr. Alex Iantaffi, assistant professor and faculty member in the University of Minnesota’s Program in Human Sexuality.

9:45-11:15 a.m. — “I Don’t Speak LBGTQA!” by the Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition. The Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition is committed to improving health care access and the quality of health care received by trans and gender non-conforming people through education, resources and advocacy.

9:45-11:15 a.m. — “Navigating the Legalities and Practicalities of Gender Diversity in the Educational Workforce,” by Kathryn Engdahl, a civil rights attorney with the Inter-Faculty Organization, the collective bargaining unit representing Minnesota’s four-year university faculty.

1:15-2:45 p.m. — “Support Needs — Gender-Diverse Social Service Clients” by Dr. Alex Iantaffi and the Minnesota Transgender Coalition.

1:15-2:45 p.m. — “Responding Compassionately to Gender Diversity in the Classroom,” by Bemidji-based Peacemaker Resources. Peacemaker Resources builds respectful relationships in schools, organizations and families by helping individuals gain knowledge and skills for respectful communication and conflict resolution.

3-4:30 p.m. – “Building Capacities Within Families & Communities,” by Katrina Werchouski, director of the Native American Cultural Center at Northland College in Ashland, Wis.

3-4:30 p.m. – “Bullying: Gender Vulnerabilities,” by Gina Marie Bernard, Bemidji High School English faculty.

Friday, March 6
Friday’s lecture and panel discussion will be held in the Sanford Education Conference Center at Bemidji’s Sanford Medical Center. These events are free and open to the public.

9:45-11 a.m. – “Kaleidoscope – Gender-Diverse Patient Issues Across Cultures”

3:45-5:15 p.m. – Panel presentation, “Difficult Conversations.” Presenters include Dr. Alex Inataffi, Gina Marie Bernard and the Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition.

Film screening and panel talkback
Beginning at 7 p.m. March 5 in Hagg-Sauer Hall 100, Bernard and the Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition will host screenings of the short films “Love is All You Need?” and “Transgender Children: Being Me”, followed by a panel talkback on both films.

“Love Is All You Need?” is a non-linear, dramatic coming of age story based in a world where homosexuality is the status quo and to be straight is a sin. When a small religious college football town is rocked due to their star quarterback being “outed” as a heterosexual, the citizens are forced to deal with the issue of heterosexuality and it’s effects on the youth and the town as a whole.

“Transgender Children: Being Me” is a story of girls and boys born in the wrong body and their struggle to be who they are. The film was first broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corporation television in November 2014.

Contact
• Dr. Carla Norris-Raynbird, director, women’s studies/gender studies programs

Links
• Dr. Alex Iantaffi
• Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition
• Kathryn Engdahl
• Peacemaker Resources
• Katrina Werchouski named director of the Native American Cultural Center at Northland College in Ashland, Wis.
• Love Is All You Need?