On this episode, we speak to trainer Em Lamache about fitness for trans and non-binary folks and how they launched their brand new LGBTQ-inclusive fitness program in Edmonton. And we discuss feeling exposed and vulnerable at the gym.
Category Archives: Trans/Gender Variant Issues
Trans-cendance (Part 2)
On this episode, we wrap up our conversation with trans activist and radio personality, Daphne Shaed, also known as the Woman With A Penis.
Trans-cendance (Part 1)
On this episode, we sit down with trans activist and radio personality, Daphne Shaed, also known as the Woman With A Penis. In part one of our interview, she talks about her experience as a trans woman and the portrayal of trans people in the media.
Edmonton Events – July!
Hey feminists!!
Here is some cool stuff happening in the lovely Edmonton:
This weekend is the 2013 Healing Walk through the tar sands!! July 5th – 7th!
There is still time to gooo!!
The Healing Walk was born out of a need to heal. The Healing walk is not a rally, march or protest, but an acknowledgement of the people and other living beings, the water, the land and the air, that is suffering due to our unhealthy energy addictions.
This years Healing walk will be on July 5th and 6th 2013. There is a lot of significance being the fourth year of the Healing Walk and the Indigenous people have many teachings around this and say that there is 4 to everything we do, some being; 4 directions, 4 seasons, 4 parts to our lives (spiritual, physical, mental and emotional). This year’s walk has a lot of meaning to us and will be a special experience for all who will be attending. To see last year’s Healing Walk, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay9L6Sn28_8
Confirmed attending as guest speakers: Wab Kinew, Tantoo Cardinal, Sylvia McAdam, Bill McKibbon (founder of 350.org), Naomi Klein, Francois Paulette and former Dene Grand Chief Sam Gargon!
There will be sessions on Friday during the day; some of the session will be on solar energy, traditional foods and others.
Schedule of Events: The dates for the Healing Walk are July 5 & 6, 2013.
FRIDAY, JULY 5
12pm: Meet and Greet, WorkshopsSATURDAY, JULY 6:
9am: Pipe Ceremony at Crane Lake Park
10am: Healing Walk
6pm: Feast and Closing CeremonyWe have booked a campsite at Indian Beach near Anzac for the event. Please bring your own camping gear and food. We will provide some dinner on the 5 & 6 and snacks during the walk but otherwise you will be responsible for your own meals. If you require a billet (reserved for elders or those with disabilities) please contact us here. We want to make sure the Healing Walk is a powerful experience for everyone and that means making sure we have enough food, supplies, and accommodations for everyone.
Please take the time to register. It will help us a lot! http://www.healingwalk.org/register
Background:
The Healing Walk started in 2010 in Fort McMurray Alberta, which is located in the Northern Boreal Forest. Fort McMurray is in Treaty 8 where for the past 50 years there has been oil extraction. Initially the extraction was oil, it is now crude which is a much heavier form of oil and takes more energy and water to extract, making it one if the dirtiest oils on the planet. The closest major river that runs through Fort McMurray is the Athabasca River. The Athabasca River starts in Jasper and runs through communities such as Fort McKay, Fort Chipewyan and Fort Smith and eventually drains into the Artic Basin. It virtually affects Treaty 7, 6, 8 and 11 directly. As the demand for tar sands oil continues to grow, more natural resources closest to these projects are being exhausted and contaminated with many toxics that are directly affecting and jeopardizing human health, health of other and all living beings, water, land and air. Some scientists have classified the tar sands as the most destructive project on the planet. Many groups and grassroots people have been actively engaged in education on different levels to inform the public and promote healthier progression, including diversity of economy, to include a strong market in alternative and more sustainable options, like solar energy. Solar being a much less destructive option. The Healing Walk is sponsored by the Keepers of the Athabasca. Keepers of the Athabasca is a collection of First Nations, Metis, Inuit, environmental groups, and watershed citizens working together for the protection of water, land and air, and thus for all living things today and tomorrow in the Athabasca River Watershed.
Also another great event:
A Queer Summer Night’s Dream taking place July 20th.
Queersummer Night’s Dream is a variety show/cabaret-style event with a little bit of dance, drag, music, installation, poetry, and, of course, mood lighting!
Queersummer’s Night’s Dream is hosted/organized by Queer Royale (a gender performance troupe) and funded by APIRG (Alberta Public Interest Research Group) and the EAC (Edmonton Arts Council/City of Edmonton).
When: July 20th, 2013
Doors: 6pm
Show: 7pmWhere: St. Stephen’s Anglican Church, 11725 93 St NW, Edmonton, AB. Venue is physically accessible, including washrooms. QR is working with NICA Consolidated for English ASL Interpretation and will have 3 interpreters present for the event.
Costs: NO ONE TURNED AWAY, suggested donation $5-$10
This is a licensed event 18+As modeled after the Great Bard’s tale (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare) the theme of the evening is all about dream-states, unexpected couplings, trickery, and transformations.
Our intentions are to showcase art and performance from QTTPLGB (Queer, trans*, pansexual, two-spirt, lesbian, gay, and bisexual) communities and our allies and invite connection, collaboration and conversation among folks from all aspects of the community.
Together with you we would like to create safe(r) performance spaces that are intended to be cooperative, consensual, accessible, and entertaining. We want to invite people to have some good old fashion (and more inclusive) FUN!
Contact info: queerroyale@gmail.com
Also the Gender based violence prevention project is looking for Zine submissions!
Hey community! The Gender Based Violence Prevention Project needs your help in creating a resource for queer/gender-variant/LGBTTQA* community members to improve access to supports and services on campus and in our city.
GBVPP is creating a safer sex package for all First Year students at Orientation this year and we really wanted to create a Pink Pages zine. The Pink Pages zine would identify resources, supports, services, and events in Edmonton that foster queer community and support inclusivity. We will also have a specific section in the zine that will focus on inclusive gender based violence supports and services.
Please include in your submission: Name of service, address/location, contact info, office hours, rates (sliding scale), event dates, etc. and any other info that you think is important. Also please include how your service, events etc. are inclusive to queer/gender-variant/LGBTTQA* community members’ identified folks!
If you don’t have a resource or service in mind, but want to contribute art/stories/poems to the zine please do! (Think about what you might have wanted to hear as a First Year student at the University or as someone who is looking for a supportive community/service)
Please submit your contributions by July 15, 2013 to melanie.alexander@su.ualberta.ca or give us a call at 780.492.4949.
News: Breast cancer risks, alcohol consumption during pregnancy, lesbian student fights discrimination, Indigenous women debate sex work legalization
Breast Cancer risk has risen for South Asian women. From the BBC:
Historically women from this ethnic group have had a lower risk of the disease than white British women, the University of Sheffield team said.
But they found breast cancer incidence had risen in recent years for South Asian women.
Experts said lifestyle factors such as obesity, or more coming forward for screening could explain the change.
The researchers, who are presenting their work to the National Cancer Intelligence Network Conference in Brighton on Friday, looked at census and cancer data for 135,000 women from different ethnic backgrounds from 2000-2009.
Between 2000-2004, South Asian women were found to have a 45% cent lower rate of breast cancer compared with white women.
But by the 2005-2009 period, rates of breast cancer among South Asian women had increased significantly and had risen to be 8% higher than white women, whose rates had not changed significantly.
last year mothers-to-be were warned by researchers at Oxford and Bristol Universities that drinking one or two glasses of wine a week during pregnancy could have an impact on a child’s IQ.
In a report, Public Health Wales (PHW) said such “constant changes to advice in relation to alcohol are unhelpful”.
It said it caused “confusion and can also result in a lack of trust and regard for future messages, not only in relation to alcohol, but also for other health issues”.
While the prevalence of substance misuse during pregnancy is not clear, PHW said some 64,000 Welsh children may be adversely affected by parental alcohol problems.
Despite this, services and support for substance misuse in pregnancy vary across Wales and tend to focus more on drugs, it added.
The report recommended that midwives and nurses around Wales be given training to discuss the issue with women and encourage and support them to try to cut down on their drinking.
The article also published some effects of drinking while pregnant:
- When a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, the levels of alcohol in her baby’s blood rise as high as her own
- Because the baby’s liver is immature, it can’t break down the alcohol as fast as an adult can
- This means the baby is exposed to greater amounts of alcohol for longer than the mother
- When an unborn baby is constantly exposed to alcohol, a particular group of problems can develop, known as foetal alcohol syndrome
- The government advises pregnant women to avoid alcohol completely, although if they do choose to drink, it says not to have more than one to two units of alcohol once or twice a week.
- The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says there’s no evidence a couple of units once or twice a week will harm the baby. Binges, even if you don’t do it regularly, are definitely to be avoided
In 2011, Grace University, a Christian university, expelled Danielle Powell, only months before graduating, after discovering that she was in a relationship with another woman. The university is now demanding she pay $6,000 of federal student financial aid she received for her studies since she did not finish the semester.
“Canada needs to take a stand that we’re not going to live off the backs of our women, our vulnerable women who feel this is a choice. This is not a choice,” said Perrier, now 37, who co-founded the Toronto organization Sextrade101. “This is was not my choice, it was his choice.”
Perrier said Canada should adopt a similar policy as Sweden where the client can be charged but not the sex trade worker.
Adamant Eve 