By the time Marc Hall got to the University of Waterloo, he had fought and won a landmark battle for gay rights in Ontario and his story had been in the media across Canada. It was told in a documentary, a made-for-TV movie and a musical.
Yet despite being the centre of all that attention, Hall’s experience taught him that human rights progress is not really made by individuals but by communities of people who struggle together and support one another.
That is the message that Hall tries to convey to young people today who might be facing challenges and struggles of their own. It is also the message of a revised version of the musical, now titled The Louder We Get, being performed across Canada, starting in Calgary where Hall now lives.
Hall, who earned his BA in psychology at the University of Waterloo in 2009 and then an MSc in cognitive neuroscience from University College London in the UK, is the recipient of the 2019 Young Alumni Award.
Currently, Hall is working as a Research Associate for the University of Calgary’s Nursing Research Office. “It’s a unique research office and in my role, I help the nursing professors as they conduct their research and I also help mentor graduate students who are doing research,” Hall says. “My role is primarily in project co-ordination.”
His work includes guiding researchers and graduate students as they design and administer surveys and conduct interviews. He is also involved in the review of projects to help ensure they meet ethical standards. As a result of his substantial contributions to research projects, Hall is frequently cited as a co-author on research papers.
Passionate interest in the human mind
Hall says that after high school, he initially wanted to study math, and that led him to the University of Waterloo. He did one term in math, but switched into the Faculty of Arts, majoring in psychology because “I wanted to go where my passion was telling me to go.” He was fascinated by the brain and its structures. He did his master’s thesis on how suppressing memories can affect how a person perceives the environment.
But Hall remains famous for the activism that began, rather accidentally, when he was a 17-year-old attending a Catholic high school in Oshawa.
When he came out as gay the previous year, his family and his friends were supportive. His teachers seemed to be open-minded about it as well. So, as the Grade 12 year wound down and the high school prom approached, he didn’t think it was a big deal to take his boyfriend to the prom. He mentioned it to a teacher and then asked the principal.
“I didn’t think it would be an issue,” Hall says. He was “shell-shocked” when the principal called him to the office and delivered the news that the Durham Catholic District School Board had said ‘no.’ “I didn’t know what to do,” Hall says. He felt rejected, defeated. His parents set up a meeting with principal, but the school board wasn’t budging.
He didn’t think anything could be done, but his friends, seeing how upset he was, were outraged. They set up a website to tell people what was happening to allow people to express their solidarity. The supportive response was overwhelming, Hall says.
The louder they got
Pretty soon, the story caught the attention of a radio show host in Windsor, who interviewed Hall. The story then blew up in the media all over Canada. “I was putting on my coat to go outside for lunch, and my friends came running up to me and said, ‘Have you looked outside?’ He looked out and saw media trucks and numerous reporters waiting for him outside the school.
A legal injunction was filed and seven lawyers fought the case on Hall’s behalf, entirely pro bono. “That was amazing,” Hall says. The court sided with Hall, in a decision that came down literally hours before the prom. He was allowed to go, with his boyfriend.
Originally called Prom Queen, the recently revamped musical (The Louder We Get) based on his experiences puts focus on people coming together in a common cause, rather than the prom. That is its central message, Hall says.
“I always say, I wouldn’t have been able to do this without the support of my friends, my family and everyone who rallied and mobilized around me,” Hall says.
Despite the progress that has been made, the story is still relevant 18 years later, because there are still people who have to deal with discrimination and bullying because of their gender orientation or some other difference, Hall says.
“Sometimes you may feel alone, but you are not alone,” Hall tells students struggling today. “There is support out there.”
He also tells them that quite often it is the smaller things that people do that can make a big difference. “You can enact change, just by being there for someone who comes to you. Or even just in being there for someone who is going through some mental health issues.”
