Working Towards Inclusivity in Chemistry Toronto

This summer, our co-chair, Navina, attended a talk at CCCE by Michael Godfrey from the University of Windsor titled “Clear but cloudy skies: An investigation of the climate for LGBTQ2S+ students in science”. The speaker discussed results from a survey about campus culture. Many respondents shared that the simple act of someone having a sticker in a visible place or using their pronouns in their e-mail signature made them feel immediately more welcome and included. The results of the survey are echoed in this editorial in Scientific American (https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/you-are-welcome-here-small-stickers-make-a-big-difference-for-lgbtq-scientists/) from a few years ago. This sparked the idea for the LGBTQ+ Sticker Campaign.

The idea was for WICTO to create stickers expressing ideas of allyship and inclusion, to give students in the Chemistry Department a clear sign that they are welcome and supported here. It was very important to us that this idea would not simply be a performative act, so we decided to ask for a minimum donation per sticker. This amount covered the cost of the sticker, and all profits were donated to The 519 (https://www.the519.org/), an organization in Toronto that provides support and resources to members of the LGBTQ2S+ community. We also opened up orders to the broader community so long as they covered shipping costs. We ran this campaign throughout the month of October, which is LGBTQ+ History Month.

We are so happy to announce that with your help, we were able to raise $1228.66 for The 519! This campaign was successful beyond our wildest hopes, and we are honoured by the support from within the Department and beyond. Thank you so much for your orders. We can’t wait to see all of the stickers up! Feel free to send us a picture of where you place your sticker – you can email us or send it to us on one of our social media accounts.

Special shoutout to our Events coordinator, Abbey Clapperton, for leading the organization of this event!