“I didn't come out until university,” says Manny Rodrigues, currently a manager in People and Equity (HR) at Centennial College. “Back when I was going to high school, I didn't know other gay people. It wasn't ‘okay’ to be gay, I was bullied, and a lot of other people were bullied, too. There were closeted gay people in my high school, but sadly, we didn't even talk to each other, because if you talked to that other person that everyone identified as gay, it put a bigger target on your back. It was a lonely time in my life.”
Manny’s history is one of the reasons why he helped spearhead the Centennial Comes Out campaign, in which staff and students share their coming out stories, to let the 2SLGBTQQIA+ members of the campus community know that the college a safe space to be your true selves. National Coming Out Day happens on October 11 this year, and to celebrate it, Manny and his team have relaunched Centennial Comes Out with a new website and an interactive exhibit that will be on display first at Progress Campus’s Fireside Gallery (L1-18) and then touring the rest of our campuses throughout the remainder of 2022.
Here’s how it all happened, and why it’s important.
When Centennial first Came Out
“In 2017, Meza Daulet, Onar Usar, and I started this campaign for Pride Month,” Manny says. “We started Centennial Comes Out, as a grassroots campaign with just a couple of colleagues, where we went around asking people to share their coming out story.”
“Over the years, we've done some great work within the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community, like raising over $60,000 for queer students at the college,” Manny says. “This year, we wanted to relaunch and rebrand the campaign, now that we're back on campus, and now that we have a lot of new people here at Centennial.”
Coming Out Day
“What's going to be revealed on October 11 is 30 new photos and stories,” Manny says. “Many entries are from previous participants who are diving deeper with their stories, but we have a number of new participants, as well. We have several brave new students participating this year, and now we even have [Centennial College President] Craig Stevenson and [Vice-President Academic and Chief Learning Officer] Marilyn Herie participating as allies.” An ally is someone who listens to, believes and amplifies 2SLGBTQQIA+ voices. Anyone can be an ally, including those within and outside of the community.
The exhibit will be on display at the Fireside Gallery at Progress Campus during our Homecoming Week from October 11 to 21, and will consist of 31 big easels, with quotes, that will lead to each participant’s individual story through a unique QR Code. After Homecoming Week, the exhibit will visit the Story Arts Centre, October 24-November 4; Morningside Campus, November 7-18; Downsview Campus, November 21-December 2, and Ashtonbee Campus, December 5-16.
“A lot of it's just been through the grassroots work that we've been doing over the last couple years to build a supportive community here,” Manny says about finding stories to share. “Three of the students that took part in this year’s Pride edition of the Conversations for Social Change speaker series, for example, are part of the new campaign.”
Sending a message
“Those students that are participating this year have so much courage and so much strength that I wish I had at their age,” Manny says. “They are so much more comfortable with themselves and identifying themselves within this umbrella of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community. It's just so refreshing to be able to capture that, and use this platform to share these stories and hopefully inspire other students to come out.”
“It's important for us to demonstrate as leaders of this college, and as people within this community, that we're creating a safe space for everyone,” he continues. “And that we're creating a space where people can be their most authentic selves. I think that's especially necessary in today's political climate. Over the year there has been tremendous progress, but for intersectional populations within the queer community, there's still a lot of work that needs to be done, particularly in the Trans community, among others.”
Support at Centennial
Centennial Comes Out isn’t the only resource the college has to support its 2SLGBTQQIA+ community.
“Gabriel Bedard does a brilliant job facilitating Positive Space training, which is a fantastic workshop program that we do at the college, offered to both employees and to students,” Manny says, as an example. “And (student’s name removed for protection), she’s a new student this year that runs the LGBTQ student group at the college, The Queering Community Student Collective.” Interested students can reach them at queeringcommunity@centennialcollege.ca or @queeringcommunitycc on Instagram.
“I think it's important to have campaigns like this, because the more visible you are, the more difficult it is for people to take away your rights,” Manny says “And if you're going to be standing up and being out and proud, it's a lot harder for people to discount you or dismiss you as being something that doesn't exist, or being an aberration, or being something that isn't normal. There's safety in numbers, and if we're all standing up as a united community, there's a lot more good that we can do together.”