This year, LGBTQ+ inclusion will be a topic at The 2019 Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference. The Lesbian and Gay Band Association is planning a presentation called “Alphabet Soup,” a reference to the growing acronym representing the LGBTQ+ community, which will advise educators on how to navigate these sensitive topics. President Cliff Norris explains that this presentation will include “what it means to have someone in your music program who identifies as non-binary, what it means for how you should run the rehearsal.”
For example, educators can be inclusive of students who are non-binary by removing gender from the way they address people. “A lot of teachers come into the classroom and greet their students as ‘ladies and gentlemen,’” Norris says. “Maybe use a more inclusive greeting, like, ‘Hello, everyone.’”
