Adam Coish
May 23, 2018
'What I love about being queer'
鈥淚 wanted to kill myself when I was 11.鈥 As a four-time Lambda Literary Award finalist with countless honours, several albums, films and books,聽聽first line in her latest short film聽聽may come as a bit of surprise.
But after growing up queer in a world wrought with discrimination, the 草莓污视频导航 assistant professor in the聽聽has no qualms about using art to speak out about her experiences with sexual identity and mental health.聽
Simply put, sexual identity refers to an individual鈥檚 sexual desire. While we often assume there is an inevitable link between LGBTQ+ identities and mental health, Shraya, who identifies as queer or bisexual, is quick to set the record straight.
鈥淢ental health and sexual identity don鈥檛 really intersect,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not my queerness or my bisexuality that affect my mental health, but homophobia, biphobia, and people鈥檚 inability to support, accept, or celebrate who I am.鈥
Adding weight to Shraya鈥檚 view, the federal government reports that people who self-identify as homosexual or bisexual are聽three times more likely聽to be victims of violence, compared to heterosexuals. More alarmingly, hate crimes targeting sexual orientation are more violent than all other forms of hate crimes nationwide according to Statistics Canada reports starting in聽聽and continuing through the latest report in聽.听听
With such shocking levels of violence plaguing the LGBTQ+ community, there鈥檚 no wonder that members experience聽, including mood and anxiety disorders.聽 聽聽
鈥淢ost queer people grow up in a world where we鈥檙e told we aren鈥檛 loved. That we鈥檙e abnormal. We鈥檙e taught that queerness is never something of value 鈥斅爄t鈥檚 something to denounce,鈥 Shraya explains. 鈥淲hen you receive constant messages telling you that your identity is wrong, of course you feel awful about yourself.鈥
Recognizing a need to flip the script, Shraya used her artistic talents to start celebrating queerness through聽, her internationally renowned project which shows how being queer is beautiful, while reminding the world that heterosexuality isn鈥檛 the best and only way to be.
鈥淢y experience of queerness, especially growing up, was inextricably tied to other people鈥檚 responses,鈥 Shraya says. 鈥淚 often conflated wanting to kill myself and feeling depressed with queerness, but had I grown up in an environment where gender non-conformity was celebrated rather than attacked, I don鈥檛 think I would feel that way.鈥
聽was on May 17. Shraya reminds us that the battle for equality is far from over. 鈥淥ne of the challenges we face in more liberal environments like post-secondary is the idea that forms of oppression like homophobia don鈥檛 exist anymore,鈥 says Shraya.
鈥淭hey may not exist in the ways I experienced as a student, like being called 鈥榝ag鈥 every day, but even something as innocuous as thinking that we need to learn to accept queerness is oppressive.鈥
While seeking help from聽on-campus resources聽is a good first step for anyone experiencing mental health challenges related to sexual identity, Shraya urges the campus community as a whole to stop staring and start talking.
鈥淲e have to work together, have conversations and create an environment on campus where queer people don鈥檛 need to access services to feel safe, comfortable, seen and respected,鈥 she says. 鈥淲e talk a lot about acceptance and tolerance, but acceptance and tolerance set the bar so low for what we can aspire to. We need to start celebrating.鈥