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table of Contents
Table of Contents 3
Editorial •
Against Violence in Israel and Gaza
4 News • Quebec’s Tuition Increases •
6
Culture • • •
Nalo Hopkinson Queer Horror Recommendations Farewell My Concubine Turns 30
India–Canada Tensions
Commentary • •
8
Lesbian Representation in the Media Barriers to Transition at McGill
11 Compendium! • •
Queer Excellence Crossword Queer Horrorscopes
EDITORIAL
Volume 113 Issue 8
October 30, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
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editorial board
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Against Violence in Israel and Gaza
The McGill Daily is located on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory. coordinating editor
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Vacant
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n October 7, Hamas, designated a terrorist entity by Canada, launched several thousand rockets and a series of ground raids into Israel. This attack killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and Hamas took over 200 hostages. Retaliation was swift from the Israeli government – it cut off electricity to Gaza that night and cut the water supply three days later, endangering Gaza’s population of 2.2 million. Limited humanitarian aid has since been permitted to cross into Gaza, but it is hardly enough to sustain the population’s basic needs. At the time of writing on October 26, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry and numerous human rights organizations, at least 6,747 Palestinians have been killed. This number will only increase as Israel has recently intensified the bombardment of Gaza and may be planning a ground assault. Montrealers are demonstrating almost daily in response to the Hamas attack and Israel’s ensuing bombardment and blockade of Gaza. On October 10, dozens gathered at the Israeli consulate in support of Israeli victims and the Jewish community, and around 200 people attended Hillel Montreal’s candle-lighting service. The Christian Coalition for Israel arranged a demonstration on October 15 that attracted a crowd of about 50 to dance and wave Israeli flags. Across the city, there have also been demonstrations in support of Palestine. A protest organized only hours after the bombing of the al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza on October 17 saw over 1,500 demonstrators marching down SainteCatherine. Many different groups have expressed solidarity with Gaza. The Palestinian Youth Movement has written a Palestine liberation resource list, and also organized and participated in several protests. Independent Jewish Voices is also a key organizer in some of these demonstrations, notably blocking the doors to Premier François Legault’s Montreal office on October 20 to demand an end to Canada and Quebec’s support for the Israeli occupation. Meanwhile, Bar Milton-Parc held a night of Palestinian film on October 23 to raise funds for Gaza. The Concordia Student Union released a statement on October 18 that decried Israel’s bombardment of civilian infrastructure and urged the Canadian government to stop sending financial aid to Israel. Elected officials are generally opposed to pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Legault denounced the rallies and said that Quebec sides with Israel. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has continuously voiced his solidarity with Israel while calling for “humanitarian pauses” to deliver aid to Gaza. Pro-Palestine demonstrations are being banned across Europe. State and city governments in Germany banned public gatherings with suspected pro-Palestinian sympathies, and the country’s deputy interior minister said there is “zero tolerance for antisemitism and antiIsrael incitement.” The interior minister in France likewise instructed regional leaders to prohibit pro-Palestine protests. Hungary and Austria have also banned proPalestine protests since October 7. Some bans go further than demonstrations: in Paris, there is a ban on the “presence and circulation of people that present
themselves as pro-Palestinian.” Those who participate in demonstrations of solidarity with Palestine fear losing their jobs and immigration status. One reason given for the ban on these protests – or existing in public while “presenting as pro-Palestinian” – is to quell a surge in antisemitic hate crimes. Nevertheless, Jewish pro-Palestinian activists, such as Jewish Berliners Against Middle Eastern Violence, have continued to show their support despite also being affected by these bans. The conflation between Israeli nationalism and Jewish identity unjustly excludes the significant number of Jews who are against Israel’s occupation of Palestine. The banning of pro-Palestinian protests in other countries sets a dangerous precedent: it is a systemic suppression of marginalized voices. The right to protest is fundamental to democratic society. The President of Amnesty International France says “[u]nder international law, a ban on demonstrations can only be considered a last resort. Authorities should always seek to protect and facilitate the rights of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.” The rhetoric that Israel has a “right to self-defense” has been used to justify the Israeli military’s continued assault on the civilian population of Gaza. The Daily believes that all governments should be calling for a ceasefire, that humanitarian aid should be allowed into Gaza, and that Canada must stop funding the Israeli military. While the UN Security Council has vetoed yet another ceasefire resolution, over 485,000 people have signed onto the #CeasefireNOW petition, making a public call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel. Yet, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce between Israel and Hamas. The resolution was drafted by 22 Arab countries. Israel, the US, and 11 other countries voted no, while Canada abstained. As the Canadian government has not yet called for a ceasefire, we encourage you to write to government officials to demand that they do so. If you are protesting, take precautions such as wearing a mask and plain, common clothing to avoid being identified by the police. Protesting isn’t the only way to support Palestine. Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) suggests reporting online hate, sending links to poor media coverage, and sending money to the Gaza Emergency Appeal. It’s important to listen to Palestinian voices during a time of heightened censorship and to do your best to avoid misinformation. Follow Montreal for Palestine, the Palestinian Struggle Mission, Independent Jewish Voices, and the Palestine Youth Movement on social media for local updates. To all our Muslim, Palestinian, Jewish, and Israeli readers who are struggling right now, community events are being held by the Muslim Students Association, Palestinian Youth Movement Montreal, and Hillel McGill to help bring people together during these difficult times.
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October 30, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
news
Quebec’s Unexpected Tuition Hike Triggers Outcry
Tuition increase for out-of-province students sparks protest and backlash Raphaëlle Muller-Feuga News Contributor
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n October 13, the Quebec government announced new measures around higher education fees for incoming out-of-province and international students studying in Quebec’s English-language universities. Part of an attempt to strengthen the province’s network of francophone universities, the change will take effect starting in fall 2024. Out-of-province students will see their tuition increase from an average of $8,992 to around $17,000 per year, with a greater portion of those fees going to the provincial government. As a result, many prospective students are now reconsidering their choice to attend an Englishlanguage university in Quebec. Many denounce what they see as a penalty toward Englishspeaking students and out-ofprovince French speakers alike. According to preliminary data from Statistics Canada, projected new undergraduate tuition rates in the neighbourhood of $17,000 will be among the highest in the country for domestic students, and the highest overall excluding specialized programs.
“[A] hard blow to the international reputation of Quebec’s metropolis” - Valérie Plante
To “protect French”? According to the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), the plan has two main objectives. First, to stop subsidizing Canadian students who study in anglophone universities and then leave Quebec after graduating; and second, to generate further revenue to better support French-language universities. Despite admitting that the tuition hike would lead to a drop in enrolment in Quebec’s Englishspeaking universities, Premier Francois Legault stated that these measures are not directed against anglophones but are instead aimed to “protect French.”
Widespread and immediate backlash The plan was immediately criticized by a range of federal, municipal, and local voices that denounced its destructive impact and the lack of consultation conducted prior to the decision. McGill’s Principal and ViceChancellor, Deep Saini, affirmed the administration’s determination to fight this plan and deplored its negative effects on the university and on Quebec society: “We are stronger when our doors are open.” Multiple student groups have also criticized the “improvised and unreasonable” plan on the grounds that it lacks transparency. In addition, concerns emerged from the Montreal business community and from le Conseil du patronat around the economic consequences of such measures and their potential to exacerbate the province’s labour shortage. Mayor Valérie Plante described the plan as a “hard blow to the international reputation of Quebec’s metropolis” and instead encouraged the protection of French language through alternate means, namely positive and proactive measures like lowering tuition fees at francophone universities. Daniel Béland, Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, explained that this decision to raise tuition rested entirely under Quebec’s provincial jurisdiction. He added that Ottawa’s ability to interfere would be very limited due to the threat of federal interference, and it therefore “cannot help [those opposing the bill] directly.” McGill: impact and student response McGill’s diverse student community will certainly be affected, seeing as 20 per cent of its 39,500 students come from other Canadian provinces and 30 per cent are international students. According to Professor Béland, the sudden and unprecedented tuition increase will “act as a deterrent for attracting outof-province students.” Most crucially, McGill risks becoming unattractive for students from less privileged backgrounds, which students like Angelique Gouws have raised concerns about: “As a domestic student that pays for their own tuition, I wouldn’t have come and it’s going to impact McGill in terms of socioeconomic status.”
Both the Concordia Student Union and the Students’ Society of McGill University have released statements strongly condemning the “undemocratic and discriminatory” tuition hike, arguing that it will “price out the poorest out-of-province students, saddle students with further debts, and require students to work even more during their studies to afford their education,” turning “postsecondary education into a luxury item.” SSMU hosted a Town Hall on Wednesday October 25 to hear directly from students and with the aim of organizing a collective response to the policy. Individual students are also taking further action – the Blue Fall Protest, a student-led march through Montreal organized jointly by members of both McGill and Concordia communities, will take place on October 30 protesting the new tuition plan. McGill student Alex O’Neill organized this protest to fight the plan that will “homogenize Quebec’s public universities on linguistic, class, and academic levels.” Josh Kertesz, a student at McGill, said he felt unappreciated: “It makes you feel unwelcome even though you contribute to Quebec while you’re here.” He added that “there’s so much more that [Quebec] can do” that would not involve making education increasingly inaccessible for students who don’t speak French.
Eric Duivenvoorden | Visuals Editor
they are facing but they could also double down on this because I heard that they are considering other measures that could again penalize anglophone universities in Quebec.” The precise implementation of the plan and the extent of its repercussions can A political move Voices arose, including only remain to be seen. from Liberal Party members, condemning the tuition plan as political rhetoric and as a way for the CAQ to regain popularity after its recent loss to the Parti Québecois (PQ) in a by-election in Jean-Talon. Professor Béland suspects that the CAQ was acting with the strategy of resuscitating its popularity from a recent decline in the polls: “It’s to appeal to their francophone base, especially people outside of Montréal that are tempted to vote for the PQ because it is really aggressive about the protection of French”. He added that “there was a lot of discourse in francophone news media about the perceived decline of French language in Quebec, the CAQ wants to show that they care, but they are doing it through antagonistic and detrimental measures to anglophone institutions and the economy.” Professor Béland admits that there continues to be “a lot of uncertainty” as to the potential long-term effects of this decision. He argued “the government might dilute this announcement in response to the backlash that Gouws also stated that “it would be beneficial to mandate French classes for English universities in Montreal”, highlighting students’ willingness to learn French if given the tools to do so.
Alex O’Neill organized this protest to fight the plan that will “homogenize Quebec’s public universities on linguistic, class, and academic levels.”
news
October 30, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Rising Tensions Between India and Canada
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Recent rift between India and Canada causes repercussions on multiple levels
Lisa Matmati News Contributor
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anada-India relations have recently become a salient topic in Canadian diplomacy after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India’s government of potentially being involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar during a speech in the House of Commons. Indeed, the Canadian government believes that agents of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government are behind the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian and Indian citizen. This murder took place on June 18 in Surrey, British Columbia. Nijjar was known to be involved with the Khalistan movement as a Canadian Sikh separatist leader. This movement calls for an independent Sikh state, as Indian Sikhs constitute the fourth largest religious group in the country. Nijjar’s involvement with the Khalistan movement is in fact a significant aspect to the tensions that have risen between Canada and India. In fact, since Trudeau’s accusations, Indian media sources have presented Canada as a country that offers refuge to Khalistani terrorists Trudeau’s accusations, and the Indian government’s reaction
Genevieve Quinn | Visuals Editor good relationship with” according diaspora, “including tensions to Daniel Béland, Director of the between Indians and Sikh people.” Daniel Béland explains that McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and Professor in the Canada has not received a lot of public support from its allies (such as the UK)- except for the US which has asserted support for Canada during these tensionswhich might display a shift in Canada’s positioning in the world as a “middle-sized power.” However, he claims it is important to remember that “Canadian voters aren’t as interested in foreign diplomacy.” Béland discusses Canada’s tendency Department of Political Science. to focus on local issues rather When talking to the Daily, Béland than focusing on the country’s emphasized the importance of foreign correspondences. He salvaging “our relationship with says that foreign policy is “not India; in part because we have so necessarily a priority” in Canada, many Canadians of Indian descent, but that these tensions show along with foreign students and that Canadian foreign policy is temporary workers from India.” already shifting. There is “more “Four per cent of Canadians are push back on alleged foreign of Indian background” and “half interference,” displayed through of that are from Sikh background” Trudeau’s decision to “publicly says Béland. As discussed with take a strong stance” on this Professor Béland, this issue issue, describes Béland. Although these tensions might exceeds the realm of international relations as it “has ramifications come off as pivotal for Canada that are important domestically” and Canadian foreign policy, for instance within the Indian the Trudeau government has
Trudeau’s accusations, and the Indian government’s reaction to them, has caused negative repercussions for Canada, whether it is diplomatically, economically, or socially. to them, has caused negative repercussions for Canada, whether it is diplomatically, economically, or socially. A key result of these tensions, for instance, has been the Indian demands of the repatriation of 41 Canadian diplomats, which was recently enacted on October 19. Along with that, India has warned its citizens to be cautious when traveling to Canada, and has stopped processing visitor visas for Canada. This can indicate a diplomatic setback for Canada, for whom India constitutes a “country that we want to have a
claimed that they are not looking to escalate tensions with India. “You need two partners to dance,” says Béland. Indeed, the future outcomes of these tensions will not only depend on the Canadian government, but also the Modi government’s response. From India’s perspective, the Indian government has denied any involvement in the murder of Nijjar and has labeled these accusations as “absurd and politically motivated.” The Indian government views Canada as accepting of the Khalistan movement, which they consider to be a terrorist movement and a national security threat. The Indian government further reiterated their belief that Canada is “not doing enough to stem anti-India activism.” The Indian Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, has exclaimed that Indian diplomats positioned in Canada feel unsafe when going to embassies or consulates due to the “climate of fear” that has arisen. However, Jaishankar emphasized that India remains open to exploring any relevant or specific information
that Canada might advance. Nonetheless, India expresses concerns of “continuous interference” in their internal affairs by Canadian agents, which threatens their “sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The future of the CanadianIndian diplomatic and political relationship is hard to predict. It will depend on the upcoming actions of both countries and how these tensions evolve; whether the countries are willing to cooperate, or, contrastingly, if they continue to exacerbate the friction.
The Trudeau government has claimed that they are not looking to escalate tensions with India.
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October 30, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Commentary
From Bad Porn to Cottagecore Representations of lesbian sexuality over the years
Arismita Ghosh Commentary Contributor
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esbians seem to be everywhere in our contemporary media: in teen movies, in new TV shows, and even in the musical artists we listen to. Post Barbie-summer, it feels like we are living in a modern-day renaissance where women finally get to tell the stories they want to tell – but it hasn’t been an easy trek to this point, and we definitely haven’t reached the summit yet. Lesbian representation especially has been subject to the widest range in depictions since lesbians first started gaining attention in mainstream pop culture. The hypersexualised lesbian is a familiar trope to anyone who grew up watching early 2000s Western media: whether it was straight pop stars kissing for the bit or straight actresses playing straight characters also kissing for the bit, all of these interactions were pointedly fabricated for an audience. This use of lesbianism as a gimmick to get more viewers is entrenched in a long history of how women’s bodies are objectified to benefit male audiences. Female actresses have historically been degraded to just the sex appeal they offer in front of the camera, all the way from Marilyn Monroe to Megan Fox. Male directors are often to blame for many gratuitous sex scenes that posit women as objects of desire, simply to service the male viewer without driving the plot further in any way. So if straight women already lack agency in mainstream media, it is even harder for lesbians. Lesbian relationships are one of the few places where men have no role to play, which threatens the patriarchal ideology that governs most popular media. As a consequence, the lack of men onscreen manifests itself through the male gaze behind the scenes, reducing lesbians to no more than passive sexual objects and trying to curb their threat. Take the example of Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan (2010): the movie is almost universally praised for its uncensored depiction of the twisted relationship between Nina (Natalie Portman) and Lily (Mila Kunis), centring on Nina’s eventual descent into madness. Though it is rarely described as a defining “lesbian movie,” it is a movie that hinges on the homoeroticism between the main characters as a driving narrative point. Nina and Lily’s relationship embodies the trope of doppelganger lesbians: when lesbian lovers are visually represented as doubles of each other, often in the interest of responding to male fantasies. Not only is the “lesbian double” a common genre in porn, it is also a common plot device used to vilify lesbians or paint them as predatory. Think back to the murderous lesbians in
Basic Instinct (1992), or lesbian obsession as portrayed in the more recent The Roommate (2011). These representations tend to harm real-life perceptions of lesbians by portraying them as inherently aggressive or psychotic. While Black Swan is less explicit in its villainization of lesbians, Nina fits almost perfectly into this trope of the “psychotic lesbian”: her sex scene with Lily represents a turning point in her transformation into the titular Black Swan, succumbing to her dark side and ignoring all inhibitions. It conflates lesbian desire with a death drive, seemingly concluding that Nina’s desire to have sex with Lily is a manifestation of her self-destructive tendencies. Not to mention the sensationalism of the scene itself: two straight actresses having sex onscreen, as choreographed by a male director, lends itself to the ageold tradition of exploiting lesbian sexuality for viewer entertainment. We know that sex sells – and lesbian sex even more so. Female homoeroticism has been used to sell countless products, from Miller Light beer, to Nikon cameras, and even to Canada Oil Sands. Promotional material for TV shows isn’t immune, either: take a look at Leighton Meester and Blake Lively in this Rolling Stone photoshoot for Gossip Girl. These portrayals turn lesbianism into a commodity in the same way that movies and TV shows often rely on lesbianism as an eye-catching novelty to attract their audience’s attention. All of these examples point to a long history of lesbians onscreen being reduced to nothing but objects of desire, completely stripped of their sexual agency and unable to exist as well-rounded characters. The only “solution” that seemed to be a possible response to these early hypersexualised lesbians was completely desexualised representation in the years to follow. The past few years have seen a rise in the popularity of “cottagecore” lesbian culture: by celebrating simple rural living, women and lesbians are able to construct their perfect utopia without the structural sexism or homophobia of modern city life. At its core, there is nothing wrong with idealizing countryside living – but the concept of cottagecore is problematized by its deeply Eurocentric understanding of rural life. It is a fantasy that largely only Western white women can dream of by romanticizing the American agricultural dream and inadvertently celebrating “aesthetics” drawn from settler-colonialism. Even in the context of lesbian sexuality, the cottagecore aesthetic comes with its downsides when searching for realistic lesbian representation: instead of being reduced to sexual
Eric Duivenvoorden | Visuals Editor objects, lesbians are now reduced to symbols of hegemonic femininity whose only option is to live in a world of imagined fantasy without any active reclamation of sexuality. This phenomenon can be observed through the rise of lesbian period pieces that take a large leap away from early 2000s depictions to instead focus on the tension between women that arises from a lack of proximity or sexual contact. Recent movies like Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) and Vita and Virginia (2018) were well-received by lesbian audiences since they filled a historical gap in queer representation after decades of erasure. While this form of censored lesbian sexuality is definitely an improvement from explicit lesbian sex scenes made for the male gaze, it is still aimed at making lesbian representations more palatable for straight audiences. At the same time, these period pieces alienate a large majority of lesbian viewers by being set against pastoral backdrops that were historically occupied by a
specific kind of woman: white, upperclass, and femme-presenting. Not to mention that the actresses behind the scenes remain as straight as ever. It seems to suggest that lesbian representation is only acceptable in the mainstream when it is not stepping on anyone else’s toes. This idea of lesbians as “digestible” queer representation has also led to them becoming more popular in recent kids’ cartoons. Since The Legend of Korra ended with its main female protagonists starting a romantic relationship, shows like The Owl House and She-Ra have followed in its footsteps with their female main characters being in explicitly queer relationships. Once again, there is nothing inherently wrong with this – in fact, lesbians being normalized in children’s media is definitely a landmark moment in the history of queer representation. As an inadvertent consequence, though, the association of lesbians with children’s media has led to the infantilization of said lesbians in pop culture. There is
All these examples point to a long history of lesbians onscreen being reduced to nothing but objects of desire, completely stripped of their sexual agency and unable to exist as well-rounded characters.
a lack of adult lesbian representation that doesn’t fall under the aforementioned period piece genre, which soon becomes frustrating since one ends up having to resort to cartoons for lesbian representation even as an adult. Even in popular teen shows like Never Have I Ever, where all of the other teen characters are sexually active or at least expressing interest in sex, the token lesbian character Fabiola (Lee Rodriguez) is never shown in any remotely sexual context. Her romantic relationships also receive the least amount of screentime and attention – which just goes to show how deep this new desexualised misrepresentation of lesbians goes. As with all tropes and traditions, the tide will eventually turn against the status quo, whether for better or for worse. The recent success of Bottoms (2023) suggests a wider success for lesbian representation universally – it goes to show that people are interested in seeing lesbians onscreen just as they are, without catering to non-lesbian audiences. We might still have a long way to go to escape all the stereotypes still associated with lesbians in modern media, but more queer women are stepping up to write the stories they want to share with the world than ever before. After all of the bad porn and cottagecore aesthetics of the past few decades, lesbian voices are finally being heard as they should be — uncensored.
October 30, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
COMMENTARY
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Anger as a Tool for Trans Resistance Transphobia can exist in subtle forms, but let’s call it by its name
Abe Berglas Copy Editor
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hen I complained to a McGill staff member about the prevalence of deadnaming and misgendering from online systems, they replied that this wasn’t malicious, and this knowledge could help me reframe the issue. At a surface level, deadnaming is an inconvenience, but the reveal of a previous name – and sometimes, the reveal of being trans – is often deeply personal. As of now, our only recourse is to memorize which displays are safe and to avoid using the uPrint system, logging into Minerva, opening the Quizzes tab on myCourses, or booking accommodations through the Student Accessibility & Achievement portal. This mental effort is not solved by reminding ourselves, “I’m sure the IT department doesn’t hate me.” The personal feelings of IT staff are irrelevant to the issue at hand. These problems are a known issue, and an active effort is being put into resolving it. However, the barriers to transness at McGill are far-reaching. Students with a preferred name were originally unable to vote in the by-election for VP Finance, a flaw only discovered by the voters themselves. Transitioning patients at the Wellness Hub frequently have to repeat blood tests because a measurement of hormone levels that don’t match assigned sex was left out.
My main gripe is that instead of proposing solutions, most of the time when I mention an issue, attention is redirected to diluting my (trans) anger. Improving the gender-identity equity practices at McGill becomes the responsibility of trans people, and are not adopted as projects unless there are complaints; and yet, the complaints that drive progress are frequently rebuked. I’ve heard vague complaints about the stereotypical entitled, new-generation transgender that expects absurd accommodations and is unappreciative of how good they have it. As the administrative coordinator of Queer McGill, most of my interactions with trans people are the opposite. I’ve seen many people disclose malicious deadnaming and misgendering before adding the caveat, “but it’s harder for old people to get right.” Especially when coming from high schools that were rampant with homophobic jokes and nonexistent infrastructure for trans students, the expectations of most trans McGillians are on the floor. They don’t need to be. The Charter of Student Rights at McGill prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex or gender. There is no reason to accept misgendering from people in positions of power, limited access to bathrooms, and logistical nightmares when using a preferred name. The expectations of trans students can seem especially privileged considering the
Abe Berglas | Copy Editor
violent history of transness in prior decades. I’ve met few trans people of the older generation. One of the oldest trans people I know, I met at the Ottawa Trans Library. She told us that she had been attacked and beaten on that street a few decades earlier. It makes me feel conflicted, agonizing over discrimination much less violent than assault. But the idea that life for queer people is easy now is a myth. Statistics Canada recorded 155 police-reported hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation in 2014, and 491 in 2022. These numbers come with caveats, the most obvious being that the crimes reported by police are not necessarily reflective of the crimes that happen. Regardless, the threat of physical violence is not over. Although hatecrimes and microaggressions are worlds apart in terms of severity, they belong to the same system of discrimination. I find it infuriating that I am constantly reminded of the undoubted “good intentions” of perpetrators of discrimination when 49 percent of those surveyed by spark*insights say that teachers should be forced to tell parents if a student under 16 wants to change their name or pronouns in school. Good intentions cannot be presumed. On September 19, SSMU released a pretty typical statement in support of the September 20 counter-protest. They briefly summarized the protest and counter-protest, said “[t]he SSMU strongly supports the work of queer and trans activists,” and encouraged people to show up at Roddick Gates. At the next Legislative Council session, two of the Science Undergraduate Society (SUS) representatives complained about the wording of the statement and said that not enough consultation had gone into it. They further elaborated at a SUS Council meeting that the statement might be “biased” and that “no external bodies were consulted.” Organizations like SSMU regularly adopt statements, this one being a natural application of its Trans Advocacy Plan. And considering that several queer groups on campus were consulted in the creation of the statement, it’s unclear who else they expected
Abe Berglas | Copy Editor SSMU to hear from, save the 1 Million March organizers. The two SUS representatives said that they fully agreed with the content of the SSMU statement. I imagine they don’t see themselves as transphobic, and I would be surprised if they harboured conscious intolerance. On the other hand, I am not better off forgiving. Their actions still give permission to the more blatanly transphobic to further hatred. It still normalizes doubt that a pro-trans statement is appropriate. It still makes my life, and the life of other trans students, more difficult. Transphobia is pervasive, feeding off a fear of “wokeness,” and channelling discomfort with gender non-conformity into conservative rhetoric. I live in anticipation of backlash that I am not allowed to complain about since the perpetrators selfidentify as allies. Even my bestfaith interpretation is that the SUS representatives thought the counterprotest was a convenient issue to practice politics on – that trans students are an easy target. It is imperative to brand ourselves as a difficult and strong target – as a demographic that will not easily be oppressed. Queer McGill is often invited to table at McGill events that cater to incoming students, and while this image that McGill projects of an accepting culture is not backed by financial support or any real influence, I wonder if soon McGill won’t want queer
groups represented at all in its public relations because of the increasing polarization of our existence. When I point out a barrier to transition at McGill and am redirected to reflect on the intentions of those behind it, the focus is shifted from solving the issue to solving the problem of my anger. It’s a strategy designed to neutralize my motivation to push for change. I’m expected to spend much more time thinking about how these people feel than they would ever think of me. We need to be angry as transphobic talking points enter the mainstream, because our reactions will determine whether individuals with veiled transphobia feel entitled to discriminate. For the Legislative Council to treat the support of transness as something controversial undoes years of attempted acceptance by trans student activists. It must be unequivocally denounced, regardless of the internal thoughts of the perpetrators. My proposal to the trans community is that we refuse to water down our anger. Anger is a powerful tool; it helps me continue to bother McGill staff until solving the issue causes less trouble for them than my hounding. Anger validates my right to exist as a trans student at McGill. Anger motivates me to advocate for a university where the barriers to transition don’t exist, rather than a world where people have good intentions.
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October 30, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Speculative Worlds
culture
How queer writers of colour continue to expand the speculative fiction genre
Elaine Yang Features Editor
T
his year’s Queer History Month celebrations at McGill opened on October 5 with a highlyanticipated presentation by author Nalo Hopkinson, acclaimed JamaicanCanadian writer of speculative fiction and current professor of creative writing at the University of British Columbia. Hosted by the McGill Department of English, Creating Other Worlds was received with acclaim in the Elizabeth Wirth Music Building’s Tanna Schulich Recital Hall by students, faculty, and members of the McGill community. Hopkinson’s presentation addressed the fundamental need for marginalized creative voices to embrace alternative realities in their art and expression, as well as queer representation in academic and literary spaces. Hopkinson has been a long-time author of speculative and science fiction, writing steadily since the 1980s. Her first few novels centred on nuanced Black and queer characters, in contrast to the white male saviour protagonists which then dominated the emerging sci-fi scene. Her novel Brown Girl in the Ring (1998) revolutionized the genre with its captivating construction, oriented around Black female heroine TiJeanne and featuring powerful Obeah – African seer – characters. Hopkinson built a considerable body of work over the decades, attracting publishers and critics with her bold literary voice and
unapologetic authenticity. In 2021, she became the youngest person to receive the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America. Earlier in 2019, she was entrusted with the task of writing a comic for DC’s Sandman series — based on Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel series of the same name — by none other than Gaiman himself. “I wanted Nalo to do it”, said Gaiman to Entertainment Weekly, “because there isn’t anybody better.” Hopkinson carved a characterful presence on the Tanna Schulich stage with her sparkling blouse and wire-frame glasses. She began with a simple request for the audience: to listen to a simple line of prose and pay attention to the physiological responses it produced. This approach
to diction brings narratives to life by applying the sensations evoked by her words straight “to the nerve endings.” Readers are meant to be able to experience them with the same immersion as they would the real world. To Hopkinson, an empathetic experience of any narrative must also be possible as a “bodily” sensation. A single word, for her, can change the energy of an entire phrase. She examined the immediate effect evoked by the sentence “the horse cantered down the street” compared to if it had “walked”; then “cantered”, compared to “galloped”, brought yet another layer of vivid feeling to the description. Early critics of Hopkinson’s work were eager to dismiss her surreal inspirations as “escapism.” Along with
Hopkinson built a considerable body of work over the decades, attracting publishers and critics with her bold literary voice and unapologetic authenticity. In 2021, she became the youngest person to receive the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America.
Eric Duivenvoorden | Visuals Editor other writers from queer and ethnically diverse backgrounds at the end of the last century, Hopkinson’s fiction ran into a literary community which saw her work as inherently superficial. The label of “escapist” literature, however, did little to diminish the value of her writing to those who connected with her stories. Certain people understood
later on. The genre’s allure of bending the rules of our universe and creating “experimental worlds” appealed to her with its limitless possibilities. She saw the opportunity to write what she hoped would be “fiction that had it all.” A recent upwelling of support for speculative and genre fiction in
She saw the opportunity to write what she hoped would be “fiction that had it all.” her speculative fiction as a channel of relief from an inflexible world that many would “want to escape.” One of the enduring social factors in Hopkinson’s writing is her deep commitment to understanding the historical wounds carved by colonialism on the Canadian West Coast, affecting First Nations, South American and African people alike. Drawing from her Jamaican background and experiences, she persistently connects threads from the present to the looming past, exploring parallels through the worlds she writes into being. For her, storytelling is instrumental to preserving cultural vitality – as long as its stories are being circulated, a culture will maintain its “refusal to disappear.” Having cultivated an interest in sci-fi before her academic career, it was no wonder that Hopkinson found herself drawn to speculative fiction
academic literary circles, due to the undeniable influence of authors like Octavia Butler, Samuel Delaney, and now Nalo Hopkinson, has led to an uptick in the number of university courses and resources dedicated to these genres. In her speculative fiction classes at UBC, Hopkinson has found that her students are also showing an increasing propensity toward incorporating queer themes and characters in their writing. She takes heart in their interpretations of representation that promise to be true to life for queer people in the real world, and makes the heartening prediction that the emerging generation of speculative fiction writers will finally have what it takes to “completely change publishing” in the genre.
Culture
October 30, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
9
Five Thrilling LGBTQ+ Horror Films Scary good Halloween movies to round out Queer History Month
Isabella Roberti Culture Staff Writer
But even if you watch at home, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is truly a one-of-a-kind filmic obody does Halloween experience for queer audiences quite like the queer and Halloween lovers in general. community. After all, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark costumes, campiness, and a (1988) perverse love of horror are tenets Although not an explicitly of queer culture at every time of the year. However, despite queer film in its content, few films queer folks’ adoration of all have become quite as endlessly among LGBTQ+ things spooky, they are frequently referenced misrepresented in horror movies. moviegoers as Elvira. Based on Queer people have always been the character from the TV series pioneers when it comes to Elvira’s Movie Macabre, it follows subversive media unafraid of Cassandra Peterson as Elvira abjection; yet the horror genre who goes to a small, puritanical does not always do them justice, town in Massachusetts to collect usually killing them off after an inheritance, but immediately establishing their gayness. That sticks out like a sore thumb. being said, queer horror films Her massive hair, slinky dress, have always existed and continue gravity-defying cleavage, and bold to gain visibility and recognition. sexuality are all foreign to her Here are five LGBTQ+ halloween new community. This reaction films – spanning almost 50 years doesn’t damper her spirit; – that include queer storylines, instead, she quickly transforms characters, and aesthetics, or have her surroundings. Few characters have such campy later been integrated into queer culture. These films prove that wardrobes and sexual openness as not only do queer people exist in Elvira, making her an icon to queer viewers despite not being a queer horror, but they do it the best. character. Cassandra Peterson, however, is queer herself and is The Rocky Horror Picture in a long-term relationship with a Show (1975) It feels wrong to start this list woman. The film’s hilarious, dirty with anything other than Rocky dialogue also makes it very fun Horror. The movie-musical follows to quote, and is often featured in prudish couple Brad and Janet, queer media like RuPaul’s Drag who stumble into the mansion of Race. Peterson herself even went mad scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter. on the show as Elvira to guest From there, things get incredibly judge in 2012 and 2019. So, even freaky in every sense. Perhaps one if the film alone isn’t explicitly of the most essential queer films “queer,” it perfectly represents the of all time, it continues to be at sexuality, campiness, and scariness the centre of LGBTQ+ cultural celebrated by the queer world. discourse. Its fluid, sexy, and Jennifer’s Body (2009) liberated depiction of gender and Potentially my personal sexuality was far ahead of its time, and is still a common talking point in favourite movie of all time and the origin story for many bisexual discussions of queer visual culture. Rocky Horror is the epitome of women, Jennifer’s Body has camp with its absurd and colourful recently experienced a renaissance sets, over-the-top makeup and and risen to cult classic status. costumes, and legendary musical It is the story of Anita “Needy” numbers. It blurs the boundaries Lesnicki and her best friend between scary and beautiful, Jennifer who, after a sacrifice especially through the character of gone wrong, becomes a boy-eating Frank N. Furter (played by a corset- demon. Themes of compulsory clad Tim Curry). But what makes heterosexuality, the ambiguity it so special are the theatrical of female sexuality, and violence screenings. Independent cinemas against women underscore a usually screen the film around riveting and bloody teen flick that, Halloween, and viewers dress had it not been marketed to young up, have a “V” for virgin written horny boys, should have been an on them if they’ve never seen the instant classic upon its release. Written by Diablo Cody (Juno) film, and interject the dialogue with “slut” and “asshole” when and directed by Karyn Kusama, the appropriate. Montreal’s Cinéma all-female directorial team clearly Imperial held a themed Halloween understands the complicated ball for the film just last week. dynamics and latent queer desire
N
Viola Ruzzier | Illustrations Contributor queen. Similar mirages occur with Lily; after an intense love scene between the two, Nina wakes the next day to find that it was another hallucination. Like Jennifer, Nina’s queerness is subliminal, and can only be seen through the horror of what is likely a schizophrenic episode. With Tchaikovsky’s musical masterpiece underscoring Natalie Portman’s Oscar-winning performance as Nina, Black Swan is a thrilling, terrifying, and Black Swan (2010) Unlike the campier selections captivating account of queer and here, Black Swan is a haunting perfectionist desire. psychological thriller directed by Bodies Bodies Bodies (2021) Darren Aronofsky at his finest. The most recent entry on When ballerina Nina is selected to play both the black and white this list, Bodies Bodies Bodies swan in Swan Lake, she becomes is a satiric horror-comedy that so hellbent on perfection that her ridicules the oblivion of privileged body and mind begin falling apart. young people through the use She becomes paranoid about of violence, murder, and chaos. her rival Lily, and the tension When a group of rich influencer between the two escalates to twenty-somethings camp out in something that is beyond merely a mansion during a hurricane, professional. Nina’s psychological one gets their throat slit during hallucinations gradually build a murder mystery game. The rest throughout the film, revealing of the group then violently turns her desire for Lily. Through against one another as they try Aronofsky’s cryptic filmmaking, to find the killer among them. we are as unable to tell what is real We watch as their logic slowly deteriorates, with personal plights and what is fake as Nina is. Nina’s paranoia manifests in influencing accusations. Sophie (played by nonbinary a disturbingly visceral manner. She has visions of her nails actor Amandla Stenberg) and bleeding and falling off, and wings Bee (Maria Bakalova), the main sprouting from scars on her back lesbian couple in the film, are as she literally becomes the swan already together when the film of young female friendships. The explicit communication of these themes adds another layer to the film’s action, creativity, humour, and cartoonish gore. Like Elvira, it is also endlessly quotable, and Megan Fox’s delivery as Jennifer is campy teen horror perfection. In my eyes a perfect film, Jennifer’s Body is a must-watch queer girl horror movie.
starts. This casual representation means that there is no tedious queer relationship trauma to be dealt with. And (spoiler alert), their survival throughout the film topples the trope of swiftly killing off gay characters. Bodies instead dedicates its social commentary to the hilarious ignorance of the characters, who all feign socio-political awareness despite living in a bubble of privilege. Their shallowness is hysterically conveyed in their line delivery, making Bodies not only a definitive queer horror movie, but a quintessentially Gen Z one too. Of course, what defines “queer horror” is not objective or finite, but these films provide an excellent first foray into an important subgenre. The conventions of the horror aesthetic have long been synonymous with queer culture, which is why it is so crucial that when queer folks appear in horror films, they are justly represented. Engaging with queer horror films, in turn, encourages proper representation of the LGBTQ+ demographic in the genre. This gives queer artists and stories the freedom to be scary not because of trauma and homophobia, but because of the gore, camp, and excitement that queer horror fans truly love.
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October 30, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
Culture
Farewell My Concubine Turns 30
Chen Kaige’s award-winning film sees a resurgence in local cinemas
Olivia Shan Coordinating Editor
I
t’s not often that Montreal theatres, even independent ones who have significantly more control over their programming, feature Chinese films in their roster. Rarer still are there any Chinese films from the 80s and 90s, a critical time of cultural renaissance which allowed fifth generation Chinese filmmakers to break into the international scene. Chen Kaige’s Farewell My Concubine is largely considered to be one of the greatest-of-the-greats among its contemporaries. It also remains the first and only Chinese-language film to win the Palme d’Or – the highestranking award at the Cannes Film Festival. This ChineseCanadian critic is deeply pleased
Chen Kaige’s Farewell My Concubine is largely considered to be one of the greatestof-the-greats among its contemporaries. It also remains the first and only Chineselanguage film to win the Palme d’Or – the highest- ranking award at the Cannes Film Festival.
“The Chinese diaspora are really excited about this.” to report that in celebration of its 30th anniversary, Chen Kaige’s transcendent 1993 masterpiece is now gracing the screens of cinemas worldwide. Farewell My Concubine epitomizes the historical epic: it chronicles the lives of two young Beijing Opera stars — Douzi (Leslie Cheung) and Shitou (Zhang Fengyi) through their highs and lows during the most tumultuous decades in modern Chinese history. We follow them from their scrappy beginnings training under a ruthless troupe master, to their eventual ascension as two highly respected masters of their craft; they also assume new stage names, Chen Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou. Conflict ensues as their life-long friendship and partnership is tried by Xiaolou’s new fiancée, Juxian (Gong Li), just as the political strife from the Sino-Japanese War and Cultural Revolution quickly spell the end of their art form as they know it. In early October, tickets for a local screening of Farewell My Concubine sold out in a matter of days. In a conversation with Cinema Moderne’s head of programming, Benjamin Pelletier, he said that this is partially due to the admittedly compact nature of their auditorium, but this response also indicates a thriving Montreal audience hungry for more Chinese and Asian film screenings. “The Chinese diaspora are really excited about this,” he said, “I’m really thrilled about that.” While presenting a few of the film’s screenings, it became apparent to Pelletier that most of the ticket-goers were already very familiar with it, with many having watched the film several times before. It’s clear that for many, Chen’s work has already ascended to “classic” status. Farewell My Concubine is, incidentally, also a staple in queer Chinese cinema. Dieyi is unabashedly in love and devoted to Xiaolou, which is what drives much of the film’s interpersonal
drama. He is also played by Leslie Cheung, one of the only openly queer celebrities in 90s Chinese pop culture, who was also one of the most prominent Cantopop and film icons of his generation. For queer viewers in China and in the Chinese diaspora, Farewell My Concubine evokes the treasured experience of seeing themselves authentically represented in a mainstream Chinese movie as a deeply sympathetic, though tragic, hero figure. A new uncut 4K restoration of Farewell My Concubine is currently showing in select screenings at Cinema Moderne.
For queer viewers in China and in the Chinese diaspora, Farewell My Concubine evokes the treasured experience of seeing themselves authentically represented in a mainstream Chinese movie as a deeply sympathetic, though tragic, hero figure.
Olivia Shan | Coordinating Editor
October 30, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
compendium!
11
QUEER EXCELLENCE CROSSWORD
ACROSS 3) The “father” of English Literature and prose. His plays often play with gender roles and leave room for queer interpretations. Wrote over half of his sonnets for “the fair youth.” 5) The architect of rock and roll, and a “frutti” king. 7) American writer and poet who wrote a very famous book, in which the narrator, Ishmael, marries his friend Queequeg. 9) Bisexual icon; rocked a unibrow and a metal spine 14) Classical Arabic writer noted for his beautiful, homoerotic lyric verses: “I die of love for him, perfect in every way/ [...] His waist is a sapling, his face a
DOWN 1) Played officer Clemmons on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. 2) Bisexual jazz singing queen. 4) Transgender pioneer and critica icon in the American electronic scene. She is most well known for her music scores in A Clockwork Orange, and The Shining. 6) Multidisciplinary artist and writer, she is the originator of the iconic “Moomin” characters, and lived out her retirement with her partner on a tiny Finnish island. 8) Expat Afro-American poet who spent much of his life in Paris. His novels,
moon/ And loveliness rolls off his rosy cheek.”
essays, and activism solidify him as a crucial figure in the Harlem Renaissance
15) Prominent figure of the 1969 Stonewall uprising, this New York drag queen
movement.
was an advocate for gay rights.
10) Fighter pseudonym of Texan exotico wrestler Saúl Armendáriz, who chal-
17) 19th century poet widely theorized to be a lesbian. Most famous for
lenged the machismo and homophobic attitudes associated in lucha libre with
“Because I could not stop for Death.”
his flamboyant persona. Gael Garcia Bernal recently portrayed him in a 2023
18) Japanese novelist, poet, and lady-in-waiting from the Heian period who
biopic.
penned one of the most influential and widely read Japanese classical works:
11) Hong Kong film legend and Cantopop icon, he was one of the only publicly
The Tale of Genji.
“out” artists in 90s Chinese pop culture.
19) Jamaican-Canadian speculative fiction author and UBC professor who
12) Modernist writer of classics such as Mrs. Dalloway and A Room of One’s
recently gave a talk at McGill on the value of queer voices in genre fiction. 20) In a heated televised debate on the Vietnam War, William F. Buckley Jr. infamously retorted: “‘Now listen to me you queer, stop calling me a cryptoNazi.” to this 20th century American historian and literary critic.
Own. 13) Lesbian lyric poet from Ancient Greece. Most of her work is lost, yet her influence cannot be overstated. 16) Cracked the Nazi codes using his Enigma machine
October 30, 2023 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily
compendium!
12
QUEER HORRORSCOPES Aries
Taurus
Gemini
(Mar 21 Apr 19)
(Apr 20 May 20)
(May 21 Jun 20)
Attending the rocky horror picture show and dressing up is mandatory!
You should be Buffy the vampire slayer for halloween!
Get a spooky mullet for halloween and be joe exotic!
Cancer
Leo
Virgo
(Jun 21 Jul 22)
(Jul 23 Aug 22)
(Aug 23 Sept 22)
Dress up as the og lesbian vampire: Kristen Stewart.
channel your inner jennifer’s body and kill boys while having a crush on your best friend.
Feeling scared walking down the street? Perfect, dress up as a character from Fear Street!
Libra
Scorpio
Sagittarius
(Sept 23 Oct 22)
(Oct 23 Nov 21)
(Nov 22 Dec 21)
For a forbidden love and a scary house, dress up as nell from haunting of bly manor!
dress up as a character from the craft and be everyone’s crush for halloween.
natasha lyonne as a cheerleader: that is your costume.
Capricorn
Aquarius
Pisces
(Dec 22 Jan 19)
(Jan 20 Feb 18)
(Feb 19 Mar 20)
want to be a mistress of the dark? dress up as Elvira and embrace being different.
quack quack. what is that? you, as a majestic black swan for halloween.
for a truly spooky evening, venture on the edge of scientology and dress up as tom cruise from interview with a vampire.