Fern Ridley
Opinions in Dialogue: How Christian institutions can traumatize
Peak Web July 11, 2023By: Fern Ridley, SFU Student and Valeria Gomez, SFU Student Content warning: mentions of child sexualization, rape culture, abortion, purity culture, and queerphobia. Fern: The extent of my religious trauma wasn’t apparent to me until a few years after my high school graduation. I went to a Christian school from kindergarten to grade 12 — and as you can probably imagine, it took a toll on me. My school was obsessed with preserving purity among its student body, and often meddled in students’ personal lives. We were frequently subjected to speeches, lessons, and one-on-one conversations about “honourable” Christian lifestyles. Growing…
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Finding unexpected queer community in a religious school
Peak Web June 27, 2022By: Fern Ridley, SFU Student Content warning: queerphobia, religious bias I think most people who grew up aware of their queerness felt like they were the “only one” at some point. I was attracted to girls before I even realized I…
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