This year’s Carleton Pride Week focuses on “queering the creative,” according to Merissa Taylor-Meissner, Gender and Sexuality Resource Centre (GSRC) programming co-ordinator.
The lineup includes more than just speeches and discussions: queer fanfiction and zine-making workshops, a “superqueero” keynote, and a dance party will be just a few of the events.
“We are going to be taking things like fairy tales and classic stories and making them queer,” Taylor-Meissner said. “We’re also celebrating queerness through dance with Ill Nana Dance Studio and Morgan Sea is our keynote. She is going to be doing a multimedia presentation on transitioning and how being trans fits this kind of comic book fantasy narrative.”
Taylor-Meissner said the GSRC wanted to take a more artistic—rather than academic—approach to awareness, education, and celebration of identity.
“Academic workshops can be very helpful, but a lot of times if people are new and nervous to things, then the academia can be over their heads,” she said. “So, we wanted to have workshops where people can just paint, where people can write fiction in their notebooks or where people can learn to dance at a level that is accessible for everybody. We think that will bring people together and that they will be able to express themselves through their art.”
Kole Peplinskie kicked off the celebration with a Two-Spirit workshop.
“It’s really hard to explain what Two-Spirit is with Western words,” Peplinskie said. “It’s more than just having a male and female spirit, it also has to do with reclaiming gender as a non-binary thing, reclaiming your Indigenous identity within the sexuality and gender frameworks.”
Peplinskie said the Two-Spirit identity is often overlooked.
“We very much focus on the ‘G’ and the ‘L,’ but not really the terms that fall underneath the trans umbrella and Two-Spirit is definitely a really important one that needs to be recognized.”
Hope-Adina Adler said she found the workshop really useful.
“I feel a lot more informed to go home and inform other people that I know about it,” she said.
“Especially for the queer community, it is good to learn about other cultures that intersect with the queer community. And for people like myself who are Aboriginal, native, or Indigenous that can learn more about their culture,” she said.
Taylor-Meissner said workshops like this are important.
“People learn about themselves and they’re able to create community,” she said.
Melina Pelley, GSRC administrative co-ordinator, said that is what Pride Week is all about.
“It’s all about building a community and making sure that folks feel like they can build connections and they can make friends,” Pelley said. “One of the big things we strive for with Pride is to make sure that there are safe spaces for everybody that wants to come and celebrate.”
Pride Week continued with a talent showcase Jan. 21, and other events finishing Jan. 23. Taylor-Meissner and Pelley said they are planning several other events and workshops for February and March, including workshops on queer sign language and queer deaf culture, among others.
