About

Introduction

The Wednesday Night Discussion Group has been running for over three decades! Originally, the groups offered peer support for queer and questioning individuals trying to answer questions surrounding their sexuality. Today, the Wednesday Night Discussion Groups provide an excellent opportunity to meet and socialize with a wider cross-section of the local queer community and its allies.

Despite the wider audience, the provision of peer support is still a priority for the group. The large base of experience possessed by those participating in the discussions helps provide many different perspectives to aid those in the group seeking peer support. These participants continue to benefit from the structured nature of the discussion and the promise of confidentiality.

The discussion groups follow three distinct formats which rotate on a weekly basis:

  • Coming-Out & Questioning Discussions;
  • Queer Gazette Discussions; and
  • Questions from a Hat (Q-Hat) Discussions.

All three groups meet at the same location- Room 3005 of the Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology (PAS) Building at the University of Waterloo- on Wednesday evenings from 7:15 pm to 8:30 pm.

Coming-Out & Questioning Discussions

Coming-Out & Questioning Discussions give participants the opportunity to discuss issues pertaining to sexuality and gender identity. Discussion topics are set in advance to help individuals gauge whether or not they would be comfortable attending the discussion.

Coming-Out and Questioning Discussions are generally held the first and third Wednesdays of the month.

Queer Gazette

 “Queer Gazette” discussions are based on recent news articles relevant to the queer and questioning community. Participants in these discussions are encouraged to bring along their own newspaper, magazine or academic articles related to the queer community that has been published within the past month. Participants share a brief summary of the article with the group after which the group discusses the relevance and/or implications of the article to the queer community.

Queer Gazette discussions are generally held on the second Wednesday of each month.

Q-Hat Discussions

Some of the shyer members of the group sometimes have difficulties asking questions in a larger group environment- and these discussions are for them! At the start of Q-Hat Discussions, participants are invited to write any questions they have for discussion on a piece of paper. These pieces of paper are placed in a hat and randomly drawn by the facilitator over the course of the evening. All questions are fair game, so long as they do not ask specific/personal questions about other participants and follow the General Discussion Group Guidelines.

Q-Hat Discussions are held on the fourth Wednesday of each month.