Queering our Learnings: Intergenerational 2SLGBTQIA+ Conversations at Laurier
These interviews are part of a series of conversations running throughout Pride Month. Queering Our Learnings was brought to you as a partnership between The Office of Human Rights & Conflict Management's Consent is Golden Initiative, Centre for Student Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Queer Sphere, and The Rainbow Centre.
Follow their social media at:
@consentisgolden
@laurierbrantfordcsedi
@laurierwaterloocsedi
@lbqueersphere
@wlurainbow
In this interview, we sit down with Percy Lezard, an Assistant Professor in the Indigenous Studies program at Wilfrid Laurier University. "I have not seen a queer Indigenous or trans Indigenous instructor in my academic career. That was challenging because I didn't see myself reflected in front of the classrooms, and I did not even see myself reflected in the materials", shares Percy.
"Wai, iskwis (my name is) Percy Lezard. I am outma sqilxw, and my relations are the Lezard's in Sn'pinkton, the Kruger's from Arrow Lakes and the Baptiste's from Chopka. As part of my sqilxw cultural practice, I want to begin my introduction with an acknowledgment of my positionality and responsibilities, in an era across the Academic Industrial complex of race shifters and pretendians it’s important to identify "who I am, who are my people and who claims me."
My family and I are all full status and registered members under the Indian Act and under OUR nation's custom membership code, we/I are members of the Penticton Indian Band my people, the sqilxw, have lived on the territory known as the Okanagan Valley since the beginning of people on those lands. Our traditional territories stretch from Mica Creek, just north of modern-day Revelstoke, BC and east to Kootenay Lake, south to Washington state and west into the Nicola Valley.
I continue to live as an invited guest on the lands of the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples for the past twenty-five years and am responsible to upholding the Dish with One Spoon treaty in my nation-to-nation relations with the caretakers of these territories.
I am an Assistant Professor in the Indigenous Studies Program at Wilfrid Laurier University. I have been an academic for 15 years and helper for 37 years. I am the lead writer for the 2SLGBTQQIA+ Sub-Working Group MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ National Action Plan Final report."
These interviews are part of a series of conversations running throughout Pride Month. Queering Our Learnings was brought to you as a partnership between The Office of Human Rights & Conflict Management's Consent is Golden Initiative, Centre for Student Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Queer Sphere and The Rainbow Centre. Follow their social media at:
@consentisgolden
@laurierbrantfordcsedi
@laurierwaterloocsedi
@lbqueersphere
@wlurainbow
In this interview, we sit down with Michael Woodford. Michael is a gay, cisgender, white settler living and working on the Haldimand Tract within the territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee people. His research addresses the inclusion/exclusion, well-being, and resilience of 2SLGBTQ+ people and communities. Michael specializes in the study of 2SLGBTQ+ microaggressions and campus climate, and their effects on 2SLGBTQ+ students’ mental health and academic success. His research is interdisciplinary, is grounded in the principles of social justice, and is informed by an array of theories and frameworks including minority stress, socio-ecological theory, intersectionality, positive psychology, and empowerment. He began his academic career at the University of Michigan where he started his research on 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion/exclusion. In 2013 he co-led the US-based National Study of LGBTQ Student Success. Since joining Laurier in 2014, he and his colleagues and partners have implemented several campus climate studies, including Querying Higher Education in Canada and Thriving On Campus. Recently, he and his team led the Thriving On Campus Virtual Conference Series, which engaged over 250 campus leaders and service providers from throughout Ontario to mobilize research about promoting diverse 2SLGBTQ+ students’ inclusion, well-being, and academic development and to support campuses to develop responsive policies and programs. Prior to entering academia, Michael worked as a front-line social worker, administrator, and consultant in the non-profit, public and private sectors.
Michael shares the ways that his research seeks to support queer and trans students: "Thinking about my own privilege as a faculty member and about how I can use research as a tool to bring to light the invisible -- to make known what [queer and trans] students are experiencing and make it known in a broader way. Using research as a tool for change."
These interviews are part of a series of conversations running throughout Pride Month. Queering Our Learnings was brought to you as a partnership between The Office of Human Rights & Conflict Management's Consent is Golden Initiative, Centre for Student Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Queer Sphere and The Rainbow Centre. Follow their social media at:
@consentisgolden
@laurierbrantfordcsedi
@laurierwaterloocsedi
@lbqueersphere
@wlurainbow
In this interview, we sit down with Maryam Khan, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Social Work at Laurier. Prof. Khan's research examines the lives and identities of queer, non-binary, and trans (QNT) Muslims locally and globally from critical intersectional and feminist perspectives. Particularly her work explores the nexus of sexual and gender diversity, Muslim and an Islamic identity from Islamic Liberatory and Progressive lens that seek to uplift the lived experiences and resistance strategies of QNT Muslims. Professor Khan's areas of expertise include the exploration and critical analysis of South Asian feminisms in Canada, community-based research, community development and clinical counselling. Contact: mkhan@wlu.ca
"It's very important for us to share our knowledges, share our stories, share our joys, triumphs, and pain. This is very important because it's how people will learn to grow and connect across difference and sameness," Maryam shares, expressing the importance of building community and connection.
These interviews are part of a series of conversations running throughout Pride Month. Queering Our Learnings was brought to you as a partnership between
The Office of Human Rights & Conflict Management's Consent is Golden Initiative, Centre for Student Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Queer Sphere and The Rainbow Centre. Follow their social media at:
@consentisgolden
@laurierbrantfordcsedi
@laurierwaterloocsedi
@lbqueersphere
@wlurainbow