Upcoming DEI speaker hopes to promote ‘sense of belonging’ in Wilsonville

Next week, Wilsonville’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee chairperson will speak on the LGBTQ+ community at Clackamas Community College’s Wilsonville campus.

Erika Pham will discuss her experience as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and provide education on this community.

The event is part of the DEI Committee’s Speakers Series, which began in 2023 and works to educate the community on DEI matters. Pham said one of the goals of the series is to give people more understanding and empathy for people with different backgrounds.

Pham will discuss the meaning of various LGBTQ+ terms, such as gender identity and orientation, as well as the history of gender and laws in the United States. She also will provide ideas for allyship with the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized groups.

Because of recent pressures on the LGBTQ+ community across the country, Pham said this event has “really good timing.”

“I candidly don’t feel safe sometimes,” Pham said. “I have a wife, and we have a new daughter, and we’re trying to take all the legal measures to protect ourselves.”

Pham said she is concerned about bills across the country and recent U.S. Supreme Court cases, including the ruling last year allowing a website designer to refuse to work for an LGBTQ+ couple. Cases like this set a tone that discriminating against LGBTQ+ people on religious grounds is OK, she said.

Although she has not experienced it herself, Pham said she is also worried about violence against the LGBTQ+ community. She is particularly concerned about violence against the transgender community and intersectional people within the LGBTQ+ community, or those who also have Black, Indigenous, People of Color identities.

Pham believes the city effectively supports DEI, and said she feels at home in Wilsonville. But she added that she also knows that others may have a different experience.

“I think having things like this helps make more people feel a sense of belonging here,” Pham said about the event. “By feeling that they’re not the only one in the community like this, that there are others in the community like them.”

The “LGBTQIA+: Understanding and Allyship” event will be held on Wednesday, March 6, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Wilsonville campus of Clackamas Community College. Food from Hungry Hero, an LGBTQ+ owned business in Sherwood, will be provided.