We’re Here (On Campus) & We’re Queer (On Campus!): A Profile on The 203 Centre

By Alex Prong, Features Editor

“Before The 203 was established, there was a lack of resources for queer students, a lack of out faculty and staff, and no brick-and-mortar spaces for queer people at UNB, STU, and NBCC” – A History of the 203 Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity: A Queer Archival Colouring Book Zine

There are a lot of white walls on campus. Aside from the places where the university employs swashes of red and black in an attempt to instil school spirit, a lot of the spaces that students spend their time in are colourless. With one dramatic exception: SUB Room 203. Walking into the 203 Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity (The 203 Centre for short), one is immediately given the impression of two things: cosiness and bright, prismatic colour. On the wall, there is a rainbow canvas harkening back to Qmunity, the group that organised to officially found the 203 Centre. There is a library full of queer books, DVDs, and VHSs. There is an information wall full to the brim with resources for queer students (and free stickers!), and there is an open concept gender-affirming closet. And, of course, there are queer people here—there always have been.

Since 2018, the 203 Centre has been open to students. I spoke with faculty co-chair Julie Morris (they/them) and student co-chair Zack Fontaine (they/them) to get an idea of what the centre does and why it is important. The centre is multifaceted and focused on providing for students across all campuses in Fredericton. It is first and foremost a drop-in space and resource centre.

Julie explains: “We have the lounge where you can come hang out or study, and we hold events and programming in the space. We’ve done film nights with the Queer Heritage Initiative of New Brunswick, we’ve partnered with STU to put on our Queer Disco Dance last year at the end of the semester, which was really fun. And then we also have access to resources. We provide access to free menstrual products and sexual barriers which we get from The Reproductive Justice Society. Also, last year we had a graduate student make us a resource booklet, which is available on our Linktree online and it has information for students who might need access to resources locally. So it could be anything from ‘how to access changing your name’ to ‘where are the gender neutral washrooms on campus?’ We can support students who come into the centre. We’ve had situations where students have needed referrals to trans-friendly healthcare, therapists, and counsellors, for example. We can help with finding resources on campus as well, like connecting to the Student Health Centre, or the International Student Association. We also do advocacy work.”

This is a crucial resource for Fredericton’s student body, which is made up of many queer students. A 2016 study of Canadian university students found that on average 15% of the over 40,000 students surveyed identified as queer. And considering that article is now 8 years old, and Fredericton is known as the queer capital of Canada (with more queer folks per capita than even the largest Canadian cities), our student body must be very queer indeed. 

Which brings us back to the 203 Centre. When asked to reflect on what brought them to the Centre, Zack says, “What brought me here is I was looking for a space that I would belong in. I used to live in Moncton and I didn’t really feel connected to the queer community there. So when I came to university I really tried to get connected and as soon as I found this place I knew I was where I belonged. What keeps me coming back, I suppose, are all the folks that come visit. I’m always meeting new and interesting folks here.”

Currently, the 203 Centre is looking for student volunteers. Volunteers only need to give the centre two hours of their time per week and can use their volunteer experience to build resumes, to apply for paid positions with the centre farther down the line, and ultimately to meet people and have fun. Zack describes how “most of the volunteering is right here in the centre. Typically we’re here if folks come in, we chat with them, if they need resources we point them to what they need, if it’s out of our jurisdiction or we’re not qualified to help, we’ll point them towards services. Aside from volunteering in the centre, when we host events it’s all volunteer-run. So for example the DND [Dungeons & Dragons] event we’d like to host every week, we need to have volunteers be our dungeon masters or they could participate as players as well. Also for craft days, volunteers would either help coordinate that, or help get supplies, or teach crafting skills. And volunteers can also pitch events and coordinate them.” They are working on providing training to volunteers from counselling services as well. 

Julie wants people to remember that ultimately, “It’s also just fun!” Amidst all of the work and stress of university, we deserve things that are fun. When the folks whose hard work got the 203 Centre up and running look back on their work, they explain, “we organised on the dance floor, as queers do” (A History of the 203 Centre). Zack sees the centre as a place of comfort, too. They reflected: “I remember coming here in first year, and I didn’t really know the campus, didn’t really know anybody, and coming here instantly felt like, oh, this is nice. I feel like I could make a home here.”

Recent Projects Still Underway: 

The Gender-Affirming Closet 

The gender-affirming closet is a (free!) resource for students who want or need clothing that could help them feel gender euphoria. It was created by former student co-chair Shasta Carroll (she/her) and was built on donations—everything from racks and hangers to the clothes themselves. Some of the clothes also came to the space via a clothing swap with QT Fatties. The closet also offers bras and binders, though the binders are not on display because they need to be tried on to fit properly. The centre is accepting donations of more clothes, and is especially interested in offering more plus-sized clothing. 

Queer Joy Now! A Dusting off of Histories 

This project is a participatory archival exploration of queer organising on campuses in Fredericton. The project consists of crowd-sourced history and collage. It was recently on display at HIL, and its next stop is the New Brunswick Archives as part of the Queer Heritage Initiative. Melissa Keehn (she/her) is the principal investigator and you can provide stories or information about the history of organising or the history of queer lives on campus at queerjoynownb.ca. 

Ultimately, the 203 Centre exists to support students and uphold the initial intentions of the founders of the space. In their zine, the founders of the space claim: “We continue to stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, Indigenous Land and Water Defenders, free tuition and affordable housing initiatives, and of course, queer gender liberation” (A History of the 203 Centre). To Julie, queer-dedicated space is crucial in a university because it affirms that queer folks exist in the institution. They say, “it signals that our lives and our experiences on campus are important. A commitment to anti-oppression on campus is important. The work we do here is directly contributing to making students feel safe and comfortable on campus. We do a lot of cross-movement solidarity, with international students, their faculties, and other community groups. It’s all intertwined and it’s really important that we’re here to do that.” 

You can find the 203 Centre on the second floor of STU, room 203, open Monday-Thursday during the day. You can find their exact hours (which are currently in flux) on social media at @the203centre. You can also email them at the203@unb.ca if you’d like to get involved. 

References: 

1. “Querying Canadian Higher Education: A Snapshot of LGBT+ Students’ Experiences and Mental Health.” Thriving on Campus. 2016. Web.  https://lgbtq2sthrivingoncampus.ca/en_ca/querying-higher-education-in-canada/#:~:text=Approximately%2015%25%20of%20the%20students,non%2Dbinary%2C%20genderqueer).
2. Lebel, Sabine, Megan Hill, and Nadine Violette. A History of The 203 Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity: A Queer Archival Colouring Book Zine. 2021. Print.