At the "Mixed Flock: Diverse Narratives Within Ornithology" roundtable discussion now, excited to hear LGBTQIA+ folx share their experiences and how to cultivate a safe space for everyone to work, learn, and thrive in ornithology. #NAOC2020

@TheyDoResearch's perspective on viewing other concepts in biology as a spectrum and not a series of checkboxes we can mark, much like how human gender is a spectrum, is

ngl just cried a little bit when @liuiliui shared her experience navigating talking to relatives in Taiwan about her girlfriend/wife

Building communities for LGBTQIA+ students so that they do not feel alone helps lift a mental load, can help alleviate fear, but ultimately onus lies on the institution to reexamine itself and how to restructure so that students don't feel that fear/discomfort in the first place

Damn: In colonized cultures, homophobia is part of the colonization - indigenous folks acknowledged the whole human spectrum but those ideas have been warped through colonization. Yamina's

@sheardcat - treat students who come to you with problems as individuals, not all LGBTQIA students have the same comfort levels regarding different situations (ie. doing fieldwork in homophobic countries) so assuming they all want/need the same thing is not helpful.

Lots of good things in response to Q: "What does allyship look like to you?" A: Listen more than trying to lead the charge, train yourself to recognize who is not in the room and how to fix that, don't make assumptions, do your own research, esp. on the history of these movements

Super informative and well done roundtable! Thank you to all the panelists and organizers for your time and effort and for sharing your stories!!

@chadleebear please get some sleep