Participants at a Qu(e)erying Religion event held in 2011 at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus.
Qu(e)erying Religion (QR) alumni (left to right) Brian Shuve, Sheryl Johnson and Kelly Colwell at the QR fundraising gala launch held at the Marilyn Pavillion in 2013.
Left to right: Ralph Carl Wushke, Marilyn Elphick and Pallavi Suresan at the Qu(e)erying Religion fundraising gala launch held at the Marilyn Pavillion in 2013.
Qu(e)erying Religion display at Hart House in 2009.
Queer students of faith have been getting support for the past 10 years thanks to the Ecumenical Chaplaincy at University of Toronto (ECUT).
In 2005, ECUT chaplain Ralph Carl Wushke launched the Qu(e)erying Religion (QR) program at U of T with a group of LGBT students. Since then, QR has sponsored interfaith film festivals, dinner discussions, support groups and panels exploring the complicated intersection of gender identities, sexual orientations, faith, religion and spirituality.
Dr JP Catungal, a key QR leader during his student years, says, “As a Roman Catholic gay man, I became part of QR because I embody and experience the contradictions and difficulties of being both gay and of faith — an uneasy position given that there are not very many spaces where I can be both, at once, in a supportive and healthy way.”
In 2013, ECUT launched the Fund for Gender, Sexuality and Faith in Campus Ministry to secure QR for future generations of students with a gala launch featuring guest performers Vivek Shraya, Farzana Doctor and Kwame Stephens.
ECUT is supported by the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the United Church of Canada.
For more information, visit utoronto.ca/ecut.
Why you can trust Xtra
