KDocs Challenges Heteronormativity Through Film and Discussion

Two documentaries about the LGBTQ+ community screened on July 28

Room Fir 128 on the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Surrey campus was crowded on July 28, the evening of a KDocs film screening and panel discussion on documentaries How We Got Gay and Transforming Gender. Around thirty people gathered in the space to enjoy conversation, entertainment, and education, and among them were the night’s moderator, student organizers, and three panelists.

KDocs—a KPU documentary film festival—strives to engage students by facilitating conversations about interesting and socially critical subjects. The topic of choice on the night of the 28th was the history of the gay rights movement and what it means to be transgender, two fields which align with the values of the screening’s co-organizer, the Kwantlen Public Interest Research Group.

Speaking on the panel were three individuals with extensive knowledge of and personal experience with the LGBTQ+ community. Kari Michaels, co-founder of feminist club Women Organizing Opportunities for Women and contributor to Pride Kwantlen, represented the university as a current student. Panelist Tara Lyons, faculty at KPU in the Department of Criminology, is also a research scientist with the Gender & Sexual Health Initiative at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/Aids and a self-identified queer woman. Lastly, as sessional faculty at KPU and full-time faculty at Lakehead University, Gerald Walton’s identity as a gay man and rights activist inspired him to appear on the panel.

The first film, How We Got Gay, showed viewers a condensed version of the gay rights movement in North America. It began with the early days of blatant police and medical violence towards gay men, the riots at Stonewall, the first ever Canadian gay rights rally, and the devastating HIV/AIDS outbreak. It concluded with the successes of gay marriage, improved equality, and testaments from activists.

In contrast, Transforming Gender examined the profiles of transgender folks across different age groups, nationalities, and identities. It defined and discussed terms like “passing”—a person’s ability to be seen as a cisgender man or women, in accordance with how they identify—and the subjective importance of hormones. Similar to How We Got Gay, it concluded with success stories and smiling faces.

Once the screen went dark and the lights came on, the panel discussion began. All three of the panelists had criticisms of the films to offer, particularly of Transforming Gender.

Because all of the trans folk profiled in the film were passing, Lyons made a point of recognizing that one must be privileged to pass, as it costs a great deal of money, time, and courage. Walton brought up the exclusion of women as allies and activists in How We Got Gay, and Michaels carried the conversation to a more local place by focusing on KPU.

She highlighted how difficult it has been for Pride Kwantlen to see a safe space campaign enacted at the university—a battle between the two sides which lasted for years.

“I’ve been involved with Pride Kwantlen for a number of years now, and when you look at the struggles we’ve had to get recognition for the needs of LGBTQ+ students here, it’s been a fight for each and every gain that we’ve made, and they’re small gains.”

“I think, in terms of this film, what it means for what we can do here to make this a better place for LGBTQ students, and what we can do in our communities, is to remember that nothing gets done out of the good of anyone’s heart,” she says. “It takes us working together to actually change the way this institution treats its students, its staff, and its faculty, and the way we can treat each other.”