As the “It Gets Better” video campaign against sexuality-based bullying goes viral, queer youth in the heart of Ottawa are using another medium to spur social change and express themselves – comics.
The Queer Youth Comics Project is a series of workshops that teach GLBTQ youth how to create comics. However, the workshops are more than just tutorials on pencilling, storyboarding and inking.
"I want this project to prove that you can pick up a pen and use it in a peaceful form,” says creator Michel Levesque.
The bi-weekly workshops, which ends Nov. 9, are an initiative to use comics as “the vehicle to exchange experiences” for a population that routinely feels the sharp sting of alienation, according to the freelance graphic artist.
A firm believer in art as a means of self-expression, Levesque “imagined” the workshops into existence in the summer of 2009. He received grants from the Ontario Arts Council and the City of Ottawa within a year.
After securing Pink Triangle Services as a partner, Levesque approached SAW Gallery as a location for the workshops.
“Levesque (has) developed a workshop series that could be life-changing for some participants,” says Stefan St-Laurent, gallery curator.
A single three-hour workshop consists of a brief tutorial reinforced with hands-on drawing activities and discussions about queer issues. The theme that has emerged is “It’s Just a Phase.”
Jean Yves Bénard, volunteer and programming co-ordinator at PTS, emphasizes the importance of a safe, positive environment where drawing two men holding hands will not be frowned upon.
Montreal author Helen Wolkowicz is currently working on a novel about a transgendered teen. She agrees that the project is a “wonderful initiative that can go a long way for queer youth struggling with their identity.”
In conducting research for her novel, Wolkowicz says she has found Ottawa’s GLBTQ community to be “fractured” and “incohesive.”
Statistics from the “It Gets Better” campaign reveal that gay youths are two to three times more susceptible to bullying than their straight peers.
Levesque says that the workshops offer GLBTQ youth in Ottawa something the capital region lacks – a physical presence.
“Once you have a set space, you naturally feel a sense of belonging," he says. "Ottawa lacks these physical spaces for youths to get together and express themselves."