Interview with David Pereira
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David Pereira, Director of the Sexual & Gender Diversity Office at the University of Toronto, talks about the LGBTQ+ community and his experience as a queer male. He shares the story of his coming out and how he became involved with LGBTQ+ visibility and education, and how there needs to be more acceptance and respect in everday settings. His story includes sharing what it was like to attend a Christian and Catholic college as a closeted gay man and how much things have changed since that time. Pereira shares how he became involved in advocacy as a student before coming out, in a behind the scenes way and then became more involved after coming out in his role as residence Don, providing trainings and support to other Dons on issues of LGBTQ+ visibility and identities to promote greater inclusiveness. He talks about the role of the Sexual & Gender Diveristy Office in providing resources, programming, education, and advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirited members of the U of T community- students, staff, and faculty on all three campuses.