Pride began as a riot just after midnight on June 28, 1969. Police raided a bar called the Stonewall Inn in New York City to arrest trans and gender non-conforming people as they had many times before, but this time, the patrons and wider community fought back. The Pride events that followed evolved from protests to the celebrations we have today. We can thank the activism of those who preceded us for the rights we celebrate, including the addition of gender identity and expression to the Canadian Human Rights Act in June 2017.
I hadn’t given much thought to my gender identity until the BCIT Student Association invited QMUNITY to give a workshop in 2012, titled “Queer Competency Training.” I was an instructor who wanted to support my queer and gender non-conforming students and discovered that the pronouns he/him didn’t fit me. It wasn’t until 2015 that I became aware of my own gender identity and transitioned at BCIT on January 4, 2017.
My students began the winter term with an instructor who looked surprisingly different from the one who had given them their fall term finals. They demonstrated their compassion and professionalism in ways that brought me to tears, asking me which pronouns I used before I’d begun to consider them, and buying me flowers at the end of the term.
They showed me that we’ve come a long way since the Stonewall Riots of 1969. My transition wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my students and colleagues at BCIT, and my partner of thirty-nine years. BCIT has celebrated several important Pride milestones since then, including the installation of a rainbow crosswalk in 2018 and raising the Progress Pride flag in 2022.
I’ve come to embrace my nonbinary gender identity as an “enby girl” and now volunteer with QMUNITY on Angles Newspaper, a 2SLGBTQIA+ community resource for new voices, local stories, art, and resistance.
If you want to learn more about teaching in two genders or how to make major life changes, read my story. If you are a BCIT employee, I also invite you to attend my upcoming talk at the BCIT Professional Development Day.
Discover the 2SLGBTQIA+ resources available for the BCIT community and connect with Pride BCIT.
Written by A.M. Kirsch (she/they), Faculty in BCIT Basic Health Sciences department for 16 years, and former chair of the BCIT Research Ethics Board.
