If Kai Cheng Thom could go back and relive her time as a McGill student, she wouldn’t change much. “I was lucky to live a very queer life at McGill,” she recalled.
In addition to earning a bachelor’s degree in social work and two master’s degrees, Thom was active with Queer McGill, pursued art and activism, wrote a column for The McGill Daily, was a Loran Scholar and came out as a transgender woman.
“Sometimes it feels like I lived out every extreme possibility,” said Thom. “Yet I must also admit that it was also very difficult. I was very out there, and very vulnerable, and I struggled very much with my mental health.”
Today, Thom is a writer, performer, cultural worker, speaker and somatic practitioner who helps people release their pent-up emotions.
She’ll return to McGill for Queer History Month, delivering the keynote and hosting an arts workshop. She hopes both events will inspire McGill’s 2SLGBTQIA+ students experiencing their own challenges.
“Queer and trans people have lived through unimaginable adversity before, and not only that, created cultures of beauty, pleasure and joy in the midst of grief and trauma. What could be more powerful, more hope-giving, than that?”
Queer resilience
Thom’s keynote address on Oct. 22 is titled Remembering Resilience: Embodying the Queer Legacies in Uncertain Times.
“I will draw upon the stories and living legacies of those queer and trans trailblazers who came before us,” said Thom. “I chose to focus on the resilience and wisdom of past generations of queer and trans people because I believe that this history is one of our greatest sources of strength and creativity.”
Her arts workshop on Oct. 23 is co-presented by Queer McGill and the McGill Equity team. It will be a space for 2SLGBTQIA+ students to explore and experiment with creative writing, poetry and art as a form of empowerment, self-expression and community building.
“I’m so excited about this,” said Thom. “While I love public speaking, I’m even more excited about facilitating others to find and raise their voices together.”
This will be Thom’s first time celebrating Queer History Month at McGill; the event was first celebrated in 2018 and did not exist when Thom attended.
“I think that if I could have attended as a student, it would have helped me to feel more like the University itself was ‘on my side’ as a trans person,” said Thom.
“We are so grateful to have McGill alumna Kai Cheng Thom as our keynote speaker this year,” said Shannon Wood, Equity Education Advisor. “I have no doubt her perspectives will resonate and inspire.”