I think it's important to note that a lot of the time, for minors, the adults in their lives can often be the ones who oppress them the most. We can see this in how many queer children have to hide their identities in order to be safe, or how in some households, adults may have starkly different views than their children, which may cause conflict.

I also agree with Reagon's criticism. I think the biggest changes come from stepping out of your comfort zone to make a difference in the public. It isn't easy, but once you start creating awareness towards the injustice, it is almost like a domino effect of more people standing up for what they believe in.

I also agree with the authors, it is definitely important to practice allyship among the people in your family and friend group. I think a good mix of the two approaches could be good.

Often in life, we focus on how we can be inclusive to different types of minorities. We see that in the way that companies say they want to hire more diverse people, but in reality, we still see discrimination emerge in places such as the workforce. I think the authors make a great argument of how instead of focusing on including people, we should be holding people accountable for their actions. A mix of the two would be ideal, but in society, we must hold more accountability as it is needed for change. Audre Lorde talks about how anger can be used in creative ways, as a tool for change (Lorde 1997, 283). I agree with her in the sense that anger is not solely destructive. Showing anger is a good way to let people know that there is an inherent problem with the system that must be changed.

This passage really made me think. A lot of the time, when we learn about Indigenous people, we often hear about how they were oppressed, and it focuses on their suffering, but it hardly ever mentions their strength to stand tall despite the oppression they face every single day. I think it's important for both facts to coexist.

As the text mentions, things like social justice aren't always upheld. This is because, inherently, the structures in Western society benefit White colonizers the most. This raises the question of, "What can we do to change the structure that oppresses Indigenous people and people of colour?"

While I do think some White settlers try to challenge racism and colonialism, I ultimately agree with what the authors are saying. A lot of white settlers still hold racist views towards Indigenous people and people of colour because there is hardly backlash for their discriminatory actions. Over the course of the years, racism has become more passive-aggressive rather than "in your face". For example, a lot of people tend to hide their racist views behind jokes, thus trying to get rid of their accountability. This can even happen in friend groups and romantic relationships, whether it is intentional or not.

I resonate a lot with Cindy. I think trying to unlearn colonial ways can be difficult, but once you're aware of what they look like, it makes it a bit easier. This reminds me of when bell hooks stated, "The enemy within must be transformed before we can confront the enemy out." when referring to internalized sexism (hooks 2014, 12). Broadly speaking, when we talk about internalized sexism, it is all these internalized thoughts that we carry with us about gender norms that may be harmful to us. I think this is quite similar to colonial ways of thinking because, just like internalized sexism, colonial thinking is built into us because it played a role in every step of our lives when growing up in a Western society.

Often, we have a lot of behaviour that is deeply rooted in colonialism and patriarchy, yet we don't even realize it. So, it's important to understand this can happen, analyze what we need to change, and try to break free from these norms so that we can work towards decolonization.

The authors focus this article on talking about interpersonal relationships and its impact on decolonization (Hunt and Holmes 2015, 156). Personally, I think this kind of paper is important to write about because it's a good way to show how raising awareness among the people that you're close to can bring the biggest changes. When you are close to people, it's easier to influence their views and behaviours in comparison to trying to persuade a stranger's views. This way, we can show them strategies of decolonization and perhaps bring awareness to problems that they never used to view as problems.

This is such a fantastic way to educate your children. A lot of times, topics like colonialism and its impacts are not things that show up in their education, at least not until later on. By introducing these concepts early on, especially by trying to foster critical thinking, it can benefit them throughout life. Critical thinking is a needed skill in everyone's life as it allows us to foster a deeper understanding and question structures that may be oppressive. By teaching your children critical thinking, you can allow them to be creative and question things on their own, fostering a deeper understanding of the world.

This section kind of made me question myself, and I realized that I don't really take part in any meaningful actions that contribute to decolonization. I think a lot of the time, taking the first step in trying to make a change can be intimidating because a lot of people don't know where to start, myself included. So I really appreciate the authors listing the ways that can support Indigenous people and decolonization

I feel like the authors capture the idea of this perfectly. In colonialism, we see that there is a need for everything to be categorized and defined. For example, in Western culture, a lot of clothes are put into categories of "masculine" and "feminine." This reminded me of the idea of Western epistemology vs Indigenous epistemology that we learned about in class. During week 3, we learned that often times Western knowledge is fixed, whereas Indigenous epistemology is alive and always changing (Bos 2025). I think categorizing things is deeply rooted in colonialism, and it adds to the dichotomous view of gender and sexuality that we see in everyday life through norms, societal views, etc.

This is such an important topic to touch upon because sometimes you have to stop and think about what truly makes you an "ally". There's often a lot of discourse surrounding what it means to be an ally. Are you an ally to a cause simply because you say you are, or does being an ally mean that you take opportunities to involve yourself in those communities and try to make a difference? Maybe the real answer is not so black and white.

As I read the highlighted passage, I thought about how nice it was to see Sarah's mom going to queer events with and without Sarah being there. To me, this feels like genuine allyship. This passage reminded me of enemy feminism and how Sophie Lewis talks about how oftentimes people say they are feminists, but their actions don't always match what they say they stand for (Lewis 2025). Normally, when people say they are allies, they do not do much to showcase this other than verbal support, so it is nice to see Sarah's mom taking part in actions that are meaningful towards the queer community.

In this section, the authors talk about the term "Two-Spirit" and its importance to Indigenous people (Hunt and Holmes 2015, 160). I grew up my whole life not ever hearing this term, which really goes to show how much schools fail to educate their students on the culture of Indigenous people. I later learned this term when I entered university and as someone who is a queer person of colour, I immediately thought the concept of Two-Spirit was something that more people should learn about. In today's society, we have so many gender norms of what people should look like, act like, etc. So it's so cool to see a culture that doesn't follow the norms of colonialism.

In this section, the authors discuss the importance of friendship and how it can foster allyship (Hunt and Holmes 2015, 161). I agree with this, as it is so easy to make friends by sharing similar interests and things you are passionate about. This is how you make some of the best friends, because when you find people who want to advocate for the same things as you, it can be a huge motivator to continue pro-social behaviours, knowing someone is there to back you up. As the authors mentioned, friends are also a good way to hold each other accountable. For example, perhaps you see a friend who is subconsciously reinforcing something like heteropatriarchal or heteronormative views. In this scenario, you can call them out on their behaviour and show them the error of their ways, holding them accountable. Sometimes we don't even realize that we are upholding certain norms, so it's always good to have a friend or someone you're close to who will point it out.

I feel like not a lot of people talk about how much of a powerful medium writing is. Not only is it a place to write down your thoughts, feelings, etc. But it is also a powerful medium to inform others so they can challenge their views and reflect on their values and norms.

I think here the author defines a perfect definition of what the word "queer" means and a brief history around it. The term "queer" is such an important term to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community for different reasons. For some people, it can be less restrictive compared to labels, allowing for a less categorical approach to gender and sexual identity.

I think a lot of the time, things like this are overlooked. For me, when I read this, I thought about how the world is so white centered and how the aftereffects of colonialism basically shapes everything in Canada, like the gender and sexual norms the author was talking about. For example, gender norms are enforced in the way people expect you to dress, act and behave. Sometimes this even carries over to queer relationships like when you hear someone say, "Okay, but who's the man in the relationship?" to non-men couples. It's even further reinforced by media like shows and movies that continue to showcase colonial gender and sexuality ideals.

Right off the bat, I wanted to say how meaningful all of these involvements are. I feel like a lot of the time, there isn't a lot of awareness for topics such as colonial violence, sex worker rights, etc. In particular, I feel like sex work is something that is often stigmatized. People who do sex work as a living experience a ton of violence, discrimination, and there can even be unfair power dynamics in play that hinder them. There are definitely better laws that need to be put in place to protect them to create a safe and comfortable environment.

This is a broad overview of the main idea of the article. This annotation is explored more in the written reflection.