We Are Many: Student Action Panel

Thursday, June 26, 2014 – Thursday, June 26th, 2014

  • Time: 12:00pm – 2:00pm
  • Location: Thomas Lounge, Oakham House
  • Address: 63 Gould Street, Toronto, ON, Canada (map)
  • All Ages: Yes
  • Accessibility: Wheelchair Accessible, Gender-neutral Washrooms

WE ARE MANY: STUDENT ACTION PANEL Thursday, June 26 12pm-2pm Thomas Lounge, Oakham House 63 Gould Street

This teach-in panel will feature youth activists sharing their experiences and thoughts on queer organizing and mobilization, hosting discussions with other queer youth interested in learning more about creating safer queer spaces.

FEATURING: Rodney Diverlus Rodney Diverlus is a Haitian, Black, and Queer organizer, dancer, actor, and performance artist. A graduate of the Performance Dance program, Rodney spent 6 years organizing on campus. He served three consecutive executive terms with the Ryerson Students’ Union, two as the inaugural Vice-President Equity and most recently as President. In those capacities, Rodney organized Ryerson’s first Xpressions Against Oppression Series, disOrientation, Queering Black History Month, numerous campaigns and initiatives. In addition, he served one term as President of the United Black Students at Ryerson, where he organized the 5th National Black Students Conference. Rodney served two terms as the Queer & Trans Commissioner for the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario, where he co-developed the Provincial Anti-Homophobia Transphobia Campaign and Action Guide. He currently sits on the board of directors for the LGBT Youthline and is the founder of the Spectrum Project, an interdisciplinary queer theatre/dance collective

Yolen Bollo-Kamara Yolen is currently serving as the President of the University of Toronto Students’ Union, previously serving as the Vice-President Equity and Vice-President Campus Life. Yolen has been organising both locally and nationally in building spaces for queer, feminist and hate-free spaces. At the University of Toronto, Yolen has worked to push back against Men’s Rights Movement, create spaces for queer women - specifically queer women of colour - and tackle issues of bi and femme-phobia on campus.

Zephyr McKenna Zephyr McKenna is a two spirit genderescent youth activist born and raised in Toronto. A passionate every day activist, ze strives to elevate and educate those inside and outside zir community on systems of oppression. Zephyr has shown art in the annual Transcend art show at CTYS and the Delisle Youth Gallery. Recently profiled in Shameless magazine for zir youth activism, ze aspires to continue zir community engagement by working with LGBTQIA2S+ people of colour through arts and culture. Ze is working on an upcoming website by and for gender non-conforming youth.

Poe Liberado

Conversation moderated by Jesse Root.

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ACCESSIBILITY Requests should be sent to equity@rsuonline.ca no later than Friday, June 20. Thomas Lounge is wheelchair accessible through the Ryerson Student Centre (55 Gould Street). American Sign Language provided upon request.

All events are free and open to the Ryerson and general community.

Contact us at: ryepride@rsuonline.ca or our Twitter: @RyePRIDE

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RyePRIDE presents WE ARE MANY Celebrating World Pride at Ryerson June 23 – June 29, 2014 Full listing: http://tinyurl.com/m7xy6kq

This year’s Pride festivities organized by: RyePRIDE, the Ryerson Students’ Union, the Continuing Education Students’ Association at Ryerson, the Community Action Centre at the Student Association of George Brown College, and the Ontario College of Art & Design Students’ Union.

These events would not have been possible without the support from the community. A special thanks to the Ryerson University Office of the President, Ryerson University Office of the Vice-Provost Students, Ryerson University Office of the Provost, Positive Space Ryerson, the Ontario University of Art & Design Office of the President, the Ryerson Faculty of Community Services, the Ryerson Faculty of Science, the Ryerson Faculty of Communication, Art & Design, the Ryerson Faculty of Arts, the Yeates School of Graduate Studies, the Chang School of Continuing Education, the Ryerson Department of Chemical Engineering, the Ryerson Department of Mathematics, the Ryerson Faculty Association Equity Committee, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 596, and the EyeOpener.

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