saq how-to-guide

Summary

Freedom Oklahoma is an organization that advocates and organizes across the state to create an Oklahoma where all Two Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and the full spectrum of people whose sexuality or gender identity exists beyond a heteronormative, binary framework, inclusive of their gender identity, gender expression, and/or sexuality, have the safety to thrive. 

Our goal is to ensure all Oklahomans have access to sexual health education that is inclusive, accessible, evidence-based, and affirming to 2SLGBTQ+ identities. As a Spark Innovation Grant recipient, we’re engaging our networks to find ways to improve sexual health outcomes among young Oklahomans. Our goal is to strengthen caregivers’ knowledge of inclusive, evidence-based sexual health information, thereby increasing healthy outcomes for our youth.  

Through the Spark Innovation grant, we are working to ensure caregivers have all of the tools they need to provide inclusive sexual health education. For caregivers who are recovering from their own trauma and are skeptical of tech-based resources, we created Liberate, an inclusive, accessible, and engaging resource hub that includes a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ). We hope that the resource allows caregivers to experience freedom from what held them back in their own sexual health education so that they may be liberated and available to navigate sexual health with the youth in their lives now.

How to Complete the self-assessment questionnaire (saq):

The SAQ is not a test of knowledge, it asks questions regarding your lived experience and the frequency and relatability of statements and experiences regarding sexual health education and information. Remember: your sexual health education is not limited to only what you learned in adolescence; education is ongoing throughout your life. 

The SAQ is organized into three parts with a total of 29 questions. The first set of questions asks about your history with sexual health education as well as demographic information, and the remaining questions are broken up into two sections. Once you complete the SAQ, you will be given the recommended modules to begin your continued education, and these can be found in The Hub. 

Individuals completing the SAQ are asked to read through each question and select the correct information, type in additional information, and use either the scale ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” or “always” to “never” to evaluate the extent to which they relate to the questions and situations presented. Responses to the SAQ are completely anonymous and no information will be used outside of tailoring resources and content to fit your needs. Take the time you need to get through the information. The SAQ may be completed in one sitting, section-by-section, or not completed at all. 

We encourage you to be in a place where you are able to take in new information. We know these subjects can be difficult, so create an environment where you feel comfortable and as engaged as possible. Whether that means having a drink nearby to stay hydrated, putting on your favorite music, or cozying up with a comforting blanket or sweater, do what will make things easiest for you to process and prepare for unlearning and remapping knowledge. 

Notes for using the SAQ

  • Use What You Need:  The SAQ is completely voluntary. If you would like to skip to The Hub and go through the modules, you can! Liberate is built so that you can have as much structure or freedom as you need. If you aren’t sure where to start learning, the SAQ can tell you the modules that are the best place to start. Once you gain new knowledge, you can take it again and see where to go next. If you would prefer to just check things out on your own, your next adventure awaits you here, in the Liberate Resource Hub.

  • Trigger/Content Warnings: Often, sexual health education can bring up painful ideas and/or experiences. Throughout the SAQ and the resources, you may find triggering content. We do want to prepare you as best we can before you engage with our project. We will have content about religion, gender roles, and expectations, intimate partner violence/domestic violence, sex shaming, misogyny, toxic masculinity, anatomy, discrimination/violence, etc. Please take the time you need to get through our materials. Do not cause more harm to yourself if you are not ready for certain subjects. At the end of this document, we have mental health resources available.

  • Come As You Are: Nothing is required when engaging with Liberate. You can use the SAQ, if you would like, to determine a starting place on resources. If you would prefer to just engage with resources, please do. Additionally, all the questions of the SAQ are not necessary to answer. Feel free to engage as much as you are able; a lot of what we have available will not always feel comfortable, but growth is important.

  • Reusable Resource: The SAQ is designed in such a way that once you have taken it, discovered your top priorities for un/learning, and engaged in resources on The Hub, you will be able to retake the SAQ and discover additional starting points. Our hope is that you will be able to use the SAQ over and over again to find new places to grow if just diving into The Hub’s resources isn’t for you. If you feel overwhelmed by the amount of options in The Hub, start with the SAQ!

  • Resource Feedback: All of the resources we are using in The Hub are resources we feel include the 2SLGBTQ+ experience. We know that it can be difficult to find accurate and relevant information. With this Hub, we hope to take away some of your fear and doubt about what you can rely on and what is truly evidence-based. If you have a concern about a resource we have provided, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

  • Medically Accurate, Evidence-Based: We know that there can be a lot of variance in experiences, knowledge, and understanding of sexual health needs and experiences. Our goal here is to provide accurate information that can be linked to colloquial language, 2SLGBTQ+ experiences outside of the heteronormative expectation, and subjects that tend to come up more often in 2SLGBTQ+ communities. We are committed to providing a space to provide healthy, evidence-based resources even if it is deemed outside of the sexual health education norm.

  • Note on Disability: We are approaching this topic with the understanding that people’s relationship with disability is fluid and we understand that not everyone sees themselves as disabled or impacted by ableism. This is also why we struggle to outright ask the question if someone has a disability. They may not experience it at this time, or they may not realize how it has impacted them. We are committed to the idea that disability is not a fixed state, and understanding any type of barrier is useful in this work.