The Centre for Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion (REI) in collaboration with the Division of Equity, People & Culture, is hosting the YorkU Pride 2022 Opening Ceremony on June 2 from 2 to 3 p.m. at Vari Hall.
Vice-President Equity, People and Culture, Sheila Cote-Meek will share remarks before the unfurling of the Pride flag at the entrance of Vari Hall. During this event, participants will be invited to take part in a social media photo campaign to share their commitment toward equity and inclusion for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community at York.
All York Community members are invited to reflect on the prompts “I will support the 2SLGBTQIA+ community at York by….” or “Je vais appuyer la communauté 2ELGBTQIA+ à l’université York en….” and share on what they commit to learning and doing to support equity and inclusion for 2SLGBTQIA+ people at York and to share those messages in photos on social media with the hashtag #YUPride.
Complimentary ice cream and dairy-free slushies will be served in front of Vari Hall and information about on-campus resources from REI, Career Services, the Centre for Student Community & Leadership Development (SCLD), and other campus supports will be available.
This kick-off event will be followed by many in-person and virtual workshops, events and festivities that can be found on the YorkUPride webpage.
To kick off Pride at Glendon, REI, Glendon Student Services and the Glendon College Student Union are hosting Glendon’s Pride Celebration. This event will be held at the Centre for Excellence, York Hall on June 7 at 11 a.m. Packaged cookies will be distributed.
Throughout June, York community members are also invited to take part in REI’s Gender & Sexuality Inclusion REDI mini-series. The workshops are offered online, and sign up is available on YU Learn. This series recognizes the intersectional identities across the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and introduces participants to core concepts, introductory strategies, and policies at York.
This year, REI is offering three workshops in this series:
- Creating and Maintaining Positive Spaces (English): June 9, 1 to 2:30 p.m.
- Créer et maintenir des espaces positifs (French): June 15, 1 to 2:30 p.m.
- Addressing and Responding to Sexual Harassment: June 14, 10:30 a.m. to noon
- Issues and Impacts of Misogynoir: June 16, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Workshops are open to York University students, faculty and staff. York community members who participate in three or more REDI workshops and complete the online REDI tutorial are eligible for a REDI certificate. English auto-transcription is available for English-language workshops. For more information about the REDI series, contact chrwkshp@yorku.ca.
York University is committed to the advancement of equity and inclusion – the act of creating environments where individuals feel welcomed, respected, supported and valued. York University supports and encourages diversity through the identification and removal of barriers and biases, and the creation of workplaces and learning environments that are free of harassment and discrimination including homophobia, transphobia and biphobia, and gender-based harassment.
The new Draft Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy under the Research & Innovation Strategic Direction notes the commitment to develop targeted access and outreach to research opportunities for diverse student populations (e.g., BIPOC, student with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+, first-generation, and international students) recognizing that there are significant barriers to inclusion for students that need to be addressed in program design.
York University community members are encouraged to refer to the resources available online and participate in additional events taking place throughout the month at Keele and Glendon campuses.
Why a flag unfurling in place of a flag-raising?
The visibility of the Pride flag represents part of York University’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. To further ongoing efforts of decolonization, the unfurling of a flag or a “flag drop” removes the connotation of the act of raising a flag on Indigenous land, an act that symbolizes the conquering of territory. In an effort to act in intersectional solidarity with Indigenous colleagues and community members, specifically during June, which is National Indigenous History Month, as well as Pride Month, the institution will unfurl the Pride flag. The Pride flag chosen this year is an Intersex Inclusive Progress Pride Flag. The flag includes the Pride flag colours of red, yellow, green, blue and purple. The black and brown Pride colours in the chevron of the flag, recognize Black and racialized members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, as well as people who have died of HIV/AIDS and those living with HIV/AIDS, and the stigma of the disease. The pink, blue and white colours acknowledge trans and nonbinary people. The yellow triangle and purple circle are the latest additions to this flag to symbolize intersex people. The flag unfurling is one of many educational and festive events taking place across campus during Pride.