This episode features Banah el Ghadbanah, communications manager at The Library Vintage in Fayetteville, Arkansas, a community hub for the queer and trans community. Ghadbanah discusses the library’s decision against non-profit status and highlights its diverse events, inclusive resources, and current GoFundMe campaign to support ongoing initiatives.
“Fugazi Saved My Life: How Punk Made Me Less of an Asshole” is the latest zine from Microcosm Publishing, exploring the transformative impact of punk music. The issue focuses on a 1993 Fugazi gig, while its predecessor celebrates Yeastie Girlz, a punk band challenging societal norms. Both zines convey punk’s role in personal growth and social awareness.
Stevie Bees chats about the boost David Tennant gave to their trans-positive T-shirt brand which has enabled Stevie to infuse more positive energy into the gender-diverse community we live in through activism, bursaries, and public speaking.
United Way Perth-Huron’s Social Research & Planning Council is partnering with the University of Guelph on a study focused on local 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals’ experiences with discrimination and exclusion, priorities important to the community and the availability, or lack, of services across Perth-Huron.
The following five podcasts have also been getting a lot of plays, and they round out the top 10 most popular episodes of the Woodstein Media Podcast.
The stage of the Axis Club in Toronto was transformed into the landscape that ended up focusing the global eye on an artistic band of Russian activists. Although Pussy Riot has yet to topple Putin’s regime, the notoriety they achieved in 2012 has made them an activist force to be reckoned with.
Riot Days is a play based on the memoir of Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina. Although the performance maintained the original Russian language, the story of resistance, repression and revolution has been cleverly presented in a multi-media blitz that even allows those of us who are unfortunate monolinguists to follow along and feel a part of the concert, rally, theatre and political happening. After all, as they say, “anyone can be Pussy Riot.”
In this episode, Barrie Ontario musician Earl Wyvern discusses their history and involvement in the DIY Arts Collective, which progressed to a deep involvement in music, promoting shows through Gay Ass Productions and slamming eardrums on recording and stages for the past ten years. They are currently playing with Angry Spells and digging deeper into what they refer to as their “horrendous progressive politics” with Earl Wyvern and Spare Parts.
Essentially, their horrendous politics, which they describe as “queer” and “militant,” are just a wish for people to be treated fairly and not single out specific segments of society with excuses not to be kind to them. Wyvern describes this as “what-aboutism” and that when people set out to do good for people, they don’t discriminate about who deserves help in times of need.
Six southern Ontario bands rocked Barrie, Ontario’s Simcoe Hotel, in support of trans youth on October 15 during Stonewall 2: Fundraiser Boogaloo.
People who didn’t make it out to enjoy the music ranging from acoustic folk punk to punk and pop rock but still want to support transgender youth as they endure attacks from far-right agitators across Canada can contribute at https://www.transwellness.ca. Trans Wellness Ontario provides counselling, resources and peer support for transgender youth in Ontario at a time when anti-2SLGBTQIA rhetoric is on the rise.
Gay-Ass Productions is presenting Stonewall 2: Fundraiser Boogaloo at the Simcoe Hotel in Barrie on October 15. Money raised will support transgender youth through Trans Wellness Ontario. This organization provides counselling, resources and peer support for Trans Youth in Ontario at a time when anti-2SLGBTQIA rhetoric is on the rise.
Six bands are on the bill: Morel, Chachi On Acid, Earl Wyvern with Spare Parts, Mercy, Speed Humps, and Not So Gentle at the Simcoe Hotel, 31 Bayfield St. Barrie, On for $15. It’s 19+, and the doors open at 7 p.m. sharp. The bands will be playing shortly after, and it will run like clockwork.
As anti-trans rhetoric gets normalized across Canada, activists stand up to the hatred. This episode highlights the work and activism of Celeste Trianon, a trans-feminine jurist and activist. On the legal front, she helps people in Quebec with name and gender marker changes. Across Canada, she has been involved in activism, resisting hatred directed towards the 2SLGBTQIA community, specifically trans, two-spirit and non-binary people.
