Anti-discriminatory and Anti-Oppressive Practice
Seeing Every Person
Anti-Discriminatory & Anti-Oppressive Practice
for Warm Welcome Space Leaders
“Loving people and the world is not possible if love is not also committed to transforming the world.”
Paulo Freire
Pedagogy of the Oppressed
As Warm Welcome Space leaders, we are called
to welcome, include, and stand alongside people.
But good intentions are not enough.
What Does This Look Like in Practice?
Anti-Discriminatory Practice
Stopping unfair treatment
• Not treating people differently or less favourably because of who they are , whether that is their race, disability, faith, age, gender, sexuality.
• Checking that your welcome is genuinely open: are your events, communications, and spaces accessible to everyone?
• Noticing when your community might be unintentionally excluding certain groups through how things are done.
• Freire called this ‘naming the world’ - seeing clearly what is happening, rather than looking away.
What Does This Look Like in Practice?
Anti-Oppressive Practice
Challenging the systems that hold people back
• Going further: asking why some people face more barriers than others, and using your influence to change that.
• As leaders, you hold power. AOP asks: whose voices shape decisions in your community? Who is missing from the table?
• Standing alongside people in advocating for fairer systems for housing, services, schools for example, not just meeting individual needs.
• Freire called this ‘praxis’: reflection and action together. Seeing injustice and doing something about it.
What Does This Look Like in Practice?
Two connected commitments every community leader can act on
Allyship: Speak Up, Stand Up, Don’t Stand By
Being an ally — to LGBTQI+ people and to racialised communities — is an active choice, not a passive feeling
Allyship: Speak Up, Stand Up, Don’t Stand By
The Bystander
Watches. Stays silent. Doesn’t want to get involved.
• Sees a racist remark go unchallenged in a meeting and says nothing.
• Hears a homophobic joke and laughs along, or stays quiet.
• Notices someone being excluded but decides it’s not their place to say anything.
• Feels uncomfortable but tells themselves it’s not their fight.
• Silence is not neutral. It sends a message to the person being harmed: you are on your own.
Allyship: Speak Up, Stand Up, Don’t Stand By
The Ally
Acts. Speaks. Takes a side — the side of the person being harmed.
Speak up in the moment. When you hear a discriminatory comment, name it calmly: “That’s not something I can let pass.”
Use your position. Leaders have authority. Use it to make spaces explicitly welcoming to LGBTQI+ people and people of all racial and community backgrounds.
Be a racial ally. Challenge assumptions, amplify marginalised voices, and examine how race shapes access and belonging in your community.
Be an LGBTQI+ ally. Make your welcome visible. Signpost support. Don’t wait for permission from others and be proud you support everyone.
Check in afterwards. If you witnessed discrimination, find the person affected and ask how they are. Them feeling seen matters.
What If I Notice It in Myself?
Media, culture, and the world we grew up in shape how we think, often without our awareness. Most of us carry biases we did not choose. The question is not whether we have them. It is what we do when we notice them.
“There is no such thing as a neutral education process.” — Paulo Freire
What If I Notice It in Myself?
Recognise It
• Notice the thought, assumption, or reaction without immediately defending yourself.
• Ask: where did this come from? Is it mine, or did I absorb it from somewhere else?
• Media, news coverage, and cultural narratives routinely misrepresent LGBTQI+ people and people of colour. That shapes us, whether we intend it to or not.
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What If I Notice It in Myself?
Sit With It
• Resist the urge to dismiss it quickly or to feel ashamed into silence.
• Shame closes down reflection. Curiosity opens it up.
• Ask: if I acted on this thought, who would it harm? That question is more useful than guilt.
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What If I Notice It in Myself?
Do Something With It
• Seek out perspectives that challenge your assumptions: books, relationships, communities.
• Talk to people who have lived experience but don’t put the burden of educating you on them alone.
• Be accountable. If bias has affected how you treated someone, name it and repair it.
What Can I Do as a Leader?
Practical starting points - you don’t need to have all the answers
What Can I Do as a Leader?
01
Listen Differently
Create space for people to share their experience without jumping to solutions. Freire taught that genuine dialogue, not just speaking at people, is where change begins.
Ask: who in our community rarely speaks up, and why?
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Herder & Herder.
What Can I Do as a Leader?
02
Look at Your Welcome
Walk through your building, events, and communications as if you were a newcomer from a different background. Is everything accessible? Are images, language, and leadership representative? Small changes signal big belonging. Speaking to people from these backgrounds about what is barriers will help build a better understanding
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What Can I Do as a Leader?
03
Use Your Influence
Community leaders have real power. Use it to speak up when local services, schools, or housing decisions are failing the most vulnerable. Advocacy is part of your calling and duties as community leaders, not separate from it.
What Can I Do as a Leader?
04
Reflect on Your Own Position
Freire challenged leaders to examine how to use their own privilege and power.
Consider: what advantages do you hold that others in your community do not? How might that shape what you see and what you miss? How can you use your privilege to elevate the voices of others who are not being heard in your community?