While Pride Month is nearing an end, there is still a lot to celebrate ... whether you identify as a member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community or not! Something we all can do is be a good ally, and this action is simple, free, and powerful. The first step in being a good ally is to do the research; it is essential to put in the work to learn more about topics we don’t completely understand. This edition of the University of Waterloo Library newsletter is full of helpful information, local resources, community connections, books, films, crafts and more to ensure we all have a fabulous Pride Month!
Learn more about Pride at Waterloo!
How to be an ally
2SLGBTQ+ clubs and campus resources
The Glow Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity is the oldest continuously running queer student organization in Canada, first established in 1971 as Gays and Lesbians of Waterloo. Staffed entirely by dedicated student volunteers, the Centre offers a wide variety of discussion groups, social events, advocacy opportunities, awareness campaigns, resources, and information, including peer support appointments with trained volunteers, and virtual events and Pride Month celebrations!
Did you know University of Waterloo Library’s Special Collections & Archives is also home to the Glow Centre archives?! The fonds contains records created by the Centre, promotional items, and materials relating to events and activities supported by Glow.
The Queer, Allied, and Questioning (QuAQ) group was founded in 2011 by a group of students at Conrad Grebel University College. QuAQ meets regularly to plan community events and serve as a social support group for Grebel’s queer community. QuAQ also works to further inclusion initiatives within the Grebel community, with their most recent project being a gender-neutral washroom, which opened in September 2019. Learn more about how QuAQ helps to make Conrad Grebel a LGBTQ+ affirming place, and how the group has helped transgender students thrive in an inclusive residence community.
Building diversity in Special Collections & Archives
Zines
As part of an ongoing effort to build more inclusive collections that represent our community’s diverse voices, Special Collections & Archives (SCA) recently purchased several zines from Microcosm Publishing. Microcosm is an independent publishing source for books and zines discussing subjects such as DIY skills, gender, self-care, and social justice. Next-Level ally: How to Support Your Queer and Transgender Friends by Eli Sachse outlines real-world steps for being an advocate and speaking up, even when it's hard, to support queer and transgender communities. How to Organize Inclusive Events: A Handbook for Feminist, Accessible, and Sustainable Gatherings by Alexandra Ketchum is a guide to ensuring your event is both accessible to, and enjoyable for, your target participants, regardless of gender, sexuality, race, disability, income level, or language.
Featured archival collection
John Herbert was a Canadian playwright and theatre director, born in Toronto in 1926. In 1960 Herbert co-founded Toronto’s Garret Theatre. Herbert is best known for his play Fortune and Men’s Eyes, completed in 1964. In part inspired by his arrest for dressing as a woman and subsequent time spent in a youth reformatory, the play was first staged in 1967 in New York, and became a movie in 1971.
SCA holds Herbert’s papers which include drafts of his plays, programs, promotional material, manuscripts of his short stories, poetry, correspondence and photographs. A complete profile of this fascinating and comprehensive collection can be found in the John Herbert fonds.
For other diverse archives, zines and books, check out the Gender and Sexuality thematic area on the Archives database. You can also identify rare books and archival collections held by SCA by using Omni, the Library’s catalogue. After conducting a keyword search you can filter to Dana Porter Library - Special Collections & Archives under the Waterloo Library location options, narrowing your search to Special Collections & Archives. We’d love to hear from you, please contact us with any questions you may have!
Recommended reads
I’ll give you the sun by Jandy Nelson: “Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways ... until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else — an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah’s story to tell. The later years are Jude’s. What the twins don’t realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world. This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.” Request I’ll give you the sun in Omni, the Library’s catalogue.
I wish you all the best by Mason Deaver: “When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they’re thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister. Struggling with an anxiety disorder compounded by their parents’ rejection, they come out only to a handful of people. But Ben’s attempts to survive the last half of senior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan Allan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan’s friendship grows, their feelings for each other begin to change, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life. At turns heart-breaking and joyous, I Wish You All the Best is both a celebration of life, friendship, and love, and a shining example of hope in the face of adversity.” Request I wish you all the best in Omni, the Library’s catalogue.
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin: “Baldwin's haunting and controversial second novel is his most sustained treatment of sexuality, and a classic of gay literature. In a 1950s Paris swarming with expatriates and characterized by dangerous liaisons and hidden violence, an American finds himself unable to repress his impulses, despite his determination to live the conventional life he envisions for himself. After meeting and proposing to a young woman, he falls into a lengthy affair with an Italian bartender and is confounded and tortured by his sexual identity as he oscillates between the two. Examining the mystery of love and passion in an intensely imagined narrative, Baldwin creates a moving and complex story of death and desire that is revelatory in its insight.” Access the ebook of Giovanni’s Room in Omni, the Library’s catalogue.
Simon vs the homo sapiens agenda by Becky Albertalli: “Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: If he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised. With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.” Request Simon vs the homo sapiens agenda in Omni, the Library’s catalogue.
Do-it-yourself pronoun jewellery
1. Gather your materials:
-pliers (or tweezers)
-scissors
-jewellery cord or string
-beads (any type plus alphabet beads)
-lobster clasp
-crimp beads
2. Line up your alphabet beads to ensure you have all the needed letters.
3. String a crimp bead, then a lobster clasp onto one end of the string leaving two centimetres of string.
4. Take the two centimetres of extra string and loop it back through the crimp bead, then use pliers to flatten the bead.
5. It should be sealed and be ready for the beads.
6. Add any type of beads you like, be creative! Add beads until five centimetres before the middle.
7. Start placing the alphabet beads to spell out your pronouns! String the beads on in order if you clasp your necklaces with your right hand, but spell it out backwards to string on if you clasp your necklaces with your left hand.
8. String on more beads of your choice until you hit the desired length, then add a crimp bead to the end.
9. Take the excess string and loop it back through the crimp bead, leaving a small loop.
10. Flatten the crimp bead with pliers and cut off any excess string. Now you’re done!
Wear your pronouns proudly if you are comfortable with it. Don’t forget that we cannot assume someone’s pronouns based on their appearance, and you should always ask before assuming.
Local 2SLGBTQ+ artist
Tee Kundu is an illustrator, artist, and cultural producer. A graduate from the University of Waterloo, Tee Kundu is now an independent artist who mainly works in social practice and facilitation. Their work is centred around resilience, solidarity, and magic, and their motto is “I just want to make cool stuff and learn new things.” On occasion, they curate community events like workshops, dance parties, and virtual picnics. Tee Kundu is a queer immigrant of colour, committed to finding and creating space for QTIBPOC folks.
Above photo from www.linkedin.com/in/tee-kundu-19298018/
Pride puzzles
Pride word search
Pride crossword
Pride crossword clues
Across
2 An individual whose gender identity aligns with the one typically associated with the sex assigned to them at birth.
4 Last name of transgender activist who co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with Marsha P. Johnson.
8 A person who experiences a lack of sexual attraction or little to no desire for sexual activity.
9 1981 police raid of gay bathhouses in Toronto, still one of the largest mass arrests in Canada (two words).
10 Location of the first Pride House for 2SLGBTQ+ athletes in Olympic history (abbreviation).
12 The worldview that heterosexuality is the default or natural sexual orientation and a binary understanding of gender.
14 Term describing those who are in a process of discovery and exploration about their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or a combination thereof.
17 Process of affirming gender identity.
18 A person who is sexually attracted to people of the same sex and not to people of the opposite sex. Sometimes considered outdated, gay and lesbian are preferred.
19 A person attracted to all genders, often confused with bisexual.
Down
1 General term used for a variety of naturally occurring variations in which a person is born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the boxes of female or male.
2 The process of self-acceptance of a 2SLGBTQ+ identity or the decision to reveal this identity to others, occurring many times throughout one’s life (two words).
3 Celebrated in June in Canada (two words).
5 The internal, personal sense of one’s own gender forming at an early age, which is not necessarily apparent to the outside world (two words).
6 The practice of having multiple intimate relationships with the full knowledge and consent of all parties involved.
7 An umbrella term based on Indigenous tradition which recognizes individuals who possess qualities or fulfill roles of both feminine and masculine genders (two words).
11 An umbrella term that encompasses several identities which transcend the conventional expectations of gender identity and/or whose gender identity is different from their sex assigned at birth.
13 Assigned sex (two words).
15 The 1969 uprising in response to police raids at gay bars, considered the birth of the modern 2SLGBTQ+ rights movement.
16 A person attracted to two or more genders.
Puzzle answers
Pride crossword answers
Across
2 Cisgender
4 Rivera
8 Asexual
9 Operation Soap
10 VAN
12 Heteronormativity
14 Questioning
17 Transition
18 Homosexual
19 Pansexual
Down
1 Intersex
2 Coming out
3 Pride month
5 Gender identity
6 Polyamory
7 Two Spirit
11 Transgender
13 Assigned sex
15 Stonewall
16 Bisexual
