We are Women’s offers the WCH community a chance to get to know each other and share our stories. For Pride Month, we are featuring our Pride Committee to find out how acceptance for 2SLGBTQ+ people informs their work.
Name: Jacob Looyestein
Pronouns: He/Him
Title & Department: Manager, Financial Services
On the WCH team for: 6 Years
1. Why did you decide to join the Pride Committee in such a meaningful capacity this year?
I try to get involved as much as I can with the Pride Committee every year. As a queer person myself, it’s important to me that I’m part of an organization that gets involved with Pride month as much as WCH does. If I can be part of making it a fun and happy month that celebrates our diversity, I’m more than happy to do it.
2. What work makes WCH an inclusive place for 2SLGBTQ+ Communities?
Pride at WCH has really gotten bigger and better each year since I’ve started working here. Showing support like this goes such a long way to feeling safe and secure in the workplace. In a world where it’s not always the case, this signals to both current and prospective 2SLGBTQ+ employees that WCH is a space that welcomes and celebrates them.
3. What is your greatest wish for 2023 as it relates to Pride Month and healthcare?
My wish every year at Pride is for a fun and safe celebration of gender and sexual diversity for everyone.
4. Who is your 2SLGBTQ+ Pride role model? Why?
One thing I do around this time of year is watch old YouTube videos of Pride in Toronto. Pride was smaller, and was driven and run by the community with queer people were fighting for the most basic of rights. I find it to be a good reminder that just taking part in Pride is, at its core, a political act.
My 2SLGBTQ+ Pride role models are all the queer people in Toronto who came before me, the people who made the city a better place and made the world I live in possible.