OUTShine 2017 is coming to Windsor

By Lyndi-Colleen Morgan

OUTShine is coming to Windsor in May 2017, to bring the city’s pride to an international scale.

Bob Williams, executive director of the Windsor Pride Education and Resource Centre, said the Windsor OUTShine 2017 conference will be a game changer as the conference will shift from a national to international event.

Frank Colosimo, Program and Services Coordinator of Egale Canada Human Rights Trust and project lead for OUTShine 2015, said OUTShine is a national Gay Straight Alliance conference created and hosted by Egale Canada Human Rights Trust. The event brings educators and youth together from across Canada to discuss creating and sustaining gay-straight alliances, LGBTQ inclusion in schools, sharing best practices and celebrating LGBTQ & allied experiences.

This conference is held every two years during the long weekend in May, with Toronto 2013 as the inaugural event, followed by Winnipeg in 2015. The next conference will be held in Windsor in 2017.

“I think it is a very unique event. Not only do the youth get to come together, but educators and like-minded folks are able to share ideas and I think that is very important,” said Williams. “I too think that it doesn’t matter the sexual orientation or the gender. When youth are learning, studying, getting to be better people and moving into adulthood they need the opportunity to interact with each other and I think that is what OUTShine does for them.”

The Windsor Pride Education and Resource Centre provides a safe and positive space to members of the community, as well as resources and education tools, confidential counseling for individuals and their families and the rainbow recovery program for those recovering from addictions among other programs.

Williams said the conferences have provided students and educators with a number of experiences, and  the growth he sees in these people is what makes these events worthwhile.

“We took away as much as we brought,” said Williams. “You don’t know what knowledge you bring until you get there and then you get to share and listen to what other have to say. We brought a lot but we brought back a lot more which we were able to share.”

Williams attended the previous OUTShine conferences and will be part of the planning process for the 2017 event, along with the resource centre.  He will be responsible for reaching out to local community member and businesses to find sponsors, while Egale will be responsible for national sponsors and funding. Currently the key members in the planning process are Egale, Windsor Pride Education and Resource Centre and the Run For Rocky campaign. They are currently in negotiations with St. Clair College to get the school on board with the conference, and they may also approach the University of Windsor as well.

Williams also said the calibre of the event will change as it expands to an international event and may feature speakers and celebrity attendants. Williams has currently reached out to the United States, England, New Zealand and Austrailia.

Egale’s Colosimo said that the planning process for 2017 is underway and as the event comes closer, more details will be confirmed.

“We anticipate hundreds of students and teachers from across Canada and the world,” said Colosimo. “We are still in the early stages of planning the 2017 summit. We plan to create another life changing weekend for everyone who attends.”

For more information about resources and counseling at the Windsor Pride Community Education and Resource Centre contact Bob Williams at (519) 973-4656 or email [email protected].

For more information about Egale Canada Human Rights Trust visit egale.ca.