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Arts & Entertainment, Music

Opera McGill and McGill Symphony Orchestra present Britten’s harrowing tale

by Alexandra Lasser on

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Trigger warning: This piece contains mentions of sexual violence.

The famed red curtain rises on a scene of violence and destruction. Soldiers surround the shattered remains of a colossal statue as the opera’s narrators introduce the chaos of the present moment. On Jan. 30, Opera McGill and the McGill Symphony Orchestra premiered Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, directed by Patrick Hansen, to thunderous applause in the historic Monument-National. 

Set in ancient Rome, the story centres on the fiercely devoted love between Collatinus (Tristan Pritham, U3 Music), a Roman soldier sent away to fight, and Lucretia (MacKenzie Sechi, PG Artist Diploma in Performance), his loving wife who longs for his return. Her faithfulness inspires jealousy among the other soldiers, eventually spurring Tarquinius, the prince of Rome, to test her chastity and, in a horrifying act of sin, sexually assault her. 

The tale is narrated and commented on by the two figures of the Male Chorus (Fletcher Bryce-Davis, MMus 1), and the Female Chorus (AJ Gauger, MMus 2). Drawing on a tradition stemming from ancient Greek theatre, they are removed from the plot and embody the voice of morality sorely lacking from the tragedy.

As a chamber opera, the work allows for intimacy between the group of 11 characters and the chamber orchestra conducted by Stephen Hargreaves. The small ensemble conveys all of the dramaticism while highlighting the psychological aspects of the plot through focused attention on individual melodies. Strings and harp accompanied scenes of care and friendship in Lucretia’s home, while highly percussive instrumentation heightened the soldiers’ brutal bickering. The lighting design reinforces this contrast, illuminating domestic scenes in soft blue tones and casting the military ranks in stark red. When Tarquinius entered Lucretia’s home, Britten and the lighting broke down this contrast with percussive and nonmelodious writing framing a harshly lit home, elevating tension and marking the destructive nature of the act.

Portraying such a horrific tale on stage is a difficult task for anyone, but especially for a young cast of university students. Cast members Sechi and Pritham explained how they approached and portrayed the opera’s heavy content. 

“We definitely had several meetings about intimacy and about […] subject matter,” Pritham said in an interview with The Tribune. “Most of the rehearsals were actually closed, which is kind of rare for us.” 

While music students may watch other productions’ rehearsals, closed rehearsals for this opera allowed the cast to grow comfortable with one another and work through the scenes without added pressure. Sechi emphasized the importance of forming a sense of camaraderie before navigating the assault scene.

“We started with a really light-hearted approach so that we would be able to just laugh, […] because obviously it’s a really difficult scene to navigate,” Sechi said. “It was very lighthearted and fun so that we could find intimacy and connection in that way before moving into something so horrible.”

The fight between Lucretia and Tarquinius was violent and dramatic, culminating in the act of rape. The audience was blinded by a bright light placed centre stage behind the characters as Tarquinius undid his attire. This choice forced the audience to look away from the brutality, communicating the act without relying on gratuitous portrayals of violence. 

The aftermath of the crime focused largely on Lucretia’s psychological state rather than on plot-driven action. Revenge was not carried out, nor was anger expressed through battle. Instead, Sechi’s deep, lamenting voice shifted the typical emphasis on plot to her emotions. Britten’s choice to write Lucretia as an alto not only made her voice stand out against her soprano and mezzo entourage but also conveyed the depth of her grief.

The opera ends without offering a reason or justification for the chaos it depicts. The question, “Is this it all?” haunts the final scene through its endless repetition. The Romans and Choruses sing together in a beautifully stirring display of solidarity, yet none can find meaning in the painful injustice, forcing audience members to confront the horrors head-on. The delicate yet impactful presentation of this harrowing tale revealed the maturity and talent of the young performers, entrancing the audience through beauty and terror.

Prof Profiles, Science & Technology

Professor Myrna Lashley sheds light on the importance of studying Black Canadian youth’s mental health

by Malika Logossou on

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Black Canadians, on average, experience disproportionately poor health outcomes throughout their lives. While genetics may contribute to many chronic illnesses and mental health challenges, social and environmental determinants such as limited access to health care and anti-Black racism drive much of this disparity. This discrepancy is compounded by the legacy of colonialism and medical racism, which leaves Black communities underrepresented in mental health research.

To explore how these inequities affect youth mental health, The Tribune spoke with Myrna Lashley, an associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and adjunct researcher at the Culture and Mental Health Research Unit of the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research. 

While researching youth mental health, Lashley noticed that Black youth often carry a profound burden of intergenerational trauma relating to racism while also having to navigate structural racism, shaping how they see themselves.

“Structural racism is based on ideology,” Lashley said. “It’s in our laws, in the way we interact with each other, even in the way we teach religion, in the arts, and cultures, everything, and we have to be very conscious to set things so that Black youth see things that value them as citizens in the Canadian mosaic.” 

These systemic pressures also bleed into Black youth’s educational environments. Schools’ anti-violence policies often define violence as solely physical rather than emotional. This results in disciplinary action being taken only against students who respond physically to racial bullying, ignoring the harm caused by racist language. Teachers may also dismiss racist comments or fail to document incidents, leaving frustrated students to undermine their self-worth and sometimes reshape their perceptions of mental health practitioners.


“Anti-violence policy is used against that child, who responded to violence that they have been suffering all along, because violence is often seen only as a physical thing and not as an emotional thing,” Lashley explained. “When you are young, you tend to look at everybody almost the same. So how do you say to somebody, ‘Let’s go and get you some mental health remedies,’ when the person who is going to help you looks like the person that you are angry at?”

Lashley highlighted several persistent barriers in accessing mental health care in Canada for youth, stemming from systemic bias to a lack of culturally competent care and adequately trained professionals. 

“We don’t have enough people who understand the issues [.…] You still have people even to this day, who [incorrectly] think that Black people don’t feel pain to the same extent as white people,” Lashley explained. “There are barriers to care in terms of knowledge, there are barriers to care in terms of […] therapists taking racism into the therapy room with them. Have they done the reflection that’s necessary to look at their own privilege?”

In order to offer appropriate mental health resources to Black youth, professionals must recognize their privilege and understand how Black youths are affected by their lived experiences.

“How do you help someone when you already determined that they are genetically flawed as a group? […] You’ve made up your mind that they are aggressive […] You send that kid on the road to difficult mental health issues.”

These barriers often put the onus on Black youth to educate their caregivers or mental health practitioners about their lived experiences, which can discourage them from seeking care. The underrepresentation of Black service providers also leads to lower medical school enrolments within Black communities.

“We’re still in the process of trying to train people to understand not only the lived reality of Black people and therefore […] Black youth, but what effect this has on mental health,” Lashley said. “Because if you feel like you are going to see someone who doesn’t understand you, […] you are spending a bit of money in your first few sessions […] teaching people how to see you. We have to really make sure that when we train people who are working in mental health and are going to help others, that they have a better understanding [of this reality].”

Cultural stigma within Black communities adds another layer of difficulty. 

“[There is] stigma within the community, and how we deal with, as Black people, […] mental health, and mental illness. And we are ashamed to have it, so we tend often not to seek the care that’s necessary, and so our youth don’t do it, because we’re not encouraging them to do it.”

Lashley also emphasized how adults’ lack of access to mental health services can create familial and environmental issues that harm children. 

“People have to deal with racism in the workplace, and they don’t know how to confront it there, or they have to put food on the table, […] then they go home, and they take it out on the family. The kids get hit, or the partner gets hit, or the person starts to self-medicate with alcohol or drugs,” she said. 

With these factors in mind, Lashley shared how she sensitizes professionals and the public to Black mental health through her work.

“I talk with my colleagues, I try not to get angry […] If I’m angry, they don’t hear me [….] When I go to the court, this is what I do: I go to the judge, I give them a history of racism in Canada, not the United States [….] I will talk about it here,” she said.

This ignorance comes from many not knowing their history, placing the burdens of education, which stem from systemic factors, on Black communities themselves. 

“A lot of Canadians don’t know their history. And so, I approach it from that perspective and […] have them understand their history so they can understand why […] some Black people don’t trust them. We have to teach our kids that, so that they know how to protect themselves, not to hate you, but for them to protect themselves, and that’s something you don’t have to do with your kids [.…] I get them to address their privilege,” Lashley explained.

Medical and educational institutions also have a role to play in addressing systemic inequities, as they impact not only Black communities but also Indigenous, disabled, and other marginalized populations in various ways. This makes inclusion important in all spheres of life.

“It’s one thing to pull people in, but if you then end up putting people just like polka dots on the background of the hegemony of whiteness, what have you done?”

Looking ahead, Lashley’s work reinforces the need for more research and institutional inclusion to reflect the lived experiences of the studied communities rather than token representation.

“You have to look at the lived experience [….] If you go into a specific group, you have to create what it is you’re studying, the research, with that specific group,” she said. “We can no longer take a position of ‘I am the academic, I know everything, I am going to go and study, and then I am going to impose my results on you.’ That is very insulting. It’s inaccurate, it’s unethical, and it’s unhelpful.”

Overall, Lashley stressed the importance of doing inclusive research on mental health in Black youth. She teaches and spreads her expertise not to divide people, but rather to create an egalitarian society where all communities can access the mental health services they deserve without stigma.

“We’re not looking at what divides people [….] We want to know what the issues are. What is dividing people and using that information to pull everybody together [….] We want to create a world, a city, where everybody feels included, and everybody feels equal, and everybody is getting equity.”

Arts & Entertainment, Fashion

Fashion Business Uncovered’s conference merges business and style

by Malika Logossou on

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Fashion is everywhere. It’s in the brands we wear, the trends we follow, the models we admire, and the meticulously staged illusions that flood our feeds. Yet behind every viral look, ‘It girl’, or coveted brand, lies a business quietly shaping visibility, marketability, and how trends are created, sold, and sustained.

On Jan. 24, Fashion Business Uncovered’s (FBU) annual conference put fashion, skincare, and clothing under the spotlight as both art and industry. The room itself felt like a runway of its own: Heels clicked across the room, statement accessories sparkled, and a striking variety of aesthetics—from minimalist chic to bold and creative—displayed that fashion was not merely being discussed but fully lived. 

FBU carefully brought together panellists from both global and local brands, including ALDO, L’Oréal Paris, Indeed Labs, Groupe Dynamite, Jack the Publicist Group, and Atelier Détails. The speakers traced their journeys into the fashion world, illuminating the breadth of careers it offers, and exploring how creativity and craftsmanship intertwine with business strategy, technology, and marketing.

A recurring theme throughout the conference was the importance of exposing oneself to opportunities. Speakers encouraged students to pursue internships, network and attend events, and join companies they aspire to work for. They emphasized that a specific degree or linear path is not required to succeed in the fashion and beauty industry. 

In an interview with The Tribune, panellist Dimitra Davidson, CEO and co-founder of Indeed Labs, stressed the educational value of such events for students navigating a world where trends and reality evolve faster than academic curricula.

“I did not have […] at all a foundation of marketing,” Davidson said. “You just figure it out as you go along. If you actually go by a playbook, then sometimes you’re not going to have a point of difference. You’re just going to be exactly like everybody else.”

Social media also took centre stage, with panellists acknowledging its influence in shaping trends and directing brand strategies to fragmented digital audiences.

Nathaniel Woo, Marketing Manager for Men & Skincare at L’Oréal Paris Canada, spoke about the importance of immersing oneself in these online spaces to cater to target audiences.

“One of the best pieces of advice [one of my managers] gave me was to scroll. Literally set aside 15 to 20 minutes to scroll on TikTok, scroll on Instagram. I even have an account on my work phone that is more tailored to the male algorithm,” Woo said. “I know nothing about hockey. But in that algorithm, it’s literally hockey, soccer, F1, and […] I don’t usually find that on my personal phone.”

Beyond industry insight, education remains at the heart of the club’s mission. In an interview with The Tribune, Michelle Govorkova, co-executive director of FBU, explained that exposing students to the full spectrum of fashion careers was one of their primary objectives.

“Our main goal and priority here is education and to teach people that there are so many professions and jobs within the fashion industry that are not stereotypical,” Govorkova said. “Obviously, you have your designers, you have your models, you know, […] the mainstream roles, […] but what we aim to do here, as for the name ‘Fashion Business Uncovered,’ is to really touch on the business side of fashion because […] even a fashion company is still a business, right?”

Co-executive director Julie Baillet echoed similar sentiments, emphasizing the importance of revealing the industry’s full scope through its selection of panellists.

“We just wanted to have […] this very diversified panel to really show all the facets of fashion and uncover the ‘behind-the-scenes’ that happen within the fashion industry,” Baillet said. “[We wanted to] have […] many different perspectives from production, marketing, like entrepreneurship, operations, really anything that happens within fashion.”

By the end of the conference, one thing felt clear for attendees: The fashion industry is broad and intersects with businesses more than we imagine. Given that there is no traditional fashion program at McGill, this conference proved to be an inspiring learning experience for many students.

McGill, News, SSMU

SSMU LC discusses McGill identification policy, undergraduate AI use, and BoD reform

by Gregor McCall on

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On Jan. 29, the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) Legislative Council (LC) convened to discuss a new motion proposed by SSMU President Dymetri Taylor. The motion seeks several amendments to the SSMU Constitution—the Society’s fundamental governing document, which outlines SSMU’s roles as the governing body of McGill undergraduates and serves as its legal by-law regarding its status as a non-profit corporation under the Quebec government. 

The meeting began with Executive and Councillor reports. During Vice-President (VP) University Affairs Susan Aloudat’s report, Science Councillor Benjamin Yu inquired into McGill’s proposed Identification Policy for Access to Properties Owned, Occupied, or Used by the University, which was presented to the McGill Senate on Jan. 14. 

Though Aloudat assured the LC that the Senate had serious concerns with the proposed policy—which would empower unspecified, authorized personnel to request anyone on university grounds to provide McGill or government-issued identification and remove facial coverings—she expressed her belief that the proposed policy would nonetheless pass the Senate and move to the Board of Directors (BoD). Still, she intimated that the policy would undergo reforms before its ultimate implementation. 

“I do think that [the Senate is] going to reimagine [the policy], especially for considerations like certain groups who will be experiencing [on-demand identification] disproportionately, who are on campus for perfectly legitimate and academic affairs,” Aloudat said. “[McGill should put] […] guardrails around when this policy will be used, so that it’s only applied and enacted in situations where security is a genuine threat or risk, and not a ‘perceived’ risk or arbitrarily interpreted risk.” 

Also during Aloudat’s report, Arts Councillor Delaney Cahill inquired into SSMU’s policy that grants undergraduates access to Grammarly, a writing-assistant software powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Cahill stated that members of the Faculty of Arts professoriate are concerned that SSMU is providing undergraduates with access to AI tools that could be used to undermine academic integrity.

“Some of the [Faculty of Arts] teachers weren’t thrilled about [undergraduate access to Grammarly] and […] the SSMU prompting the students to use Grammarly and AI in general,” Cahill noted. “What is the SSMU doing to combat […] unethical AI use right now?”

While Aloudat stated that it was not her duty to police undergraduates’ use of AI, Taylor later clarified that the generative AI features in Grammarly are unavailable to undergraduates.

Taylor then presented the newly proposed motion, which seeks to amend the SSMU Constitution to, among other initiatives, further empower the LC, change specific terminology, combat the politicization of the BoD, and specify the roles and powers of Board and Executive Council members. 

One of the amendments would change the constitution’s nomenclature, replacing the current designation “Board of Directors” with the name “College of Directors.” Taylor explained that part of the rationale for this amendment is that “College of Directors” has a more positive connotation than its current name. 

“[The current designation] gives the impression that the Society is more of a corporation than a student society,” Taylor said. “That is the current way in which we are structured [….] We are both [a non-profit] company and a student society, […] but principally the change […] [from] ‘Board’ to ‘College,’ […] more or less presents an opportunity for the Board to be considered into a better light than how the Board has been viewed in previous times.”

Similarly, Taylor indicated that amendments to increase the LC’s oversight over the BoD and its subgroup, the Executive Council, were necessary in light of past political polarization within the Board. 

“[In the past] executives might tap [individuals] because they want to get people that are like-minded to them onto the Board,” Taylor said. “[It served as] a way for the executives […] to then be able to have their vision [of the BoD] be the one that goes forward without necessarily getting the broad perspective that you otherwise get in as a council.” 

Taylor mentioned how, rather than focusing on legal, financial, and operational duties,  the BoD has gradually and strategically begun to shape what SSMU achieves.

“With the board now and with the way it’s currently structured, for instance, for our job contracts, I’m overseeing the executives, which doesn’t make any sense at all,” Taylor said. “There can be interpersonal issues that arise [….] That’s what this [amendment] is trying to navigate, as well as to also ensure executive accountability.”

Ultimately, the motion was tabled. If passed by the LC and a student referendum, it would be implemented on May 4. 

Moment of the meeting:

Arts Senator Keith Baybayon and VP University Affairs Susan Aloudat discussed potential accommodations to address McGill’s 2026 Spring Convocation dates and the conflicts it imposes on Muslim graduates celebrating Eid al-Adha.

Soundbite: 

“The Faculty of Music throws the best bars out of every single faculty! You can quote me on that, Tribune!” —VP External Seraphina Crema-Black, regarding the Music Councillor’s report on the success of the Music Undergraduate Students’ Association holiday party. 

Commentary, Opinion

Black History Month should go beyond mere acknowledgement

by Nello Giuliani on

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Black History Month in Canada is a celebration of Black people and their cultures, the diversity of Black communities, and the contributions and legacies of Black Canadians throughout the country’s history. 

However, Black History Month is often viewed purely as commemorative, intended to spotlight Black historical figures for the sake of mere acknowledgment and recognition. Yet, the month’s purpose lies far beyond that. Black History Month involves the conscious reevaluation of how histories are written, constructed, and shared, by emphasizing the lesser-known aspects of Black history, noting how information and histories are shaped by power relations, and actively decolonizing collective memory and the process of history creation. This approach, known as historiography, serves to analyze how Black history has been and must continue to be revisited, re-celebrated, and re-understood. 

In Canada, February was first designated as Black History Month in 1978 by Daniel Hill and Wilson Brooks, the founders of the Ontario Black History Society (OBHS). In 1995, Canadian Member of Parliament Jean Augustine presented a motion to formally recognize February as Black History Month, which was unanimously approved by the House of Commons. Augustine, having worked in education, understood the importance of institutionalizing this celebration within Canadian education and collective memory. 

However, the motion to recognize Black History Month was only fully passed by Parliament in 2008, when Senator Donald Oliver pursued its recognition in the Senate. Oliver emphasized the importance of Black History Month in challenging our common perceptions of history and tackling racial prejudices. He also tied the month’s value to Canadian pedagogy, stating schools must teach the country’s history of slavery and segregation—the latter of which lasted well into the 1960s—in order to understand the present-day fight against anti-Black racism. Therefore, one of the active goals of Black History Month is to analyze biases and how they have systematically hidden stories from conventional Canadian history.   

Systemic biases still persist today, including through notions like Canadian exceptionalism, under which anti-Black racism is often depicted as external and U.S.-specific. Overlooked far too often are patterns of prejudiced policing and disproportionate incarceration rates in Canada. In 2015, Black people were twice as likely to be accused in Canadian criminal courts, and in 2020, Black people accounted for nine per cent of federal correction populations, despite making up only four per cent of adults in Canada. Also neglected is the underrepresentation of Black people in academia, as only 2.3 per cent of high-ranking positions at Canadian universities were held by Black professionals as of 2024. These statistics demonstrate that Anti-Black racism is not a strictly American phenomenon, and reveal the critical significance of Black History Month as a mechanism through which to revisit such biases. 

An important part of this process is interrogating how history has selectively omitted Black narratives. This goal does not have to be solely pursued through historical research and education reform, but can also be achieved through cultural events, such as music, visual art, and performance art. In this way, cultural events become part of the historiographical process themselves—sites where Black artists and communities reframe dominant narratives and participate in the ongoing reconstruction of collective memory.

Black History Month’s historiographic power lies in its recurrence, its nature annually underscoring the voices of Black Canadians while also finding new ways to challenge Canadian history. One of the best ways to continue this tradition is through education. At McGill, this means going beyond initiatives and events during February to offering courses on Black history and critical Canadian history, designating a program specifically for Black Studies, and reconciling its own histories of slavery, discrimination, and exclusion. 
Black History Month anchors a celebration of Black excellence and cultures, but this cannot exist without an ongoing commitment to reexamining the stories Canada tells about itself.

Soccer, Sports

Trinity Rodman becomes highest-paid player in NWSL history

by Alex Hawes Silva on

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In January 2026, Trinity Rodman, one of the most prominent talents in women’s soccer, reached a milestone unseen in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). By signing a new contract with the Washington Spirit, Rodman became the highest-paid player in NWSL history and second-highest-paid women’s soccer player in the world. At 23 years old, she signed a three-year contract worth more than $2 million USD per year (including bonuses), surpassing all previous contracts in the league’s 14-year history. 

Rodman’s rise to this moment has been astounding. Drafted second overall by Washington in the 2021 NWSL Draft, she helped lead the Spirit to the 2021 NWSL Championship at 19 years old and quickly became one of the league’s most effective attackers. Her profile expanded internationally as she became a prominent figure with the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) and played an important role in the team’s success. 

While Rodman’s talent on the pitch has been clear to see for years, her status as the league’s top earner was not achieved without controversy. When her previous contract expired at the end of 2025, Rodman entered free agency with strong interest from elite European clubs—teams that could potentially offer more compensation due to the NWSL’s salary cap limitations. In late 2025, the Spirit and Rodman agreed to a four-year contract structure that would have averaged more than $1 million USD annually. However, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman rejected the deal, saying it violated the ‘spirit’ of the league’s salary cap rules, despite both sides stating that it was compliant. 

This led to a larger dispute: The NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA) filed a grievance on Rodman’s behalf, arguing that the rejection of the contract violated her free-agency rights under the collective bargaining agreement. This put pressure on the league, already attempting to balance financial sustainability with the retention of elite talent. In response, the NWSL Board of Governors approved a new rule known as the High Impact Player rule, designed to allow teams to exceed the standard salary cap by up to $1 million USD for players who meet specific criteria, such as national team involvement, marketability, and elite performance. 

While the league frames the High Impact Player mechanism as a tool to retain and attract star players, the NWSLPA has raised concerns about how the system was implemented and whether it gives the league control over which players are deemed ‘impact’ players. Regardless of the debate, Rodman’s contract reflects not only her immense value as a player, but also the shifting economics and politics of women’s soccer. Historically, women’s leagues around the world have struggled to offer salaries that rival those seen in men’s competitions. While European clubs have paid top players well, Rodman’s deal positions the American league in a strong spot for the sport to grow. 

Critics of the NWSL’s salary cap argue that without mechanisms like the High Impact Player rule, or without a higher base cap, the league risks losing its best talents to teams abroad. The Major League Soccer (MLS) has similar salary limitations, with a cap of $5.95 million USD per player annually, which has also swayed stars to take their talents abroad. Rodman’s re-signing is both a victory and a challenge, as it shows that the league can hold on to top stars but also reveals the pressures that come with balancing equality and competitiveness. For the Washington Spirit, keeping Rodman is more than a strategic win but a financial success as well. Her presence boosts the club’s visibility, expands its fanbase, and enhances its marketing appeal. Rodman’s new contract may even influence how future NWSL negotiations unfold, setting a benchmark for player compensation and reshaping expectations for what elite women’s soccer players can earn. 

As she begins this next chapter, Rodman’s journey from a teenage prodigy to the highest-paid player in NWSL is a reflection of a sport that is growing through new circumstances. By reforming what is possible for NWSL athletes, she has become a trailblazer for Black women athletes, paving the way for younger players. Her story speaks to how competitive excellence and talent increasingly intersect with equity, value, and the future of women’s professional soccer. 

Features

To my companions and my community

by Mia Helfrich on

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INT. LIVING ROOM — EVENING

//TJ’s parents are chatting on the sofa. He stands in front of them. They stop talking to look at him.//

TJ

//(wipes the sweat off his hands)//

Mom, Dad… I have something to tell you.

NARRATOR (V.O.)

But wait… haven’t we seen this before?

For some, coming out is an integral part of their queer journey, but to others, it is a casual statement about one aspect of their lives. The queer community encompasses a wide range of lived experiences. Yet, films and television often rely on a familiar pattern: Framing a queer character’s narrative around coming out, positioning it as the climax of their journey. While coming-out narratives provide essential representation for the queer community, they can also narrow the scope of what the queer experience is allowed to look like. 

A history of queer representation in film

From 1934 to 1968, the Hays Code required Hollywood movies to depict homosexuality negatively, forcing filmmakers to vilify or queercode queer characters. During the Gay Liberation Movement of the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, activists urged people to “Come Out, Come Out, wherever you are,” and increased queer representation in television followed suit. Still, many stories treated queerness as a defect. An episode of the medical drama //The Eleventh Hour//, released in 1963, attributed Hallie Lambert’s (Kathryn Hays) lesbian identity to her overbearing mother, reinforcing the idea that queerness stems from familial failure. In response, advocacy groups such as the Gay Media Task Force, the National Gay Task Force, and the Gay Activists Alliance held protests against these offensive representations. Their pressure pushed television producers to reconsider how they represented queerness on screen. Thus, in ‘70s sitcoms, a side character’s coming out became a plot device for cisgender, straight leads to confront their own views on homosexuality. However, television shifted from this structure after Ellen DeGeneres’ trailblazing performance as the show’s lead Ellen Morgan on //Ellen// in 1998. Her appearance as a beloved lesbian character marked a shift toward the implementation of recurring mainstream queer characters. Since its formation in 2005, GLAAD, formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, has tracked queer representation in media and publishes a report each year analyzing queer representation on broadcast television. According to GLAAD, 2SLGBTQIA+ characters in broadcast series today make up 9.3 per cent of all leads. While queer representation has moved far beyond early vilification, the continued focus on coming-out narratives in media reveals that queer media still needs to represent a diversity of stories for queerness to be widely normalized. 

*Dramatic pause* …I’m gay

Despite the increased positive representation of queerness, not everyone relates to the coming-out narrative. Movies like //Love, Simon//, released in 2018 //Happiest Season//, released in 2020,  and shows like //Heartstopper//, released in 2022, //Heated Rivalry//, released in 2025, and //One Day At A Time//, released in 2017, feature lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) characters who reach an emotional climax when they come out. These narratives stem from decades of underrepresentation, but a focus on these plots may amplify grand emotional scenes, which unintentionally push aside other queer experiences. 

Al Dervisevic, U4 Arts and Resource Coordinator for Queer McGill, discussed his own experiences watching coming-out scenes in an interview with //The Tribune//. 

“I’m sure there are queer people who have had these big sit-down moments with their loved ones, but it’s not something I’ve ever felt represented by. It’s not always this narratively satisfying moment,” Dervisevic said. “When we’re talking about normalizing queerness, taking it to be just a part of people’s lives, which it is, these grand scenes of coming out confessions are probably detracting from that.” 

This type of narrative, similar to ‘70s sitcom representation, also centres the queer character’s relationship with the straight people in their lives. Coming-out narratives are not just about how a queer character feels about their identity, but also about how they expect straight characters to react to hearing about it. It portrays a character’s queerness as the relationship between their identity and the heteronormative expectation to reveal it. 

“The queer narrative becomes a part of straight people’s narratives too, because suddenly they have a role to play,” Dervisvic explained.

This feeds into an underlying problem of many coming-out narratives: They are actually outings. Characters are placed under an external pressure to come out, which forces them to reveal their sexuality. 

Mae Johnson, U3 Science, touched on the theme of outings in film in an interview with //The Tribune//. 

“Many LGBTQ+ stories feature characters who don’t get to come out on their own terms, and while this is unfortunately the reality for some people, it’s sad when it seems to be one of the most common coming-out tropes,” Johnson said.

In //Love, Simon//, Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) is blackmailed by his classmate, who uses evidence of Simon’s closeted queerness as a bargaining chip. He is eventually outed at school. In a situation with enough circumstantial pressure to come out, the moment can seem as forced as an outing. In season 5, episode 7 of //Stranger Things//, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) feels anxious that the resident villain with a world-demolishing agenda, Vecna, will target his sexuality unless he comes out publicly. While the expressed support from his friends and family serves as a cathartic moment for Will, the decision to tell his friends was Hobson’s choice—he would rather come out than risk their deaths. Other outings with similar conditions can be found in //Heated Rivalry//, //Young Royals//, and //Red, White, and Royal Blue//.  While these portrayals represent a traumatic reality for many queer people, presenting an outing as a coming out reframes the conflict between heteronormative expectations and a queer person’s internal desires as a simple act of  ‘bravery,’ rather than as a constrained or coerced response. 

“These stories allow characters to show strength, resilience, and claim their identity in the face of scrutiny,” Johnson said. “However, I think that featuring queer characters coming out on their own terms is as important, though less seen.”

She also wonders if a pattern of coming-out narratives creates a perceived pressure to come out in real life. 

“I think it’s important to validate the idea that coming out is not what makes your queer identity real. If you’re not ready, or not in a safe space to make that happen, you don’t have to,” Johnson said. 

These sentiments suggest that the coming-out narrative is itself a staple of queer media, yet simultaneously a source of frustration for many queer people.

Who’s missing from the narrative?

Coming out narratives also underrepresent the stories of transgender people, racialized people, and queer elders. A study that analyzed the top 10 coming-out films recommended by IMDb found that while there are many interpretations of characters’ reactions to coming out, there is little diversity in race, gender, or the sexual orientation of the characters themselves. 

Val Muñoz, the Administrative Coordinator for Queer McGill, expressed that they would like to see more representation of queer stories from Central and South America, where queerness in many countries is persecuted. 

“I would want to see their stories highlighted and their community, and the fight that they have in their home countries,” they said in an interview with //The Tribune//.

The genre conventions of coming-out narratives further narrow representation. These stories most often appear in teen romantic comedies or sitcoms, leaving little room for queer elders. This framing perpetuates the idea that queerness is a phenomenon within a younger generation,  despite the reality that 2SLGBTQIA+ people have always existed. 

“These coming-out narratives are always in YA [young adult] or teen romance. But what about the people who weren’t able to come out until they were much older?” Muñoz said. “Even now, with social spaces in Montreal, it’s always catered to under-25s. We’re missing a whole generation of our queer ancestors who paved the path before us. It would be really nice to see and hear these people’s stories.” 

This absence highlights the wider lack of representation for transgender and characters of colour. In their 2024-2025 report, GLAAD found that of the 489 queer characters last year, 86.5 per cent were LGB, while there were only 33 transgender characters. They also reported that 51 per cent of characters were of colour. While this may seem balanced on paper, this does not necessarily translate into equitable representation on screen, nor does it address whether these characters occupy leading roles or are portrayed beyond stereotypes.

“We all have different experiences coming out, and I think it’s important to see that reflected in how we tell [these] stories,” Johnson said.

 Beyond coming out 

Media representation can have tangible effects on youth mental health and well-being. In a study which surveyed adolescents across the country, Bradley Bond, a Communications professor at the University of San Diego, found that more queer media exposure correlated with feeling less sad, dejected, and depressed. He theorized that positive depictions of 2SLGBTQIA+ characters could decrease suicidal feelings within queer youth. LGB youth are nearly five times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers (CDC). Considering the high rate of depression and suicide among queer youth, accurate and inclusive portrayals of queer characters take on a new importance. Positive portrayals of queer characters in film and television could significantly affect not only the general public but our community itself.

 Within this context, the rom-com convention offers a unique opportunity to portray a healthy coming out and a happy ending. It can model what an appropriate acceptance looks like for friends and family. When shows and films follow the character’s emotional journey, the viewer is privy to thoughts and feelings about how their identity fits within their world. This fosters empathy and understanding for the character, which transfers to queer people in real life.

Ana Gomez, U3 Arts, voiced her feelings about watching coming-out scenes in an interview with //The Tribune//. 

“While I can’t relate, I have a lot of friends who are queer, so I feel a lot of empathy and admiration for my friends. I also just get very emotional for them, especially if it’s something that they have thought about for a while, and that they feel vulnerable and comfortable sharing with me.”

It can also depict the experience of stepping into the queer community as a teen and what community support should resemble. //Heartstopper//, for example, features an ensemble of queer characters, most of whom help other characters fall in love, come out, or transition.

“I love watching characters being able to live more authentically, and these stories are in many ways what encouraged me to come out as a teenager,” Johnson said. “I also think it is important to discuss the nuances around this experience and not pigeonhole what coming out looks like.” 

Ultimately, queerness is not dependent on coming out, nor is it a precursor to being a part of the queer community. With the improvement of queer representation in television, producers may move away from outing plots and include more transgender characters, characters of colour, and queer elders. They should also acknowledge that a character does not need a public declaration for their queerness to be real. For viewers within our community, we should continue to ask ourselves how particular depictions of coming out contribute to expectations and stereotypes for our community. 

//TJ looks down and hides his sweaty hands behind his back.//

NARRATOR (V.O.) — CONTINUED

Do you see that? Are you going to ask, “Haven’t we seen this before?”

McGill, Montreal, News, SSMU

QPIRG-McGill encourages students to run for SSMU

by Russel Ismael on

More in McGill:

On Jan. 22, McGill’s Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG-McGill) chapter held an information session on how to run for student government positions at the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), titled “Fix Student Democracy.” The talks explored how student involvement in these administrative positions can enact positive change for the undergraduate student body.

In an interview with The Tribune, Nelly Wat, outreach coordinator at QPIRG-McGill, emphasized the importance of holding educational events.

“QPIRG really tries to serve as a hub for students who are really invested in social and environmental justice,” Wat said. “What we try to do is keep students politically engaged and connected with their community.”

Former SSMU Vice-President External Hugo-Victor Solomon began the talk with an overview of how the SSMU is run, illustrating how students can pursue their passions through student government. 

Throughout his tenure, Solomon pursued goals such as increasing visibility of the Mohawk Mothers, ratifying the Policy Against Genocide in Palestine, and implementing a fee for Francophone initiatives. Solomon described these projects as part of his vision to run SSMU as a union.

“A union has an obligation to deliver for its membership. A business has an obligation to deliver for its shareholders to protect its own kind of commercial well-being,” Solomon said. “You should not accept that type of framework, even though it might feel a bit more easy.”

Solomon also cautioned potential candidates against overworking themselves for a SSMU position. He advised that candidates should instead economize their work.

“Understanding where your [political] pressure is most effective will be kind of the difference between burning out and getting nothing done and accomplishing as many of your goals as possible,” Solomon said. “There’s a large number of people [on the External Affairs] team, and if you can cultivate a shared team identity and pursue goals that everybody already cares about, it can actually be really fun.”

Some SSMU representatives, however, find it difficult to optimize political authority due to perceived systemic issues. The next presenter, a SSMU employee who wished to remain anonymous, criticized SSMU for its alleged restructuring of political power, moving authority from General Assemblies (GAs) to the Legislative Council. The member argued that this change is detrimental to student democracy.

“GAs are the highest governing body of a student union,” the member explained. “One of the most telling things about how bad SSMU is right now is that they never hit quorum with their GAs unless there’s a vote on Palestine happening. So there are a bunch of democratic things that have been pushed to the side in SSMU.”

They also expressed their discontent toward SSMU’s handling of Midnight Kitchen (MK)—which SSMU shut down in October 2025 without consulting the kitchen’s staff. The member stated that, after MK was shut down, SSMU reappropriated its democratically allocated funding to instead hire private catering companies. 

The member was also alarmed by the new Student Code of Conduct, which was approved by both student senators and the SSMU executive team on Nov. 12. They claimed that the new Code of Conduct facilitates punishments for students involved in political activism, citing an alleged uptick in the number of disciplinary cases made against students by the university.   

However, SSMU President Dymetri Taylor disputes these claims, writing in an email to The Tribune that, had student senators not engaged with the administration, the outcomes for undergraduates would have been worse. He also explained that if the Code is causing too many issues for students, then student senators will petition for amendments.

“On the claim that there’s been a sudden increase in disciplinary cases this semester, that’s not accurate,” Taylor wrote. “There was definitely more enforcement activity around the [pro-Palestine] strikes, but that’s because people were blocking classes from taking place, which has always been against the Code.”

The member also alleged that these issues stem from the McGill administration’s intervention in SSMU, stating that these systemic changes were made at the request of President and Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini and Interim Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Angela Campbell. They alleged that issues such as limited student services funding and strikes became more difficult to organize as a result of these changes. 

However, Taylor asserted that these framings are incorrect. He stated that the lack of student funding is due to the student body voting against an increase and that SSMU, as a student society, cannot legally mandate strikes like a union can.

“We’ve been working more productively with [McGill] in order to get results and make sure student voices are heard. But the idea that people are doing this for personal gain isn’t true,” Taylor wrote. “In my experience, only a couple of executives in prior years approached the role that way, and they’re, thankfully, no longer here.”

Due to these issues, the member believes that SSMU finds itself in a precarious situation. They listed how many other organizations, such as the Concordia Student Union and Co-op Bar Milton-Parc, are more hesitant to work with SSMU now because of this paradigm shift. Despite this, the member is still optimistic about SSMU’s future.

“Those systems, those relationships are all being eroded really, really quickly in a way that is going to be hard to come back from,” the member said. “But it will just take people who are elected, who are motivated, who are excited about political change to change that and undo the damage that’s been done.”

Editorial, Opinion

McGill’s silence on Iran unmasks its global negligence

by The Tribune Editorial Board on

More in Editorial:

For an institution that prides itself on global engagement, McGill’s response to the crisis in Iran isn’t just inadequate—it’s indefensible. On Jan. 13, Dean of Students Tony Mittermaier sent an email to all students who hold an Iranian passport on McGill’s records. The message acknowledged the “civil unrest and disruptions to communications in Iran” and directed students to the Wellness Hub and GuardMe for mental health support. For academic accommodations, Mittermaier advised students to speak directly with their instructors. What the email did not provide was a clear, centralized protocol, or any standardized guidance to ensure that students receive consistent accommodations across courses. 

McGill regularly positions itself as a “globally engaged” institution. Still, as the Iranian government’s violent crackdown on protesters intensifies amid a nationwide internet blackout and mass arrests, the university has failed to offer comprehensive support systems for students and faculty during this time of crisis. 

The email’s recommendation that students speak directly with their instructors is not a neutral signal of support. It forces students to disclose personal distress as they navigate fear and uncertainty, unable to contact loved ones back home. This perfunctory response creates unequal access by design, as the accommodation outcome is likely to vary significantly depending on the instructor and the student’s comfort with disclosure. 

The McGill administration frequently offers vague, decentralized guidance to faculty members during exceptional circumstances and events, harming the consistency of accessibility measures. When this institutional obscurity is practiced during times of international crisis, students and faculty are left to face compounded uncertainty. 

McGill’s decision to only send this email to students with Iranian citizenship also raises the issue of visibility. Many students with loved ones or community in Iran do not hold an Iranian passport but are still deeply affected by the government’s violent repression of protestors. By deciding that passport-holders are the only appropriate recipients of this email communication, McGill is actively narrowing who gets recognized as impacted and, by consequence, who is connected with resources and support systems. 

Yet regardless of the mechanism through which administrators determine if a student ‘counts’ as Iranian for an email communication, McGill should express solidarity and treat international crisis as a collective, campus-wide concern. 

McGill has shown in the past that it can respond publicly and with empathy. When Russia launched its war on Ukraine in 2022, the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice-President issued a public statement strongly condemning the Russian invasion, expressing solidarity with Ukraine, and explicitly highlighting local and university-sanctioned resources available to McGill community members affected by the war, such as accelerated admissions and tuition waivers. McGill’s lack of institutional coordination to support students tied to Iran testifies to the university’s inconsistency in dictating how, when, and which students receive visibility, urgency, and empathy. This double standard is exacerbated by the disparity in enrollment numbers—in the 2024-2025 academic year, roughly 300 students with Iranian passports enrolled at McGill, compared to 17 students with Ukrainian passports. If McGill wants to continue claiming its title as a “motor of social inclusion,” it must confront and cease its discrepant treatment of different global crises. This is not a critique of McGill’s response to Ukraine—that statement reflected precisely the kind of institutional leadership and support students deserve during the crisis. The problem is: If the administration demonstrated its capacity for coordinated, public solidarity then, what explains its choice to withhold the same level of support now?

The gap between McGill’s stated values and its actions is hard to miss. For a university that emphasizes global engagement as central to its identity, its minimal, lacklustre response is striking. When McGill engagement is framed primarily through partnerships, prestige, recruitment, and research ties, while the university simultaneously neglects the well-being of its own community members by refusing to offer tangible support, it becomes extractive by default. If McGill wants to benefit from internationalism, it consequently inherits the obligation to uplift and advocate for the international and diasporic students who make this globalized status a reality. 

McGill can do better, and this does not require inventing a new system from scratch. Right now, the university’s approach makes the crisis in Iran feel unnecessarily isolated, when crisis communications should be public and centralized. By leaving students to rely on student associations and one-off conversations with professors, McGill is outsourcing its obligations in lieu of a proper response. 

If McGill cannot respond to global crises with the same standard of care every time, then that gap becomes a statement in itself. McGill has shown what it can do. Now is the time to apply that capacity consistently—because silence is a choice, and so is negligence.

News, PGSS, SSMU

SSMU BoD discusses PGSS food pantry access

by Eren Atac on

More in News:

The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Board of Directors (BoD) discussed restricting Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) members’ access to the SSMU food pantry, and approved new funding for Indigenous student aid during its meeting on Jan. 20.  

The discussion surrounding the food pantry stemmed from a motion approved at the most recent SSMU Legislative Council (LC) meeting, which proposed implementing a fee for PGSS members to access the service. SSMU Vice-President (VP) External Seraphina Crema-Black told the BoD that the motion’s final wording did not reflect the intent of the LC’s position. 

“We discussed what this motion would look like during the Legislative Council [meeting],” Crema-Black said. “During this discussion, we spoke of stopping the disallowance of the food pantry after a discussion about the fee levy had happened between PGSS and SSMU representatives. The motion was still approved in its writing.”

Crema-Black suggested disallowing the portion of the motion regarding PGSS members regaining access to the pantry, arguing that restricting access to the food pantry would disproportionately affect graduate students who rely on the service. In response, Alumni Representative Joshua Chin cautioned against overturning a decision approved by the Legislative Council without clear legal justification.

“Ultimately, I get the feeling that this motion is more or less a political decision that was approved by the Legislative Council,” Chin said. “I’d be uncomfortable disallowing based on purely political or convenience reasons, if really there’s no case to be made for legal or operational necessity.”

The board did not reach a definitive conclusion on restricting PGSS member access to the food pantry during the meeting.

The BoD also reviewed a report from SSMU Elections on the Fall 2025 referendum and Plebiscite questions. Chief Officer of SSMU Elections Mike Lee addressed voter turnout, noting that low participation was not due to a lack of awareness.

“So the analysis here is that SSMU members do vote,” Lee said. “When I first started, we really questioned whether people don’t vote because they simply didn’t know if they had to vote or not. This clearly shows that they do get their Simply Voting emails. They do know they can vote. It does depend on what they think is relevant.” 

The board later approved a motion allocating $180,000 CAD, drawn from the Indigenous affairs fee, in four installments over four years to fund Indigenous student aid and scholarships. VP University Affairs Susan Aloudat emphasized the motion’s goal of increasing accessibility for Indigenous students seeking to study at McGill, stating that SSMU wants the application process for scholarships to be non-invasive. 

“Our mandate is to support and empower our Indigenous students,” Aloudat said. “We want to encourage Indigenous student enrollment. The idea is that McGill was supposed to increase how many Indigenous students we had, but we actually found that it’s decreasing. So the purpose of this award is to decrease the barriers to entry to education at McGill as much as possible for Indigenous students.”

The board also ratified a revised 2025–26 budget previously approved by the Legislative Council, suspending a section of the Internal Regulations of Finance that required applicants to submit a report before obtaining funding. The board also appointed Directors Simon Ngassam and Adam Corbier to the Accountability Committee, Director Ngassam to the Governance Reform Committee, and Directors Maxime Rouhan and Annette Yu to the Nominating Committee. The meeting concluded with a confidential session.

Moment of the Meeting

The board approved an advance loan of $60,000 CAD for MustBus, a student-run SSMU service group which provides transportation for students. 

Soundbite

“I think that it’s very, very bad for the SSMU’s reputation if we go ahead with [pulling PGSS access to the food pantry] [….] We’ve been speaking with them about a fee levy and introducing a fee for the food pantry. I want to know whether that’s something that they would consider before we pull access, especially because it’s used disproportionately by PGSS members, and food insecurity is a very important issue.” — VP External Seraphina Crema Black on the motion to restrict PGSS access to the SSMU food pantry.

A previous version of this article contained inaccuracies regarding discussions and decisions at SSMU’s Board of Directors meeting. In fact, the board did not debate restricting access, which was discussed at Legislative Council; Director Crema-Black did not formally move a motion regarding Food Pantry access, and the matter was instead referred to Legislative Council; the board did not suspend the Internal Regulations of Finance in full, but only a limited section related to funding disbursement and reporting; and several directors were appointed to multiple committees. The Tribune regrets these errors.


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