Reflections on What Allyship Means to Me in 2025

Tara Horrill  

June 18, 2025 

Here we are – in the middle of June. June is pride month, and in Canada, it is also Indigenous history month. So, as someone who is neither Indigenous nor a member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, I have been reflecting on what it means to be an Ally. I always find it interesting the displays of allyship that surface in June – many of which are performative, but some of which (I hope) are meaningful.  

Fifteen years ago, I wouldn’t have called myself an ally, nor was I even thinking about being an ally. Ten years ago, I would have thought about allyship as black and white – you either are or you aren’t.  

These days, I think about allyship as a journey, and not something that I ‘am’ or ‘am not’. Although I strive to be an ally to Indigenous Peoples, and to members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, in reality, it is up to those I am attempting to support to decide if I have been an ally in any given moment. I also think about allyship as a journey in the sense that it is my own responsibility to continually and critically reflect on my actions, my biases, and my social conditioning in order to bring them into conscious awareness. 

But beyond the personal and internal work of striving to be an ally, allyship for me also means supporting the work of dismantling systems and structures that continue to oppress 2SLGBTQ+ people and Indigenous Peoples. This can look a lot of different ways, and for years I’ve struggle with wanting to be an ally but not necessarily resonating with the type of activism that is often portrayed as allyship. More recently, I’ve been reflecting on how allyship can come in different forms. The kind of allyship that ‘works’ for my personality, passions, position and skill sets comes (unsurprisingly) in the form of scholarship and teaching. My research and teaching work is often geared towards helping others understand systems of oppression, power and privilege, whether that is through equity-related research, or through teaching on culturally safe and trauma-informed care. In the day-to-day moments, that means creating space for the voices and perspectives of Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ+ people, learning from them, and taking their lead on how I can best support them.  

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t always get this right. I’m still (and will hopefully always be) learning. 

Photo credit: Tara Horrill  

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