Does safe space radio bring people together to create social cohesion in topics such as equality issues and mental health awareness? 

1.) The general definition of social cohesion is people forming trusted relationships within a community. Safe Space Radio’s mission statement focuses on talking about things that may be uncomfortable in order to bring awareness on certain topics. “The mission of Safe Space Radio is to inspire courageous conversations, break down the barriers that divide us, and create compassionate communities.” Safe Space Radio encourages support to people that are going through certain things. On the website there are multiple tabs. Such tabs include social justice, family, sexuality and many more. Within these topics there are hundreds of podcasts that discuss the said issues. There is a new piece of Safe Space Radio called “Can We Talk?”. This segment emphasizes education on techniques and tips on going through life.

2.) After searching through many podcasts I can agree that Safe Space Radio does in fact create social cohesion. Just by creating a website that supports the discussion of these issues is a huge step towards nationwide social cohesion. All of the parts of the radio help people lower stigma and break down social barriers that are built up to prevent people from living harmoniously. Anne Hallward’s radio may not fight problems directly, but the discussion of these topics inspire people to change creating a chain reaction leading to an overall agreement that an issue that is wrong. The simple act of talking upon an issue can lead to a national change. For example, the legalization of gay marriage all started with a couple people coming out about wanting to change the outdated law. The legalization did not start at the government, but instead started with social activism among communities. In 1972 the Supreme Court faced their first same sex marriage case. Two students from the University of Minnesota filed for their marriage license, and were denied. After the two men filed a lawsuit against the court the Minnesota Supreme Court denied them as well. The court claimed that marriage is between a man and a women is only allowed especially for procreation. It took 43 years for the Supreme Court to take down all bans against same sex marriage nationwide. Because the two men spoke up in 1972, and thousands more people followed after social cohesion was created, and it took down the same sex marriage stigma all across the US. I believe that Anne Hallward is doing the same thing. She is inspiring people to take that leap into the shame and discomfort that society creates to get to a group social or political movement. 

3.) Anne Hallward’s Safe Space Radio leads to social cohesion through discussion of uncomfortable or shameful topics. 

“Baker v. Nelson: The Forgotten Same-Sex Marriage Case.” Constitutional Law Reporter, 22 Oct. 2016, constitutionallawreporter.com/2012/12/20/baker-v-nelson-the-often-forgotten-supreme-court-same-sex-marriage-case/.

“Brief History of Same-Sex Marriage in the US.” Jurist, www.jurist.org/archives/feature/i-brief-history-of-same-sex-marriage-in-the-us/.