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Thriving at Humber’s LGBTQ+ Resource Centre
Insight Connecting and surrounding yourself with LGBTQ+ resources is important to many members of the community, especially on university campuses.

Kenny Dawkins
Practical Nursing Diploma student
Alongside those studies, Dawkins has spent the past two years working at Humber’s North Campus LGBTQ+ Resource Centre, which aims to create “safer, braver, positive spaces” on campus.
“I wanted to get more involved in general and I wanted to be an ally to a lot of different communities,” says Dawkins, a Resource and Events Assistant at the centre. “I thought the best first step was to start at school. A lot of students tend to say this is their home away from home.”
Dawkins, who uses the pronoun they, identifies as Black trans non-binary, polyqueer, aromantic. At the centre, “I am free to express the multiple intersections of my identity,” notes Dawkins when speaking about their experience.
Pride is every day
Off-campus, Dawkins has become better connected to the LGBTQ+ community and outside organizations, such as the Peel HIV/AIDS Network. As an ally, the centre has helped them navigate difficult but important conversations, making sure voices are heard and knowing when to step in — and when to step back.
The centre is working on upcoming Pride events, though Dawkins says it’s important to remember LGBTQ+ issues are important 365 days a year, not just during one week of celebration in June. Dawkins says more work needs to be done to advocate for intersecting identities, such as LGBTQ+ people of colour or those with disabilities as well as the two-spirited community, and to increase awareness of barriers LGBTQ+ folk have to accessing spaces and resources that are intersectional and inclusive of their diverse identities.
“We’re living our lives the rest of the year,” Dawkins says. “There needs to be conversations outside of Humber, in the broader sense, going beyond tolerance to acceptance — just letting people be who they want to be.”
Zoe Davey
Jack Lewis
Child and Youth Diploma student
“When I started at Humber I got really involved, really quickly,” Lewis says. “The people in the LGBTQ+ Resource Centre were incredibly friendly and very welcoming. That helped a lot and encouraged me to come back.”
Before starting at Humber, he attended a different college where, as he describes it, “the vibe wasn’t great.” Lewis identifies as biracial, queer, and trans, and felt his first school wasn’t all that welcoming to LGBTQ+ people of colour. At Humber, the atmosphere felt safe and respectful. The Resource Centre was promoted to incoming students during the first week of school. It offered programming including drop-in peer support, arts workshops, “QTALK” and “QPOC” discussion groups for the queer community and LGBTQ+ people of colour, campus outreach programs, and access to off-campus resources like Rainbow Health Ontario and The 519.
The Humber vibe
Students seek emotional connections and friendship, but also information about how to navigate academic, legal, and medical spaces and systems. That kind of holistic advocacy is what has made Lewis’ Humber experience so meaningful.
“I’ve grown so much, not only as a person but professionally, and I’ve been able to learn so much about other perspectives and identities,” he says. “For me, it’s about being able to be a part of a bigger community and to do good things for the people around me.”
Zoe Davey