The Department of Political Science expresses its solidarity with Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual (2SLGBTQIA+) students, staff and faculty at Memorial.

2SLGBTQIA+ people are facing increasing threats to their rights, livelihood and lives, here in North America and around the world. We are prompted, in particular, by the introduction of laws and increase in rhetoric in the United States that seek to criminalize and marginalize trans and non-binary people and their families. Abhorrent wherever they occur, we know these events will hit especially close to home, particularly for those in our midst who are American or have family or other personal connections in the U.S.

Memorial’s core values include a commitment to inclusiveness and diversity in everything we do, and, in the Department of Political Science, we recognize the recent assaults on the rights and well-being of trans and non-binary people as assaults on these core values. We respond to these assaults by affirming that our department – in the classroom and in all its spaces – is a place where everyone is welcome and deserving of respect.