Cumming Out Party: Oct. 2!!

Queer fAction is finally cumming out. We're going to step it up this year, and we want YOU to join us.

Who: YOU, your friends, lovers, aunts, cousins, grandfathers...
What: Hanky Code party. Dancing. DJ. Queer History. Collective Art.
Where: SAW Gallery (67 Nicholas St.)
When:Friday, Oct 2nd. 9pm-1am
Why: because we're awesome like that
How: by donation, $5-$10 sliding scale

A night of queer history, collective art, great music, dancing, drinking (cheap beer), gender bendin’, and much more will ensue. But more importantly, cum out to get familiar with Queer fAction, our basis of unity, and fellow queers!

Queer fAction is a radical queer group, based in Ottawa, challenging gender oppression, patriarchy, heterosexism and all other oppression within the queer community and society at large. We believe in the complete freedom of sexual and gender expressions, harnessing the power of grassroots to express solidarity and confront oppression.

Wear a hanky! The Hanky Code was used by men who have sex with men in the 70's to flag what they were looking for. We're reviving and expanding this sexy tradition to all queers! Wear a certain coloured hanky in a certain pocket so people know what you're looking for! For more info on the hanky code, go to: http://alt.xmission.com/~trevin/hanky.html We'll have a few hankys on sale ($3) in case you forget yours.

For folks who want to get involved, we will be having a new members meeting on October 5th at 7pm in UCU301 (at Ottawa U). Check us out at: www.queerfaction.blogspot.com

**Note to folks who don't identify as queer: Come to the party! But please be prepared to be perceived as queer. Please respect the queer space and don't be rude or dismissive if someone queer hits on you. You might consider wearing an orange hanky in your right pocket (“nothing now”) as a queer-positive solution.

**This is a discrimination-free party. Stigma based on HIV status, gender identity or expression, sexuality, race, class or ability is bullshit.

**Club Saw is wheelchair-accessible.

*****************************************************

fAction Queer va avoir un party!

Qui: TOI et tous tes amiEs, tes amantEs, tes tantes, tes cousinEs et ton grand-père...
Quoi: Party de Code Bandanas. Danse. DJ. L'histoire queer. L'art collective.
Où: Galerie SAW (67, rue Nicholas, à Ottawa)
Quand: vendredi 2 octobre. 21h00-1h00
Pourquoi: c'est le fun
Comment: don de 5$ à 10$, échelle flexible

Une soirée d''histoire queer, arts collectives, de la musique, la danse, bière moins chère, gender bendin', et encore plus! Mais plus important, viens connaître fAction Queer, nos points d'unité et d'autres queers!

fAction Queer est un groupe queer basé à Ottawa. Nous nous opposons à l'oppression de tous genres, incluant, mais non limité à, l'hétérosexisme, le patriarcat, le classisme et le sexisme. Nous croyons en la liberté totale de libre
expression de nos désirs et expressions sexuelles. La solidarité et l'action directe sont nos armes.

Porte ton bandana! Le code bandanas était employé par les hommes queer au années 70 pour annoncer leurs préférences spécifiques. Nous rétablissons et élaborons cette tradition sexy pour tous les queers! Porte un hanky de certain couleur dans un certain poche pour que les gens savent ce que tu cherches! Pour plus de renseignements sue le code bandanas clique ici: http://www.skinhy.com/zg-skincuirff.htm Il y aura quelques bandanas en vente (3$) si tu oublies le tien.

Pour les gens qui veulent s'impliquer, une réunion pour les nouveaux membres aura lieu le lundi 5 octobre à 19h00 dans la salle UCU301 (à l'U d'O). Pour plus d'infos: www.queerfaction.blogspot.com


**Aux les gens qui ne s'identifient pas comme queer: Venez au party! Mais SVP soyez prêt d'être perçu comme queer. SVP respectez l'espace queer et ne soyez pas rude ou méprisant si une personne queer vous cruise ou vous fait des avances. Vous pourriez considérer porter un bandana orange dans la poche droit (« rien maintenant ») pour une solution queer-positive.

**C'est un party sans discrimination. La sérophobie et tout stigmate basé sur l'identité ou expression de genre, la sexualité, la race, la classe, ou un handicap sont de la marde.

**Club SAW est accessible aux fauteuils-roulantes.

Call for Action: Tell IGLTA that Apartheid Israel is not for LGBT Leisure Tourism!

From: http://queerswithoutborders.com/wpmu/blog/2009/09/07/call-for-action-tell-iglta-that-apartheid-israel-is-not-for-lgbt-leisure-tourism/

ISSUED BY:
Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, Toronto
Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
Queer BDS activists from Israel

On October 10-16, 2009, the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) is planning to hold a tourism conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, aimed at boosting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) leisure tourism to Israel. The audience of this conference is expected to be made up mostly of travel agents who specialize in promoting LGBT tourism. With this conference IGLTA, in cooperation with an Israeli LGBT organization, the Aguda, will give its symbolic and financial support to a state that continually occupies, oppresses and dispossess millions of Palestinians and murders and imprisons many thousands of them.

We, queer activists and groups, call on LGBTQI people and friends around the world to join us in our protest against IGLTA’s promotion of leisure tourism to apartheid Israel. We demand that IGLTA cancel its planned conference in Israel and cease any promotion of tourism to this country.

For some time now, Israeli officials and organizations such as the Aguda, who are cooperating closely with IGLTA, have been promoting LGBT tourism to Israel through false representations of visiting Tel Aviv as not taking sides, or as being on the “LGBT” side, as if LGBT lives were the only ones that mattered. It is implied that it’s okay to visit Israel as long as you “believe in peace,” as if what is taking place in Palestine/Israel is merely a conflict between equals, rather than an oppressive power relationship. Consistent with globalization’s tendency to distance the “final product” from the moral implications of the manufacturing process, LGBT tourists are encouraged to forget about politics and just have fun in a so-called gay-friendly city.

This Zionist propaganda disguises the reality of anti-LGBT violence. Last month’s Tel Aviv shooting in a gay center has reminded us that it is not as friendly as it is depicted to be. Since that attack, numerous reports have been released on the prevalence of violence against LGBT people in Israel, including a state official report suggesting that “80% of gay teens in Israel suffer some sort of sexual orientation-related abuse” (Ynetnews.com).

Even more importantly, Tel-Aviv’s flashy coffee shops and shopping malls, in contrast with the nearby deprived Palestinian villages and towns, serve as evidence that the Israeli society, just as the Israeli state itself, has built walls, blockades and systems of racist segregations to hide from the Palestinians it oppresses. The intersection of physical and societal separations and barriers have justly earned the term apartheid, referring to an historically parallel racist regime in South Africa against the indigenous Black population of that country. Leisure tourism to apartheid Israel supports this regime. It is not neutral, and it certainly is not a step toward real peace, which can only be based on justice.

We encourage people to visit Palestine and join Palestinians in solidarity with their popular struggle. A number of organizations are doing this, including International Solidarity Movement, Palestine Solidarity Project and International Women’s Peace Service. This clearly is not what IGLTA is doing. Instead, by its actions, IGLTA calls on our communities to turn our backs on the oppression of Palestinians, and to ignore a specifically effective Palestinian popular non-violent initiative – the BDS movement.

On July 9^th 2005 171 Palestinian civil society’s organizations issued a statement calling for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. These measures are to be applied until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by:
1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall;
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194 (http://bdsmovement.net/?q=node/52).

In recent months, especially after the murderous assault on Gaza, the BDS movement is gaining momentum worldwide. New groups are forming and many have implemented successful non-violent protest actions around the world. These actions inspire us for what is to come. By supporting BDS now, we can have a significant impact on the overall struggle for justice in Palestine. We urge LGBTQI people and friends around the world to endorse the Palestinian call and to join this particular action of solidarity and protest.

TAKE ACTION

Please email International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, calling on it to cancel its planned conference in Israel and any promotion of tourism to this country. You can compile your own letter or use the sample letter below.

Please email your letter to all management and staff members of IGLTA:

john@iglta.org, richard@iglta.org, deven@iglta.org, usa@iglta.org, tom@iglta.org, aaron@iglta.org, europe@iglta.org, australia@iglta.org, newzealand@iglta.org, caribbean@iglta.org, latinamerica@iglta.org, argentina@iglta.org, brazil@iglta.org, canada@iglta.org, france@iglta.org, germany@iglta.org, greece@iglta.org, israel@iglta.org, lebanon@iglta.org, mexico@iglta.org, poland@iglta.org, southafrica1@iglta.org, southafrica2@iglta.org, spain@iglta.org, sweden@iglta.org, switzerland@iglta.org, turkey@iglta.org, uk@iglta.org, usa@iglta.org

(John Tanzella, Executive Director; Richard Brower, Strategic Development & Marketing Manager; Deven Chism, Administrative Assistant; Babs Daitch , Special Projects; Ann Corbitt, Event Planner; Tom Nibbio, Manager - Partnership Development; Aaron Riggins, Manager - Membership Development; Carlos Kytka, Manager - Europe; Mark Proffit, Australia / New Zealand Ambassador; André Rojer, Latin America Ambassador; Alfredo Ferreyra, Argentina Ambassador; Clovis Casemiro, Brazil Ambassador; Canadian Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce , Canada Ambassador; Clark Massad, France Ambassador; Edwin Brown, Germany Ambassador; Andreas Balakakis, Greece Ambassador; Shai Doitsch, Israel Ambassador; Bertho Makso, Lebanon Ambassador; Ron Kuijpers, Mexico Ambassador; Piotr Wojcik, Poland Ambassador; Adriaan Coetzer, South Africa; Brian Kruger, South Africa Ambassador; Juan A. Carmona Del Solar, Spain Ambassador; Tobias Holfelt, Sweden Ambassador; Spyros Petridis, Switzerland Ambassador; Mustafa Kartopu, Turkey Ambassador; Darren Cooper, United Kingdom Ambassador; Babs Daitch, United States of America Ambassador)
Source: http://www.iglta.org/staff.cfm

Sample Letter

Dear International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association management and staff members,

It was brought to my attention that your organization, IGLTA, is planning to hold a conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, between October 10^th, 2009 and October 16^th, 2009, aimed at boosting LGBT tourism to Israel. As someone who believes in protecting human rights, I am disturbed by your attempt to promote leisure tourism to apartheid Israel. I plead with you to distance yourselves from Israel’s crimes. Please cancel the conference, along with any other promotion activity on your behalf of tourism to Israel.

Just as I consider LGBT rights to be a human rights issue, the rights of Palestinians are a human rights issue as well. I reject any attempt to depict Tel Aviv as separate from Israel, the state that it is, to a large extent, sustaining. Given the continued occupation, colonization and oppression of the Palestinian people by Israel, it seems to me awful and hypocritical to promote leisure tourism to its largest and richest city in the name of LGBT human rights. In an environment of racist segregation, as imposed on the Palestinians by the annexation wall and other fences and blockades, leisure tourism promotion to Tel Aviv and Israel is especially harmful and morally corrupt.

The extent of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians, and its long duration, require that organizations and businesses be wary of connecting themselves with it. In the territories occupied in 1967, unarmed Palestinians, including teenagers and children, are routinely shot and imprisoned by the Israeli army. Israeli forces routinely destroy people’s homes, confiscate their land and resources, discriminate against Palestinians in their access to water, and restrict their everyday movement between Palestinian towns and villages. Millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants are prevented from returning to their homes and hometowns, many living in refugee camps without any compensation for their continued loss and suffering. In only the three weeks of its most aggressive military offensive on Gaza, the Israeli army killed more than 1400 Palestinians, wounded thousands of people and destroyed the houses of tens of thousands of people.

Since IGLTA, in its activities, is providing symbolic as well as financial support to Israel, I see it as inevitable to connect IGLTA to such atrocities. Only by abstaining from dealing with Israel can you distance yourselves from such moral corruption and the rightful criticism that will come with it.

Sincerely,

Your name
Your city and country of residence

Queers Against Apartheid

Check it out! A few pictures of the Queers Against Apartheid, from Canada to Israel contingent in the Pride Parade.

Capital Pride Parade: Queers Against Apartheid, from Canada to Israel OCCUPATION IS A COCK BLOCK!!

Queers who are taking a stand against apartheid are inviting all queer people and allies to join in the struggles for the rights and dignity of queer people of territories occupied by Canada and Israel.

We reject the corporatization and depoliticization of queer identity that is being “celebrated” today. Instead, we celebrate the long history of queers being at the forefront of social justice movements (from the Civil Rights movement in the U.S. to the Anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa).

This year, we continue this legacy of Queer resistance. As we march against different manifestations of homophobia both at home and across the world, we also march in solidarity with all people struggling for social justice and self determination everywhere.

Like many queers throughout North America and beyond, we are fed up with Israel's attempts to falsely brand itself as a safe haven for queers in order to divert the world's attention from its racist policies towards Palestinian people. We believe all forms of oppression are related. We do not support the fight against homophobia if it is perpetuating racism.

We are also standing in solidarity with indigenous people in ''Canada'' who are confronting colonization and imperialism. We recognize that the Canadian state, from its very beginning, has disrupted and destroyed many first nations communities through sexual violence, repression, assimilation and occupation. Queer rights are moot if they mean legitimization of occupation. There can be no pride in our communities if we do not stand in solidarity with others who are resisting all forms of oppression.

Canada and Israel bolster each other's colonial occupations through political, military and economic support. To us, the links are clear. As queers our role in the struggle is obvious.

It's been 8 months since Israel's brutal assault on Gaza which saw hundreds of thousands of people across the world take to the streets in outrage. Many have joined the global movement of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.
In Tyendinaga, Six Nations, Barriere Lake, Akwesasne, Coast Salish and across the continent, first nations communities are fanning the flames of resistance to colonization.

Recently, in Toronto and Montréal, Queers have taken to the streets during Pride parades to loudly declare their love and solidarity towards the people of Palestine and their struggle for justice, land and dignity.

This Pride week, it's time for us in Ottawa to reaffirm our solidarity and to march with our allies in our hearts.

Join us as we loudly declare:

THERE IS NO PRIDE IN OCCUPATION!

Note to Allies: Straight-identified allies are welcome to join us in opposing apartheid, but please recognize that "Pride" is a queer event and step back to allow queer leadership. Furthermore you should expect to be perceived as queer at the parade. If you are unable to do this, or are not comfortable being perceived as queer, this action may not be right for you.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123339662041

************************************

this pride parade contingent is endorsed:
AGITATE!
QUEER fACTION
Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA)
Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA)
Q-TEAM MTL
OPIRGRIPO
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR-uOttawa)

Drafted Letter to Xtra Re: Palestinian Solidarity

A recent letter in the Capital Xtra has added its voice to the chorus of those questioning the validity of groups like Queers Against Israeli Apartheid having a space in our pride parades. As Queers, activists and people involved in Palestinian solidarity organizing, we are writing to refute these claims. To those who would say politics have no place in our events, we say this: Politics have been vital to our movement from its very beginnings. From the decriminalization of expressions of our love to the right to marry, we, as a movement, owe our safety, rights and visibility to those committed activists who have taken up the important political causes that have led to our current situations and future victories.

As a movement and as a community, it is clear that we know how to effectively fight for our rights. Our recent victories are a testament to this, but these victories do not exempt us from the responsibility to speak out against injustices, wherever they occur. We have learned how to defend our rights, and we have also learned the value of solidarity. Now it is our turn to extend our solidarity to the Palestinian people fighting for their own self determination, rights and dignity. Surely, we are not so selfish as to blind ourselves from Israel's human rights abuses just because Israeli queers benefit from relative freedoms.

As queers, we must resist being dangled in front of the media to justify the atrocities of the occupation. It is important to remember now more than ever that there is no pride in supporting the Israeliapartheid. We will never be truly free while others are oppressed in our name.

This summer, in pride parades from the east coast to the west coast, queer activists will be marching in celebration of our hard-won rights to be happy, safe and visible. This summer, surrounded by happy queer families, GLBTQ community organizations, our supporters in the labor movement and our allies from every segment of the population, let us remember the pride parade's militant roots. In Ottawa, as the Israeli embassy will hosts one of our many pride week celebrations, let's remember to stand in solidarity with Palestinians, queer and straight, and give ourselves something of which to be proud.

Attacks on homeless become hate crime in Md.

Maryland becomes first to expand protection to homeless people

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30627072/

STRATEGIZING QUEER INSURGENCY! / PLANIFIER L'INSURGENCE QUEER !

Somebody must go to this because Naughty North, Q-Team and Prisoner correspondence project are amazing.

[Version francais suit]
_____________________________________________________

STRATEGIZING QUEER INSURGENCY!: Re-centering marginalized queer issues

Workshop & Discussion to be presented as a part of the 10th Annual

Montreal Anarchist Bookfair - Sunday May 17th, 2009
(http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/en/)
______________________________________________________

*** Hello! This email is to solicit your feedback, contributions, and
collaboration for the planning and development of this workshop. We are
hoping to gather as much ideas and input from members of our communities
as possible over the course of the next month, in the interest of making
this workshop/ discussion and strategizing session relevant to our
struggles as folks doing queer activism, organizing, or community work; or
as queers doing organizing work in other struggles.

This email is to briefly outline the rough framework of the workshop as it
was initially envisioned, as well as to outline some questions to consider
in responding to this callout.

*** THE WORKSHOP
We proposed this workshop as members of different queer organizations with
the intention of taking advantage of the opportunity offered to us by the
Bookfair to hold a discussion and strategizing session among other groups
and queers from across Quebec, the US and Canada.

We identified four key obstacles or barriers we face in our struggles
which we hope to foreground in these conversations: (1) French/English
divides, (2) Generational divides between older and younger queers, (3)

The US/Canada border, (4) Rural/urban divides.

We especially wanted to focus on these barriers as ones we continue to
face despite attempts by gay assimilation to push these off the agenda,
and to collaboratively develop concrete solutions and strategies to work
against these obstacles.

*** QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

1. In what ways have you encountered these obstacles (French/English
divides, generational divides, the US/Canada border, and rural/urban
divides) in your organizing or community work?

2. How have you seen these obstacles play our in other kinds of
organizing or work you do?

3. What kinds of strategies, if any, have you put in place or seen put in
place to counter these obstacles?

4. What kind of workshop structure do you think makes the most sense
given the topic and themes? (a) branch into smaller discussion groups and
report back, (b) large facilitated group discussion, or (c) another format
altogether

5. Is there any specific feedback you would like to give us about the way
we've laid out this framework? Is there anything you would like to
foreground, or specific ways you hope to see the workshop unfold?

*** PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR CONTACTS, FOLKS THAT MIGHT BE COMING TO
THE BOOKFAIR, AND IN PARTICULAR FOLKS WHO WOULD HAVE IDEAS TO CONTRIBUTE
ON THE THEMES OUTLINED ABOVE.

*** PLEASE SEND ALL CONTRIBUTIONS AND FEEDBACK TO:
queer.insurgency@gmail.com

Thanks for your feedback and ideas. Hope to see you in May!
- Anonymous queers / workshop organizing committee
____________________________________
The workshop is co-presented by members of: Naughty North (Maine), the
Prisoner Correspondence Project (Montreal), and Q-Team (Montreal).

Q-team is a radical queer collective whose work focuses on creating
anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and anti-assimilationist queer spaces and
events in Montreal.

The Prisoner Correspondence Project is a Montreal-based collective that
supports gay and trans folks and queers inside prisons across the US and
Canada through a penpal program, programming, and a resource library on
writing about queer survival behind bars.

Naughty North is a radical queer direct-action collective based in Maine
committed to resisting the devastating violence inherent in the consumer
driven assimilationist gaystream!

version française:
________________________________________

PLANIFIER L'INSURGENCE QUEER: PLACONS SUR LA TABLE LES PROBLEMES QUEER MIS
DE COTES.

Atelier et discussion présentés dans le cadre de la 10e salon de livre
anarchiste de Montreal -- Dimanche le 17 mai 2009
(www.salonanarchiste.ca/fr/)
_________________________________________
Bonjour! Cet e-mail est une invitation pour nous envoyer des suggestions,
des commentaires et des idées, afin de mieux nous aider au dela du
planification et de développement de l'atelier sera présenté le dimanche
27 mai dans le cadre de la foire du livre anarchiste. Cette session puis
cet échange des e-mails nous servira à recueillir les critiques, les
contributions et les suggestions des gens de nos communautés.

Nous comptons beaucoup sur l'implication des gens de notre milieu au cours
du mois prochain, dans le but de pouvoir aligner cet atelier avec notre
lutte en tant que gens impliqués dans l'activisme queer, dans
l'organisation, ou le travail communautaire; également en tant que queers
impliqué-e-s dans d'autres luttes.

*** L'ATELIER

Nous avons identifiés quatre obstacles importants auxquels nous faisons face
dans nos luttes que nous espérons surmonter au cours de l'atelier : (1) La
barrière linguistique français/anglais, (2) Les frontières
intergénérationelles entre queers, (3) La frontière Canada/États-Unis, (4)
La division rurale/urbaine.

*** Voici quelques questions à considérer avant de se présenter à la session
de planifiation, ou avant de correspondre vos idées et commentaires par
courriel si vous n'êtes pas en mesure d'être présent-e:

1. Avez-vous déjà eu à faire face à ces obstacles dans votre travail
communautaire ou votre travail d'organisation?

2. Avez-vous vu ces obstacles se manifester dans d'autres projets dans
lesquels vous êtes impliqué-e-s?

3. Quel genre de stratégies avez vous mises en place pour contrer ces
obstacles?

4. Selon vous, quelle genre de structure conviendrait le mieux en vous fiant
aux sujets et aux thèmes de la discussion? (a) avoir plusieurs petits
groupes de discussion et faire un rapport après, (b) une discussion
facilitée avec un groupe plus large, ou (c) un autre format (svp
spécifiez).

5. Avez-vous des commentaires sur la façon que nous voulons encadrer la
discussion? Y a t-il une chose particulière dont vous aimeriez parler, ou
une façon spécifique que vous aimeriez voir l'atelier se dérouler?

***SVP FAIRE SUIVRE CECI À VOS CONTACTS, AUX GENS QUI VONT PEUT-ÊTRE VENIR
AU SALON DU LIVRE, ET EN PARTICULIER AUX GENS QUI AURAIENT DES IDÉES À
CONTRIBUER AUX THÈMES SOULIGNÉS CI-HAUT.

***SVP ENVOYER TOUTE CONTRIBUTION OU COMMENTAIRES À:
queer.insurgency@gmail.com

Merci pour vos idées et commentaires, en espérant vous voir le mois prochain!

- des queers anonymes / comité d'organisation
________________________________________

L'atelier est une collaboration jointe de: Naughty North (Maine), le Projet
de Correspondance de Prisonniers (Montréal), et Q-Team (Montréal)