Mt. Hood Community College issued the following announcement on Apr. 21.
On April 20, 2022, the Board of Education approved an official board statement in support of our LGBTQ+ Community. This is our Board’s public declaration that loudly proclaims and reinforces that MHCC is not only a welcoming institution, but that we stand firmly against acts of harm to traditionally marginalized communities, most recently those harming the LGBTQ+ community who have recently seen their civil rights challenged through multiple legislative actions across our nation.
To our LGBTQ+ faculty, staff, board members, students and community - we want you to know everyone is welcome here, we stand with you, and we will be heavily publicizing and taking action in support of this stance.
MHCC Board Statement Supporting Our LGBTQ+ Community
The MHCC Board of Education, in solidarity with college leadership, affirm the humanity of our queer and trans students, staff, faculty, board members, and community members.
Across the nation, legislative actions are targeting LGBTQ+ youth and families. According to the Human Rights Campaign, there are more than 266 anti-LGBTQ+ bills under consideration in state legislatures across the country. Of those, at least 125 directly target transgender people and nearly half of those (57+ bills) would ban trans youth from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity. These proposed bills are getting closer to home, with Idaho proposing a bill that criminalized medical care for trans youth. The proposed Idaho bill was not moved forward by the Idaho Senate, but the harm continues.
We unequivocally state that LGBTQ+ rights are human rights.
At Mt. Hood Community College, we embrace people along the continuum of gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation. We are actively working to build a culture of inclusion through committed action, including:
- Provision of professional learning opportunities to support and understand LGBTQ+ students and their needs.
- Provision of professional learning opportunities to build anti-oppressive curricula and inclusive learning environments.
- Building a basic needs support system that acknowledges the particular challenges faced by queer and trans people, including financial, health, housing, and food insecurity; and working to eliminate these obstacles to college participation.
- Acknowledging historical exclusion perpetuated by systems of dominance and social control in education, and committing to do no further harm by aligning systems and processes with our institutional values.
- Actively hiring for all aspects of diversity to be more representative of the students and communities we serve.
President
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Mt. Hood Community College
Original source can be found here.
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