Safe place

[Lana Mae]

My daughter works in a community college library and it has been designated an LGBTQ+ safe place! Is this crazy? In NC, a state community college sets up a safe place for LGBTQ+ in the HB2 state?? Bathrooms would be a question as the are gender specific! Interesting! Oh, and the library staff proudly wear an LGBTQ+ button and they have people ask where they can get one! SOOO, not all NC residents are bigots! How about that!! Hugs Lana Mae

[Nikki A.]

Most people individually, wherever you go are nice. It is when you get the mob mentality or the one rabblerouser that people begin to act stupid.

[Micki_Finn]

I don't understand why a college campus needs a "safe space" in the library. Is the rest of the campus just a free-for-all for harassment and discrimination? If the college wants to keep students safe from that sort of thing shouldn't they be enforcing those policies campus-wide?

[Lana Mae]

Yes, Micki, I agree it should be campus wide but this is Gooberville, USA (as my daughter puts it) .We will take what we can get! Hugs Lana Mae

[I Am Paula]

Safe space is more political than geographic.

[Tracii G]

Do they have crisis dogs too?

[Lana Mae]

I agree Paula! I think it is just a political ploy!
Tracii, what are crisis dogs?
Hugs Lana Mae

[Tracii G]

Some college campuses had to call in crisis dogs for the little snowflakes that were upset over the election.
Hot cocoa,pizza and dogs to hug because their little hearts were crushed at the outcome.
It all seems pretty silly.
We never had that in college but we didn't feel entitled either.
Sure we protested but when it got dark we all went home.

[Lana Mae]

No crisis dogs but they had a transmale speaker do a little seminar thing! Buttons and literature was passed out! Hugs Lana Mae

[Melissa Rose]

As a recent college professor and a member of the LGBTQ+ subcommittee for student equity and the faculty adviser to the Queer Straight Alliance Club, a safe place is more than just a political ploy or window dressing. No matter how good the non-harassment policy on a campus, it does not help "in the moment". If a student is feeling or being harassed, they can go to a safe place and know they will have protection. A number of the instructors and staff on campus have a Safe Space sticker on their office to let students and staff know who and where there are allies. The campus web site also has a list of LGTBQ+ mentors (voluntarily listing) as another source for LGBTQ+ students. These safe spaces are important to some students and they like having them. I am in California so you can imagine how it may be in other areas of the US.

[Lana Mae]

I stand corrected and apologize for my misunderstanding! Hugs Lana Mae

[Rogina B]

It all seems pretty silly

It is easy to forget that these young people have not had the life experiences that some of us have had. They probably have struggled through their teen years and are still struggling to be included. It sometimes doesn't take much for a fragile young person to breakdown. Having a supportive space is always a good thing and not something to laugh about. They have the same thing at one of the local colleges here in Jax and I know of some of the young people that need that space. Every person isn't so tough,Tracii

[Krisi]

Some college campuses had to call in crisis dogs for the little snowflakes that were upset over the election.
Hot cocoa,pizza and dogs to hug because their little hearts were crushed at the outcome.
It all seems pretty silly.
We never had that in college but we didn't feel entitled either.
Sure we protested but when it got dark we all went home.

It seems silly to me and most of my friends as well. When we were growing up, we didn't have anti bullying laws and such and we learned to fend (and defend) for ourselves. We are looking at a bunch of children who expect everything to go their way and don't know how to act when it doesn't.

Just the thought of having to have a "safe place" means that these (nearly) adults haven't learned to cope with the real world.

If you are gay or lesbian, that's fine. You are going to have to face the world as a gay or lesbian person, not spend your life hiding in some "safe place". I've known gay and lesbian people (I have lesbian relatives) and have worked in the real world with gay and lesbian people. They were adults though and their sexual orientation was not an issue.

[dolovewell]

Some college campuses had to call in crisis dogs for the little snowflakes that were upset over the election.
Hot cocoa,pizza and dogs to hug because their little hearts were crushed at the outcome.
It all seems pretty silly.
We never had that in college but we didn't feel entitled either.
Sure we protested but when it got dark we all went home.

It's the natural result of the "everyone gets a trophy" generation as well as more and more kids growing up in households without a father present. Fathers are the parent who instill values such as toughness and resilience. With absent fathers, where will kids learn those values?

There are "Safe Place" stickers on the buildings of a lot of establishments where I live. I have never understood it. I mean, so one building with a Safe Place sticker means you can go inside and be "safe", but if you go into a building without one, the patrons there have permission to beat the crap out of you? I am obviously exaggerating but last I checked its not OK to attack someone anywhere, regardless of whether or not they have a Safe Place sticker.

I think its all political posturing, some politicians got together and said "This sounds like a good way to pat ourselves on the back for making it look like we are doing something!". Every public place should theoretically be a Safe Place, why do we need stickers and legislation? I've always thought it could be some kind of racket - if you don't have a Safe Place sticker on your window, it means you are not participating and therefore become a target of the area's politicians? Kind of like passover blood.

[Stephanie47]

I thought North Carolina had entered the 20th century a while back, but, current events have shown that I've been living under false premises. I think an analysis of the election has shown not everyone is happy with the way the country was headed. The ballot box is the place for anyone to make his or her beliefs known without feeling threatened. Unfortunately, there have been too many instances where ill mannered persons have viewed the outcome of the election to make inappropriate comments towards anyone and everyone he or she does not agree with or like.

[Lorileah]

gee this was fun and then it became all like political with name calling about voters and whining that it was PC and that do we really NEED safe spaces and then...poof...gone

You all realize we set up a sticky for the political bathroom stuff above, right?