Our speakers have diverse identities and varied lived experience. The Bureau includes speakers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual and pansexual; speakers who are trans, gender diverse, non-binary, and a-gender; and speakers who have variations of sex characteristics. Many of our speakers have faced stigma and discrimination and are passionate about promoting a greater understanding of the diversity within our community and addressing stigma and discrimination. As such, our speakers have experiences, knowledge, and insights relating to a range of community and health issues including social inclusion and healthcare equity.
Our speakers can either speak to their personal experiences or they can tailor their presentations to each request in accordance with their knowledge and experiences.
All speakers attend comprehensive training and professional development, including in the following areas:
- Frameworks and techniques for public speaking, effective communication, and adult learning.
- Safe storytelling (provided by Morgan Lee Cataldo)
- MIEACT’s DoNOHarm Framework©
- Media coaching, digital multimedia and presentation training.
Note on terminology
While we have provided definitions for some common terminology, this list is not exhaustive, and some people may prefer to use other terms to refer to their gender and sexuality. The above terms, while they capture more diversity than typical understandings of gender and sexuality, do not represent the full range of possibilities that exist when it comes to talking about the individual experiences that people have of gender, sex and sexuality.