Dear Editors,

It is with growing concern that we, the executive committee of Queer McGill, have learned of the decision of the AMS of Queen’s University to evict certain key campus groups from the Grey House building that they presently occupy.

To deny the Education on Queer Issues Project (EQuIP), the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG), or the Levana Gender Advocacy Centre (LGAC) the continued use of the Grey House displays a remarkable indifference to the impact that these groups have had on campus. Your decision, made as it was without allocating an adequate new space for these groups, would deny some of the most marginalized students at Queen’s their access to a supportive, non-judgmental, and confidential space, along with the resource libraries, office hours, workshops and discussions it makes possible.

Queer McGill stands in solidarity with the LGAC, OPIRG, and EQuIP in demanding a fair resolution, in which all three groups will continue operating out of the Grey House. We note that in 1973, just one year after the founding of Gay McGill, our predecessor, the Grey House first welcomed the Queen’s Homophile Association, the organization that has become EQuIP. This past July, several of us joined EQuIP members and other Queen’s students for Queeriot, a queer convergence in Kingston, recollecting and re-enforcing the historical link between our communities.

For almost 40 years, our organizations have fought to create safer spaces for queer students. The recent decision of the AMS has served as a disappointing reminder that this struggle is far from over. We urge you to consider how your actions may render you complicit in the cycles of fear, hatred and violence which continue to impact queer communities, and seek to deny queers even the most marginal space in which to speak, share or survive.

We therefore urge you to act in the best interest of the students you are mandated to serve and represent and allow these three critical organizations to keep their place in the Grey House.

The Executive Committee,
Queer McGill