Community Relations Commission Meeting
March 3, 2016
Page 1
OXFORD COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION
March 3, 2016
ITEM 1
CALL TOORDER
The Oxford Community Relations Commission Meeting ofMarch 3, 2016 was called to order at 3:15 p.m. by Doug Elliott, Director. Those members present were:Patrick Meade, Dan Umbstead, Catherine Lok and Brian Jong. Steven Quaye was excused.
Kim Newton, Recording Secretary was in attendance for the City.
Guest: Sabrina Jewell, PFLAG Board Member.
ITEM 2
APPROVAL OFMINUTES
Minutes of the January 28, 2016Community Relations Commission Meeting.
Mr. Meade moved to approve the January 28, 2016meeting minutes. Mr. Umbstead seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
ITEM 3
PFLAG (Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays)
Mr. Elliott noted he had invited Oxford PFLAG to speak to the CRC about their organization and introduced Board Member, Sabrina Jewell. Mr. Elliott provided Ms. Jewell information on the background of the CRC and their charge and asked Ms. Jewell to provide information on the Oxford chapter of PFLAG. Ms. Jewell advised Oxford Area PFLAG was reformed last year and noted there had been an active chapter here for close to 20 years which dissolved over 10 years ago. Ms. Jewell noted when PFLAG originally started it stood for “Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays” and advised it no longer is an acronym and as part of the national chapter it now stands for “Family Friends and Allies of the LGBTQ+ Community” (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning with the “+” includinga plethora of labels used to describe their identity. Mr. Elliott inquired how many members the Oxford Area PFLAG has and Ms. Jewell noted the Board consists of nine (9) members, including herself as an ally, and includes several queer/gay folk and several parents of LGBTQ+ children. Ms. Jewell also noted the membership included 30 active members with 60 members on the mailing list, including local businesses. Ms. Jewell advised meetings are held at the Oxford Senior Citizens Building on the second Monday of each month at 7:00 pm. and noted they are the only PFLAG between Indianapolis, Dayton and Cincinnati. Ms. Jewell noted they have really good support from Miami University’s Office of Diversity Affairs and their LGBT group
noting SPECTRUM students have come and spoken to PFLAG. Ms. Jewell also noted one Board member is a Talawanda High School student who is head of the GSA (Gay, Straight Alliance) at Talawanda and advised Superintendent, Kelly Spivey is very supportive of PFLAG noting they are working with Talawanda to create a “Rainbow Reading” program to create more diversity in the reading books available to students in the classroom. Ms. Jewell expressed her opinion it is not all about having a gay agenda but rather having equal acceptance and tolerance.
Ms. Jewell noted there are a handful of children at Talawanda High School and Middle School who identify as queer, questioning or transgender who have a personality they show at school and when they get home they are very different because they are not allowed to be who they feel like they need to be. Ms. Jewell advised it has been very difficult to find ways to reach out to those families to provide support.
Ms. Jewell noted one of the things they have done is connect Talawanda with Miami in regards to “Safe Zone” training, which trains anyone working with students to go through and understand the sexual and gender questioning and differences of students. Ms. Jewell noted when she took the “Safe Zone” training at Miami there were kitchen staff, house keepers and grounds keepers in the training because they all interact with the students, which is also good for them as it gives them a little more sense of appropriate words to use and allows them to say to students, “I’m a safe place, so if you want to talk, you can come and talk to me.” Ms. Jewell advised those who took the training and have offices have a “triangle” sign on their office door indicating a “Safe Zone”. Mr. Meade inquired if anyone from Talawanda has taken the training and Ms. Jewell advised Shevonne Nelson (GLBTQ Coordinator at Miami) did a faculty presentation and noted she believes they are in the process of setting it up.
Ms. Jewell noted she was also involved in the Homeless Alliance and advised there are quite a few transient homeless, including a few Miami students who have lost housing and funding due to their “coming out” and not being supported by their parents. Ms. Jewell advised there is a new office at Miami in the Office Student Affairs called “Student Success” noting Janet Mallen is the head of that office and is working with the Homeless Alliance and the Family Resource Center to help get these students some sort of housing and support. Mr. Elliott advised the CRC is charged with investigating discriminatory practices of protected classes and noted information is available on the City’s website under “Boards & Commissions”, which lists the members and provides information about the Commission. Mr. Elliott also advised the website includes a discrimination complaint form which references Chapter 143 of the Oxford Codified Ordinances regarding the CRC’s charge, powers and responsibilities.
General discussion ensued and the CRC thanked Ms. Jewell for coming to their meeting and discussing PFLAG.
ITEM 4
Other Items of Interest
Mr. Elliott advised the Police Community Relations and Review Commission (PCRRC) held their first meeting on February 18th and noted Pat Meade was appointed as Chair. Mr. Elliott noted the next meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 12th at 6:00 p.m. with the main topic of discussion being Police training.
ITEM 5
Next Meeting (4/7 at 3PM) and Invited Group
Mr. Elliott advised the next CRC meeting would be held on Thursday, April 7, 2016 at 3:00 p.m. and the invited guest would be members of Women Helping Women, a sexual assault group.
ADJOURN
Mr. Umbsteadmoved and Ms. Lokseconded to adjourn at 4:15p.m. The motion passed unanimously.