OUT@UTM
The interviews for the OUT@UTM members focus on the personal and collective efforts made by current and former students of the OUT group at the University of Toronto-Mississauga.
Founded in 2003, the group was created to provide LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ members with a campus atmosphere that supported social, cultural, and environmental visibility to the greater UTM community. This page includes interviews with five former members of OUT, wich illuuminate the successes and failures of OUT's work over its 15+ year existence. At its core, these interviews attempt to provide raw, uncensored footage and audio to lift LGBTQ+ voices.
Our narrators describe the need to expand the OUT, their experiences as quueer students, and the negativity they faced as the administration, faculty, and fellow students opposed the group’s existence as a whole. A common thread across the interviews is the need to better define the purpose of the organization, which should foster greater intersectionality within the UTM community.
Image Gallery
Below is an image gallery containing pictures associated with OUT@UTM
Newspaper articles regarding OUT@UTM
-OUT@UTM Interviews-
Jason "Jay" Gonzalez Tinoco Audio
Jason “Jay” Gonzalez Tinoco is a bisexual, nonbinary, trans man who currently serves as the executive of the OUT@UTM community group. Jay was born in Venezuela and his story largely recounts how the formation of his self-identity was impacted by the struggles of coming from Venezuela. He descibes encountering bullying and racism as a young person in Peel, and coming out to his family. Jay speaks about his activism, LGBTQ2+ discourse and identity, the damaging rhetoric of Professor Jordan Peterson, and the influence society and media has on LGBTQ2+ communities. He discusses the importance increasing the number of courses that center queer history and culture at UTM.
Luke Drummond Audio
Luke Drummond is a current student at the University of Toronto, Mississauga campus. He is the former social coordinator in the group OUT@UTM. He was born in Toronto and identifies as a transgender man and his pronouns are he/him. He has had experience working for other groups as a volunteer and social media coordinator. Within the interview, Luke places an emphasis on healthcare improvement in terms of accessibility and cost, such as within the Peel Region. He also speaks to the need for more education regarding LGBTQ2S+ content and that online spaces are important for LGBTQ2S+ people to communicate with each other.
Chad Jankowski Audio
Chad is the co-founder of OUT@UTM. He currently works for the University of Toronto for the Mental Health Program Offices. His pronouns are he/him and he identifies as gay. Themes that are covered are: equality, progress, change, bravery, and support. Chad co-founded OUT@UTM so that members of the LGBTQ community had a place they could go to ask questions, find support, and educate others about LGBTQ culture and history. Chad reflects on the challenges he faced when he came out to his family, which he overcame by educating his loved ones.
Kevin Beaulieu Audio
Kevin Beaulieu identifies as a gay man, and uses he/him pronouns. In this interview, Beaulieu discusses coming out as a young man in the 1970s and 1980s during the AIDS crisis and the homophobia that he describes as characteristic of small-town Ontario. He has been a self-identified activist in LGBTQ+ communities since 1995, including through his work as as former Executive Director of Toronto Pride.
Oliver Bedard Audio + Video
Oliver Bedard is a recent graduate of the University of Toronto-Mississauga and served as an Executive Director of OUT@UTM from 2012 to 2013. As an activist on campus, he volunteered to support LGBTQ+ issues and was involved in community planning. In this interview, Bedard focuses on the political, economic, and social issues that affect the LGBTQ+ community in Peel region, and Canada more broadly. He also shares his thoughts on recent historical oppression of the LGBTQ community, especially during the 1980s.