Staff and students at USask reflect on why this month is important.

October is 2SLGBTQIA+ History Month and USask is celebrating with a number of events happening around campus. Many staff and students at USask have also shared why they think it is so important to study and commemorate queer history.

USask’s Thoughts on Queer History Month

Alessio Ponzio (he/him) is an Assistant Professor of History at USask, and is helping to organize many of the events happening around campus for this history month. He is also a queer activist, a representative of the International Committee on LGBTQ+ History Months and co-founded LGBTQ+ History Month Italia.

Ponzio believes that this month is important because it is often difficult to find queer history within mainstream history courses. His goal for this month is to “make queer history available to people outside of academia,” and to help more people realize that people with diverse sexual and gender identities have existed for a very long time and are a part of all history.

“I think it’s very important to realize how we are trying, through the creation of an international community, to support one another,” Ponzio said. He believes that it is essential for us to celebrate this history, to honour the struggle of those who fought for queer rights around the world and recognize that the fight is still ongoing.

Many of the events happening at USask throughout October have been organized with the assistance of the University Library, the USSU Pride Centre and the Museum of Antiquities.

Ann Liang (she/her), the University’s Business Librarian, shared that many of the events will include or highlight content from the Neil Richards collection at the University Archives. Neil Richards was an employee of the library who collected an incredible amount of LGBTQ+ content, much of it local to Saskatchewan. Richards’ collection is one of the largest of this kind in the country.

Liang feels that “libraries are built to be protectors of this kind of information, [as well as] freedom of access to information.” The library has invited a few people around campus, including Ponzio, to help curate a special exhibit of the collection’s content, which will be on display on the first floor of Murray Library throughout October. Liang hopes that students will engage with the collection and this part of Saskatchewan’s history.

“I think people still have this idea of Saskatchewan as puritanical… very religious and conservative, and working with this collection, that is not the case,” Liang said. 

Kseniah Pidskalny (they/she) is also working with Ponzio and Liang on many projects during this month. Pidskalny is a Human Resources major at Edwards School of Business and is the Pride Centre Coordinator for the USSU.

Pidskalny described the USSU Pride Centre as “a space set up for people to connect with the community and meet other people, as well as find support and resources.” They hope that people will connect with these safe spaces that can be really helpful.

One of the Pride Centre’s week-long events, Queerapalooza, will take place in October and includes events such as a movie night, a Two-Spirit learning event and a Halloween-themed drag show. Pidskalny encourages everyone, especially non-queer people, to come to the events and embrace this opportunity to learn more about the community.

Pidskalny feels that this month is “a helpful reminder that we’ve come so far, and that there are so many people that did some incredible work for the community.” Pidskalny continued, “[It] also demonstrates that this isn’t a trend. This isn’t something that’s just modern, this has existed forever… and we’re not going anywhere, either.”

Brianne Cipywnyk (she/her) completed her Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance Studies degree at USask last year and is now completing the Latin certificate. She is also the Digital Education Outreach and Engagement Coordinator for the Museum of Antiquities, which is opening a new exhibit at the beginning of October.

The exhibit is called “Not Set in Stone: An Exploration of Gender and Sexuality in Greek and Roman Art.” Cipywnyk believes this exhibit provides a unique way of examining the history of gender and sexuality in a visual manifestation.

“We want people to come in and be shown these artistic representations of gender and sexuality, and then to reflect on how they understand gender and sexuality in the modern world,” Cipywnyk said.

Another professor who is working with Ponzio on one of these events is Rachel Loewen Walker (she/her), Program Director and Assistant Professor in Women’s and Gender Studies and Political Studies. Walker also used to work at OUTSaskatoon, where she recalled Neil Richards would often visit to collect content and documents that he donated to the University Archives.

Walker feels that events like this queer history month demonstrate how looking back at the past can help us to understand the present.

“It shows us the hard times, it shows us the struggle, but it also shows us that there is a lot of joy,” Walker said. “There are a lot of successes. There are a lot of transformative moments.”

Jeanie Dooley (she/her) is in her fourth year majoring in Accounting, and Beatrice Domingo (she/her) is in her third year studying Women’s and Gender Studies. Both Dooley and Domingo are members of the WGST Agents.

“I believe it’s important to know the history of people who fought for queer rights,” said Dooley “[and] how much they fought that we may keep fighting for our rights.” 

Domingo shared that she thinks it is important to celebrate a month for queer history, which has a focus on learning and healing, separate from Pride month, which she sees as an opportunity for the community to get together. She also thinks it’s important to remember the impact that lower-class, Black and Indigenous communities have had on queer history and culture.

The WGST Agents are hosting a couple of events this month as well, including a sexual reproductive health trivia night and participating in the AIDS Walk to raise awareness for those struggling with HIV/AIDS.

Students and staff at USask are embracing this year’s 2SLGBTQIA+ History Month as an opportunity to learn from the past and from each other.

“We, right now, are queer history for future generations,” said Walker. “What that means to me is that our stories matter.”

A Reflection on the Relevance of Queer History in North America Today by Alexandra (Alex) Litster-Paramor

This past June, there was the highest turnout of people participating in Saskatoon’s annual Pride Parade in history. Over 10,000 people attended and 200 entries signed up to walk in the parade. It was unlike any parade I’ve experienced in my life, full of energy and an overwhelming sense of community. However, I could not shake the feeling of bittersweetness, like this was the calm before the storm. 

The theme of Saskatoon Pride this year was “Fabulous Futures,” with a logo designed by Denita Gladeau, a Two-Spirit Cree designer. This theme was, “an affirmation to 2SLGBTQ+ youth that their future is bright and fabulous and deserves to be celebrated.” 

This has personal value for me, because my younger brother is transgender. He is one of the strongest people I know; his transition has not been easy or simple, but he has still moved forward. Recently, I attended Julia Sinclair-Palm’s public talk, “What does it mean to protect trans children?” which delved into the complex arguments surrounding the experiences of trans youth and was crucial for acknowledging personal biases and acknowledging that children are capable of autonomous decision making. There are complex ideas within this debate that go beyond “protecting the child.”

During Pride month in June, I also attended a “Queer History” event over Zoom, which appealed to me as a student of history. At this event I met Sarah Worthman, a queer researcher and anti-fascist organizer from New Brunswick, and listened to her presentation entitled “2SLGBTQ+ Persecution and the First World War: The Untold History of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.” Deep gendered divides were present throughout my childhood in the military community, and I drew many connections between this presentation and my own experience.

After the success of Pride, many in the Queer community were shocked when several governments across Canada, including Saskatchewan and New Brunswick,  introduced policies that have serious consequences for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth. In Saskatchewan, Premier Scott Moe planned to use the Notwithstanding clause to push one of these harmful policies through legislation. National Anti-2SLGBTQIA+ protests were also scheduled seemingly overnight. This was a stark change to the feelings of hope during Pride Month. 

The protests aimed to follow in the footsteps of right-wing ideologies coming from the USA,  which have always been present in Canadian history and have grown in popularity since the “Freedom Convoy”. There are currently plans for another wave of anti-trans protests across Canada on October 21st, with counter-protests responding accordingly. 

These policies and anti-2SLGBTQIA+ protests elicited many counter-protests under the title of “No Space for Hate,” created by Worthman. When I was attending one of these counter-protests in Saskatoon, there was a considerable amount of hostility and it felt like the counter-protest was outnumbered. I felt uneasy being so close to the right-wing protesters. 

I had to take a few days to process how I felt and recognize where the positives existed. Despite there being an uneasiness to the protests, the overwhelming support and care from parents and other demonstrators had the most significance for myself. I was checked-in often by others, and marched alongside those who were interested in discussing how we were feeling and what to make out of the recent uproar and how it contradicted so much of our own beliefs and the human rights of children. 

After the protests and counter-protests, I had many complex feelings. Despite feeling like current circumstances were a step back from where I had been in June, I partook in more events, including the Pride Night at the Persephone Theatre. There was a showing of “a time-bending, queer love story that spans decades in an instant – from finding each other, falling in love, to marriage, children, skydiving and the infinite moments that make a life together.” For myself, it was a wonderful night of what many others described as,“queer joy.” 

The political action I had been participating in was taking a toll on me, and this joyous event was just what I needed. This was incredibly ironic because the actors and crew noted how this play in particular was a hard sell because “when people see anything LGBT themed, they think of politics.” 

Overall, these experiences are why it is so important that the USask community participates in this year’s 2SLGTBQIA+ History Month. There are many ways to provide support, resources for you to educate yourself on queer, POC and women’s history, and events to make the most out of 2SLGBTQIA+ History Month. 

History provides a great pathway through which we can learn about these groups, ourselves, and the world at large. It also teaches us how interconnected we all are, and how we should support and recognize one another’s history. October is also Islamic History Month, Women’s History Month, Latin-America Heritage Month and German Heritage Month. Furthermore, Canada has recently celebrated our third-annual National Truth and Reconciliation Day. There is always room to recognize that there are many communities that are currently working hard to make the public sphere a more accepting space. 

During this 2SLGBTQIA+ History Month, I personally want to see and discuss queer joy, and show that our campus is a safe and inclusive space. Although protests and politics are incredibly important, I also want to be able to explore the existence of queer lives and spaces outside of that, and focus on being mindfully present as we navigate the ever-changing world together.