Check it out guys: Paps matter for trans men!

Monday, January 11, 2010
7:00pm - 9:00pm
Buddies In Bad Times Theatre (12 Alexander St., Toronto, ON)

Paps matter for trans men. This is a groundbreaking campaign, by and for trans men, which aims to get that message out. Come learn more, enjoy performances, meet, and mingle.

With performers including:
Felix Deak
Miss Fluffy Souffle & Fay Slift
Alec Butler

This event is FREE and wheelchair accessible. All are welcome!
Refreshments provided.

For more information: tmen.pap@gmail.com

A project of Sherbourne Health Centre
with support from Community One Foundation

Please note: the campaign website, www.checkitoutguys.ca, goes live on January 11, 2010.

Bash this, bozo!

Awesome. Effing. Website.

• Bash this, bozo! website
  
• More here on xtra.ca

Photo by Anita Schoepp

Save Women's Studies at the University of Guelph!

In case you don't already know (but I bet you do), Women's Studies departments are often the birth places of some of the best radical queer, gender fuckery and activism around. We read Judith Butler, then we read Viviane Namaste, then we're all like "how do my political practices relate to improving peoples' everyday lived experiences" and then BAM, it's a glittery, performance art filled zine launch where high irony consists of statements about how objective science really is.

Ok, perhaps I'm making fun of us a little here, but there are definitely no fun and games going on over at the University of Guelph, where the Women's Studies department is on the chopping block.

According to the facebook group created by students at Guelph:

"Women's Studies might be cancelled! There's a word for that and it's BULLSHIT."

If you agree with this statement, put your name on the online petition and help save Women's Studies at Guelph!!!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/savewmst/index.html

Writing Tips that kick TS/TG Oppression right where it hurts!

Dear Non-Trans students, writers and bloggers,

As spring draws near and your desire/need to overthrow hetero colonial capitalist patriarchy is invigorated by the prospect of brighter days and muscular, unshaven legs spinning bicycle wheels, why not heed Jacob Hale's advice and aquaint yourself with these:

Suggested Rules for Non-Transsexuals Writing about Transsexuals, Transsexuality, Transsexualism, or Trans...

From sandystone.com:

"1. Approach your topic with a sense of humility: you are not the experts about transsexuals, transsexuality, transsexualism, or trans ____. Transsexuals are.

2. Interrogate your own subject position: the ways in which you have power that we don't (including powers of access, juridicial power, institutional power, material power, power of intelligible subjectivity), the ways in which this affects what you see and what you say, what your interests and stakes are in forming your initial interest, and what your interests and stakes are in what you see and say as you continue your work. (Here's what Bernie Hausman, p.vii, says about how her initial interest was formed: She had been reading about transvestism and ran across library material on transsexualism. "Now *that* was fascinating." Why? "The possibilities for understanding the construction of 'gender' through an analysis of transsexualism seemed enormous and there wasn't a lot of critical material out there." Remember that using those with less power within institutionalized, material and discursive structures as your meal ticket (retention, tenure, promotion) is objectionable to those so used.)

3. Beware of replicating the following discursive movement (which Sandy Stone articulates in "The Empire Strikes Back," and reminds us is familiar from other colonial discourses): Initial fascination with the exotic; denial of subjectivity, lack of access to dominant discourse; followed by a species of rehabilition.

4. Don't erase our voices by ignoring what we say and write, through gross misrepresentation (as Hausman does to Sandy Stone and to Kate Bornstein), by denying us our academic credentials if we have them (as Hausman does to Sandy Stone), or by insisting that we must have academic credentials if were are to be taken seriously.

5. Be aware that our words are very often part of conversations we're having within our communities, and that we may be participating in overlapping conversations within multiple communities, e.g., our trans communities, our scholarly communities (both interdisciplinary ones and those that are disciplinarily bounded), feminist communities, queer communities, communities of color. Be aware of these conversations, our places within them, and our places within community and power structures. Otherwise, you won't understand our words.

6. Don't totalize us, don't represent us or our discourses as monolithic or univocal; look carefully at each use of 'the', and at plurals.

7. Don't uncritically quote non-transsexual "experts," e.g., Harry Benjamin, Robert Stoller, Leslie Lothstein, Janice Raymond, Virgina Prince, Marjorie Garber. Apply the same critical acumen to their writings as you would to anyone else.

8. Start with the following as, minimally, a working hypothesis that you would be loathe to abandon: "Transsexual lives are lived, hence livable" (as Naomi Scheman put it in "Queering the Center by Centering the Queer").

9. When you're talking about male-to-female transsexual discourses, phenomena,experiences, lives, subjectivities, embodiments, etc., make that explicit and keep making it explicit throughout; stating it once or twice is not sufficient to undermine paradigmaticity. Don't toss in occasional references to female-to-male transsexual discourses, phenomena, experiences, lives, subjectivities, embodiments, etc., without asking what purposes those references serve you and whether or not those purposes are legitimate.

10. Be aware that if you judge us with reference to your political agenda (or agendas) taken as the measure or standard, especially without even asking if your agenda(s) might conflict with ours and might not automatically take precedence over ours, that it's equally legitimate (or illegitimate, as the case may be) for us to use our political agenda(s) as measures by which to judge you and your work.

11. Focus on: What does looking at transsexuals, transsexuality, transsexualism, or transsexual _____ tell you about *yourself*, *not* what does it tell you about trans.

12. Ask yourself if you can travel in our trans worlds. If not, you probably don't get what we're talking about. Remember that we live most of our lives in non-transsexual worlds, so we probably do get what you're talking about.

13. Don't imagine that you can write about the trope of transsexuality, the figure of the transsexual, transsexual discourse/s, or transsexual subject positions without writing about transsexual subjectivities, lives, experiences, embodiments. Ask yourself: what relations hold between these categorial constructions, thus what implications hold between what you write about one and what you don't write about another.

14. Don't imagine that there is only one trope of transsexuality, only one figure of "the" transsexual, or only one transsexual discourse at any one temporal and cultural location.

15. If we attend to your work closely enough to engage in angry, detailed criticism, don't take this as a rejection, crankiness, disordered ranting and raving, or the effects of testosterone poisoning. It's a *gift*. (And it's praise: there must be something we value about you to bother to engage you, especially since such engagement is often painful, as well as time-consuming, for us.)"

File under "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM OUR BODIES"

Abortion Ban passed in North Dakota

"North Dakota's House of Representatives has passed a bill effectively outlawing abortion.

The House voted 51-41 this afternoon to declare that a fertilized egg has all the rights of any person.

That means a fetus could not be legally aborted without the procedure being considered murder."

More here if you can stomach it.

For some reason, this made us think of that whole "prepregnant" horror and how we consider oursleves here at Lickety Split to be "preabortion" in most cases...

Queer danse party bénéfice ce samedi!

Art performance de Danny Gaudreault en début de soirée, post-sexual hot tunes par DJ Mécanik & Jonnybonnyrock toute la nuit, cheap drinks & cheap drunks, retro-cool kitschy kissing booth, table de massage masseur inclu, video projections, peut-être même une muffin sale!

Venez faire lever nos fonds. No one turned away and we mean it.

1710 Beaudry 21h-3h
10$ suggested donation

To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=614435121&k=5WD2Y2VZS46M5CBCPA6XVR

Gender Construction Zone

Announcing the new Gender Construction Zone:

Are you a young trans, gender variant or questioning person looking for a community, and people to talk to who can relate to your experiences? Are you looking for a way to explore your gender identity without "out"ing yourself to your friends, family, or others in your life? Do you know someone in a situation like this?

There's a new group in town for for young transgender, gender variant, genderqueer, and questioning people. It will be a peer support, resource sharing, community building, and discussion group to address the current lack of such a group in the Montreal anglophone community. The group will meet weekly on a yet-to-be-determined date, hopefully starting by the end of January.

We aim to make the Gender Construction Zone a totally confidential and non-judgemental space. We aim to welcome people of colour from all class backgrounds, of all sexualities and dis/abilities. If there's anything we can do to better accomodate you let us know.

If you are interested in attending the group or finding out more about it, contact us at tranniesatwork@gmail.com, and we can let you know where and when the group meetings will be held.

Telyn Kusalik
Gender Construction Zone facilitator

Radical Queer Semaine Fundraiser, 2009

x Radical Queer Semaine Fundraiser, 2009 x

Event: Saturday, January 17th, 2009, 9pm-3am
Location: Comité social centre sud, 1710 Beaudry, Montreal

Featuring a performance by emerging artist Danny Gaudreault, and
post-sexual hot tunes by DJs Mécanik and Jonnybonnyrock

Radical Queer Semaine invites one and all to a night of performance and sweaty sexy dancing at the Comité social centre sude, 1710 Beaudry, Montreal. $10 suggested donation, no one turned away. All proceeds go to the week of events, actions, workshops, and general pro-queer inclusive arty mahem known as Radical Queer Semaine. For our Facebook group please see "Radical Queer Week 2009 -La semaine des Queers radicaux 09".

The Queer Semaine Radicaux is a group of individuals working together, and hoping to collaborate with as many people and groups as possible towards creating a week of events, workshops, community based direct action, local visual and performance art productions,food sharing, and getting our anti-oppression freak on.

Ideas/submissions for Radical Queer Semaine so far:
- All-ages queer punk show
- Video projections and slumber party night
- Queer winter carnival (fruitcake breakfast, trash figure skating in
Parc Lafontaine, queer ice sculptures in Vieux-Porc, high heel races in
the snow...)
- Art expos and zine walls
- Radical queer dimanche (local performance art!)
- Valentine's Day pansexual play party in collab with Against the Wall
collective
- Tons of interactive workshops
- [Insert your idea here] ...or send it to
radical.queer.semaine@gmail.com
- And sooooo much much much more!


Contact: radical.queer.semaine@gmail.com

The Worldwide Decriminalisation of Homosexuality

Read about it here. Thanks to Tessa for blogging this!

Know Your Status!

Head and Hands is hosting one more free anonymous HIV testing nights as part of their World AIDS Day campaign. These clinics will be taking place Monday, Dec. 1^st from 1-5pm. Like their medical clinics, the testing nights are confidential, do not require medicare, and for youth 12-25.

5833 Sherbrooke West, Montréal

Metro Vendôme, Bus 105

514-481-0277 info@headandhands.ca

Check out this feminist job opportunity!

Communication coordinator

Girls Action Foundation-Fondation filles d’action is a national charitable organization that inspires and supports the empowerment, leadership and healthy development of girls and young women across Canada. We provide leadership and violence prevention programs for girls in partnership with schools and community organizations. We also facilitate and provide resources and training to a national network consisting of organizations and individuals doing work with girls and young women. To further advance our mandate, we also collaborate with academics, policy makers, youth organizations and others whose work supports girls.

Position summary: Under the authority of the Executive Director the communication coordinator provide assistance to and report to the Director of Communications in the coordination and implementation of Girls Action Foundation’s communication strategy. The successful candidate will plan, coordinate and implement various external and internal communication initiatives including: preparation and editing of press releases, content development, writing and editing for web-based initiatives, Newsletters, and strategic communication pieces for members, stakeholders and other key audiences. In addition the position will support the overall knowledge transfer element of our communication strategy, and develop and implement a proactive media communication strategy.

The successful candidate will have excellent inter-personal skills, proven experience in writing and editing press releases, editorials, presentations, news articles, and web writing, as well as be familiar with major issues facing girls and young women in Canadian society today.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• University degree or college diploma in communications, public relations or a related discipline.
• 3-5 years experience in communications, public relations, government relations, or related field
• Fluency in French and English (written and oral)
• Knowledge of Canadian and Quebec media
• Superior writing, editing and oral communication skills in English
• Demonstrated success in the development and implementation of proactive communication initiatives including media relations; event planning and coordination; the creation of marketing tools and online communications.
• Experience initiating and managing on-line communications including web content management, promotion and e-communications/campaigning strategies
• Ability to manage concurrent projects with competing deadlines
• Strong planning and organizational skills with excellent attention to detail
• Ability to work independently, as part of a team
• Knowledge of Web site software is an asset
• Experience in a feminist organization is an asset.

How to apply

Please send resume, cover letter, two relevant samples of your writing, salary expectations and at least two references by December 8 2008 to: info@girlsactionfoundation.ca

(Electronic submissions are encouraged)

Applications can also be faxed to: 514-948-5926

Or mailed to:

Girls Action Foundation – Fondation filles d’action

24 Mont Royal Ouest, Suite 601

Montreal, Quebec H2T 2S2

We thank everyone for applying but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Feminist Responses to the Bouchard-Taylor Commission

FEMINIST RESPONSES TO THE
BOUCHARD-TAYLOR COMMISSION
RÉPONSES FÉMINISTES À LA COMMISSION BOUCHARD-TAYLOR

The symposium brings together scholars and representatives of immigrant and women’s groups in Quebec in order to examine, from a variety of feminist perspectives, the issues that led to the debate around “reasonable accommodation” and the effects of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission.

Le symposium se propose non seulement de réexaminer les travaux et le rapport de la commission, mais aussi de susciter une discussion critique quant à la place à réserver aux prises de position féministes dans le débat sur les accommodements raisonnables.

Alia Al-Saji, McGill University
Nancy Burrows, Fédération des femmes du Québec
Emilie Connolly and Robyn Maynard, Accommodate This! (awesome!!!)
Samaa Elibyari, Canadian Council of Muslim Women
Louise Langevin, Université Laval
Gada Mahrouse, Concordia University
Tess Tesalona, Immigrant Workers Center
Daniel Weinstock, Université de Montréal

Date: Friday, November 28th, 2008, 9 am to 5 pm, Leacock, Room 232
Please register: (514) 398-3911 or info@mcrtw.mcgill.ca

Donate to the BEYOND HUMAN Issue of Lickety Split! #7!

You can do it! If you have PayPal and believe in the bright and horny future of this paper project, please donate by sending a meaningful donation of any amount to the following e-mail address: a@licketysplitzine.com . Issue #7 is being launched Nov. 21st. Stay tuned for more details.

Our zine launches, Slow Dance Night parties and subscription & zine sales all contribute to off-setting the cost of this big and beautiful zine, but we still struggle from issue to issue. So we just wanted to share a new way to support the zine! Yay! What're you waiting for?

Thanks in advance!

Spread Magazine needs you!

SPREAD MAGAZINE: DESPERATE CALL FOR NEW STAFF

Calling $pread fans: If you want to see us keep publishing, now is the time to step up and help! Most of our core staff have left in the past year, including three out of four editors (the last one is leaving in a few months), our art director, financial director, ad director, and new media director. A few very dedicated staffers are holding the magazine together but they desperately need help.

People are always telling us that $pread is important but now we need you to put your time where your mouth is and get on board so we can keep it going. We currently don’t have the resources to coordinate with long distance volunteers so we’re looking for people in the NYC area who can attend weekly Sunday meetings and dedicate at least ten hours a week to $pread (although you don’t need to be able to work during regular office hours).

Volunteers MUST be reliable, self-motivated, and willing to jump in at the deep end and pitch in with whatever needs to be done. We are specifically looking for people with design skills, but we need general volunteers too. We also ask that you make a commitment to $pread for at least a year. We know this is a lot to ask of unpaid staff but $pread has always relied on such dedicated volunteers. The original team who have kept $pread going over the past few years are thoroughly burned out and can’t do it anymore so we need an enthusiastic new team to take over.

So, if you live in New York and care about $pread, please put your life on hold and step up to help us get through the next year. Email info@spreadmagazine.org if you can help.

About SPREAD MAGAZINE:
We believe that all sex workers have a right to self-determination; to choose how we make a living and what we do with our bodies. We aim to build community and destigmatize sex work by providing a forum for the diverse voices of individuals working in the sex industry.

MTL: Walking tour of feminist art galleries

THURSDAY September 18th, 4pm sharp!
Walking Tour of Feminist Art Galleries in Montreal Beginning at the 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy (2110 Mackay Street)
*******************************************************
The 2110 Center for Gender advocacy invites you to join us on a tour of feminist art galleries and spaces in Montreal and engage in discussions with local artists and activists as we explore the importance of critical transformations of art spaces, institutions, and the mandates that guide them.

Whisper translation will be available. We will navigate the tour by bus/metro/walk/bike.

Organized as part of La Centrale's GENDER ALARM! exhibition programming.
GENDER ALARM! Nouveaux féminismes en art actuel is an event series organized by La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse in celebration of the launch of our new mandate. GENDER ALARM! will feature a group exhibition and performance night, a film and video screening, as well as a round-table panel discussion. GENDER ALARM! will focus on the role of emerging feminist discourses within contemporary art and will mark the beginning of La Centrale's 2008-2009 programming season featuring bold exhibitions and performances that specifically address the new mandate.

History
Since its inception in 1973, La Centrale has had a mandate of disseminating contemporary art of Québecois, Canadian and International women artists. This mandate aimed to address the under-representation of women within contemporary art institutions by creating a space that both fosters and supports their work, and makes it available to a larger public. Over the past four decades, feminism has evolved through different permutations and the history of La Centrale's activities reflect a continuous critical questioning of these transformations.

Change
In 2007, a new mandate was adopted by La Centrale which no longer limits the center to a women-only space. La Centrale's revised mandate is informed by a definition of feminism which questions relationships of power in our society and concerns itself with a wider range of societal issues including the implications of gender regulations, regimes of sexuality, class, race and imperialism. As such, the center now aims to engage more effectively with discourses in postcolonial and third world feminisms as well as emerging fields such as trans-feminism and masculinity studies.

Mandate
Growing out of the feminist art movement and founded in 1973, La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse is one of the oldest artist-run centers in Quebec. The center's mandate expands on a history of feminist art practices and engages a broader spectrum of underrepresented artists and their initiatives within established art institutions. The gallery aims to provide a platform for contemporary art informed by feminist and gender theory, as well as intercultural and transdisciplinary practices. This involves networking and developing professional exchanges at the local, national and international levels. We promote the work of artists at all stages of their careers to allow for intergenerational dialogue. The programming and events at the gallery are a reflection of our members and their interests and involvements.

For more information: email galerie@lacentrale.org, website: www.lacentrale.org
--
2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy
2110 Mackay (metro Guy-Concordia)
tel: 514-848-2424 ext. 7431

Save Bitch!

Check out this youtube vid! 

The publishing industry is HARD, suckas. If you read a publication you enjoy, especially independent initiatives, it's important to show your support by providing financial support in the ways that you can. To help save the inimitable BITCH Magazine, a "feminist response to pop culture", please do so here.

Yours,

Amber

**NOTE: I would embed the video but we're experiencing some technical difficulties!

D.I.Y Sex Toys workshop TODAY!

2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy presents:

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL

An introduction to gender advocacy and organizing

THURSDAY September 11: DIY Sex Toys (2pm) Learn how to make your own sex toys with cheap and safe materials

**This event is wheelchair accessible and will take place in the 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy lounge (2110 Mackay, Ground Floor).**

For more information: www.centre2110.org

--
2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy
2110 Mackay (metro Guy-Concordia)
tel: 514-848-2424 ext. 7431

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL

2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy presents:

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL
An introduction to gender advocacy and organizing

WEDNESDAY September 10: Abortion Access Teach-in (6pm ) In response to
bill-C-484 and the attack on abortion rights, the 2110 will be holding a teach in on the history of abortion rights, the state of access to abortion in Canada and the current attack on reproductive rights and bodily sovereignty. Come learn about the history of the struggle for autonomy and access, and discuss how we might continue it today.

&

Wine and Cheese (8pm)

**Both events are wheelchair accessible and will take place in the 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy lounge (2110 Mackay, Ground Floor).**

For more information: www.centre2110.org
--
2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy
2110 Mackay (metro Guy-Concordia)
tel: 514-848-2424 ext. 7431

Why we do what we do in the age of the internet

"no one needs a smut zine when we have access to unlimited free porn on the internet" - anonymous person on a message board

Just in case you're unfamiliar with Lickety Split and would like a refresher on WHY we do this, here you go:

Lickety Split is a niche publication catering a particular community of people and we don't pretend to try to compete with mainstream porn in any form. We are definitely a zine and as such we endeavor to create something relevant to our own experiences and interests in a collect-able format that resists the commodified and disposable representations of sex and sexuality.

We still work with/have ties to other types of porn/smut and consume it ourselves along with more independent porn. We don't exist in a vacuum. We just enjoy making our own stuff.

MORE ABOUT LICKETY SPLIT:
Lickety Split is a pansexual smut zine dedicated to encouraging sex-positive expression and thought. The zine promotes collaborative art making and encourages diverse contributions to climb into bed with one another, because one sexual expression just does not satisfy. Lickety Split wants to help make the masses cum with smutty photography and art, essays and stories in order to fulfill the whole human being and address the complexity of sex.

Queer haircuts for queer kids!

Thanks to Ty for sending this along!!

QUEER COUPE
queer your hairstyle, glam your pride
[A FUNDRAISER FOR PROJECT 10
an organization for LGBTIQ youth]

20$ HAIRCUTS by some of montreal's hottest hair stylists:

[including:
jj from lesbian haircuts for anyone; dave from funky toque; justine from Osalon; jonas from carte blanche; cleo & more]

AUGUST 16TH
11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
at COMMUNITY DAY
during Pride Weekend.

>look for the PROJECT 10 tent
on STE. CATHERINE ST. EST
between Amherst & Wolfe<

reservations taken on the spot.

ALL PROCEEDS GO DIRECTLY TO PROJECT 10'S YOUTH PROGRAMMING