The Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies

The Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies https://linktr.ee/bonhamcentre The Mark S. Connect with us on Twitter for more news, articles and events!

Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies offers an undergraduate program, a collaborative graduate program (MA and PhD), hosts academic and community events, and promotes research into sexuality. It is a hub for forging connections among faculty, undergraduates, graduate students, and community members interested in questions about how we understand sexual diversity and sexual practices.

Meet Dr. Yoon! 🎉1. How did SDS shape you as a person? SDS was incredibly grounding for me throughout my MA and PhD. It w...
10/06/2026

Meet Dr. Yoon! 🎉

1. How did SDS shape you as a person? SDS was incredibly grounding for me throughout my MA and PhD. It was a crucial reminder of what originally brought me to grad school, that is, a deep interest and desire to think with and about q***r and trans artists, in particular Asian diasporic artists and their works but also the collective spaces they build. SDS was important to me because it also allowed me to realize and reaffirm that I deeply care about joy and pleasure. 2. How did the coursework shape your career interests?My SDS coursework shaped how I understand the terms q***r and trans and their multiple genealogies. I will admit with some embarrassment, that I never read Eve Sedgwick until I took an SDS grad course. Now that I teach courses within our LGBTQ studies minor, I continue to try to offer my students an expansive understanding of these terms. 3. Is there any memory from your time at SDS that you hold on to?SDS offered me so many experiences and opportunities to be with people. This was so special because so much of my PhD was me alone writing in my library carrel. Because of S*x Salon, the graduate student speaker series and the Q***r and Trans Research Lab it was almost on a monthly basis that I got the chance to be in community. But one memory that I distinctly remember is this moment after the 2024 Q***r Directions Symposium. I was chatting with a group of grad students and professors, and I had to just take it all in. I felt so profoundly lucky just to be in that space and with these people. 4. What is your advice to current and future SDS students?My advice is to make use of the resources and opportunities available to you. This is quite boring and practical advice, but this comes with my growing awareness of the ways that institutional and geographical location deeply shapes access. Being situated at SDS, U of T, and Toronto allows students such an expansive way to make your time here meaningful especially in relation to your interests. Connect with your professors, organizations, artists, and archives that matter to you because you are here right now and that will eventually shift in the future.

We’re thrilled to announce THE WORLD WE LONG FOR: DOUBLE BOOK EVENT 🎉 Register for free at the link in our bio! Join two...
10/06/2026

We’re thrilled to announce THE WORLD WE LONG FOR: DOUBLE BOOK EVENT 🎉 Register for free at the link in our bio!

Join two of Canada’s most beloved trans authors Vivek Shraya & Kai Cheng Thom as they celebrate the release of two works of fiction exploring dystopian and utopian worlds that are frightening, fantastical – and not so far away from the world we live in today: Shraya’s The Hystericals, and Thom’s The Shapeshifter’s Guide To Gym Class. Filmmaker and SDS student Petra Totten will open the event with a special screening of her new work.

As communities around the world face the ongoing impacts of social, political, economic and environmental crises, visionary stories are more important than ever. Trans and gender diverse communities in particular are in need of bold narratives and supportive spaces that affirm our resilience and strength amidst adversity. The Hystericals and The Shapeshifter’s Guide are novels written in answer to these needs: Novels that question power, call in the truth, and invite the courage it takes to heal and transform the systems we live in.

Join these experienced performers and facilitators for powerful readings, engaged discussions, and book signing. Trans and q***r communities will be celebrated, and all allies and book lovers are welcome.

If you have any accessibility needs, please email s*[email protected]

You are cordially invited to our annual Michael Lynch Distinguished Lecturer Series! This year we are joined by the bril...
09/04/2026

You are cordially invited to our annual Michael Lynch Distinguished Lecturer Series! This year we are joined by the brilliant Eithne Luibhéid, Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Arizona, who will be discussing her book Abolitionist Intimacies. Read below for a complete event description and Luibhéid’s short bio.

When: October 29, 2026, 4:30pm - 6:00pm
Where: William Doo Auditorium, Room A, 45 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario
Register on Eventbrite (link in bio)

TALK DESCRIPTION

Eithne Luibhéid discusses Abolitionist Intimacies, which centers writings by and about q***r- and trans-identified migrants and allies who mobilize intimacies to contest pervasive U.S. deportation practices while working toward a future without detention, deportation, or U.S. immigration controls. Framing U.S. immigration controls as an infrastructure of chokepoints, the chapters center key chokepoints around which q***r and trans migrants and allies have especially mobilized: proposed pathways to citizenship for undocumented migrants; marriage as a means for legalization; traffic interactions as a pipeline to deportation; and struggles to end q***r and trans migrant detention. Through mobilizing, activists and theorists have advanced new visions and configurations of possible intimacies that not only challenge deportation but also rework what immigration control and citizenship could mean. The book highlights that migrants and citizens alike have stakes in abolishing deportation.

SHORT BIO:

Eithne Luibhéid is Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Arizona. She received her Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and her research explores the connections among q***r lives, racialization processes, state immigration controls, and citizenship. From 2007-2011, she served as the Director of the Institute for LGBT Studies at the University of Arizona. She served as the Acting Director of Gender and Women’s Studies in 2022-2023 and 2024-2026. Luibhéid is a member of the Board of BorderLinks in Tucson.

We hope to see you all there!

We are thrilled to share the latest profile in our ongoing Alumni Spotlight series: Roxy Moon! 🎉 Roxy graduated from bot...
08/31/2026

We are thrilled to share the latest profile in our ongoing Alumni Spotlight series: Roxy Moon! 🎉

Roxy graduated from both the SDS Undergrad Specialization and the SDS Graduate Collaborative Specialization, and now works at the ArQuives as Project Archivist for digital materials.

Here are four questions with Roxy:
1. How did SDS shape you as a person?
SDS has made me a more inquisitive person and has given me a strong critical eye, which are both things I find central to who I am. It has also allowed me to develop a compassionate thoughtfulness and collaborative urge that was fostered by what I was learning and how discussion was central to so many courses.
2. How did the coursework shape your career interests?
SDS was instrumental in shaping my career interests, especially in how students are urged to think through history, and the ways that we can look to primary sources and the historical record to gain greater understanding of our current cultural climate. In my fourth year I took the placement course (SDS490, Engaging Our Communities), which led me to working in the S*xual Representation Archives under the department. This blended learning allowed me to hone my skills and use things I was learning through my readings and coursework to find what I would be interested in as a career.
3. Is there any memory from your time at SDS that you hold on to?
One of my favourite memories from the program was taking the undergraduate capstone class and sitting outside for our classes at the University College quadrangle. It was the first year of in-person classes again after lockdowns, and it was a very warm welcome back.
4. What is your advice to current and future SDS students?
Let your interests guide you and remain open to the different directions you are being pulled toward. Everyone in the program wants to see you succeed, and use the time to learn how to contribute to the community. SDS is incredibly collaborative, and learning how to contribute to that environment will help you long past graduation.

The Mark S Bonham Centre for S*xual Diversity Studies (SDS) is delighted to host an alumni event on October 13, 2026, fr...
08/19/2026

The Mark S Bonham Centre for S*xual Diversity Studies (SDS) is delighted to host an alumni event on October 13, 2026, from 5 to 8 pm at Paul Cadario Conference Centre. This is a great opportunity to interact with our alumni and ask questions about their journeys since graduating with a degree in SDS. The five alumni featured below are just a few of our many outstanding graduates who have gone on to excel in diverse fields.

Ariel M Dela Cruz: Incoming Martha LA McCain Postdoctoral Fellow at the Q***r and Trans Research Lab, SDS, University of Toronto.

Ellithia Adams: S*xual Health and Gender Affirming Care Researcher, Women’s College Hospital

Ezra Blaque: Registered Social Worker, Psychotherapist

Jae Kim: Archives Assistant, Art Gallery of Ontario

Franca Ciannavei: Graduate Student at York University and community organizer

Head to the link in our bio to register! It’s open to all SDS students, alumni, and community members, of course. Registering will help us gauge interest and explore the possibility of making this an annual event.

Head to the link in our bio to read the new feature in Alumni News by Coby Zucker: “Alumn Juan Carlos Mezo González’s de...
07/22/2026

Head to the link in our bio to read the new feature in Alumni News by Coby Zucker: “Alumn Juan Carlos Mezo González’s debut book on the role of print media in gay liberation began at U of T”

And make sure to grab your copy of Gay Print Culture now! Available at Dukeupress.com/gay-print-culture

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Wells for joining the School of Social Work at the University of Northern British C...
07/21/2026

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Wells for joining the School of Social Work at the University of Northern British Columbia! đź‘Ź

Dr. Wells graduated with an SDS minor in 2011. They completed a collaborative master’s program in MSW in 2018. They write:

“I took my first SDS course because I wanted to learn more about myself and how I related to the world around me. I had so many questions about s*x and gender and why I felt so differently about these ideas than everyone around me seemed to. SDS gave me the opportunity to ask these questions and to learn from how other q***r and trans folks thought about/navigated/celebrated s*x and gender. I walked out of SDS with an analysis of power that understands s*x and gender are central pillars around which society is organized and bringing me to become a social worker, supporting the health and wellbeing of q***r and trans people. As an Assistant Professor of Social Work, at the University of Northern British Columbia, I am bringing the learning I did in SDS into my classroom, preparing future social work practitioners to think about s*x, gender and power to support the health and wellbeing of q***r and trans people.”

Please join us in congratulating our 2026 SDS graduates!!! 🎉🎊 Three cheers for this amazing cohort!🏆👏👏👏
06/25/2026

Please join us in congratulating our 2026 SDS graduates!!! 🎉🎊 Three cheers for this amazing cohort!🏆👏👏👏

Congratulations to our incoming QTRL Cohort! Head to the link in our bio to read about the 2026-27 members now 🎉 The Q**...
06/15/2026

Congratulations to our incoming QTRL Cohort! Head to the link in our bio to read about the 2026-27 members now 🎉

The Q***r and Trans Research Lab is a collaborative research project based at The Bonham Centre for S*xual Diversity Studies, University of Toronto, focusing on methods in q***r and trans studies across the disciplines as well as across creative, activist, and scholarly research practices. Our aim is to bring innovative approaches and solutions to entrenched and emerging social and political problems affecting 2SLGBTQ+ and BIPOC lives and communities.

Watch Eli Clare’s keynote speech Sing Ourselves Cherished: Confronting Capitalism, Ableism, and Disposability for the Q*...
06/15/2026

Watch Eli Clare’s keynote speech Sing Ourselves Cherished: Confronting Capitalism, Ableism, and Disposability for the Q***r-Class Relations Conference hosted by CLAGS: The Centre for LGBTQ Studies at the City University of New York and co-hosted by the Mark S. Bonham Centre for S*xual Diversity Studies.

Watch Mark S. Bonham Centre for S*xual Diversity Studies on YouTube or click the link in our bio!

Eli Clare is a white, disabled, and genderq***r storyteller and educator. Clare’s work critically investigates disability and q***r and transness through an exploration of the interweaving of race, class, gender, s*xuality, disability, and environmental justice. His books include the 2025 Unfurl: Survivals, Sorrows, and Dreaming; the award-winning Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure; The Marrow’s Telling; Words in Motion; and Exile and Pride: Disability, Q***rness, and Liberation. For his work on disability and q***rness/transness, Clare received the 2025-26 Brudner Prize.
We want to thank Eli for his amazing presentation, Matt Brim, Sophia Senderak and all the organizers at CUNY, and Quake for their organization of this event.

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