Students organize during Queer Identities Week to challenge inequality
Oct. 24 to 30 marked the University of Guelph’s annual Queer Identities Week, organized by the Student Help and Advocacy Centre (SHAC), Guelph Queer Equality (GQE), and the Central Student Association (CSA) as a part of a larger campaign run by the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario(CFS-O). The campaign aims to raise awareness on campuses across Canada about the oppression of non-mainstream sexual and gender identities and expressions.
The campaign seeks to draw attention specifically to the oppression that is embedded in everyday language and routines. A survey from EGALE Canada in 2011 reported that over 70 per cent of students hear expressions like “that’s so gay” every day on campus, while 48 per cent of students hear derogatory remarks like “faggot,” “lezbo,” and “dyke” at least once a day. Moreover, almost 75 per cent of students identifying as transsexual reported having been verbally harassed about their gender expression, with over 50 per cent of queer students reporting the same. The CFS-O believes that the prevalence of oppression and derogatory commentary is due to the perception that homophobic bullying is just “harmless” and is just “kids being kids.” The campaign, overall, hopes to change this perception within society.
One of the events run by SHAC during Queer Identities Week was the End the Blood Ban campaign, organized alongside the Canadian Blood Services. The event sought to raise awareness of the unfair deferral periods for homosexual men who wish to donate blood, as well as to encourage students, no matter their sexuality, to give blood.
“We’re running this event to bring awareness, and sort of help bring an end to the blood ban for men who have sex with men,” said Emma Praysner, co-coordinator of the End the Blood Ban from GQE. This ban prevents men who have sex with other men from giving blood unless they abstain from “gay” sex for five years. Wednesday Bell, also a coordinator with the GQE, pointed out that this is exceptionally unfair, as “HIV is not actually a gay disease, and the number one group [liable to contract HIV] now is young women.”
The End the Blood Ban campaign seeks to change the process which determines who can donate blood, asking that it be based on behaviours that are scientifically proven to be risky, and not on out-dated stereotyping of queer and trans-gendered persons. The CFS-O argues that the current policy does not take into account the scientific advancements in HIV testing since the policy was enacted in 1977, nor does it consider the donor’s status in a long-term closed relationship or the use of protection.
“It’s a weird ban because it’s based on the status of a person rather than the…act that would put them at risk,” said Praysner. “So, we really want it to go.”