Allyship in Action: Everyday Leadership for 2SLGBTQIA+ Inclusion With Alex Brownstein

In today’s society, it is too easy to fall into a pit of gloom – never have we had

access to so much information in so little time. A war across the ocean, we

receive videos instantaneously. The hateful thoughts of a person, the whole

world now knows where they stand because of a simple click of a button to share

their controversial inner thoughts on social media. We are bombarded with

negativity, and we can easily fall into that trap ourselves…

Too often, I have found myself in despair and hopelessness. Not only has this

impacted my mental health, but in turn my quality of life.

Whether it be talk therapy, antidepressants or my emotional support babies (my

cats!), I have found some success in developing coping mechanisms. Although

coaching myself through a grounding or breathing exercise during an anxiety

attack works for the time being, it doesn’t fix the discouragement I feel when

pondering day to day obstacles our society throws in our way. I use my coping

mechanisms in moments of need, but to work on healing hopelessness, I found

my answer in action.

When the government of New Brunswick caused me to live in fear because of

how some chose to weaponize my queer identity, I took action. Instead of letting

myself get consumed with hate speech and discriminatory policies being passed,

I took note of what was happening and attempted to make myself a place in the

discussion. By putting myself out there, I went from crying in my bedroom to

chanting in a megaphone during a protest I organised down Main Street,

Moncton and from ranting with friends to speaking out on the news.

This brought me from helplessness to empowerment. By bringing positivity to the

world, I bring positivity to myself. In my room I felt helpless, but protesting on the

streets brings me empowerment. In the same way I feel empowered when I help

a student better understand gender, sexual and romantic diversity after I answer

their question during one of my presentations. Or the way I feel when someone

comes to me for support in how to come out because of the trust I was able to

create. Or even that time I introduced myself to the new premier of New

Brunswick during her election campaign, and she told me she was already aware

of who I am! By putting myself out there, people like the new premier of New

Brunswick recognised me as a person who could help them contribute to creating

positive change!

2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion is my personal cause and until we reach the day when

we don’t have to talk anymore about our identities because we have totally

normalised people being themselves, it will continue to be. You might agree with

what I do, or you might not. There really is no right or wrong way to live our lives,

but whatever you chose to do with your life and the causes you chose to fight for,

remember that we can heal our helplessness with positive action. We all have

the capacity to change things around us, and although for some it might be

easier (it is even easier to convince ourselves we have no voice when we are not

even old enough to officially vote…), by putting ourselves out there, we are all

capable of accomplishing more than we can even dream!