Thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone.

I'm a gay 26-year-old paralegal with the Department of Justice Canada, although I do not speak on behalf of the Government of Canada in any way.

First, I want to thank the Standing Committee on the Status of Women for allowing me this opportunity to speak about my community. While I am not trans, and I cannot speak on behalf of all queer youth, I have supported queer youth in one way or another over the past 10 years. I'd like to give a glimpse into the bullying they face, the exclusion they experience and the role disinformation plays, but I'll also focus on the joy and the necessity of a community that strives for understanding. This kind of community encourages co-operation and respect. I believe it increases a sense of safety, and it strongly reduces the likelihood of violence.

I'll begin back when I was in high school. I started a gender and sexuality alliance not only to discuss queer issues but also to create space for my Catholic high school's queer community. I knew of countless bullying incidents and overheard how people spoke negatively about trans youth in general. I saw first-hand how this group changed the lives of gay and trans youth, including me. The act of simply having space for queer youth to be themselves, without having to mask who they are, while engaging with their peers and with adults who either understand or strive to understand, I believe is paramount to the success of queer youth.

In 2015, then premier Kathleen Wynne introduced a new sex education curriculum. This new curriculum became incredibly controversial at Oakville, Ontario. One school board meeting comes to mind, when a strong disinformation campaign convinced many that the new curriculum was something very different from reality. This disinformation resulted in dozens of protesters filled with hate surrounding the school board meeting and resulting in the police being called.

Since 2021, I have worked as a camp counsellor for the 15- to 17-year-old group at Camp Ten Oaks. It is a summer camp in Ontario for youth of 2SLGBTQ+ identities, families and communities. The camp sessions provide a safe place for campers from across North America to engage with peers with similar experiences and to learn from the passionate team of queer role models, who also come from a variety of lived experiences. The executive director of the Ten Oaks Project, Kymani Montgomery, is here with us today.

Through deeply introspective conversations, real-life debates and their drive for a bright future, these groups of campers have opened my eyes to the common struggles that queer youth, especially trans youth, face today. While I can think of many examples, one conversation with a camper has stuck with me. An older camper pulled me aside and, articulately and passionately, expressed that they had been significantly struggling with coming out over the past few years. Camp Ten Oaks specifically gave them the confidence to come out and to be exactly who they are. I was lucky enough to see that change in them.

Queer and trans youth do not deserve the social exclusion, the emotional manipulation, the distrust, the transphobic and sexist rhetoric facilitated through social media echo chambers, and the violence that some experience. I know that places like Camp Ten Oaks are valuable and necessary—like my high school gender and sexuality alliance—due to the joy and courage that spaces like it produce.

In preparing for today's panel, I heard one common theme amongst my trans friends and colleagues: Queer spaces like Camp Ten Oaks were necessary for their own security and development. I hope for a future where queer youth can find a welcoming and nurturing community all around them, although, of course, this will not happen overnight.

Given my experience with queer youth, facilitating safe spaces for queer youth to be themselves and addressing disinformation through social media echo chambers or otherwise is important in combatting exclusion, bullying, hate and violence. Listening to the realities faced by trans people, especially trans people of colour, will absolutely contribute to a safer and more cohesive Canadian society.

Finally, learning is not just the responsibility of cisgender heterosexual people or straight people. It is also the responsibility of queer people to learn about those within their own community. Every one of us is human. We all feel happiness, fear and hurt. I truly believe that striving to understand rather than to tolerate or to accept is essential for queer youth.

Thank you.

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