by Ashley House
The Prospectus recently received and published a letter to the editor concerning Parkland College’s Safe Zone signs. These signs are posted around campus, generally outside the offices of faculty to designate that they have gone through training that covers a general overview of LGBT+ student issues and that they are a “safe” person. According to Parkland professor of mathematics Erin Wilding-Martin, these signs are in place “predominantly so students know that there are people at Parkland who are supportive and who they can turn to if they have questions, but mostly so they know that we are supportive and that it’s safe. The sign means that I in particular am a person that if you need to ask questions or need resources you can come to.” She also mentioned that students take these signs into consideration when selecting a professor for their courses.
The letter received, however, had a few issues with the design of the signs in particular. Not only was the large, pink and purple graphic at the top of the sign deemed “offensive” by the writer, the short paragraph explaining Safe Zones fell short of expectations. I asked Wilding-Martin about the design, only to find that the sign in question is not an official Parkland Safe Zone sign, and Wilding-Martin had not ever seen it. The sign, however, does include information on the back for various resources in the community, including how to contact the Colours at Parkland College, known as Parkland PRIDE today. With a little more digging, it was concluded that it is one of the original designs of the signs at Parkland, dating back to 2002. Though the college began passing anti-discriminatory policies back in 1991, Safe Zone signs were not on display around campus until 2002.
Wilding-Martin could not speak on the design of this sign, but she did give some background on the current Safe Zone sign for the college. It features a pink triangle on top of a rainbow with the words “safe zone” written in white. It also includes a short description of the goal behind the signs that reads “The Safe Zone symbol is a message to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) students and colleagues. I pledge to be understanding, supportive, and trustworthy if a LGBTQQ individual needs help or advice and to uphold Parkland’s commitment to civility.” Wilding-Martin said that this design went through a lot of conversation and debate, as the committee tasked with the design wanted to include a rainbow, as it is immediately recognizable to most people nowadays, but they also wanted to include the pink triangle, a symbol that is widely recognized by the older generations. “The pink triangle ties back to World War II,” Wilding-Martin said, “to the concentration camps, gay men were tagged with it.” In the 70s, however, the pink triangle was reinvented as a pro-gay symbol that is still recognized to this day.
It is not likely that the pink triangle will remain on the signs, as they are undergoing a total redesign. The new design was prompted by a few things, mostly that the students involved in PRIDE decided the signs were looking a little outdated, Wilding-Martin said. Parkland is also moving its LGBT+ training program online to make it more easily available to faculty. Wilding-Martin said the new signs will likely feature an inverted triangle with a rainbow, and will just look a little more modern overall. The new signs should extinguish the concerns surrounding the lack of intersectionality of the older sign cited by the author of the letter to the editor, as well as the lack of rainbow. The redesign is expected to be completed soon, and the signs will be updated all over campus once the new ones roll out.
If any faculty around Parkland are still displaying the old sign, they should get in touch with Wilding-Martin for an updated version by contacting her via email at emartin@parkland.edu.
