The theme of the sixth annual Rainbow Youth Forum was Pride, Passion, and Prosperity. As in past years, the purpose of the conference is to help OCDSB staff and students enhance their knowledge and awareness of gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender expression, and to address the issues of homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in order to encourage safer and more inclusive school environments. The Rainbow Youth Forum serves to address equity and inclusive education in OCDSB schools in order to ensure greater student success.

Staff and students from almost every secondary school spent the day celebrating diversity by singing, dancing, and engaging in rich dialogue— learning, planning, and building peer networks. Empathy, perseverance, respect, and acceptance were evident throughout the day, from the keynote presenters to the varied workshops.

Rainbow Youth Forum 2010 was held on Thursday, November 18 at the Confederation Education Centre. Director of Education Barrie Hammond welcomed students and ensured them of his commitment to their safety and well-being in OCDSB schools. Keynote speaker Maria Hawkins energized the participants with messages of celebrating individuality and uniqueness in the form of song and dance. The ‘man of steele’ Connor Steele followed with his message of courage, perseverance, and commitment to advocating for equal rights. He shared his story of being a self-identified spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy and as an openly gay male.

The Rainbow Youth Forum is held in collaboration with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and the GLBTTQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans, Two-Spirit, and Questioning) Youth Service Providers Network which is a network of community agencies who promote inclusive services for GLBTTQ youth.