Divas Girls Group - "It's a Queer World!"
IT’S A QUEER WORLD!
All terms and definitions have been sourced from the 519 Community centre - www.the519.org/
"Crop
tops are not Hot", new National Holidays includes FREE SHAWARMA and
Islamophobia is a still a Hot Topic as students battle it out for their
right to practice prayer inside the TDSB.
All this and more inside Regent Parks Divas Group.
While
my evening started out with a lesson in the language of biomedics;
scientists keep your strawberries fresher, longer, with silk fibroid
protein and use jellyfish genes to differentiate cloned puppies for
natural borns (yes they really used glow-in-the-dark toenails as the
distinguishing factor). PETA anyone? The Divas took another turn,
journeying into the heavy dialogue of gender and sexuality. Host and
self-identified pansexual, Londzo,
took the time to address the topic with an in depth look into the
conflicts in finding love in same-sex relationships, using her poetry to
shine light on to the challenges
of cis-passing privilege within her own community. The topic was met
with compassion, understanding and extended learning presenting the
girls with space to voice their own concerns on law making, law
abolishment and ideal holidays. The girls presented their own works,
raising an eyebrow to current islamophobia, the travel ban, teachers
dissuading prayer in public school systems and the delay in police
response to local murders. So while the plight towards tolerance in
public conversations of sexuality continue, islamophobia is still around
taking the hits. Can you imagine bearing the burden of both?
Sabah talks about his life as a transgender Muslim:
Sabah talks about his life as a transgender Muslim:
Just
something to think about. To put it in context…here are some terms of
ally-ship that you can use when going against discrimination and
discriminatory acts committed against persons of the LQBTQ community
PANSEXUAL A person who has the potential for romantic and sexual attraction to people of any gender or sex.
CISGENDER
Types of gender identity where an individual's experience of their own
gender matches the sex they were assigned at birth.
HETERONORMATIVE
Refers to the commonplace assumption that all people are heterosexual
and that everyone accepts this as “the norm”. The term heteronormativity
is used to describe prejudice against people that are not heterosexual,
and is less overt or direct and more widespread or systemic in society,
organizations, and institutions. This form of systemic prejudice may
even be unintentional and unrecognized by the people or orga¬nizations
responsible.
(GENDER)
BINARY A social system whereby people are thought to have either one
of two gen¬ders: “man” or “woman.” These genders are expected to
correspond to birth sex: male or female. In the gender binary system,
there is no room for living between genders or for transcending the
gender binary. The gender binary system is rigid and restrictive for
many people whose sex assigned at birth does not match up with their
gender, or whose gender is fluid and not fixed.
TRANSGENDER
This term has many definitions. It is frequently used as an umbrella
term to refer to all people who do not identify with their assigned
gender at birth or the binary gender system. This includes transsexuals,
cross-dressers, genderqueer, drag kings, drag queens, two-spirit
people, and others. Some transgender people feel they exist not within
one of the two standard gender categories, but rather somewhere between,
beyond, or outside of those two genders.
Check Out #YourStoryOurHistory for an overseas perspective on Queerness within the Law
Interested in becoming an ally check out, The Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity
And if you know some ways on how to address bullying and harassment within the school environment? Comment below.
By: Paige Lewis (Divas volunteer)
Date: December 8, 2017
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