Let’s Talk About SOGI and TDOR
The inclusion of SOGI education in Canadian schools has been a hot topic lately, and November 20 is Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR). Let's talk about these things, and how they relate. What Is SOGI? First of all, what does SOGI even mean? It stands for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Maybe you've seen or heard it referred to as "SOGI 123." The "123" has no meaning other than to imply that it's "as easy as 123." So why are we talking about Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity? And why are we trying to make it seem easy? Because everyone has a sexual orientation and a gender identity. Every. Person. On this planet. And it is easy. There are groups out there who are trying to make a mountain of this mole hill. They're trying to make it sound complicated and scary and difficult to understand. But if you understand that you are, for example, a straight man, then there's your sexual orientation (straight) and your gender identity (man) and that's all there is to it. It's that simple. Examples of Sexual Orientations: Straight (attracted to the opposite sex) Gay (attracted to the same sex; male) Lesbian (attracted to the same sex; female) Bisexual (attracted to more than one sex) Pansexual (attracted to all sexes) Asexual (not sexually attracted to anyone) Examples of Gender Identities: Cisgender Man (assigned male at birth; still identifies as male) Cisgender Woman (assigned female at birth; still identifies as female) Transgender Man (assigned female at…