4. Are Groups Still Relevant?
Groups are a site of information gathering, social
connection, exposure to diversity of ideas and lived
experiences, and a positive determinant of health.
5. Are Groups Still Relevant?
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Being heard
Develop confidence
Validate identity and worth
Reason to leave the house
Anti-oppressive influence
Intellectual stimulation
6. Are Groups Still Relevant?
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Access to trusted figures- facilitators, community
leaders, peers
Access to experts that may not be financially or
socially accessible for participants otherwise
7. Are Groups Still Relevant?
Many participants graduate to
facilitating, supporting, becoming community
leaders
8. Are Groups Still Relevant?
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Groups are especially important for socially
disconnected men
Community connection is important in different ways
to different cohorts
9. Are Groups Still Relevant?
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Groups empower older men who may be losing
power in their lives
Chosen family: Queer men more likely to age
alone, be re-closeted, face cohort oppression
Not many queer-safe youth or seniors’ spaces in the
city
10. Are Groups Still Relevant?
• Groups VS online/bars/sports: A false dichotomy
• Other environments can complement groups
• Group participation can be a step toward other
environments
• People move on when they’ve got what they needed
11. Are Groups Still Relevant?
Many environments
• Invisibilise seniors and diversely abled folk
• Are not accessible in terms of
hours, addictions, mobility…
12. Are Groups Still Relevant?
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Face to face engagement is important for social and
mental health
Tech-based interactions can facilitate but also impede
interactions
Meeting offline may depend on social or sexual
capital; Groups aim to be open to all
13. Are Groups Still Relevant?
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Groups aim to be a structured, safer facilitated space
Groups may be an easier space to discuss health and
relationship topics than bars for many
14. Are Groups Still Relevant?
There is clear value (feedback and demand) and
challenges (numbers)
15. Groups and Information Access
Groups vary from information-centred groups to groups
where information is packaged in with social activities or
support circles
16. Groups and Information Access
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Expert human guest speakers offer dynamic
responses, trust, authority, safer space for people to
open up with questions
Low barrier access to experts eg medical, legal, HIV
disclosure
17. Groups and Information Access
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Referrals, information on community resources
Information from trusted sources and peers is shown
to be effective
Discussion boosts information retention
18. Groups and Information Access
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Opportunity to SHARE knowledge, lived experience
Intergenerational knowledge and skill sharing
Exposure to different perspectives, lived
experiences, ways of processing information boosts
critical thought
19. Groups and Information Access
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Not everyone is online, and not everyone reads
Not everyone actively seeks new information
Confidentiality- no browser history, people walking
past in the library
20. Groups and Social Access
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Bars are less and less dominant in
facilitating social health in the
computer age, but technology may
not meet all social needs
Technology and bars require money
21. Groups and Social Access
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Friendships, mentorships formed
Less sexual pressure and
requirement for sexual capital
Trust, sharing
Source of “resilience”
Opportunities for chosen family
development
22. Groups and Social Access
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Concern for well-being: absences
noticed
Queers more likely to age alone, be
alienated from biological families
Skill sharing and teaching such as
transport, tech skills to facilitate online
dating
23. Groups and Social Access
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Socialising before and after
Cliques to some degree
Facilitation can help avoid exclusion
Not everyone will make friends from a
group- set realistic expectations
25. Groups and Health Outcomes
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Participants check-in reporting a bad day or
week, and check-out reporting feeling good
Groups can be an escape, positive social
experience, a place to laugh, and way to de-stress
26. Groups and Health Outcomes
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Works against internalized homophobia and minority
stress, leading to better holistic health
Relief of talking to peers who get your experiences
27. Groups and Health Outcomes
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Connection to community health resources
Didactic information, discussion
Physical health focused groups such as
Chronically Queer, Gen Yoga
28. Groups and Health Outcomes
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Sounding board and availability of trusted facilitators
Healthy routine
31. Groups and Diversity
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Understanding of diverse cultural
norms and competencies
Self-advocacy
“Curriculum” diversityopenness, resistance, and water on
stone
Mostly able to interact positively
32. Who’s There… and Who’s Missing?
Who comes and/or comes back?
• Out guys
• Gay-identified
• Looking for something besides sex
• Anticipates their needs being met
• Positive previous experiences with groups
33. Who’s There… and Who’s Missing?
Who doesn’t come, or doesn’t come back?
• 25-40
• Worried about being outed- whether entering the
building or by fellow participants
34. Who’s There… and Who’s Missing?
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Embarrassment barrier to discussing topics such as
risk or kink face to face. Good facilitation can help
overcome this, but only if people show up!
Stigma of support group
Don’t see self represented- age, cultural
background, ability…
35. Who’s There… and Who’s Missing?
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Not engaged with organizations
Men who feel alienated from gay community
Unable to access the spacemobility, geography, outness, hours, food not
provided…
Classism
36. Who’s There… and Who’s Missing?
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Couples
First impression was on a slow night, or with a speaker
they didn’t identify with
37. Who’s There… and Who’s Missing?
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Do groups exclude or create space for
introverts, socially anxious men?
Perception of what the group is
Some like structure, some don’t- you can’t please
everyone!
39. Intentional Inclusiveness
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Diverse non-tokenized speakers
Scour your curriculum for oppression
Accessibility;
Environment, geography, hours, language, facilities…
Space for different communication and learning styles
40. Intentional Inclusiveness
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Space for all levels of English
Space for diverse knowledge, experiences, ideas
Facilitators trained in anti-oppression
Look for oppression and exclusion in discussions; it’s
sneaky!
Male privilege
41. Intentional Inclusiveness
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Safer space agreement:
• Clear
• Participant buy-in, contribution to
• Pronoun checks
• Safe to speak or pass; Space sharing
• Empower group to address breaches of safer space
in an appropriate way
42. Intentional Inclusiveness
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Facilitators must actively have the hard conversations;
challenge exclusion and oppression; create learning
experiences; model behaviours
Cliques are difficult to realistically avoid
Don’t get complacent- oppression will always happen!
44. Sustainability
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Facilitators have an opportunity to shadow, train, be
mentored
Support for facilitators: check-ins, multiple
facilitators, relief facilitators or breaks available
Facilitators don’t burn candle at both ends: workload
and commitments
Facilitators, not leaders
46. Sustainability
• Guest speakers, outings, movies, topics, open
discussion- mix things up!
• Well-briefed speakers who gel with the group
• Mix of structured and open time within a session
• Relationships focus
47. Sustainability
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Assess needs before and during - why are we doing
this?
Don’t reinvent the wheel
What are the actual needs? Do men need a coming out
group, or are they finding barriers to accessing queer
community?
48. Sustainability
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Need may come in waves
Groups often have a natural shelf life
Try for a year before discontinuing a group
Promote, partner (more time commitment but more
reach and resources)
Niche VS numbers
50. Mind the Gap
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Underbriefed presenters
Underprepared, insufficiently trained facilitators
A lot of human variables are inherently unpredictable!
51. Mind the Gap
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Organizations can never know for sure if facilitators
are working ethically, inclusively
Trying to do everything, or prioritizing poorly
Ultimately: Insufficient organizational investment, often
as a result of trying to do too much
