Queer people often have to navigate hostile environments where they are either not affirmed in their queerness or even actively harmed physically or emotionally because of their queerness. This is why queer people often create their own spaces where they can exist in all their queerness among other members of the community and allies. These spaces can be called safer spaces to acknowledge that no space can ever achieve complete safety but that this should never be an obstacle to creating spaces that are pledged to reduce harm.
Today, we owe the concept of safer spaces for marginalised people to queers and feminists in the 1970s paving the way by making themselves safer and not relying on the hostile world around them. But even before, marginalised people have always strived for and built safer environments in which they can exist unapologetically. These social experiments and experiences from past struggles allow us today to create safer spaces that are informed by knowledge gathered throughout history.
What exactly is a safer space then?
A safer space begins with a commitment to actively and collectively maintain an environment that is intentionally safer, both physically and mentally, for all the people within it. Different safer spaces can have different purposes, but the group should always ask itself: what does safety mean to us? As this can be different from person to person, collectivised decision making is essential to ensure everyone’s safety is equally valued.
What does a safer space look like in practice?
A safer space, in practice, would first begin with a set of agreements that are reached collectively. For example, one agreement could be to always make sure to be aware of and use each person’s preferred pronouns. If that is not respected by any individual, the other people in that space should be able to hold them accountable by addressing their breach of the collective agreement in a way that doesn’t exclude them. In that process, the misgendered person’s safety and comfort should always be prioritised. This kind of way of proceeding with collective care is essential to create and maintain safer spaces.
Safer spaces for queer people do not only exist for feelings of comfort, but also for people of the community to be able to build solidarity amongst each other and strength to be able to reach out that solidarity to others.
Janaka
Communication Volunteer YQA
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