Celebrate PRIDE at Northern

Today marks the beginning of PRIDE week at Northern College. Each year we do our best to mark this occasion, taking the opportunity to celebrate the diversity which makes Northern a great place to study and work.

While each campus will handle this week differently, with various opportunities for student and staff participation, there are a couple of things which will be done to celebrate PRIDE across Northern College.

This morning, the PRIDE flag will be raised at each of our campuses, where it will remain until the end of the week. On Wednesday, the Usual Suspects at each respective campus will host a PRIDE Bingo event from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., open to all staff and students.

Northern College is proud to sponsor PRIDE events in both Timmins and Haileybury as part of this celebration.

We all know the importance of celebrating our diversity, while promoting equity and inclusion – and – as educators, we know the importance of any opportunity to learn. Please find more valuable information on PRIDE as articulated by one of our students, Sylphy Myshrall on its purpose and the communities that contribute to this special week.

Pride Education Piece for Staff

As we enter June, we find ourselves celebrating Pride once more. But why do we celebrate it each year in June? It’s certainly warmer, at least. But June isn’t special in that regard. Rather, we celebrate Pride in June to mark the Stonewall Riots that occurred at the end of June 1969. It was a period of immense social change that spawned a movement that continues to carry on today. Not just in North America, but in countries the world over. While this piece of history may not remain in our mind’s eye today, it is important that we mark the occasion and remember those that fought for the right to exist.

We have come far from the early years of the Gay Rights Movement, and for many of us in Canada, the LGBTQ+ community has since become an altogether normal part of life. That’s not to say that nothing has changed in recent years, however. While most of us are familiar with the LGBT part of the acronym (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender), the rest may be a little less familiar. 2SLGBTQQIPAA (or, more commonly in Canada, 2SLGBTQI+). Whew, that’s quite a lot, right? Well, as Queer acceptance has increased, so to has research. Over the years, we have come to understand that both sexuality and gender exist on a spectrum. In order to better represent the multi-coloured rainbow that is humanity, we have created more and more labels.

But why are labels important? They allow us to categorize ourselves, to indicate something about ourselves in a social setting and identify ourselves as a part of a particular community. It’s not that a label necessarily defines a person, but rather it is something one can choose to represent who they are. To return to our acronym: Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Pansexual, Asexual, and Allies. Let’s briefly touch on what each of these means.

Two-Spirit is representative of a third gender in some Indigenous communities and cultures in Canada. It was developed to distance itself from a colonial mindset of gender and sexuality. It is multi-faceted, representing a difference in sexuality, gender, and ethnicity, though it can only be truly understood within the context of indigenous cultures.

Lesbian and Gay are likely to be familiar to both, representing women attracted to women and men attracted to men, respectively. These terms are used by trans women and trans men attracted to their own gender as well. Bisexual is typically used by those attracted to both genders, though some people who identify as Bisexual are also attracted to those that do not fit into the commonly understood gender binary.

Transgender represents those who have experienced a mismatch between their gender, and the one that they were assigned at birth. This includes both trans men and trans women, but non-binary folk, genderfluid, and agender people also fall under this umbrella (people who do not identify with either end of the gender spectrum, those who identify with different genders at different times, and people that do not identify with any gender at all) among others.

Queer originally meant someone weird, or strange, and was used pejoratively towards people that identified as 2SLBGTQI+. Today, it has been reclaimed by the community, casting aside the negative community to represent someone that does not fit into cisnormativity, and heteronormativity expected in society (Cis is simply someone whose gender identity matches the one they were assigned at birth).

Intersex people are those born with an atypical combination of sex characteristics that do not fit into binary norm of male and female bodies. Sometimes this includes chromosomes, other times it can include gonads or genitals. Some intersex individuals are assigned a physical sex at birth, but eventually they may come to have a different understanding of themselves and their bodies.

Pansexual is similar to Bisexual, and at first glance it can be hard to spot the differences, but they are distinct. Generally speaking, people who identify as Pansexual are attracted to people regardless of gender. This includes those that identify as male or female, and everyone else on the spectrum as well.

Asexual folk are those that don’t really feel sexual attraction to other people at all. Despite not feeling sexual attraction, it does not mean that they cannot have sex. Beneath the umbrella are those that are sex repulsed, while others can still enjoy it. There are also those who identify as Aromantic, wherein they do not feel romantic feelings for other people but can still feel sexual attraction.

Of course, there are two more. The second Q stands for Questioning. Those that are still exploring their gender and sexual identity. Coming to understand oneself requires reflection, and it is often a winding journey. As for Allies, they’re those that are willing to stand beside the queer community despite not being queer themselves. In a fight for social change every voice is important.

So, we come to our final question; why is Pride important? Well, at its core, Pride is a celebration of how far we’ve come from the days when people were afraid to tell the world who they are.

But, more than that, Pride is a message. It’s a message for those still struggling to understand their identity- struggling to find their place in the world. Even today, despite the incredible progress that’s been made, being queer comes with a whole slew of fears and anxieties.

And so, the message of Pride is still important: you don’t have to be ashamed of who you are. Whether you’re gay, or trans, or whatever else. It’s a part of who you are, and that’s worth celebrating.

~ Sylphy Myshrall, NCSA Summer Student Planner