The McMaster Students Union Queer Students Community Centre may see big changes in the coming school year if incoming coordinator, Miranda Clayton, has her way. Clayton, who plans on implementing new programming and potentially change the physical layout of the space, hopes to bring the QSCC to the quality of other MSU peer support services on campus.
“The QSCC hasn’t felt like home to queer and trans students for a really long time. I’ve been at Mac for quite a while even though I’ve been out as bisexual on campus for several years, I have never actually felt comfortable accessing a service,” said Clayton.
Clayton, whose term as QSCC coordinator officially began on March 1, has been circulating a survey to LGBTQ+ students in order to see what specific needs the McMaster LGBTQ+ community has.
The survey, which asks students to describe their past experiences with the QSCC and what programming they would like to see, aims to make sure all identities may see their preferred programming and systems of support offered by the QSCC.
"The QSCC is one of the older services. It's been around for a number of years under different names and it really needs to match the quality of the rest of the peer support services that have sprung up now."
Miranda Clayton
Incoming Coordinator
Queer Students Community Centre
“It’s kind of a common issue in the queer and trans community that conversations become focused on one particular experience, but there isn’t very much use to run programming that only appeals, to say, [cisgender], white, male gays,” she said.
“The thing with the LGBTQ+ community is that it’s really diverse. A lot of people have very different needs. They want to see different things happen and they want to be supported in different ways,” Clayton added.
Although the survey is by no means complete, Clayton has already begun to receive a swath of responses and has already identified some major programming the QSCC will work to offer in the coming months.
Through Clayton’s preliminary research, she has found a growing need for support groups for bisexual students and programming for those who are currently questioning their sexual or gender identity.
According to the data Clayton has received so far, many students currently questioning their identities feel that the QSCC is only for those who know for sure, and others have identified that programming would have helped them arrive to a conclusion concerning their identity earlier had they explored it within the context of a service like the QSCC.
Clayton highlighted the importance of QSCC as a peer support service, especially with the rise of other peer support services such as Maccess and the Women and Gender Equity Network.
“The QSCC is one of the older services. It’s been around for a number of years under different names and it really needs to match the quality of the rest of the peer support services that have sprung up now,” she said.
In addition to adding new programming, Clayton also hopes to change some of the physical barriers students may have while trying to use the QSCC space. One of Clayton’s top priorities is cleaning up the space to ensure that it is accessible to those who use mobility devices.
“I actually have a friend who’s been out for a long time but couldn’t access to space because their wheelchair couldn’t fit into the space,” Clayton noted.
The QSCC space, which is located in the McMaster University Student Centre, room 221, is often considered isolated from the rest of the building.
Clayton plans on changing the basic layout of the space to make it more inviting by switching the main door and side door, which Clayton believes will make the space more welcoming for students. Clayton also plans on defrosting the glass of the windows in the QSCC space.
For anyone interested in contributing to Clayton’s survey, it will remain open for the coming weeks.
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By: Michael Dennis
Campus groups joined together during the inaugural Queer History Week to highlight the issues marginalized members of the queer community face and how LGBTQ history has shaped our contemporary political climate.
Organized by the Queer Students Community Centre and McMaster Students Union Diversity Services, Queer History Week hosted a number of events geared toward highlighting Queer history’s role today, and especially the role racialized members of the Queer community have played in shaping LGBTQ history.
The Queer community has had a long, complicated, and often violent past with governments and especially the police. This was acknowledged by the timeline presented on Feb 27, titled A Walk Through Time: Visualizing LGBTQ+ History, which outlines acts of violence committed against LGBTQ folk in Canada, from raids of gay institutions in 1869 to the controversy surrounding the 2016 Project Marie, which many activists felt unjustly and disproportionately targeted gay men in an attempt to police their right to public space.
The week heavily focused on sharing the experiences of LGBTQ people and the intersections of race and sexuality.
“Racialized LGBTQ people are often forgotten in that history, and their contributions aren’t acknowledged, so we thought it was important to acknowledge those people’s work. That is why we feature Black Lives Matter as our keynote as they are one of the largest LGBTQ advocates in Canada,” said the QSCC coordinator.
These keynote speakers, Alexandria Williams and LeRoi Newbold, were activists with Black Lives Matter Toronto and spoke about the halting of the 2016 Toronto Pride Parade by Black Lives Matter.
Come out to Queer History Week's Keynote event happening TOMORROW featuring LeRoi Newbold from Black Lives Matter Toronto #McSU pic.twitter.com/UdxkE0aUfp
— Diversity Services (@MSUDiversity) February 28, 2017
On Jul. 3, 2016, Black Lives Matter briefly halted the Toronto Pride Parade with a list of demands recognizing how they believed Pride Toronto was not inclusive to marginalized LGBTQ individuals.
“And a lot of people in the queer community… don’t understand why that was important and why that was symbolic,” said the Diversity Services director.
“One of the more controversial demands was the removal of police floats from pride because police have a very complicated and violent history with radicalized LGBTQ people in Toronto. But for many White or mainstream liberal Queer communities, that’s not really an issue. Not understanding that results in people being moved to the margins.”
Queer History Week also featured two closed events; one where Black LGBTQ individuals could share their experiences, and another where LGBTQ people could discuss navigating through one’s culture, religion and sexual identity.
“We want people to know that [religious LGBTQ] people… exist. They are not an opposite dichotomy; you can be religious and you can be queer,” said the Diversity Services director.
Queer History Week also aimed to refocus where most of the attention towards queer activism has been held.
MSU Diversity and @msu_qscc present Queer History Week this Feb. 27-March 3rd! Check out the event page here: https://t.co/HA1F7TvSls #McSU pic.twitter.com/lroO1mdI2e
— Diversity Services (@MSUDiversity) February 17, 2017
“It is very easy to slap a rainbow flag or your storefront and say ‘I’m inclusive’. Let’s go a little beyond that… let’s look at the violence people face on a daily basis, let’s look at sex workers, let’s look at people with AIDS. These are things that are criminalized, and we need to rejig our notions of justice for us really to understand why things are the way they are,” said the Diversity Services director.
Moving forward, the coordinators for QSCC and Diversity Services hope that police brutality towards the LGBTQ community can be brought into the mainstream conversations of LGBTQ activism, and that education reform can bring a historical understanding of LGBTQ history within our school system.
“At McMaster, I think we do a good job at being inclusive,” said the QSCC coordinator. “But that doesn’t mean that when [LGBTQ] students are in their faculties, they still don’t face barriers. Even though people might actively try to be inclusive, those students may still go up against a culture where they are not normalized, and they are seen as abnormal.”
By: SJ Jany
As we approach McMaster’s annual Pride Week (November 5th-9th), you might be curious about what you can do to show your love and support for your queer and trans* friends. Good intentions are half the battle: here are some pointers on the ways in which you can be an ally to this fabulous and diverse community.
Tip 1: The golden rule The absolute number one tip to keep in mind here is this: be nice. Seriously, it’s often that simple! It’s okay if you don’t know all of the lingo and the history and the bajillion fancy flags; if you try your hardest to be kind and respectful to the people around you, you can’t go too far wrong!
Tip 2: Don’t assume It’s very common to assume that everyone around us is heterosexual and cisgender, since that’s what we’ve been told for a very long time! Part of being an ally is refraining from making these assumptions
Tip 3: Pronouns! Quick grammar lesson… Pronouns are those words we use (e.g. I, it, he, we, they) to take the place of nouns. Most of the time, we judge someone’s gender from their appearance and use the pronouns we think fit. However, in conjunction with Tip 2, to be an ally to those with diverse gender identities and expressions, it is important to find out someone’s preferred pronouns. Ask people (politely!) which pronouns they prefer and make sure you use them.
Tip 4: Respect privacy Although it’s totally cool to ask questions when you’re confused or uncertain about something, there are some topic areas that should be avoided unless you’ve specifically been given the green light by the individual with whom you’re chatting. For example it’s invasive and rude to ask people about their genitals (including genital surgeries) or about how they have sex.
Now you know a little bit more about being an ally to the queer/trans* community. Remember that part of being an ally to any group is taking the time to learn new things, so always keep your mind open to new information!
