Through mentorship, networking events and ally support, the DeGroote Pride Association is empowering 2SLGBTQIA+ business students to lead in an evolving industry
In a field where many can feel expected to conform to traditional and heteronormative standards, a new club is redefining what leadership in business can look like for queer students. The DeGroote Pride Association, launched in 2024, is a student group at McMaster University dedicated to fostering a safer and more inclusive space for queer business students and their allies.
According to Ela Murray, the incoming President for the 2025-26 academic year, the DPA is built on three key pillars: expanding outreach, building an inclusive network and empowering communities both within and beyond the DeGroote School of Business.
The club strives to connect with students and community members who share its values, seeking to strengthen the queer community while also enhancing the educational, professional and social experiences of its members.
In its first year, the DPA organized events designed to support both career and personal development. Their flagship conference, called Beyond, brought together panelists from companies like Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank and TD Canada Trust to share their experiences navigating corporate environments as queer individuals. The event emphasized the importance of representation and offered students the opportunity to hear how identity and leadership intersect in real-world business settings.
Minna Durrani, the incoming Vice President External of DPA whose role involves building connections and partnerships outside McMaster, shared that conversations about coming out as queer are still not fully normalized.
Murray, who recently completed her internship year, spoke about workplace concerns queer students may face when entering the business sector.
You’re constantly analyzing your surroundings. Is this safe? Will coming out cost me a promotion or my wage? Will it change how I’m seen?
Ela Murray, President
DeGroote Pride Association, McMaster University
“Queer people are constantly having to do research about companies…when it comes to queer values within a company . . .There is a mental toll on [people] and it comes with a lot of anxiety. [They wonder] how can they focus on their work when they also have to focus on if they are going to be accepted in their workplace,” said Murray.
To address these barriers, DPA has worked to build a network of support that includes both queer students and allies. Madison Damiano, the incoming Vice President Internal of DPA whose role focuses on fostering meaningful connections within McMaster, including maintaining relationships with the business faculty and on-campus stakeholders, noted that, around thirty per cent of the club’s general members are allies and DPA sees their role as essential.
The club also hosted an "allyship workshop" with the McMaster Equity and Inclusion Office. The workshop challenged participants to think critically about unconscious bias and the deeper meaning of allyship.
“It’s easy to call yourself an ally. But are you truly one? Do you know what it means to be an ally? Do you know the history? Are you educated on the subject matter? It’s easy to be supportive but it’s harder to stay educated and stay quiet when it’s your turn to be quiet. The allyship panel taught [people] that lesson. It really resonated with some of the allies in our club. They’re learning to sit down when it’s their turn to sit down, to speak up when it is, and to continue staying educated,” said Durrani.
By hosting workshops and events that center queer voices, DPA is working to close the gap between university life and the realities of the workplace. They aim to create a space where queer students can embrace leadership roles without compromising their identities.
Recognition for DPA’s impact came at the end of the academic year, when the group was named Club of the Year at the DeGroote Commerce Society’s leadership gala.
Sometimes it’s easy to feel discouraged…but winning this award [reminded] us that our members do care and it benefits them, they enjoy it and they found community within us
Minna Durrani, Vice-President External,
DeGroote Pride Association, McMaster University
As they look to the year ahead, DPA hopes to continue building momentum, with expanded outreach and a return of their flagship event. More than just a club, the DPA is helping reshape what the future of business, representation and leadership can look like.
The DPA will be walking in the annual Toronto Pride Parade on June 29. To know more about the club, visit their Instagram and general member sign-up.
Following through on MSU President Piper Plavins’ campaign promise, the Pride Community Centre is developing a 2SLGBTQ+ mentorship program for the coming year
As a campaign promise of current MSU President Piper Plavins, incoming students are set to have access to a new 2SLGBTQ+ mentorship program through the Pride Community Centre come September 2025. Both Kiran Oberai, the centre’s director, and Plavins confirmed in interviews with the Silhouette that the program is on track to launch in September and elaborated on the plans.
In line with Plavins’ election promise, both interviewees suggested the aim of the program would be to pair incoming 2SLGBTQ+ students with third or fourth-year student mentors who could provide support through the transition to university life and, Oberai hopes, long-term friendships.
In her interview, Plavins explained that the inspiration for this program was personal.
“A lot of this was inspired by my own personal journey. Here I was trying to navigate coming into university being an adult while also trying to accept my sexuality and figure out who I was . . . I did feel very alone and I didn't have that support.”
Plavins added that she hoped the mentorship program could help support incoming students in similar positions.
“So they know one person . . . It's really important to have one person in your corner to help guide you and support you,” said Plavins. She also hoped mentors could help guide incoming students to existing resources.
Oberai’s vision for the future of the program was focused on addressing similar needs.
“I think McMaster does still have a lot of barriers for queer students.”
“It's often very refreshing to talk with someone who gets it . . . You don't have to explain your experiences and explain why you're facing challenges before you can get that support from someone . . . I think that experience is often overlooked; that of peer support and emotional connection," said Oberai.
I think that experience is often overlooked; that of peer support and emotional connection.
Kiran Oberai, Director,
Pride Community Centre
Creating pairings of mentors and mentees with similar experiences would be important to the success of the program according to Oberai, how to make these connections based on limited information will be a key issue for the program's development.
“We started having these conversations already . . . what information is important to pair students? Is it important that they have a similar queer identity? Is it important they have similar other identities like race, ethnicity, ability?”
Getting enough engagement to make more specific pairings was a hurdle both Plavins and Oberai identified. Each hoped to find ways to engage both current and incoming students, identifying this as a key step for the ongoing planning phase.
Both Oberai and Plavins hope that as the planning stage progresses, they can learn from the experience of other mentorship programs at McMaster.
Oberai, a student of the faculty of arts and science, used the example of the faculty’s mentorship program to explain his own excitement for this program.
“I think it was a really meaningful relationship just to have an upper-year [student] to talk to . . .this program isn’t going to be geared to matching students within the same program, so it will be a lot of thinking about what challenges queer students face on campus and how can having someone to talk to about that really support students?”
So [planning] will be a lot of thinking about what challenges queer students face on campus and how can having someone to talk to about that really support students?
Kiran Oberai, Director
Pride Community Centre
Despite the challenges each of them identified, both Plavins and Oberai believe the program will meaningfully help 2SLGBTQ+ students.
“The transition into university can be difficult for many individuals and it's really important that you have support and have someone to help you navigate this time. And I think that for queer students this is an additional level of support that will really help them to flourish and build their own community here at McMaster," said Plavins.
More details will be made available through the Pride Community Centre as the mentorship program is developed. Interested students should consult the centre's social media in September for details.
June is not just for celebrating queer love, it’s for uplifting written queer perspectives
By: Kate Linardic, Opinion Contributor
As Pride Month approaches its close amid parade-funding losses and intensifying attacks on
queer rights across the continent, it is more important than ever to look to queer thinkers for guidance.
Learning queer history and theory is not just for its scholars. The perspectives offered by queer thinkers across disciplines are crucial both to understanding the present political moment and for building solidarities. Through engaging with these ideas, the celebration of Pride Month becomes an exercise in imagining new, queer ways of being, thinking, and creating unity.
One such relevant work of queer thought is the 2024 book by political and gender theorist Judith Butler: Who’s Afraid of Gender. In the book, Butler provides arguments in support of transgender rights, while explaining the positioning of gender as a scapegoat for the anxieties of the 21st century. The book directly outlines how queer people are being attacked, and where there is room to support queerness against these attacks.
Reading work like that of Butler helps open up meaningful conversation about how to ensure the safety and liberty of queer folk during Pride Month.
Conversations like Butler’s regarding the place of queerness in the world are not new. Queer thinkers have been combatting bigotry and sharing their stories for decades.
Publications like Toronto’s The Body Politic, printed throughout the 1970s and 80s,ran articles about understanding homophobia and exposing discrimination against queer individuals in school and in the workplace. Stories like these empower queer readers, as well as fold non-queer allies into the fight for liberation.
Returning to a focus on both the struggles for and formulations of queer liberation is a return to the roots of Pride Month.
Pride began in the 1960s as a protest against police raiding gay bars in New York City, eventually evolving into a larger movement for queer liberation across the world.
It is especially important to remember these early queer Pride movements were not widely accepted for decades after the fact. In Hamilton, it took years, plus a 1995 Ontario Human Rights Commission Case, for the City to begin to issue civic proclamations for Gay Pride Week. Same-sex relationships remain criminalized in 64 nations around the world, with many other nations also restricting the rights of transgender and gender-nonconforming persons.
With these ongoing struggles in mind, the work of queer scholars, activists, and journalists helps keep us thinking about forms of queer liberation. Pride Month can be an important month for re-imagining the world, finding new space for queer voices, and learning meaningful forms of allyship.
McMaster has the opportunity to spotlight queer thought, encouraging its consideration, and bringing it to the forefront across our libraries. The institution has access to incredible collections of 2SLGBTQIA+ archival material, books and periodicals, all of which contain valuable insights into the past and present of queer existence.
This Pride Month, reading through these collections is one of the best practices any queer student, faculty member or ally could partake in. These collections contain the ideas that help the fight for queer liberation to progress, and can convey messages that forge new solidarities across groups
Yes, street parades, drag brunches and club nights are important ways of celebrating queerness, but it is also of upmost importance to continue the work of securing a place for queerness in this world.
The Westdale Theatre partners with Hamilton’s House of Adam and Steve
Reel Queens is a recurring night of queer film and art. A drag show, followed by a camp movie, featuring audience interactions and dance breaks. It is an event regulars of the Westdale Theatre have come to expect and love.
Reel Queens chose to celebrate Pride this year with a screening of camp classic Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, including a performance of the titular character’s interpretive dance live alongside the screen.
The minds behind the show come from Hamilton’s own House of Adam and Steve, a group known for organizing queer events around the city. The organization and its co-founder, Steven Hilliard, has touched everything from drag brunches to trivia nights to cabaret shows. But pairing drag with a movie in a smaller space has drawn out audiences constantly for years now.
Hilliard believes that the Westdale Theatre has been a proactive contributor to the expansion of Queer culture in Hamilton and discussed the initial conceptualization of Reel Queens.
“[The Westdale Theater] wanted people to know that the Westdale was a spot that does support the local 2SLGBTIA+ community,” said Hilliard.
Hilliard also spoke about how drag events were an eye opener to queer culture and identity as younger person.
“When I was a kid, the only place I could see drag was in a club,” said Hilliard. “I was struggling with my gender, my sexuality and I didn’t know where I fit in. I saw a drag artist for the first time and it really changed the way I thought about myself.”
Putting drag in a largely student and family community like Westdale Village is one of the reasons Hilliard considers Reel Queens to be so important.
“The Westdale providing this stage is really special because queer art saves lives… I feel like there’s not a whole lot [in the Westdale Village] that is overtly as queer as Reel Queens,” said Hilliard
Hilliard and the House of Adam and Steve aim to create a low-pressure outlet into queer culture through Reel Queens.
“It’s a great way to expose yourself to that sort of culture you might not get in small towns . . . you can come and relax and have a good time and not be afraid to be yourself. And, you know, be as queer as you want to be,” said Hilliard.
Hilliard recalled a time when queer culture was not as safe or openly celebrated, describing a time when there were “five gay, queer spaces. And they all but disappeared, all at once. It was a scary time to be queer in Hamilton.” In the last decade, organizations such as the House of Adam and Steve have worked with queer artists and allies to create their own safe spaces.
Hilliard emphasized the amount of queer safe spaces that are now available today in Hamilton and their importance to the community. “Not only do you have events and spaces where you can go and feel safe and feel welcome, but there’s an abundance of them . . . we’re no longer segregated to one spot in the city, or one bar. We’re not hiding behind closed doors,” said Hilliard.
Reel Queens events are hosted throughout the year at the Westdale Theater, hosted and put on by a variety of drag performers. Students interested in attending can find upcoming schedules and announcements at the Westdale Theatre or through the House of Adam and Steve.
CMST 2XX3 was developed with the goal of highlighting queer representation in media and popular culture as a space for survival and joy
A new course, CMST 2XX3: Queer Popular Culture, has been added to the undergraduate academic calendar at McMaster this year, tailored to explore modern queer popular culture and legacy.
Christina Baade, chair of communication studies and media arts department at McMaster University, explained that the course was created with student need and interest in mind.
She explained that she drew on her personal research area in popular music, sound studies and radio/audio technologies to create a course that highlights positive elements of being queer, as opposed to only highlighting the struggles of the community.
“Very often, sexuality studies can focus on trauma or problems. I think popular cultures are a really useful way [to] look at how people make space to survive and how people make joy even in really difficult political circumstances," said Baade.
Very often, sexuality studies can focus on trauma or problems. I think popular cultures are a really useful way [to] look at how people make space to survive and how people make joy even in really difficult political circumstances.
Christina Baade, Chair
Communication Studies and Media Arts Department
Baade was inspired by her research students, who noticed what she described as a lack of structured exploration into specific elements of queer popular culture. She expressed the importance of including students in the development of this course through the McPherson Student Partners program, as they offer important cultural and generational perspectives.
Together, they have decided to cover certain key topics surrounding queerness in popular culture and look forward to further student input and conversation.
Baade and her team also hope to integrate various technologies and methods of assessment while prioritizing discussion and exploration into niche topics within queer popular culture.
Key themes in the course include global and Western popular culture and media across queer subcultures, as well as the commercialization of Pride and how evolving media plays a role in creating space for communities and conversations.
“Pop culture is always a great way to get into challenging concepts and important conversations in a way that's approachable and can feel safe for a wide range of folks,” said Baade.
Pop culture is always a great way to get into challenging concepts and important conversations in a way that's approachable and can feel safe for a wide range of folks.
Christina Baade, Chair
Communication Studies and Media Arts Department
This course will be available to all students registered in Level II or above and is scheduled to run in the Winter 2026 term.
Queer relationships aren’t immune to the traditional and systemic inequalities of the world
Read the pages of Sex and the Steel City, and you’ll hear the full gambit of love at university, from romance to heartbreak. It’s one of the learning experiences universities don’t advertise on their brochures, but it’s an integral part of many students’ university lives. For queer students in particular, the newfound freedoms of university life can be an integral part of self-discovery.
But, as queer students get into their upper years, the realities of an unequal world start to creep into the choices we make. While queer relationships tend to have a more equal distribution of labour than heterosexual relationships — something many of us are and should be proud of — decisions that students make as they transition into their careers can have serious impacts on the future of that equality.
Unequal distributions of labour in relationships represent an enormous problem for many heterosexual women who are disproportionately affected by this. It can limit their career opportunities, their life satisfaction and damage their relationships.
These inequalities are not always intentional however. Millennial men, who overwhelmingly want equal relationships with their partners, have been found to struggle realizing that goal once they have had children.
These are not just the problems of straight people willingly or unwillingly finding themselves confined to so-called traditional gender roles — they can come for queer couples too. While queer relationships tend to have markedly better distributions of domestic labour both with and without kids, it isn’t automatic.
Queer people tend to be more vulnerable to outside factors like job insecurity, lack of familial support and mental health challenges.
With these difficulties in mind, it’s also important to recognize that it’s not just traditional gender roles that create inequalities in straight relationships either. These inequalities are often structural ones, reflected onto straight couples in unequal ways. These structural inequalities can affect queer relationships in much the same way.
. . . inequalities are often structural ones . . . These structural inequalities can affect queer relationships in much the same way.
In the case of men giving up on their ideals of equality when they have had children, while some of this may be motivated by a newfound belief in gender roles, most researchers suggest that the limited resources given to parents who aren’t mothers are to blame.
It is both a lack of flexible work options and parental leave and a stigma against making use of these options that forcibly push young men away from parenting. There is no reason to suspect that these barriers do not also affect queer people.
Similarly, a recent crisis in Canada’s childcare sector has pushed many women out of work to care for children. While this disproportionate effect on women might be partially avoided in queer relationships, the lack of childcare would still damage queer parents’ careers and futures.
Increasing job market demands for unpaid overtime, extra hours and always-on communication have had disproportionate effects on women’s lives as they juggle these expectations alongside their disproportionate share of household labour. A perfectly equal queer couple would still have to face the challenges of increasingly demanding jobs and domestic lives.
A perfectly equal queer couple would still have to face the challenges of increasingly demanding jobs and domestic lives.
While queer couples may be better positioned to negotiate these difficulties together, these ever-increasing pressures will require more active communication and work than ever before.
The heart of the problem is not only the unreasonable demands our gendered expectations place upon women to be both workers and domestic labourers. The problem also lies with a society that privatizes domestic and childcare work onto individuals and families.
Some may propose that in place of traditional nuclear families, large extended families might be able to socialize some aspects of this labour. However, this isn’t a viable solution for many people. This could be especially impractical for queer people who are disproportionately faced with a lack of family support.
As we enter the political and working world, young people, especially queer young people, need to take on the feminist project of providing social support for everyone. If we want to live in a more equal world, it’s not enough just to desire it, we have to fight, work and strive for it.
McMaster organizations and 2SLGBTQIA+ support groups offer services to process anti-trans hate group gatherings across the country
A nationwide rally was held in many major Canadian cities protesting the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity education in public schools and featuring other anti-2SLGBTQIA+ sentiments. Protesters gathered on Sept. 20, outside the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board headquarters.
The protests and school walkouts were organized by 1 Million March 4 Children — a hate group that aims to eliminate pronouns, gender ideology and mixed bathrooms from schools to protect their children.
Counter protests were organized in support of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and 1 Million March 4 Children protesters were met face to face with opposition.
The march may be over, however the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, including those at McMaster University, continue to face the repercussions of the country-wide event.
Kuhu Trivedi, research coordinator at the Queer and Trans Colour Club, explained that the repercussions of this protest have resulted in a more guarded and apprehensive environment within their service.
“We're a lot more cautious and we are definitely looking at that aspect of things more because we, I guess it was just an unwelcome reminder that people aren't as accepting as we would like to believe,” said Trivedi.
Statements were released by several McMaster University services and organizations, including the Pride Community Centre.
“Queer, trans and questioning students: you are worthy and loved. You deserve to be surrounded by individuals who celebrate and embrace you for exactly who you are,” stated an excerpt from the PCC’s Instagram statement from Sept. 19, 2023.
Queer, trans and questioning students: you are worthy and loved. You deserve to be surrounded by individuals who celebrate and embrace you for exactly who you are.
Pride Community Centre, McMaster Student Union
The PCC declined when asked for further comment for this article.
Trivedi explained that the protest group’s misleading branding around protecting children and maintaining patriotic values in schools is used as a mask for homophobia and transphobia.
“I think you have to look behind the words and you have to see what the implications of what they're saying really are and look at why they're saying the things that they are because education is the first step to acceptance and tolerance, and if they want to take that away, then I don't know what's left,” said Trivedi.
McMaster groups such as the QTCC and PCC recognize that members of the McMaster 2SLGBTQIA+ community that may be feeling scared or disheartened in light of the recent protests and encourage students to access their services for support.
Local Hamilton 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations such as speqtrum held a support group for trans and gender diverse individuals to process and recuperate from the rally.
Additionally, the Canadian Anti-Hate Network posted a guide for debriefing and practicing self-care post-protest.
Trivedi shared her thoughts and sentiments for the McMaster 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
“While it's really sad to be reminded that there's still people like that around and enough people like that around to organize such a widespread rally, but there's still a lot of people in your corner and there's still a lot of people who are fighting to keep things safe and accept people for who they are.” said Trivedi.
While it's really sad to be reminded that there's still people like that around and enough people like that around to organize such a widespread rally, but there's still a lot of people in your corner and there's still a lot of people who are fighting to keep things safe and accept people for who they are.
Kuhu Trivedi, Queer and Trans Colour Club research coordinator
For information on support services for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community at McMaster, visit the PCC and QTCC.
C/O Yoohyun Park
PCC’s book club provides opportunity for dialogue about 2SLGBTQIA+ literature
On Oct. 29, McMaster Student Union’s Pride Community Centre held their first Pride Book Club meeting of the year. The introductory meeting allowed members to meet each other and discuss possible queer and trans book options for the book club, as well as the importance of representation in media to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Although the first book club meeting was held on a Friday, the PCC will be announcing a different meeting date and time after determining what schedule works best for all book club members.
According to club facilitators Shruthi Krishna and Matt Aksamit, the Pride Book Club is a space for students to access and discuss 2SLGBTQIA+ literature. Both Aksamit and Krishna noted the significance of having a space for 2SLGBTQIA+ literature available to students.
Aksamit highlighted the importance of having a safe space when discussing 2SLGBTQIA+ experiences and Krishna emphasized that shared experiences among 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals make the book club experience even more unique.
“It's always really nice to have a space where everyone who is talking about the books relates on some level,” said Krishna.
“It's always really nice to have a space where everyone who is talking about the books relates on some level.”
Shruthi Krishna, PCC Social and Political advocacy Coordinator
Outside of a sense of comfort and shared experiences, Krishna and Aksamit also highlighted the role of the Pride Book Club in 2SLGBTQIA+ education.
“It provides a sense of learning more about the community, which is something that we're always striving to do and it’s a continuous process. I think books always allow you to empathize deeply and to learn more about other people and other struggles, which I think is really interesting,” said Aksamit.
“It provides a sense of learning more about the community, which is something that we're always striving to do and it’s a continuous process. I think books always allow you to empathize deeply and to learn more about other people and other struggles, which I think is really interesting.”
Matt Aksamit, PCC Assistant director
Aksamit noted that this can help members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to understand their common and differing experiences.
Krishna added that 2SLGBTQIA+ literature can also provide insight into how intersectional identities impact experiences within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Aksamit also discussed the role of escapism in fiction, specifically noting that this sense of escapism is often especially important to members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
“I think that we live in a world that can be very exhausting to exist in just being queer and trans inherently. So I think that [the project] allows people to escape their reality for a second and just join in on a space where they can have fun engaging [in] discussion with other queer and trans folks,” said Aksamit.
“I think that we live in a world that can be very exhausting to exist in just being queer and trans inherently. So I think that [the project] allows people to escape their reality for a second and just join in on a space where they can have fun engaging [in] discussion with other queer and trans folks.”
Matt Aksamit, PCC Assistant director
Krishna and Aksamit have many titles lined up for the coming weeks. Krishna specifically noted that they would likely read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Detransition, Baby. Aksamit also expressed excitement about another upcoming title, The House on the Cerulean Sea.
“[The House on the Cerulean Sea] really is escapism to the max. It's a queer story, but it's so heartwarming. And it's really nice to have a nice, warm and heartwarming story. It's really good,” said Aksamit.
Students are not required to have their own copy of the books that they will be reading. The PCC will be providing students with digital copies of the chosen books. After compiling a list of possible books, books are chosen based on votes from members of the book club.
Queer and trans representation is often lacking in media. The PCC is a service that provides McMaster University students with a safe space to engage in dialogue regarding 2SLGBTQIA+ issues. With the Pride Book Club, students have the opportunity to find representation in queer and trans books while sharing their thoughts with a supportive community.
Check out these eight Canadian leaders, educators and groups for sex, gender and health advice
From providing advice on your sex life to facilitating safe and honest conversations around sexuality and gender, these eight Canadian leaders, educators and groups are here to inform, entertain and guide you through your journey.
Mela Swayze
An educator, consultant, facilitator, coach and speaker, Mela Swayze does it all. Swayze provides training and workshops on 2SLGBTQIA+ workplace equity and building trauma-informed, trans-affirming spaces. They also provide coaching on sex, gender and relationships.
They are an influential and highly respected leader in promoting queer and trans inclusion practice. Keep up to date with new programming and services from Swayze on their Instagram.
Yaz the Human
Yaz Harris, also known as Yaz the Human, is a yoga teacher and writer. They teach many different styles of yoga including Yin, Vinyasa and Hatha as well as meditation. Harris also writes about their honest experiences with sex, self-intimacy and kinks. Their feed is full of their raw self, with posts discussing body image, self-pleasures and fun dildo reviews.
Jenna Tenn-Yuk
Queer, Christian and Chinese Jamaican writer Jenna Tenn-Yuk did not have any role models growing up who shared her intersectional experiences. Today, through her various roles as a writer, facilitator, performer and speaker, she hopes to share unique stories and empower individuals to embrace their identities. She speaks on various topics such as 2SLGBTQIA+ issues, Christianity, diversity, equity and inclusion.
Dev
Dev is a queer, transmasculine, nonbinary coach in trauma-informed guided meditation and a pleasure advocate. They offer guided meditation and intuitive readings (such as tarot card and astrology chart readings) for healing and energy cleansing. The services are held and booked through their website, Retrogradient space.
If you check out their Instagram page, you will find posts carrying messages of self-advocacy, reflection and community that serve as a reminder to always practice self-love.
Kama La Mackerel
Kama La Mackerel is a multi-disciplinary artist, educator, writer and literary translator. They have worked in many different curational and community-based projects such as Gender B(l)ender, The Self-Love Cabaret and Our Bodies, Our Stories. They run an Instagram account that provides insight into their captivating, multi-faceted work.
Rae McDaniel
Rae McDaniel is a licensed clinical professional counsellor, certified sex therapist, coach, educator and public speaker. They are the founder of Practical Audacity, a gender and sex therapy practice run by queer-identified or allied, trauma-informed therapists.
McDaniel also runs GenderFck, an online coaching community aimed at helping trans, non-binary or questioning folks with transition and their experiences with gender, sexual identity and/or relationships.
Check out their Instagram page for more about their upcoming workshops and services, and get inspired by their educational and motivational posts on gender journey, mental health and transitioning.
Eva Bloom
Eva Bloom is a McMaster alumna, online sex educator and YouTuber. On Bloom’s channel, What’s My Body Doing, she discusses anti-oppressive, sex-positive and evidence-based videos. Some of her most viewed videos are on improving your sex life, masturbation and handling a pregnancy scare.
She is available to answer all of your, questions on sex and queerness and makes it easy to open up conversations on topics such as queer virginity, self-intimacy and sexting.
Speqtrum Hamilton
Based in Hamilton, Speqtrum is a youth-founded and youth-focused community for 2SLGBTQIA+ folks aged 17-29 in Hamilton. The group offers a variety of programs, one-on-one supports and community-building opportunities to promote the growth and development of queer and trans youth.
It also offers special services for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth who are new to Canada to help them develop a network and community. You can get updates about upcoming events, peer support services and opportunities through their Instagram.
Artist: Edwin Thomas, @edwinthomas__
Title: his last valentine
Medium: single-line digital drawing with watercolour
Description: A first glance, the drawing appears to portray a man giving his girlfriend flowers. However, the details show both individuals with tears leaving their eyes, trying to keep themselves composed in front of each other. It depicts a failed attempt at saving a relationship by making an effort for Valentine's Day. While the flowers appear to be a nice gesture, both individuals know that their relationship is not going to last for much longer. In a way, the flowers are an apology to his girlfriend for his lack of effort in the relationship.
Artist: Jenna Iacobucci, @jennaiacobucci
Title: Pose me (1-5)
Medium: Ink illustration
Description: As with many, growing up with a conservative mindset brings a lot to overcome. But why should we be so scared to appease others? Each person offers a different experience, different backstory, different perspective, different strengths and different struggles — and it's wonderful. If only everyone could appreciate the beautiful composition of shapes they are.
Artist: Jenna Iacobucci, @jennaiacobucci
Title: Comfort (1-2)
Medium: Photography
Description: Do what you need to do to make yourself feel confident. From personal experience — turtle necks, baggy sweaters, long pants and censorship has only brought me delayed anxiety and stress in relations. I truly push for everyone to understand themselves. Don't hide.
Artist: Steffi Arkilander, @peachlily.png
Title: love is domesticity
Medium: Digital
Description: 2SLGBTQIA+ love is often fetishized and over-sexualized. However, 2SLGBTQIA+ love is so much more than how it’s stereotyped — it can be soft, gentle, kind. In this piece, I wanted to highlight the importance of soft, domestic 2SLGBTQIA+ love. I took inspiration from watching and reading about 2SLGTBQIA+ in media and also from my own life experiences to come up with this piece. “love is domesticity” highlights a queer couple watching television together and cuddling during a night in.
Artist: Emelia Da Silva, @emeliainbloom
Medium: Photography