The summer of ’69 was big for queer people. In Canada, homosexuality was finally decriminalized. In the U.S., queer and trans patrons of the Stonewall Bar in New York City fought back against police who came on a raid one hot summer night, and became a symbol of the birth of the gay liberation movement.
It was in this atmosphere of change that queers at the University of Toronto came together in 1969 to found the U of T Homophile Association. In so doing, they became Toronto’s first LGBTQ group and the first on a Canadian campus. Now, on the eve of its 35th anniversary, UTHA’s proud heritage continues. LGBTOUT (Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgendered of the University of Toronto) is asking the University community for support by requesting a refundable, 69-cent levy from full-time undergraduates, to be collected as part of annual SAC fees.
Queer students make up 5-15 per cent of the undergraduate student body. Their dollars support SAC, college councils, residence councils and course unions. But what percentage of the dollars collected by these groups is used to provide services that recognize and respect the unique needs of the LGBTQ population? In recent years, some organizations (no doubt spurred by constant advocacy by LGBTOUT and our allies) have finally begun to recognize that there are LGBTQ people in their midst and have taken steps towards creating ositive space. We applaud these developments, however small, and will continue to encourage groups on campus to move through recognition and tolerance to a position of full acceptance and true inclusion of LGBTQ and other marginalized people. In the meantime, however, we feel it is time to empower queer students by giving them the financial support they need to create and control the events, services and opportunities that they desire. The needs of queer students will best be met by offering them the freedom of self-determination.
For 35 years, the task of providing events, activities and services that recognize the needs of LGBTQ communities has fallen largely upon LGBTOUT and its predecessors. In 1999, LGBTOUT sought a levy from students to support its work. Despite a hard-fought campaign, the vote was lost by a tiny margin, surrounded by a level of homophobia that made national headlines. Shortly afterwards the university introduced the office of LGBTQ Resources and Programs within Student Affairs. This office has been a boon to the campus, but as an arm of the administration, its ability to advocate for change and challenge university policy is limited. Students need to be empowered to advocate for themselves.
Without core funding support from the university, LGBTOUT relies almost entirely on the fundraising efforts of volunteers. This fundraising represents dozens of hours every month that could be better spent on new initiatives and development of programming on campus. Most of these funds are raised at the Homohop, a monthly community dance that provides much-needed social space for queer students and youth from Toronto and surrounding communities. For more than 20 years, the Homohop provided a joyful, proud and positive space for queer students and their friends and allies on campus. But like so many queer spaces, the Homohop is vulnerable. In 2001, despite its long history at the university, U of T administrators forced the Homohop off campus by shutting down or closing off access to the few venues large enough to support it. After several months in limbo, LGBTOUT was able to find a new home for the Homohop at an off-campus venue. However, the move has not been without consequences.
Off-campus, the Homohop has lost some of the freedom and the feeling of security that came from being a primarily student event held in student space. More significantly, the success of our primary fundraising source is now linked to the success of a commercial establishment. Our freedom to adapt and change the Homohop to best suit the varied needs of LGBTQ communities is limited by our dependence on the hop’s financial success, and by the needs of our commercial partner. Should that space be closed down by targeted policing or Not-In-My-Backyard neighbours, or sold, or should their management, like U of T, simply change their mind about taking the risks inherent in supporting queer youth, the Homohop would be homeless again, and the money that supports all of LGBTOUT’s programming and advocacy would disappear.
LGBTOUT is asking for a 69-cent refundable levy. The amount honours our anniversary and is a symbol of our mandate to promote healthy sexuality. We are asking for the university community to take a stand to support the LGBTQ people in their midst. It’s time to put the power of self-determination in the hands of queer students. It’s time for the spring of 69.
