The Queen's Journal, Volume 151, Issue 2

Kingston’s

Sofia Tosello Assistant News

Club 338, Kingston’s newest queer bar, is opening soon. As the name suggests, it will be located at 338 Princess St.

While there’s no set opening date for Club 338, members of the Kingston community gathered at Royal Tavern 2.0 on June 1 for an open stage drag show to celebrate the successful coming along of the bar’s construction.

“The drag show at Royal Tavern 2.0 was part of a soft launch opening of Club 338. It was not at the actual bar,” said Tyffanie Morgan, a long-time Kingston drag queen. “Nonetheless, there was a lot of support from the community at the event.”

According to Morgan, there has been an increasing demand by the queer community for a local “hub” in Kingston—a place locals can frequent and feel accepted regardless of their sexuality.

“Having our own dedicated queer space is needed right now, especially in a world where we’re seeing a lot of backlash against queer identities, trans identities, and gay pride,” Morgan said.

Morgan reminisced on the days she was able to pop into Club 477—Kingston’s previous gay bar—to see events and socialize with friends.

Club 338 will have a similar layout to Club 477, which had a prominent dance floor and a stage for drag shows and open mics, Morgan explained.

The owner of Club 339, drag

Local scenedrag has adult and children audiences

Suzy Leinster Assistant Arts Editor

The laughter of children trickled from the Springer Market Square as rainbow streamers and glitter sparkled around Drag King Dare De La Femme as they performed a drag storytime in front of the audience.

queen Bekka Blake, did not respond to The Journal’s request for comment in time for publication.

What was once a place for drinking and dancing is now the location of Trek Bicycle Kingston. The building at 477 Princess Street was Club 477 in its previous life, which closed its doors for good in the late ’90s due to a lack of interest and homophobia in Kingston. Attendees of Club 477 reported constant heckling, and some fell victim to hate-based assaults.

Keith Bilow, the founder of Beers for Queers and a long-time attendee of the queer nightlife scene in Kingston, recalled a time he visited Club 477. The night took an alarming turn when a man with a baseball bat tucked underneath his coat sat down at the bar.

“However, [since the closure of Club 477] there have been weekly LGBTQ+ events in Kingston,” Bilow said. “There are [queer events] everywhere.”

To Bilow, community support for queer people in Kingston doesn’t extend to the Queen’s

student community. Bilow recalled zero Queen’s students attended an event he hosted near Stages nightclub, despite advertising to the student body.

“[Queen’s] students bring their prejudices from wherever they come and are often not educated on queer issues,” Bilow said.

To protect patrons, Bilow emphasized the importance of having good security at Club 338. The support for the queer community in Kingston has grown since the closure of Club 477 and other gay bars such as Wally’s, Shay Foo Foo’s, and The Office, Bilow expressed.

The Office was Kingston’s first official gay bar. The bar opened in the early ’80s, tucked away in the upstairs section of a building on the corner of Montreal and Queen St.

The bar closed its doors in 1989. The Plaza, a strip club, is currently located in that same building.

While Bilow has his concerns, he’s looking forward to having a queer venue in Kingston. Having lived through the opening and closing of multiple queer bars, Bilow is hoping Club 338 sticks around for the foreseeable future.

“I want a place where people can walk through the doors of the bar, know they are entering a queer space, and be comfortable with that.”

People of all ages filled the concrete bleachers as the crowd gathered to hear stories about acceptance, gender, and all things drag.

Though many live drag events are commonly found in night-time bars, the Kingston Frontenac Public Library (KFPL) supports the art form for all ages in the form of drag queen storytime.

The Drag Queen Michelle Tea began Drag Story Hour seven years ago in San Francisco and made its way into libraries in Canada.

Drag queen storytime in Springer Market Square brought together families watching on as colored picture books were read aloud to the group. Despite the popularity of this event, these story times have become targets for hate and protest nationally.

On April 29 at Fort York Library in Toronto, protestors carried Canadian Red ensign flags and carried signs saying “drag is not for kids.” Taber Public Library, located in Alberta reported backlash for hosting an event on June 2 for being “too sexual in nature for our children.”

Despite the growing popularity of drag, inclusivity is more heavily critiqued when the audience is children. Protestors argue drag is over sexualized for young audiences and disagree with having families attend the event.

See Drag on page 9

Vineeth Jarabana Features Editor

For Jirjees Al-shammaa, one of the biggest mental health concerns for queer students is social isolation.

As the Gender and Sexual Diversity Assistant Manager at the Peer Support Centre (PSC), Al-shammaa mentioned rejection and lack of validation many queer students experience as contributing to this concern.

As the rise anti-LGBTQ activity in the United States has spread over to Canada, the mental health of queer students has emerged as a concern with the increasingly hostile environment in Canada towards the queer community.

According to Statistics Canada, police-reported hate crimes linked to sexual orientation increased by 64 per cent from 2020 to 2021.

The Journal spoke with Al-shammaa along with three others on the various initiatives at Queen’s supporting the mental health of queer-identifying students.

See Mental Health on page 6

“For

Concerns around student behaviour exist for community

Editor

Club 338 will open at 338 Princess St. between Barrie St. and Clergy St.

PHOTO BY HERBERT WANG

Kingston Drag Queen BeeWitched.

PHOTO BY JOSEPH MARIATHASHAN

How Queen’s supports queer mental health

only queer bar to open after decade-long drought

Gaels alum Sophie de Goede to captain Canadian rugby team

RBC recognizes Gael Tanner Big Canoe

AMS fails to compensate Black students for equity labour

Team ETC left AMS without compensation policies for BIPOC labour

Asbah Ahmad Editor in Chief

After this winter’s racist image during the AMS election debate, conversation about adequate compensation and consultation for Black students has continued.

During team ETC’s term, questions with respect to fair compensation and consultation of the Black Club’s Caucus to improve the AMS’ Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigeneity (EDII) arose at AMS Assembly, and Annual General Meeting (AGM). Consultations were planned with other AMS stakeholders, such as Queen’s University, but not students.

Big Canoe is the recipient of $10,000

Sophia Coppolino & Aidan Michaelov Journal Staff

Queen’s student Tanner Big Canoe was a recipient of the RBC Indigenous Youth Scholarship.

Big Canoe, CompSci ’24, was one of 18 students across Canada to receive the $10,000 award intended to reduce barriers to post-secondary education for Indigenous students.

Raised in Lindsay, Ontario, Big Canoe is a member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island community.

“I didn’t grow up on the reserve, but [my family was] back and forth quite a bit, because I still have a ton of family who live there,” Big Canoe said in an interview with The Journal. “The community of Georgina Island are so good about making you feel welcomed and supporting you through your whole life—whether or not you’re living on the reserve.”

Bearing the last name Big Canoe, he reflected on being “the Indigenous kid.” He got involved with Pinnguaq during high school, a company focused on bringing Indigenous communities equal access to technology and virtual

creative spaces.

“Working at Pinnguag is a huge way of me trying to reconnect and give back to the community that’s always supporting me,” Big Canoe said.

Big Canoe set his sights on Queen’s after attending Science Quest camps at the university in elementary school. With a passion for software and program design, Big Canoe knew Queen’s computing was for him.

“I had a bit of a soft spot for Queen’s from when I was younger, and when I grew up and got in, it was a pretty easy choice,” he said.

As the captain of the Queen’s golf team, and member of Queen’s Hyperloop team, Big Canoe is involved in the community beyond his academic pursuits.

Big Canoe began his university experience online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Giving back is important to Big Canoe, who attributed his success to the support he’s received from those around him. Big Canoe encouraged other students to do good, believing it will all come back around.

“I’ve had people who were good to me, and then in return I tried to be as kind as I can. It’s worked well for me, and I think maybe it’s a bit of a secret to life to just be good to people,” Big Canoe said.

At AGM, Vice-President (University Affairs) Callum Robertson contended not consulting Black Club’s Caucus was a critical error.

“There have been discussions

“[The lack of clarity in policy] is really scary for BIPOC students on campus who want to partake in the AMS through volunteer work, or just use services and programs,” Walter said.

After two months of back and forth emailing with team ETC, the executive concluded the AMS would be unable to pay the Caucus.

“I spoke to other members of the Caucus, and they said we would be willing to do [the consultations] for free. We really care about the safety and the well-being of the Black students who are here now and who will come after us. We said we’ll do it for free. Still, no consultation occurred,” she said.

Wishing the consultation process was more transparent, Walters thinks any consultation external to the AMS, including with the University, is a positive and valuable step. She said the

to the Board of Directors. Since this was brought to Board in closed session, all non-voting members were required to leave. Therefore, our team was unable to participate in this discussion,” McCuaig said in a statement to The Journal.

Team KMV wasn’t permitted at the closed session discussion in April AMS Board, where McCuaig said compensation models were discussed.

“The Social Issues Commissioner (Internal) has been supported by our Secretary of Internal Affairs in policy knowledge and constitution, as well as by the executive who are keen on working diligently on [compensation for BIPOC labour] from the beginning of our terms,” McCuaig said.

In the immediate, Black clubs and student organizations need tangible changes and resources. Walters said policy helps get to

about consultations [with the Black Club’s Caucus], but we’ve never sat down with the AMS, gone through their policies, and told them what needs to be changed,” said Amiaya Walters, Black Club’s Caucus member, in an interview with The Journal.

Though the AMS has Principles and Positions Policies, which define the Society’s key stances, the section on EDII is currently one sentence. The Caucus doesn’t know where the AMS stands on many issues because of the vagueness in the policy, Walters explained.

issue isn’t knowing what those consultations included.

“What non-students who work for the University think is best for students is different than what Black students who are students right now need from the AMS and want to see. Students should be consulted first,” Walters said.

On the AMS front, current President Kate McCuaig said no compensation policy was passed at the Board of Directors level during the previous executive’s term.

“My predecessor raised a premise on this topic for discussion

those places, but currently, space and money is what Black student groups need. Compared to other universities such as Toronto Metropolitan University. Walters described Queen’s as lacking a centralized space for Black student organizations.

“Equity means groups who have historically received less, need to be given more in certain circumstances, where appropriate, and I believe this is one of them,” Walters said.

Queen’s bids farewell to class of 2023

Former Attorney General of Canada delivers message at convocation

Sophia Coppolino News Editor

Thousands of graduating students gathered at the Leon’s Centre last week to walk the convocation stage and receive their Queen’s farewell.

Queen’s class of 2023 was divided over six ceremonies taking place from June 20 to 23.

“This convocation is a very special one. You’re graduating from programs that have equipped you exceptionally well and in different ways to have a positive

and direct impact in the world,” Principal Patrick Deane said to one convocation cohort.

Convocation addresses were delivered by recipients of Queen’s honourary degrees.

Jody Wilson-Raybould, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, received a Doctor of Laws on June 21.

Raybould spoke to students about the importance of knowing oneself and reflecting on their place in community.

The following day, the commencement address was given by Gloria Epstein, judge and honourary degree recipient.

Epstein told graduates about her experience presiding over M. v. H., a landmark case which paved the way for marriage

equality in Canada.

Brent Stanley Belzberg, a businessman and philanthropist, addressed graduates after receiving his honourary degree.

Also receiving honorary Doctor of Law degrees were David Bottrill, a three-time Grammy winning Canadian music producer, Eleanor Joanne Daley, an accomplished choral composer, Paul Finkelstein, a culinary arts teacher who turned teaching students healthy eating into a TV series, and Kimberly Prost, a judge on the International Criminal Court.

Caroline Hargrove was the sole recipient of an honourary Doctor of Science degree. Hargrove is currently the Chief Technology Officer at Ceres,

The ceremonies took place at the Leons

overseeing the development of new green fuel technology.

“This day has come as the result of years of hard work

and dedication, and you should be immensely proud of yourselves,” Rector Owen Crawford-Lem said.

Big Canoe is entering his fourth year.

The current AMS executive, Team KMV, was not involved in the conversations.

SUPPLIED BY TANNER BIG CANOE

PHOTO BY HERBERT WANG

PHOTO BY BRETT WALKER

Queen’s unions shame University at rally

the rally.

Along with wage hikes, Unity Council is asking Queen’s to reduce parking fees on campus for workers, and to end the hiring freeze.

If Queen’s can afford to increase wages for QUFA, its highest paid union, it can afford to compensate other workers, Bambrick explained in an interview with The Journal Bambrick said he’s heard of workers sleeping in their cars and losing their homes.

“We’re looking at finding the money for them if they can’t find it themselves,” Bambrick said. “They could re-allocate the administrations’ travel budget. It’s a few extra million right in front of their faces.”

Queen’s will be seeing a pay raise of $2 per hour as of July 1, but it’s not enough, according to caretaker Jason Herrington.

“In the custodial department the hiring freeze means we’re going to be taking on more responsibilities,” Herrington said in an interview with The Journal. “We already have a very hard time to recruit enough people to get the work done. The workloads are tremendous, mainly because of the low wages.”

Herrington claims he’s been approached by professors in the Bioscience Complex because their labs are not being cleaned regularly.

Sophia

News Editor

When it comes to negotiating for workers’ compensation, Unity Council showed Queen’s administration they meant business.

Workers from multiple on-campus unions gathered at Agnes Benidickson Field on June 20 demanding Queen’s renegotiate a collective agreements determined

while Bill 124 was in effect.

“This is a serious issue. Inflations got out of control, Bill 124 was unfair, the Government screwed us too, but we need help from Queen’s now,” said Jesse Bambrick, president of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 229 to the crowd. CUPE 229 represents trades and grounds workers, as well as lab and library technicians.

“[Queen’s has] lots of pockets of money. They need to reallocate, they need to put us first because we always put our services first,” he said.

Unity Council represents seven

unions, and approximately 3,300 staff and faculty, on campus. United, the unions are asking to receive the same salary increases Queen’s University Faculty Association (QUFA) negotiated at the table this February.

QUFA President Jordan Morelli called on Queen’s to live up to the values it claims to have.

“Over the past nine years, Queen’s has accumulated a surplus of little over a half a billion dollars. It has reserves to write out the current budget shortfall. It’s choosing to balance its books on the backs of you the workers,” Morelli said at

Burnout is huge among workers, President of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 2010 Kelly Orser told the crowd. USW 2010 represents general support staff and academic assistants at Queen’s. Orser shared workers’ medical documentation for sick leaves are being rejected at a higher rate than pre-pandemic.

“There are so many Queen’s workers that don’t understand what’s happening behind the scenes with the budget, with senior administration, and why these decisions are being made,” Orser added. “It’s really good as a unionized community at Queen’s to come together and share our stories.”

While they stand united, different workers at Queen’s face different challenges. For facilities workers, there’s a two-tiered system where caretakers make $10 less than custodians. Caretakers at

“They’re supposed to be done every other day. We’re looking at weeks, sometimes months that they’re not getting done. It’s a huge health and safety issues for the students,” Herrington added.

In response to a letter from Unity Council, Queen’s said its budget deficit is responsible for its prudent fiscal management, which includes a hiring freeze. The letter is signed off by Donna Janiec, vice-principal (finance and administration), and Teri Shearer, interim provost and vice-principal (academic).

“While we cannot speculate on the ultimate disposition of the legal challenge, it is important to recognize that while the provincial government conducts their appeal of Bill 124, no additional funding has been forthcoming from the provincial government because of the 2022 Superior Court decision,” the letter from Queen’s read. Continues online. queensjournal.ca/news

Simpson takes on a new role as Vice Principal

The Vice-Principal of Culture, Equity, and Inclusion is ‘an unprecedented role’

Sofia Tosello

Assistant News Editor

Stephanie Simpson is using her experience as a Black student at Queen’s to understand challenges equity seeking students face.

A new position at Queen’s University, Simpson began her role as the Vice-Principal (Culture, Equity, and Inclusion) on June 1. Previously the Associate Vice-Principal (Human Rights, Equity, and Inclusion), Principal Patrick Deane announced Simpson’s appointment on May 15.

“I now have the unique ability within this Vice-Principal (Culture, Equity, and Inclusion) portfolio to focus all my energy on how we’re going to create institutional change and ensure people are able to thrive in this community,” Simpson said in an interview with The Journal.

In her new role, Simpson oversees the Human Rights and Equity Office (HREO), the Office of the Ombudsperson, the Office of Indigenous Initiatives, and a new Office for Complaints and Investigations of Harassment and Discrimination in her role.

Building on her 27-year career in anti-racism activism and human rights, Simpson’s job is to create better collaboration, visibility, and accountability across the University

for equity related initiatives.

While Simpson’s role is the first of its kind at Queen’s, she’s no stranger to equity related issues. She first came to the University in the early ’90s for her undergraduate degree and was stunned at how different it was from her hometown of Mississauga.

“There was not just a lack of visible diversity, but what I experienced was a devaluing of people who were not white and able-bodied,” Simpson said.

Simpson described her undergraduate experience at Queen’s as difficult. Queen’s was not welcoming to Black students and failed to foster a sense of belonging, Simpson explained.

“I looked to student organisations such as The African Caribbean Students Association (ACSA) for support, which is still going strong. I was able to find a home [with these associations] and a sense that, not only did I deserve to be here but it was possible to thrive at Queen’s as a Black student,” Simpson added.

Having worked for the Human Rights and Equity Office since 1996, Simpson was deeply disturbed when students of colour spoke to her about the daily microaggressions they experienced on campus.

“It felt like [I was] listening to a transcript of my life at Queens,” Simpson said. “When you see a

pattern of experience repeated over the course of decades, that tells us that this is not an individual issue, it’s a systemic and structural issue.”

Equipped with an intimate understanding of inequities at Queen’s, Simpson wants to remind students the barriers they face are not a product of their own intelligence or value—she said it’s a systemic problem.

Simpson has equity-focused accomplishments under her belt

already, having taught a course on race and racism, being a founding member of Black History Month Kingston, and chairing the University Council on Anti-Racism and Equity.

As for what’s next, Simpson reported analyzing the University’s strengths and weaknesses in addressing equity related issues. She’s cross-referencing her role with those at other Canadian universities to collaborate

with other experts on dismantling systemic barriers for students.

“The thing that keeps me up at night is how we can actually transform Queen’s into a place where every person leaves the school feeling like it was a home to them,” Simpson said.

“I really feel like it is my responsibility in this role to help address these problems.”

‘We can shut this university down’

Coppolino

Union members gathered on campus to demonstrate their dissent with Queen’s.

Simpson stepped into her new role on June 1.

SUPPLIED BY STEPHANIE SIMPSON

PHOTO BY SOPHIA COPPOLINO

Ontario wildfires ignite health concerns

Climate change impacts the most vulnerable first

Sophia Coppolino News Editor

Kingston residents awoke to smoke-filled air on June 5.

A blanket of high air pollution, caused by wildfires raging across northern Ontario and Quebec, descended on the greater Kingston area between June 5 and June 8 before blowing south towards Toronto and New York.

For 24-hours on June 7 Kingston’s air quality was categorized as “very high risk.” Health experts and Kingston administrators encouraged residents to close their windows and remain indoors.

There have been 787 wildfires in Ontario and Quebec to date, exceeding the 10-year average, according to Natural Resources Canada.

To protect residents from air pollution, Kingston allowed public buildings, usually used as warming and cooling locations, to act as smoke respite centres.

Wildfire smoke contains pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides, but it’s the micro particles that pose health risks, explained Mike Fitzpatrick, a respirologist and the chief of staff and executive vice president of medical and academic affairs at Kingston Health Sciences Centre.

“Those very small particles are inhaled deep into the lungs. When they get into the lungs, they’re recognized as foreign particles, the body tries to get rid of them, and then the process there’s a lot of inflammation that goes on,” Fitzpatrick said in an interview with The Journal.

Fitzpatrick clarified short-term exposure to air pollution, such as with wildfire smoke, doesn’t cause any long-term health issues. Usually, it’s individuals with asthma or other underlying respiratory conditions who experience symptoms.

“If we measure [a non-asthmatic’s] lung function after exposure to a lot of us fine particles, we will find that their lung function has decreased compared to what it would normally be,” Fitzpatrick said. “But not to the point where they get symptoms or where they feel bad.”

Fitzpatrick reported an uptick of patients entering the healthcare system with complaints related to breathing during the wildfires. He recommended wearing an N-95 mask and reducing outdoor activity during periods of high air pollution.

“A lot of the students may be in homes that don’t have any air conditioning. The issue there is if you’re closing your windows and doors for air pollution, and it’s hot outside, then it’d be pretty uncomfortable,” Fitzpatrick said. “For [students] I think it may be worth investing in one of those air filter devices.”

The City of Kingston recommended setting HVAC systems to re-circulate indoor airflow, and to use highly rated MERV filters rated 13 or higher. Over the COVID-19 pandemic, Queen’s upgraded its air filtration system, complying with researched best practices.

“Where possible, the introduction of outside air into building ventilation systems is being reduced when outdoor conditions are smokey,” Queen’s Facilities said in a statement to The Journal.

Not everyone has the privilege of closing a window, and its society’s most vulnerable who feel the impact of wildfires the most, Julia Christensen, Queen’s associate professor in the department of geography and planning, raised in an interview with The Journal.

“When we look at something like wildfire smoke, and the broader effects of the volatility of climate change, [having] access to safe and secure housing allows certain members of the of the population to be able to respond better in ways that are more protective of their health and well-being than those who don’t have housing,” Christensen said.

It’s not only the unhoused who are more exposed to the risks of wildfires. Christensen commented on the challenges wildfires create for Ontario’s northern residents, particularly Indigenous communities who participate in land-based activities.

“[Wildfires] have impacts on housing, they lead to the loss of housing stock. They have impacts on transportation into and out of Northern rural and remote communities. Transportation is a factor, not just in terms of people’s ability to get in and out, but the ability to get materials, labor, other resources,” Christensen said.

“When you have wildfires that are preventing access into and out of communities, that has consequences in terms of a community’s ability to rebuild. It loses valuable infrastructure, it has consequences in terms of people’s access to health services, and people’s ability to leave for employment.”

Christensen pointed to the evacuation of the Hay River and K’atl’odeeche First Nation in the Northwest Territories as examples of the enormous impact wildfires have on northern communities.

While Kingston’s air quality has returned to “low risk,” experts warn climate change could make natural disasters, such as wildfires, more commonplace.

“[Wildfires are] not going away anytime soon. We’re just seeing more and more of the inequities between the housed and unhoused, in terms of their ability to respond to the environmental impacts of climate change,” Christensen said.

Kingston and Queen’s celebrate National Indigenous People’s Day

Multi-organizational efforts create integrated event

Meghrig Milkon Assistant News Editor

This year Kingston celebrated National Indigenous People’s Day at City Park with all day activities and a free concert.

Organizations like Kingston Indigenous Language Nest (KILN), City of Kingston, Office of Indigenous Initiatives, Limestone District School Board, Sexual Assault Centre Kingston, Kewaywin Circle and other community members worked together to celebrate National Indigenous Day at City Park on June 21.

The all-ages event included activities such as lacrosse demonstration, corn husk doll making, a scavenger hunt, and community drumming.

Queen’s University marked National Indigenous People’s Day by celebrating the Tipi Moza Transitional Housing grand opening. Tipi Moza, translating to ‘iron home,’ is a non-profit organization providing First Nation, Metis, and Inuit families with affordable housing.

Jayme Blondin, an Indigenous councillor with Sexual Assault

Services Kingston, credited the City for supporting the day’s events. Until recently, Indigenous events were exclusively dependent on the efforts of community agencies to join together and hold these events.

“The fact the City is providing us with funding, and we’re able to take that and create an event that’s a reflection of us is really wonderful,” Blondin said in an interview with The Journal.

Two-time JUNO award winners

Digging Roots, led by Anishinaabe and Onkwehón duo ShoShona Kish and Raven Kanatakta, closed the celebration in Springer Market Square with a free evening concert.

“This day is important for us. We get to celebrate together—maybe we don’t get enough celebration—that we put our truth and our culture and the possibility of who we might be in the centre of the circle,” Kish, founder of the International Indigenous Music Summit and the music label Ishkōdé Records, said during the concert.

Attendees gathered in the centre of Springer Market Square to form a circle, hand-in-hand, as the

event ended.

In an interview with The Journal, Aaron St. Pierre, director of the Four Direction Indigenous Students Centre (FDISC) announced there will be an opening of a new Indigenous gathering space on Queen’s campus by Tindall Field.

“It’s a beautiful structure. It’s meant to be not just Indigenous gathering space, but for the community in general,” Pierre said.

The FDISC will continue to provide services such as counseling and academic advising. This June marked the graduation of the first cohort of Queen’s students enrolled in the Certificate in Mohawk Language and Culture.

As the graduating class of 2023 prepares to cross the stage at Leon’s Centre for their convocation ceremonies, Pierre acknowledges their hard work and perseverance. Indigenous graduates are presented with a gift from the FDISC as they cross the stage.

“I just want to commend students at Queen’s for their strength and all the work they have done. It’s exciting to see them graduating this week and what they do in life,” Pierre said.

City Park was filled with life celebrating Indigenous traditions and culture.

PHOTO BY JOSEPH MARIATHASAN

Wildfire smoke blanketed Kingston in June.

PHOTO BY JOSEPH MARIATHASAN

Major access bursaries have major impact on communityQueen’s

Students in top five per cent of each program will receive Principal’s Scholarship

Mikella Schuettler Assistant News Editor

Queen’s said it’s putting money behind its pledge to diversify the student body.

A hundred students in the class of ’27 will receive new Major Access Bursaries, totaling $7 million annually, as part of needs-based transformation of Queen’s financial aid.

“If we want our students to be surrounded by other great students, regardless of their financial background, we need to be intentional about how we change [financial aid], and that means significant and sustained funding,” said Ann Tierney, vice-provost and dean (student affairs), in an interview with The Journal

Three years ago, Tierney among other Queen’s administration, signed a pledge to enhance efforts and initiatives to diversify the student population. The pledge was part of a declaration to act

against racism and oppression across campus.

Tierney launched the initial Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigenization (EDII) review of admissions in 2020. A subsequent review of financial aid occurred in 2022. The Major Access Bursaries started as a result.

Funding for the Principal’s Scholarships will be reallocated to create the new bursaries. Until now, incoming students with a 95 per cent average automatically received $4,000 in financial support for their first year, totaling $9 million in annual scholarships.

Moving forward only the students with the top five percent of grade averages in each program will receive the Principal’s Scholarship.

“It was a lot of money [that was] not being used strategically to assist students with financial need,” Tierney said.

Through the Major Access Bursaries, students will receive between $10,000 and $18,000, depending on the cost of their program, for every year during their undergraduate degree. Student eligibility will be based on need demonstrated through a separate financial aid application.

Forty-three per cent of Queen’s undergraduate applicants in 2020

came from households whose family incomes were above $125,000 according to Queen’s Student Applicant Census.

“We know there are talented and excellent students spread all over the country that don’t have the same opportunities other students have […] we don’t want the cost to be the barrier,” Tierney said.

Kidus Leul, ArtSci ’23, is the only student who served on the 2022 financial aid review committee which recommended the bursaries.

“For a lot of students coming to Queen’s, that small $4,000 [from the Principal’s Scholarship], doesn’t make a difference to them,” Leul said.

With the funds from the Principal’s Scholarship redistributed, more students with higher financial need will feel the difference. For Luel, making Queen’s a more financially accessible place will make Queen’s a more diverse place.

“This can help build more meaningful relationships across socio-economic lines and I think [student diversity] enhances the whole classroom,” Leul said.

As a result of the 2020 EDII review, Leul and four other students became the first Equity Ambassadors at Queen’s in 2021. The Equity Ambassadors are tasked with connecting

Gender neutral washrooms coming soon

with prospective students from “unrepresented backgrounds” to encourage them to attend Queen’s.

“I feel like finances [are] one of the biggest reasons students choose [certain] universities,” Equity Ambassador Peter Haile, Art Sci ’26, said in an interview with The Journal.

Haile is an annual recipient of the Commitment Scholarship, which awarded a total of $1.2 million annually to students who demonstrated leadership in social justice. Queen’s will continue with the Commitment Scholars Award for equity deserving groups.

“For me, coming from an underprivileged community [in Toronto], Queen’s wasn’t an option at all. When I got the money, it opened so many options for me,” Haile said.

“It’s so meaningful to me because I have a purpose now. I’m more than a student. I’m trying to create culture change and thrive in the new environment I’m in.”

Despite making gains, Leul, Haile, and Tierney all agree Queen’s has work to do before the promises made in 2020 are fulfilled.

“We’re known at Queen’s for having a strong community—we want everyone to feel a part of that community,” Tierney said.

Queen’s projects a $62.8 million deficit

Revenue from student fees $45.7 million lower than budgeted

Sophia Coppolino & Sofia

Tosello

Journal

Staff

Queen’s is drawing on its reserves to cover a projected multi-million-dollar deficit.

The Board of Trustees released their annual fiscal report on May 17, revealing Queen’s is expected to run a deficit for a second consecutive year. For last fiscal year, Queen’s ran a $26.4 million deficit.

Interim Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic), Teri Shearer, recognized the use of university reserves is not sustainable, and committed to balancing the budget over the next four years, according to her report to the Board.

For Ontario students, the provincial tuition freeze implemented in 2019 will continue into the next academic year. The University is awaiting approval from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to raise tuition for incoming Ontario students in law, computing, and engineering by 7.5 per cent.

Residence fees were raised three per cent for the upcoming year, the lowest increase compared to other Ontario universities.

Queen’s surpassed its fundraising goal for the 2022-23 academic year after garnering $124.7 million. Alumni donations increased by 23 per cent, with 11 gifts accounting for 77 per cent of fundraising dollars.

The University attributes the projected deficit to a sustained decrease in undergraduate international student enrollment, decreased enrollment in the Master of Business programs at the Smith School of Business, and the ongoing tuition freeze for Ontario students.

Downturn in Undergraduate International Student Enrollment

Queen’s cited a 10 per cent decrease in international students for the upcoming school-year, primarily due to a downturn in applications from students in China. The report attributed the downturn to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Queen’s is looking to boost international enrollment by developing new awards for international students. The University is specifically bolstering recruitment efforts in southern Asia, the Middle East, and northern Africa.

The University proposed tuition increases for international students across the faculties of arts and science, commerce, and health sciences. International student tuition is currently nine times higher than Ontario students enrolled in arts and science, and more than three times higher than Ontario commerce students.

Overall, Queen’s received 53,000 applications to undergraduate programs, and will admit 5,575 for the 2023-24 school year.

Downturn in Master of Business Student Enrollment

The Smith School of Business is expected to have a significant reduction in graduate enrollment, according to the report. The University suggests economic factors including interest rates, inflation, and pandemic burnout are to blame.

Lower than projected enrollment in the Master of Business programs led to a $13.7 million negative variance Queen’s projected there will be 11 less business masters students in the 2023-24 incoming class.

Overall, graduate student enrollment is expected to

The new JDUC will have washrooms for all students

Meghrig Milkon Assistant News Editor

Students at Queen’s will notice changes this summer and in the coming years as the University commits to converting to some single-user, gender-neutral facilities.

Queen’s University is actively working to convert the washrooms in its current buildings into single-user, gender-neutral facilities, most of which will be addressed through signage changes. All future academic and administrative buildings will have washrooms that are gender neutral.

“Completion of the gender-neutral signage this summer will create 248 single-user gender neutral washrooms across campus,” said Tony Gkotsis, director campus planning and real estate, in a statement to The Journal

The University’s Built Environment Advisory Group and the Provost’s Action Group for Gender and Sexual Diversity (PAGGAS) collaborated on the development of the gender-neutral signage.

Appropriate signage makes it clear that washrooms aren’t restricted by gender, according to Queen’s Gender Neutral Washrooms Policy.

“Currently in the design phases are projects for Kingston Hall, and Beamish Monroe Hall,” Gkotsis said.

The campus map displays the current location of all single-user accessible, and gender-neutral washrooms on campus which exist in 81 per cent of campus buildings. with 26 per cent of buildings having a gender-neutral washrooms on each floor.

decrease for the 2023-24 schoolyear. The downturn is attributed to recruitment challenges.

Tuition and Hiring Freeze

Queen’s cut its projected deficit in half by cutting salary and benefit expenditures through a deferral and delayed hiring of faculty and staff. Queen’s imposed a hiring freeze for all full-time positions not already advertised in May. Exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis, according to a press release.

The University claims the 2019 tuition cut for Ontario students, and subsequent tuition freeze, has cost the university $179.4 million and is largely responsible for the strained budget.

Queen’s Government and Institutional Relations (GIR) coordinated several meetings between provincial government officials and Principal Patrick Deane to discuss the financial sustainability of Ontario’s post-secondary education sector. According to Deane’s November report to Senate, he’s lobbying to lift the tuition freeze.

In campus residences, some washrooms are private while others can be used by the entire floor.

Adelaide Hall and Ban Righ Hall are two residence buildings with washrooms for solely female identifying students. Residence buildings Gordon Brockington House, Harkness Hall, Jean Royce Hall, Leonard Hall, McNeill House, Morris Hall, and Waldron Tower include a gender-neutral, communal washroom.

Students living in residence will see the conversion of multi-stall facilities to single-user facilities over time.

“Individual student’s needs are identified and addressed through the accommodation process embedded within the residence application,” Gkotosis said. “Queen’s is committed to fostering an inclusive campus and meeting the needs of our community.”

In line with the University, adding gender-affirming healthcare to the AMS Health and Dental Plan for September is in the works, with more information to become available later in the summer, AMS Communications Director Mikayla Crawford said in a statement to The Journal.

Queer students seeking support can contact Queers4Peers.

...Continued from the front page

Established as a new division of the PSC last year, Queers 4 Peers (Q4P) is student-led service that aims to provide support to queer-identifying students.

Al-shammaa is responsible for overseeing Q4P. The service aims to provide a non-judgemental, confidential space for queer-identifying students to receive one-on-one counselling. Q4P also facilitates social events.

“The entirety of our staff is queer so there is a certain level of understanding, empathy and mutual ground to connect,” Al-shammaa said. “There aren’t any fears or apprehensions that you’re meeting someone who’s new to the community or is not aware of your experiences or might not be able to relate.”

“We still face issues such as people struggle to get their dead names removed from their official records or queer students struggling to just deal with partners during presentations because their partners just don’t know how to interact with them,” Al-shammaa said.

By providing queer-identifying students with a safe space, Al-shammaa believes Q4P supports their mental health.

“We found that in order to support queer students’ mental health, we need to provide them with a space where they can feel comfortable and safe and start unmasking themselves and feeling like their normal, authentic selves without feeling that people are just accommodating them.”

Al-shammaa emphasized Q4P’s community-building model. This approach has taken various forms like weekly hangouts, events giving queer-identifying students ways to connect in-person.

With respect to Q4P’s future

FEATURES

Mental health supports for queer-identifying students at Queen’s

priorities, Al-shammaa mentioned prioritizing better support for students who identify as both BIPOC and queer.

“Kingston is predominantly white. That doesn’t mean there aren’t BIPOC queers, but they are a smaller minority within an already existing minority,” they said. “The fact [queer BIPOC students] have to choose between their BIPOC identity when they’re going into a space and just leave [their queer identity] behind because they know people in these spaces won’t understand.”

Much like Q4P, the Yellow House offers advising to support the wellbeing of queer-identifying students in addition to a variety of events and program.

Kel Martin, the sexual and gender diversity advisor at Yellow House, provided many examples of how Yellow House supports the mental health of queer-identifying students.

“Our programming involves working with professionals such as art therapists, counselors and other health professionals to offer events specifically focused on wellbeing,” Martin wrote in a statement to The Journal

Several of Yellow House’s initiatives focus on wellbeing. The Gender Splendor initiative serves as a support group for students that are trans, non-binary, gender diverse, and questioning students.

Another initiative called Queer Your Mind allows students to access mindfulness and meditation spaces at Yellow House.

Yellow House offers additional support to students in times of need like during Transgender Day of Remembrance.

“We also work closely with Athletics and Recreation to deliver programming focused on movement, as we know being active has a positive impact, on not just physical health but mental health as well,” Martin wrote.

Martin believes this helps queer-identifying students

not only meet peers, but also develop lasting friendships.

At the same time, Martin recognizes areas for improvement for the Yellow House’s support for queer-identifying students’ mental health.

“I think Yellow House’s next steps to improve supports for 2SLGBTQ+ students involve assessing our programming, evaluating the feedback we have gathered and using it to inform changes to our existing programming,” Martin wrote.

As for what is next, they mentioned Yellow House will continue the existing wellbeing programs while updating programming for the upcoming 2023-24 academic year.

“All of this programing is built with 2SLGBTQ+ students for 2SLGBTQ+ students, and thus we invite any ideas and feedback as we work through this planning stage,” Martin wrote.

Martin believes there are a few ways the University can better support the mental health of queer-identifying students.

“Continuing to increase 2SLGBTQ+ representation across the institution will bring meaningful change, specifically for frontline healthcare staff that students engage with,” they wrote.

“Keeping healthcare staff current through training on 2SLGBTQ+ affirming care and addressing systemic barriers 2SLGBTQ+ students face will help improve mental health and wellbeing for 2SLGBTQ+ students.” ***

Housed under the Human Rights and Equity Office (HREO), the Positive Space Program, is one of the oldest supports for queer students on campus. Established in 1999, the initiative aims to share information about sexual and gender diversity as well as create safer and more affirming spaces on campuses for queer-identifying students and staff.

According to Emma McCallum, the Education and Learning

Coordinator at the Centre for Teaching and Learning and the HREO, the Positive Space Program achieves these objectives by offering training in a two-part program.

“The first part is an online asynchronous module and then the second part is a live training where you come and join us. After you’ve done both parts, you then receive a sticker of completion,” McCallum told The Journal

The sticker serves as a display to demonstrate that one has completed the training, but also as a way of increasing awareness of the training.

“Sharing that kind of symbol and the message behind the programming [through the sticker] is [meant] to create safe and more affirming and welcoming campus environment for students, staff and faculty from the 2SLGBTQI+ community,” McCallum said.

McCallum highlighted the program is peer-led, meaning students deliver the program to participants.

While a team of “peer leads” and facilitators deliver the training program to various student groups throughout the year, the Positive Space Program becomes particularly active during orientation.

As for the program’s next steps, McCallum emphasized the need for hiring new peer leads and updating the program to reflect the latest I-EDIAA standards.

“I would say one of the things that’s tricky about doing I-EDIAA work is staying up-to-date with community and feedback and language as they shift and change,” she said.

“We’re always trying to prioritize the time to make the updates to the trainings and really do what we need to do in order to make sure that we’re staying in line with best practices.”

***

Unlike Q4P and the Positive

Space Program—both of which are primarily student-led initiatives—the Provost’s Action Group for Gender and Sexual Diversity (PAGGAS) is a small team made of faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students.

PAGGAS’ main objectives are to lay the groundwork for policy improvements in the University climate for faculty, staff, and students who identify as 2SLGBTQ+.

Dr. Lee Airton, an assistant professor of gender and sexuality studies and a member of PAGGAS, elaborated on PAGGAS’ work. “PAGGAS is a hub for gender and sexual diversity and action that is happening on campus. So we initiate changes when situations are brought to our attention and we bring the relevant players and people and rules together into the room,” Airton told The Journal

“When PAGGAS hears about student concerns about access to different kinds of resources on campus, PAGGAS can share those [concerns] directly with folks and senior leaders who are responsible for service provision.”

PAGGAS drafts reports that assess the university’s progress in terms of improving the climate for queer-identifying students.

In discussing how PAGGAS is committed to the mental health of queer-identifying students, Airton mentioned the group addresses the conditions which can support or hinder the mental health of queer-identifying students.

One specific example is gender-neutral washrooms—an issue widely understood as being linked to the mental health of trans and nonbinary youths.

“Research has shown trans students’ mental health, in particular, is affected by the availability of gender-neutral washrooms or gender-accessible washrooms and change rooms and post-secondary spaces,” Airton said.

‘We need to provide them with a space where they can feel comfortable and safe.’

Vineeth Jarabana

Features Editor

PHOTO BY HERBERT WANG

Several initiatives at Queen’s promoting the mental health of queer-identifying students.

The Viking Saga, a Nebraska high school’s award-winning student newspaper, was shut down by their school after publishing an LGBTQ+ pride issue.

Newspapers are responsible for delivering information to the public, requiring them to evaluate governing bodies critically and impartially. This desired impartiality creates a need for separation between newspapers and their administrative organizations, like governments or schools.

Such separation is less easily granted to high school newspapers because they’re run by minors. Schools and governments may want to monitor high school newspapers closely to preserve set social ideological beliefs.

American courts have established public school administrators can regulate or even censor students’ free speech if they have “legitimate” educational reasons to do so.

Shutting down the Viking Saga exemplifies censorship more than it does concern for its students or their education.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nebraska denounced the decision to shutter the newspaper, accusing the high school of censoring student journalism to obstruct acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals.

Just before the release of the issue, the School Board announced it would be disallowing students from using names or pronouns other than those assigned to them at birth.

This policy, followed by the striking down of a newspaper after its pride issue, are significantly suggestive of entrenched homophobia and transphobia by the school’s administrative bodies.

Lawmakers and school boards justify prohibiting young children from learning about LGBTQ+ history or identities by

The censorship of queerness in student media must end

claiming the possibility of confusing them, or somehow manipulating them out of their heterosexuality and cisgender-ness, but this argument isn’t defensible when applied to students in high school.

Teenagers are old enough to understand non-heterosexual relationships and gender identities not conforming to the cisgender

will inevitably encounter outside the classroom—the education for which cannot be solely entrusted to parents. For the well-being of students, schools have a responsibility to educate teenagers about such an essential, far-reaching topic, and to reflect the experiences of different sexual orientations when doing so.

binary. There’s no risk of confusing them, nor of encouraging them to question their sexuality or gender if they’re not already doing so.

Schools denying the existence of the queer community is by no means a display of neutrality. Silence implies disapproval and causes LGBTQ+ students to feel invalidated and excluded.

Sexuality is a part of life students

Granting a student’s request to go by a different name or pronouns will cause no harm. Denying that request forces students into the closet, with no regard for their safety.

Barring queer youth from finding acceptance and community has dire consequences. LGBTQ+ youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers.

Incidents like this high school’s censoring of queerness are blatantly oppressive and unacceptable. LGBTQ+ visibility validates the experiences and existence of queer individuals.

Asbah Ahmad Editor in Chief

The AMS needs a transparency upgrade

The AMS has a transparency problem, and it’s getting worse.

The AMS Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing the AMS’s strategic, fiduciary, and human resource direction on the corporate side.

In my time at Queen’s, I’ve been to numerous AMS assemblies. Every year, I’ve noticed the number of motions, reports, and general critical discourse from assembly members dwindle.

Something I’ve never covered for

of their constituents—Queen’s undergraduates—when it comes to understanding the use of their money.

On numerous occasions, The Journal has requested—per policy, and courtesy—through the Chair to see open-session minutes. The Board has failed to release documentation in every instance.

Shareholders of the AMS have the right to ask for this information, but the average student is not considered a shareholder—only those who sit

Until support for the LGBTQ+ community is incorporated into education, it is paramount that we protect such student-led inclusivity. This is not only an issue of free speech, but of child endangerment.

—

Journal Editorial Board

the intelligence of students to other students. Students have the right to know what their elected leaders—whose salaries they pay—are doing behind closed doors.

The media, particularly publicly funded media, such as The Journal, has both a right and an obligation to provide coverage to institutions that collect mandatory fees.

By leaving the media and students out of the conversation, the AMS is shooting themselves and their engagement levels in the foot. A public record in the media is better than any source of institutional memory.

My co-editor and I learned this when we found the AMS Board of Directors hadn’t updated The Journal’s post-financial probation operating guidelines for the next two years. This oversight was caught in time, but it’s emblematic of how much can be missed without a public record.

Want to contribute?

For

and Kingston community are welcome. The Journal reserves the right to edit all submissions. The Queen’s Journal is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Alma Mater Society of Queen’s University, Kingston. Situated on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. The Journal’s Editorial Board acknowledges the traditional territories our newspaper is situated on have allowed us to pursue our mandate. We recognize our responsibility to understand the truth of our history.

Editorial opinions expressed in The Journal are the sole responsibility of The Queen’s Journal Editorial Board, and are not necessarily those of the University, the AMS or their officers. 190 University Ave., Kingston, ON, K7L 3P4

Editorial Office: 613-533-2800

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Email: journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca

Please address complaints and grievances to the Editor in Chief and/or Managing Editor.

The Queen’s Journal is printed on a Goss Community press by Metroland Media in Toronto, Ontario.

Contents © 2023 by The Queen’s Journal; all rights reserved. No part

The Journal is an AMS Board of Directors open-session meeting. In fact, no Journal staffer has since 2015—not because we don’t want to, but simply because guest passes are not granted to anyone.

This is a problem.

Corporations do require some confidentiality, especially when dealing with human resource matters and supplier contracts with non-disclosure provisions. Most corporations don’t, however, collect student activity fees to run the majority of operations.

This puts an onus on the AMS to be responsive to demands

on AMS Assembly are. This is a deep inequity.

AMS executives love the word “transparency.” They love using the word as a campaign pillar and make it a mainstay in their marketing. Despite this, there’s little evidence to show they care to implement it.

On a technical level, the AMS is failing students. Past executives had the gall to tell student journalists students would be incapable of comprehending corporate information, and they withhold such documents for that reason. Past AMS executives justified their lack of transparency by indirectly insulting

AMS services, whether it be The Journal or any other AMS office or commission, are accountable to students. They should be able to question and receive answers about decisions made in these divisions of the AMS.

They can’t be expected to engage with them otherwise.

Denying both the media and students information isn’t a strategy for success—it creates a harmful distance from the everyday lives of constituent students.

From a student and constituent, do better for transparency, AMS.

Asbah is a fourth-year Biotechnology student and one of The Journal’s Editors in Chief.

ILLUSTRATION BY ARDEN MASON-OURIQUE

PHOTO BY HERBERT WANG

University policies have progressed since the late 20th century, but there's still room to grow

ERIN LeBLANC

Contributor

Being a member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community is not a lifestyle choice. It certainly was not a choice for me.

The only decision I made nine years ago was to survive. This meant transitioning to my authentic self.

It was a painful journey with great costs. Now, when I look in the mirror, I see my true self in the reflection. I couldn’t be happier, or more at peace.

Much of this journey took place during my time at Queen’s. Having spent over 35 years on this campus as a student, staff, and adjunct lecturer, I’ve observed and experienced the University’s progress in supporting the needs of its queer community.

When first diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder —now known as Gender Dysphoria—in the mid-1990s, I didn’t feel comfortable coming out.

In fact, I was terrified of the process.

I wasn’t prepared to transition into a society adverse to the queer community. As a Queen’s alumna and now staff member, I didn’t believe the University was fully equipped to support its transgender community.

Kingston’s then-limited resources were mostly underground. Moreover, no legislation existed under the Canadian Human Rights Code or

Criminal Code that offered people like me protection.

Feeling isolated and without proper help, I was forced to struggle alone. It took almost 25 years after being diagnosed before I realized my survival depended on deciding to be my authentic self and transition.

Thankfully, the conditions for the 2SLGBTQ+ community at Queen’s have vastly improved . Since my time as an undergraduate student, legislation supporting the queer community has increased in quantity and quality. The University’s own policy reflects an institution that values diversity.

It took a long time for us to get here.

In 2015, my first step after transitioning was to ascertain what protections Queen’s offered to trans students. Upon calling the Human Rights office, I learned about provincial protections like Bill 33 (Toby’s Act), as well as certain policies at Queen’s to protect someone like me.

This was a surprising and welcome revelation.

Federal legislation followed in 2016 with the passage of Bill C16, an amendment made to the Canadian Human Rights Code and the Criminal Code. This legislation specified all people were protected against discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression. It clarified that such discrimination could be classified as hate crimes.

Though these changes mark a significant win for the 2SLGBTQ+ rights, the community deserved better conditions far sooner.

Federalandprovinciallegislation laid necessary groundwork for the University to advance its resources for the queer community. Though some school policy existed when I

came out, there weren’t any specific gender-affirming processes established to support transitioning individuals.

It was difficult to make necessary name and gender marker changes when the University lacked a centralized system for all their records. The administration didn’t realize how challenging it was to update personnel, financial, student, library, and athletics information due this oversight.

I decided to use my own experiences to advocate for others and help establish transition guidelines. For my contribution in this work, I was named a co-recipient of the 2017 Tri-Award.

Now, there’s a greater number of services and resources available for students and staff at Queen’s.

One example is the Positive Space Program, created by the Human Rights Office. This program provides educational opportunities regarding inclusivity for individuals and departments at Queen’s.

Positive space stickers are displayed in classes and facilities, and on personal belongings to celebrate gender and sexual diversity.

There’s been grassroots efforts to better support queer staff . While existing less formally for 15 years, the Queen’s University Association for Queer Employees (QUAQE) was finally recognized and named an official Employee Resource Group (ERG) by the University in 2020.

QUAQE has since become an integral resource for 2SLGBTQ+ staff. I feel fortunate for my involvement with a group of talented and dedicated staff.

When I came out during my time on staff with the Smith School of Business, it was a tremendously positive experience thanks to the

work of so many before me, as well as the Human Rights Office and other policy drivers. They listened, allowed me to control my transition process, and provided encouragement throughout my entire journey.

I was pleased to know Queen’s hadn’t completely buried its head in the sand—here was commendable willingness to ensure measures were in place to help transgender students and staff.

Unfortunately, things have changed since I transitioned. In a climate of renewed hostility, the 2SLGBTQ+ community is under attack again, with transgender people specifically being targeted.

It appears we have travelled back in time.

While most of the transphobic rhetoric is coming from south of the border, it nonetheless has a toxic effect on those residing in Canada. An attack on trans people in one country is an attack on trans people everywhere.

The number of anti-transgender bills proposed in the United States has risen from 174 in 2022 to 557 so far in 2023. They include bathroom bills, banning use of correct pronouns, and criminalizing the provision of gender-affirming care for minors in Oklahoma.

Organizations north of the 49th parallel appear to be fuelled by the US’s zealousness to revoke queer rights. It isn’t just an existential threat to those in the USA—it’s becoming more prominent within our borders. Vandalisms of pride signs and flags on private property and businesses is on the rise. On the political stage, People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier recently announced his legislative platform to eliminate gender affirming care for all minors.

Amidst the brimming prejudice,

Queen’s cannot take its foot off the gas. Resources must continue to be made available to staff and students alike. More effort should be made to improve the lives of queer students and staff on campus. Complacency is unacceptable.

Queen’s must specifically address how growing anti-trans sentiment impacts transgender students and staff. With growing angst and discomfort in the community, the University must work to overcome the typical barriers associated with seeking mental health services and provide accessible counselling and medical support.

Additionally, public statements reinforcing the intolerance for transphobic and homophobic behaviour must be forceful, frequent, and must continue beyond pride week.

Potential partnerships and speakers must continue to be vetted to ensure they comply with Queen’s values and policies. Emphasizing funding for ongoing positive space training for faculty, staff, and students is non-negotiable.

During my time at Queen’s as a student, staff and adjunct faculty, great strides were made. Let’s ensure this progress isn’t eroded. Together, we must continue to stand for the under-represented and targeted communities, and continue moving towards a better future.

Erin LeBlanc is a ArtSci’ 82 and Law’ 12 graduate, as well as a former lecturer and Director of Strategic Program Development and Accreditation with the Smith School of Business.

Amid growing hostility, Queen’s must be vigilant to protect queer community from re-isolation

Erin reflects on how Queen’s support for the 2SLGBTQ+ community has evolved in her time as a student

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY ERIN LEBLANC

ARTS

Drag queens display storytelling and comedic skills

Continued from front page...

In an interview with The Journal, Kristen Lemay, manager of branches and collections at KFPL discussed the importance of providing a diverse and accepting community when hosting drag queen storytime.

She said the library wants to promote positivity and inclusivity for all ages.

The library picks its selection of books based on the themes and lessons reflected for the event. Some may be more gender-focused while others provide an understanding of different ways of living authentically when the drag queens read them to the crowd.

It’s okay to Be Different by Todd Parr emphasizes the importance of looking at the parts about oneself they think could be different and realizing they’re okay.

From Head to Toe by Eric Carle is a repeat after me book that has the audience getting on their feet and moving their bodies. The classic tune, “The Wheels on the Bus” lends Lil Hot Mess’ book The Hips on the Drag Queen go Swish, Swish, Swish some drag queen glamour and fun to the event.

“Drag is a really great time to give kids a chance to see people who are living their authentic selves,” Dare de LaFemme said.

Kingston’s drag scene has adult and children audiences

Drag storytime provides the opportunity to have younger age groups involved with the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

Education comes out of the classroom and into the square in a creative space where children can have fun, Lemay said.

The daytime drag story hour was full of colour, laughter and books for families and younger audiences. But at night, the Grad Club offered drag with all its flamboyance, camp, and raunch for adult audiences.

Sitting on the first floor of the creaky wooden floor of the Grad Club, Sherry Anne Hex enters the red-draped stage, and Drag Me to Pride begins with the classic, “F—k you, B—tch.”

This iconic Kingston drag phrase is a response from the audience when asked how they’re doing.

Hex hosted Drag Me to Pride, a bar event alongside Eden Moore on June 14 at the Grad club and brought performers from both Kingston and Ottawa together on the stage.

“If I can entertain you, make you laugh, make you smile, or make you feel better about life. Even just a little bit. I’ve done my job,” Hex said in an interview with The Journal.

The community is vast, and despite Drag Me to Pride being performed in Kingston, the other drag performers, Tony Tequila, Honey Jack, and Abysskiss are based out of Ottawa and Montreal.

Hex invited Honey Jack to perform in Kingston over Instagram. There is a sense of home and roots in Kingston that can’t be ignored when stepping into the drag world.

In the early ‘90s, Tyffanie Morgan was one of the only drag queens

to perform at Kingston bars with little to no pay. Now, according to Hex, drag is exploding in Kingston, allowing both children and adults to get a glimpse into the events of pride.

“There were a few other performers starting out around the same time, but not nearly as many as we have now. When I started, I was almost instantly welcomed into the community,” Hex said.

She described her style of drag as very old school with a bit of Broadway, some camp and lots of shade. ‘Camp’ refers to something a little outrageous, but unique, and ‘shade’ refers to when the performer gets the audience to laugh at themselves. Hex called herself an insult comedy queen—with love and kindness.

“It’s like when you spank someone and then rub it in. That’s the general

comparison I make to my style of drag.”

Despite Hex being from Hamilton she didn’t choose bigger cities like Toronto or Montreal as her home base. She chose Kingston because there was an opportunity for her to be on the open stage without the pressure of constantly competing for shows.

“If I had been doing drag anywhere else, I wouldn’t be nearly as far along in my career as I am in Kingston.”

Though she is influenced by old Broadway legends like Ethel Merman and drag stars Mrs. Kasha Davis and Jinkx Monsoon, drag is personal to her.

“Drag is truly a love letter to my grandmother and mother […] my grandmother loves wearing ’50s swing dresses, pearls, big glasses, and really funky heels,” Hex said.

While performing at the

Memorial Centre Farmers Market for Drag Bingo, Hex saw many kids in attendance.

“I think drag now more than ever is about kindness and community,” Hex said.

“There was this one little girl just looking at me wide-eyed and with a big, goofy smile on her face. That’s just the reaction you want.”

In regard to the Kingston drag scene’s unique essence, she said it’s incredibly diverse in the variety of performances the audience can see.

“You get a buffet of drag that you don’t see all the time. In big cities like Toronto and Ottawa it’s very much popstar, pretty fashion model.”

Hex loves the drag scene because she gets to see the whole crowd laugh at her comedy. She gets to see them laugh so much they forget to breath.

‘Just to Please You’ is a love letter to the Skeleton Park neighbourhood

more positive themes speaking to the band’s life in the Skeleton Park neighbourhood.

Just to Please You is the band’s way of celebrating family, friends, and neighbors. The album offers a “lighter approach” through the presence of love songs on the discography.

Change in production impacted the overall sound. Emergency to Emergency was co-produced by Matt Rogalksy and Jason Mercer. Since the band’s emergence Rogalksy’s been the band’s producer. Whereas Just to Please You gave Mercer his first shot at solo producing for The Gertrudes.

versatile. Mercer worked with artists like Ani DiFranco and Ron Sexsmith, toured internationally, and is knowledgeable about the evolving music scene.

“We’re just interested in new ideas and new approaches and supporting [Mercer] as a producer [whose] just getting started with his studio within the last couple of years on Wolfe Island,” Tilson said.

While Mercer was a key player for the development of this upcoming album, there’s more to the creative process.

Maddie Hunt Senior Arts Editor

The Gertrudes hope to bring fresh sounds and positive lyricism to the Kingston community following the release of their upcoming album

Just to Please You

Last week The Gertrudes

band leader, Greg Tilson, spoke to The Journal about their upcoming album. The anticipated album, set to release August 18, will have refined sounds and more positive themes, and lyrics than its predecessor album Emergency to Emergency

“Emergency to Emergency was pretty much in response

to all of the crises that we were facing, and still are in many cases in the neighborhood [...] we were addressing a lot of issues like addictions, mental health, and homelessness,” Tilson said.

Written as what Tilson calls a love letter to the neighbourhood, the upcoming album offers

“You’ll hear a lot more space on the album in terms of production […] I think Jason Mercer has kept us in check with how we’re more selective with the sounds”

Tilson said.

A driving force of why The Gertrudes decided to change their tune from how they traditionally write and produce was attributed to Mercer’s background.

Tilson noted despite Mercer’s position as a musician he is highly

Within the collective of creative minds, there are a lot of creative juices flowing, fueling artistic processes, Tilson said. He noted himself and his wife, Annie Clifford, are the primary songwriters bringing material to weekly rehearsals.

“[The band members are] bringing, an eclectic style of music and [the] approach is just songwriting and recording. It’s just kind of always happening.

Story Continued on page 10...

GRAPHIC BY HERBERT WANG

Kingston is the emerging scene for new drag.

PHOTO BY JOSEPH MARIATHASAN

...Continued from page 9

It’s not something we sit down and say, ‘now we will write the album—it’s just we’re already working on the next album.’”

The band leader acknowledged

their privilege—not only do they have a variety of creative minds constantly bringing new ideas—they have resources to work on their craft—a luxury not many have. Tilson said performing for free within the Skeleton Park

neighbourhood is important to their artistic process.

“We’re doing a lot in the Skeleton Park neighborhood [...]. [We help] organize the Skeleton Park Arts Festival. Members of the band help publish The Skeleton Press

newspaper. We run a free concert series at Next Church where we play and where we rehearse weekly, at times, bi-weekly,” Tilson said.

“We hope to be doing this for the rest of [our lives], especially now we’ve got our kids in the

band. We’re in it for the long haul, I think we’re all rooted here in the neighborhood. There’s definitely no end in sight whatsoever.”

Queer smut is shifting away from themes of violence and unattainable love

can be taken advantage of when grooming—perhaps rape, become the standard for queer sexual experiences in literature.

It’s worrying many erotic novels such as Captive Prince by C. S. Pacat feature slavery, rape, or taking advantage of minors as key themes. The book begins with Prince Damen being taken as a slave in the enemy country, where he enters the royal court of our second protagonist Prince Laurent.

Here they begin a love-hate relationship and Pacat writes a non-consensual oral sex scene a portrayed as romantic. The plot features an underage relationship, perpetuating the harmful stereotype of an older gay man as a pedophile.

where the reader wonders if the two women will ever fall in love.

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole features two Black women who end up in a whirlwind New York City romance.

Within smut there’s a sense of honesty, a vulnerability where one can expose themselves to the language of the reader. Readers can experience their kinks, turn-ons, and climaxes without shame or fear.

Some authors have focused on queer smutty romances featuring consenting adults.

Suzy Leinster Assistant Arts Editor

This article discusses sexual assault and may be triggering for some readers. The Journal uses “survivor” to refer to those who have experienced sexual assault. We acknowledge this term is not universal.

Queer love in most literature continues to end in some kind of separation. The two characters die,

or they break up and unattainability of love becomes the main theme.

The Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller speaks to the trials of a Greek romance between Achilles and Patroclus. This heart-wrenching retelling of the Trojan wars is a beautiful depiction of a romance between two men and pulls the reader in with its emphasis on inter-personal connection during war.

The tragic ending between the two is historically accurate, yet saddens the reader as another queer couple is subject to the impossibility of their love being fulfilled. The death of the two characters feels as if the canon of queer romance is speaking to a love which can’t exist quite yet—or

Katarokwi market is vital for Kingston’s culture

Kingston showcases Indigenous art and culture

Maddie Hunt Senior Arts Editor

There is no cultural centre, no friendship centre, nor a continuously running exhibit dedicated to sharing Indigenous art and culture on a weekly basis in Ontario. The Katarokwi Indigenous Art and Food Market changes this.

Every Sunday from June 4 to Sept. 24, the Katarokwi Indigenous Art and Food Market runs in Springer Market Square, celebrating and sharing Indigenous art and culture with the Kingston community.

Georgina Riel, the owner, and CEO of RIEL Cultural Consulting

coordinated this market with the aid of Tourism Kingston and the City of Kingston. The market runs in the month of June as it’s National Indigenous People’s month.

“Indigenous people within the city of Kingston, [have] limited resources. There’s limited cultural resources for engagement. Having this market is very communal base.

It is important for a community perspective to have that presence,” Riel said.

Riel’s involvement in the Kingston community is no surprise as she is the former director of Four Directions Indigenous Student Centre.

According to Riel the market is dedicated to showcasing Indigenous people to Kingston and Ontario as a whole. A variety of Indigenous culture is presented through food, artists, and artisans’ works—such as jewelry, musicians, authors,

at all.

The erasure of love continues to be a prominent theme seen in queer smut. Many people’s first experience with sexually explicit material comes from pornographic media, and it can be damaging to only grasp sex through violence.

Smut fiction acts as an alternative to porn available today. Literature and the privacy of reading about sex has emerged as a top form for getting turned on, but it’s not impermeable to scenes of abuse which are seen in much of today’s porn.

Of course, smut is not supposed to depict real-life relationships. It’s about being hot and heavy, and giving control to the most erotic desires possible.

This sense of sexual freedom

There is no room for kink shaming those who have different sexual tastes, but there’s something concerning about the amount of violent sex being depicted in queer smut.

In the limited queer smut literature, the frequency of violence is abundant. Queer love in smut is consistently—and harmfully—coded in the negative. Either as something unattainable, or sexually violent.

Despite these depictions in the genre, there’s hope for finding smut that’ll get any reader ready for a hot June pride.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters sweeps the reader into a Dickensesque mystery thriller with action and romance between the protagonist Sue and Maud Lilly. The tension and what-if moments build a suspense

Sinclair Sexsmith is an avid writer on all things sex and has multiple online platforms featuring erotica for all. The way lust is expressed is seen through many different lenses and it is beginning to blossom in the form of graphic novels, fanfiction communities, and even blogs.

Cleis Press features great erotica novels for the community and EZINE: Smut Peddlers: Lusting in Isolation is available for free download. These are great options for reading about sex and relationships because they offer a range of kinks and couples appealing to queer readers.

These books offer the reader an alternative format to the kinds of stories with problematic tropes seen in the past. They speak to consenting sex and love beyond the violence of past stories.

Lie down, put those LEDs on red, or perhaps rainbow, and get comfortable as you begin to find the climax of queer smut fiction.

and carvers.

This market is important because there’s nothing like it, Riel said. This market is the only one in Ontario.

The market offers a space where the community can engage with Indigenous culture—whether that be simply attending the market and experiencing the atmosphere, or directly engaging with the artists

and artisans.

“The people who are there, the artists, the artisans, they want to engage in conversation. They want you to learn, they want you to know about their nation, what they do, how they came to be,” Riel said.

Riel believes the richness of a city is derived from its visible culture. The market showcases a multitude of Indigenous nations’ culture and art.

According to her, it’s important

to continue celebrating Indigenous culture, but in Kingston specifically, as the City’s waterways were welcome in many nations to travel.

“Trust me every year, we’re going to keep coming back. And every year it just keeps getting bigger and the importance of it is the viability. Culture is essential in Kingston. When we stop supporting culture, that is a city that dies.”

The Katarokwi Indigenous Art and Food Market runs every Sunday.

PHOTO BY ASBAH AHMAD

From historical literature to more contemporary, smut is evolving

The experience of sex in literature.

GRAPHIC BY HERBERT WANG

Team offers multiple educational opportunities

Herbert Wang Senior Photos Editor

The Queen’s Space Engineering Team (QSET) is representing Queen’s at the highest level of competition.

As a design team, QSET offers the opportunity for student to gain engineering experience within its two teams: Rover and Satellite. Both teams build from the ground up to compete within their fields of specialization.

Team Rover competed this summer at the international stage at the University Rover Challenge (USR) against 37 hand-picked teams from across the globe.

“Our rover needs to be fully mechanically and electrically designed by students and programmed by students as well,” Owen Hooper, Sci ’22 and the CTO of the QSET rover team said in an interview with The Journal.

The team is split into mechanical, electrical, and science sub teams, each of which work together to achieve overall functionality of the rover.

“The competition is basically seeking to cover all aspects of what a rover would want to do on Mars,” Lily de Loë, Sci ’22 and the captain of the QSET rover team stated.

Tasks included looking at rocks and soil to determine whether they host life, while testing the dexterity and fine motor ability of an onboard motor arm.

“Of the four missions, the one

Queen’s Space Engineering Team best among Canadian circuit

we performed most strongly in was science […] the team was able to correctly identify every single one of the rocks, and soil sites,” de Loë remarked.

Their strong results across the different parts of the competition ensured a seventh-place finish overall, and the highest placement amongst Canadian teams. All despite numerous complications during the competition.

Behind the success of the teams is a design cycle that spans across the school year, with the long-term future of the team in mind.

“It’s essentially based on the

scale of what we can do in the year, we, the team chooses a few main points of failure to address in a design cycle. Then every two to three years, you end up with a rover that’s completely unlike the last iteration,” de Loë said.

Hooper emphasized the importance of growing and mentoring members into specific roles as part of their long-term planning.

“We usually try—especially if one of these roles is someone who’s graduating—to onboard someone else into that role. For instance, this year we had a second year, and she

was our mission controller for most of the tasks,” Hooper said Despite the completive side of the team, both Hooper and de Loë acknowledge the benefit of QSET on their academic career.

“Best thing I did at Queen’s is join QSET, it’s taught me far more than any of my classes have combined. It’s given me an opportunity to gain experience I never been able to get as an undergraduate student,” Hooper said.

Experiences including working with spectrometers and GPS, while learning important engineering concepts such as control theory

and computer programming.

“What I say to a lot of people who come up to us and ask about joining is don’t be intimidated by not having these skills. Nobody has any skills when they join. That’s the whole point you will gain them by doing it” Hooper said.

With files from Asbah Ahmad

queensjournal.ca/businessscience-technology

Rover on mars-like soil with arms and all.

Former Gael to compete in Pacific Four Series

Sophie de Goede to compete alongside partner, Emma Taylor

RORY STINSON Senior Sports Editor

Looking to qualify for the women’s international 15s rugby tournament (WXV), Queen’s alum, Sophie de Goede, is leading Canada’s team to greater success.

In July, de Goede and her teammates on the Rugby Canada Women’s XV team will be kicking off against Australia and New Zealand on home soil in Ottawa, as part of the Pacific Four Series Tournament.

This tournament is an opportunity for her team to

become the first Canadian 15s team to beat New Zealand. In order to qualify for the WXV tournament, Canada must come out of this tournament in the top three.

Recently named captain of the Canadian team, the opportunity to compete in this tournament caps off a long list of achievements for de Goede. As a dual-sport athlete in her time at Queen’s, de Goede was named in the Top 8 Academic All-Canadians for the 2019-20 season when she played on the women’s rugby and basketball teams. When raving about the support she received during her athletic career, she credited her parents as her biggest supporters.

“They were both elite athletes themselves, and so having the opportunity to learn from them... [and having them] be there as guidance when needed has been huge,” she said.

De Goede emphasized her time at Queen’s played a major role in her athletic development.

“Trying to do both sports at Queen’s could only be done with the support of teammates and coaches and the Athletics and Recreation staff,” she said.

“Having those types of coaches and those types of teams and the opportunities to work on leadership taught me so many valuable lessons,” she said. “I actually feel like my experience in University set me up

U Sports commits to Safe Sport

really well to take the next step.”

In the upcoming tournament, de Goede will compete alongside her current partner, Emma Taylor.

“I think it’s a really unique opportunity to be able to play on the national team with your partner and have your person there at all moments of the day,” she said.

“There are some great days—and it’s cool to celebrate that with your partner—but there are some hard days and it’s nice to have that person there that you can go chat to.”

De Goede and Taylor celebrated their two-year anniversary on April 10.

In an Instagram post from Jan. 1, 2022, Taylor recounted the

A&R outlined it had taken measures at the time, such as updating training for players and staff, which included LGBTQ+ inclusivity as a key focus for the Varsity Leadership Council (VLC), and implementing peer-led intiatives.

“We remain determined to ensure that all team cultures are respectful and inclusive, and that every athlete feels a sense of belonging, feels supported, and can fully express themselves as individuals, on and off the field of play,” A&R said. The Journal was unable to reach Hillary for a statement in time for publication.

Moving forward, Queen’s A&R also shared their support for Safe Sport.

year previous sharing gratitude for various rugby and general life moments.

“Thank you for bringing me the most beautiful human and the best friend that I could ask for. I’d go through this all over again to end up right here with you,” she wrote in the caption, tagging de Goede.

De Goede and Taylor will face off against New Zealand on July 8 and against Australia on July 14. Both games will be held at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa. Fans looking to buy tickets to the tournament can purchase them on Ticketmaster.

Queen’s A&R is working towards a more inclusive community.

Queen's to implement inclusivity practices after years of silence about homophobia in athletics

RORY STINSON

Senior Sports Editor

This article discusses homophobia and may be triggering for some readers. The phone number for LGBT YouthLine: 1-800-268-9688.

In May, the Canadian Minister of Sports Pascale St-Onge, and U Sports made public commitments to Safe Sport, a program dedicated to eliminating physical, sexual and psychological abuse.

While Queen's Athletics and Recreatoin (A&R) made the same commitment, this wasn't always the case for LGBTQ+ student-athletes.

In 2018, Donovan Hillary penned a letter about the homophobia he faced on teh Queen's football team in 2015.

His experience eventually led him to transfer universities.

Hillary explained homophobic jokes weren’t where his teammates drew the line.

“I found that the football environment at a liberal arts school was much more homophobic than I was anticipating,” he wrote.

Feeling Queen’s lacked resources necessary to support him, Hillary’s experiences caused his love for the game to deteriorate. At the end of his first year,

Hillary transferred to the University of Manitoba and continued playing football for the Winnipeg Rifles.

When Hillary first spoke out, no public comment was made by the University or A&R.

Five years later, A&R is making a public statement regarding Hillary’s accusations. This comes after an inquiry from The Journal.

"We were very sadden to learn of the negative and harmful experiences of a former student athlete when they were shared publicly in 2018, and sincerely regret this was their experience while at Queen’s,” A&R wrote. “We recognize the strength and courage it took for this athlete to speak out, and we took his story very seriously.”

“All of our efforts align with the Minister of Sport’s commitment to Safe Sport, and we continue to engage with USPORTS, the OUA, and our peer institutions to implement best practices as Safe Sport evolves,” it wrote.

“Safe Sport is a critical component of all levels of sport and we aim to be leaders inthis space, and support all participants in being safe, on and off the field of play ”

In the 2022-23 season, A&R partnered with Yellow House Student Centre for Equity and Inclusion to host programs such as QTBIPoC Hikes and Solidarity Swims for trans, nonbinary, or other gender-diverse persons.

A&R also mentioned its commitment to I-EDIAA, and credited student-led clubs as paving the way for creating more training opportunities and special initiatives.

Training was extended to staff as well.

“A&R has developed and

maintained a rigorous and comprehensive I-EDIAA training protocol, that included 20+ hours dedicated to online and in-person training completed by every staff member, coach and administrator in 2022-23,” A&R said.

Training topics in 2022-23 included: sexual and gender diversity and language; safe spaces; allyship; and understanding, building, and developing Indigenization, equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-racism and accessibility.

Additional A&R partnerships include initiatives with the Human Rights and Equity Office, Four Directions, and the Office of Indigenous Initiatives.

A&R remains confident they're committing to creating a safe community in Queen’s recreational and athletic spaces and promoting the values of Safe Sport. To improve the understanding of Safe Sport for all staff, coaches, and student-athletes, the month of September is now the annual Safe Sport month within athletics and recreation at Queen’s. A&R said this is part of an ongoing process to develop training that align with Safe Sport’s goals.

“This is an ongoing process; there is much work to do,” said A&R. “But we are dedicated to continuing to work with, and learn from, our students, staff and coaches, and the broader campus, local and national sport communities to continually do and be better.”

Interested in writing for the sports section? Contact journal_ sports@ams.lifestyle.ca for more

De Goede discusses her route to international competition.

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL

PHOTO BY HERBERT WANG

Vanier Cup coming to Queen's for 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons

AIDAN MICHEALOV

Assistant Sports Editor

With Queen’s set to host the Vanier Cup for the 2023-24, and 2024-25 seasons, Kingston will become a mecca for Canadian football.

The Gaels will host the championship games at Richardson Stadium, sparking anticipation and excitement among Kingston locals and football enthusiasts province-wide.

The Gaels hoisted the Vanier Cup on four separate occasions; 1968, 1978, 1992, and 2009. With the Vanier Cup coming to their home turf, the Gaels have the opportunity to compete for their fifth title.

Led by Head Coach Steve Snyder, Queen’s looks to surpass their 2022-23 finish of second place where they fell to the Western Mustangs at the Yates Cup. This year, the team hopes to secure a first place finish with the Vanier Cup in tow.

"Our number one goal will be to be the most respected team on campus and in the community. Then our number two goal will be to improve every day. Our number three goal will be to win the Yates Cup championship, and then, you know, if we’re successful in that,

Miles Brackenbury and Milana McNamee

discuss the athletics community at Queen's

RORY STINSON

Senior Sports Editor

With hectic schedules, student-athletes often find themselves surrounded by the same people for long hours each week. For this dynamic to be successful, strong relationships must be fostered. Miles Brackenbury is proud to say that they are.

As Captain of the cross-country team and Co-president of the Varsity Leadership Council (VLC), Brackenbury recognizes the unique features setting the sports community apart.

“The night before our championship, our team got together, and we had a meeting.

[It] got emotional and that was really powerful to have,” he told The Journal in an interview.

“I think that was a testament to how close we were and when everyone was getting ready to perform at their best, they were just really grateful to have those people around them.”

Queen's to host Vanier Cup

we’ll quickly re-channel ourselves to the national semi-final and then the Vanier Cup,” Snyder said in an interview with The Journal.

Snyder praised his coaching staff’s approach to psychological strength. While the football season comes with a whirlwind of emotions and challenges, a systematic stay steady approach allows them to stay focused throughout the gruelling season.

“That [approach] speaks to the emotional balance that we go through, our preparation and our

sore or injured from the day before, it's a bit of a grind,” she said. “[By chasing] the common goal of the group and ultimately the team. You’re creating a bond and you get that sense of trust amongst your teammates.”

McNamee and Brackenbury are both involved with the VLC.

competition. Big moments. So, we’ve done a good job of staying steady, focusing on day-to-day improvement and not riding the emotional rollercoaster ride,” he said.

With a committed fanbase, Snyder is hopeful communal support and student engagement with the Gaels will propel the team to the first seed position so narrowly missed last season.

Ahead of the football season, Snyder also hopes Kingston

home games.

“Getting [athletes] to cheer on their fellow student-athletes, whether it’s a sport they love to watch or a sport that they've never played or watched before and that’s really taken off,” McNamee said.

“If you’ve been at a home game at Queen’s [...] it can get pretty electric

can be a part of a mutually inspiring relationship between the football team, and the Queen’s community.

"They are playing for you. They really are. You can ask our players that nothing gets them going, and even more proud and excited about their performance and our university and the brand than looking up and seeing all the students there,” he said.

For fans eager to watch the Vanier Cup

coming together, working towards one common goal whether that’s someone working facilities or a student-athlete on the court or a fan in the crowd,” said McNamee.

McNamee emphasized the term student-athlete doesn’t always exclusively mean varsity athletes, but encompasses all students

live, there are several ways to secure tickets. Tickets are currently available online through the official Queen’s Gaels ticket website, Richardson Stadium and some local retailers will also offer physical tickets.

www.queensjournal.ca/sports

mentioned measures teams have taken to make the LGBTQ+ community feel welcome in their spaces as well.

“In the past, our volleyball teams have created an LGBTQ+ pride awareness evening," She said. "One of the women’s volleyball players actually designed a T-shirt for the student-athletes to wear during warm-up.”

Additional initiatives aimed to build community include a food drive organized by the VLC each year for Martha’s Table.

“You kind of struggle towards your goals and you overcome a lot and really lean on your teammates

The VLC aims to foster relationships

Bonds ignited by sport

Comprised of members from all varsity teams on campus, the council aims to promote a positive image of Queen's Athletics by fostering a student-athlete community through team building events and support at home games.

and you can see the pockets of student-athletes.”

“There’s always a great turnout of a collection day and a transport day and then all the operations of getting food from student-athletes, organized, to a space, to then go back to Martha’s Table. Having that sense of we did something together that’s good for our community creates a sense of pride and I think a bit of joy,” McNamee said.

Speaking to the strength of relationships formed in athletics, Brackenbury attributed shared goals as contributing to a strong social fabric.

Milana McNamee, Queen’s interim manager of athlete education, training & leadership development spoke to the social aspect of athletics.

“Working hard and sweating and maybe being a little bit

McNamee believes the VLC’s student-run initiatives foster and uphold friendships for many athletes.

One of their programs is called Gold Rush, which encourages athletes to attend other teams’

“I’ve got to give a shout-out to women’s rugby. You’ll see them at a basketball game just being the loudest fans in the building and you really see that school spirit,” Brackenbury said.

Both Brackenbury and McNamee mentioned strong attendance from those who aren’t varsity student-athletes have at games.

“It’s nice to see everyone

who engage in club sports and intramurals at Queen’s. She mentioned all athletics present opportunities for strong connections.

Brackenbury also noted it’s not solely current students showing their support at games—alumni and community members also attend.

"They're really proud to see athletes in this city excelling and see high calibre sports," he said.

Within Queen’s Athletics and Recreational spaces, McNamee

“I think what makes sports relationships so strong and deep and long-lasting is this kind of shared goal as well as shared work ethic and struggle, because it’s not always easy,” Brackenbury said.

"You kind of struggle towards your goals and you overcome a lot and really lean on your teammates.

“That’s a pretty cool bond that is unique and sets it apart.”

between student-athletes.

PHOTO BY HERBERT WANG

“They’re really proud to see athletes in this city excelling and see high calibre sports

PHOTO BY CURTIS HEINZL

Queen's to host the Vanier Cup for the first time this year.

Queer kisses that paved the way for queer romance on TV

love, the entertainment industry has come a long way when it comes to queer representation.

Sharing kisses is the main symbol on TV to portray romantic affection, removing any opportunity to perceive entangled characters as anything but queer.

as one-note villains, they have since evolved into viable love interests. Here is a brief glimpse at some staples in queer representation on TV that demonstrate the cultural climate of their time and show the silver screen’s push for better representation.

L.A Law (1991)

they preach by having two women kiss on-screen and show interest in pursuing a relationship.

Despite showing a groundbreaking scene, the show didn’t follow through with the romance.

Nevertheless, it demonstrates a cultural shift in TV and was pivotal in shaping the landscape of US media. This episode of L.A. Law helped pave the way for shows to push the boundaries and begin representing intentional queer couples.

Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001)

Xena: Warrior Princess doesn’t just have one queer kiss to focus on, but several kisses peppered throughout the show. While the eponymous character Xena and her companion, Gabrielle, are acknowledged as love interests by viewers today, the show portrayed these characters as good friends while allowing kisses through clever writing that disguised the characters’ romantic aspirations.

homosexual relationships weren’t normalized in mainstream media.

Dawson’s Creek (2000)

The kiss between Jack McPhee and his love interest, Ethan, is among one of TV’s first gay kisses in season three finale, titled “True Love.” While Topher Grace and Joseph Gordon-Levitt previously shared a kiss as Eric and Buddy in an episode of That 70s Show, this kiss is between a gay character and heterosexual character, and mostly played for a joke.

The kiss between Jack and Ethan is part of a more progressive storyline. With both characters being gay and romantically involved, the kiss comes as a part of a larger romantic storyline that spans a whole season rather than being limited to a single episode’s narrative arc.

Uwineza Mugabe

Senior Lifestyle Editor

Until recently, queerness was censored or excluded from TV show plotlines. Though shows like Heartstopper freely depict queer

Local businesses show pride in their communities instead being afraid of their customers

Uwineza Mugabe

Senior Lifestyle Editor

With renewed hatred towards the queer community, pride this year is as important as ever.

As the LGBTQ+ community became more visible, companies started to openly advertise to them. For major companies, the LGBTQ+ community presented a new demographic to target with ad campaigns.

Anheuser-Busch recently partnered with trans TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney to promote Bud Light. This partnership sparked controversy and led to an excess of anti-trans hate levied towards Mulvaney and the brewery.

In the wake of this partnership, employees of the brewery received a barrage of death threats. Videos of angry consumers throwing away Bud Light appeared, while Kid Rock posted a video of himself shooting cases of Bud Light to protest the partnership. Other consumers elected to boycott the

Examining the history of queer kisses on TV lets us see the evolution from the censorship of queer romances to the explicit representation of queerness in entertainment. Though not long ago queer characters were written

L.A. Law is a US legal drama that features primetime TV’s first official lesbian kiss between characters C.J. Lamb and Abby Perkins—long before some of the more well-known firsts in queer TV history.

In the episode “He’s a Crowd,” the characters share a light but intense smooch. As a show known for touching on difficult and controversial topics, the show is evidentially willing to practice what

The queerness of these kisses was hidden with a variety of magical excuses, with Xena and Gabrielle kissing to save each other’s lives or transfer magical abilities to one another. In one case, Xena inhabits the body of a man and kisses Gabrielle. Though the kiss was written to mask a queer scene with a heterosexual appearance, the romantic intent is clear.

With a pair of strong characters and clear queer coding, this show remains iconic in the queer community for its genuine attempt to portray a lesbian relationship between Xena and Gabrielle at a time when

This kiss helps normalize gay affection in TV by having a gay character demonstrate his romantic feelings in a serious manner with his queerness on explicit display to viewers.

The positive feedback from viewers showed production studios that audiences were interested in shows that featured gay romances. After this episode of Dawson’s Creek, more shows began to portray genuine queer romances that were not written to be jokes, but instead serious plotlines.

brewery, leading to a decline of Bud Light sales.

Eventually the brand started to distance themselves from the influencer, showing that Anheuser-Busch would rather prioritize having the support of a transphobic customer base over supporting the LGBTQ+ community.

While Bud Light buckled under the weight of controversy, Kingston’s small businesses

openly and proudly support the queer community.

This pride month, small businesses in Kingston banded together to host pride activities from June 11 to 17.

To kick off the pride week, Kingston Nexus held a pride board game night. As a space that holds routine events for queer game lovers, Kingston Gaming Nexus is a perpetual safe space for queer people in Kingston. Making it fitting

that kicked off the week full of pride-centred events.

A diverse variety of events made pride more accessible.

Kingston businesses held events for different types of people, ranging from trivia for the academically inclined to volleyball for the people who wanted to celebrate pride through athletics.

Pride week culminated with a pride fair, which included performances from local drag

queens, booths set up by local organizations, and a vibrant parade, with organizations, local schools, churches and Kingston fire and rescue department marching down Princess St.

Even though we live in more progressive times, expressing support for the LGBTQ+ community can still lead to backlash.

Small businesses tend to serve more limited customer bases and are integral in shaping their local communities. As such, they’re often the first to indicate whether a community will be welcoming to certain groups.

Small businesses don’t always have surplus capital to fall back on like larger brands do, and aren’t always able to take risks that start controversy. making them less likely to show support for the LGBTQ+ community.

By creating events for pride, Kingston businesses are choosing to help create a community safe for LGBTQ+ people. Ultimately prioritizing solidarity over protecting themselves from controversy.

While the fight for LGBTQ+ rights isn’t over, Kingston pride shows the strides we have made towards a better future.

Three shows that changed how queerness was represented on TV forever

GRAPHIC BY VIOLETTA ZEITLINGER-FONTANA

Xena, L.A. Law and Dawson’s Creek changed the landscape of television .

As major businesses remove queer spokespeople, small businesses remain an integral part of pride

PHOTO BY HERBERT WANG

Pride celebrations are important to local communities.

Sorry, Elon—blocking is a necessary feature on Twitter

influencer, and are only followed by some friends and a few strangers who like your mild political jokes and memes about your favourite movies. So it seems like someone must have tripped and landed in your Twitter replies when you notice a new comment.

the user to avoid dealing with them again.

Uwineza Mugabe

Lifestyle Editor

Imagine this: You’re scrolling through your Twitter feed and you see a notification pop up.

You find it odd—you’re not an

When checking the notification, you’re treated to a barrage of obscenities and cruel comments. Whoever this is, they seem to take your very existence personally.

Naturally, you do what any reasonable person would. You delete the comment and block

Sex tourism takes a new form with the Passport Bros

North American men try their luck and date abroad

Sina Sayyad

Assistant Lifestyle Editor

Most of us can relate to finding dating and romance hard. The dating pool seems so small, making finding the right person who checks off all the boxes and fulfills our romantic fantasies difficult.

There are some people who take expanding their dating pool too far. They pack their bags and travel to new locales to find someone to marry.

Known as Passport Bros on TikTok, these men are usually born in North America and travel to foreign countries like Brazil, Thailand, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, and Eastern Europe to try their luck at finding someone to marry.

Passport Bros typically preach women from these areas will

Despite being accessible from home, social media is just as public as downtown Toronto. Users can curate their pages and feeds, choosing whose content they see and interact with daily to carve out a digital community.

At the same time, anyone can peer into your online world. For this reason, social media platforms allow users to limit interactions online. Privacy features allow users to secure their profiles behind a digital padlock,

giving them the power to pick and choose who gets to interact with them.

However, not everyone wants to make their account private. Some people enjoy open communication and giving audiences unrestricted access to their pages, while others might find social media essential for maintaining or further promoting their careers. Since the creation of sites like Instagram and TikTok, there’s been a substantial rise in independent media creators and collectives who rely on social media to build their careers.

These are the kind of people take advantage of how liberating the internet can be. Blocking features give everyone the means to enjoy the perks of social media use while protecting themselves from harassment.

But those online safety measures might be at risk if they’re not appreciated enough.

Recently, Twitter CEO Elon Musk suggested removing the block button on Twitter in favour of a stronger mute button. The mute button would only remove someone’s tweets from a user’s timeline, without preventing them from commenting on the uninterested user’s tweets or reaching their DMs. While there haven’t been any changes to Twitter announced recently, Musk’s track record when it comes to changing Twitter makes this proposal seem dangerous.

Musk’s proposal is inherently dismissive of the importance of boundary-setting through social media and will set a bad precedent.

Blocking doesn’t just protect

users from being annoyed on the internet—it’s a critical safety feature. In a 2014 survey, over 2.5 million Canadians reported having experienced cyber-stalking, a form of harassment that uses social media as a means to intimidate and keep tabs on a victim. Victims of cyberstalking experience harassment received through public comments or DMs. It can be a means of perpetuating real life stalking.

Meanwhile, in 2019 one in four teens experienced some form of cyberbullying, showing that despite being a great tool for connectivity, social media is still used to perpetuate the harms of the physical world.

The ability to use the block button as we see fit is important for online safety and allowing users to have control over their feeds. Twitter is a site with over 360 million active monthly users, but only 1,300 full-time employees. The disparity between these two groups makes it difficult to moderate every issue of harassment that occurs on the site. As such, the blocking feature is one small but important measure allowing users to stay connected while maintaining the security of their feeds and inboxes.

In its current state, Twitter users are granted the agency to make their space safe or comfortable according to their needs and desires. Tech magnates like Musk don’t recognize the risks of allowing all profiles to remain open for the world to see, and as such, have no business compromising the privacy of Twitter users.

make ideal and traditional wives, assuming women will happily conform to a traditional, patriarchal marriage based on stereotypes associated with these countries’ cultures.

Like any TikTok community, Passport Bros aren’t free from criticism. Since they typically come from wealthy Western countries, these men are preying on women in more vulnerable positions than them. By doing so, they uphold colonialist ideals.

Being born in North America often grants greater access to wealth, opportunities, and travel. While immigrants from Asian and Latin American countries face barriers coming to Western nations independently, Passport Bros from the United States or Canada have easier access to these areas.

Passport Bros acknowledge the social and financial privileges they have as North Americans in foreign countries, but don’t see it as a reason for concern. They cite

this privilege as a perk for traveling, and a reason why women are more likely to date them. This shows they’re deliberately trying to exploit an uneven power dynamic in these relationships.

There’s a long history of the Western world fetishizing women from developing countries—in particular, Asian and Latina women.

During the Philippine-American War, World War II, and the Vietnam War, American troops perpetuated large-scale sexual violence. Because of this, Asian women were stereotyped as being submissive, exotic, and dutiful.

Women of colour from other parts of the world also deal with being fetishized.

By claiming they’re traveling in a search for traditional wives with more desirable qualities, Passport Bros further perpetuate colonialism.

Power dynamics between Passport Bros and foreign women mimic these wartime colonialist interactions. Passport Bros seek to bring women who would be financially dependent on them to North America. When Western men come from colonial nations with more privilege

and monetary power, they implicitly have the upper hand over the woman in the relationship.

The ability to travel for the sole purpose of dating is already a major indication of privilege. Knowing this, the Passport Bros are trying to exploit existing systems of colonialism and misogyny by putting women from foreign countries in danger of being trapped in abusive relationships with no way home.

While Twitter is a great tool for communication, it’s important to keep safety tools in place

Senior

GRAPHIC BY VIOLETTA ZEITLINGER-FONTANA

Elon Musk suggested removing the block button in a tweet earlier this month.

The ‘Passport Bro’ community brings colonialism to TikTok.

GRAPHIC BY VIOLETTA ZEITLINGER-FONTANA

Michelle details how gender-neutral washrooms affect their identity.

The absence of gender-neutral bathrooms on campus sets back progress

when many locations on campus lack gender-neutral restrooms in the first place.

Michelle Zeng Contributor

When I was a first-year student getting a tour around the Bader College residence, none of the staff mentioned where the gender-neutral washrooms were. It took me a minute, but I gathered the courage to ask where they were in front of everyone else.

“There’s one just down this hall!” was the answer I received.

We were on the first floor, but my room was on the second. I contemplated what it would be like walking downstairs every time I needed to pee, all for a single-stall washroom that would likely be occupied more often than not.

“What about the gender-neutral showers?” I asked. I got a blank stare in return.

On main campus, my experiences were similar. In Stauffer Library, where I liked to study, there’s only one single-stall gender-neutral washroom located on the first floor, though men’s and women’s washrooms are available on every floor. In Kingston Hall, where most of my classes took place, there aren’t any gender-neutral washrooms in the building—not even in the basement.

Trying to locate the sparsely available all-gender restrooms amid the sprawling maze of campus proved to be both frustrating and time-consuming. Though a list of gender-neutral restrooms at Queen’s exists, it doesn’t help much

In the end, I found it easier to just use the women’s washrooms. The alternatives were to either avoid using the washroom whenever I was on campus, or not go to campus at all.

“As gender-diverse people, we deserve to exist safely and comfortably everywhere in public.

Society—as cisnormative and binaried as it is—often doesn’t have space for me. I was lucky that the people I met were largely accepting and affirming of my queerness, but the same couldn’t be said of the structures surrounding me.

When there were no gender-neutral restrooms available, I found myself obliged to choose between the male and female restrooms.

Choosing either felt awkward at best. At worst, it felt unsafe.

I often asked myself: Am I presenting too masculine for the women’s washroom? Is my face too feminine for the men’s? Every time I had to choose a side, it felt like I was being forced to declare myself something that I wasn’t, opening myself up to the assumptions and scrutiny of others.

I feared I would someday run into someone who decided I had chosen the “wrong” restroom, and was scared of how they might react to me.

Discovering I was genderqueer marked a turning point in my life. For the first time ever, I was discovering what it was like to be comfortable in my own body.

My appearance was no longer something I had to tolerate; I was

allowed to love the way I looked. I cut my hair short and felt lighter than air. I wore the clothes I wanted to and felt empowered.

But as I entered university and grew more comfortable with experimenting with my gender presentation, my joy was tempered by the reality of what it’s like to exist as a gender-diverse person in public.

Whenever I was able to use a gender-neutral restroom, my fears were alleviated. I didn’t have to overthink or deny any part of my appearance or identity—I could simply go about my business without worry.

As gender-diverse people, we deserve to exist safely and comfortably everywhere in public. The inclusion of gender-neutral washrooms marks an important step in making this possible.

Although institutions like Queen’s are slowly taking the steps to make their spaces truly welcoming for all people, there are still gaps to be filled. Gender-neutral washrooms remain too far and few between, available only in a handful of locations. This is both an accessibility issue and a health issue.

For transgender and gender-diverse people, the simple act of using a public washroom can be a fraught, uncomfortable, and even dangerous experience. a survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality shows up to 60 per cent of transgender Americans avoid using public restrooms for fear of confrontation or harassment.

Gender-neutral and all-gender restrooms can provide safe and affirming spaces for trans, gender non-conforming, and non-cis folks to use the washroom without having to risk or sacrifice their

identities or safety.

Many people like myself don’t fit neatly into the gender binary of male and female. For many non-binary folks, having access to a gender-neutral washroom frees us from the burden of having to pick a side .

Similarly, binary trans folks should be free to use whatever restroom fits them best—but not every trans person may feel safe in doing so. Until the day comes where we can rid our society of transphobia, an allgender washroom can act as a queer-friendly alternative for folks who don’t want to be harassed while they pee.

“It’s not like a gender-neutral restroom is an entirely new and radical concept

In all honesty, I sometimes question why we have gender-separated restrooms at all. It’s not like a gender-neutral restroom is an entirely new and radical concept—your own bathroom at home is an all-gender bathroom too.

It wouldn’t really be so different to repurpose gendered, multi-stall public restrooms into neutral spaces that can accommodate all genders.

Using the restroom should be a straightforward affair without dividing people into arbitrary boxes based on whatever genitals they have. But somehow transphobes seem constantly determined to raise a fuss about knowing what’s in everyone’s pants.

A common argument used against gender-neutral and trans-friendly restrooms is that

they could constitute a safety risk. Specifically, transphobes claim that sexual predators could pose as trans people and seize the opportunity to assault people in washrooms.

However, there is zero evidence of any danger caused by protecting the right of trans people to use the washroom that fits them best. In fact, studies show that the ones most at risk for being assaulted in restrooms are transgender and gender-diverse people.

The campaign against all-gender facilities and protecting trans people’s rights to use the restroom isn’t a safety issue. It’s an issue of allowing transgender and gender-diverse people to exist in public, visibly, and unapologetically.

Transphobes aren’t interested in protecting the safety of women and children in washrooms. They are interested in eradicating transgender people’s existence, never seeing or acknowledging us at all.

This past year, the rights of trans people have increasingly come under attack by legislators. Too many people are becoming comfortable with saying transgender and gender-diverse people shouldn’t exist.

Though it can’t and shouldn’t be the end-all method for combatting transphobia, ensuring the availability of all-gender restrooms everywhere sends a message to trans and gender-diverse people like myself that we’re accepted for who we are. It tells us we have a right to exist in public. It tells us that you see us as human beings.

Transgender people are just that—people. We deserve to live. And for the love of God, we just want to use the restroom in peace.

Navigating campus as a genderqueer student showed me institutions have a long way to go to create safe spaces

SUPPLIED BY: MICHELLE ZENG