Queer Toronto Community News

April 2011 to December 2011

OuteXpressions online newspaper is a publication of the Toronto Queer West Arts and Culture 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 are dedicated to promoting the Queer Toronto and it's performing arts community to the world, for the past ten years. We are not an exclusively gay and lesbian publication. Each year we help to inform the entertainment decision-making process of more than 685,000 visitors from within Canada and abroad. We have good positioning with the major search engines for most popular search terms in every area, we cover. From our arts festivals to your entertainment listings to tourism guides. We are consistently No 1 or on Page 1 in Google for most search returns. "Our entertainment event lists are also hosted on: DigitalJounal.com One of the worlds leading alternative news networks. Listing editor: OUTeXpressions@gmail.com Phone: 1-416-879-7954

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MPP Cheri DiNovo getting bounced out Parkdale High Park?

Queer West will not be endorsing any political candidates in Parkdale High Park and or Dupont provincial ridings. While we have asked Cheri DiNovo and/or Peggy Nash fron the NDP Partys to be guest speakers every year except 2011, to give an opening night address at the Queer West Arts Festival. The Ontario New Democratic and .Ontario Liberal Party both favour Pride. Placing paid advertisements in the Pride Guide and Now Magazine and sending congratulatory letters. Neither of these parties, offers the same accord to Queer West Fest. A decision was made this year , not to have any political party representatives at our festival, now or in the future. Latest figures September26th, has Liberal Candidate Cortney Pasternak leading in the polls

Voting patterns indicate, that if Federal Government is Conservative, then Ontario voters usually elects an alternative political party. Ontario seems to get a better deals from Ottawa this way, or so the thinking goes.This would leave you with three choices on October 6th provincial elction:. The Green Party, The Liberal Party or the NDP dippers.

Parkdale High Park

NDP Incumbent Cheri DiNovo Website www.cheridinovo.ca/

"Cheri DiNovo was elected to Queen’s Park September 14th, 2006, to represent the provincial riding of Parkdale – High Park. Shortly after her election, she took on a diverse critic portfolio, consisting of Employment Standards, and Small Business. Cheri was re-elected as MPP on October 10th, 2007.

Quoted by journalists as “The new female power at Queen’s Park” and “a dynamo”, in just a few months Cheri had made her mark on the political landscape, championing issues of critical importance to many in her riding and across the province. Cheri was named best MPP by Toronto’s NOW Magazine.

Cheri has been most recognized in her leadership to end poverty in Ontario with the Living Wage Bill and Payday Lending Bill. Both pieces of legislation have received strong support from anti-poverty groups, the media, and people across Ontario. The Living Wage Bill would increase Ontario’s minimum wage to $10.25 immediately. Cheri’s Payday Lenders Bill would require licensing and a cap to interest rates charged within the Industry. This would put an end to the 300-1,000%+ criminal interest rates that are currently being charged by the majority of Payday Lenders in the province.

Prior to her election to Queen’s Park, Cheri was the Minister of Emmanuel-Howard Park United Church on Roncesvalles Avenue and performed the first legalized same-sex marriage in North America. She is a former board member of the Centre for Active Resources food program at St. Joseph’s Health Centre, as well as King Street’s Shalom House community kitchen. Cheri is a former member of the Parkdale Banking Project and is a winner of the Washington D.C. “Lambda” civil rights Award."

Liberal Candidate Cortney Pasternak Website:http://votepasternak.ca/

"As a working professional and mother of two young children and two adult step-children, Cortney understands the challenges facing Ontario families.

She recognizes the important role that community and neighborhood-led initiatives such as farmers markets and community gardens play in building strong neighbourhoods. When she saw a need in the community, Cortney filled it by organizing affordable kid's classes in language, music, and healthy cooking.

She is a passionate supporter of cleaner, greener and safer spaces for residents in west Toronto. A broadcast journalist for Global and CTV, Cortney has been putting a human face on real issues affecting people, families and communities. She has reported from across Canada and around the globe on a range of topics including politics, health care, education, human rights, poverty, environment, and crime.

Cortney’s success as a broadcast journalist can be traced to her strong work ethic, her compassion and her warmth. Throughout her life she has been an advocate for those dealing with mental health, disability and affordable housing issues. Her life experience, coupled with her journalism work, has left her with a profound desire to improve the opportunities afforded to others.

Cortney is ready to put the knowledge and experience she has gained to work for the residents of Parkdale-High Park."

PC Candidate Joseph Ganetakos Website: http://votejoe2011.ca/home/

"Having devoted his career to technology innovation, Joe and his wife Mary are now looking to give back to their community through public service. Used to working under tight deadlines while helping to design some of Ontario’s most advanced electronic games, he’s remained steady under pressure never away from challenges.

Joe pledges to work passionately on any efforts he’s involved with on behalf of the residents of Parkdale High Park.

He has seen how Dalton McGuinty has mismanaged the province’s finances by spending far more than it has and passing these costs down to average families.

Joe believes that the taxpayers of Parkdale High Park deserve a strong voice in Government, and this has led him to commit to helping Tim Hudak give back to Ontarians the strong economy that they have always had with Progressive Conservative governments."

Green Party Candidate Justin Trottier Website: http://votejustintrottier.com

"Justin Trottier grew up in the suburb of Thornhill and then moved to Toronto for work and study. He is happy to live in a busy neighbourhood with amazing parks, unique local businesses, and plenty of opportunities for community engagement.

Justin has dedicated his life to balancing his love of science and technology with his interest in public education, community service, and social advocacy. He has an Engineering degree from the University of Toronto, specializing in materials science, alternative energy systems and fuel cell vehicles. Justin worked at Mississauga-based Electrovaya Inc. in the development of novel materials for green energy, including batteries for electric vehicles, laptops, and astronaut life-support systems.

Justin is the founder and CEO of the national educational charity the Centre for Inquiry. CFI advances critical thinking and scientific literacy by hosting public education programs, social services like ESL and sobriety support, and volunteer-based community outreach at 9 branches across Canada. Its headquarters, a community centre in Toronto, has been a hub for environmental and social justice-related public events and initiatives.

Justin speaks regularly in the media in defense of fundamental freedoms like free speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of inquiry. He participates in debates and dialogue which bring together groups from vastly differing backgrounds and perspectives, exploring issues in ethics, religion, and politics.

Justin’s main priority is education and literacy. He is developing critical thinking modules for local high school curricula and volunteers with Pathways to Education, a tutoring service for students in at-risk neighbourhoods. Utilizing new media to engage youth, Justin hosts Think Again! TV, an independent media outlet that uses investigative journalism to explore human rights issues, and to serve as a watchdog for unfounded and dangerous claims. Justin enjoys practicing piano, cycling, playing tennis, as well as hiking and walking with his dog Sagan in local parks and trails."

In two weeks QueerWest.org will give you the low down on political candidates inDupont Riding, of the Queer West Village, Toronto Ontario.

The 11th annual Toronto Queer West Arts Festival Opens on Monday August 8, 2011

The Queer West Arts and Culture Community is committed to ushering in a necessary and more contemporary attitude in reaction to the ever-changing threads of fiber that fashion the notion of “queer” in its entirety. The festival will view the complexity of queer identity beyond set places, spaces and community settings and bring diversity to the forefront of all programming. Art and performance will be utilized as the vehicle to show queer identity as a contested space. The Queer West community emphasizes a sharing of space and the exchanging of ideas as a political act, within and outside of the Queer West Village.

Though queers may converge and diverge on particular spaces to create a community, the heart of the festival is to emphasize however different our identities, we all share our humanity. Artists and performers will convey genuine and relative ideas across multi-disciplinary forms to entertain, educate and enlighten.

Now firmly established as a major event, after 11 years within the city's lesbian and gay social calendar the TORONTO FESTIVAL OF QUEER CULTRE has something for everyone, from a film festival to spoken word to a political unConference to classical music, from a ramble in the ART AND DESIGN DISTRICT to a QUEER CABARET whether you're gay, straight, lesbian, bi, trans, queer or confused there's something to inspire, challenge or entertain you. Runing from Monday August 8 to Sunday August 14, 2011.

Sunday August 14th, 2011 -- Smash Words Poetry Afternoon - www.queerwest.org/queerwestfest_smashwords

Full Arts Festival Details --www.queerwest.org/queerwestfest_official_events

Why are there no Pride Toronto and affiliated pride listings listings in June 2011?

Toronto June 1, 2011 . We are often asked why a Queer West website entertainment page Do not list Pride events. It's not that we are setting ourselves apart, far from it

The entertainment pages are NOT an independent public service (1) all listing, community guides, business news, theatre, sports, films, art exhibitions, daily events, monthly weekly are provide by the Queer West Arts Centre, as a social enterprise to our community and beyond.

The 519 community Centre in the Church St gay Village doesn't list Queer West Arts Festival or our regular community events on their web site. Pride Toronto does not list or link to us. There is no mention of Queer West on either site. Never has been.

(2) Queer West Arts Festival and Film Festival happens for a week to ten days in early August, every year, it’s being promoted now. It used to precede Pride, but the festival was moved to August in 2010. We found imposible to book performers that Pride Toronto, was using because of some legal contract. Also Pride Toronto sucked up all the funding and sponsors.

We don't want to confuse anyone. Our festival is not a fringy pride festival. Three other cities in Canada have both a local arts festivals and Pride Festival. They don't promote each other's events, unless they team up. They all get along with each other, just not here in Toronto.

We believe in community partnerships, but as an equal partner. We believe there is room for Queer West too Our door is always open to new possibilities.

History of Gay Festivals in Toronto. www.queerwest.org/queerwestfest_history