Title: Where now? Lessons from a Concordia community LGBTQ2S+ & accessibility initiative
Over the past decade Higher Education has seen an increase in awareness concerning the need to address barriers experiences by LGBTQ2S+ and disabled students. In response to equity issues within University such as transphobia, racism, homophobia and ableism community-based organizations have joined academia and equity workers to close the gaps that disproportionately impact marginalized students in higher education. In 2016 the Centre for Gender Advocacy, a Concordia University student fee levy group committed to anti-racist feminist activism and LGBTQ2S+ advocacy started The Mapping Project. Over two years, this ethics approved community-based research program received data from 300 Concordia community members including LGBTQ2S+ and disabled students, professors and staff to build a comprehensive report on LGBTQ2S+ and disabled student participation and barriers at Concordia University. One-part knowledge mobilization, one-part professional training this workshop quickly explores the results of the Mapping Project and lessons learned while deepening our understanding of higher educations’ responsibility to LGBTQ2S+ and disabled students. It uses critical pedagogy to offer manageable tools to professors to create classrooms where gender, sexual diversity and disability are celebrated but also furthers our collective sense of education, and equity work as a messy, asynchronous socially responsible practice.
Shay Hadley
A graduate of Concordia’s Human Relations (major) and First People Studies (minor) BA programs, Shay is currently completing a Master of Education at Queen’s University under the supervision of Dr. Lee Airton. Coming from a background of 6+ years in sexual violence prevention popular education and work in LGBTQ2S+ knowledge mobilization and participatory research, Shay’s work touches upon institutional accountability, accessibility, gender expression, critical and trans pedagogies. From 2018-2020 they were one of two Coordinators of The Centre for Gender Advocacy’s Mapping Project, a community-based initiative that in 2020 released two reports and equity recommendations based upon the experiences of Concordia LGBTQ2S+ students and students with disabilities. Currently, they hold the position of Knowledge Mobilization Manager for Gegi, a gender expression, and gender identity legal advocacy project for students and teachers in Ontario.
