Five panelists will discuss what it's like to identify as LGBTQ+ while at Waterloo Engineering or in industry during a Dec. 2 discussion hosted by EngiQueers.
A Faculty chair, a data solutions and research program manager, a professional engineer with 30 years of experience in the transportation sector and two recent alumni will talk about their experiences with coming out as gay or transgender.
The Coming Out in Engineering panel discussion is part of Waterloo Engineering's first 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence in Engineering campaign designed for participants to learn more about gender-based violence and how to address it on campus and beyond.
Arden Song, president of EngiQueers, says it's important to talk about how educational and workplace environments can be safer and more welcoming to allow students and others to be themselves as much as possible.
“There are so many incidents in which queer people don’t feel comfortable coming out. And tied into the 16 days campaign, the reason some don’t feel comfortable is that people can get violent or have other very negative responses,” says Song, a management engineering student who identifies as transgender.
The discussion will be held on Dec. 2 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Participants are required to register to attend in person or remotely.
Waterloo's 16 days initiative includes the University of Waterloo’s online ceremony to recognize the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women and honour the lives of the 14 young women, mostly engineering students, killed on Dec. 6 1989 during an anti-feminist rampage at École Polytechnique in Montreal. The ceremony will begin at 10:30 on Dec. 6.