Homophobia, among other setbacks, is making self-promotion difficult for a recently formed queer group at U of T’s only Catholic college.

Affirming a queer identity as a student is no easy feat. However, members of q@SMC (pronounced queer at Saint Michael’s College) argue that it is even more difficult for students attending or living at Saint Michael’s College (SMC), an institution they say remains a bastion of social and religious conservatism.

“Coming out is hard enough in itself, but when you’re Catholic, it’s a double whammy,” said “Michael,” a pharmacy student living in SMC residence, who asked that his real name be withheld. In an effort to introduce and explain the need for a queer group at SMC, Bernie Fitzpatrick, an engineering student and chair of q@SMC, recently submitted an article for publication to The Mike, the college’s student newspaper. The piece attempts to convey what it is like to have a queer identity at SMC and describes how it feels to have “positive space” stickers ripped from residence doors and encounter homophobic writing on washroom stalls across campus.

After skimming through the January 23 edition of The Mike, Fitzpatrick discovered that the article he submitted was notably absent.

According to The Mike’s co-editor Juvaria Jafri, the ultimate decision whether or not to publish the piece was made by Peter Evans, the editor-in-chief. However, she emphasized that the piece was not cut because of its content.

“There is no controversy surrounding why the piece wasn’t published. We were looking for a news piece as opposed to an opinion piece and the piece submitted was a cross between a news piece, opinion piece and an advertisement,” said Jafri.

Jafri also added that The Mike is definitely receptive to publishing stories about q@SMC in the future and welcomes additional article submissions.

Members of q@SMC are also concerned about posters promoting their events being ripped down around the SMC campus. For the group’s first event on January 17, 30 posters were hung up around campus and most were torn down. For the second event, 60 posters were displayed in 20 locations around the college. Many posters were ripped down and replaced two to three times throughout the week leading up to the event. By the day of the event, there were only 10 or 15 left.

“Our executive responsible for advertising told me that some posters in the residences were removed within an hour of posting,” said Fitzpatrick.

“The climate and environment at SMC has been an ongoing concern for people around LGBTQ issues for a long time,” said Jude Tate of LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Queer) Resources and Programs at U of T.

“I think the principles people rely on with respect to the Catholic faith are problematic to human rights and, more specifically, to LGBTQ issues.” Tate also confirmed that SMC has omitted “positive space” literature and stickers from their frosh kits since LGBTQ Resources began distributing them two years ago. Albrecht Diem, a q@SMC member who is completing a post-doctorate at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, said the main catalyst for the group’s formation occurred on November 23, 2001, when the Saint Michael’s College Students for Life sponsored Christopher Wolfe to deliver a lecture at St. Michael’s Alumni Hall entitled “Can (and Should) We Legislate Morality?”

Wolfe, a professor of political science at Marquette University in Wisconsin, is a controversial figure who is well-known for his views on morality and homosexuality. Wolfe blames what he calls liberalism for the abandonment of fundamental Christian values within Western society. He has published a variety of books and essays on the subject and has publicly denounced homosexuality as an “affliction,” comparing it to alcoholism.

Although Diem acknowledges that Wolfe’s lecture was sponsored by a student organization and not by SMC administration, he is curious as to why each student living in residence received an invitation to the lecture in their post box and why Wolfe’s visit was advertised on SMC’s official website.

“If a right-wing Catholic group is allowed to put posters about homophobic speakers in student post boxes, we would like to do the same,” says Diem. For anyone interested, q@SMC can be reached via email at [email protected].