Reflections on Pride: Bringing positivity and creativity to celebrate the 2SLGBTQ+ community

Feature Stories | 27 Jun 2024

Emma Monti is a 3rd-year medical student and co-leader of QueerMed. She has shared this personal reflection on Pride Month and the theme of queer and trans excellence in medicine.

In 1978, Gilbert Baker was a gay artist living and working in San Francisco—at the time, the safest and most accepting place to be for young 2SLGBTQ+ individuals. Having learned how to sew some months earlier and looking for a way to use his creative mind to create a symbol of unity and positivity for queer and trans communities worldwide, Baker created the very first rainbow flag. Having undergone several revisions since Baker’s original design, the rainbow flag continues to embody queer and trans joy and showcases the beauty and diversity of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

As a senior executive member of the QueerMed organization at Queen’s School of Medicine, I am inspired by Baker’s use of positivity and creativity to bring awareness to not only the struggles of queer and trans people worldwide, but also highlight the great sense of joy and pride fostered by the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Using this model of inspiring advocacy through positivity and connections, QueerMed successfully planned the second iteration of our Queen’s Health Sciences Pride event.

This year, we hoped to create a space for our community to gather and recognize queer and trans excellence in medicine and beyond while honouring the ongoing struggles faced by 2SLGBTQ+ people worldwide. We were very fortunate to have Dr. Nancy Tatham (Artsci'86 & Artsci'00) as our keynote speaker. The event was an incredible opportunity to reflect on the long history of silence and discrimination faced by 2SLGBTQ+ people in medicine and beyond, and to highlight strategies for moving forward with meaningful action and advocacy.

While the 2SLGBTQ+ community becomes most visible during Pride celebrations such as the one at QHS, our community has such a rich and important history that stretches beyond the parades and corporate sponsorships we see each June. While celebrating queer and trans joy is so important, recognizing the deeply political and intersectional origins of Pride is essential—an aspect of Pride that can sometimes become lost among the parties. This June, I encourage you all to engage with the politics of Pride, looking at the origins of this celebration, speaking to queer and trans members of your community (during June and all year) and recognize the ongoing challenges that the 2SLGBTQ+ community faces.

While immense progress has been made towards addressing historical injustices, there is still much work to be done. In 2023, in the U.S. alone, there were 510 anti-2SLGBTQ+ bills introduced, with a disproportionate number of them targeting the rights of trans and gender diverse people, and in Canada, we saw the introduction of new anti-trans laws in Alberta in 2024. As future healthcare providers, advocates, allies and passionate changemakers, we have a powerful voice that can be used for so much good. I urge you to reflect on how you can use this voice to support your queer and trans colleagues, friends and patients, reflecting on the rich history of the 2SLGBTQ+ community each time you see a rainbow flag.

Happy Pride to you—I hope you carry the joy and inspiration of this important occasion with you far beyond June. 

Reflections on Pride: Bringing positivity and creativity to celebrate the 2SLGBTQ+ community

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