LGBTQ advocate giving talk tonight at Shatford Centre
Canadian author, storyteller, spoken word performer and artist Ivan Coyote never set out to be an LGBTQ advocate.
“I set out because I like playing music and writing stories. This is a necessary byproduct of being who I am and being an artist, I guess, and the power of story to educate people,” said Coyote, who is speaking tonight in Penticton and prefers the pronoun “they.”
Though gender identity is intrinsic to their work, the author of 11 books found settling into the role of advocate and educator came about through invitations to perform at schools and the framing of Coyote’s work through the lens of gender identity by the media.
Coyote said they could write the “straightest, squarest show” about their grandma and “the reporter is going to call me up and go 'Oh, you look like a dude, let's talk about that.'”
“I’m an artist. I’m not an activist. I’m not a counsellor. I’m a writer and storyteller. I do some of the work I do in schools out of necessity,” Coyote said. “Because I see it as a necessary thing for the youth in my community and for myself.”
Asking about the state of gender identity politics is a broad question, with varying answers depending on where Coyote goes on tour. For the most part, their takeaway is teachers and other school staff are not given the tools they need to help queer and trans youth.
“That’s not in every school, of course, and not in every school district, but suffice to say I don’t think this line of work is going to be disappearing on me very quickly. Sad to say in some ways,” Coyote said. “There’s still lots and lots of work to be done to bring everybody up to speed.”
Returning from recent visits to Iowa and Wisconsin college campuses, Coyote was struck by the dichotomy that exists between college students’ lives on campus and at home.
“If you talk to the youth and the students, some of them are coming from backgrounds where they can’t come out,” Coyote said. “They’re out at school, but they can’t come out to their parents because they will literally be kicked out of their houses or basically have their parents pull any support.”
For Coyote, school brings to light memories of bullying.
“So I’m reminding myself again to always keep in mind that for some students, school is the safest place they know. That they’re literally not safe in their houses. That’s a sobering thing to keep in mind,” Coyote said.
Travelling the world, including Australia, New Zealand and extensive tours of the U.S., plus heading to rural Eastern Canada next month, Coyote said the state of gender identity politics fluctuates.
“There’s no monolithic one easy answer to that question. It completely depends on where I’m going. School, in a small town, say, can depend more than we would like to admit on the leadership of that school,” Coyote said.
Coyote speaks at the Shatford Centre tonight beginning at 6:30 p.m., hosted by the South Okanagan Similkameen Pride Society.
Tickets are $10.