Pride Month is a series of events held in June to commemorate the pivotal 1969 Stonewall Riots that occurred in New York City. Part celebration, part protest, part community-building, but most of all, Pride is a time each year when the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community and allies can come together and be surrounded by the family they choose.
Every Pride Month, Centennial College invites its staff and students to celebrate, learn and reflect, even as we continue to work towards eliminating homophobia, transphobia, biphobia and racism from our campuses. We’re proud of our Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual (2SLGBTQQIA+) community and support it all year round, including during the special events happening this June.
The Pride Picnic, June 7
Taking place on Tuesday, June 7 from noon until 2 pm in front of the CCSAI Student Centre at Progress Campus, the Pride Fundraiser is the first major on-campus event the college will have since the return to campus. Essentially, it’s an outdoor carnival with music, entertainers and events (we’ll move it inside if it’s raining). The fundraiser features interactive outreach tables by community organizations and internal Centennial supports.
Our Pride Picnic will feature performances from Toronto-based Drag Performers Miss Fiercalicious and Sanjina Da Bish Queen, and Vogue performer Snoopy, who’s also doing a one-hour Vogue workshop after the Pride event. Also taking place will be Conversations for Social Change: Pride Edition, in which four Centennial students, including the leader of the college’s Queering Community Social Club, share their experiences as queer students. They’ll discuss the challenges they’ve faced, and the supports they used to help overcome them. They’ll also discuss why Pride is important to them, and how they were inspired to build their community and care for each other.
There’s a food truck for lunch and refreshments, and a number of community partners will be showing up, including Binders Out, a binder swap and sales service, and Modo Yoga from Scarborough, among others. Also available for sale is a new Centennial College Pride shirt and hoodie, with all proceeds going towards Centennial’s 2SLGBTQQIA+ bursary, with the College matching the donations at the event up to $15,000.
We’ll also be holding a Silent Auction to raise money for that same 2SLGBTQQIA+ bursary, with most of the College’s departments having put together a package or gift. Prizes include a three-course dinner for 10 guests with wine pairings, hosted at The Event Centre by celebrity Chef Rodney Bowers, some great Zen gear from the Modo Yoga Scarborough Studio, a motorcycle-riding course, spa packages, artwork, Cactus and succulent displays, and more. There will be plenty of other opportunities to donate at the event, too, which raised over $30,000 over the last two years with the College’s matched donations.
If you can’t be there in person, you can join virtually, through Virtual Centennial Pride, a mixture of live and pre-recorded programming, and just like the in-person event, features the Centennial College community, as well as local organizations providing services to the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community.
Donate to the 2SLGBTQQIA+ bursary.
A year-round commitment
Centennial College’s commitment to supporting our 2SLGBTQQIA+ doesn’t end with Pride Month, but is something we maintain all year round. Supports and initiatives at the college include:
The 2SLGBTQQIA+ Student Bursary, created in response to the urgent issues that the COVID-19 pandemic created for Centennials’ 2SLGBTQQIA+ students, and the Pride Bursary, both of which helped 60 students last year, and are funded through events like the Pride Fundraiser.
The Queering Communities Student Social Club, also known as the 2SLGBTQQIA+ Student Social Club approved through the Centennial College Student Association (CCSAI) and supported by the Centre for Global Citizenship, Equity and Inclusion and a Social Service Worker program placement student. Wherever it meets, and whatever it’s doing, the club represents a safe space where 2SLGBTQQIA+ students can meet up to build friendships, find support and take part in special events.
The Centennial Comes Out Campaign, a collection of coming-out stories from Centennial College staff and faculty, to increase visibility of 2SLGBTQQIA+ folks at Centennial.
Trans and Two-Spirit Day of Remembrance/Awareness Week, taking place between November 13 and 20. It involves coordinated activities that culminate on November 20, the Trans and Two-Spirit Day of Remembrance.
Gender-Friendly Classrooms created through faculty training in inclusive practices for trans and gender non-binary students.
The Supporting Trans, Gender Non-Conforming and Two-Spirit Students workshop, developed to help participants gain a deeper understanding of issues and barriers facing trans, gender non-conforming and two-spirit students and employees, and develop strategies to address these issues and barriers.
Positive Space 101, a three-hour Positive Space training session, where staff and students explore 2SLGBTQQIA+ language, challenge myths and stereotypes about queer communities, understand how to recognize and respond to homo/bi/transphobia, and move beyond tolerant attitudes, to creating truly inclusive learning environments.
Designated Gender-Neutral Bathrooms at all campus locations.