SOGI zine-making: An act of resistance and hope

How members of the VSTA 2SLGBTQIA+ Committee find community and encouragement in trying times

By Irving Lau (he/him) and Abby Palmer (she/her), teachers, Vancouver

The Vancouver Secondary Teachers’ Association (VSTA) 2SLGBTQIA+ Committee is often a space for joy—to see our community members around us when we miss them in our regular teaching days. At times, it is a place for commiseration. On September 20, 2023, it was more a day of fear for our community. Our first committee meeting of the year just happened to coincide with the various loud and troubling anti-SOGI protests occurring that day in almost all parts of the province (and indeed, the nation).

The mood in the meeting was sombre and members who were out and open with their identities voiced their frustrations at having to work and deliver curriculum while feeling attacked and unsupported. Other colleagues spoke to their shock at how many people were so public with their homophobia and transphobia. The committee as a whole was also worried about our colleagues in Surrey, where reports showed the protestors had surrounded and besieged the Surrey Teachers’ Association building.

Countering Hate: A Guide to Queer and Trans Allyship in Our Classrooms is available at vsta.ca. 

We know that our colleagues understand the importance of SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) education and preventing bullying in our schools. We also know that queer teachers take a disproportionate amount of responsibility regarding queer education, allyship, and countering hate. Our goal with creating our new zine, Countering Hate: A Guide to Queer and Trans Allyship in the Classroom, is to empower teachers to be active allies, equipped not only with knowledge but also with responses, strategies, and resources to include 2SLGBTIA+ content in their curriculum and combat hate or misinformation about the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

Our local table-officers directed us to a BCTF Union Mentorship 2SLGBTQIA+ Grant through which we received funding to allow 10 teachers who identify as part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to have a release day to work together on this project. Empowered through the grant, we spent a day together brainstorming, writing, and designing a zine. On that day, we had representation from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and gender-fluid community and used our lived experience as a catalyst to locate, create, and share meaningful resources with our colleagues.

When creating the zine in community, the despondency we felt amidst the protests and hate was replaced with radical queer joy. In that room, each of us felt valued and heard. We located resources that had been thoughtfully created by people like us across the country; we split into working partnerships that evolved into friendships; we reflected on the hateful words we heard in our classrooms and found the responses we had wished we had ready and put them to paper. We realized that everything we needed was already all around us, and we only needed the dedicated time, resources, and physical spaces to find it.

When communities can get together and feel supported, there is no limit to what we can achieve. When our classrooms and schools honour the principles of SOGI 123 as well as teach the rich history and lived experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ peoples, we create meaningful learning spaces, strengthen an incredible BC-made public education system, and foster a union of true solidarity.