Although queer people have always existed, and are much more widely welcomed in today’s society, there are many areas in which they are still not acknowledged. A big struggle for queer people is finding a place in the medical community.
Tomorrow afternoon, October 13 at 1 pm, Siv Greyson invites you to join them in the quad in front of the cafeteria at the UCT Faculty of Health Sciences, a faculty that Greyson says is built to heal yet still houses hostility towards people being themselves.
Siv Greyson is the Gender & Sexual Diversity Advocate of the Faculty and has held this position for four months. In this time, which they say may seem short, they have already noticed that “being visibly (“obviously”, “stereotypically”) gay, lesbian, queer, or trans is uncommon and perhaps even discouraged.”
Greyson organises this event to create a space for LGBTQ+ students and staff at UCT to connect, with the march falling on the anniversary of the first-ever Pride March in South Africa in Johannesburg, in 1990.
Greyson specifies that this march is also an opportunity for members of the Faculty who are not part of the LGBTQ+ community to show their solidarity.
“Showing up, even if you do not remember/mourn/celebrate/dance with us, means a lot – it can be the difference between a student feeling like they don’t belong in the Faculty – and one spending many joyous years in a space of unconditional acceptance. And I can assure you, showing up is a powerful way to demonstrate to your LGBTQI+ colleagues that you might be the kind of person they can be their honest selves around.”
Join Greyson and their colleagues for a historic moment in the push towards a more inclusive Faculty of Health Sciences at UCT.
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