Indoors. Large area with windows. Outdoors, the university campus. The very high ceiling shows beams of raw wood. Five round tables, each with four chairs, are spread out in the room. Two of the tables are occupied. Three displays of Indigenous art are located at the back of the room, near an office door. In the corner of the room, a young man sits alone in the middle of colourful modular seats. He’s wearing a blue shirt with rolled up sleeves, beige pants and black glasses.
Hello! My name is Cody. Hmm! I come from Pessamit, a small Indigenous... Innu community, uh, on the... on the North Shore. I don't know when... the exact moment I knew... that I was gay. But, uh, I remember, I was in secondary 2. I told my parents, well, my mother. I wanted to tell my mother, but she told me to wait until after she was done folding laundry and then she would join me in my room. And that's when I said it. She had finished folding laundry, so I said it. But I think I'm lucky because my parents simply wanted me to be happy and, uh, they could count on my five... my five brothers and sisters to, uh, take over family succession anyway, because I have 18 nephews and nieces. There’s a nice family succession.
Cody gets up and walks straight ahead between the tables. He stops and looks outside. He turns around to face the camera.
We’re presently at UQAC, where I’m currently studying. Hmm! I decided to leave, uh, Pessamit first and foremost for my studies. But, by leaving, it has, uh... it has also favored, uh, my personal experiences and my growth. I definitely wonder... If I had stayed in Pessamit, would it have encouraged my development or would it have been different. Who knows? And, in my opinion, maybe for other people coming from small communities or uh, from other villages maybe... It's also similar. When they left to see the... the other cities, I mean.
He looks up at the ceiling and goes to one of the tables occupied by female students. He sits with them.
But, personally, I noticed [...], for quite some time now, a certain openness... More of an openness than... than a tolerance because in my day, I didn't see that many people asserting themselves either. And, I noticed that more people are asserting themselves now. And I know that no matter where I go, there will be people who will stare at me and others who will love me as I am. Well, I hope so! [Laughter] But, uh, that's it. It takes, uh, it takes all kinds of people to make a world.