Queer Conversations: Queer Suicidality, Conflict, and Repair

On October 10, 2016, QED hosted its first live Queer Conversation at Le Cagibi, in the Mile End neighborhood of Montréal. This conversation featured Morgan M. Page, a Montréal-based trans writer and artist with Sarah Schulman, a New York-based writer and LGBTQ rights activist. In this Queer Conversation, Page and Schulman read the eulogies that they gave at the funeral of Bryn Kelly, a friend of both who took her own life in January 2016. Prior to the event, the Facebook event page included information about several suicide prevention resources including Suicide Action Montréal, Trans Lifeline, and the Trevor Project. Because it was a live event, we decided to purposely include in the published version the engagement among Page, Schulman, and the audience. We were heartened by the turnout and the deeply engaged audience participation that ensued. We hope, as was noted by Schulman and Page toward the end of the event, that this conversation about Bryn Kelly’s life and death will motivate us all to reconsider conflict, care, and community.