Meet Brian H. Wilson

BRIAN’S INTEREST IN THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY STARTED IN GRADE TEN, SHORTLY AFTER HE CAME TO TERMS WITH HIS OWN SEXUALITY.

Brian understood what it was like to feel scared, nervous and what it was like to “come out.” Furthermore, he became aware of how relatively positive his whole experience was. This sparked Brian’s passion for helping those who were not as privileged as him. This was when Brian began to seek out ways he could make a difference across the LGBTQ community.

Brian joined his school’s Gay-Straight Alliance and loved it. He found that the passion and positivity in that small room were so inspiring to see. Brian also began to attend many LGBTQ community conferences and began to learn of current pressing issues. Brian realized that so much great work had been done to support the gay and lesbian community but unfortunately the trans and queer communities were still lacking some much-needed support. He and some other members returned to their club full of ideas. They decided it was vital to implement a Gender-Neutral washroom in their school. Upon returning from another conference,

Brian presented the idea of changing their club’s name from a GAY-Straight Alliance to the QUEER-Straight Alliance, to be more inclusive and representative of their diverse efforts. Brian can happily report that the school recently succeeded in creating a Gender-Neutral washroom (the first in his school district), as well as changing the group’s name. Brian is looking forward to pursuing his post-secondary studies in Gender and Sexuality.

(This profile was written in 2015)