Do you want to create a gender-inclusive library environment, support gender diverse members of your library community, or reach transgender patrons but are unsure where to start? Join us for an interactive two-part workshop to learn about the basics of gender identity and expression, and how libraries can support gender diverse individuals. Over the course of this two-part workshop, you will:

1. Become familiar with terminology and concepts related to transgender and gender diverse individuals,

2. Build a foundational understanding of gender identity and gender expression as it relates to, and is distinctive from, biological sex and sexual orientation,

3. Strengthen your ability to support members in your community through sometimes challenging conversations with an emphasis on compassion, respect, and empathy,

4. Gain an awareness of the barriers to understanding and myths associated with transgender populations,

5. Examine the systemic and logistical considerations relating to bathrooms, preferred names, pronouns, and privacy considerations, and

6. Understand gender diversity in humans and how privilege, implicit bias, and factors of intersectionality apply to trans and other gender diverse experiences.

Please note, this is a two-part workshop. Registrants are expected to commit to both sessions. Sessions will be held from 2:00-4:30 PM on July 15 & 29.

Will this Workshop be Recorded? No

Intended Audience: This workshop is appropriate for library staff at any level or position.

About the Instructor: This two-part workshop is being led by well-known speaker, advocate, and trainer Aidan Key. Key is the founder and president of Trans Families (an organization that provides online support to families of gender diverse children) and the principal trainer at Gender Diversity (where he has consulted with hundreds of schools and youth-based agencies across the nation and has provided districts with training, education, strategic planning, and policy development).  Key is the co-author of "Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: Children" and "Gender Cognition in Transgender Children." He is currently authoring "Trans Children in Today’s Schools."  Key was recently named one of Seattle magazine's 2019 Most Influential People of the Year. He was previously honored as the Greater Seattle Business Association’s Humanitarian of the Year (2017). Key has been featured in the national media, including the Oprah Winfrey Show, NPR’s Diane Rehm Show, Al Jazeera America, Larry King Live, and Fresh Air with Terry Gross.