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This year OutFront Minnesota worked on a conversion therapy ban at the Minnesota state legislature. We’ve already successfully passed two municipal bans in the past couple months: one in Duluth and one in Minneapolis. We’re excited about the progress being made but also realize there is a lot of work to be done before we can get this passed at the state level. Last year we were able to get the Mental Health Protections Act passed in the state house but it died in the state senate.Through that process we learned a lot of lessons about doing trauma-informed organizing and I want to share step-by-step how we conducted our outreach throughout the process.

Outreach To Survivors
Whenever we attended public actions, we did outreach to survivors of conversion therapy. We would ask everyone and anyone that we ran into: “So do you know anyone who’s been through conversion therapy?”

We started having lots and lots of conversations with people. We added it to our sign-in sheet as a question (sign your name, give us your email and phone number, check here if you’re a survivor of conversion therapy). As we started building up our list we found that people sometimes were survivors of conversion therapy but felt like their stories didn’t count or fit in the “Boy Erased” box well enough. It took some digging and surveying to locate more survivors.

We then scheduled one-to-one visits with anyone who said they were a survivor. We made sure to inform them ahead of time that we may ask about their experience as a conversion therapy survivor. We made sure to allow for enough time for each individual meeting so we could honor that person’s story. Something we discovered during this process is that we, as the organizers, also needed to schedule enough time for ourselves to decompress after hearing people’s stories about trauma and physical violence. I would just be so blown away by the resilience people have and what our community is up against even as young people.

Organizing Committee Meetings
If it felt like the right fit and a part of the survivor’s path, we would invite people to our organizing committee meetings. We found it was important to take breaks throughout the meetings and to provide water and other refreshments for attendees. Everyone needed the sustenance to get through a meeting where they’re talking about their experience going through conversion therapy.

Something I noticed is that the triggers, or things that would activate people around their trauma, were not always just the story sharing. It could be the suggestion to approach a specific legislator that was amenable to supporting the conversion ban, which would remind the survivor that there are other legislators who were not in support of the measure.

We also learned fairly quickly there was a need for a support group meeting in addition to the organizing and policy committee meetings. Survivors of conversion therapy were invited to meet in a support group setting once a month--and more often as needed. The space was facilitated by a therapist and was not a space for for organizing to take action. We also offered a text group for survivors to be able to check in with one another between meetings and events.

Preparing to Testify
When it came time to prepare for the public action at the legislature, I worked with the support group to do testimony prep. We watched videos from the Minnesota legislature that showed what a committee hearing is like and how you can testify. We did some emotional processing. And we made sure there was a “chill out” room or space and emotional support person available if anyone needed to do an emotional health check-in. We also made sure to block off sections of seating to ensure those testifying didn’t have to walk in between the opposition.

Radical Hospitality
Visiting the legislature for the first time, whether it’s someone who has experienced complex trauma or not, can feel intimidating. To alleviate this stress, we provide “radical hospitality”--we post people at the building’s entrance to help guide attendees to the right location. We check in to see if they have any questions or need extra support. We make sure they feel supported from the moment they enter the building.

Marshalls Trained in Deescalation Techniques
We also provide marshalls at our public actions. Marshalls may also assist with our radical hospitality, but their job is not just to interact with people who are there to support our organization and the ban on conversion therapy. They also play the role of engaging with the opposition if needed. They are trained in deescalation techniques beforehand and wear a high visibility vest during their shift. They do not wear buttons, hold signs, or chant in support of our organization in order to appear impartial. They may be called upon to approach the opposition and say things such as “I'm not sure you're going to get your point across to this group right now” or “They’re going to be out of here in five minutes. Let them get it done and it’ll go faster.” Or in cases where members of our community may do or say something they’d regret, the marshalls may say something like “This might feel really important right now, but this isn’t how we’re going to win change” or “They’re doing this to provoke you. Don’t let them get the better side of you.” Their main job is to deescalate potentially volatile situations.

Post Event Tips
In addition to the survivor text loop, we typically host an after event for our core participants. We make sure to choose a location that offers food in addition to alcoholic beverages to center the event on being together more than focusing on drinking.

Your Staff's Experiences Matter
It is important to take time to talk about how our own experiences with oppression, whether or not we've labeled them as trauma, impact the way that we're organizing. We have 17 people on our staff, all of whom are LGBTQ, and we each have different experiences interacting with homophobia, transphobia, sexism, racism, and classism. These experiences inform the scripts that we have. And some of those scripts come directly from oppressors or interactions with oppression, but also from ourselves as we react to that oppression.

We check in on those scripts pretty regularly as we do our organizing. For example, if someone on staff is avoiding setting up a meeting with a powerful legislator, someone may ask, “What’s getting in your way? What came up for you? Where does that come from?” We're not therapists and we're not trying to offer people therapy as we hold them accountable, We just want to keep in mind that everyone on staff is going to have triggers or become activated by some of things that will come up in this process and the things that will come out of the mouths of our lawmakers.

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Trauma can result from experiences of violence. Trauma includes physical, sexual and institutional abuse, neglect, intergenerational trauma, and disasters that induce powerlessness, fear, recurrent hopelessness, and a constant state of alert. Trauma impacts one's spirituality and relationships with self, others, communities and environment, often resulting in recurring feelings of shame, guilt, rage, isolation, and disconnection. Healing is possible.
Source: National Center for Trauma Informed Care

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A traumatic event is a shocking, scary, or dangerous experience that can affect someone emotionally and physically. Experiences like natural disasters (such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods), acts of violence (such as assault, abuse, terrorist attacks, and mass shootings), as well as car crashes and other accidents can all be traumatic.
Credit: National Institute of Mental Health

Traumatic experiences can be dehumanizing, shocking or terrifying, singular or multiple compounding events over time, and often include betrayal of a trusted person or institution and a loss of safety.
Source: National Center for Trauma Informed Care

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[video width="1920" height="900" mp4="https://www.equalityfederation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/trauma-clip.mp4"][/video]

Linda Douglas,Trauma Informed Services Specialist at the Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence, explains the stress response. Expand to view video full screen.

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Tips from Linda Douglas,Trauma Informed Services Specialist at the Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence, for preparing people to give their testimony:

• The more information the better! Give them as much information as possible as to where they‚Äôre going to be, where they‚Äôre going to be seated in the room, who‚Äôs going to sit next to them, when this will possibly happen, and who are the people that they will be talking to.
• Have an advocate or another support person with them.
• Make sure their statement is printed in a large enough font that they don't lose their place when testifying.
• Find a room ahead of time where you can sit with the person so that they don't have to be in the room with the crowd and everyone else until it's actually time for them to testify or until the hearing starts. Be very careful about who's allowed to come into that room.
• Have water and snacks available because you won‚Äôt know how long you will need to stay at the hearing.
• Do some emotional safety planning with people ahead of time. Emotions are going to come up and you will need a safety plan for positive self care and support they can access after providing testimony.
• Be there for the person giving testimony after they finish.

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Trauma + COVID-19

• Coronavirus: The Psychological Trauma and PTSD Event
• 10 COVID-19 Emotions You‚Äôre Not the Only One Having
• ‚ÄòI Now Hate Sleep‚Äô: Washingtonians Are Having Bizarre Quarantine Dreams

Generational Approaches to COVID-19

• Managing Your Mental Health - A Gen-Z Perspective
• How Different Generations Are Responding to COVID-19
• Gen Z was fed up with the status quo. Coronavirus could affirm their beliefs.

Domestic Violence

• How Domestic Violence Victims Can Stay Safe During the Pandemic

Substance Abuse and Addiction

• Addiction During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Other Resources

• Equality Federation COVID-19 Resource Directory

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