Red River College Polytech makes changes after trans student's human rights complaint

A student who was subjected to discrimination for being trans hopes Red River College Polytechnic is ready to change. 

Talon Knight was a student in the welding certificate program in 2015 and 2016. They say other students repeatedly heaped abuse on them for being trans.

They filed a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission in 2016.

On Monday, as part of its settlement with Knight, the college announced it would make respectful college training compulsory for all students of the School of Skilled Trades and Technology.

Last year, it made the training mandatory for faculty and staff and strengthened its respectful workplace policies and procedures so that it can better respond to complaints of harassment and discrimination.

"It's a small step but there is still an insurmountable amount of progress to go," said Knight, 30, who identifies as trans and non-binary.

"I want future trans students to have basically a much better experience than I had. I don't want any of them to go through the harassment." 

While enrolled as a student in the welding program at Red River College Polytech between 2015 and 2016, Knight repeatedly faced transphobia and homophobia from others in the program.

"I would show up to class, normal day, have people indirectly say things to me, have people lean against my locker and start spewing vitriol and discrimination for being queer or trans," they recalled.

"They would have conversations that they wish people like me were still thrown in bonfires, and just active anger and hate for no other reason than just me being in their space."

They said in one instance, a woman physically pushed them out of the women's washroom.

Knight said they were assured there were policies and procedures against that behaviour, but when they ended up eventually reporting it, little was done.

"No matter who I reported it to, either the diversity group or the lead administrator or even the counselling department of the college, I would always get that, 'Oh we're really sorry but unfortunately we can't really do anything," they said.

"I wanted something done. When you spend so many times being self-destructive, to the point that your mental health is borderline suicidal and you're in and out of crisis centres, it's like, this is not something that should be done to any human being."