LGBTQ

‘Fierce, Fabulous, and Fluid’: U of T researcher explores the work done by trans youth to create inclusive spaces

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 16:38:01 +0000

‘Fierce, Fabulous, and Fluid’: U of T researcher explores the work done by trans youth to create inclusive spaces

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 07/19/2024 - 12:38

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LJ Slovin, a post-doctoral researcher at U of T’s Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, is set to have their book on trans youth in high schools, Fierce, Fabulous, and Fluid, released this summer (photos courtesy of LJ SLovin, University of Regina Press)

Sean McNeely

Topic

Our Community

Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity

Faculty of Arts & Science

LGBTQ

Research & Innovation

Subheadline

In their upcoming book, LJ Slovin looked at the physical, mental and emotional labour that trans youth undertake in high schools

Being trans in high school today can be a lot of work – and while some of that work can be seen, much of it can’t.

LJ Slovin is fascinated with this physical, mental and emotional labour that trans youth undertake each day in order to feel safe, connected to their peers and to comfortably and safely express who they are.

A post-doctoral researcher at the University of Toronto’s Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, Slovin spent a year with several trans youths at a high school in western Canada to better understand this kind of labour.

Their findings are documented in a new book to be published this August, Fierce, Fabulous, and Fluid: How Trans High School Students Work at Gender Nonconformity.

“As a trans non-binary person and a former youth worker, I’ve worked with a lot of trans youth,” Slovin says.

“I was interested in the normative ideas that shape what we understand as trans in schools, and how those limited ideas create a context in which trans youth have to do a lot of labour.”

The book is filled with stories about the day-to-day experiences of six high school trans students between the ages of 14 and 18 who Slovin worked alongside for a year.

Slovin observed some students from a distance by sitting in the same classrooms.

“Some other young folks wanted me to be with them all the time,” they say. “I went to their classes, we hung out at lunch. I went to all their performances in the evenings, we would leave school at the end of the day and get snacks.”

Slovin was also intrigued with how the participating school operated and observing how these youth navigated socially within it.

“That included looking at school policy and the school’s physical space, but it also included the relationships the trans youth had with teachers [and] with other classmates – looking at all of these elements of a school that a young person would interact with on a daily basis.”

Fierce, Fabulous, and Fluid will be available in Canada in August (photo by LJ Slovin)

Slovin identified three different forms of work that the students undertook.

The first is the labour of understanding and forgiveness by continually having to be patient and compassionate when others incorrectly identified them.

“I was in a progressive school; many of the adults had good intentions towards supporting trans folks,” says Slovin.

But Slovin nevertheless noticed that the teachers, though well-meaning, would make mistakes when identifying the students’ names, genders or pronouns. The adults also wanted the students to extend empathy to them as they tried to be allies.

“That creates work for a young person to be like, ‘I understand this is a challenging thing for you to learn, and I forgive you for misgendering me,’” Slovin says, adding that such interactions – continually having to correct, explain and forgive – can be emotionally taxing.

The second type of labour Slovin observed is what they describe as legibility: having to make a distinct effort to demonstrate one is trans to elicit a response. While not all students were interested or compelled to perform this labour, Slovin says those students who wanted to be recognized as trans did this work on a regular basis.

“If they want to access accommodations, they have to be known as a transgender person, which means they have to do something to make themselves visible to adults,” they say. “So, they behave in a way that would be expected according to normative notions of trans identity.

“These students are understanding adults’ ideas of what it means and looks like to be trans, and then trying to enact that so that they can access the accommodations they need so that they’re not misgendered all the time.”

This can result in inner conflict and frustration, with some students being conflicted about how to dress, speak and act in a way that conforms to people’s often narrow understandings about trans identity.

The third form of labour Slovin calls “world building” – trans youth creating, maintaining and investing in safe spaces where they can be themselves with no expectations or demands.

“Safe spaces are tricky,” says Slovin. “People are creating them based on what they need to feel safer in a school. I was interested in the spaces they built away from all of the surveillance and observation where they could just live in relation to their gender in ways that weren't noticed in school.”

One such space was the tech booth in the school’s theatre, where Slovin spent hours with two students.

“When we were in the tech booth, everything was different,” they say. “They didn't have to prove that they were trans to me or to each other, they didn't have to worry about having their pronouns respected, they didn't have to worry about dressing in a certain way that undercut their legitimacy as being who they are.

“They were able to dream about what it would be like when they were not in the school anymore, and they could live in a trans community and live more aligned with their desires.”

Through their book, Slovin hopes to provide educators with ideas about how to re-evaluate school environments.

“How do we shift the ways that we think about trans youth and about gender nonconformity? What if we step back and ask, ‘What is happening in school environments that is creating hardship for young people?’

“Instead of adults being accommodating when a transgender person makes themselves known, what about creating environments that already invite the possibility of gender non-conformity?”

Slovin is looking forward to discussions their book will spark upon its release next month.

“It was an amazing project,” they say. “To spend all of that time with the same people was a gift. I got a lot out of the time we spent together – a lot of joy, because for all the ways that we talked about trans folks dealing with intense things, it was just lovely to share that time and space with them.”

U of T researcher leads study on parenting resources for Indigenous fathers and Two-Spirit individuals

siddiq22 — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 20:16:27 +0000

U of T researcher leads study on parenting resources for Indigenous fathers and Two-Spirit individuals

siddiq22 Tue, 07/04/2023 - 16:16

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(photo by FatCamera/Getty Images)

Rebecca Biason

Topic

Our Community

Indigenous

Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing

LGBTQ

Research

Subheadline

The Fathers of the Next Generation study is collaborating with Indigenous fathers and community members to learn more about what resources could support them in their parenting journey

Amy Wright, a nurse practitioner and researcher at the University of Toronto’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, is collaborating with Indigenous fathers and community members to build a set of parenting resources aimed specifically at supporting men and Two-Spirit people along their journey into parenthood.

The Fathers of the Next Generation study, which is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, is built on a previous scoping study conducted by Wright that revealed gaps in available resources for fathers, and the need for them and their partners to be able to access resources related specifically to their experiences and transition into parenthood.

Though the study is still in its early stages, Wright said that it has already been informative to hear from fathers during ongoing consultations and the interview process.

Amy Wright (supplied image)

“This is much bigger than the Western conceptualization of what a parenting program should look like – it is more holistic and culturally and emotionally centered, instead of task-based,” Wright says.

“Yes, they want to know about diapering and supporting their partner in breastfeeding, but they also want to know more about their traditional role as a father; how to spiritually guide their children. Some are on a healing journey, and are interested in understanding how to be a father in relation to how they have been fathered.”

The study’s steering committee, which includes members from the Six Nations of the Grand River, has been essential not only in recruiting fathers to take part in the study, but also in providing important insights and guidance around developing the study using Indigenous ways of knowing.

“There is a deep and recurring theme among the fathers we have interviewed that points to their desire to communicate and ground their parenting within their culture and spirituality alongside other important aspects of parenting like nutrition, health and emotional needs,” Wright says.

Wihse Spring (supplied image)

Committee member Wihsé Spring, who identifies as a Two-Spirit father, wanted to contribute to the study because of his own experience entering fatherhood – and also because of the way he has seen fathers often treated.

“Sometimes it can seem like dads are just a decoration – and that’s not true. We want to have the resources to get rid of that label and have the confidence moving forward to not only be good fathers, but also explore the connection to our culture and community,” Spring says.

What role fathers played before colonization and how to be an Indigenous father are key questions that have come up in the early stages of the study. When asked about what specific resources would be beneficial, most of the fathers participating in the study said they were keen to see in-class workshops around parenting facilitated by fathers, and to be role models in their own healing if they grew up without a father.

“An important element that came out of our previous scoping study was a desire from the men to build a network of peers where fathers can learn from and support one another,” Wright says.

“Having meals together or participating in traditional or on-the-land activities would also help break down any barriers of engagement and encourage fathers to seek out health promotion programs and prenatal/postnatal resources.”

David Johnson (supplied image)

Parenting in a positive manner and stopping a perpetual cycle of generational trauma is what motivated David Johnson, a registered nurse and member of the Six Nations of the Grand River community, to participate in the study as a member of the steering committee – and to encourage other new fathers in his community to also take part.

Johnson describes himself as a changemaker – as a proud father to two young girls, he acknowledges he has been fortunate to have had his parents in his life to learn from and lean on for support.

But he says many of his peers are facing child custody issues, or negative assumptions about themselves as fathers, which is why he encourages them to have their voice heard through the study in the hopes of revitalizing the role of fathers.

“Lots of men in my generation are stepping up as fathers, and having a variety of resources – including workshops taught by other fathers – will just hit closer to home,” Johnson says.

“Showing men how to be more in touch with expressing themselves, working through their own healing journey and helping them to not deviate from the main goal of supporting their kid, could make a world of difference.”

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Parenting

New nursing simulation project promotes gender-affirming care for 2SLGTBQIA+ community

siddiq22 — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 17:06:07 +0000

New nursing simulation project promotes gender-affirming care for 2SLGTBQIA+ community

siddiq22 Thu, 06/29/2023 - 13:06

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Nursing student Richard Tang (centre) with Laura Fairley (left) and Erica Cambly, assistant professors in the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing (photo by Neal MacInnes)

Rebecca Biason

Topic

Our Community

Experiential Learning

health care education

Simulation

Health

Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing

LGBTQ

Richard Tang, a student in the Master of Nursing program at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, has led the co-creation of a new simulation – a type of experiential learning – for undergraduate nursing students that is focused on providing specialized care to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

Tang, who recently won the poster competition at the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) Conference for the project, was motivated to create the new simulation to bring queer health to the forefront of the nursing curriculum.

“Gender dysphoria is an ingrained conceptualization in the care that is sometimes provided to the transgender community, and we wanted to shift that perspective among our nursing students,” Tang says.

Learning in a simulation environment, adds Tang, provides students and educators a chance to understand best practices for trans care and identify pre-existing assumptions and biases without harming or traumatizing a patient.

The new simulation module takes place in the community health unit of the Bloomberg Nursing Simulation Lab, which can be transformed into a home care setting.

Faculty collaborators, including Laura Fairley and Erica Cambly – both assistant professors – helped to create the simulation environment that features a client who is a trans man recovering from top/chest surgery at home.

Using a state-of-the art mannequin complete with drainage tubes and the ability to speak (voiced by Fairley), students learn how to look after the client through what Tang describes as a joyous approach to care.

The project used a mannequin to simulate post-operative recovery from chest surgery (photo by Richard Tang)

Students must also address some of the complex challenges that arise for their client, which include management of post-operative complications, lack of access to a primary care provider, as well as the need to address additional social determinants of health.

“In all of our current work in the simulation lab, we lay a solid theoretical groundwork for students to learn how to provide trans-competent care,” says Fairley, who is a nurse with extensive experience caring for people recovering from transition-related surgeries.

“What is unique about this new simulation is that it goes beyond the theoretical and allows for students to visibly challenge cisnormativity and recognize that trans health care is ubiquitous in all types of nursing.”

Fairley further points out that members of the trans community experience significant discrimination when attempting to access transition-related medical care, but with Toronto considered a national hub for transition services, this is a specific type of knowledge that nurses will need to know – whether in primary care, the ER, acute care, or home-care settings across the province.

Creating this type of simulation requires intense collaboration – from the development of the storyline and preparatory materials, to the input of community members that it impacts.

In addition to Cambly and Fairley’s expertise in simulation learning and trans health care, a member of the trans community was also invited to review the simulation for accuracy alongside community-health nurses with expertise in transition-related care.

Cambly, who leads the simulation curriculum in the faculty, says that the clear standards and best practices for developing a simulation – which include looking for hidden biases and ensuring that there are clear learning objectives – are what help make a new simulation rollout successful.

She says this particular simulation was piloted with first- and second-year students in the undergraduate nursing program, with students being given an opportunity to debrief and provide feedback about how the simulation flowed, and what could be done better.

“I think one of the things we noticed during the pilot was that the students were really pleased we were doing this work and making this simulation available to all students,” Cambly says.

“Some of our students are living with transphobia, or have seen examples of it in their everyday life, and they see how important this knowledge is for health-care providers.”

The new simulation will likely be ready to be added to the 2023-2024 nursing curriculum – an important step in ensuring students are well-equipped to provide equitable and inclusive health care.

For Tang, the opportunity to blend his passion for teaching and learning with a chance to make a positive impact for students and the queer community is rewarding.

“I’m reassured that we are headed in the right direction in achieving these community-practice goals,” Tang says.

“We are not only making positive changes to the curriculum, but also addressing the diverse needs of the populations we serve.”

Drag is having a moment – but its long history is marked by persecution and resilience

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 15:45:23 +0000

Drag is having a moment – but its long history is marked by persecution and resilience

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 06/27/2023 - 11:45

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A drag queen leads the Trojan group as thousands gathered for the massive 2023 Pride parade in Toronto (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Cynthia Macdonald

Topic

Our Community

Faculty of Arts & Science

Graduate Students

LGBTQ

Subheadline

U of T scholar Kevin Nixon researches the evolution of the vibrant art form

Drag isn’t just having a moment right now – it’s having an extravaganza.

There’s drag brunch, drag trivia and drag bingo. There are drag cabaret and drag burlesque shows; drag violinists and drag science lectures; even Drag Camp for those wanting to sharpen their sashay. And of course, drag queen story time.

“Traditionally when we think about drag, we think about performance art that involves gender-bending and gender play in some form,” says Kevin Nixon, a PhD candidate in the University of Toronto’s department of anthropology in the Faculty of Arts & Science. “There’s an artistic component, of course. But it’s also quite political and has a long history in terms of activism.

“Traditionally, drag queens were framed only as cisgender men, and drag kings only as cisgender women. But the concept has exploded to encompass much more than it used to.”

Some 10 years ago, Nixon began ethnographic research for his doctorate. He conducted interviews with 30 to 40 drag performers all over Ontario and in other parts of Canada and has since informally interviewed many more. He has also performed in drag himself. After taking a leave from the university, he’s now writing his dissertation and has recently taught courses in sexual diversity studies and on gender from an anthropological perspective.

“When I started this work,” Nixon says, “RuPaul’s Drag Race was in its infancy. Since then, drag has become more mainstream. But in many ways it has stayed consistent.”

Drag is about glamour, sass and joie de vivre. But Nixon says drag performers have always been subject to persecution.

“When police raided bars in the 1950s and 60s, drag queens would have to show they were wearing male undergarments under their dresses – if they were wearing undergarments associated with the opposite sex, that was considered illegal.”

Over the years, as drag has become more accepted and inclusive, it has also been the subject of what Nixon calls “boundary debates.” Some feminists, for example, see drag as a mocking appropriation of femininity, “but you also see cisgender women happy to participate in an exaggerated entertaining, colourful form that they might not have access to in their daily lives.”

And while there are now many transgender as well as cisgender drag queens, “some trans scholars are vehemently against that inclusion, because they see drag as representing an identity that’s put on and then taken off,” Nixon notes.

But Nixon’s own research reflects the idea that today, anyone can not only enjoy but also participate in drag. Examining the topic through the lens of race, sexuality and ethnicity, he’s witnessed the true breadth of drag performance, especially in Toronto.

“Toronto has had a very vibrant drag culture, going back to the 1950s and even before that,” he says. “We’ve had some really popular performers who’ve made it big internationally. I also think the multicultural component is fascinating, in that we’ve got many performers producing shows that incorporate elements of different cultural customs and practices.”

In order to add an “auto-ethnographic” element to his research, Nixon also briefly performed himself under the name Roxy Foxx.

“I used to joke with my friends that I had to walk a mile in their heels,” he says. “That was invaluable for me. There was something really interesting about being part of that scene and learning my way through performance: from hairstyles, how to do makeup, how to create costumes and things like that. It’s hard work, absolutely – a skill set I still don’t have to this day! But it’s also how I learned about some of the discrimination that drag performers experience.”

In recent times, that discrimination has been increasing. In particular, the introduction of drag queen story time in libraries has met with opposition from conservatives, who accuse drag queens of “grooming” youngsters.

This view stems in part from a refusal by some people to consider how broad the spectrum of drag really is.

“The idea that drag performances by their very nature are always sexualized is problematic,” Nixon says. “Certainly in bars and nightclubs, you’re going to have these salacious performances. But drag queen story times are just about exaggerated costuming, and the hyperbolic play with gender that children find fascinating. In this context, I’ve heard drag queens compared to clowns. It’s about playing with appearance – it’s visually appealing, but it’s certainly not sexual.”

And yet, in the U.S., the state of Tennessee recently passed legislation banning adult drag performance as well as story time. Ten other states have either introduced or are drafting similar legislation.

“I think of this as a convenient scapegoat to take attention away from other issues, such as gun laws,” Nixon says. “The drag queen becomes the monster. It’s a convenient trigger, particularly when you see things like RuPaul’s Drag Race, which is a very public manifestation of gender non-conformity. That makes people very uncomfortable.”

This suppression is especially perplexing in light of the tremendous social justice efforts made by drag performers over the decades – including a strong tradition of charitable fundraising. At the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, American performers regularly put on shows to raise money for sick people who’d been rejected by their families and lacked health insurance. Here in Toronto, drag queens have raised over a million dollars for the Casey House hospice. And they have consistently staged many other fundraisers for various hospitals, community centres and other causes.

“When you think of Pride, the image of a colourful, bright drag queen might pop into your mind,” Nixon says. “They really play a key function within communities of bringing people together and increasing social solidarity. That’s a function that sometimes gets negated – and one that’s very much ignored through this demonization of the drag queen.”

Medieval studies students bring the diverse gender experiences of the past into the present

siddiq22 — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 20:16:38 +0000

Medieval studies students bring the diverse gender experiences of the past into the present

siddiq22 Thu, 06/01/2023 - 16:16

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Medieval studies student Dena Abtahi researched the trial of Katherina Hetzeldorfer, who was executed in 1477 (photo by Diana Tyszko)

Sean McNeely

Topic

Our Community

Faculty of Arts & Science

LGBTQ

Medieval Studies

New College

St. Michael's College

Undergrad Research

Subheadline

Exhibit highlighted examples of saints and other historical figures who challenged traditional gender roles

Students from the University of Toronto’s department of medieval studies in the Faculty of Arts & Science recently presented an exhibit that highlighted the diverse gender experiences of people during the medieval period.

Students from the Medieval Genders and Sexualities course held a poster fair at St. Michael’s College that showcased specific historical figures (including many saints), offering evidence of people who lived outside of – or challenged – gender norms.

The exhibition capped the upper-year undergraduate course, which explores ideas about sexes, genders and sexualities in the medieval Christian West.

For the exhibit, second-year student Hilary Packard explored the history of French saint Joan of Arc
(photo by Diana Tyszko)

“Parts of our society tend to think that aspects of sexualities and genders that we see now are part of some social change that's gone on in the past decade,” Murray says. “These misunderstandings are fueling the harshness and the almost inhumane treatment that we see of trans people in some quarters of society, particularly in the United States.”

Twelve students working individually and in groups presented six posters covering important figures from the 5th to 15th centuries, highlighting how they have been understood and misunderstood throughout history.

Hilary Packard, a second-year visual studies student in the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design who is also taking courses in medieval studies, was part of a trio that created a poster about Joan of Arc, a French saint who was burned at the stake for heresy.

“I loved the fact that I got to dive deeper into Joan’s story,” Packard says.

Scholars and artists have more recently begun to see Joan’s cross-dressing as more of a representation of masculine gender expression, as opposed to the more traditional view that she wore masculine clothing to appear sexless.

“I'm American and I’m trans, so being able to put this into the context of history and to say, ‘We've been here all along and we belong here’ is a very powerful thing because a lot of the arguments people are making are that people just started being trans in this century,” Packard says.

"I’m getting to see the historical re-evaluation that is currently happening, this new wave of understanding with people reflecting their own stories back on things – that's how history should work.”

The Trans Middle Ages Poster Fair was held in the John M. Kelly Library at St. Michael's College (photo by Diana Tyszko)

Fourth-year student Dena Abtahi created a poster covering the trial of Katherina Hetzeldorfer, who is considered the first woman to be executed for homosexuality – a then-nameless crime – in 1477. Originally from Nuremberg, Hetzeldorfer moved to Speyer in 1475 and dressed as a man in the company of a woman, where they both lived together as a married couple.

“Katherina’s is one of the first historical accounts of trans people, which allows for people in our generations to look back and see that LGTBQ+ individuals have always been around,” says Abtahi, who is studying human biology and molecular biology.

“In this sense, Katherina is a symbol of the importance of self-expression and self-identification. “And in so many ways, Katherina's story highlighted how in some respects our society has remained stagnant on views pertaining to LGBTQ+ people and their rights.”

For Abtahi, researching a person being persecuted for simply being who they want to be struck a personal chord.

“People in Iran, where I am from, are being killed for being gay or being transgender,” she says. “And in Iran, when people do come out as homosexual, there are some instances where they are forced to undergo transgender surgery, as way of a correction.”

Sasha Jennings, left, discusses her research on Hildegund, a German saint (photo by Diana Tyszko)

Sasha Jennings, a third-year student studying classics, medieval studies and Celtic studies, was part of a duo that created a poster about Hildegund, a German saint who was assigned female at birth but adopted the name Joseph and joined a Cistercian monastery as a man.

In fact, it was only after Joseph’s death in 1188, as his body was being prepared for burial, that his fellow monks discovered that their brother was in fact born female.

Joseph’s life went on to be recorded as an example of piety for Cistercian nuns and monks to aspire to – portraying Joseph as a physically and spiritually pure asset to the monastery.

“When it comes to religious identity, there's a really interesting relationship between gender fluidity and piety and sanctity,” Jennings says.

“There was an idea that if you could shed your biological limitations – especially if you were a biological woman – that put you on the path to religious piety and sanctity, and that was seen as a very good thing.”

Course instructor Jacqueline Murray, a graduate of U of T's Centre for Medieval Studies and a university professor emerita from the University of Guelph, says that in researching these ancient examples of gender fluidity, the students have come away with an understanding of what the stories of Hetzeldorfer, Hildegund, Joan of Arc and others mean in the modern context.

“Understanding trans issues and trans people has become so important in our society,” Murray says.

“We're trying to be part of this process of giving trans people their history, because there are – and have always been – many ways that individuals experience and live their identity.”

U of T kicks off Pride Month with flag-raising ceremonies across its three campuses

siddiq22 — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 19:26:13 +0000

U of T kicks off Pride Month with flag-raising ceremonies across its three campuses

siddiq22 Thu, 06/01/2023 - 15:26

Cutline

Flags were raised at U of T Mississauga, the St. George campus and U of T Scarborough to mark the beginning of Pride Month (photos by Angelia Meffe, Polina Teif and Don Campbell)

Topic

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

LGBTQ

Pride

Sexual & Gender Diversity Office

St. George campus

U of T Mississauga

U of T Scarborough

The University of Toronto kicked off Pride Month celebrations on its three campuses Thursday with flag raising ceremonies and associated events.

As the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education (KPE) prepared for its annual flag-raising on the St. George campus, Ivan Canete thought back to when Toronto hosted WorldPride back in 2014 – in particular, the flags that lined Bloor Street.

The event prompted the assistant manager of merchandise, apparel and ticketing sales for the KPE’s sport and recreation department to suggest a flag at Varsity Stadium. So, Beth Ali, U of T’s director of athletics and physical activity, tasked him with developing an accompanying ceremony.

“I drafted a modest model and we held the inaugural ceremony in 2016,” Canete said. “We added the Trans flag in 2017 and transitioned to the Progress Pride flag – which includes black and brown stripes to represent marginalized LGBTQ+ communities of colour, along with the colours pink, light blue and white, which are used on the transgender Pride flag.

(photo by Polina Teif)

KPE’s annual event, hosted in collaboration with the Sexual & Gender Diversity Office, takes place alongside similar ceremonies at U of T Mississauga and U of T Scarborough, as well as other Pride-related events at the university throughout the month.

At U of T Mississauga, the Pride Month launch barbecue and flag-raising opened with a performance by Danielle Migwans, an Indigenous drummer from M'Chigeeng First Nation and the community of Wikwemikong.

For the first time on the campus, U of T Mississauga is displaying a 2-Spirit flag alongside the More Colour, More Pride flag.

(Photo by Angelia Meffe)

Professor Nicholas Rule, incoming vice-principal, academic and dean, said the chance to speak at the U of T Mississauga’s kickoff event was meaningful in multiple ways.

“As someone who identifies as part of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, [I] recognize that in many parts of the world – including in my own place of origin in the U.S. – issues such as anti-Trans bills and attacks on gender-affirming care continue to be pervasive,” he told a crowd gathered in front of the U of T Mississauga Student Centre.

“Many people are suffering, dying and fighting for rights of equality – something that a lot of us in Canada take for granted. But today I want to focus on the positive by reflecting on how fortunate we all are to be able to gather here on this beautiful campus – on a beautiful day, in the spirit of comradeship – to commemorate and honour this month.”

(photo by Don Campbell)

At U of T Scarborough, the More Colour, More Pride flags were raised for the fifth year in a row.

“By raising this flag, we honour the experiences and resiliency of gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and queer people and the experiences of Black, Indigenous and racialized people in the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Additionally, we raise the Trans Pride flag to represent 2-spirit, trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people,” said Nadia Rosemond, U of T Scarborough’s assistant dean, co-curricular programs and student leadership, during her opening remarks.

“I want to pause and express gratitude and love to our 2SLGBTQ+ students, staff, faculty and librarians at UTSC. I don’t know how often you hear or feel this outside the month of June, but I want you to know that you belong here. You are welcomed here.”

The ceremony was followed by a courtyard celebration in front of the Arts and Administration Building with snacks, a unique floral mural marking Pride Month and a welcome table set up by the Positive Space Committee.

(photo by Don Campbell)

Back at the Varsity Stadium event, Sport and Recreation aquatics instructor Alex Jung was selected as the KPE staff guest of honour for his dedication to improving trans pool hours and launching upcoming trans swim lessons.

“As we swim through eliminationist policy and transgender athlete bans, I look to the spaces we trans folk grow for us,” Jung said. “I’m excited for more of us to be in the pool, comfortable in our own skin and in the water.”

Allison Burgess, U of T’s acting executive director of equity, diversity and inclusion, reminded guests that June is also National Indigenous History Month and said raising the Progress flag should be viewed both as a gesture of support for 2SLGBTQ+ communities and a stand against all oppression.

“All of this might feel like ancient history – but we know that, sadly, the fight for equity is not over,” said Burgess, adding that Pride is a time to celebrate the invaluable contributions of 2SLGBTQ+ members of the U of T community and get involved in Pride Month initiatives across the three campuses.

“Simply being here today to help us raise the Pride flag is a political act, but I hope this won’t be the only action you take during Pride Month.”

Danny Ramadan is U of T Scarborough’s new writer-in-residence

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 14:22:42 +0000

Danny Ramadan is U of T Scarborough’s new writer-in-residence

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 02/06/2023 - 09:22

Cutline

An author and advocate for LGBTQ+ Syrian refugees, Danny Ramadan is bringing his lifetime of writing experience to U of T Scarborough as writer-in-residence, a role that connects celebrated writers with the school community (submitted photo)

Topic

As a gay person growing up in Syria, Danny Ramadan says every day was like taking a paper cut to his mental health.

“I was navigating a lot of trauma. I was a queer child in a very dysfunctional family system and a hyper-masculine, working-class environment,” he says. “I felt like my mentality kept crashing and I kept putting it back together by writing about it. Writing was how I didn't die by a thousand paper cuts.”

What began as a coping mechanism led to several books, articles and short stories that have garnered awards and critical acclaim. His debut novel, The Clothesline Swing, was named among the best books of the year by the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star, while his children’s book, Salma the Syrian Chef, won the Nautilus Book Award and The Middle East Book Award.

He’s now bringing his years of writing experience to U of T Scarborough as writer-in-residence, a role that connects celebrated writers with the school community through office hours, workshops and appearances in classrooms and events.

Ramadan has been a published writer since age 10, when his first poem appeared in a children’s magazine in Damascus. No one else in his life shared his passion, but he kept writing, finding himself particularly drawn to short stories. Ramadan says he didn’t inherit his writing prowess, but adds that his family did hand down their voices. He internalized the voice of his father, which espouses toxic masculinity, and one from his mother, which tells him to doubt himself.

“Sometimes you have the voices of several doubters living in your head. I think that's a fluffy term for childhood trauma, the voices we take on that are foreign to ourselves,” he says.

Ramadan’s life changed at age 17 when he first said out loud to his family that he was gay. Ramadan experienced homelessness and slept on friends’ couches until he found his own place – all while still using writing as a lifeline. He examined everything around him, including the concept of coming out. Unlike in Toronto, a city where LBGTQ+ organizations, institutions and communities are common, he says coming out in Damascus often means losing every form of support.

“Queerness is not a club where you need to come out to receive your membership card,” he says. “You need to navigate the world according to the dynamics around you.”

At age 20, Ramadan published his first collection of short stories in Egypt, drawing job offers that led him to move to the country for seven years. In 2010, he returned to Syria as national unrest culminated in the Syrian civil war. He began running an underground centre for LGBTQ+ Syrians out of his home, an endeavor he calls “beautifully naive,” and one that landed him in prison for six weeks.

Upon his release, he was declared persona non grata by the Syrian government and moved to Lebanon as a refugee. Writing fiction has always been his life’s calling, but it didn’t initially offer a steady source of income. He became a journalist to pay the bills and by his late-20s was reporting for the Washington Post from the heart of the refugee crisis in the Middle East.

The three years he spent as a reporter are not a time Ramadan looks back on fondly. He spent hours counting bodies in YouTube videos, interviewing rebels and dissecting massacres for articles that sometimes didn’t get published, depending on what the ever-churning news cycle deemed most important that day.

“I never felt like I had my own voice. I was just part of a much larger machine as a journalist,” he says. “In my creative writing, I feel like I'm my own boss. I am the master of my own craft and I have a village of folks who are supporting me.”

In 2014, he arrived in Vancouver as a refugee, where he lives with his husband and dog. He earned a master’s degree in fine arts in creative writing from the University of British Columbia.

Ramadan has 18 doves tattooed on his bicep – one for each LGBTQ+ Syrian refugee his annual fundraiser, “An Evening in Damascus,” has brought to Canada – and he still has to add three more birds. His charity has raised more than $300,000 to support LGBTQ+ Syrian refugees.

Ramadan’s memoir is scheduled for release in the summer of 2024 and he is working on a series of short stories and children’s books. On campus, he recently hosted a reading and holds office hours on Thursdays.

“I am a big fan of talking to folks,” he says. “I'm very approachable. So let's talk.”

‘Not just about history’: U of T marks National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

lanthierj — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 22:30:41 +0000

‘Not just about history’: U of T marks National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

lanthierj Tue, 12/06/2022 - 17:30

Cutline

During the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, students spoke the names of each of the 14 women killed on Dec. 6, 1989 (all photos by Polina Teif)

Adina Bresge

Topic

Our Community

Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Indigenous

LGBTQ

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

St. George

U of T Mississauga

U of T Scarborough

Members of the University of Toronto community gathered Tuesday to remember the 14 women killed in the anti-feminist massacre at the École Polytechnique 33 years ago – and honour the lives of those taken and affected by gender-based violence.

Students, faculty, staff, librarians and alumni came together at Hart House for the in-person commemoration of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, while others attended virtually by livestream.

Fourteen women died in the attack on Dec. 6, 1989. Another 10 women and four men were injured.

In a memorial led by the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, students walked across the stage to say the name of each woman killed: Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault and Annie Turcotte.

The tribute was followed by a moment of silence for the lives lost.

“If these women survived, they would have been women leaders, entrepreneurs and change agents many of this generation would have been inspired by,” said Marisa Sterling, the assistant dean and director, diversity, inclusion and professionalism in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “Until violence against women has been eradicated, we will remember these 14 women and their families and bring awareness for the need for further actions every year.

“Today’s memorial is not just about history. It matters to current students.”

Marisa Sterling, assistant dean of diversity, inclusion and professionalism, U of T Engineering

More than three decades after the Montreal massacre, the threat of femicide and gender-based violence persists across Canada, and statistics suggest the issue has become even more pressing in recent years, Kelly Hannah-Moffat, U of T’s vice-president, people strategy, equity and culture, said in a statement.

From 2019 to 2021, killings of women and girls have increased by 26 per cent, according to a report by the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability. Indigenous women and girls experienced the highest rates of all forms of gender- and sex-based violence, Hannah-Moffat noted, and police-reported data find that people who are racialized, 2SLGBTQ+ or living with a disability are more likely to be victimized.

“The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women urges all of us – citizens, institutions, and governments – to oppose and prevent gender-based violence through our words and our actions,” Hannah-Moffat said.

“At the University of Toronto, this work is ongoing and requires substantial progress on a wide range of commitments: from creating more robust policies to improving our pathways for disclosure and reporting, and from pursuing corrective actions to promoting a culture of active consent across our three campuses.”

Vice-Provost, Students, Sandy Welsh, with award-winner Maya Morriswala

Three U of T students were recognized at the event for their exceptional commitment to issues of violence against women, girls, transgender and non-binary people. Sandy Welsh, vice-provost, students, announced this year’s winners of the Award for Scholarly Achievement in the Area of Gender-Based Violence:

The undergraduate recipient was Maya Morriswala, a fourth-year student in the Faculty of Arts & Science, who is researching digital dating abuse in transgender and non-binary populations, as well as among women in queer relationships.

Hayley Brooks, a PhD candidate in social justice education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, was one of the two graduate winners. Brooks is part of a research team investigating how international students and staff on Ontario campuses perceive their universities’ sexual violence and prevention initiatives.

The other graduate recipient was Rebecca Lennox, a PhD candidate in sociology at the Faculty of Arts & Science, whose research focuses on cisgender and transgender women’s fear of violent crime in urban public places.

Jenny Blackbird and Ravyn Wngz

The event also featured a musical performance by Nehiyaw/Finnish-Canadian multi-disciplinary artist Jenny Blackbird, resource centre and programs co-ordinator at First Nations House Indigenous Student Services, and a poetry reading by Ravyn Wngz, an empowerment movement storyteller and activist with Black Lives Matter.

Rounding out the proceedings was a panel discussion between Shahrzad Mojab, a professor in the department of leadership, higher and adult education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Brenda Cossman, a professor in the Faculty of Law and lawyer Deepa Mattoo, executive director of the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic.

Left to right: Professor Brenda Cossman, Professor Shahrzad Mojab, Deepa Mattoo

The panellists discussed what global action on gender-based violence can look like through an intersectional lens, accounting for shifting legal, social, medical and economic considerations.

Tuesday’s event was co-hosted by the Anti-Racism & Cultural Diversity Office; the Community Safety Office; the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Office at University of Toronto Mississauga; the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Office at the University of Toronto Scarborough; the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering; Hart House; the Division of People Strategy, Equity, & Culture, the Sexual & Gender Diversity Office; the Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre; and the Institutional Equity Office.

Following the event, a group of female engineering students planned to unveil a monument outside the Galbraith Building featuring 14 clear, life-sized silhouettes – each inscribed with the name of a victim – standing around a fleur-de-lis. Those gathered at Hart House, meanwhile, were provided with paper to make their own white rose tributes to the victims.

Level Up! Researchers explore impact of gaming on well-being of LGBTQ+ youth

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 16:02:13 +0000

Level Up! Researchers explore impact of gaming on well-being of LGBTQ+ youth

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 06/15/2022 - 12:02

Cutline

(Photo by Alvaro Medina Jurado)

Megan Easton

Topic

Our Community

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

LGBTQ

Research & Innovation

When Dane Marco Di Cesare was a child, he turned to video games for more than entertainment or diversion. As a queer youth, he found them to be a safe place to immerse himself in fantastic worlds – far away from a reality that could be stressful and even unsafe.

“Gaming was an escape for me because I didn’t have a lot of support at school or other places,” he says. “But while I loved building characters and connecting to storylines, I never quite saw myself represented.”

Now, so many years later, Di Cesare is helping to lead the first large-scale international study to examine how the gaming experiences of LGBTQ+ youth and young adults affect their well-being and identity development. Called LEVEL UP!, the study was recently launched by the International Partnership for Queer Youth Resilience (INQYR).

The LEVEL UP! project will explore the impact of positive and negative LGBTQ+ representation in current video games. It is being co-led by Shelley Craig, INQYR’s principal investigator and a professor at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. She says the new study will offer crucial insight into an unexplored facet of the lives of LGBTQ+ youth.

“Even before the pandemic-driven explosion in gaming, video games had replaced music in importance for young people. And we know that at least 10 per cent of gamers over the age of 18 identify as LGBTQ+,” says Craig, who is Canada Research Chair for Sexual and Gender Minority Youth.

Screenshot from the Night in the Woods video game (image courtesy of Secret Lab & Infinite Fall, 2017)

Di Cesare, an assistant professor at Brock University’s Faculty of Education – and still an avid gamer – argues that representation matters. “LGBTQ+ youth seeing themselves meaningfully and appropriately represented within video games can be affirming and have a positive effect on their mental health,” he says.

There’s ample evidence that LGBTQ+ youth regularly confront discrimination, threats and rejection – experiences that result in high levels of depression and anxiety.

“One in three LGBTQ+ youth has attempted suicide and in-person support can be challenging for them to access,” says Craig, whose nearly 25-year career in social work practice and research has focused on developing interventions to support LGBTQ+ youth mental health. “Our research has consistently shown that these young people feel safer online and use technology to improve their mental health.”

Craig founded INQYR to better understand and support the resilience of LGBTQ+ youth and young adults in an increasingly digitized world. The interdisciplinary and multilingual international research partnership is the first initiative of its kind to be funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Grant.

In previous studies looking at the online activities of young LGBTQ+ communities, Craig and Di Cesare noticed increasing discussion of video games. “We recognized that studying gaming was an evolution of the work we’d already been doing around digital media and LGBTQ+ youth mental health,” says Di Cesare.

The LEVEL UP! study aims to recruit 5,000 LGBTQ+ youth aged 14 to 29 across Canada, the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Australia to complete an online survey. Participants will also be invited to upload screen shots of specific moments in games they are playing and share why they made them feel strong, validated and proud about their identity.

The survey will include questions about respondents’ gaming habits, observations on LGBTQ+ representation and supportive or discriminatory encounters in games or gaming communities. “We want to know how they feel when they don’t see themselves represented, or when they see representation that’s problematic,” says Di Cesare. “We also want to know if it influences their engagement in different games and gaming spaces.”

He notes that there are now many LGBTQ+-specific gaming communities, and that there’s been some recent progress in LGBTQ+ representation in traditional video games. The quality of representation, however, has been uneven, he warns.

“Unfortunately, some of the representation is quite narrow and stereotypical, and it hasn’t been well-received by certain communities,” he says. “I still hear homophobic and transphobic slurs on gaming platforms. But at least the conversation has started.”

LEVEL UP! research assistant Shannon Cheung, who also regularly plays video games, says inclusive representation is especially important in queer youths’ formative years.

“On a fundamental level, it communicates to me – and so many others, LGBTQ+ or not – that I have a place in our world,” Cheung says. “All the East Asian characters that I grew up with in the early 2000s were martial artists, socially awkward, nerdy high schoolers or seductresses – and none were LGBTQ+. Seeing positive LGBTQ+ representation increasingly show up in video games helps me nurture that younger version of me who thought that, to be accepted in this world, I had to be someone I wasn’t.”

Di Cesare hopes that the study findings will prompt the video game industry to move forward in creating more LGBTQ+ characters and storylines, while encouraging gaming communities to ensure their spaces are welcoming for LGBTQ+ gamers, particularly those with intersectional identities. The research team also plans to share the results with parents, caregivers, child welfare services and the participants themselves.

Di Cesare and Craig are realistic about how much the industry may be willing to change given its emphasis on the bottom line, but they’re optimistic that this research can make a difference.

“In the future, I want kids to see themselves in any game and not worry about hiding their sexuality or gender,” says Di Cesare. “I want them to just play.”

U of T raises Progress Pride flag to mark the beginning of Pride Month

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 19:56:14 +0000

U of T raises Progress Pride flag to mark the beginning of Pride Month

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 06/01/2022 - 15:56

Cutline

The Progress Pride flag flies over Varsity Stadium on the St. George campus to mark the start of Pride Month (photo by Seyran Mammadov)

Jelena Damjanovic

Topic

Our Community

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

LGBTQ

Pride

Sexual & Gender Diversity Office

St. George

U of T Mississauga

U of T Scarborough

The clouds cleared just in time for the beginning of Pride month celebrations at the University of Toronto this week.

The university marked the occasion with a flag raising at Varsity Stadium that was hosted by the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education (KPE) in collaboration with the Sexual & Gender Diversity Office (SGDO).

Flags were also raised at U of T Mississauga and U of T Scarborough.

At St. George, Caroline Fusco, an associate professor at KPE specializing in social justice and equity issues in sport, kicked off the ceremony by sharing what the flag raising meant to her, an Irish-Catholic member of the LGBTQ community who grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

“When I represented Ireland in international field hockey, I never got to stand under the Irish tricolour, the national flag of Ireland, because the governing body of Northern Ireland hockey wanted the Irish team to stand under a politically neutral flag,” she said. “And when I came out as a member of the LGBTQ community in Ireland, there was no flag to celebrate my identification.”

In fact, she said the first Pride flag was raised on a government building in Northern Ireland only a few years ago, and that while there have been hostile responses to Pride flags in Ireland over the years, the post office recently produced two special edition rainbow stamps with all proceeds from sales of the stamps going to LGBT Ireland.

“So, flags have stories and we have memories of them,” Fusco said.

This year, the university raised the Progress Pride flag for the first time. The flag was designed in 2018 by Daniel Quasar, who added a five-colored chevron to the classic Rainbow Flag, which is widely recognized as the symbol of the 2SLGBTQ+ communities, to place a greater emphasis on inclusion and progression.

The flag includes black and brown stripes to represent marginalized 2SLGBTQ+ communities – the black stripe doubly representing community members lost to HIV/AIDS and those currently living with AIDS – along with the colours pink, light blue and white, which are used on the Transgender Pride flag.

A flag-raising event at Varsity Stadium was hosted by the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education in collaboration with the Sexual & Gender Diversity Office (photo by Seyran Mammadov)

Fusco said that recognizing Pride month also means recognizing that June 1st is the beginning of Indigenous History Month and emphasized that fighting for LGBTQ rights also means fighting for an end to all oppression.

“Our presence here at this flag raising is a dismantling of sorts, a disorientation and reorientation of our thinking – a provocation to look up at the progress flag and encounter the world differently,” she said.

Professor Gretchen Kerr, dean of KPE, spoke of the faculty’s strong history of leadership in the areas of equity and inclusion in sport, recreation and academics.

“In collaboration with SGDO, KPE has expanded training, programs and events to empower and include the 2SLGBTQ+ communities,” Kerr said. “These range from initiatives such as the Athlete Ally, a Varsity Blues program committed to ending homophobia and transphobia in sport, to the Sport & Rec diversity and equity team, a student-led group that organizes inclusive events throughout the year such as the trans-positive swim time at the Athletic Centre.”

Kerr also said the faculty has world-renowned researchers in the areas of equity and social justice who conduct research that informs its academic, sport and recreation programs.

“The act of raising the flag is another strong signal of our faculty’s and U of T’s continued support for the 2SLGBTQ+ communities,” she said. “Not only does this event signify the beginning of Pride Month, it also shows our dedication to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion at all levels – in research, education and our broad spectrum of Sport & Rec programs and student-driven initiatives.”

The Progress Pride flag is raised at U of T Mississauga (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

Professor Kelly Hannah-Moffat, U of T’s vice-president of people strategy, equity and culture, said that raising the Progress Pride flag to mark Pride is especially important within the context of renewed and ongoing efforts at the university to address racism and faith-based discrimination.

The Progress Pride flag is raised at U of T Scarborough.

Moffat reflected on the history and successes of the fight for equity, saying Pride is a time to recognize the invaluable contributions that 2SLGBTQ+ members of the U of T community have made – and continue to make – to research and teaching, campus life, services and operations, and across all disciplines.

She encouraged members of the U of T community to extend their celebration, advocacy and learning beyond Pride Month, noting that ceremonies such as this one serve to celebrate hard-fought progress and as a reminder that our work is never finished.

Last to speak was Raiya Thomure, who is graduating with a bachelor of kinesiology degree.

“It means so much to be able to be up here, taking up space as a queer member of the student body in KPE,” said Thomure, who identifies as a queer, non-binary, Muslim Arab. “As a queer Muslim, I am often tasked with explaining my connection to the faith or my embracing of queerness, but queer and trans* people should not be tasked with the sanitization or suppression of our identities for the comfort of others.

"The Progress Pride flag rejects this status quo.”

Thomure brought attention to Indigenous communities, saying that inclusion of two-spirit/queer Indigenous Peoples needs to be backed up by inclusion of Indigenous knowledge. They also spoke about the importance of not ignoring gender-based violence against trans* athletes.

Thomure did a self-directed research study in their third year at KPE. They investigated online social media abuse towards a trans woman power-lifter and interviewed five different trans* athletes for their fourth year project. Each had experienced transphobic violence in their current or previous places of sport.

They and four other students, athletes and alumni of KPE – Val Gerlings, D Bell, Matt Dans and Katie Pajor – were guests of honour at the event and were applauded for work that positively impacts 2SLGBTQ+ peoples’ access, participation and inclusion at the university and beyond.