With guaranteed housing for first-year students and eight UW residences housing between 320 and 1,380 students per semester, it is accurate to say that on-campus living is an integral part of the school community and experience. It is also not just first years that take advantage of UW’s residences as many upper-year students opt for on-campus housing as well. Ensuring that there are supportive housing options at UW for all community members is important to ensure students feel safe and seen during their academic career. 

As part of this effort to provide housing that accommodates the needs of all students, a motion was passed at the 2025 WUSA Annual Members Meeting (AMM) advocating for the implementation of Queer Living and Learning Communities (QLLC) into UW’s residences. The motion calls out the lack of sufficient housing options available for members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Many students belonging to this group do not feel safe in their housing environments, which can be a detriment to their mental health and academic success. The QLLC project advocates for residence options that are more inclusive in this regard by addressing the systemic issues that have created this problem in the first place and looks to incorporate practices from other institutions while also working towards providing more supportive residences.

The QLLC project and subsequent motion was created by Friday Saleh, a fourth year geoscience student at UW who ran for the presidency in the recent WUSA general election. Saleh began working on this project back in September but has been an avid student advocate for the Queer community throughout their undergrad. Notably, they helped to advocate for the addition of gender affirming care to the student health plan through a motion that was passed at the 2024 WUSA AMM. Another student advocate for the Queer community on campus was Remington Zhi, who also spoke in support of the QLLC motion during the 2025 AMM. Zhi is also the incoming Vice President for WUSA for the 2025-2026 academic year. 

Saleh highlighted how damaging it can be for non-gender conforming students to be forced into gendered living environments and how the university has failed the Queer community in this way. At the 2025 WUSA AMM, Saleh spoke for their motion and discussed how 45 per cent of non-binary students experience negative mental health due to on-campus safety concerns. Furthermore, they explained how trans students who experience microaggressions are 3.3 times more likely to drop out from their post-secondary education. 

​​One of the central aims of the QLLC is to provide students with the option to live in close proximity with others who share similar experiences, values, or identities. This would foster an inclusive, safe and supportive environment for trans and non-binary students on-campus. In contrast with the traditional gendered living environments, this community housing style would provide a more comfortable and affirming housing situation. There is concern, however, that the visible clustering of a marginalized group could inadvertently pose a safety risk in the event of a situation incited by hate, as seen on campus in 2023 during the stabbing of students and faculty in a gender studies class on campus. This underscores the need for careful, rights-based planning that prioritizes both community-building and institutional responsibility for student safety. Saleh went on to acknowledge how some see this form of housing as controversial and an example of reverse discrimination due to its isolationist nature, however they explained that while this form of community housing does provide the option of separation, this view overlooks the many proven benefits of this residence model. 

Research that has been impactful to the QLLC project includes the works of Christopher C. Stone-Sewalish, associate director for housing administration at Michigan State University. Stone-Sewalish proposed a framework for implementing trans student housing-based equity programs into post-secondary residences – a seven step trans residential experience that has been included into the research and planning of the QLLC project. Stone-Sewalish emphasizes the importance of doing things in the correct way versus the quick way. As Saleh explained, “If you have to choose between putting something out in a rushed manner versus implementing it in a methodical and strategic way… choose the methodical and strategic way.” 

Additionally, the project is not just relying on external research, but is conducting community surveys to further understand the individual lived experiences of gender-non conforming students in UW’s on-campus housing. These findings are intended to be published in a white paper written by Saleh, detailing the project as a whole and including the financial and business plan, health and safety barriers, common practices and laying out the substance of the program itself. 

Both Saleh and Zhi expressed the urgent need to address this issue and the importance of bringing the QLLC project to fruition. Saleh hopes that the project could begin to be implemented into UW’s residences as early as fall of 2025, however they discussed how inciting change within an institution such as a university is a difficult and often slow process. They described institutions as being inherently resistant to change due to their structures, which poses an issue to student advocacy. 

Zhi explained how burnout is a common experience in advocacy especially when working within an institution. However they went on to stress the importance of community within student advocacy as a way of combating burnout. “When I felt burnt out with advocacy, there were other great student advocates who took up the mantle, and I hope that by providing support to more student advocates, there’s just a bigger team of students who can be there for each other and work together,” Zhi said. 

Outside of the challenge of operating within an institution designed to resist change, the project faces financial barriers as well. As explained by Saleh, due to the UW’s current position of being in a financial deficit, receiving funding from the school is currently not a reliable option to ensure the project’s success. The goal now is to turn to external funding to ensure the cost effectiveness of the project. 

Looking forward, both Saleh and Zhi hope to see the continuations and expansion of Queer advocacy at UW and in Waterloo as whole. Unique financial barriers for Queer students, particularly in relation to gender affirming care, needs to be highlighted and addressed. Both Zhi and Saleh explained the importance of expanding the Trans Bursary in supporting the Queer community financially in receiving gender affirming care. This project represents the continuation of advocacy for the Queer community on campus and calls for institutional accountability and student support to make these visions a reality for the people that need it. For Saleh and the many students who are working in support of these issues, the fight doesn’t end with a single motion. As Saleh put it, “Just because I didn’t win the presidency, that doesn’t mean my advocacy mandates or convictions have changed.” Their words reflect a broader truth in student activism – that leadership isn’t limited to elected roles, it’s sustained through continued commitment to community and change.