The Gender Sexuality Alliance Network hosted its Pride in Education conference at the University of New Brunswick this weekend.
The two-day conference is designed to provide LGBTQ2 high school students with a safe space to discuss issues and broaden students’ minds to the trials and tribulations others in their community face.
The general public may be surprised to know that this weekend was the 10th edition of the Pride in Education conference, or PIECON.
Organizers say they used to carefully advertise the event when the broader community was less than accepting.
“Ten years ago, we would never have had the media at an event like this. We would never have publicized where it was going to be held because there was fear of who might show up and what could happen,” said Gail Costello, co-chair of Pride in Education.
Approximately 230 students attended this year’s conference.
Thomas Argue was one of the keynote speakers at PIECON.
Argue is a gay man, and when he came out in rural New Brunswick in the early ’90s, he said he was subjected to conversion therapy in Bible class without his parents’ knowledge.
“I was aware I was being demonized. The therapy was supposedly the salvation … they were going to teach me how to be a real man by correcting how I held my books and how I talked and how I walked,” said Argue.
The therapy did not work. Argue said its only accomplishment was to make him feel suicidal.
“They allowed the bullying. They didn’t stop that because that was the repercussions, all designed to further fortify the effort,” Argue said.
Argue’s cousin, Mitchell Goodine, said he was also forced into conversion therapy at the age of 14. He says the local church attempted to “pray the gay away.”
Goodine and Argue say that conversion therapy is still happening in New Brunswick and that they took part in PIECON.
The conference is meant to be a safe atmosphere, and participants say they hoped to inspire more kids to feel welcome to join next year.
“If you’re just staying at home and just see it on the TV or pictures on social media, you’re not experiencing what true acceptance can feel like,” said David Irish, a PIECON attendee.
The Gender Sexuality Alliance Network is student-led, but teachers are there to lend a hand.
In preparation for next year’s PIECON, students will be asked on a survey which workshops resonated with them the most and what could be added to make the experience more inclusive.