'It's really freeing to be yourself:' Whitehorse teenagers rally for LGBTQ+ student support

Yukon's legislature is debating a bill that would shore up mental health and social supports for LGBTQ+ students.

The bill, introduced by NDP MLA Emily Tredger, would require all Yukon schools to establish and support in-school activities for LGBTQ+ youth. 

"[The bill] really started with conversations I had with students … who told me how important it was to them to have a safe space in their school," said Tredger. "Some of them have communities and families that are supportive, and some of them don't. So it was incredibly important to them that when they came to school, they had a place they could connect with their peers, a place that they knew they had a supportive teacher.

"And they were worried that their peers didn't have all that."

Some schools in the territory — like Porter Creek Secondary School, in Whitehorse — already have programs like the "Rainbow Room," a place where students can find affirmation and support, and connect with their peers. 

On Wednesday, students from Porter Creek Secondary School gathered outside the territory's legislative assembly to voice their support for the bill. 

They brought rainbow flags, colourful signs and a host of arguments for why all students in the territory should be able to find affirming, welcoming spaces at school. 

Fourteen-year-old Nari Barker said the Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) program at Porter Creek changed their life. 

"I started hanging out in the Rainbow Room [and] I felt way more accepted and a little less bullied," they said. 

Fellow student Akaria Thorsteinson also said the Rainbow Room helped them feel free to be themself at school. 

"I had to hide who I really was," said Thorsteinson. "I had to put up a mask and fake identity, pretty much, from who I really am. 

"It's really freeing to be yourself."

Tredger says Porter Creek is only one of many schools in the territory that offer strong support to their LGBTQ+ students — but the current approach is "a bit piecemeal," and too many students are missing out. 

"If there happens to be a teacher and a supportive administration in a school, then something gets started [and] hopefully, maybe some other teacher will carry it on," Tredger said. "But maybe that teacher will move away, and it won't be there anymore. And some teachers might not, or some schools might not, have a teacher who has the ability to take it on.