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Rainbow Camp: for LGBTQ and Allied Youth 13-17 in Thessalon, Ontario

July 11, 2012 • Julia Horel

Join us for our first Rainbow Camp!

This is a unique opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer questioning, and allied (LGBTQA) youth and/or members of Queer families.

We are committed to developing a camp community which honours creativity, individual choice, and social justice.

Rainbow Camp will provide opportunities for campers to make new friends and develop skills through traditional camp programming. More than anything, Rainbow Cam is a fun place to come OUT and be yourself!

Our Camp Program will include activities in the following areas:

Music, Theatre, and Movement
Arts and Crafts
Nature and the Environment
Sports
Personal Storytelling through Multi-Media
Community and Leadership

$275 for the week
Camp fee includes all food, accommodation, and activities

August 5-10, 2012
Camp McDougall
Thessalon, Ontario

For more information and to register for Rainbow Camp, visit
http://www.welcomefriend.ca

Welcome Friend Association Inc.
76 Dawson St., PO Box 242
Thessalon, ON
P0R 1L0
VANCOUVER call for auditions: One in Every Crowd

April 5, 2012 • Julia Horel

Please note the deadline has changed to April 28, 2012.

Attention all queer and trans youth ages 14 to 20 years old:

Award winning writer and storyteller Ivan Coyote has a new book coming out, and this one is FOR YOU. One in Every Crowd is a collection of short short stories collected from over fifteen years of Coyote’s work, along with a bunch of brand new never been in print stuff too, designed to help LGBT students find themselves in its pages. The book launches in Vancouver at the WISE Hall on Thursday, May 3rd, and it is going to be a very special night. In addition to reading from the new book, Ivan will also be hosting a queer youth talent show. If you are a singer, dancer, poet, storyteller, drag artist, baton twirler, or otherwise creatively minded, please send Ivan a short (maximum three to four minute) video clip (or link to a youtube or Facebook video) to ivanecoyote@gmail.com.

The ten most fabulous acts will be selected to perform as part of the book launch. All artists selected to perform will receive free admission for themselves and one guest pass, a free copy of the book, and a small cash honorarium for their performance.

Deadline for entries is April 28th. Solo or ensemble acts are all eligible. Applications are welcome from outside of the Vancouver area, but if you are selected to perform and you have to travel to be a part of it, you are responsible for your own travel and accommodations. Participants will be notified no later than May 1, 2012.

Any questions? Please contact Cynara at Arsenal Pulp Press at 604-687-4233, or at cynara@arsenalpulp.com.

For more information on Ivan Coyote and her work, please go to www.ivanecoyote.com.

Read an excerpt from One in Every Crowd here (PDF link).

Check out a video of Ivan Coyote performing a piece in Seattle. Transcription below the jump.

(more inside…)
Sins Invalid: ‘An unshamed claim to beauty in the face of invisibility’

February 29, 2012 • Julia Horel

New College Speaker Series 2012, in collaboration with the Art Gallery of Ontario & The School of Disability Studies at Ryerson University, presents:

Performance excerpts from Sins Invalid
‘An unshamed claim to beauty in the face of invisibility’

Featuring performances by: Alex Cafarelli, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Maria Palacios and Leroy Moore

Saturday March 17 2012 - 7pm
Art Gallery of Ontario, Weston Family Learning Centre
317 Dundas St. West Toronto, ON
Beverly Street Entrance

Facebook event link here.

FREE admission
ASL interpretation
Wheelchair accessible
Attendant care

Sponsored by: Equity Studies Program (New College), Ryerson School of
Disability Studies, Dept. of Sociology and Equity Studies (OISE), Art
Gallery of Ontario, Students for Barrier-Free Access (UT), RyeAccess,
Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies (UT), Equity Studies Student Union (UT) and R3 collective.

Official event of RyeAccess’ ‘Reclaiming our bodies and minds’ conference, part of ESSU’s Disability Studies Week 2012

SINS INVALID is a performance project that incubates and celebrates artists with disabilities, centralizing artists of color and queer and gender-variant artists as communities who have been historically marginalized. Our performance work explores the themes of sexuality, embodiment and the disabled body. Conceived and led by disabled people of color, we develop and present cutting-edge work where normative paradigms of “normal” and “sexy” are challenged, offering instead a vision of beauty and sexuality inclusive of all individuals and communities.

We define disability broadly to include people with physical impairments, people who belong to a sensory minority, people with emotional disabilities, people with cognitive challenges, and those with chronic/severe illness. We understand the experience of disability to occur within any and all walks of life, with deeply felt connections to all communities impacted by the medicalization of their bodies, including trans, gender variant and intersex people, and others whose bodies do not conform to our culture(s)’ notions of “normal” or “functional.”

Find out more about Sins Invalid:
http://www.sinsinvalid.org/
Toronto Event: Queering Black History Month

February 21, 2012 • Julia Horel

QUEERING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

DATE: Wednesday, February 29 - 5:30pm until 8:30pm
PLACE: Ryerson Students’ Union Centre at 55 Gould St (Church St. and Gould St., Toronto). Room: SCC 115

Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/130358727029879/

Queering Black History Month is back for its second year!

Please join the Ryerson community as we celebrate Queer and Trans African, Black, and Caribbean people in Canada.

On Wednesday, February 29th, 2012, we will continue to honour and re-insert the lives, experiences and amazing achievements of Queer and Trans people into the discussions of Black History Month.

The evening will begin with a reception, accompanied by hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar and a beautiful photography exhibition documenting Toronto’s incredible Ballroom Vogue Scene. Later, a panel discussion will honour the work and stories of Queer and Trans African, Black and Caribbean Canadians, both past and present. The night will end with a very special performance by the House of Monroe, celebrating their 5th Anniversary!

The space is wheelchair accessible. We will also have ASL interpretation at the event.

Our panelists:
*Patricia Koine: Human Rights Advocate, Community Mental Health Worker, and Founder of Gays and Lesbians of African Descent (GLAD)
*Kim Crosby: Activist & Multidisciplinary Artist (www.queergiftedblack.blogspot.com) and Co-Founder of The People Project (www.thepeopleproject.ca)
*Rev. David Lewis-Peart: Prevention Program Coordinator, Community-based Researcher, and Co-founder of Seed II Soil Coaching & Consulting
*Dr. Wesley Crichlow: Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at UOIT, and Author of Buller Men Batty Bwoys: Hidden Men in Toronto and Halifax Black Communities

For more information, contact organizers Lali Mohamed at lali.moham@gmail.com or Rodney Diverlus, RSU’s Vice-President Equity at vp.equity@rsuonline.ca

This event is supported by the Ryerson Students’ Union, The Office of the Vice-President Provost, PFACS, Deviant Productions, Students’ Against Racism and RyePRIDE.

Many thanks to XTRA! for their generous media sponsorship and Christopher Cushman for the incredible photography.
Recommended Reading: The Shit Girls Say meme: friendly prejudice, but prejudice all the same

January 17, 2012 • Julia Horel

We have lots of thoughts about the “Shit Girls Say” meme (unfunny) and about the “Shit X Says to Y” meme (in many cases, poignant). We’d like to refer you to Thea Lim’s piece at the Guardian for some reading:

What’s friendly prejudice? The most common defence of racism is: “But I didn’t intend to be racist.” This response relies on the idea that if we didn’t intend to offend someone, then their feelings can’t possibly be hurt. The Shit X Says to Y videos are delightfully validating because they show that those with the genuinely lovely intentions of being your friend and seeking commonality with you can still be rude and hurtful.

Check out the whole article here.

If you have other articles to recommend on the topic, please leave them in comments.
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Call for Volunteers: Dyke March Toronto 2012

January 9, 2012 • Julia Horel

The Toronto Dyke March is ramping up for 2012 and we need your help!

We are seeking dykes who would like to help organise this year’s March and affiliated events, including parties, panels, political actions, community art projects.

We are seeking queer women and dyke-identified trans people who would like to help organise this year’s March and affiliated events, including parties, panels, political actions, community art projects.

We need both experienced members and those seeking to develop new skills. We need help with event coordination, fund-raising and budgeting, graphic and web design, social media, marketing, blogging, community outreach, volunteer coordination, and political action.

There is more than one way to be involved:

1) Join the committee! DEADLINE: January 16, 2012
Send us a brief explanation of 1) why you would like to be involved, 2) your qualities and experience as well as 3) the skills you would like to develop and your areas of interest. [dykemarchto@gmail.com]
Feel free to follow this template: http://docs.com/G187
Applicants are encouraged to self identity. Queers of colour, Indigenous dykes and trans folk strongly encouraged to apply.

2) Join the street team! Ongoing sign up January through June 2012.
Email us to sign up and we’ll add you to the list. [dykemarchto@gmail.com]
Help us when you can with postering, baking, running and attending events, and marshalling the March.
Come to our open committee meetings, bring a friend, see what we’re up to, and share your thoughts. Help us plan and develop our mission statement and goals.
Allies welcome!

3) Join our online community!
Follow us on twitter (@dykemarchto). Help us by retweeting.
Like our Facebook community page (DykeMarch Toronto) and comment on, like and share our postings.
Get in the loop on Toronto’s hottest queer events by checking the calendar on our Facebook page.
Tweet, email, holler your ideas and comments to us!

4) Celebrate Pride with us!
MARCH! Come to the Rally and Dyke March on June 30, 2012! March, strut, scream, sign, chant, roll and dance your way through the city streets. Take up space. Take a stand. Share some time with friends and make some new ones.
Come to the other Dyke Pride events we are running or supporting.

(Jocelyn Reynolds)

Questions? Get in touch anytime! We’d LOVE to hear your ideas, concerns, musings.

In solidarity,

The 2012 Dyke March Team

Email dykemarchto@gmail.com
Twitter @dykemarchto
Facebook DykeMarch Toronto
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Video: WRTN/SPKN Triangle Program

December 8, 2011 • Julia Horel

WRTN/SPKN is a story writing and story telling project that took place at the Triangle Program with a group of LGBTQ high school students in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12. For several weeks, we explored creative writing (particularly memoir) through practices including free association, “cut-up,” word strings, found poetry, and collaborative writing. We experimented with voice and form, and the relationship between the written and spoken, and visually explored word. Throughout our creative process, students were encouraged to claim their place as storytellers and experts in their own experience. I provided guidance for the work being produced, but students’ areas of interest (themes and motifs) led the project. Our work together culminated in the production and presentation of individual zines.

Student-creators gave me permission to photograph their work, and develop a video that anthologizes their zines. Together, we viewed the video and talked about what they’d like to see happen with it.

There was consensus amongst the students that the video should be posted and distributed online, and available to everyone as an educational tool. Triangle students particularly want to reach out to other youth who have been or are being bullied at school— and those who can make a big difference: school boards and trustees, school administrators, educators, and guidance counselors.

Many students said that if it weren’t for the Triangle Program, they wouldn’t be in school. Triangle students recognize education as a right for all students, and that safety, or lack thereof, reduces access to education for LGBTQ students, and many other students for a broad variety of systemic reasons. Triangle students would like their stories and creative work to be a beacon for all youth who are struggling with safety and acceptance.

—Anna Camilleri, artist educator
http://annacamilleri.com

More Information

What is a zine?
A zine is usually a non-commercial, non-professional publication, kind of  like a magazine but with a twist. The main difference between a magazine and a zine is that zines are not out there to make a profit but, rather, to add other, often unheard voices into the mix. Zines are usually made out of interest and passion and are often self-published by the writer/artist/creator.
From [http://artmatters.ca/wp/2008/08/what-is-a-zine/]

The Triangle Program is one of three micro-schools that are part of Toronto District School Board’s OASIS Alternative School. Triangle classroom provides a safe educational environment for LGBTQ-identified youth. As the only LGBTQ-focused TDSB school, the curricula and pedagogical framework include LGBQT history and contemporary concerns including shifting notions and locations of LGBTQ community.
Toronto event today: Making Noise Media Launch!

October 24, 2011 • Ronak Ghorbani

Hey Shameless readers! Check out this great event happening today in Toronto:

Let’s Speak Up, Let’s Make Noise!

For the last year and a half the Urban Alliance on Race Relation’s Making Noise GV CAMP has been working with organizations across the city to hold conversations with young racialized women and LGBTQ youth about gender-based violence, community accountability, media literacy and creation. Making Noise! is proud to present the stories, photos, poetry, plays, videos, podcasts, and articles created by these women on October 24, 2011.

Come listen to the voices of youth which often go unheard. The youth are from YWCA, Scadding Court Community Centre, Be Scene, Flemingdon Health Centre, Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Offices, Mujer, Lawrence Heights, For Youth Initiative, and Sister 2 Sister. The launch will feature an all-youth panel discussion addressing the topic: “What Messages do We Receive on Being a Girl?” as they relate to gender-based violence, bullying, and homophobia, and racism.

UARR’s Making Noise! project grew out of the need for racialized youth to speak up and change attitudes about important issues that affect their lives and communities as well as to build awareness around gender-based violence. Since 2008 Making Noise! has been conducting workshops on anti-oppression, gender-based violence, media literacy and media production for youth across the GTA to build skills and awareness around gender-based violence in our city.

Monday, October 24, 2010
ING DIRECT Cafe
221 Yonge Street
(Orange building, South of Dundas Street)
5:00 to 8:00pm

Visit our websites: www.makingnoisemedia.com and www.urbanalliance.ca

For more information please contact:
Ashley 416-703-6607 x 3 ashley@urbanalliance.ca
Nayani 647-898-9718 nayani@urbanalliance.ca

Special Thanks to our Funders: The City of Toronto, The Trillium Foundation, Status of Women Canada
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Toronto event: 3 Cities Forum – Tale of Three Cities

May 20, 2011 • Julia Horel

Event: 3 Cities Forum – Tale of Three Cities
Date: Saturday May 21, 2011
6:00pm - 8:30pm.
Place: Brookview Middle School – 4505 Jane Street (wheelchair Accessible)
Info : Please call Cecilia: 416-663-2733 Ext. 305

Speakers:
J. David Hulchanski – Associate Director of Research & Faculty of Social Work Professor.
Grace- Edward Galabuzi – Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson University.
Presented by: Action for Neighbourhood Change (ANC).
Free Admission.
Childcare and light dinner provided.
___________________________________________________________________________

Proud of Toronto Call to Action

Calling all LGBTQ and Allied Community Groups, Organizations, Agencies, Coalitions, Service Centers, Activists, and Toronto Residents.
The Proud of Toronto Campaign is seeking your endorsement and support.
Queer and Trans services, programs, and organizations are facing potential threats from the City. We need your help to remind our Mayor and Council why LGBT services and programming are crucial in the fight against queerphobia, transphobia, and hate.

On May 24th, the Executive Committee of City Council will discuss the future of Toronto Pride, with the Mayor and his allies expected to propose and pass a motion to cut public funding for Pride Toronto. This recommendation will go the entire council for a final vote late in June.
Pride depends on public funding to exist, and lack of such support will be a devastating blow to the organization. This motion foreshadows funding cuts to come for key LGBT services in this city, including HIV/AIDS prevention programs, agencies, and organizations.

We need your help to remind the Mayor and Councilors that Toronto Pride creates dedicated safe spaces, celebrates hard-earned human rights victories, and acknowledges the continued struggles for queer and trans peoples. It is also a premiere celebration that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors and contributes tens of millions of dollars to the local economy.

(more inside…)
- Queeriosities
King for a Night

March 21, 2011 • Jenna Owsianik

Last autumn, my friend Sarah Buell and I worked together to produce “King for a Night.” The 8-minute doc reveals a glimpse into the lives of two Vancouver drag kings - women-identified people who like to stuff their pants and perform on stage as men. By following Paige Frewer (Ponyboy) and Kelli Gold (Billi Gold), we bring to light the often misunderstood character of female drag through a rare perspective from the city’s queer scene.

Frewer and Gold perform in Man Up, a bi-monthly drag king variety show in Vancouver. The next show takes place on March 26 at 9 p.m. at the Astoria.