In light of the recent COVID-19 outbreak in Whitehorse, Dawson City and Watson Lake, the Yukon Pride Month organizing team has made the difficult decision to modify, postpone, or cancel our in-person events across the Yukon. This includes a postponement of the Dawson City Pride Festival, Watson Lake Pride events, and all in-person Whitehorse events.
Queer Yukon’s online events will continue to take place as scheduled, including:
Please visit www.YukonPride2021.com for more information on how to register and attend these upcoming events. Our organizing team is currently working on making a modified plan for the Flashy & Trashy Cabaret, and shifting our Pride Picnic to a food pick-up event. The in-person book launch by Ivan Coyote is being organized by the Yukon Arts Centre - for any updates on this event, please visit: https://yukonartscentre.com/ The dates, times and other details for postponed events will be announced as soon as they are available. This year, Yukon Pride Month celebrations focused on bringing the community together, supporting one another and creating spaces where we all belong. As such, we have taken a cautious approach to our community organizing in order to take care of ourselves and each other during this difficult time. We want all LGBTQIA2S+ Yukoners to know that there are ways to connect with community online and that we will be here when it’s safe to gather again. Although we can’t be together right now, please know that you’re not alone! There are still many ways folx can celebrate Pride:
6/8/2021 Honouring the 215Duane Gastant' Aucoin, Vice Presidnet for Queer Yukon Society asked us to share this story.
To honour the 215 Indigenous children whose remains were recently found at a former residential school in BC, Duane helped to organize a memorial in Pembroke, Ontario, where he currently resides. Duane purchased one blue and one pink pair of shoes. When Duane was placing the shoes on the Cathedral steps, he ended up placing the blue and pink shoes together in a pair. Duane said, "I was going to change them until I realised that this was for the 2-spirit children who never made it home!" To learn more about Duane's story and the memorial he helped organize, please visit: https://www.pembrokeobserver.com/news/local-news/pembroke-memorial-forms-for-215-children-found-at-former-b-c-residential-school Duane also made a video you can watch by clicking the button below. *** La version française suit *** May 5, 2021 Currie Dixon MLA, Copperbelt North Leader, Yukon Party Sent via email: info@yukonparty.ca Dear Currie Dixon, RE: Addressing Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia in the Yukon Party Queer Yukon Society was deeply disturbed and profoundly disappointed to learn of recent comments made by Yukon Party MLAs about their own colleagues. In addition to being a form of bullying and harassment, jokes about “women with penises'' are blatantly transphobic. These comments and their focus on an individual’s genitalia are not only rude - they are dehumanizing and promote a dangerous culture of transphobia in the Yukon. We are deeply disappointed to see Yukon Party MLAs and their supporters attempt to demean and humiliate anyone with lewd references to our community. The 2021 Yukon Party Platform promised a “bold vision” and “new thinking” for the Yukon and we want to see that applied to your party’s work on addressing homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia. These words from Wade Istchenko and Stacey Hassard were a betrayal of campaign promises to “stand for and represent all Yukoners” and a betrayal of the trust and hope we had for a better Yukon Party. When we surveyed political parties on LGBTQIA2S+ issues during the campaign, the Yukon party committed to “show leadership to ensure that we build a more inclusive Yukon by seeking the views and respecting the input of [our] community.” We are therefore calling on the Yukon Party to give us “Action for a Change” when it comes to addressing homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia. Queer Yukon Society is specifically calling on the Yukon Party to take the following actions:
In 2021, we are profoundly disappointed to find elected officials who are more concerned with an individual’s genitals than with their ideas, passion for community, or integrity. Sincerely, Mona Luxion (They/Them) President Queer Yukon Society Board of Directors
*** Le 5 mai 2021 Currie Dixon Député territorial, Copperbelt North Chef du Parti du Yukon Envoyé par courriel : info@yukonparty.ca Cher Currie Dixon, OBJET : Lutte contre l’homophobie, la biphobie et la transphobie au sein du Parti du Yukon La Queer Yukon Society a été profondément troublée et déçue d’apprendre les récents commentaires faits par des députés du Parti du Yukon au sujet de leurs propres collègues. En plus d’être une forme d’intimidation et de harcèlement, les blagues sur les « femmes avec un pénis » sont manifestement transphobes. Ces commentaires et l’accent mis sur les organes génitaux d’une personne ne sont pas seulement grossiers — ils sont déshumanisants et favorisent une dangereuse culture de la transphobie au Yukon. Nous sommes profondément déçu·e·s de voir les député·e·s du Parti du Yukon et leurs partisan·e·s tenter d’avilir et d’humilier quiconque en faisant des références lubriques à notre communauté. La plateforme 2021 du Parti du Yukon promettait une « vision audacieuse » et une « nouvelle façon de penser » pour le Yukon et nous voulons que cela s’applique au travail de votre parti pour lutter contre l’homophobie, la biphobie et la transphobie. Ces mots de Wade Istchenko et Stacey Hassard sont une trahison des promesses de campagne de « défendre et représenter tous les Yukonnais·es » et une trahison de la confiance et de l’espoir que nous avions d’un meilleur Parti du Yukon. Lorsque nous avons interrogé les partis politiques sur les questions relatives aux personnes LGBTQ2+ pendant la campagne, le Parti du Yukon s’est engagé à « se poser comme meneur pour s’assurer que nous construisons un Yukon plus inclusif en recherchant les points de vue de [notre] communauté et en respectant notre contribution ». Nous demandons donc au Parti du Yukon « d’agir pour le changement » lorsqu’il s’agit de s’attaquer à l’homophobie, la biphobie et la transphobie. La Queer Yukon Society demande spécifiquement au Parti du Yukon de prendre les mesures suivantes :
Sincèrement, Mona Luxion (iel) Président·e Conseil d’administration de la Queer Yukon Society
-30- For Media Inquiries, please contact Edwine Veniat (She/Her), Head of Communications, via email at edwine@queeryukon.com Pour les demandes d'entrevue, veuillez contacter la responsable des communications, Edwine Veniat (elle), par courriel à edwine@queeryukon.com.
11/19/2020 Virtual Trans Day of Remembrance EventsTransgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is an annual observance on November 20 that honors the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence What is Transgender Day of Remembrance? Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence since Rita Hester's death, and began an important tradition that has become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. "Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. With so many seeking to erase transgender people -- sometimes in the most brutal ways possible -- it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice." -Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith Reposted From: GLAAD: Transgender Day of Remembrance Image Credit: https://www.glaad.org/tdor SELECT virtual tdor events in canadaTDOR 2020: Open to Expression Nov. 20 @ 4pm (Yukon Time) Hosted by: UBC Okanagan Open to Expression is focused on community, resilience, and the exploration of gender and identity through diverse expressions of art. Drawing from our local context on the unceded, traditional territory of the Syilx Peoples, TDOR kick off the event with a discussion on art as a medium for gender expression and the exploration of resilience, pain, and joy. The discussion will be followed by an open mic where individuals can choose to read poetry, essays and short stories, perform a music, drag, and spoken word piece, and/ or create a live visual art piece. Trans Day of Remembrance Online Vigil Fri. Nov. 20 @ 12pm (Yukon Time) Facilitated by Victoria Bucholtz Hosted by Queer Education Foundation (Calgary) Watch online (Facebook Live) at: https://www.facebook.com/Queer-Education-Foundation-112014950656968 TDOR 2020: 2Spirit Transgender Day of Remembrance
Fri. Nov. 20, 2020 @ 6:30pm (YUKON TIME) Sacred Fire Invocation Calling of Names Sponsored by Two-Spirited People of Manitoba Inc. and Manitoba Moon Voices Inc. Register by email at: awmbizon@mymts.net 10/17/2020 Queer Yukon Society AGM & Drag BingoRegister todayJoin Queer Yukon Society for our upcoming Annual General Meeting. Find out about all of the exciting things we've been working on over the past year, including the Yukon Pride Festival and the Yukon Pride Centre. Meeting happening on: Tues. Nov. 17, 2020 @ 7pm. Being Held via Zoom REGISTER HERE TO ATTEND THE MEETINGTo get the Zoom Link for the upcoming meeting, please complete the Membership Application Form below 2020 Queer Yukon SOCIety AGenda Package
Join our board!This is also your chance to join the Queer Yukon Society board and make a difference in your community! Although everyone is welcome to apply, Queer Yukon Society encourages applications from members of the LGBTQ2S+ community, including but not limited to: those living in Whitehorse and Yukon's communities, francophones, People of Colour, people with disabilities, trans/non-binary people, two spirit / indigiqueer people, and women. To find out more about joining the board, please contact: info@queeryukon.com Special Meeting of membersImmediately before the AGM starts, we plan to hold a Special General Meeting of members to vote on: 1. Motion to Waive the Membership Fee for the 2020 AGM 2. Special Resolution to Waive the Financial Review for 2019-2020 What does the Special Resolution Mean? The Societies Act says that Queer Yukon does not have to have a financial review if the members agree not to have one. In past years, members have agreed not to have one. We plan to have a financial review done by a professional accountant, but it takes a long time to prepare and won't be ready in time for the AGM. This is the first year we are doing a financial review. This motion says that:
We will share the financial review with members once it is finished. The full agenda for the upcoming Special General Meeting is attached below.
Bylaws & Proposing motionsThe QYS board is committed to hearing from our members. In order to add an item to the AGM agenda, QYS strongly encourages members to contact the board by Tues. Nov. 3, 2020 @ 11:59pm to give the QYS board enough time to provide the required notice to members in advance of the Annual General Meeting. Items submitted after Nov. 3, 2020 can still be discussed at the AGM, but according to our bylaws, resolutions submitted after this date cannot be voted on by members at this meeting. You can contact QYS using the contact form on this website or by emailing: info@queeryukon.com The QYS board is committed to transparency in the proceedings for the upcoming AGM. Items submitted for the AGM Agenda by members will either be: 1. Added to the AGM Agenda OR; 2. Identified and communicated to members as not being on the AGM Agenda. Items not placed on the agenda will include the board's rationale for not including that item (e.g. trans/homo/biphobic requests, items proposed "in bad faith", items requiring an additional special general meeting of members). The AGM agenda will be sent out to members in advance of the meeting. At the AGM itself, the AGM agenda can be confirmed or amended by a simple majority vote of members. However, items submitted to QYS after Nov. 3, 2020 cannot be voted on at the AGM, as it does not allow us enough time to provide notice to members. Queer Yukon Society bylaws are largely identical to the default bylaws outlined in the Societies Act. The only difference is that a motion was passed at the 2018 AGM limiting the number of board members to 8. The bylaws can be found here, starting on page 13: https://legislation.yukon.ca/regs/oic1988_124.pdf Drag bingo to follow the agm!!The AGM will be followed by Drag Bingo featuring guest host, Jolene Queen!
Play a free round of bingo on us and you could win one of several amazing prizes! You must have have an internet connection to play and must be present on the zoom call to win. We will send all players the link to play during the call. We encourage you to treat this free Bingo as any other entertainment activity. To learn more about how to recognize if your Bingo play is becoming anything other than the game it should be, read Learn the Facts: Keep it a Game. |
About queer yukon societyQueer Yukon Society supports, promotes, and organizes events for the LGBTQ2S+ community and our allies in Whitehorse, Yukon. Officially incorporated in 2018, Queer Yukon has been organizing Yukon Pride since 2013, as well as many other events to bring together LGBTQ2S+ and allied Yukoners to build a strong and vibrant community. Archives
December 2023
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