Local Commons Action Hour
Local Commons is an opportunity to discuss global issues within our local U of T community. Join us for lunchtime sessions at U of T, hear from local advocates and thinkers, and engage in dialogue and action opportunities related to the Global Commons program. This year, our theme focuses on Migration: Global Perspectives on the Search for Home.
About
Join University of Toronto students and participate in a timely session and discussion on the migration and movement of LGBTQI+ individuals around the world. LGBTQI+ individuals around the world are sometimes in a state of flux—displaced from their families, communities, and homes—and searching for acceptance.
Globally, LGBTQI+ people are at risk of losing their jobs, imprisonment, and in some cases, torture and death. Discriminatory laws and stigma continue in countries around the world, including in the Middle East, Africa, South America, and Russia. Hundreds of thousands of individuals continue to struggle to find a new home, a new community, and a place that accepts them.
Join Dave Kerr, the Director of LGBTQI+ Refugee Programs at the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto as he leads a session to discuss the issues LGBTQI+ individuals continue to face around the world.
- What risks do queer individuals face in countries that continue persecuting their identity?
- What are the barriers for individuals fleeing their community?
- What are the challenges and dangers of fleeing their communities?
- What can we do here in Toronto to support LGBTQI+ refugees?
Students are encouraged to join this session to learn, share stories, and learn how to take action to support LGBTQI+ people.
Lunch will be provided to registered participants.
The Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
Since 1973, the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto has been helping shape Canadian values of inclusion, diversity, and equality. A place of worship and a place of action, MCC Toronto is a vibrant and progressive church rooted in the Christian tradition and the LGBTQ2+ community that is open and welcoming to everyone, and a Human Rights Centre that is fiercely committed to social justice. Students are encouraged to join this session to learn, share stories, and learn how to take action to support LGBTQ+ people.
