Why bindis, geishas and Caitlyn Jenner aren't welcome at Brock's Halloween party

For the second year in a row, the Brock University student's union has prepared a list of banned costumes for its annual Halloween bash.

Here and Now spoke with Laura Hughes, supervisor of the university's Student Justice Centre, about why they made the list.

Gill Deacon: How do you decide which costumes are inappropriate?

Laura Hughes: For us it was about respecting and honouring the histories and experiences of people of colour specifically, and looking at groups that have been marginalized and oppressed currently and historically. On our website you'll see examples of different races, of cultures that we've heard from community groups and students that these are not appropriate to have these folks experiences and histories desecrated through the use of costumes that can be taken on and off.

GD: What happens if you see someone wearing a culturally insensitive costume to a party?

LH: When we did it last year for the first time, we only had about two or three students that came with an inappropriate costume. In those moments, we had folks from the Student Justice Centre and security staff working the line. So we would pull that student aside and have the conversation more privately and explain what the protocol is and why it's in place. They were really receptive. They wouldn't lose their place in line, they would take off the part of the costume that was offensive and have that conversation and then rejoin the celebration. And that's our plan for this year as well.

GD: What was the reason that you heard from students who were dressed in a culturally inappropriate way?

LH: A lot of students say, 'I didn't mean to,' I didn't know,' and that's where we have a conversation about the impact of cultural appropriation, which is deeply harmful to folks of colour and LGTBQ folks. In that moment, we go between intent and impact — we know it wasn't your intent, but here's the impact.

GD: What would you say to people who say this is taking it a little too far?

LH: These costumes reduce cultures and races and identities with multifaceted histories into stereotypical and racist depictions. We'll keep repeating this: people's cultures are not costumes. There's so much to pick from on Halloween, so many ways to be creative and have fun in a way that isn't poking fun at or reducing someone's identity into a stereotypical representation.

GD: What kind of reactions have you been getting?

LH: We find a lot of white folks or folks of privilege, especially from their 30s to 50s, have been responding with exactly that question: isn't this going too far? They're saying that this is an example of people being too politically correct. For us it's like, no, we need to be having these conversations. Maybe they weren't happening 20 or 30 years ago, but thank God they are happening now because it's so important. From students, we've had mostly positive reactions. They've been on board and really understanding.