McGill Queer History Month 2022
Queerness & Creativity
The theme of Queer History Month 2022 is “Queerness & Creativity.” Creative spaces and practices have been an important part of queer communities for a long time. Creativity has often been used to inform queer experiences: to connect, to reflect, to be seen, to heal, to resist and to move forward. This year, Queer History Month will be delivered as a hybrid edition offering a mix of opportunities for 2SLGBTQIA+ community members and their allies to gather in-person and online. We are also very fortunate to have our invited Elder Sedalia Kawennotas Fazio join us again this year to open and close the month.
Queer History Month kicks off with the keynote presentation at the Elizabeth Wirth Music Building by queer, trans non-binary, interdisciplinary creator-performer Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 on Friday Oct 7th 6-7:30pm. 2SLGBTQIA+ community members and their allies are also invited to a catered reception from 5-6pm that evening just before the keynote.
Join us throughout the month of October for a diverse range of QHM programming which includes artist talks, panel discussions, a homecoming event for queer alumni and an exhibit about student, faculty and staff activism at McGill.
2022 QHM - Queerness & Creativity is organized by the Office of the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic), the Schulich School of Music, the Subcommittee on Queer People of McGill's Joint Board-Senate Committee on Equity, the McGill Alumni Association, the McGill Queer Alumni Association, the Institute for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies, the McGill libraries, Queer McGill, the Queer Grad Club, Tea4T and many other McGill and community partners.
QHM Illustrations: Geneviève Darling
QHM Graphics: Le Lin
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For questions/media inquiries, please contact andrea.clegg [at] mcgill.ca (Andrea Clegg).
Keynote and Opening Event:
(Trans)itioning Inward: Making Art with Intention with Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野
Friday, Oct 7th 6:00 - 7:30 pm
Catered reception 5-6pm
(In-person)
Teiya Kasahara 笠原 貞野 (they/them) became an opera singer as a teen but it took two decades to become an intentional artist. This talk chronicles Teiya’s journey from opera singer to ethical artist through queer, trans and racialized self-awareness, and what these identities mean for how they make art in meaningful ways. We are also fortunate to have the evening and the month opened by our invited Elder Sedalia Kawennotas Fazio.
PRICE: FREE
LOCATION: Tanna Schulich Hall, Elizabeth Wirth Music Building, 527 Sherbrooke Street West
Sedalia Kawennotas Fazio. Mohawk Elder, Bear Clan from Kahnawá:ke. Founder and Director of first Sweat Lodge in Montreal.
Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野. Nikkei-Canadian settler Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 (they/them) is a queer, trans non-binary, interdisciplinary creator-performer based in Tkarón:to (Treaty 13). Heralded as “a force of nature” (Toronto Star) and “an artist with extraordinary things to say” (The Globe and Mail), Teiya comes from a background of over 15 years of singing both opera and concert roles, most recently Madama Butterfly (Windsor Symphony), and the soprano solo in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (Vancouver Symphony). They explore the intersections of identity through their original works including the 2022 world premiere of The Queen in Me (Canadian Opera Company/Amplified Opera/Nightwood Theatre/Theatre Gargantua), and Little Misgender which was in development as the 2021-2022 artist-in-residence at the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies (University of Toronto). Teiya is a co-founder of Amplified Opera, and is the 2022 recipient of the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize in Music from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Return of the Rainbow
Wed Oct 19th, 5:30-7:30pm (In-person)
After a two-year hiatus, join us in-person for Return of the Rainbow, McGill's Homecoming for current and past 2SLGBTQIA+ students, staff and faculty. Since 2001, this annual celebration has offered an opportunity for queer alumni to return to the University and reconnect to campus life.
The event is part of Queer History Month and is hosted by the Subcommittee on Queer People of McGill's Joint Board-Senate Committee on Equity, the Office of the Provost and the McGill Queer Alum Association.
All members of the McGill Community are welcome! Don't miss this chance to share and hear meaningful stories of intergenerational queerness at McGill over cocktails.
PRICE: McGILL STUDENTS - FREE; GENERAL - $10
LOCATION: Le Cathcart, Biergarten -1 Place Ville Marie
Trans and Nonbinary In Academia
Mon Oct 24th, 6:00 - 8:00 pm EST (Online)
For the third year in a row, all trans, nonbinary, intersex and gender nonconforming students, staff, and faculty at McGill or elsewhere in communities near and far away are invited to join us for this panel discussion about navigating academia as a trans/nonbinary person. This year, the panel is focused on academia in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Our panelists include a current McGill Professor, Lynn Kozak (History and Classical Studies), and a McGill PhD candidate Rine Vieth (Anthropology). With their guidance, we'll be discussing experiences in academia, sharing tips and strategies, and running a Q&A. This is an online event and closed space for trans, nonbinary, intersex, and gender nonconforming guests.
PRICE: FREE
REGISTER HERE On Zoom with live captioning
Lynn Kozak is an associate professor at McGill University in the department of History and Classical Studies, working on ancient Greek literature and its receptions (especially queer receptions!), performance, contemporary television and media, and horror. They are also the past chair of McGill's Subcommittee on Queer People of the Joint Board-Senate Committee on Equity.
Rine Vieth (they/iel) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at McGill University, with a particular focus on legal anthropology, governance, and religion. They are curious about intersections between legal processes and religion, as well as engaged community research. Previously, they have held leadership positions in an academic labour union and was an active participant in queer community collectives. They are currently the Anglophone Member-at-Large for the Canadian Society for Anthropology/La société canadienne d'anthropologie.
Moderator: Dr. Steph A. Pang is a resident physician at McGill University. They are currently doing fellowship training in Medical Oncology, with a particular interest in immuno-oncology and phase I-II clinical trials. Between 2018-2021, they served on the McGill Joint Board-Senate Committee on Equity Subcommittee on Queer People. Along with Maddy Shred and Andrea Clegg, Dr. Pang is a co-organizer of Tea4T, a series of community and academic events for transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming individuals at McGill and beyond.
Artist Talk with Jérôme Havre
Thurs Oct 27th, 2022 12:00 - 1:15 pm EST (Online)
What is art and activism and how is it connected to identity? How is it received by different audiences, across time and place? Is this connection between art, artist, and activism intentional or part conjecture? This talk led by artist Jérôme Havre will discuss these questions and conclude with an exploration of the strategy of withdrawal as a reaction to how audiences can sometimes respond to this form of art. The event and month will be closed by our invited Elder Sedalia Kawennotas Fazio.
PRICE: FREE
REGISTER HERE On Zoom with live captioning
Jérôme Havre, is an artist based in Marseille and Toronto whose artistic practice questions identity, with links to culture and territory. His work is nourished by the social sciences, the history of art, the making of the gaze and the way in which these sociological processes weave into our contemporary life. He uses aesthetic and poetic fields that inhabit his works in an obvious way, for example the vernacular arts and art brut. Havre draws on the history of non-Western societies and European history, through testimonies, to highlight their interrelated and biased views. His desire is to make the conditions of identities tangible in situations of social transformation. This is the reason why he opened in 2018 « La Casa Anita » his studio/Art residency in Marseille to other artists in order to cultivate diverse points of view. Havre completed his graduate studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
QHM PARTNER EVENTS
Queer History Month - Redpath Book Display
This digital version of the exhibition case located beside the Redpath Book Display, showcases the diversity of Queer resources you have available to you for teaching, learning and research.
LGBTQIA2S+ McGill Student, Faculty, and Staff Activism Exhibit, October - December
The exhibit LGBTQIA2S+ McGill Student, Faculty, and Staff Activism was curated by Dr. Alex Ketchum and Jacob Williams in 2022. From October to December 2022, visitors can view the physical exhibit on the main floor of McGill’s McLennan Library. The Virtual exhibit, which is still under construction, will be available until at least September 1, 2032.
This exhibit showcases the work of students, faculty, and staff who advocated for increased rights, safety, and places to thrive for LGBTQIA2S+ communities at McGill. The materials particularly highlight activism from the mid 20th century until 2022. In the physical exhibit, the materials are organized around the themes: 1) Queer Joy, 2) Student, Faculty, and Staff LGBTQIA2S+ Organizations and Clubs, 3) Discrimination and Backlash, 4) Academic Programs, and 5) HIV/AIDS and Health.
Klau Kinky of Gynepunk on DIY Gynecology Tools + Open Source, Oct 4, 12:00 - 1:30PM
This workshop will be led by Klau Kinky, a founding member of the informal Barcelona-based collective GynePunk. The workshop will introduce GynePunk's open-source gynaecological kit for self-diagnosis. The kit was conceived in resistance to experiences of humiliation, discrimination and judgement in public gynaecology clinics. GynePunk is a collaboration between people of differedifferent backgrounds, from nurses to engineers and transfeminists. Their activism promotes self-knowledge and learning about our own bodies. They explore patient-led diagnosis and treatment through their mobile lab.
For more information visit Facebook.
Queerness and Faith: Young Adult Panel, Oct 19, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Join us for a conversation with Queer panelists from diverse faith backgrounds as we listen to their stories about navigating queerness and faith as young adults. A collaboration with Queer McGill (QM) and the McGill Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (MORSL). Please note that at this indoor event, we strongly encourage wearing a mask to prevent the spread of COVID and seasonal viruses.
Please register on myInvolvement: https://involvement.mcgill.ca/event/211917
Curator Tour of the LGBTQIA2S+ McGill Student, Faculty and Staff Activism Exhibit, Oct 23, 1:30 pm
The exhibit LGBTQIA2S+ McGill Student, Faculty, and Staff Activism was curated by Dr. Alex Ketchum and Jacob Williams in 2022. Join us on the main floor of McLennan Library at 1:30 pm on Oct 23rd for a curator tour of this exhibit.
Queerness and Creativity Art Exhibit, Oct 25, 6:30 - 9:00 pm
Join Queer McGill and the Union for Gender Empowerment for an Art Exhibit featuring local talent of Tiohti:áke (Montréal) and queer members of McGill. Food and beverages will be served, and we will hear from the artists who will speak about their art. This event is wheelchair friendly!
Vernissage/Launch Party for LGBTQIA2S+ McGill Student, Faculty and Staff Activism Exhibit, Oct 26, 4:00 - 6:00 pm
Vernissage/Launch Party to include speeches by the curators, Dr. Alex Ketchum and Jacob Williams, and archivists from the Archives Gaies du Québec, Archives Lesbiennes du Québec, Queer McGill, UGE, McGill Archives, and more! Free food and drink!
Venue is wheelchair accessible. Please wear a mask when not eating or drinking.
LOCATION: 4th Floor of McLennan Library, McGill University, 3459 McTavish Street.
Atelier Wiki LGBTQ2S+ at Archives Gaies du Québec, Oct 29, 1:00-4:00pm
Cet atelier est destiné aux Wikipédien.ne.s novices et d’expérience. Il fournira aux participant.e.s outils et documentation nécessaire à l’enrichissement des pages de Wikipédia liées à l’histoire LGBTQ2S+ québécoise.
L’événement sera animé par Michael David Miller, wikipédien et bibliothécaire, soutenu par Simone Beaudry-Pilotte, archiviste aux Archives gaies du Québec (AGQ). Des sujets vous seront proposés, inspirés des fonds et collections des AGQ qui seront accessibles lors de l’atelier.
This workshop is in French and registration is limited to 12 participants.
For more information visit Facebook,