On February 12, 2021, Eliana Baboiu and Payton Hierbert started a petition calling for a campus pride centre at Thompson Rivers University (TRU). Within the first year, their petition had over 200 signatures, reaffirming student interest in a home for pride on campus. Today the Queer community at TRU is still waiting.
The calls for a pride centre and dedicated home for inclusivity at TRU began before the petition, back in 2017, when a proposal was put forward by the Thompson Rivers University Student Union (TRUSU) Pride Club. One of the people who helped with the proposal was Baboiu, a student at the time and member of the club.
“We wanted to start a pride center at TRU after seeing how many universities within B.C. have one on campus,” Baboiu says. After the first proposal, the Pride Club did not hear anything from TRU until 2021.
“It had been three years with absolute radio silence, and there wasn’t any progress,” Hiebert, student and Pride Club member, says.
Finally, following the petition, TRU faculty reached out to the Pride Club for a conversation.
“The meetings involved them wanting to know what this actually looked like to us, what we really want to see in a pride centre,” Hiebert explains.
Their idea was to model the pride centre after the wellness centre. It would serve as a space for people to connect with Queer folks or allies, as well as offer resources and support for Queer students.
The vision for a pride centre at TRU became clearer when Hiebert co-founded Queer Connections.
“The main project was to create resources, fill gaps…for Queer people locally.”
Through Queer Connections they would organize events to help create a sense of belonging among LGBTQIA+ students.
“We started off using the new expanded wellness centre, but we found with how many people were coming and wanting to participate, we anticipated needing a bigger space,” Baboiu says.
Even though Queer Connections partnered with the U Prep Room, the sense of wanting to belong and connect in a dedicated space was still there.
“It’s never our own space,” Hiebert says.“We asked for a place where [Queer students] can always go to that will be respectful, inclusive, non-judgmental and really embrace the individual’s genuine and authentic self.”
It was then the club learned of a new hurdle – after several conversations with TRU, they were informed the school was in the process of hiring a manager of gender and sexual diversity. They were told until that role was filled, they would not be able to move forward with the pride centre, Hierbert says.
In October 2023, the role of manager of gender and sexual diversity was filled by Noah Fischer. This role is focused on supporting Queer and 2SLGTQIA+ students at TRU and on the Williams Lake campus. The role also works on resource generation, Fischer says. One-on-one support is available through appointment and office hours where Fischer is available to assist students.
Despite filling this role, a physical space for the pride centre does not exist yet.
“We’re still working on determining a space that will be suitable to host the pride centre and what that will look like,” Fischer tells The Wren.
While conversations have been happening, TRU is still determining the best course of action, he adds.
“I think that getting any student population a place that they can feel a strong sense of belonging on campus is really important,” Fischer says, adding students need to feel welcomed and safe on campus and in the community as well. “There are limited opportunities for Queer people to gather and socialize and make connections.”
The last time the TRUSU Pride Club communicated with TRU was through email when they were told they would hire a manager of gender and sexual diversity, according to Hierbert. After hiring Fischer, the club has not had any follow–up meetings regarding the progress of opening the pride centre.
“We’re sick of having to constantly explain ourselves. It’s tiring, it’s exhausting to always have to educate everybody,” Hiebert says. “This isn’t just about TRU students, this is about Kamloops’ Queer community as a whole. We do not have any social outlets, we do not have any Queer-inclusive specific safe places to go.”
Students have also shared their disappointment to Fischer about the lack of an inclusive space on campus.
“This is kind of the dimension of the Queer student experience on campus that hasn’t really been supported thus far. So it’s definitely being heard, we’re gathering lots of feedback and documenting this process.”
However, Fischer says he is not in charge of the executive decisions in regards to opening the centre.
Pauline Streete is the executive director of equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism at TRU. Her role is pan-institutional, covering students and faculty across the university. Streete says TRU is aware of the petition.
“On campus there’s space that has been designated and it is a bookable space. It has been available since winter 2024 and it’s within the inclusion and wellness activity room,” Streete says.
TRU is looking at other institutions and comparing how other strategies for Pride Centres can be implemented based on the needs of the students at TRU.
“It’s not that it’s lost, it is top of mind and we are seeking best possible solutions for students, as well as for the greater community,” Streete says.
Still, the current president of the TRUSU Pride Club Joel Lucas expressed frustration at the fact things have not changed since the creation of the petition three years ago.
“It casts doubt on the authenticity and sincerity of TRU’s vision statement, specifically where TRU is stated to be a place of belonging,” Lucas says.
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