Advocating for oppressed groups the topic of EQuality Downers Grove workshop

A workshop for the LGBTQ+ community will be held this this week at the Downers Grove Public Library to help guide individuals on actions they can take in everyday life to advocate for oppressed groups.

Presented by EQuality Downers Grove [EQDG] , a Downers Grove-based organization dedicated to creating an accepting and equitable environment for LGBTQ+ people through education, support, social action and advocacy, the workshop, “Advocacy in Action: Change Starts With You,” will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 14.

Considering the recent presidential election results, Kathryn Deiss, co-chair of EQDG, said “it is clear to us all that the LGBTQ community is at potential risk, especially the trans community. EQDG will be vigilant about potential threats, and we will be counting on all allies and caring people to work with us to protect our rights and to protect individuals at greatest risk.”

“This workshop is extremely timely in that we all need to improve our skills as well as to understand the simple but profound ways in which we can be everyday advocates and the best allies possible,” Deiss said.

Jeff Wood, a former educator and licensed counselor, will present the workshop along with two fellow members of the EQDG education committee--David Settje and Bob Cammarata.

Wood said the idea for the workshop came about because individuals raised questions about how they could support the LGBTQ+ individuals and other opposed groups, “but don’t feel like they can because it is too daunting.”

“We are breaking it down, so people understand that even the little efforts that you put forth have value,” Wood said.

The workshop will investigate the history of other movements and “how big things came about by some people doing simple things and organizing,” he said.

Wood will focus on the emotional challenges that life presents and how to be an advocate.

“Sometimes those who advocate for the opposed become targets or victims themselves,” he said.

Settje, a former history professor and author of several books including “Evil Deeds in High Places: Christian America’s Moral Struggle with Watergate,” “Faith and War: How Christians Debated the Cold and Vietnam Wars” and “Lutherans and the Longest War: Adrift on a Sea of Doubt about the Cold and Vietnam Wars, will also be part of the presentation.

“A lot of times when I am talking to students about civil rights there is a feeling that these issues and concerns and prejudices that are fought are so big and hard to overcome that as an individual you can feel overwhelmed by it,” Settje said.

“We wanted to design a workshop specifically regarding the LGBTQ+ community that gives people insight into the little things that you can do in your life to make people feel welcome and to support them without getting overwhelmed by the grander narrative or some of the forces that are against our community,” he said.

Settje will walk participants through some historical examples of the Civil Rights Movement and the women’s movement to give context and perspective on how it can those actions can be beneficial to the LGBTQ+ community.

“One of the central messages of the study of the Holocaust is to be an upstander instead of a bystander,” he said. “To prevent hate and prejudice, you can’t think in your mind I don’t like that, but I am safe over here. It is important to help people and speak up, especially if you are coming from a position of privilege.”

Third part of the presentation will be conducted by Cammarata, the father of a gay son, who will talk about his journey from being an ally to the LBGTQ+ to being an advocate for the community and his son.

Registration is required at downersgrove.libnet.info/event/11790749