Celebrating LGBTQ Pride Month
Dear St. Francis College community,
St. Francis College takes pride in our students, faculty members, staff and alumni from the LGBTQIA+ community.
We celebrate the progress that has been made at St. Francis, in our nation and in the world to be more diverse, equitable and inclusive and to be unified against harassment, discrimination and violence. As a Franciscan community, our commitment to promoting the dignity of all persons is paramount.
To remind the community, we aspire to ensure that all members of our community
- Denounce racism, bigotry, harassment and discrimination
- Affirm the dignity of every person
- Celebrate, honor and respect difference
- Challenge the nexus of power and privilege that create barriers to equitable participation at St. Francis College and society more broadly
Who does the term LGBTQIA+ stand for or refer to? It refers to people in our families and in our lives. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual + (all other).
Emphasizing our Franciscan commitment to hospitality, inclusion, compassion, mercy and love requires that we respect and celebrate the dignity of the whole person. Likewise, our collective commitment to holding space for the LGBTQIA+ community must remain steadfast so that they may feel comfortable and encouraged to show up authentically in the classroom and workplace.
As with all under-represented groups, we must take the time to reflect and learn about the experiences and history of the LGBTQIA+ community—the traumatic, the triumphant and the beautiful. We must move forward compassionately, and most importantly, continue to find ways to be more inclusive in our language, in our actions and in our hearts.
Join me in supporting Pride not only this month but every day of the year.
Resources:
In peace and friendship,
Miguel Martinez-Saenz, President
St. Francis College