Taking Up Space |
Safe spaces are critical for marginalized populations.
The challenge used to be the move from safe to brave spaces.
Brave spaces encourage intentional, engaged connections (even if they aren't comfortable).
Beyond brave are the spaces we need now—filled with hope and healing.
It’s always been critical to have safe spaces, especially for vulnerable populations. In the 1960s and '70s, the LGBTQA community originated the idea of “safe spaces” to protect people physically and otherwise. These spaces took the form of gay bars, community centers, and support groups—anywhere people could gather without fear of violence for being themselves (Hanhardt, 2020). In the feminist movement, the most empowering spaces were those where women could speak their truths without criticism, fear, or patriarchal constructs (Koch, 2025). It was in these safe spaces that people found not only freedom of expression but also the ability to create community and build solidarity. Classrooms introduced the notion of safe spaces to demonstrate empathy and allyship. bell hooks (2014) urged educators to consider that classrooms were mirrors and extensions of societal constructs that had the power of continued oppression, exploitation, or isolation. Instead, she urged classrooms to be places of freedom.
Physical boundaries where people identified as part of the community through shared symbols like rainbows were clear ways to indicate which spaces were safe. Such symbols are still used today, such as “I am an ally” stickers, social movement buttons, or even campaign-oriented T-shirts. Open language, such as asking someone what pronouns they use, is another way to create psychological safety within physical spaces that extends beyond the classroom. Amy Edmondson (2018), in her definitive work on psychological safety in the workplace, found that it led to a willingness to take interpersonal risks, which in turn led to more innovation and creativity in the organization.
More Than a Safe Space
Safe was a good........