OUTeXpressions Newspaper for culture queers

A social enterprise of Queer West Arts Centre

January 2011 to March 2011

OuteXpressions Newspaper: Daily events for culture queers.

OUTEXPRESSION online newspaper is a publication of the Toronto Queer West Arts Centre. Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved. Outexpressions is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without the expressed written consent of the publisher. Opinions expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of Outexpressions or its publisher. We're not an exclusively gay and lesbian publication. Names or Businesses in our listings is not to be taken as any indication of the sexual orientation of such persons or businesses. Each year we help to inform the entertainment decision-making process of more than 980,000 Visitors from within Canada and abroad. We are consistently on Page One in Google for most search returns. "Entertainment & News also on: DigitalJournal.com One of the worlds leading alternative news networks. CONTACT US - TWITTER:: twitter.com/outexpressions - THE ARTS CENTRE ON FACEBOOK: facebook.com/Arts-Centre

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Toronto police baffled by death of gay man founded brutally slain in west end of city

Toronto ON Saturday March 5, 2011. Allan Lanteigne was found slain in his west-end home at 934 Ossington Ave. police said it's believed he was killed a day earlier.

"We really don't know at this point what happened," Det.-Sgt. Dan Nielsen said What is known, he said, is that Lanteigne was last seen alive as he left his job as clerk in Ancillary and Capital Accounting at the University of Toronto around 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Police said that Allan Lanteigne 49 was discovered with obvious signs of trauma to his body last Thursday at about 3:20 p.m. Detective. Sgt. Dan Neilson could not yet release more details on his cause of death.

According to Neilson, a friend of Lanteigne’s hadn’t heard from him in a day and got worried when he didn’t show up for work. The friend went over to Lanteigne’s house and then called police.

Neilson said that His death was initially declared suspicious and then upgraded to a homicide after a post-mortem examination Friday.

Police are looking for any witnesses who might have spoke with Lanteigne or seen him with another person last Wednesday.Investigators are anxious to speak to anyone who saw him walking home or arriving at his residence. N Anyone with information should call Nielsen at 416-808-7398, or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477).

A New Life in Toronto for a Roma Convention Refugee?

Wednesday February 2, 2011 Toronto Ontario. Jason Kenney Federal Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism said in June 2010. Private organizations like gay and lesbian groups need to reach out and sponsor more refugees and bring them to Canada. "And we do what we can on a limited basis but I'm saying perhaps it's time for those organizations to step up and do so in a more organized fashion," Kenney said.

Many in the Toronto Parkdale community know of my work in the LGBT community as the event manager for Queer West Arts Festival. For the past year I have been quietly working as an unofficial sponsor with a Hungarian Roma Convention Refugee (He told me he was attacked and beaten in Budapest by the Hungarian Guard for being Roma. Now afraid to return home), as a random act of kindness.

I feel Mr. Kenney is wrong to say he would help an LGBT Roma more than he would a Non Gay Roma, both should be treated equally. I have been an advocate for Human Rights for everyone, regardless of their ethnic origin, gender identity, race, or sexual orientation.

Roma refugees fleeing to Canada live in constant fear in Hungary from roaming gangs of Fascists skinheads, the neo-Nazis group, Hungarian Guard Movement (Also known as the Magyar Gárda and Gardistak.) and the so-called new name for themselves Civic Guard for a Better Future The Civil Guard Association for a Better Future (Hungarian: Szebb Jövőért Polgárőr Egyesület) is a Hungarian militant organisation involved in anti-Roma activities in areas such as the town of Gyöngyöspata in early 2011, where they have been accused of intimidating the Roma population with weapons and dogs. The European Roma Rights Centre has claimed that the Civil Guard has ties to the Magyar Nemzeti Gárda, a new group sharing the same ideology as the banned Magyar Gárda Gárda targets are Roma, Jews and the Gay Community (Especially during Pride Parades.) There are other right-wing splinter groups using the names Betyarsereg., Szebb Jövöert, and the Vederö. Regardless of these new names. The resurgents of these anti-roma group are growing stronger and bolder.

VIDEO BELOW Rise of The Third Reich in Hungary aka Magyar Gárda boot jack promotion video taken in 2009 of a supposedly banned group. What many people here find particularly provocative are the Hungarian Guard's uniforms (black caps, vests, pants and boots), insignia and flags. All of it is reminiscent of the Arrow Cross, Hungary's World War II fascist militiamen who worked with the Nazis and were responsible for or assisted in the slaughter of tens of thousands of the Hungarian Jews.Is it any wonder Gays, Jews and Roma are fearful for their lives?

The Garda are backed and founded by Jobbik Party. Jobbik says the Garda is merely an organisation of concerned citizens, filling in the gaps in law enforcement left by the police. Others see it as an attempt to undermine or even supplant the state. The Garda were banned in 2009, but keep reappearing under new names, such as the Magyar Gárda Foundation.

Jobbik president Gábor Vona said recently Magyar Gárda members, are needed by the country, as a gendarmerie if peace is to be ensured. He went on to say that the Roma birth rate should be lowered, or else three million Roma will have to support three million pensioners. Only those who work should be given state aid, he said, and Roma children of lazy parents must be taken from their family and sent to boarding schools. Mr. Vona vowed to wear the Magyar Gárda uniform at the February 14, 2011 session of Parliament, where he will challenge Interior Minister Sándor Pintér on the issue of public safety.

Maros Sefkovic, former Vice-President of the European Commission appointed European commissioner for Youth, Education and Culture in 2009 said, "It is unacceptable that in the 21st century, Roma still have to face discrimination on the basis of their ethnic origin. Too many Roma are still victims of racism, discrimination and social exclusion. Too many Roma children are still on the streets instead of going to school, too many Roma are denied fair chances in the labour market and too many Roma women are still vicitms of violence and discrimination"

During the WW II It is not known precisely how many Roma were killed in the Holocaust.While exact figures or percentages cannot be ascertained, historians estimate that the Germans and their allies killed around 25 percent of all European Roma

I'm doing everything a normal sponsor would do; from meeting his Welfare social worker to Culturelink Settlement worker to ESL teacher, explaining government documents, helping his lawyers put his case together, for a Notice to Appear. Explaining our way of life and culture, budgeting, shopping, helping with more English lessons, talking about our political system, helping him filing his income tax, how to go about renting a room, finding work as a professional hairstylist and laws of Canada

In February 2010 when we first met my new friend a 32 year Hungarian Roma Refugees and amateur boxer (name withheld at his request) he knew less than 10 words in English. By December with ESL classes and living with me. His English has greatly improved. Every evening we spend two hours of home study, reading and learning new English words and phrases. He will likely request a Hungarian interpreter, for his final hearing, where the Canadian government decides fate. A very uncertain troubling future making it difficult to put down roots or get a full time job. He worked in Hungary as a professional hairstylist.

Refugees are not guaranteed on getting Work Permits. Immigration Canada makes the final determination. Just one of the many hurdles, refugees face, while waiting for a permanent status hearing. Which can take up to a year and half.

In the last ten years English is now taught in Hungarian schools, but less than once or twice a week. Before that students learned Russian. Refugees under 30 coming to Canada, and living in Toronto, still have to attend daily ESL lessons.

Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney is continuing to make it very difficult for single male and female Roma refugees to remain in Canada, deporting them in record numbers. In 2009 Mr. Kenney told Embassy Magazine that "what's really weird is that 97 per cent of the Hungarian refugee claimants to Canada are subsequently withdrawing their refugee claims." He suggested that it could be because claimants are allowed to work in Canada, collect welfare and other social benefits even after they withdraw their claims.

That information is wrong, Max Berger an Toronto Immigation Lawyer said. Once a claim is withdrawn, that person is no longer eligible to have a work permit or medical coverage, he said, adding that most people in that situation leave the country shortly after. "There's absolutely no advantage to anyone withdrawing their refugee claim and staying in the country. He should know better, because he is the minister."

"The picture he is painting is one of refugee claimants consuming Canadian resources, and this has the effect of building up resentment against them, but in fact being a refugee claimant is really tough." said Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees. All of the 2009 asylum applications have been rejected. (Globe and Mail, Friday, Jan. 22, 2010)

As to the strain on the Welfare system. Refugees receives a basic rate of about $525, average room rental in Toronto is $450 and up. This leaves them with about $2.50 a day to live on for 30 days and buy groceries. Refugee dental coveage amounts extraction for a toothache, no fillings and not much else. Refugees don't get OHIP their coverage is by the Interim Federal Health (IFH) program, good only for 12 months, renewals can take up to three months with no coverage in the interim. So things are not as Mr. Kennedy paints them.

Mr. Kenney, has always dismissed the Roma persecution claim. "Under current international law standards Hungarian Roma should not qualify as political refugees, even though Hungary should be much more stringent in providing protection to its minorities," "Such claims can legitimately be dismissed by Canadian authorities." He said in an email to Peter O'Neil, Canwest News Europe Correspondent in October 2009.

Paul St. Clair, former executive director of the Roma Community Centre in Toronto (Biography link) says Canada should not consider Hungarian refugee claims baseless because Roma are fleeing a "pretty disgusting fascist revival" in Hungary and people are only starting to discover how best to apply for asylum here.

Hungary, often referred to as, the Best of the Decade nations, has experience the worst violence against Roma in the last year. Between January 2008 and August 2009 Roma in Hungary were subjected to a series of Molotov cocktail attacks and shootings in which six people died and others were seriously injured. Among the victims were a couple in their forties, an elderly man, a father and his four-year-old boy, and a single mother with a 13-year-old daughter. Hungarian authorities are failing to investigate and punish attacks on Roma, says a new Amnesty International Report 10 November 2010

Hungary is home to 520-650,000 Roma. 66% of the men and 83% of Roma women between the ages of 15 and 64 are unemployed. Life expectancy is 10 years shorter than the national avarage.

Tens of thousands of Roma live segregated slum housing, without basic amenties, according to a 2002 survey. Only 5% .of Hungary's Roma under the age of 24, have completed secondary school, and less than 1.2% of Roma People age 20-24 attended higher education. Roma in eastern Europe are continuely streamed into classes for the mentally challenged and often bullied at school.

Video Below (Taken July 13, 2009) - LEFT CHANNEL SOUND ONLY Roma Viktoria Mohacsi is a former member of the European Parliament. She feels safe in the heart of Europe, but fearful at home in Hungary. The far right there are very anti-Roma.

Mary Catherine Brouder a member of storyful.com journalist community in Dublin Ireland. She is a graduate of Harvard and the Columbia School of Journalism and now a documentary filmmaker. She travelled to Hungary in 2010 to explore the experience of the Roma, one of Europe's largest ethnic minorities. No matter where they live the Roma are at greater risk of poverty and social exclusion than most Europeans. Brouder's 19:04 minute video "Through Roma Eyes" click the white * to see larger frame

Life is not always depressing for us. The house is filled with laughter, a few arguments and smells of Hungarian cooking. There are occasions when my friend gets very lonely. He has no family in Canada. He loves Windows Live Messenger for voice and video, talking to his Mother through relatives with Internet connections. On weekdays I am learning to read, write and speak Hungarian (Hogy vagy?)

Neither of us are under any illusions or have any false hopes. The mentorship continues, till a final hearing sometime in late 2011. If denied? It will be a sad day for both of ius. My partner loves Canada, he is working hard to stay here, attending ESL classes, volunteering, looking for work as a hairstylist and following all the rules and regulations, expected of refugee while living in Canada.

Update September 1st, 2011. My friend came OUT on August 12th. Coming out can be a very difficult process and doesn't happen overnight which is why he said nothing, when he first arrived. When he arrived 2009 he may have been unaware that he could even make a claim based on his sexuality. He may not have be eager to OUT himself to a border official or IRB member, given that he experienced persecution and abuse from the Far Right groups in Budapest.

Video Below: For Michael Miko, coming out as a gay man has been a decade-long experience. Though Miko has a group of supportive friends in Prague, his main concern is bringing disgrace upon his family in his small hometown in the Czech Republic where the Roma population predominantly views homosexuality as a disease.

The Canadian Immigration Refugee Board at his last hearing August 23rd, was not convinced he was gay, but to their credit, said they would give him more time to prove his case.

You may be wondering why his name is not used thoughout the story. Although He feels safe in Canada. He's still worried about being sent back to Budapest. He's half Roma and half Hungarian and for that reason not like by either. The Roma and Hungarian societies are homophobic.

He was Gay bashed by Hungarian friends. Bashed for being Roma by Far Right political party thugs. Constant harassment by the police for being Roma, even though he has no criminal record." I have no place in either society. I live in constant fear in Hungary." he said. If grant protection in Canada, I am sure he will write his own story, someday.

He must battle his own fear of revealing to strangers what has always been hidden part of his life and revealing such facts to a potentially unsympathetic government official can be a challenge all in itself. Yes he must prove he is gay — no small task for him, who has spent years trying not to leave a trace of his gay identity. Then he must show that he fears gay persecution in Hungary. Discrimination is not enough.

The Canadian Government is still deporting LGBT refugees, for various reasons. All this weighs heavily on my friend. The difficulties gays face in Hungary. In Canada a refugee falls into categories grouped as religion, nationality or membership of a particular social group or political opinion. It is the “particular social group” that experts feel should be expanded to a separate category for sexual orientation. Often witnesses and letters are dismissed as hearsay and claimants are accused of fabricating lies to stay in Canada. Mr. Kenney calls them Bogus Refugees.

Stephen Harper and Mr. Jason Kenney are not a bad people, per se. They genuinely think what they're doing is the right thing for the Country. I disagree with them. The failure to give refuge to the victims of genuine homophobic persecution is the single greatest blot on the gay rights record of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's administration.

On January 1 2012, a new homophobic constitution and law came into force in Hungary — the constitution now bans same-sex couples from marriage while the new “Family Protection” law defines the family as a heterosexual unit and stipulates that media services should broadcast programs that respect the institution of marriage and family. It provides no protection for LGBT people from unfair dismissal or hate crimes.

He and his legal counsel El-Farouk Khaki met with a Canadian immigration refugee board adjudicator, Toronto in late January 2012 for his final hearing. I and gay friends attended to offer moral support. The Board Adjudicator was presented with pictures, letters of support from Toronto gay organizations, friends and his common law partner, certified documents from Hungary and a physiological profile by Dr. J. Pilowsky. El-Farouk Khaki during his closing argument, presented the Hearing with details of LGBT life in Hungary past and present. The entire file is over 30 cm thick. My partner was one of marchers in Budapest Pride Parade riots, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

The Immigration Refugee Board IRB hearing Q & A (including question by his lawyer) last 5 hours long.... his lawyer El Farouk Khaki, said we might get the verdict in two months. My partner was very emotional at the end of hearing, he is human and men do cry. He thanked the Ajudicator, for giving him a chance to explain why he wants to remain Canada and why its dangerous for him to return to Hungary. He believes he will be killed in Hungary and even worries, his family members will be killed due to their association with him.

Gay and half Hungarian Roma on his Mother's side and Hungarian Jew on his Father side. He's looked down on by both Roma and Hungarians, where half breeds are called Korcs (Refering to mongrel dogs or mobil Roma.) He spent most of his adult life growing up in the poorest neigbourhood in Budapest, District VIII - Józsefváros. I'm sure the immigration refugee board is looking for precedent before coming to a decision on whether to let my friend stay or telling him to go home. The Hearing was January 25th, six weeks ago. If yes, he would be the first Hungarian gay Roma Jew in Canada. Not a day goes by when I am ask " Michael what do you think the letter will say?" I tell him I can only hope Immigration Minister Jason Kenney (IRB) comes to the right decision, in your favour.

-30-

A 1999 National Film Board documentary (Opre Roma: Gypsies in Canada) celebrates the vibrant culture and tenacious struggle of the Canadian Gypsy and introduces a new generation of Roma who claim their roots with pride. There are almost 80,000 Roma that call Canada home, but still face struggles, notwithstanding the current federal government recent criticism of the Roma refugee process.

Bill Bila, vice president of the Board at the Toronto Roma Centre said : "Thank you for your efforts Michel. Canada is a better place because of you." Gina Csany-Robah, Exective Director, “I appreciate this act of kindness that you are extending toward your friend.”

BACKGROUND LINKS: Hungarian Roma in Canada | The Plight of the Roma: From Europe to Canada (2009) Why Canada should care about the Hungarian Roma (2010) and Luck of the draw - Many of Canda's Immigration and Refugee Board adjudicators, have never approved a claim for asylum, for any refugee. Toronto Star March 4, 2011 | Jason Kenney's troubling refugee legacy (Embassy Magazine March 30, 2011) Toronto Parkdale Collegiate students challenge Mr. Kenney on Roma racism (InsideToronto.com March 11, 2011) (InsideToronto.com March 11, 2011).A New Wave of Anti-Roma Violence in Hungary (Spiegel Online includes photo gallery April 27, 2011) Should Canada Gyp the Roma? (Brett Hodgins, McGill University, January 22, 2010)

Roma refugees face prejudice from Canadian ministry officials (Rabble.ca Podcast -May 4, 2010) Before Immigration Canada imposed a visa requirement on the Czech Republic, 85% of Roma refugee claims were accepted. Now that has gone down to almost zero. Rabble spoke with Bill Bila, President of Roma Community Centre in Toronto about Hungary & Czech Republic Roma refugees.

Toronto gay village hate crimes escalating

Toronto Ontario Sunday January 30, 2011. On January 27th. A confused new Ward 27 Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam told Xtra gay and lesbian Newspaper, there has been no escalation of reported hate crimes in the area. “Consensus was reached and everyone reported the same thing. There’s been no spike in reported activities,” she says. “It’s something that’s been really blown out of proportion.

Ryan Lester, 30, was kicked in the face and called “faggot” while getting a post-bar snack at Mehran Restaurant on Church St. early Saturday Jan. 22. His 24-year-old brother, Ben, suffered has deep bruises on his back and had to go to the dentist to repair a broken molar.

Toronto Police are calling a recent late-night assault in the Gay Village a hate crime, stoking concerns the neighbourhood is no longer safe.

The beating comes on the heels of allegations that local students have been hurling slushies, ice and homophobic slurs at residents in the Gay Village. Eoin McManus, 21, and Benjamin McCall, 21, both of Toronto, have each been charged with two counts of assault and one count of mischief after breaking the restaurant’s front window. Toronto Police Det. Chu Chang categorized the attack as a hate crime.

Your safer living in the queer west end of city where there hasn't a reported gay bashing or murder, since teacher Kenneth Zeller was kicked to death over 35 years ago in High Park.

Toronto Police recorded 174 hate crimes in 2009, the most recent year for which statistics are available. Twenty six of them were related to sexual orientation.

Jarivs Collegiate hooligans roaming in the Toronto Church St gay village

Toronto Ontario Saturday January 22, 2011. A few bad apples apparently are from Jarvis Collegiate (495 Jarvis Street), are travelling in swarms at lunch hour and after school. They hurl slushies, snowballs and ice. And slurs, including “faggot”, which, to say the least, is vexatious in the Village. Toronto Police have beefed up patrols and will meet school officials this week about “how to put an end to this foolishness,” says Staff-Sgt. Rudy Pasini at 51 Division.

The “slushie facial” is a popular form of bullying on the musical TV series Glee. We need to remind the kids it may be funny on the TV show Glee, but in reality, it’s not funny at all.

Gay bashing is no stranger to the Church Street Village, of course. Even in the Age of Everybody Get Along, yahoos still drive through some summer nights, tossing drunken insults. Eggs were once the gay-bashing missile of choice. Tossing eggs at drag queens on Yonge Street in Toronto during Halloween in the early 70's in front of the former Charles Street Tavern

The fear is “slushing” will escalate to something more solid. Already, chunks of ice have been added to the arsenal.

The latest slushing happened at noon last Monday Jan 17. Local florist Paul Winsor, 49, was walking on Alexander St., headed to the gym. “How about him?” said a kid in a passing pack of about 15. And he let fly. Winsor took a full Coke slushie dead in the back of his winter coatt.

It appears they’re just randomly picking out people in the neighbourhood. Not all targets have been gay. These include a middle-aged woman and, repeatedly, the crossing guard at a Church St. public school, who also has filed a police complaint.

Police increased patrols in the area after a crossing guard was also targeted by students. School principal Elizabeth Addo said she’s working with police in their investigation. “Students who engage in gay-bashing or homophobic behaviour will have consequences,” she told The Toronto Sun. “It’s not in the spirit of the school or the spirit of inclusivity.”

Village activist Enza Anderson, who works in a bank near the school crossing, has not been slushed, though she did dodge an old shoe tossed by some punk. “I’ve seen them harass people and one of them threw a snowball at some guy who was dressed very flamboyantly. “When I walk to work, they cross the street and say ‘faggot’ or ‘hello, sir.’”The 47-year-old transsexual has lived as a woman for more than a decade.

“I wonder if this is the next generation of gay bashing. And in our own neighbourhood. It sets the gay movement back 30 years.” But the slushings sure have the Village’s attention. Other incidents are being reported on Facebook. Enza has called a February 9th meeting to discuss the “Jarvis teens of terror.” as she calls them. Enza's action title seems to brand them all as teens of terror. It may be helpful to address it as a few bad apples in a school of mostly decent, respectful people. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jarvis-Collegiate-Institute

The dust up will likely be settled by Toronto Police and Jarvis Collegiate fairly long before tourism season goes into full swing in the spring and summer.

The Battle for Queer Culture in Toronto

Wednesday January 5, 2011 Toronto ON. Written by Siobhan McGuirk (UK) Research and collaboration by Michel François Paré (Toronto)

10 years was a landmark for the Toronto Queer West Arts Festival in August 2010. The first Pride event in Toronto took place 30 years ago. It shows how much the visibility and public acceptance of LGBTQ has grown, and how quickly, that Pride Toronto and to a lesser degree Queer West Arts Festival are each as popular as they are now.

Of course, there was always a gay scene in Toronto long before then, with bars and cafes situated between drag shows, fetish clubs, alternative nights and cabarets – the type of event now more likely termed queer than synonymous with ‘gay culture’. These still attract audiences year-round, but have shifted further out of the spotlight. They have become niche. The scene, it seems, has been sanitised.

It follows a common trend in which liberation rallies commemorating the Stonewall Riots have become Pride parades with organisers able to erect fences and charge entry fees. Pride movements have emerged to bite back, with radical politics and declarations of inclusivity. For its part, Queer West Arts Festival proudly proclaims that only 50% of its audience is defined as lesbian or gay. It is a celebration of diversity.

Queer West Arts Festival celebrates and supports artists who create work on their own terms; in their own way… here they can make the work they’re burning to make. They can risk and they can play.

Of course, queer movements in general have faced backlash: some see the term “Queer” as offensive rather than reclaimed. Others assert that their sexuality should not be presumed to dictate their politics.

Yet queer arts festivals such as Queer West Arts Festival, Edmonton’s Exposure Arts Festival and Montreal’s Divers/Cité among others, at the very least, make space for important questions to be raised. They also offer a platform to unpopular or extraordinary responses. They demonstrate that to be L,G,B, T and/or Q is still seen subversive, even if you don’t want it to be. No matter how “pink” mainstream political parties have become, or acceptable gay marriage or civil partnerships are, society still insists on its norms.

The arts can explore the boundaries of equality debates and reveal the tension within them, highlighting the prejudices that persist, both on and off “the scene”: sexism, transphobia, body fascism, ageism, and racism only scratch the surface. When a polyamorous, asexual, mixed race, gender queer artist announces that they will vote Conservative because they, too, believe in “family values”, the audience laughs, recognising that the joke is on us

Many are self-defining queers who feel “the scene” does not cater to their needs or outlooks and see Queer West Arts Festival as an annual highlight. Paradoxically, another chunk of friends have no idea the festival even exists.

Pride Toronto, too, splits opinion. Overly commercial and frustratingly political for many, it is the high point of the year for some. There are overlaps between the two camps, of course, but there is still a discernable divide between the “gay” and “queer” scenes, and the gulf between them seems to be widening.

It will be interesting to see the results, and by the close of the festival, how far the gay / queer divide has been addressed and whether new ideas will emerge over what it is to be L, G, B, T, I, Q in Toronto 2011.

Siobhan McGuirk, is a Freelance Filmmaker / Journalist with lesbilicious.co.uk Email siobhan@redpepper.org.uk Michel F. Paré is President of the Toronto Queer West Arts & Culture Centre and Publisher of OuteXpressions Newspaper. outexpressions@gmail.com

Why a queer arts festival in Toronto when the city has Pride?

Queer West's Philosophy

Why should there be only one ten day gay festival (Pride) in the City of Toronto? We believe there is room for us too. Queer West has been here ten years, quietly working away with little or no money and an organization unknown to many.

Our founding organization, Gay West Community Network starting holding its own Pride Toronto West Festival, as one day event from 2001 to 2004. We changed the name in 2005 to Parkdale Pride Party (it became 3 day event) and in 2006 (7 day event), and dropped the word Pride.

We incorporated the Network as not-for-profit charity in 2008. The Queer West Arts & Culture Festival (Queer West Fest.) was also incorporated as special event of the Art Centre. Our mandate is to produce performing arts festivals for the purposes of educating and advancing the public’s understanding and appreciation of performing arts and to educate artists through participation in such festivals and related workshops.

We believe we hosted the best alterna-queer ten day festival to Pride, the City of Toronto has seen in 2010. To us its not about being the largest or making the city economy grow. Its about you and making sure you enjoy our festival. If your not completely satisfied, we're not happy. We care about creating a quality festival. We won't settle for anything less than excellence.

We just happen to believe we are holding exceptional and fun queer art festivals, every year for the past ten years. We're constantly focusing on being innovative, we added a film festival in 2008 that is starting to grow, from a backyard to a 244 seat theatre in 3 years. Throughout the year we hold other quality queer cultural events, everything from youth art workshops to young adult UnConferences to nights of poetry and spoken word.

Our arts festival use to precede Toronto Pride Week, in June. The Queer West Board of Directors and Arts Collective thought Toronto's LGBTQ fabulousness shouldn't all be jam packed into that month. The annual arts festival has now moved to AUGUST and become A WHOLE DIFFERENT FESTIVAL, ON ITS OWN, to showcase queer culture in a better light. We believe there are tourists in the city all summer long, especially in August; they will be looking for something different than, PRIDE

We believe we are making a significant change, how people view gay and lesbian festivals.

Want to Come?