BC Trans Collective A - B.C wide trans collective that is open to all within the B.C trans community.
Nelson & District Youth CenterThe Nelson & District Youth Center aim is to promote a safe, positive atmosphere and to welcome all youth to their facility. Along with a variety of programs and daily schedule of events, NDYC is a great place for youth to hang out.
Nelson Poetry Slam
The next Slam
is at the Cocoa-Nut Lounge, 116 Vernon St, Nelson BC.
May 22, 2010, Harvey Milk Day: Activists rally for Transgender Rights on the steps of the Massachusetts State House. A bill adding "Gender Identity or Expression" to the state non-discrimination and hate crimes laws enjoys broad support but remains mired in committee.
The video above is "Grapes Of Wrath" by Namoli Brennet who transitioned male to female. [Like many gender-variant types, she simply identifies as “trans”] There’s something touching and achingly poignant about Brennet’s voice – maybe it’s the sound of transgender, the experience of knowing what it feels like to be unstable, on the edge, a little hard to define. namolibrennet.com
The Video above "Objects In The Mirror Are Queerer Than They Appear" is Ivan Coyote at the Pride Festival in Portland, Oregon, on June 19/2010. ivanecoyote.com

Prideline

Vancouver & Lower Mainland
Call: 604 684-6869
All of British Columbia
Call: 1-800-566-1170 (Toll Free)

The Prideline is The Qmunity Centre’s peer support phone line. It operates weeknights from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. serving LGBT communities locally and province wide, which includes Transgender & Transsexual people. The Prideline is staffed by trained volunteers.

BC Crisis Line

Greater Vancouver - 604-872-3311
BC-Wide -- 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433)
The Distress Line provides confidential, non-judgmental, free emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for people experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including feelings which may lead to suicide. They are here for you if you're worried about something, feel upset or confused, or you just want to talk to someone. You don't have to be suicidal to call them.

2010 AIDS Walk for Life, Saturday. September 18th: Please spread the word.

Aids Walk NelsonDear friends,

The 16th Annual Kootenay/ Boundary AIDS Walk for Life will take place in Nelson on Saturday, September 18, 2010. The AIDS Walk for Life is Canada’s largest single day event for HIV fundraising and awareness, and 100% of all funds raised are used by HIV positive residents of the Kootenay Boundary.

So, what can you do? You can join a team, start one yourself, be a proud, independent individual walker, come and rock out to the White Lightning Blues Band and chow down at the BBQ at Lakeside, or, if you can’t make it to the event, you can donate! Spread the word and pass this email on to all of your contacts!

Pledge submission and registration begin at Hall and Baker at 11 am and the walk commences at 12:00 pm. You can bike, skate, dance, walk or fly the 3 km distance of the route. At 1:00 pm, join us back at Kootenay Lake Park for a BBQ and get your groove on with the Frank Brooke, Mara Sand, Kevin Mckenzie, Dave Planedin, and Bonnie Johnson of the White Lightning Blues Band.

HIV/AIDS, discrimination, and barriers to those at risk of, or who have acquired the virus, are not going to resolve themselves. New treatments offer hope, but there is still no cure. Education is our only vaccine. The past success of this event clearly exhibits that we are a community that cares. Thank you for your support, time and kindness.

To register, or for more details about how to get involved, contact Casey or Brahm at ANKORS: information@ankors.bc.ca, aids-walk@ankors.bc.ca or 250-505-5506. Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to seeing you there!

More info, sign up online: ANKORS Website

Casey Hicks | West Kootenay-Boundary AIDS Walk for Life Coordinator
ANKORS | 250-505-5506

Video via Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life website.  Visit Nelson & Cranbrook pages.

B.C. Pride Events Article In Georgia Straight – No mention of West Kootenay, East Kootenay or Rocky Regions

It was disheartening to see the lack of representation for the West Kootenay, East Kootenay and Rocky Mt. Regions in this article today:  ”Gay folks rise up across B.C. for Pride festivities.”

I am assuming that the reason Carlito Pablo, writer of the article in The Georgia Straight, didn’t include any of the three regions, is because there is no representation for any current Gay Pride events on the internet. Just to be clear, I’m not dissing the writer or the Straight, this is: “Just the facts, m’am.”

I know that there are some photos by a few individuals here and there, but the official sites for both East & West Kootenay Pride, and the Rockies as well – none have any current information which could be used in the article, so it’s not suprising that the regions are not mentioned.

Sad indeed. Have a look for yourself – I Googled Kootenay Rockies Gay Pride and the following sites are all that the search offered on the entire first page.

To add insult to injury in my inquiry, I found out that the Rainbow Rockies website is closing in January 2011 due to lack of interest.

E. Kootenay & Rockies Pride Website - THIS SITE WILL CLOSE IN JANUARY 2011 – This site, the Rainbow Rockies Group, will be closing sometime in January 2011. …the momentum to keep this online group as a real help has certainly reduced to the point where it is no longer practical to keep our website going.

Kootenay Pride Website - The most recent information on this site is a link to photos of Kootenay Pride 2007!

She’s a Boy I Knew

Gwen Haworth documents her male-to-female gender transition through the voices of her parents, sisters, best friend and wife. The film explores the relationships of a family who unexpectedly find their bonds strengthening as they overcome their preconceptions of gender and sexuality.

Filmmaker Gwen Haworth: Why it’s important for trans people to make their own media images by Craig Takeuchi in Georgia Straight

Local filmmaker Gwen Haworth’s 2007 documentary about her gender transition, She’s a Boy I Knew is enjoying a local revival. This past year, it’s been shown at the UBC Film Production program’s 40th anniversary screening series The Big Picture, at the first annual Vancouver Trans Film Fest (part of the first Vancouver Trans Forum), and at In the House Festival. [read the full article in Georgia Straight]

She’s a Boy I Knew

Directed and produced by Gwen Haworth
Shapeshifter Films
70:00 • 2007
Available on DVD and VHS

“I loved She’s a Boy I Knew–made with loving care, it dares to reveal an inner journey without restraint. Beautifully executed, profoundly insightful. I found myself appreciating it as a mother, a friend, a sister and a filmmaker.” –Anne Wheeler, Director, Better Than Chocolate

Vancouver filmmaker Gwen Haworth documents her male-to-female gender transition partially through the voices of her anxious but loving family, best friend, and wife. Finding self-empowerment through self-representation, Haworth’s feature debut is a comic, heartbreaking, and uplifting autobiography that breaks away from marginalized depictions of transsexuals that populate mainstream media by focusing on a family whose bonds unexpectedly strengthen as they re-examine their preconceptions of gender and sexuality.

“Gwen Haworth creates an emotional space that engulfs the viewer in a way that’s extremely rare in any film, whether fiction or non-fiction.” –Kevin Griffin, The Vancouver Sun

http://www.artflick.com/distribute.html

Toronto’s 2010 Pride Weekend!

From naked torsos, to politicized marching, to fierce voguing, to proud voices, Deviant Productions presents an uncensored look at Toronto’s 2010 Pride Weekend!