30 | MARCH 12 • 2020 

Jews in the D

A Deep Dive

Federation, others to host LGBTQ+ ally and 
advocacy training for Jewish educators.
J

ewish Federation of 
Metropolitan Detroit, Stand 
with Trans, JFamily and the 
Youth Professionals Network 
are partnering to present an 
LGBTQ+ Ally and Advocacy 
training series for Jewish educa-
tors and youth professionals.
The trainings, which began 
March 11 at the JCC, start with 
a basic course on LGBTQ+ 101. 
There, participants will learn 
the basics of gender identity 
and sexual orientation, includ-
ing terminology, while also 
learning about the importance 
of paying attention to the men-
tal health needs of these teens.
“We’
re finding that more and 
more Jewish teens are strug-
gling with gender and sexual 
identity,
” Katie Vieder, director 
of teen engagement at the JCC, 
said. “But our professionals are 
also struggling because a lot of 
them don’
t yet have the tools to 
support these teens.
”
While there have been other 
community trainings with an 
LGBTQ+ focus, this is the first 
event that allows participants 
to take a deeper dive into this 
topic, Vieder said. 
The Youth Professionals 
Network and the Michigan 
Board of Jewish Educators 
helped by connecting profes-
sionals and Jewish educators 
who work with grades 6-12 to 
this free training. 
“When we were brainstorm-
ing topics to cover, we did 
receive a lot of input from the 
community,
” Vieder said. “We 
asked youth professionals what 
they were struggling with, the 
difficulties they were facing and 

how we could provide support.
” 
Roz Keith, president of Stand 
with Trans, was consulted to 
provide input on the three 
sessions. Based in Farmington, 
Stand with Trans was found-
ed in 2015 by Keith and is a 
nonprofit organization that 
provides tools and support to 
transgender youth. 
“We wanted the training to 
be comprehensive … We knew 
it couldn’
t be done in 90 min-
utes or one two-hour session,
” 
Keith said. “We worked to iden-
tify the topics and areas that 
would be the most appropriate 
and have the most impact for 
this particular audience.
”
The second and third por-
tions of the series will be held 
on March 18 and March 25 at 
the JCC. The second session is 
a deeper dive into gender diver-
sity, featuring a panel of young 
adults who don’
t identify with a 
gender or sexuality norm.
The final session will focus 
on navigating physical spaces. 
This can include a scenario 
like sending a child off to camp 
and ensuring that showers and 
bathrooms are available for 
youths who don’
t identify as 
male or female. It is also geared 
toward support for parents and 
educating professionals on how 
to be an ally for teens, parents 
and peers. 
“I firmly believe that educa-
tion is really the key to accep-
tance and support — the more 
we can learn and the more we 
can grow, the better equipped 
we are to support our teens who 
identify as LGBTQ+,
” Keith 
said. 

CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER

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SURVIVORSHIP EVENT

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Stress/Laughter/Gratitude -- Coping with Cancer

Join us for a discussion on how best to use 

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Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 6pm

Panel expert:
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Refreshments will be served.

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and oc April 24.

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