WeGoWeGo

Bent – An Evening of Queer Expressions

A monthly event that showcases community members who discuss their knowledge and expertise on various chosen topics. A moderated panel discussion is followed by an open format Q&A with the audience, creating an educational and interactive experience.

This month we present an exciting moderated panel discussion with various community members who will share their knowledge and opinions on the ever changing and evolving dynamics of Pride Toronto. What does Pride mean to you? Are you in it for the party or the politics? With Queen’s Park added as a venue this year, has it outgrown Church Street? Is it radical queer or more mainstream commercialism? What do you like and dislike? What is most relevant to you?

NOTE: This event has been moved to the larger 2nd Floor meeting space to accommodate as many as possible. Please arrive early to ensure entrance.

Panelists: (Bios Below)
Keith Cole – Activist, Mayoral Candidate, Famed Personality
Natalie Kouri-Towe – Doctoral Student, Youth/Community Activist
Cameron Greensmith – Anti-Racist Queer Activist, Ed.D. Student
Jim Cullen – Board of Directors, Pride Toronto
Frank Folino – Human Rights Coordinator, Pride Toronto

Moderator: Andrew Vail, writer, The Middle Edge, gayguidetoronto.com
Read his latest blog posting here – http://gayguidetoronto.com/the-middle-edge/

Guest Commentators:

We welcome special guest commentators to present a topic for discussion with a short relevant introduction, followed by directing a formal question to the panel to respond to. Please email info@themarsbar.com if you have an interest in being one of the evening’s guest commentators.

Ryan G Hinds poses the question to the panel, “"How Big is Too Big", and whether pride’s growth is a help or a hindrance to established community events.

Future Topics – Theatre, Music, Kink, Astrology, Politics, Literature, Art, Youth Culture/Elder Visions, International Rights

Mark Your Calendar – Bent Flix – May 25
http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=111838462162230&ref=ts

Join our Facebook Page and be the first to know -
http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/TX-Productions/100984552111

Tuesday April 27th – Gladstone Hotel Art Bar, 1214 Queen Street West, 416 531 4635 – 7pm to 9pm – Free Admission – All Welcome

TX Productions (Events – Happenings – Music – Art – Culture)
Website – http://www.themarsbar.com
Facebook – TX Productions
Twitter – TX_Productions

RSVP: info@themarsbar.com
More Info – http://www.themarsbar.com/future.htm

Pride Facebook Page – www.facebook.com/#!/PrideToronto?ref=ts
Official Website – www.pridetoronto.com

Free Love, Free Speech Facebook Page -
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=352762041138&ref=mf

Recent Articles in Xtra -
www.xtra.ca/public/Toronto/All_signs_must_be_vetted_with_us_first_Pride_Toronto-8355.aspx
www.xtra.ca/public/National/Artists_to_Pride_Toronto_Free_expression_should_be_offensive-8368.aspx

Toronto Sun Article – June 2009
www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/06/13/9784666-sun.html

Tracey Sandilands Interview – www.xtra.ca/public/Toronto/Pride_Toronto_developing_free_expression_policy-8365.aspx

Pride Response to Ethics Concerns – www.pridetoronto.com/press/open-letter-to-the-community/

City Funding in Jeopardy? www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/797207—city-may-cut-pride-funding-over-israeli-apartheid-marchers

Queers Against Apartheid – Yes or No? www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/marcus-gee/anti-israel-gays-misusing-pride-parade-as-a-platform/article1540175/

CBC Evan Solomon Interview with Elle Flanders and Martin Gladstone
http://vimeo.com/11097116

Panelist Bios:

Keith Cole

Keith Cole is a graduate of York University’s Fine Arts Program. While he has no formal training in activism he has become an accidental activist through his performances and film works. Civic engagement is his new love and he intends on pursuing it in full force. Keith is also a 2010 Mayoral candidate for the City of Toronto and loving it!

Cameron Greensmith

Cameron Greensmith holds a MA in Women and Gender Studies at the University of Toronto and was recently admitted into the Ed.D. program in Sociology and Equity Studies in Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. Cameron’s MA research explores the experiences of First Nation, Métis and Inuit 2-Spirit people within Pride Toronto. His MA thesis engages with and critiques narratives of inclusion that happen within the Pride Parade and side events during Pride Toronto. Currently, Cameron is working on a joint project that focuses on the inclusion of holistic service provision when working with LGBTQ service users within a social work framework. More broadly, Cameron is interested in questions of race, racialization and whiteness in the context of queer culture and social services. Cameron is an active member in the HIV/AIDS service sector with many AIDS Service Organizations. Cameron hopes to continue to shed light on the individual and systemic racism that is still apparent in Western queer culture.

Frank Folino

Folino is Pride Toronto’s Human Rights Coordinator. He has won a volunteer award from Festivals and Events Ontario (FEO) for his tireless efforts in promoting the organization. Folino, who was born Deaf, grew up in Toronto and received a degree in political science from York University in 2006. He joined Pride Toronto in 2002, holding various committee positions, including Dis/Ability Resource Committee Member from 2002 to 2004; Youth Committee Coordinator from 2004 to 2006; Affiliate Events Coordinator from 2006 to 2009, and has been Pride Toronto’s Human Rights Coordinator since last August. In addition to his work at Pride Toronto, Folino is an Acting Vice President and Secretary for the Canadian Association of the Deaf.

Pride Toronto’s mission to celebrate the queer identity inspired Folino to join as a volunteer. Its supportive environment convinced him to contribute his skills to help break down barriers for the queer community – and to show that the Deaf can do the same work that hearing people can. Folino’s earlier work at Pride Toronto involved coordinating events such as Global Human Rights for Queers, a panel discussion he organized in 2008. The popular session aired on City TV News. As Human Rights Coordinator at Pride Toronto, Folino promotes awareness of queer human rights abuses around the world, and encourages change.

Jim Cullen

Jim Cullen serves as Board of Director with Pride Toronto. He’s also the Clinic Head/Manager for Rainbow Services at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada’s only inpatient/outpatient program for the queer community struggling with addiction and mental health concerns. He has a long history working with LGBTTIQ community in both professional and volunteer roles in health and mental health/addiction. His background includes significant clinical and management capacities and liaising with all levels of government funders and partners. He has held various academic appointments at York, Ryerson, the University of Toronto; as well as the University of Victoria and Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia.
He has been an activist and advocate for programs across Canada that serve the queer community and has been successful in research and publication.

Ryan G Hinds

One of the founders of the ARTWHERK! Collective (a queer emerging artists collective that has exhibited at the Art Gallery of Ontario), theatre audiences have seen Ryan G. Hinds in Glitter All the Way!, Half-Cocked, Glitter & Thorns, and Stadium at Buddies in Bad Times and productions at Theatre Passe Muraille and Tarragon Theatre. He was in both the film and stage versions of Hedwig & the Angry Inch and has worked with icons liek Liza Minnelli and Sky Gilbert. Pride festivals in Toronto, NYC, and Vancouver have played host to his high-energy,high-glamour shows, earning him coverage on MTV, Muchmusic and CTV. more at ryanghinds.ca

Natalie Kouri-Towe

Natalie Kouri-Towe is a doctoral student in the department of Sociology and Equity Studies at the University of Toronto, OISE and the Collaborative Program in Women and Gender Studies. Her research focuses on the politics of solidarity and transnational queer activism. Natalie has also spent the last year organizing with the group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid and has previously worked as an activist in Montreal and anti-oppression educator for youth and community groups. Natalie Kouri-Towe asks, What’s “queer” enough for Pride? Recent debates about groups like Queers Against Israeli Apartheid suggest that there is something that is “too political” or “not about Pride’s politics” in the participation of overtly political groups in the parade. Who gets to decide what’s “queer” about groups marching in the parade and what do we base these judgments on?

Andrew Brett – Activist, Blogger, Political and Social Justice Pundit

Andrew Brett is a queer activist and blogger for the progressive news website rabble.ca. He has been hooked on Pride since watching his first parade in high school, and over the years has marched within a variety of political contingents, including a political party, a trade union, a gay activist group, and most recently, Queers Against Israeli Apartheid. He has been involved in a number of social justice campaigns, including sexual freedom issues, anti-racist organising and international solidarity efforts in the queer community. He ran for the NDP in Scarborough in 2006, served as the youth vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, and has worked as outreach staff in the student movement.

Sponsors:
gayguidetoronto.com
proudfm.com
xtra.ca

Xtra – Exclusive Presenting Sponsor