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Member Feature: Dwayne Shaw and Robert Teixeira

April 24th, 2013 Comments off
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Active Queer Ontario members Dwayne Shaw and Robert Teixeira are speaking on a panel in Ottawa for the PTS Conference Ageism Challenged in the Morning Session #2.
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(For a conference schedule, please see the write-up on the Ageism Challenged Event Page at https://www.facebook.com/events/358707744246484)
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About the Panel Discussion
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Thinking through age-relations in a context of fear-based politics and homophobia/transphobia/
biphobia/queerphobia
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As co-presenters we offer the combined fruits of our various engagements with the issue of ageism in the LGBTTQ communities, considering both practical, community-based perspectives as well as offering insight based on academic research in an area that continues to be neglected as an important vector of critical analysis and practicable community engagement.
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Dwayne has extensive experience working with “at-risk” queer and trans youth and has developed insight and knowledge about the multiple barriers youth face within communities that separate them based on their age, as well as the multiple forms of discrimination and inequalities such as class, immigration status, gender presentation, race, dis/abilities, and educational accomplishment. My talk will attempt to show how ageism in the queer community works on an everyday level and how I have took practical steps to try to develop intergenerational contexts for exploring aspects of LGBTTQ histories of activism, as well as current political and social events.
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Rob’s workshop would draw from his research into the socio-legal regulation of young people in the context of recent legal changes that target sexualities within a framework of risk as reflected in the move to change Canada’s age of consent laws. I critically examine the discourses and practices that inform the call to increase the age of consent in Canada in the early years of the Harper Conservative administration, pointing to how expert and popular knowledge about young people are constructed at an official site of governance and policy-making. My intent is to outline how forms of knowledge about the young are constituted within bodies of law as a social process, which often involve not only the exclusion of young people’s voices and participation, but also how normative and oppressive notions of family, nation, sexuality and gender are reflected in this process.
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Read more…

Member Feature: Denise Freedman

April 24th, 2013 Comments off

Active Queer Ontario Member Denise Freedman will be co-hosting the PTS Ageism Challenged Conference in Ottawa. She will also be facilitating a number of the sessions at the event.
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About Denise:
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Denise is an older, committed and somewhat talkative queer woman. For a decade, she has participated in projects and organizations aimed at the full equality of all Queer people: Canadians for Equal Marriage; Around the Rainbow, Family Services Ottawa; GLBTTQ Community Centre of Ottawa, Inc.; Ottawa Trans Community Consultation; Ottawa Dyke March; AIDS Committee of Ottawa; Egale Canada; National Consultation on the Human Rights of Trans People. Both Bill Siksay, MP, and Yasir Naqvi, MPP, have read her name, respectively, into the Federal and Ontario Hansards.
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Along the way, Denise involved herself in the evolution of Pink Triangle Services (PTS) culminating ten years of work now as president of the board.  Within the past year, she has acquired a Masters in Social Work.
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Her life of struggle, resistance, and resilience as a queer woman with a transsexual history, along with her education as a (queer) social worker, allow her perspective, understanding, and ability to articulate experiences of exclusion. Her work with PTS allows her the possibility to work for inclusion and community.
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According to Denise: “The norms through which youth and older adults interact are not always healthy, but are particularly harmful for queer youth and older adults. This is why I’ve supported this conference from the beginning, and even if only first steps, I anticipate its results with excitement.”
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For a conference schedule, please see the write-up on the Ageism Challenged Event Page at https://www.facebook.com/events/358707744246484

Announcing the First Queer Ontario Salon

November 21st, 2012 Comments off

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Queer Ontario is proud to launch a new initiative: its Queer Ontario Salons — designated evenings where we address key issues via guest speakers, political discussion, performances, network-building, and socializing. All events will be audiostreamed at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/queer-ontario-meetings to enable participation from individuals who are unable to attend in person (for whatever reason).
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The theme for our first Salon is “The State of Queer Health in Ontario”, co-sponsored by Rainbow Health Network and Rainbow Health Ontario. Our guest speaker will be Anna Travers, Director of Rainbow Health Ontario. The event will take place:

On Thursday, November 22, 2012 from 8:00 to 10:00 pm
In Room 201 at The 519 Community Centre, Toronto.

The 519 Community Centre is wheelchair accessible, and light snacks and refreshments will be provided. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact us at info@queerontario.org.
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We look forward to connecting with many of you there!
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The Queer Ontario Events & Fundraising Committee