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.
When yoga instructor Christopher Bourke began a queer and trans yoga class at Andrea Soos Yoga Studio in Dundas, a consistent piece of feedback he kept hearing was that it wasn’t accessible due to its location. Many current and prospective attendees were hoping for a yoga series downtown.
Bourke began to think about solving this problem and that’s when he crossed paths with Robin Lamarr of movement and wellness collective Ritual Island. Together they collaborated to bring his queer and trans yoga classes to the most bustling part of the city.
The result was Q+T Solidarity Moves, a beginner friendly queer and trans strength, mobility and restorative movement series at Redchurch Café and Gallery on King Street East. The $15 one-hour class — or $40 for all four classes — is taking place at 3 p.m. every Sunday from Nov. 18 to Dec. 9.
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Like with other Ritual Island classes, Q+T Solidarity Moves intends to be enjoyable and inclusive. By taking the practice outside of a yoga studio and promoting an accepting environment, the class attracts individuals who don’t feel represented in traditional yoga spaces.
“There is just a vulnerability around… yoga wear or… being in those spaces and not feeling comfortable to be in your body… I've had people come to me in previous classes who aren't out at work in terms of their gender presentation or their sexual identity. So it's just nice for them to come to a space where they can actually be who they want to be,” Bourke explained.
As the name suggests, solidarity is a pillar upon which the class is built. Attending provides participants with a free coffee or tea after the class or a 25 per cent off discount to a lunch up to $10. Bourke intends to hang around at the cafe after the classes to mingle with any participants who would like to socialize and meet new people.
Bourke likes that the class is providing another venue and opportunity for socialization following the closing of Hamilton’s LBGTQ2S+ bar, Embassy. On the other hand, socialization is not expected or obligatory and Bourke welcomes people to come even if they want to leave right after the class.
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[spacer height="20px"]Bourke believes in the healing power of being and moving together as a community. The strength built during the class will be connected to the strength needed to face one’s day-to-day challenges.
“I wanted it to be very purposeful from the beginning that we're coming together and the intention behind what we're doing isn't just to do movement, it’s to integrate the skill that you get from movement to build our solidarity as a community… and then… actually use the resources that we get in that space to do work outside,” Bourke explained.
Bourke is leading the charge on this work by donating his proceeds from the classes to Rainbow Railroad, a charity that helps LGBTQ2S+ individuals escape persecution and violence in one of the 71 countries around the world where being LGBTQ2S+ is still criminalized.
Bourke chose the charity in light of the recent crackdown of LGBTQ2S+ individuals in Tanzania, which is personal to him as he has friends living there. He also wanted to donate to Rainbow Railroad as they are in the midst of their #60in60 Campaign to raise $600 000 to save 60 lives in the final 60 days of 2018.
In this way, Q+T Solidarity Moves aims to stand in solidarity with people all over the world. Yet despite those heavy undertones, the movement series will definitely be light-hearted and fun, with a dash of Bourke’s humour and Robyn’s dance-pop tracks playing in the background.
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Trans Hamiltonians may soon see an increase in healthcare quality, as city council drafts a letter of recommendations for Local Health Integration Network, the board of Hamilton Health Sciences and St. Joesph’s Healthcare to improve regional healthcare for trans and gender non-conforming folk in the area.
The LHIN is in charge of fund allocation for the area, and the latter boards are in charge of daily aspects of healthcare in Hamilton.
The initial motion, put forward by ward 1 and 3 councillors Aidan Johnson and Matthew Green, calls for the mayor to send an initial letter to the LHIN for advice, and to consult with other groups such as the Hamilton Trans Health Coalition for advice on the contents of the letter.
Cole Gately, co-chair of the HTHC, has high hopes for the letter, considering its institutional support.
“When the mayor of an entire municipality is asking the LHIN asking for support and advice about increasing the capacity of healthcare for trans people in Hamilton, it’s pretty significant,” Gately said.
The letter is set to be sent out on Nov. 20, 2017, the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a date which commemorates the trans and gender non-conforming folk who have died as a result of transphobia.
In addition to higher murder rates, trans and gender non-conforming people are at a higher risk of suicide, with one study finding 43 per cent of participants with a history of attempted suicide due to the constant discrimination many faced.
The same study also found that many trans and gender non-conforming people actively avoid healthcare due to being trans or gender non-conforming, with 21 per cent of participants forgoing emergency healthcare due to their previous experiences with the healthcare system.
Currently, the local community has done its part to unofficially fill the gaps in the current healthcare system. The HTHC, Gately’s organization, is one of the main organizations within the city which aims to connect trans and gender non-conforming individuals in the city to healthcare workers able to sufficiently give care and offer information and resources to those in healthcare who wish to improve their care.
Some of the main challenges within trans healthcare equity include, but are not limited to, long wait times, lack of information and refusal of care by healthcare professionals.
Gately argues that trans health equity is as simple as educating physicians on basic aspects of transitioning and basic cultural competency. Gately stressed the importance of all physicians being knowledgeable on trans healthcare, thus allowing individuals to access healthcare without outing themselves as trans or gender non-conforming in the way going to a specifically trans healthcare centre would.
“It’s not so much opening a clinic or a centre, it’s more like providing education and support to physicians all across Hamilton to learn how to give good healthcare [to trans and gender non-conforming patients],” Gately said.
Hamilton has, in recent months, has made strides in supporting trans and gender non-conforming folk in the city. In March 2017, city council voted to implement a citywide protocol aiming to protect trans people in Hamilton.
Some aspects of the protocol include protecting the rights of trans folk employed by the city and recommendations on creating an inclusive environment.
“We are the only municipality that has a policy and protocol around trans clients using services and trans employees of the city, and so we’re pretty on the leading edge of this,” said Gately. “It’s not something [the LHIN] can ignore.”
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It’s clear that the year old MSU Women & Gender Equity Network is settling comfortably into the fabrics of the campus. From November 16 to 20 WGEN ran a weeklong campaign for Trans Visibility Week. Events revolved around awareness, acceptance and the promotion of open discussion.
Hayley Regis, WGEN coordinator, is enthusiastic about the support.
“Last year we ran a little event on trans visibility, trans programs and trans rights, but that was only a pilot. This year we wanted to do something on a larger scale,” she said.
The week opened with events like Trans Archive and mini information sessions geared towards teaching people how to be better allies.
“I want people to know what trans is,” explained Regis. “I did Welcome Week training and a lot of people didn’t know that being trans is not a sexuality. We want to be able to explain things to people who have never been exposed to this kind of stuff before, making it accessible while still doing advocacy.”
Monday ended with a screening of the Marsha P. Johnson documentary ‘Pay It No Mind.’ This is not the only movie made in the name of revolutionary trans activist Johnson; The 2015 film Stonewall has been critiqued for promoting cis-whitewashing, a topic of conversation that came up in the discussion period after the viewing. “A lot of people who came out were already engaged in conversations about trans identity,” gearing the event more to those already immersed and familiar with the community.
Wednesday’s activities largely revolved around self-care, with activities such as yoga and a storytelling circle. Friday featured a talk with a talk from keynote speaker Dr. Carys Masserella. Dr. Masserella leads the team of physicians at the Quest Community Health Centre, a care clinic specifically for transfolk located in St. Catherine’s.
“I think people from a lot of different areas of McMaster would be interested in seeing a talk by someone that works as a doctor but works as a doctor that runs one of the only specialized clinics in Canada.”
The week ended with a vigil for those who have passed in acts of hate and anti-trans violence. Candles were decorated in the WGEN office before hand, sparkles and markers strewn about by those who walked in to show their support.
Moving forward, Regis hopes to have similar events sprinkled throughout the year.
“While we have the underying rhetoric of supporting survivors and transfolk and anyone really, we are working towards showing that more outwardly.”
Downsizing to a single day or hour of events instead of a whole week would allow for more frequent events as well as the potential for repetition of the events that garnered the most support. For Regis, she would love to see have another viewing of ‘Pay It Forward,” her favourite event in what was a successful week of advocacy by WGEN.
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By: Alex Wilson
The Stonewall Riots are such a significant part of my culture as a Queer person. They provided me with hope and resilience as I was learning how to navigate the heteronormative world we live in. They also gave me Pride, although a very different one from what we see celebrated today.
So you would think, when I heard a movie focusing on the events of Stonewall was coming out this September, I would be ecstatic. I mean really, the Gay and Lesbian section on Netflix is barren. But instead of excitement while watching the trailer I felt infuriated, disgusted, hurt and appalled.
The riots began in response to a particularly brutal police raid on June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York. Rioting and civil disobedience continued through the following nights and a Christopher Street Liberation march was mobilized shortly after. These riots fundamentally changed Queer activism. They started new radical Queer rights organizations like the Gay Liberation Front, the Gay Activists Alliance as well as the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries and launched the modern Queer Rights movement. They also started a culture of Pride in the Queer community, as for the first time people were fighting back en-masse against systemic oppression. This activism was in stark contrast to the assimilative tactics being used before that night.
Stonewall embodied intersectionality. The patrons of the bar were predominantly trans folk, drag queens, self-proclaimed dykes, sex workers, queer runaways, and people of colour. All of these people faced multiple barriers of systemic oppression and Stonewall acted as a space for them to congregate and be themselves. To say that they were only rebelling against Queer oppression would be dangerously false. Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a lifelong trans-activist and patron of the bar that night, provided insight into the level of marginalization these folks faced when she told her account of the night.
“When you get in those kind of situations, the first thing you want to do is piss off whatever guard you’re fighting so much that they knock you completely out, then you’ll live another day. They won’t keep beating on you until you don’t live.” The leaders and primary instigators of the rebellion that night were almost all dykes, transwomen or drag queens of colour, that all experienced this degree of marginalization. Yet the film has whitewashed the story and replaced key female roles with those of males to the extent that the protagonist has been made a white-cis-gay male.
Stonewall grounds me in my radicalism, but it also reminds me how privileged I am and how divided the current Queer movement is. We face systemic marginalization and oppression. Granted, this will vary based on the intersection of our identities, but in this way we are different from the hetero-cisnormative culture around us. Stonewall empowers me. Stonewall has helped me be proud of who I am. But, Stonewall has been co-opted by this movie.
The reason behind the blatant transphobia and racism in this movie is what I find particularly offensive. Lesbians, transwomen and sex workers of colour: none of these identities make as compelling of an American Dream narrative as a white cis country boy. This movie is not only contributing to the continued oppression of these groups, but it is erasing them and their role in Queer history. Ignore the fact that without the incredible courage of the people at Stonewall that night Queer history might not even exist.
One of the most troubling aspects of this predicament is that it can easily be put into the larger context of division in the Queer community today. While 2015 especially has been an incredible year for Queer rights, not all Queer folk have been benefiting equally from these strides. Transwomen of colour still face disproportionately high levels of violence—18 transwomen have been murdered in the United States so far this year.
It is the responsibility of more privileged identities in the Queer community to continue to fight. Our movement is founded in the work of transwomen, sex workers and drag queens of colour, and we cannot forget or remove them from it. Stonewall erases these voices in order to commodify this turning point in Queer history. It is appalling and it is certainly not my Stonewall.
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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.
Erica Greaves / Silhouette Intern
As a high school student, I see transgender discrimination everywhere I go. An exaggeration, perhaps?
Take this for example. at my school there are girls washrooms and boys washrooms. Does this sound normal? It is. But I encourage you to imagine being a transgender youth and having to choose which washroom you’ll enter. Those of us who prefer not to identify as either gender aren’t considered. Some students might not be comfortable expressing which gender they truly identify as by entering a certain washroom.
A legal form of any sort requires you to face the infamous gender boxes; you have the opportunity to check off either female or male, and there is no other option. Every time you create an account on the Internet, fill out a questionnaire or sign government papers, you are only given the options of female or male – it’s a stab to your self-esteem.
It’s not true that, because transgender individuals might identify as a certain gender, they can enter the corresponding washroom or check the corresponding box. Some transgender individuals may prefer to identify as simply transgender. With no option for an unspecified gender category, an unfair practice is still taking place in our community.
Speaking of self-esteem, it is incredible how often I hear transgender-related insults. If comments like “Ew, is he a cross dresser?” and “That’s totally a tranny” in the hallways make me uncomfortable, I cannot begin to imagine how it makes my transgender peers feel. Comments like this aren’t “just a joke;” since when did a kick to someone’s gender identity become an acceptable form of humour?
By allowing these slurs to pass, we allow discrimination, and sometimes hate, towards transgender/transsexual persons. We encourage fear and anxiety in transgender/transsexual people. We turn a blind eye to those suffering as a result of transphobia.
The Hamilton community must work in unison to stop the stigma.
We need to recognize inequality among the genders, realize the way in which it affects the transgender/transsexual community and reiterate that the deliberate and non-deliberate discrimination is not acceptable and only makes society weaker.
