Students and staff from George Brown aim to provide a safe space for LGBTQ students at Waterfront campus

Queering the Waterfront (QW) is a monthly meet-up for George Brown College (GBC) LGBTQ students.

Taking place on the last Thursday of every month, the meet-up is striving to provide a safe space for queer and trans students to hang out, talk openly about themselves, and to share their stories.

The event was pioneered by Michelle Pettis, Community Action Centre (CAC) co-ordinator, Vivek Shraya, human rights advisor and Positive Space co-ordinator, as well as Tracy Whitfield, counsellor at the Waterfront (WF) campus.

As a queer woman, Whitfield is a strong advocate for the LGBTQ community; she is a certified Positive Space facilitator and is committed to providing a safe, therapeutic space for individuals who are exploring their sexual orientation.

Whitfield describes the QW series as a “labor of love” for her, and says that it came about out of necessity due to a lack of queer visibility at the WF campus.

“What was happening for me in my counseling office, was I was seeing a lot of queer students who were describing feeling quite isolated, feeling alone, feeling like there wasn’t a space for them on campus.”

This trend continued as more and more queer-identified students came to her seeking counseling. Whitfield says that it was at that point she knew she needed to do something for queer students at that campus.

She then collaborated with the Student Association and the diversity, equity and human rights department at the college to start these events.

“We actually set up a focus group to hear what the experiences were of queer students on campus,” said Whitfield. “The themes that I heard in my counseling office were the themes that continued, students feeling isolated and feeling alone.”

As a result of Whitfield’s hard work and determination, a series of events to create a safe and confidential space for queer identified students was established.

The QW events are more than just events, they create a community for LGBTQ students who may be struggling with identity and coming out.

Each event is unique, and students can participate in a variety of events, discussions and activities.  “We’ve done a range of things, we’ve had queer authors come in and read from their work, we’ve done field trips, we’ve watched short films, and recently we watched an episode of Orange is the New Black,” said Whitfield.

These events are not just limited to Waterfront students.

Whitfield says that, “the last few events we’ve had, had students not only from the Waterfront. We’re seeing students coming from all campuses, and we welcome that.”

Although the event only takes place once a month, LGBTQ students can talk to a counsellor, and Whitfield says, “it’s also important to note that for queer students who feel a need to meet with a counselor who identifies, we have that support available as well.”

The next event in the series will feature artist and musician Casey Mecija, and will take place on Nov. 27 at 11:45 a.m. at the Waterfront campus.

Michelle Pettis did not respond to requests to comment by press time.