I recently reached out to an Albanian queer activist who has been at the forefront of the fight since its beginning in the late 2000’s.
I told her that I’d love to help, however I can, even though I know I can’t. I would help if I could, or at least I think I would. I really don’t know – I’ve never had to do what they do.
I left the country at the impressionable age of 13 and just in time. Knowing that I’ve left behind a culture so homophobic it didn’t even acknowledge the existence of queer people until last decade is, for the most part, confusing.
My memories of Albania aren’t tainted with homophobia, but my experiences with the Albanian community here are.
As someone living in the West, I’m often quick to judge other cultures for their discrimination or abuse of people in the queer community. Yet, my attitude towards this culture in my own country of origin remains ambiguous. There are times when I will call them out on their ignorance and times when I don’t have the heart to label my relatives as homophobic because of all the weight that this word carries for so many people.
I don’t imagine that I’m alone in this, and I know that there are people with greater conflicts than my theoretical dilemma.
Still, there is a sense of guilt that comes with celebrating World Pride in a country where I feel safe when I know what people are going through in a place so close to me.
Even as we celebrate here, I find myself confused about why and what we’re celebrating.
Queer issues in Canada have been normalized. The spokespeople for our community, predominantly middle-class people, are no longer treating it as a movement. Spending a few hours at Pride will give you the impression that there is no longer a fight for queer rights and we’re celebrating past victories. The largest queer event of the year is corporate-sponsored and corporate-censored serving mainly those who are financially able to participate.
Queer immigrants will often find themselves in these situations, faced with the reality of their home country and the normalized “movements” of their new one.
The choice is clear as one comes with safety and the other with fear, but being so connected to the struggles of your community in another country, with Pride comes a great deal of shame.
Whether the responsibility of creating an accepting society lies in the hands of the queer individuals is a theoretical question about oppressive societies and the duties of its individuals. But does someone who is no longer a member of this society have a responsibility to the people they’ve left behind? Will shaping the perspective of our immigrant communities in Canada affect the mindset back home or do we as queer diasporas have to abandon the hope that our actions here will have any positive impact on the people back “home”?
I’ve went through the last three Pride parades wondering how to reconcile life here and what could have been somewhere else. I don’t have all the answers – or any of them – and once again I’m here at the height of Pride celebrations in Toronto feeling the same uncomfortable sense of guilt.
I want to say that when I participate this year, I do it for all those who would never imagine being here, but I know that’s only a self-indulgent attitude and a way to rid myself of this guilt. And faced with it all, I can only hope that if I could help, I would.
Every month, the Canadian University Press (of which The Silhouette is a member) facilitates a #cupchat using the platform ScribbleLive. This month's topic is transgender inclusivity and the discussion will begin at 5 p.m. EST. Join the discussion by posting your thoughts below.
As gender and sexual diversity become more openly acknowledged, universities must acknowledge the needs of their LGBTQ students. Though many university students have experienced some form of discrimination on campus, transgender students experience a unique set of obstacles. From bathrooms to dorm rooms to professor interactions, we want to know how Canadian universities are addressing (or not) the needs of transgender students. Are there universities that are explicitly trans inclusive? Are they implicitly inclusive? Are there other institutions doing a better job than others and can universities replicate those institutions?
CUP’s Queer Issues coordinator Lee Thomas will facilitate our discussion along with a panel of Canadian experts on transgender issues who will be participating in the chat including Gabrielle Bouchard and Jan Lukas Buterman.
Gabrielle Bouchard is the peer support and trans advocacy coordinator at the Centre for gender advocacy; a fee-levy organization affiliated with Concordia University. Gabrielle participated in the creation of a name of common usage policy at Concordia and is coordinating part of the ongoing struggle to bring legal equality for trans people in Quebec. She’s the instigator of a complaint to the Quebec Human Rights Commission (CDPDJ). The complaint, made on behalf of trans people in Quebec, aims to end legal discrimination enshrined in the Civil Code of Quebec. She also provides training and workshops on trans issues to social actors, front-line workers and in post-secondary institutions.
Jan Lukas Buterman is pursuing his Master’s in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta, specializing in Adult Education. His thesis research looks toward the intersections of law, identity and modern information system technologies. Jan holds degrees in Education and History, as well as diplomas in Adult Education and Public Relations. Jan is an activist and educator focusing on issues of relevance to trans-identified people in Canada.
On Nov. 5, about 100 students and community members gathered to show support for gender and sexual diversity on campus. The annual MacPride march, organized by the Queer Students Community Centre (QSCC), started in North Quad and made its way to BSB and then Mills Lobby. Andrew Pettitt, from McMaster's department of athletics and recreation, and Rosalyn from The Well in downtown Hamilton addressed a mixed crowd on the importance of the event.
Photos by Sarah Janes.
Ana Qarri
Staff Reporter
The LGBTQ Health Interest Group, a forum for McMaster medical students, hosted its first conference on Saturday, Nov. 2.
“Guiding Practice: Current Issues in Gender, Sexuality and Health” aimed to educate and raise awareness about barriers and issues in health care experienced by gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer viagra canada patients.
The conference was one of the first of its kind hosted by medical school students, and it garnered the interest of well-known professionals and the greater McMaster and LGBTQ+ communities in Hamilton.
“There’s a limited amount of LGBTQ+ oriented training in medical school within the curriculum,” said Melissa Bota, one of the organizers and a second-year medical student.
On average, a medical school student gets less than 5 hours of training surrounding these issues, and 54.4% of Canadian medical schools provide no training at all.
“There seems to be a disparity in the general knowledge around terminology and appropriate interactions with colleagues and patients,” said Sarah Macisaac, another organizer.
“We thought that this was something that could generate a conversation about what you need to know when not only providing patient care, but also interacting with colleagues who may be out but may not be out.”
The conference had an impressive line-up of speakers and workshop hosts, among them Dr. Anne Reid, former Canadian Medical Association president, and El-Farouk Khaki, a renowned immigrant and refugee rights lawyer in Toronto.
The first keynote was Dr. Reid’s “Out of the Closet and Into the Box,” which outlined how labels put on LGBTQ+ patients become harmful during health care provision.
Her presentation was followed by a series of two hour-long workshops covering topics such as Queer Parenting, Issues in Transgender Health, HIV counselling and others.
Overall, they received great feedback and suggestions from the participants, and the organizers felt that the conference was a success.
“We’ve had a couple of contacts already who want to mirror our conference because of paucity of LGBTQ+ focused material in the curriculum, and recognizing that no physician through the extent of their career will have only heterosexual patients,” said MacIsaac.
“This is something that everyone has to have competency in to provide great care.”
McMaster University has been taking efforts to improve diversity in their medical school through inclusivity and encouraging interactions with LGBTQ+ patients and colleagues.
“For a lot of people, it’s not willful ignorance, but discomfort or unfamiliarity so to have that platform for familiarity is really important,” explained Macissac.
The Medical school recently appointed Dr. Veltman, a presenter at the conference, as the Diversity & Engagement Chair, whom Macisaac recognized as a “a great liaison between us and the administration.”
“Often times the real gaps just come from the generational gap,” added Bota, “they think they’re doing a great job based on what was a diversity issue when they came through, and McMaster does a good job at being open when it comes to us lobbying new interests.”
Bota, MacIsaac and Khanna are confident that the LGBTQ+ Health Interest Group along with Dr. Veltman will continue to host the conference in the future. With issues like “gender dysphoria” still being considered a psychiatric illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, advocates of LGBTQ+ health still have a long way to go.
“The people on the DSM committees now are 50-60 years old,” said Summeets Khanna on the importance of educating new medical doctors on these issues.
“We’re not included in the conversations now, but one day we will be the ones sitting on the boards.”
I write this as a cisgender, heterosexual, white woman who has never known what it is like to face hate for what I look like, how I identify, and who I love. I acknowledge that I’m writing from a position of privilege, and do not claim to speak for or represent McMaster’s queer community.
Recently, I went to an LGBTQ+ focused event for the first time. Never before had I been in an environment where my sexuality was a minority, and where I couldn’t identify with the lived experience of most of the people in the room. I felt awkward about it. I was uncomfortable with occupying queer space. It reminded me that this, in the tiniest possible way, is the daily experience of marginalized queer folk. And I think being reminded of my own privilege in this way was a really healthy thing for a straight white girl.
Learning to be an ally to and within the queer community can start with being present and acknowledging and reflecting upon one’s own privileged awkwardness in order to show support and solidarity. And there’s no better week than next week to start that journey.
From Nov. 4-8, 2013, McMaster will be celebrating MacPride, the week-long celebration of the Mac LGBTQ+ and trans* community put on by the Queer Students Community Centre.
Major events include Tuesday’s MacPride March at 2 p.m. outside of Commons, Wednesday’s Steel Cut Queer Movie Night at The Factory Media Centre (228 James St. North) at 7 p.m., and Thursday’s Drag Show (time and place T.B.A.).
If you’re a tentative ally, know that you’re encouraged to participate. Anyone and everyone is welcome to attend. There are some things you can keep in mind over the course of next week (and beyond), though, in order to be a particularly effective ally.
Make a point to consistently check your privilege and be aware of the bias and perspective it gives you. Don’t try and speak for the community you’re advocating for; this week is about celebrating their voice, not yours. Own up to your mistakes as you make them, and don’t be defensive if others point out your shortcomings. Try your best to create community and support systems by speaking out against oppression when it’s the right time for that, but more often just being quiet and listening to oft-suppressed queer voices.
There’s even Ally Training happening on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in MUSC 213 (registration required) to aid in this process.
I am not trying to make Pride week about viagra pfizer canada allies. It’s not. It’s about celebrating the LGBTQ+ community at McMaster. Allies can be part of creating space and platforms for LGBTQ+ voices, but they’re not the focus and by outlining positive allyship I’m not trying to make them out to be.
I am by no means particularly good at being an ally. I don’t know that anyone would claim to be. Rather, I would say that I am constantly learning, trying, supporting, and growing. And really, that’s what I’m encouraging in others.
I’ll see you at the march.
Ana Qarri
Staff Reporter
Last March, many of my Facebook friends changed their profile pictures to red equal signs, showing their support for marriage equality in the United States.
A while later, the Supreme Court ruled Section 3 of Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. Section 3 didn’t allow the extension of full federal rights to same-sex couples whose marriage was recognized in their state, essentially invalidating same-sex marriages federally.
The hype that was created by the Human Rights Campaign – a group “working for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equal rights” to promote marriage equality - significantly died down after this decision, so much that I rarely see any posts about marriage equality on my newsfeed anymore. They only come up when same-sex marriage gets legalized somewhere.
It comes as no surprise that more people will show their support for a cause when all it requires of them is a profile picture change, and leaves me wondering whether any of my friends who jumped on the equal sign bandwagon have ever really spent more than 10 seconds thinking about same-sex marriage and human rights in the US.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the sentiment. I love knowing that so many of my friends who themselves identify as heterosexual think that cheap online viagra it’s only logical to extend full rights to LGBTQ+ people.
However, what I don’t love as much is knowing that the fight to strike down one section of DOMA and the larger fight for marriage equality has overshadowed so many other aspects of the LGBTQ+ rights movement in Canada, the US and internationally.
Campaigns for marriage equality in the US have taken up disproportionate amounts of media coverage compared to other issues that queer people face. The reality is that a signed bill doesn’t make our societies inclusive and accepting, which is what we should be aiming for.
Violence against queer and trans individuals continues at high rates. Up to 40 per cent of homeless Canadians are self-identified as LGBTQ+. High numbers of mental health issues, addiction and attempted suicides are also consistent problems in the community that are often related to their struggles as a queer or trans* (or both) person.
Not only does marriage equality not magically fix the existing social constructs and prejudices surrounding the queer community, but it also takes away from attempts to focus on intersectionality within the “Gay” rights movement.
Shockingly, 70 per cent of all anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes target Queer People of Colour. And in 2012 alone, there were 256 recorded murders of trans* individuals. When Bill C-279 (which included gender identity as a prohibited ground of discrimination) was up for debate this year, it got nowhere near as much coverage as the strike of DOMA’s section did.
People argue that while marriage equality isn’t the ultimate solution, it is a step forward. While I agree, I think focusing all our efforts on a single issue that is definitely not the largest shared struggle of queer people is taking away from the potential of the movement.
Marriage equality has become sensationalized in Western media, its achievement being made to seem like the final frontier of gay rights. The reality is that a lot of us are far from done, and some of us have just started to find each other.
So while we’re changing our profile pictures and liking photos of middle- and upper-class same-sex couples getting married in City Halls, it’s important to remember who we’re forgetting.
Sophia Topper
The Silhouette
On June 30, a torrent of hatred was unleashed onto LGBTQ+ Russians. Vladimir Putin signed a new bill into law that criminalizes the propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations to minors. This bill, voted 436 in favour, zero against, leaves the definition of ‘propaganda’ vague, police officers stretch this to include any information accepting non-hetero sexualities, or even holding hands with a same-sex partner.
This comes 20 years post-decriminalization, but two-thirds of Russians still believe that homosexuality is an unacceptable aberration. Worse than just the fines levied against those promoting ‘relations not conductive to procreation,’ as they are euphemistically described, is the escalation of anti-gay violence.
Prior to the vote, a kiss in was held in protest. Neo-Nazis hurled eggs at the couples while singing orthodox songs and chanting, “Moscow is not Sodom.” The situation became violent and LGBTQ+ protesters were savagely beaten, and the police, there to monitor the situation, arrested the protestors rather than the attackers.
The police and government blame the LGBTQ+ protesters for the violence, and insist that this law is to protect them. Officials say that ‘gays incite hatred upon themselves’ and need to be protected from their own extremism. These laws extend even to gay and ‘pro-gay’ foreigners, and domestic ‘suspect gays,’ who dare support those suffering in these horrific conditions.
This anti-gay rhetoric is defended by Putin, who claims that “no infringement on sexual minority’s rights” exists. He also says that these measures are necessary to protect youth, Russia’s birth rate and the orthodoxy. More importantly, Putin is doing his best to align himself with conservatives and the Orthodox Church by scapegoating Russia’s gay population.
The rate of approval of homosexuality among Russians is nearly equal to those in America three decades ago, but acceptance of homosexuality has actually declined since 2007, contrary to other nations where gay people are beginning to enjoy the equal rights they deserve. Russians are without gay public figures: there are no out politicians or celebrities and Russia’s Cultural Minister is even attempting to rewrite history and straighten out Tchaikovsky.
If you’re looking to support Russians under attack, make sure that your actions are not a waste of energy. The proposed Vodka boycott is slacktivism at its prime. Keep enjoying your Smirnoff and Stoli—both are no longer produced or owned in Russia. Besides, these boycotts are interpreted as attacks, justifying the Russia xenophobia.
If you’d really like to make a change, do something in support of the LGTBQ+ folk here in Canada, where you can effect change much more efficiently. You can also sign online petitions that pressure the government into condemning the 76 countries that go farther than Russia into outright criminalization. Donating to Russian LGTBQ+ organizations is the most tangible way of supporting their cause, and allows them to pay any fines levied against them.
Above all, the issue of homophobia needs to be tied into problems that are considered more pressing to the Russian majority. Due to the widespread public support for these laws, Putin is able to use them to bolster his role as Papa Putin, protector of Russia’s traditional values. However, if we are able to link this discrimination to issues that are already loathed by majority, like the ubiquitous corruption, we might be able to change attitudes surrounding not only this law, but human rights as a whole.
