I’m Lydia, my pronouns are she/they, and I’m the Program Coordinator at Out In Schools. I’m also a nature documentarian, animal lover, and storyteller. I am passionate about empowering folks to narrate their stories in their own voice. This is how my journey brought me to Out In Schools, and why our work with youth is so personal and important to me.

I was born and raised in Treaty 6 territory traditionally stewarded by the Cree, Dene, Blackfoot, Saulteaux and Nakota Sioux peoples. Growing up as a queer person of colour, I’ve been nervous to open up to my community about my sexuality. There are very few queer Black characters in mainstream media, and their narratives tend to be about being rejected by their family and community. While these experiences are very real, they don’t offer a lot to folks who already feel isolated and hopeless. 

It’s a scary and lonely place to be—to feel like I must hide a core part of myself from my family and culture. It doesn’t help that folks of colour are also marginalized in queer communities. Youth of colour have told me that they felt seen for who they are, for the first time during an Out In Schools presentation. You have the power to gift a life-changing experience to 2SLGBTQIA+ youth. Start a monthly donation of $25 today to support Out In Schools!

While I struggled with my sense of belonging, I found joy and solace working with animals. At one point, I had a job training sea turtles: I would dive, handle turtles, do presentations with them, and get them to stay in place in front of a human audience. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience! I’ll never forget the wonder of being in nature and realizing I’m a part of it, tangled up in the beautifully messy tree of life. 

It was my work with animals that led me to becoming a facilitator with Out In Schools several years ago. I wanted to use my skills working with youth to connect with young 2SLGBTQIA+ folks—particularly racialized kids—and help them navigate an environment that can be so confusing and hostile. When I’m presenting to youth, I always emphasize that there is no ‘correct’ way to be queer. Just like the natural world, our queerness is made up of unique stories, roads less traveled, and marvelous possibilities.

That is why I believe in Out In Schools’ work. We use films and stories by queer people to show youth that they can explore their identities without feeling ashamed or alone. Our stories are powerful—they imagine a better world into being. These are your stories, too, and they can change the lives of 2SLGBTQIA+ youth. Help us bring empowering queer content to schools and communities across BC by donating $100 today!

But it’s not just 2SLBTQIA+ youth who need our support. Last week, the Out In Schools team visited students and educators in Prince George. Educators there told us they were frustrated with the political atmosphere in the community, and felt a lack of support from administrators and colleagues. One queer educator expressed a palpable sense of fear. This is consistent with what we’ve heard from queer educators across BC: they are increasingly afraid to be seen by administrators, students, and parents as ‘pushing an agenda,’ often just by virtue of being who they are.

The cost to bring Out In Schools to one rural community is around $12,500—the amount a fellow dedicated donor has challenged you to match. With your help, we can fund up to two rural tours, and reach communities that need our presence the most. Double your impact by donating today!

Your support means the world to queer and trans youth, who deserve to see their stories—your stories—on screen. I’m so glad you are here. 

In solidarity,
Lydia Alemu (she/they)
Out In Schools Program Coordinator

Content warning: The post discusses religious trauma and institutional discrimination against trans youth.

My name is Tea, I use she/they pronouns, and I’m here with my mom Michelle (she/her). We’re so excited to introduce ourselves to you today, on the International Day of Pink: a day to speak out against discrimination and bullying directed at 2SLGBTQIA+ youth. 

As longtime supporters, we’re thrilled to announce the launch of Out In Schools’ Spring Fundraising Campaign 2025! A generous donor has pledged to match your donations for up to $12,500 until the end of April, doubling your impact. The work that Out In Schools does—making classrooms safer for queer and trans youth—is deeply personal to us. Our goal is to raise $25,000 this spring to support this program.

This is the story of how Out In Schools changed our lives.

We are a mixed-race family from Ladner, BC. I was assigned male at birth, but as a kid, I always preferred dolls to action figures. I was obsessed with fantasy and mythical creatures in general. I especially loved Monster High dolls—so chic, ghoulish, and unique—and skipping around in my mermaid tails and fairy wings! 

At some point, I began attending a Catholic elementary school, where we had to wear gendered uniforms. It made me realize just how uncomfortable I was being perceived as a boy. I would spend recesses in the back of the field, sitting alone and daydreaming about walking through school with long, flowing hair reaching all the way down to my uniform skirt.

Transgender youth like me deserve to feel safe and seen in our schools. Any donation you make today will be doubled to support Out In Schools in providing knowledge, safety, and connection to 2SLGBTQIA+ youth across BC. 

One summer, our family decided to try something out: I would go to summer camps with my new name and use she/her pronouns. I wore my hair in dreadlocks down to my shoulders, I dressed however I wanted, and, in this new environment, no one questioned any of it. For the first time in my life, I actually felt comfortable in my body—it was like finally coming home after a long trip.

That fall, our family expressed to my school that I would be attending class as a girl. The school responded with a letter from their lawyer. They demanded that I get assessed by religious practitioners and Catholic doctors. I wasn’t allowed to wear the girls’ uniform. One of the school’s pastors—an adult I trusted and our family was close to—sat me down and told me that my transition was against God’s wishes.

I spent a lot of that year crying and heartbroken. I was starting to believe that my dream—to be known as who I truly am—would never happen. 

After months of jumping through hoops, we decided enough was enough. I left the school, and our family filed a human rights complaint against them. 

Around that time, I saw my first Out In Schools presentation. I was amazed by the films the facilitators showed us: they were so different from all the sensationalized stories of despair that I’d gotten used to seeing in mainstream media. Instead, these films depicted queer youth as complex, willful humans. They captured both the nuances and wholeness of our identities. 

A wave of relief and recognition washed over me during that presentation. I was struck by the brilliance of a powerful story—a mirror that reflected all of my humanity back to me. Do you believe that 2SLGBTQIA+ kids deserve to see themselves represented authentically? Will you give $30, $50, or even $100 to help Out In Schools bring uplifting queer content to schools across BC?

I also got to know some of the amazing facilitators who work with Out In Schools. It’s incredible how their warmth opens up the classroom and invites everyone in. The energy they bring is so valuable, especially for trans and queer youth who don’t have access to information and support. When a youth makes a personal connection to an adult who shares their identities, it makes us feel like that could be us, too. A switch flips on: I can have a community, and I’m going to be okay!

Fostering hope and safety in the lives of trans and queer youth: this is what Out In Schools does best. It’s the only program of its kind in BC to create a non-judgmental space for all kids to ask questions and get insight into the big, beautiful world of gender and sexuality. This is the kind of work that creates cultural change, that builds connection and empathy across differences.

If you’re feeling anxious and scared, I am too—we don’t know what the federal election will bring. By the time we find out, it may already be too late. Trans and queer youth deserve to know that we’ll have their backs no matter who comes into power. This month, every donation you make will be matched dollar for dollar up to $12,500, so that 2SLGBTQIA+ youth can continue to access life-affirming resources provided by Out In Schools. 

The time to act is now. Join us to keep Out In Schools in schools!

In solidarity,
Tea (she/they) and Michelle (she/her)
Out In Schools supporters

Pictured above: Out In Schools facilitator Ava (left) and Education Director Gavin (right) after a presentation.

Happy Trans Day of Visibility! My name is Ava, I use they/them pronouns, and I am a facilitator with the Out In Schools program. I’m so excited to share my story with you on this special day. 

I grew up in Comox Valley, a small rural town on Vancouver Island. There wasn’t a lot of diversity in my community. While I rarely experienced outright homophobia or transphobia, I didn’t learn about these identities either. I got the sense that being trans or queer was a very rare thing. 

As a kid, I kept to myself a lot. I loved reading and writing stories. I would spend all day designing characters who were figuring themselves out with the help of their friends and community. These characters were shy and confused, like me, except I didn’t have anyone who really understood me. 

I knew something was different about me, but I lacked the language to describe it. I also didn’t have any role models on screen or in real life, who I felt truly represented me. 

So much of my childhood and adolescence was spent in deep self-reflection. I spent years journaling and hours upon hours on social media, scrolling through other people’s experiences with gender and sexuality just to find myself in their stories. I felt like I needed to absolutely nail down my identity before I could share it with anyone. I came out as queer at the end of high school, but it took another year or so before I came out as trans. 

I am currently studying environmental science at UBC, and for the first time in my life, I have access to affirming trans and queer spaces. I realize now what I’ve been missing all this time: a safe space to explore and experiment without having it all figured out. It’s so freeing to feel seen and accepted, to move through the world not having to explain myself.

That is the work Out In Schools does: creating space for people to see and be themselves. As a facilitator, I see it as my responsibility to be an example for trans kids, and to show them that they can live their best lives. 

Today, as we celebrate our trans and gender-diverse community, we must remind ourselves that ‘visibility’ is a double-edged sword. In the current political climate, politicians are using trans identity as a talking point, dehumanizing us and revoking our rights in the process. I’m terrified for trans folks in the United States, and I’m deeply worried about what the upcoming election holds for my community here in Canada. 

If you consider yourself an ally to trans people, now is the time to step up. I’m calling on you to mobilize your own communities and speak out against anti-trans rhetoric and policies. Show up to protests, to the voting booth, to your local mutual aid organizing meeting. Act in solidarity with us. 

We must fight for trans youth. The safety and fundamental rights of trans people are under severe attack. Now more than ever, we need to show trans youth that they are not alone. In the face of overwhelming fear, trans youth deserve to know that they will live joyful, flourishing lives—to have hope. 

That is the impact of Out In Schools. Our team works tirelessly to connect with trans youth. We continue our work making classrooms safer and more inclusive, despite the ever-mounting threat to our own mission. We can’t do this without your help.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be bringing you more stories from Out In Schools participants and facilitators. We will also announce our Spring Fundraising Campaign very soon on April 9, International Day of Pink. Stay tuned! 

Thank you for being here. Together, we can create the future that trans youth deserve. 

Ava (they/them)
Out In Schools facilitator

An open letter from the Out In Schools Education Director Gavin K Somers in advance of the upcoming BC Provincial Elections on October 19th in support of SOGI-inclusive education.

PREFACE

In the lead-up to the 2024 BC Provincial election, a group of concerned educators, parents, and activists formed The Coalition for SOGI Inclusive Learning Environments. Our coalition called on the responsibility of all electoral candidates to share truthful and accurate information regarding SOGI*-inclusive education. Our correspondence included a SOGI fact sheet and urged public officials to continue learning about the importance of and express public support for SOGI-inclusive education.

*SOGI stands for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity – Every person has a sexual orientation and a gender identity. In 2016, the BC government announced changes to support SOGI in schools. SOGI 123 is a set of free resources for teachers created to bridge the gap in content and resources which are affirming of 2SLGBTQIA+ identities, communities, and families.

THE LETTER

The Out In Schools program has been delivering film-based educational programming in schools throughout British Columbia since 2004. The Out In Schools program uses 2SLGBTQIA+ film to facilitate discussion with students and educators to create safer learning environments for people of all Sexual Orientations and Gender Identities (SOGI). I have had the great privilege of being a part of delivering this program for half its life.

When I started as a program facilitator in 2014, I was in my mid/late twenties and had been out as transgender for nearly 8 years. What excited me about Out In Schools was being able to bring my lived experience as a queer and trans person into schools, to create safer spaces for young people to learn and ask questions.

As a young person, I grew up with no gay, queer, or transgender role models or representation. Starting my journey with Out In Schools, I remember thinking back to my time in high school and imagining what life might have been like for me if I had ever met an “out” queer person, read a book that had queer representation, or had a presentation where language was used that reflected my lived experience.

Now, I oversee the Out In Schools program as Education Director, and over the last ten years I’ve seen a lot of changes; when I started, the work to educate about queer and trans identities was rooted in the equation of “language + terminology = allyship”. Well, times have changed, and while students now understand the language and terminology, that no longer leads to allyship or safer learning environments for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth.

I believe that with any kind of social change, there is always movement. When we become visible, we gain more rights, and in response, we also receive more backlash. There is rarely linear progress when it comes to people’s social beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours, which is why, when it comes to elections, we cannot support those who plan to roll back protections on basic human rights.

I won’t lie, there is a lot at stake in the BC Provincial election this week. As we’ve seen in provinces like New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, and most recently Alberta, protections supporting transgender and gender-diverse youth are being rolled back.  In this upcoming election, the BC Conservative Party has followed suit and taken to making SOGI a “wedge issue” by calling SOGI 123 “too divisive” and pledging to remove SOGI learning materials from schools.

The removal of 2SLGBTQIA+ content from schools won’t erase the existence of 2SLGBTQIA+ youth. It will only ostracize them.

I always knew something was different about me. I remember being called homophobic slurs in the hallways of my high school, before I realized I was queer or knew what those words meant. I didn’t even know that it was possible to be trans. When I heard the word “genderqueer” for the first time, I realized there was language for how I’d always felt. It was euphoric to finally have words to describe my experience! In my time working with Out In Schools, I have witnessed countless young people have similar experiences of validation.

The human rights, dignities, and protections of 2SLGBTQIA+ people should never be up for debate, especially not in a provincial election.

The removal of “SOGI [inclusive] learning materials” will be detrimental to all youth, not just those who are 2SLGBTQIA+. Research just released by UBC’s Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre (SARAVYC) in the School of Nursing found that SOGI 123 reduced bullying and discrimination targeted toward LGBQ+ youth above and beyond GSAs’ impacts, as well as reduced bullying and discrimination among heterosexual students. 

Encouragingly, results also suggest that continued implementation of SOGI 123 over time will improve results even further, and that the training and support for school staff provided by SOGI 123 helps reduce bullying and discrimination in schools, for both LGBTQ+ and heterosexual students.

Access to queer content doesn’t make people queer; but it can make us feel less alone and better understood by our peers.

Instead of attacking vulnerable youth, I encourage our government to address real and pressing issues regarding the state of education in our province beyond the need for inclusive learning materials.

A well-funded and resourced education system is a pillar to supporting youth – the decision-makers of our future.

For more information on some key party’s Education Platforms, see below.

BC New Democrats Party
BC Green Party
BC Conservative Party

Gavin K Somers is the Education Director for Out On Screen and oversees the Out In Schools program. They are the proud parent of a three-year-old, and tertiary caregiver to an eleven-year-old attending public school in BC.

Out In Schools supports students and educators province-wide by delivering adaptable educational programming using 2SLGBTQIA+ film and storytelling. Support SOGI inclusive learning environments by making a donation today.

Many queer and trans people have had to live parts of their lives in the shadows, alone and separated from community and elders. It is unfortunately still rare to be born into families or communities that can embrace us fully, let alone connect us to those who have walked the same paths of self-discovery, adversity, and joy.

Leading up to the 35th anniversary Vancouver Queer Film Festival, we sat down with youth filmmakers Ronnie Cheng (they/she) and Leo Litke (he/him) and protagonist Tien Neo Eamas (he/him) of the film Becoming Queer Joy, premiering at VQFF in the Troublemakers 7.0 program, to discuss the importance of sharing our stories and intergenerational connection.

Tell us a little bit about who you are, and how you got involved with this project. 

Leo: I’ve been into filmmaking since I was 11 or 12. I did one year of film studies, and I’ve made lots of films that haven’t really gone anywhere yet. I’m currently working on a documentary for a local non-profit.

Ronnie: I started making films around 11 or 12 years old, just fun short films with friends. I’m from Hong Kong, and I came here for school. Moving here, I had to develop a new community of filmmakers, because it’s such a collaborative thing. I’m always looking for different opportunities and people to work with, which is why I signed up for Troublemakers. I’m a media studies student, and I do film, animation, and creative coding. I am queer, and in terms of gender I am whatever. It took me a really long time to come to terms with my sexuality and gender. I was brought up in an environment that wasn’t supportive of queerness, and I’ve dealt with a lot of anxiety around finding the right label for myself. 

Tien: I am Singapore born, but I’ve lived in Canada for 35 years. I am a goldsmith, a wizard, and a spiritual and gender guide. And I am trans. I am trans by default. Since I was a kid, my question was always why are there only two kinds of people on this earth. I found it very strange, and I just wanted to be me. Now, 50 years later, having had the experience of being the first asian trans man to come out in Vancouver, and having been part of the Lesbian and Gay community before the expansion of the acronym. I have left the community many times. Whatever makes us tick is individual choice. I have a warm heart for the community because I’ve witnessed its expansion. And because it comprises such an expanse of people, I get annoyed sometimes. As a spiritual teacher my commitment is to always be connected to joy, and to have fun. 

What does “fun” mean for you? 

T: Oh, I like that question. For me, fun is playfulness, silliness. Someone saying stupid silly things. Fun is what makes me laugh, anything from a bunch of flowers to jumping around in the wind, even sitcoms. 

Can you share something you are really proud of, that you do for fun, or that brings you joy?

Leo: Most recently, I watched Across the Spider Verse, and it was so good. I got home and started drafting an essay about it. 

Tien: Oh, excellent! 

Leo: Which sounds ridiculous, but I do enjoy writing about film, I find it very fun often, and tying ideas together. 

What was the essay about? 

Leo: I was thinking about the inherent queerness of the multiverse, even in Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Across the Spider-Verse, and The Barbie Movie, and it’s so great because the multiverse is exploring every single option that there is, and I love seeing that included because that’s how it should be. I also got a new kind of tea that is delicious, jasmine thai tea. And I’ve been ice skating! 

Ronnie: I’m most proud of seeing myself grow. I tend to be pretty critical of my work, but then when I look at my work from a year ago, I see that I’ve actually improved a lot. It makes me more motivated to keep making stuff, and keep doing the thing I love doing. Because there’s a part of my brain that always says, it’s not good enough, you’re not good enough, and so being able to see the progress I’ve made throughout the years, reminds me that it’s okay if I’m not good enough now, I can actually say to myself, you’re growing quite quickly. 

There’s this quote from Ira Glass, and essentially he says it takes a long time for the quality of your work to catchup with your taste, which is so frustrating. You kind of have to suffer through making things not quite as well as you want to for a long time, in any medium. Figuring out what your niche is, is such a constant state of becoming. 

Leo: There’s this quote from a short film director that I love where they say, you can’t make great stuff until you’ve made good stuff. You can’t make good stuff until you’ve made okay stuff, and you can’t make okay stuff until you’ve made some really bad stuff. It’s very true and it’s hard to remember when you’re in the making of it.  

Tien: I think it’s a necessary part not just of human development or the human condition, but I like to call it our soul experience. Because we have to be able to dream big. Because if we all dream small, we wouldn’t expand at the capacity we have. The human condition is impatience about that big dream, and the whole lesson is to enjoy the journey of getting there, and not give yourself such a hard time about where you’re at.

With that in mind, let’s talk about the film you made. How did you get involved with Reel Youth and the Troublemakers film project? 

Leo: Me and Ronnie found out about it on Instagram, and we both applied. 

Tien: One of my big dreams is to have a movie made about my life, and for years people have been saying that I need a movie made about my life. So this was a good little step! And it was very organic; it just showed up in my inbox. Someone sent me a link to do this, and I said sure! A bunch of people nominated me as well. 

Ronnie & Leo, what surprised you about working with Tien? And Tien, what surprised you about working with Ronnie & Leo? 

Leo – I don’t think I could have been surprised, because I didn’t know what to expect in the first place. I’d never met a trans person over the age of twenty-something. It was really interesting. Now there’s more exposure of the internet to older trans people, so it makes it less novel. But being in person, being able to have a conversation with him, and realizing how many views around gender that we shared… I don’t know how to describe it. It was very nice, but that feels like an insufficient word.

Ronnie: I was mostly surprised with how easy and stress-free the whole process was. This was the most stress-free film project I’ve ever worked on, which is surprising because this project is so important to me, so I thought I’d go into it with more pressure on myself to make it really good. But it all worked out really well. From the first day we met and got to talk to Tien, I knew we were good, and it would work out great. So the process was the most surprising for me. And in talking with Tien, especially realizing our similar views on gender and gender fluidity, the concept of gender fluidity is presented as a new thing young people are coming up with, which obviously I know is not true, but to actually meet someone who is older who has had those same views for decades was really nice.  

Tien: What was most remarkable was that there is a clarity and a lightness to both of them, which was refreshing. Even with the various challenges with individual lives, there was still a belief of faith, or knowing that it’s okay, it doesn’t need to be that hard. For me that makes me feel hopeful, and it also affirms that how we bring ourselves to any circumstance is really how it turns out. Being responsible for how you are in your life is the most important thing. Life will turn out because of who you are about it. So they have a level of self-accountability that is so respectable and honourable, and it’s not surprising, but it’s extremely delightful to discover that. 

What do you think is important about making film as a queer person about queer people? 

Leo: I really think that it’s genuine, and sometimes straight people can get away with telling a compelling story, but there’s more of a diversity of perspective within queer narratives told by queer people. It brings out the unique perspectives that show up in subtle ways because if you go through life differently than most other people, art is a reflection of your experiences and your worldview. 

Ronnie: On top of that, it provides queer and trans artists with a platform to tell their own stories because the stories queer and trans people choose to tell about themselves are going to be different than from a cis-hetero lens.

Tien: Representation obviously matters, and there is a reliability that is just there when it’s told by people who have had cross-over and similar experiences. It speaks on a heart level. The more there is, it adds to the rich diversity of what’s available. 

Leo: I feel like queerness, as with any marginalization, you’re forced to experience the world in different ways, and you’re forced to adapt, and it brings a lot of uniqueness and freshness to art in its entirety. Your very existence is going against normalcy. It forces you to become less afraid to experiment and try new things. 

Something we hear as queer and trans people is that we’re unique, in the sense that we don’t learn about our culture and history from our parents or families-of-origin. Instead, we rely on the guidance and wisdom of older queers. Before working on this project, had you met many older queer folks before? If so, what were your relationships with them like?

Ronnie: I always think that knowing about history informs on why things are the way they are. And queer history is not very well documented. Like, Tien is the first Asian trans man to publicly transition in Vancouver. You don’t find that when you google it. Being part of documenting this part of history and making it more widely known is a big honour. 

Tien: It’s funny, history, we don’t know it’s history while it’s happening. I’ve known I was the first, but hearing you (Ronnie) say it in this context is really quite moving. I love understanding and studying human anthropology. As human beings, we are tribal mammals, so we naturally exist in tribal cultures. So in any conventional family, there are elders, and as we are developing and creating queer communities, we are creating a tribe as well. I suddenly had this vision of all these queer people in an intergenerational sitcom. Cause when you’re a teen, you don’t have a flaming queen grandpa to tell you to stop being a bitch. So as we’re connecting, our mammal self really isn’t fed right now because that connection isn’t there to tell you to shut up and sit down and eat your rice. 

Tien, do you have many queer youth in your life? 

Tien: I do. I know lots of youth, and I’m very aware that the new generations are freer beings because we are now busting out of the old paradigms we lived in. I know it’ll happen over the next 50 years. The difference in being able to work closely with Ronnie and Leo was really significant for me. There was an honour and acknowledgement of the challenges and pain that I’ve been through. And the isolation of the first 15 years of my transition, I was torn apart, even by queer and trans people, because of racism. It is very beautiful to be seen and heard and respected. 

Leo: I think that being queer can be an isolating experience, and hopefully, with more representation, there’s more opportunity for connection like this, more connection in general! It broadens our understanding of what queerness is and what it can be. 

Tien: Film is becoming bigger and bigger as an impactful resource and tool because we process film through many different senses. As we know as human beings, the more senses are hit, you receive the information on a whole different level, and you remember a whole lesson learned. So when we can share really valuable stories, it’s important to be responsible about how we leave our audiences and how we tell that story. We need to bring them to a place where they’re left in light rather than in sadness and despair. It doesn’t forward the conversation and keeps the oppressive cycle alive. In reaction to somebody’s hatred, the most revolutionary thing you can do is to respond in light and with joy. Otherwise, the fighting back continues to keep the haters alive. If we’re able to respond in light and curiosity, that shifts the dynamic completely. It leaves the perpetrators with education. 

Ronnie: Going back to the question about queer and trans people making queer and trans films, even though our experiences are different, we understand how it feels to be isolated and rejected. For myself, that’s why I put so much emphasis on being respectful. I want to tell the story of the life-saving power of joy. I think the film is what it is because we understand how that feels and the importance of it. 

You can watch all Troublemakers 7.0 films including Becoming Queer Joy by Ronnie and Leo, and featuring Tien online until during the 35th anniversary Vancouver Queer Film Festival.

My name is Gavin (they/them), and I am the Education Director at Out On Screen. After nearly a decade with the Out In Schools program, I found a renewed sense of purpose in my work when I became a parent a year and a half ago.

This is my story.

I was born in 1987 in a small town called Pincourt, Quebec. I grew up a tomboy, excluded from sports because I was a “girl” and excluded by other girls for my baggy clothes and hand-me-downs. I was bullied for existing outside of expected gender norms and had homophobic slurs thrown at me in hallways. The message I received as a young person was clear—queerness is shameful, can only be expressed in secret, and should be suppressed.

I had no language to describe my queer experiences. Going to school in the ’90s and early 2000s, there was no mention or knowledge of queer attraction or gender in classrooms.

This is how I know that the work we do at Out In Schools is essential.

Since its founding in 2004, Out In Schools has used film and facilitated dialogue to catalyze compassionate and life-affirming conversations around sexual orientation and gender identity. When a young person receives an Out In Schools presentation, they learn that who they are is perfectly okay, that they are allowed to grow into their fullest self, and that they deserve to feel unconditional love and belonging. An Out In Schools presentation also creates a brave space for youth to ask questions, practice listening and empathy, and shift behaviors.

Hear what an educator had to say after an Out In Schools presentation:

One of my students is a trans woman, and she had never met an adult trans person in her life so she was very excited, and said she felt seen. That warmed my heart – an important moment for a great kid.

This is the kind of environment I wish I had growing up and that I hope my own child will have regardless of their identity or orientation. Imagine the difference that robust Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) education would have made to your childhood and those of your 2SLGBTQIA+ peers.

If you have seen the news lately, you will know that anti-queer and anti-trans sentiment is pervasive right now. Anti-drag protests are disrupting kid-friendly community programs, homophobic and transphobic legislation are being proposed and passed into law, and numerous groups are organizing to remove life-affirming SOGI education from schools.

To our entire community, this is cause for concern. Scapegoating the queer community in times of uncertainty is a conservative tactic we have seen before. When we hear threats to 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, we take action.

Today is the International Day of Pink, a day started to combat homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools. We do this work year-round through the Out In Schools program.

This year alone, Out In Schools has already reached 5,919 youth, educators, and parents with the affirming, nuanced, and positive stories that are so scarce in the media today. There is a hunger for our programming, and we are working hard to meet this demand.

We wouldn’t be able to do this work without the activists and allies that support our work through their donations. Individual donations are the second largest source of revenue for our work at Out On Screen, after grants from the public sector. Individuals like yourself help us to share joy, reduce stigma, and foster safer spaces for queer youth to be themselves. If you are interested in becoming a donor, visit our Donate page or get in touch with our team at donorservices@outonscreen.com.

Thank you for taking the time to read about why Out In Schools means so much to me as an educator and parent, and thank you for helping us make a difference for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.

Image from Ur Aska (2019) directed by Myra Hild.

Gavin, Danny, Avery, and Charlie share what Trans Day of Visibility means to them and recommend four films illuminating different parts of the trans experience that you can watch online now.

For the first time, I felt real.

Being authentic to ourselves is itself an act of protest

Danny (he/they)
Out In Schools Program Coordinator

Danny recommends A Typical Fairytale (2018), dir. Annette Reilly

My film recommendation is A Typical Fairytale, written by non-binary filmmaker Jess McLeod and starring young genderfluid actor Ameko Eks Mass Carroll. It’s a cute, quirky short about a young couple, their child’s divergence, and their decision to love and support their Prince despite their fears. If you’re an educator, you can create an account to access all Out In Schools films and lesson plans for free. Please use your school-based email address. 

I saw all the possibilities of who I could be

Avery (they/them)
Out In Schools Program Coordinator

Avery recommends Meet the Transgender NCAA Swimmer from Harvard produced by the Olympics

My film recommendation is the short documentary Meet The Transgender Swimmer From Harvard, which highlights Schuyler Bailar’s incredible journey to becoming the first openly transgender athlete to compete at an NCAA level. Watch this video on Youtube.

Life has been everything I was told I couldn’t have

Charlie (he/they)
Artistic Director

Charlie recommends Disclosure (2020), dir. Sam Feder

I think everyone needs to watch Disclosure, an incredible, eye-opening documentary about the history of trans representation in Hollywood featuring trans artists and filmmakers. What people know and believe about trans people is informed primarily from what they see in the media, and trans representation in media is full of tropes and harmful narratives. Watch this film on Netflix and check out the many toolkits and discussion guides on their website to see how you can advocate for trans people in your community, school, or workplace.

International Transgender Day of Visibility takes place every year on March 31st and celebrate trans people, bringing awareness to trans experiences. Founded by activist Rachel Candall in 2009, this day specifically focuses on celebrating trans people, trans community, and trans joy.

Stories about trans people and experiences in film, TV, and media oftentimes focus on tragedy and violence as well as harmful misrepresentations and stereotypes. However, as you see in these personal accounts and films, the trans experience is so much brighter and broader than what is shown in the mainstream. Trans lives deserve to be visible in their entirety, and we invite you to join us in continuing to share and hear stories from trans individuals and artists.

Continuing our journey on the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation

This week marks Truth and Reconciliation Week and the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation taking place on September 30. Call to Action #80 in the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission report asked for this day, first known as Orange Shirt Day, to become a statutory holiday with two goals: to honour survivors, their families, and communities; and to ensure the public commemoration of residential schools.

Reconciliation does not feel like the right word to us at Out On Screen. As a mostly settler-run organization, we do not have a past of “friendly relations” with Indigenous peoples to restore, and Out On Screen has, and does, perpetuate harm. We need to repair and rebuild these relationships anew. In this work, our focus is on advancing truth and justice—better listening to Indigenous people who are sharing their experiences, making the changes that are being asked of us, and ensuring justice is reflected in our relationships with Indigenous people and communities.

Some truths we understand today are the incredible leadership of Indigenous peoples; the ongoing harms of systems that still separate Indigenous children and families today; and the significant knowledge Indigenous peoples carry with them.

Here are some ways to recognize this day as we deepen our understanding of truth:

• Join the Tk’emlups First Nation’s virtual Drum for the Children event.
• Attend the Elder’s Walk with the Britannia Centre taking place at Grandview Park; details are available on Facebook.
• Watch the Orange Shirt Day playlist from the National Film Board.
• Watch or listen to How can Canadians work toward reconciliation, an interview with Justice Murray Sinclair, former Chairperson of the TRC

We also invite you to learn more about our commitment to right relations and to view where we are on this journey in our 2020 Annual Report (pages 8-9).

Our Program Logistics Manager Sam reflects on this past Festival

The 2021 Vancouver Queer Film Festival was our second during the global COVID-19 pandemic, and it was as challenging as it was rewarding. Digital delivery of film content is already a challenge when so much of what we do as a film festival is rooted in sharing these artistic experiences together. Moreover, this year, we have continued to strive to program art that responds to and amplifies ongoing calls for social, racial, and gender justice and equity.  Our work programming and streaming art created by queer, trans, and Two Spirit people, many of whom have multiple intersecting marginalized identities, has been all the more important. 

When we look back at the work we’ve accomplished over the past year—yes, a full year, our 11-day festival doesn’t just come together overnight!—we could stop at the numbers:

These are accomplishments in their own right, particularly as our team, like many in the communities we serve, struggled to balance health and personal needs while working remotely. We do this work to meet the very real need our communities have to see themselves authentically and beautifully reflected on screen, but it isn’t always easy.

Today, as I reflect on my first year as Program Logistics Manager, and prepare myself for the long grey West Coast winter ahead, I wanted to focus on the intangible successes of the Festival. We do this work for our communities, for the people—friends, family, artists, and strangers alike—who provide the vibrancy and verve of our collective experience as 2SLGBTQIA+ people. So many of you took to social media this year to share your thoughts and feedback on #VQFF2021 and #VQFFHome, and I wanted to highlight my Top 10 (+2 bonus) picks for comments we received during this year’s VQFF.

1. “I feel so exposed and seen at the same time. What do you know: there’s someone out there that understands.”

2. “Every night I have watched excellent queer film. Today I was [working] late in the garden and thought I might take the night off of films; but I am sure glad I didn’t.”

3. “I’ve been enjoying the festival immensely. I noticed someone adding all the films (including mine) to TMDB, and turns out it’s a friend of mine, preserving the entire historic catalogue of the festival in their free time! I feel that shows it’s importance. As my friend said: ‘there are so many gay short films… more than we will ever know.’”

4. “I have almost never ‘seen myself’ on screen, so this was good for me. There’s lots of trans programming, of course, but I’m kind of old-school like the women in [Sedimentos], and I appreciated this cast.”

5. “I did not expect to be moved in so many ways. I also didn’t know there would be so many.”

6. “What a joy to spend my Friday evening revelling in the feelings of kinship and lineage I got from watching Rebel Dykes at [the VQFF] – it made me long for a time when it’s safe to gather with all those gorgeous rebels again!”

7. “So many excellent films in [the VQFF] this year! Wonderful to see all these docs about people embracing their joy, being passionate in their art and their activism.”

8. “Seeing you at work duing [The Coast is Queer-Live!] was really inspiring and it was so clear how much love and heart you put into this festival, and it’s such an important part of our queer community.”

9. “Thank you so much for such a fulfilling and amazing experience!!! It was so wonderful to see so many people come out and celebrate with us!! […] I will most certainly keep my eyes open for any more volunteering opportunities in the future with you guys! It was so much fun being a helping hand!!”

10. “Y’all do A LOT with a very small team in a very short time.”

11. “I thought the curation was absolutely brilliant – I appreciated everything I managed to see, the artistic, humour, drama, and as usual I learned a lot from the documentaries. The artistic direction/ curation is absolutely exceptional in its breadth and depth. Kudos! Please keep up the good work.”

12. “Thank you so much for offering [the youth workshop]. The kits were fun, playful and made it extra special to receive it in the mail. My daughter attended with four of her friends. This was such a creative way of bringing young people together.”

And finally, I want to acknowledge that people showed up. We do this work for the people in our communities, and just showing up—online or in-person; for features, workshops, or shorts programs—is a huge demonstration of support and a significant sign that what we do is meaningful.

Thank you to everyone who made this year’s VQFF not only possible, but incredibly successful! I encourage you to keep a lookout for more off-season programming coming in the future, for you to share your comments and feedback with us via DM or email, and to consider deepening your connection with our work by becoming a monthly donor or by signing up to be a volunteer.

Do you remember the first time you saw yourself—really saw yourself—on screen? 

We all know how powerful, affirming, and moving it feels to be understood and celebrated by those closest to us, as well as by the wider communities that we are a part of. To see a piece of yourself in art and film is to know that you are not alone. As this #VQFF2021 attendee wrote to us of their experience watching Homecomings, a shorts program on transmasculinity:

I’m watching the first video of Homecomings and I started crying right before they say “I’m gonna cry.” Now we crying together. I feel so exposed and seen at the same time. What do you know? There’s someone out there that understands. Genius to call the season “Longing” and the content makes you feel less alone.

This is what I love most about queer film festivals: every time my heart gets broken up and put back together and I stand taller. I’m more excited and brave to be who I am. I let my imagination and desires run wild.

Because they make me feel like I belong. In infinite ways.

2021 VQFF Attendee

As a queer film festival, we work hard to listen to our community, and to answer your calls for new stories and honest representations, such as those showcased in Homecomings. By curating local, emerging, and independent filmmakers and films that mainstream media continues to overlook, we provide opportunities to support artists, stories, and belonging in our communities. We hope that when you tune in this year—and hopefully every year—that you to feel seen and are able to deepen your connection to those around you. 

To support this work, please join this year’s Festival Campaign by making a donation today. To date we have raised $15,231.77. Help us reach our goal of $35,000.00 by August 22nd!

As you continue to enjoy #VQFF2021 virtually at home, know that we are all “crying together.”