Michaela Reist is the coordinator of the Pride department in the SUS Equality-Diversity-Inclusivity Center. The Centre’s three departments — the Pride, Gender Equality, and Ethno-Cultural departments — are ran out of the Inclusity resource centre on the second floor in the Student Union Building.
The Pride department runs programming specific to the LGBTQ+ community, and Reist, both as a student and as the coordinator, is involved in activism and education campaigns both at UFV and in the broader Abbotsford community.
There are a number of events planned by the Inclusivity Centre over the rest of the Fall semester. Nov. 4 – 8 is sex week, where everything from sexuality, cunnilingus tips, sex toys, and masturbation are being discussed. Tucked and Loaded, a drag show, will be hosted on Nov. 7 at 6:30 p.m. in Streats. The next week will focus on breasts, and will include bra sizing, a talk by a local nurse on checking for breast abnormalities, and a talk by Linda Meyer, an activist that supports everyone’s right to go topless.
Students can find more information on these events on SUS social media and the SUS website.
What are some on-campus issues that you think specifically the Pride department can help address?
One thing I’ve noticed, that I’ve collaborated with Student Life on, was name change forms. So if someone, for example, wanted to change their name but they haven’t legally changed it, and they’re just wanting professors to use the proper pronouns or use their chosen name. It was really difficult for students to be able to do that.
Another huge issue that I personally experienced was trying to put gender neutral washrooms on campus. That was something I started doing back when I was just a volunteer and part of the working group. We had a lot of backlash against that, when people really didn’t want it. But it’s such an important thing for our trans folks on campus.
There’s still only one official gender neutral washroom. There are still other accessibility washrooms on campus that are technically gender neutral, but weren’t designed with that in mind. Not only does it make our trans, or non-binary, or gender neutral friends feel illegitimate, but it could also be taking space away from students that need the accessible washroom.
There are many people who’ve been actively against SOGI, a special orientation and gender identity education in schools. There is just a lot of hate and prejudice in the Abbotsford community but also at UFV, that just shocks me every time I find out more about it and witness those things. There’s a lot of discrimination still.
What do you think about to make sure programming and events are inclusive for all of the different groups on campus?
I [and the other two commissioners] have been through gender and sexuality training. It’s something that I’ve been doing since grade 10 when I started a Gender and Sexuality Alliance in high school, and it’s been something that I’ve been focusing a lot of my research into. I’m also non-binary, agender, pansexual. That’s where my background is.
I feel like between all of us [the other Inclusivity commissioners and Student Life, who they have been collaborating with], we do have a pretty good repertoire of assets and skills to be able to make sure that it is inclusive.
That being said, we are all still students and learning. So there’s always room for growth and I’m always open to receiving feedback and just having open communication with people.
There’s always new topics that are coming up and new things that the collective society hasn’t thought about. It needs to evolve with constant conversation.
Why do you think it’s so important to be talking about and de-stigmatizing the topics that the Pride department focuses on?
Any time where something is shunned or hidden, it creates a different atmosphere around something and it creates a vibe that we really just don’t want. I really think that there will be more instances of hate when we just don’t talk about things.
By having more open discussions and educating people there might be some perspective that someone didn’t think about and wouldn’t be able to think about unless someone had that conversation with them.
In order for us to evolve as a society, no one person is going to have all the information they need to accomplish everything that needs to get done. I really think it’s about encouraging and collaborating; it’s about encouraging conversation so we can all learn together and help each other out. Some of us need that.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Image: The Cascade
Photo: Michaela Reist
