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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, April 30, 2015 | 20 Hundreds Loud and Proud at LGBTQ+ conference by David Lea Oakville Beaver Staff Hundreds of students from across Halton and beyond celebrated equity and diversity at the Halton District School Board's (HDSB) annual Gay-Straight Alliance Conference. The event was held at Iroquois Ridge High School last Thursday (April 23). Dubbed "Loud and Proud: Can You Hear Me Now," the conference was intended to give LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) students and others an opportunity to connect, examine various issues facing the LGBTQ+ community and have fun. "It's not just about creating safe spaces anymore. It's about celebrating who people are and getting out there and being visible and being active in the community," said Robert Stenekes, Equity and Inclusion Education Student/ Community Facilitator with HDSB. "It's local in that sense, but also we really help to broaden the students' global perspective on what's happening with LGBTQ+ issues around the world. We have a really good framework for what's happening here in Canada, but that's not necessarily the case in the rest of the world." Iroquois Ridge High School hosted Inside and Out Loud and Proud: Can You Hear me Now? -- the Halton District School Board's annual gay-straight alliance conference for Grades 7-12. From left to right, are: Robert Stenekes, Equity and Inclusive Education Student/Community Facilitator, Halton District School Board; and organizers Roshni Jain and Della Woodger. | photo by Eric Riehl ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) The conference attracted more than 300 students. Many came from schools throughout Halton's public board, but some also came from the Halton Catholic District School Board and Appleby College. Others arrived from schools as far away as Brantford. The conference featured a poetry slam, musical performances, and community booths where students could learn about local LGBTQ+ Conventional Oil Change Up to 5L With spin-on filter Incl. FREE 3pt Inspection $ 24.99 activities and connect with advocacy groups. "This is super important because there are so many people in Halton, and youths in Halton especially, who identify in the LGBTQ+ range. I think sometimes it is very hard for them to find resources," said a student from Assumption Catholic Secondary School, who is also a member of the Positive Space Network. "I'm trying to start a (Gay-Straight Alliance) GSA at my school, so having these resources is extremely helpful and coming here and having all the different booths gives me a lot of information about how to do that." The 15-year-old said her group is also looking to open a LGBTQ+ Youth Centre in Halton and came to the conference to survey students to find out what they'd like to see at a centre and what it would take to make them feel safe there. She also noted an LGBTQ+ youth drop-in event takes place every second Tuesday of the month at Mountainside Recreation Centre, 2205 Mount Forest Dr., in Burlington, from 5-8 p.m. A connecTions social group for gender independent; trans-identified youths and their families/caregivers meets the first Wednesday of the month at the Positive Space Network offices at the Reach Out Centre for Kids (ROCK) at 504 Iroquois Shore Rd., unit 12A, in Oakville. Another booth featured representatives from Egale: Canada Human Rights Trust, Canada's national LGBTQ+ human rights organization. The group is best known for its campaign, which helped bring same sex marriage to Canada in 2005. It now works to advocate for the creation of safer spaces for LGBTQ+ people. Egale representative Jeremy Dutcher said events like the conference are important particularly when a 2009 national research survey conducted by the group found two out of three LGBTQ+ students do not feel safe in their schools on a daily basis. "When I was going to school, there were really no supports for myself as a gay student in the school," said Dutcher. "To have opportunities for students to come see Student on p.21 670 Fourth Line, Unit 20 Oakville 905-845-0770 Family owned and operated. We're committed to providing you with the highest level of service, so you'll always choose us for your maintenance and repair needs. Synthetic Oil Change Up to 5L With spin-on filter Incl. FREE 3pt Inspection $ 49.99 SOILYOuRSELf 4th Line QEW Dorval www.nmtoakville.ca Receive 20% off Labour (1-time offer only) First Time Customer? 450 Wyecroft Rd. unit 4 Missing teeth? GOLD We can fix that! 330 Dundas St. E. Oakville 905-257-3182 info@klerdental.ca www.klerdental.ca TOP SOIL · AGGREGATES ARMOR STONE · TOOLS INTERLOCK · MULCH · SEED landscapeelements.ca WE ARE OPEN AND WE DELIVER 905-337-7625 Open evenings & saturdays