XQQ 2016 Pride Edition

BLEED AREA

SOLSTICE 2016 Price: $4.99

Special for P

By Don ride! ation!

PRIDE EDITION

Special Interviews:

Lorraine Grieves

and

Terry Froud The 2016 Canada BATHROOM REPORT Queer Op-Ed: Teaching the Elephant to Dance PLUS:

Our regular columns:

INSIDE:

YOUR QUEER GUIDE TO PRIDE

Pepper & Pearl The Stars Are Ours Events Calendar

$$$ Hundreds of Dollars' Worth of Valuable Festival Coupons Inside!

Cross Queer Quarterly

2

BLEED AREA XQQ Pride Edition 2016

XQQ Editor-in-Chief Atley Jonas Production Manager Chrys Tei Interview Editor James Gardner Editor/Proofreader Roxana Argast Horoscopes Barry Perlman

CONTENTS Interview

Sed ac orci magna. Suspendisse

5

accumsan diam eu quam.

News

Sed gravida consequat dolor.

News

Cum sociis natoque penatibus

XQQ (Cross Queer Quarterly) is a Victoria, B.C. Op-Ed based publication that represents the trans and gender Curabitur et odio purus. Ut eu purus sed arcu non-confirming segments of the queer community.

Cool Beans While the core of our focus is on stories directly con- Mauris convallis et turpis nec cerning and of interest to trans/GNC people of B.C., dignissim we are open and committed to give a voice to any Trans Services Nulla tincidunt convallis mauris members of the rainbow community and those who a cursus. stand with us as allies.

Trans Guide to Pride Disclaimer: The ideas and opinions represented withPepper & Pearl in are solely those of their respective authors. XQQ does not endorse or support any causes mentioned Stars Are Ours herein, unless expressly stated.

7 9 11 13 15-19 23-29 30 31

Territorial Avowal WHY WE SAY AVOWAL In 55 when Ginsberg howled the world responded with a scowl in Oh Canada, we, a righteous crowd a machine unhindered onward plowed Into First Nations homes where we did say No kids allowed, take them all away.

Their basic rights we cast aside Sucked from their marrow this source of pride For this, no price paid, our souls mislaid Our true shame, still true today So like Ginsberg in the past, Now in turn, this, our time to howl Their hearts, their land, unceded, we do avowal

Alan Ginsberg was the poet laureate of the beatnik generation and Howl was the anthem he wrote for them.

* Our Cover Image features Brae Carnes on the provincial legislature lawn. For more about Brae, flip to pg. 8 in this issue.

The concept behind this cover was to illustrate how many trans people feel like they have no voice in their communities or control over their destinies throughout the many aspects of their lives: medically, legally, and socially. If this cover has made you think, or evoked strong emtions one way or another, then it has achieved its purpose!

3

Cross Queer Quarterly

4

BLEED AREA XQQ Pride Edition 2016

W

EDITOR’S NOTE

hen I originally sat down to write this message, my intended message was very different than the one that you see before you now. It was written under a very different set of circumstances. It was written in anticipation of an amazing, fun-filled, joyful Pride month with the Victoria Pride Parade and Festival as its apex. This was before the tragedy happened.

Along with the rest of you, I watched in shocked horror as the surreal news unfolded in Orlando, Florida, on June 12. I watched as the news media suddenly became inundated with reports of a mass shooting that took the lives of 49 innocent victims at Pulse, a gay nightclub. When Anderson Cooper cried as he read out the names of the victims, I cried with him. A boy of 18... A mother of 11 children. The killings were brutal, indiscriminate, and incomprehensible.

A large part of me wanted to throw in the towel and cancel the Pride issue altogether... At least until after we had a chance to mourn; a chance to recover; a change to make sense of it all, and to get to a place where celebration, joy, and happiness would make more sense. And still now, even as I convinced myself that we must go on, Pride juxtaposed with this tragedy is a non sequitur at best.

Yet, isn’t this exactly the type of hatred that helped bring about about Pride in the first place? It was out of adversity, intolerance, and a “we’re not going to take it anymore” revolution, that the LGBTQA+ community banded together and sent a message to the world: We’re here! We’re Queer! Get used to it! If it weren’t for the Stonewall riots of 1969, history may have evolved quite differently. And now, forty seven years later, U.S. President Barack Obama dedicated the Stonewall National Monument at the site of the original Stonewall Inn in New York, the bar where it all started. It is the first national monument in the U.S. to be dedicated to the LGBT community.

So while this year’s Pride festivities undoubtedly will have a dark shadow cast over them, let us at least use that as a dire reminder that our work is not finished.

There is plenty left for us to do in fighting prejudice, intolerance, homophobia and transphobia, and the deadly violence it brings. Pulse is OUR generation’s Stonewall. It is OUR call to action and OUR reason for ensuring our voices are heard. We will MUST celebrate Pride for as long as it takes! And maybe someday, we truly won’t need to, because love and acceptance for all will be the norm. Although I have to say, I hope that even then, we’ll have plenty of chances to wear rainbow-coloured tutus and dance through the streets, because let’s face it, that’s a helluva lot of fun!

On that note, I wish you all a wonderful Pride Festival. Please, keep safe, enjoy all the great events that are scheduled, and as we remember the victims of Orlando, remember also that they died dancing. I’d like to think that they would want us to celebrate extra-hard for them, and for ourselves. Hatred and violence must never be allowed to win. And the best way I can think of to fight it, is with love, laughter, happiness, and celebration... Even if it’s a hard thing to do.

5

Cross Queer Quarterly

Interview with Lorraine Grieves, Provincial Program Director, Trans Care BC

I

By: James Gardner

n 2015, the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) assumed responsibility for the co-ordination of transgender health services from the BC Ministry of Health, and began consultation with people from transgender communities, clinical experts, and other stakeholders on how best to create and expand services.

In May of last year, PHSA announced the rollout of the Trans Care BC Program during a community consultation event held in Vancouver. At that time, PHSA announced the hiring of a Provincial Program Director for Trans Care BC, and Lorraine Grieves took on the directorship in October of 2015.

Grieves is a seasoned health services leader and certified clinical counselor, and has vast experience in the health and non-profit social service sectors.

XQQ contributor, James Gard ner put some questions to Lorraine Grieves about her background and details about the program.

Where are you originally from?

I am from a third generation, settler family of English and Scottish roots, and grew up on the Coast Salish Territories of the Tseil-Waututh, Musqueam and Squamish peoples. I have lived most of my life on the East Side of Vancouver.

What brings you to this work (with the trans and gender non-conforming community)?

I came to work with trans and gender diverse people and communities through my own community and family of gender-diverse, queer, and trans folks. Supporting loved ones and friends in accessing services and care, as well as providing direct professional health care support as a cisgender counsellor, led me to want to be a part of making change on a provin6

cial level. Improving access to safe and supportive trans care closer to home is a need, and one that’s working to address in my new role with PHSA.

The first few months were focused on building a structure for the program to determine staff needs, etc. Getting a better understanding of the current state of care and the gaps in care across the province has been really important to ensure that we move forward in the best way.

we will have a team in place to support a Clinical Resource Hub, to provide navigation support for those seeking gender-affirming related care. Reducing wait times for assessments and services is a pressing priority and work is in progress to support this while we work on longer-term goals.

This work includes gathering an inventory of current services throughout the province, and working through wait lists to ensure people are seen in a timely manner. Tools and methods for monitoring quality and outcomes of services are also being developed.

In October of 2015 we added aftercare funding for those who are travelling to Montreal for surgeries. At the end of May,

The PHSA website is the best place to look for current updates, as there is a lot of work underway including engagement

It’s been a year since the Trans Care BC program was announced. What have you been able to accomplish so far?

BLEED AREA XQQ Pride Edition 2016 and planning with the regional health authorities.

The overall program implementation plan reflects recommendations put forward by a Steering Committee in 2015.

We have organized the work in alignment with those recommendations, which call for a focus on increasing access to peer and community supports closer to home, safe and supportive primary care services (doctors, nurses, mental health support, etc.) closer to home, medical transition services closer to home (I.e. surgery and hormones).

All of the Trans Care BC program activities fall under these goals, with a provincial education strategy to support this work.

What still needs to be accomplished?

There is still a great deal of consultation and work to do. Currently there is no formal care pathway for trans health, provincially. Immediate work is underway to address this and once a consistent pathway is confirmed, our goal is to make the pathway clear and easier to navigate.

There was a lot of distrust from the trans community heading into this program. Is that still the case, or have you been able to move past that?

plans to address these?

The lack of aftercare following surgeries in Montreal...

We now have a clinical hub resource team made up of a physician, nurses and health navigators who are connecting with each person scheduled to go to Montreal for surgery. They will work with local service providers to ensure appropriate care is available after surgery for anyone who requires support.

A lack of sustainable funding...

The current operating costs are supported by a core budget that sits with PHSA. A lot of the program work is under development as the program conducts further engagement work across the province. The annual operating costs associated with implementation of a provincial program for transgender health services will be determined as the model is developed.

Only one surgical centre in Canada...

Trans Care BC continues to work with GRS Montreal, as well as review other

waits have been within the province for the surgical assessment and approval process, which we are working on resolving.

Our clinical resource team hopes to have moved through the historical waitlists throughout the province by the end of this summer. And we will be engaging health authorities and primary care providers about a more streamlined assessor process throughout this coming year.

What can we expect to see with the program in the coming months?

In the next six months some of our work will focus on building a peer and community support provider network. This includes co-designing what peer and community support services need to be, in addition to what needs to be enhanced in various regions of the province.

We will be talking with community members and the health authorities to build a program governance structure that includes key stakeholders. Including trans and gender diverse people and families in ongoing planning and program work is critical. We also have trans and gender diverse people working on our team.

Improving access to safe and supportive trans care closer to home is a need, and one that’s working to address in my new role with PHSA.

There seems to be a great deal of support from trans and gender diverse people and their supporters who I have been in contact with. We have also received a great deal of support from the Ministry of Health and PHSA leadership.

Building an effective provincial system will take time as will building trust. However, we have begun to provide immediate support where there is opportunity, providing care coordination and aftercare support for those traveling for surgery, working through waitlists and seeking more surgical care planners (assessors).

For longer term solutions we recognize that we need more input and are committed to continued collaboration with community members and health authorities around how implement this work and leverage the current system and supports across the province.

Here are some issues of concern to the community. Can you speak to how PHSA

options available, to improve access to appropriate gender-affirming surgery options. In regards to the recent arson fire at the Montreal surgical centre, the clinic is continuing surgeries at alternate locations. All scheduled surgeries for BC residents are going ahead as planned. Trans Care BC continues to monitor the status of surgeries with GRS Montreal closely.

We have also started work on the business case to allow lower surgeries to be available in BC.

Bottlenecks in Montreal with the number of trans patients dependent on this site...

According to the information we have been able to gather, bottlenecks for lower surgery are not with GRS Montreal.

We continue to monitor capacity with the GRS Montreal service but according to our data right now the waits are two to three months maximum. The longer

In addition to moving through historical waitlists, we also have clinical working groups focused on adult, child and youth clinical care pathways. Work is also underway to help streamline the assessor process and surgical pathway throughout this coming year. Our education project lead has just been hired and work on the provincial education strategy is also underway.

How soon could BC have its own surgical care centre?

The long-term goal is to enable gender-affirming surgical services to be provided closer to home, but this solution is complex and several years away to account for planning, training and recruitment. In the near term, PHSA is working on ways to improve the current system and by providing care coordination and system navigation support directly through the Trans Care BC program.

7

Cross Queer Quarterly

Spotlight on

Brae Carnes

Trans Activist, Awesome Cover Model

T

wenty fifteen was the year of the War of Bathrooms. In the aftermath of Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the United States finally put the same-sex marriage question to rest, U.S. Republicans then shifted their focus onto a NEW target: the trans community. In what could only be described as fear-fueled, right-wing conservative brain farts, legislators in a number of American states passed (or tried to pass) laws that would force everyone to use the bathroom corresponding with the “M” or “F” on their birth certificates, rather than the gender corresponding with their identities. All of this, of course, under the pretenses of preserving morality and “protecting” the public.

Our own, Victoria-based Brae Carnes would have none of it. She shot a provocative photo series depicting just what it might look like, if some of these laws were actually put into practice. How would you feel, if you had to share the bathroom with someone like ME? Well clearly, the point had been made, and it didn’t take long for the photos to go viral.

News outlets all over Canada and the U.S. started showing the photos, and media sources as far as the U.K. got on-board. Here, in case you missed it, or just wanted to see them again, are a couple of those shots.

8

BLEED AREA XQQ Pride Edition 2016

Canada Bathroom Report 2016

W

hile battle lines have been drawn to the South over trans access to public bathrooms, the elephant in the room demands we ask the question: “So, what about Canada?”

This is an excellent question, as much like the United States, individual provinces and municipalities get to make up their own rules regarding many issues. Is access to public bathrooms one of them?

The simple answer is: it’s complicated.

At the time of this printing, there was no national protection to guarantee public access to bathrooms corresponding to a person’s gender identity. Yet, at the same time, on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (May 17), Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government passed Bill C-16, prohibiting discrimination against gender identity and gender expression. It was an amendment to the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Prior to this, a number of provinces had already taken that same step, making gender expression and identity protected classes when accessing public legal, educational, or medical services. These provinces included: Ontario, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. In addition, Northwest Territories and Manitoba have included gender identity, but not gender expression.

This distinction of course, makes all the difference in the world. While gender identity may be protected in some cases, gender expression is really what is being talked about when the topic of bathroom access comes up. How can we separate the girls from the boys? What should each of them looks like?

While Bill C-16 takes the first step in the right direction it does not guarantee that a trans individual anywhere in Canada may use the bathroom in which they feel most comfortable, based on their self-proclaimed gender identity. It also deserves mention, that in many cases, claiming protection (or discrimination) as a pro-

By Atley Jonas

tected class of gender identity may still require medical evidence of gender reassignment, or medical treatment of some kind. This however, while understandable from a politician’s perspective, becomes highly problematic for individuals who have no intentions of transitioning, or perhaps have transitioned, but still may not “pass” (scrutiny) of facility managers, law enforcement, the general public, and lawmakers.

Microcosmically, a number of cities, schools, and organizations have undertaken efforts to fill the gaps that official channels have not yet addressed. For example, schools in Ottawa, starting in 2015, began rolling out gender-neutral bathrooms, following a lead set by Toronto, three years prior. A more recent battle was recently fought in Alberta, took the issue even a step further, following the fight of a transgender girl in Edmonton to use a girls’ bathroom rather than a gender-neutral one to which she had been assigned. In January 2016, Alberta Education Minister David Eggen released guidelines to all of Alberta’s 61 school districts, advising that “gender-diverse students and teachers should be able to choose which school bathrooms they want to use, as well as the names, pronouns and clothing that represent their gender identity.” Yet, once again, as of the time of this printing, no such federal guidelines existed.

protecting trans students has to rely on broad precepts laid out in the BC Human Rights Code and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which do not (and cannot) make those promises.

The state of Canada’s public bathrooms in 2016 is very poor. There are very few specific provisions that protect trans rights as they relate to bathroom access. There is no federal law, and provincial, municipal, and institutional laws, bylaws, and rules are all over the map. Until something more cohesive comes into place, the best advice when using public facilities, is to exercise personal caution and situational awareness in order to avoid problems or harassment from the public, law enforcement, or facility owners or managers.

Closer to home, the news in B.C. has been deafeningly silent. While individual communities, facilities, and schools may have provisions in place, there are neither provincials, laws, rules, nor guidelines to govern or protect trans bathroom access.

Some institutions, notably UBC, have promised to champion the cause, going so far as to provide a map to gender-inclusive washrooms on campus, accessible from the UBC student services website.

Legally speaking however, the situation is far more gray. While the Trans Rights BC website (transrightsbc.ca) assures students that they have a right to use the bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity, the section dealing with laws 9

Cross Queer Quarterly

10

BLEED AREA XQQ Pride Edition 2016

Teaching the Elephant to Dance Ramblings of an Uppity Queer Woman By: ChrYs Tei As Atley Jonas, our editor-in-chief noted a few pages back, editors and writers around the world facing the blank page of their Pride piece can’t write the story they thought they would. As chief cook and bottle washer around here, I do get to pen my ramblings on occasion, and so too I’m challenged. And then there’s the picture across from these words, commissioned and already drawn.

(More about that in a second)...

There’s no way that being mowed down by a madman in a nightclub can be in any way a dignified death. I am sure the survivors are as scarred as those who lost loved ones. May the boundless compassion of the goddess awaken in each of their hearts and give each the embrace and respite that no human can provide.

Back to the sketch. The picture is Ms. Grieves, the director of Trans Care BC, getting the medical system to clog dance – at least a few hesitant steps.

The elephant grimaces in the effort to please, and the rider, for at least the second it takes to get the snapshot, is smiling in celebration. Why? Because it’s Pride. A time to both celebrate and remember. After 18 months of preparation, the TransCare BC elephant is taking its first few tentative steps. It’s no simple dance step to teach a medical system (that, in places, still considers reparative therapy appropriate), how to provide trans-informed care.

Being an activist is a lonely occupation, as I imagine we’ll hear when we join Michael Yoder at the Q Town event centre for “The Reluctant Activist.” Check the Q Town pages for the time. The few folks who comment usually tell me that I tend to chew ass more than hand out compliments. “You get more flies with honey.” “You’re not in step,” they tell

me; protest just is not Canadian. I guess my immigrant blood boils at a lower temperature.

So I thought for Pride, I will show them that even an ol’ trans dog can learn a new trick. After all, Lorraine is very cordial and gives me more time than she should, given the tasks she has before her. She really works to understand what I’m saying, where many give up.

So here it is: “Well done! Way to go!

Keep up the good work!” Honestly, it’s not a job I would wish on most and I feel a true appreciation for her efforts, her sincerity and her openness.

But despite her efforts and achievements, the words sound hollow as they leave my mouth, as another part of my brain considers 60,000 homeless youth in Canada. Nearly half identify as queer. Queer kids, rejected (or worse) by families of origin, trading themselves for survival, ending up on our streets, broken. We step around them to avoid the thought that it is we, in our failure to grow families of choice in every town, who put them there.

The words crinkle brittle on my teeth when I consider that as a trans woman, my options for surgery are not determined by my doctors, but by some faceless non-medical bureaucrat. WTF! I pay the same rates as Jimmy Pattison.

This is a ratepayer equity issue lost in the culture of misogyny that objectifies women’s bodies. There is yet to be a trans man told to keep their tits because they’re too small.

ing 1915.

The words choke in my throat when well-meaning queers and allies tell me that I need to learn to accept my place as a woman and not be such an uppity queer. Go gender police your mom!

The words seem empty when they reflect my fragility and that I can no longer manage it in the face of my own trans experience, and knowing that in my broken self, I am still one of the fortunate ones.

What words shall we have then? I don’t know. I do know it’s neither any word I say, nor any by Ms. Grieves that will make the sound we both want to hear. It is your voice and others joining ours, in praise or in protest that fills our hearts and strengthens our limbs and moves us to action until there is no more list to complete. Try to err on the praise side, if in doubt.

So today, laugh, giggle, praise, or sing.

Ride the elephant and dance a bit – it’s right to be joyful. Life is a gift and it’s our choice how we spend it. But tomorrow, make a list, set a goal, pick a deadline. Join the Co-op!There is no shortage of things to do.

Happy Pride!

The words echo hollow when I sit across the desk from a prospective employer and I realize that I will never again work in an industry I spent over 40 years in. We all smiled when Justin said, “Because it’s 2015?” but for some of us on many days it’s still not break11

Cross Queer Quarterly

12

BLEED AREA XQQ Pride Edition 2016

13

Cross Queer Quarterly

PRIDE in the WORD:

Canada’s Largest Pride Festival Literary Event

V

ictoria Pride Society’s Pride in the Word is Canada’s largest Pride festival literary event. Each year it showcases both some of the proudest and most talented writers from Victoria and across the country and is always a great time.

E

rin Cotton is a Victoria-based spoken word artist whose poetry is a handwritten love letter filled with dirty jokes and queer politics. Previously, she has performed in Cabaret Outre, the Big Gay Cabaret and last year’s Pride in the Word. She has one too many poems about genitalia and is secretly a bit proud of it. Super queer and super weird, she’ll bring all the absurdist sexual politics you can handle.

N J

illian Christmas is a celebrated poet, musician and educator, who has won Grand Poetry-Slam Championship titles at both the Vancouver BedRocc poetry-slam (2011), and the Vancouver Poetry Slam (2012, 2014). She has also represented Vancouver at the Women of the World Poetry slam.

Born and raised in Markham, Ontario, she currently lives in Vancouver, BC., where she serves as Artistic Director of Versəs Festival of Word.

14

icola Harwood is a writer and interdisciplinary artist with a background in theatre and performance, particularly collective creation, comedy and feminist practice. Her first book,

O

akland-based comedian Heather Gold is best known for her unique ability to make performance an intimate conversation in which people get real in public. She’s made over 50,000 cookies with audiences in her hit interactive show “I Look Like An Egg, but I Identify As A Cookie,” named Best of the Bay. She has appeared at places like NY’s Dixon Place, Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Google, Finland’s YLE Media and SXSW. More virtually she’s appeared in Wired, NPR, regularly on the CBC, and almost daily on twitter where she invites you to hang out with her @ heathr. She is currently working on a new show called: Everything is Subject to Change.

BLEED AREA

Flight Instructions for the Commitment Impaired helped to launch Caitlyn Press’ Dagger Editions, Canada’s first Lesbian imprint. A former Victoria Lesbian Avenger, Nicola now resides in Vancouver, where she is Chair of the Creative Writing department at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

N

acho Rodriguez is a former journalist and the author of two self-published collections of poetry, Hidden/A Escondidas and Distant Objects of Desire as well as a collection of short stories White Lies. He’s fond of bow ties, beards and other “b” words. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, he now lives and loves in Victoria.

This year’s event takes place at the Vic Theatre, which allows for great sight lines and comfortable, ample seating!

Jillian Christmas Erin Cotton Heather Gold Nicola Harwood Nacho Rodriguez Mariko Tamaki Host: Billeh Nickerson Saturday, July 9 Doors 6:30 Reading 7:00 sharp

B

illeh Nickerson is the author of five books including the 2014 City of Vancouver Book Award nominated Artificial Cherry. He is also a founding member of the performance troupe Haiku Night in Canada, and a silver medalist at the Canadian Gay Curling Championships. This year marks his return as curator and host of Pride in Word, an event he has helped organize for over a decade.

M

ariko Tamaki is a twotime Governor General’s Award nominee and the recipient of numerous awards and accolades for her book collaborations This One Summer (with Jillian Tamaki), Skim (with Jillian Tamaki), and Emiko Superstar (with Steve Rolston). Her most recent YA novel is Saving Montgomery Sole. She divides her year between Toronto and Oakland, California.

Vic Theatre 808 Douglas St. Victoria, BC Tickets $13 and $10 for students/seniors/underemployed and are available at the door only.

15

Cross Queer Quarterly

16

BLEED AREA XQQ Pride Edition 2016

17

Cross Queer Quarterly DOWNTOWN VICTORIA

PARADE ROUTE

Map Legend Parade Route Float Route Area designation

18

A C D

Parade Start Festival Entrance Float Parking

ATM Machines WC

Porta potties Sales

BLEED AREA

MACDONALD PARK

THE HOME OF VICTORIA PRIDE FESTIVAL

Oswego Street

Floats Head This Way

People Head This Way

Simcoe Street 19 GRAPHIG DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION BY ELLIOT LANGE

2016 PRIDE FESTIVAL VENDORS

Cross Queer Quarterly

Adam Hanna Ballroom Dance African Heritage Assoc. of Van. Island AIDS Vancouver Island Amnesty International Athlone Travel BC Govt. Employee & Srvcs Union BC Whale Tours Bike Tours Victoria BKN hoops & Accesories Blue Heron Art Enterprises BMO Bank of Montreal California Gold Tanning Studio Camosun Student Society Pride Collective

Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock

Carlas Pet Portraits&Tie Dye Dog Clothing

Cashsave Imports CFUV 101.9 FM Cheesecake Burlesque Revue CHOICES Adoption

Crisis & Info. Referral of Greater Victoria

CUPE Vancouver Island District Council DAVID’s TEA D’Lishious Delights Epicure Eves of Destruction First Unitarian Church of Victoria G.T. Hiring Solutions (WorkBC) Gertie Zeiter Fused Glads Girl Guides: South Vancouver Island Area

20

Grtr Vic Police Diversity Advisory Committee

British Columbia Nurses Union Intrepid Theatre Investors Group Island Health Island photo booth Island Sexual Health Kaleidoscope Theatre Prod. Society KooKooMaMa Designs Kool Radio Liberal Party of Canada in Victoria LIN’s fashion jewelry Lovely things vintage Mystic Lotus National Money Mart

North of Hadrian’s Kilts & Celtic Clothing

Oak Bay United Church One Leaf Orca Spirit Adventures Our Place Society Party Animal Pet Gear Passion and Peformance Paul Mara Jewellers Peers Victoria Resources Society PFLAG Canada Victoria Chapter Prime Timers Victoria Public Service Alliance of Canada Rainbow Health Co-operative Remax Oak Bay

Richard Mar Hair School Ricoshade’s Pride Wear Robert Cerins Designs Inc. SAJE Hairspa and Education Sensible BC Shoe Straponz SILK ROAD TEA Skippy’s Prop Shop Soroptimist Intnl. of Victoria Westshore Sparkle Shack Body Art Stillpoint Community Acupuncture Sunny Side Home Eclectic Repairs The Garden of Eden

The Green Party of Canada & BC Green Party

The Romance Shop Trio Beads Uniquely Cedra Uvic Pride Van. Isnd .Chapter Surfrider Foundation Van. Isnd. Mens Trauma Counselling Soc Victoria Community Micro Lending Soc. Victoria Humane Society

Victoria Immigrant & Refugee Centre Society

Victoria Lesbian Seniors Care Society

Victoria Sexual Assault Ctr. & Project Respect

Victoria Shakespeare Society Wandering Hive Wildflower Dyes

BLEED AREA XQQ Pride Edition 2016

21

Cross Queer Quarterly

2016 Victoria Pride Board David Tillson – President David can be found yelling at parade drivers thinking he is helping the parade director

President for 11 years, david has come to realize that the ferris wheel he wanted is only a metaphor for life. Altho Pride is a giant rollercoaster every year !!! david can’t decide whether he likes to ride the rollercoaster or ferris wheel most. david_tillson@victoriapridesociety.org

Terry Froud – Vice President Terry can be found enjoying Pride after decades of making it happen for the South Island!

Terry is a cornerstone of The Victoria Pride Society. Having been one of the first founding members of Victoria Pride over 20 years ago– we are pleased and honored to have him work in the role of Vice-President. terry_froud@victoriapridesociety.org Landen Cheetham – Secretary and Marketing Coordinator

Landen can be found on festival day running around like a proverbial chicken making sure the sky isn’t falling.

print(“Hello world”) print(“No-one is really sure of any of the following for Landen:”) choose(“digital avatar” || “live interaction”) choose(“talking to himself” || “bluetooth headset”) choose(“talking to Landen” || “talking to Heidi Ho”) print(“Certainties though are: his sarcasm knows no bounds, and you’re just as likely to talk to his alter ego Heidi Ho as you are to talk to Landen.”) print(“Landen has been volunteering with Victoria Pride for over 10 years and is currently the secretary, webmaster, and marketing co-ordinator keeping Victoria Pride online and connected.”) sayHelloWhenYouSeeHim()

landen_cheetham@victoriapridesociety.org Pat can be found waving the next great act onto the beer garden stage.

Jessica can be found roaming the festival, making sure the beans are everywhere they need to be while awaiting her turn to drag the stage.

Pat Rundell – Entertainment Coordinator Pat is an award winning producer, director, actor, and theatre educator who received his formal training at the American Musical & Dramatic Academy: Los Angeles. Pat is the founding Artistic Director of Urban Arts Productions, and the Artistic Associate and Studio Director for Kaleidoscope Theatre. Pat is delighted to be joining the family of the Victoria Pride Society and looks forward to being a part of, and supporting the community. pat_rundell@victoriapridesociety.org Jessica Rewers – Treasurer By day Jessica counts the beans as the Victoria Pride Society’s treasurer.... by night she entertains the crowds as Candy Boxx.... either way Jessica hopes her contributions help make the LGBTQ community a wonderful place to celebrate life, ourselves, and the freedom to be whoever we want to be. AKA: the cash machine. jessica_rewers@victoriapridesociety.org

Richard Lucas – Sponsorship and Events Coordinator richard@victoriapridesociety.org 22

BLEED AREA XQQ Pride Edition 2016 Alan Chaffe – Festival Coordinator Alan can be found walking many kilometers to herd vendors and crew members to get the site ready!

Alan is an economist by day and community activist by night. In his spare time, Alan works as a lecturer at the University of Victoria and is a full-time PhD student. He has volunteered in various capacities including Chair, Treasurer, and as a Human Rights Co-coordinator for national and international Pride organizations such as Capital Pride in Ottawa, Fierté Canada Pride, and Cape Town Pride Festival in South Africa. alan@victoriapridesociety.org Matt Tremble – Food and Beverage Coordinator

Matt can be found handing a can of beer with one hand and handing out a bag of chips with the other.

Matt is happy to bring his experience in food and beverage management for festivals in Victoria and on the mainland to the Victoria Pride Society and is looking forward to being part of another exciting Pride Festival and supporting our community. matt_tremble@victoriapridesociety.org Eva Patenaude –Media Coordinator

Eva can be found in the middle of the parade route doing real-time Tweets and pics on Instagram.

Wyatt can be found holding down the fort at Pride House and making sure there are rainbows for everyone!

Eva is proudly gay and balances building a career in promotions with a busy social life and keeping active. She manages an electronics repair shop by day and promotes for Sugar Nightclub by night, where she is thrilled to be able to bring more Pride events to the community and promote the club as a safe and welcoming environment for everyone regardless of where they fall on the gender and sexuality spectrums. She also co-produces King Fling, a new, recurring drag event in Victoria and VPS sponsor, and performs as Drag King Chaz Avery. She is very excited to be even more involved by working with the Victoria Pride Society and hopes to help bring the community even closer together through social media. eva_patenaude@victoriapridesociety.org

Wyatt Marchessault – Merchandise Coordinator Always excited to get involved with the community he was born and raised in, Wyatt is very happy to be in the role of Merchandise Coordinator with the Victoria Pride Society. wyatt_marchessault@victoriapridesociety.org ChrŸs Tei – Volunteer Coordinator

ChrŸs can be found at the thing before the thing you are doing.

ChrŸs Tei is a business executive with 40 years of project management and start-up experience in all kinds of ventures from websites to hotels. She spent just about the same amount of time figuring out what kind of queer she really is. Here’s ahint ChrŸs -Just Ask, it’s kind of obvious!

Currently she is the Executive Director of Rainbow Health Cooperative, who provide healthcare, livelihood and related services to trans people and their families living in underserved communities.

chrys.tei@rainbowhealth.coop

Brittany Kohn – Parade Coordinator brittany_kohn@victoriapridesociety.org

23

Cross Queer Quarterly

Celebrating 25 Years of Pride in Victoria:

One-on-One With Terry Froud By: James Gardner

During Pride Week in Victoria, Terry Froud hardly goes anywhere he isn’t recognized. As a longstanding organizer and entrepreneur in the LGBTQ community, he is a gay man of merit with a quick wit and solid resolve.

cy floats, a festival and a beer garden. Pride is bursting at the seams.

“Twenty five years ago, when I helped start Pride, I never would have dreamed it would be as large as what it is today,” says Froud. “I mean it’s just unbelievable for the Although I am new to Victoria, I size of the city. We’re one of the was surprised I hadn’t met Terry largest festivals in Victoria.” before we sat down for this conversation. Froud took me back to In 1989, Froud purchased Rumors the beginning of Pride in Victoria. nightclub on Government and Johnson, following a successful What began as a few hundred peo- run of owning and operating sevple picnicking in Beacon Hill Park eral (straight) bars and hotels. He has now exploded into a week- ran Rumors for 10 years. long celebration of rainbows, fan“Rumors was a small, physical bar, but it was always busy, we didn’t have a quiet night. One of the good things was that on Sunday and Monday, most of the bars in Victoria were closed. Many of the owners and the managers of the straight bars would come down to Rumors.”

As with most Pride celebrations around the country, Victoria is experiencing growing pains and along with that growth, tight finances are also being felt.

Many Pride celebrations now rely on corporate sponsorships to stay afloat. However, Victoria Pride has managed to stay fairly homeThis is where Terry says bar own- grown, with a smattering of repers learned how to treat gay pa- resentation from local bars, banks trons, which led to many of the and political parties showing their straight establishments becoming support. more ‘gay friendly.’ It seems it has remained that way over the years. Froud doesn’t seem concerned As a third generation Victorian, about some commercialization Froud says Victoria has always sneaking into Victoria’s celebrations. Local establishments and been a welcoming LGBTQ city. some corporations are expressing “I haven’t experienced any harass- interest in becoming involved in ment here, and I am probably one some way with Victoria Pride acof the better- known gay faces in tivities. town. I think Victoria is a great place to come out in.”

24

BLEED AREA

“TD Bank came on last year, and that’s our first major sponsor. The reason we don’t see a lot of commercialism is that we don’t have a lot of big companies here,” he says.

be too difficult for a man with close family ties. Besides his work in the Pride community, Terry has a 47 year old son, a granddaughter and great- granddaughter.

we’ve had to move it down to Vic Cinema at Nootka Court. That increases our seating to 220.”

This year, he anticipates Pride celebrations will have the largest attendance yet, but parade entries will be capped at last year’s number, 90, and booth and food vendors for the festival will be kept to 150.

“Many people at Pride know my Froud says he is very happy with granddaughter. She went to Pride the pace of Victoria Pride’s growth for years and she used to dance on the Pride float at the parade. She over the years. grew up being around me and do“I am very pleased with Pride. ing all the Pride events and it was Here is to another successful Pride I’m leaving at a high time. I’ve very nice.”

Week in Victoria. stepped back a lot this year, mostly because of health, but I look at So it stands to reason, Victoria our board and I see people who are Pride is growing up too. Froud expects to see it to continue to grow very capable.” in the coming years.

The 69-year-old entrepreneur and organizer has been diagnosed with “Pride in the Word is one of the diabetes, and his doctor wants him largest literary events in Canada. to take it a bit easier. Stepping We bring in people from across back from the limelight shouldn’t Canada and we’ve gotten so busy James Gardner is a Victoria-based writer and transgender advocate.

25

Cross Queer Quarterly

Pepper & Pearl Dear P&P: I’m a trans woman. Recently I’ve gotten to know someone who is male, but enjoys dressing as a woman — but they don’t call themselves trans. HE says he’s a transvestite. My understanding is that means he cross dresses to get sexual pleasure or gratification out of it, which kinda creeps me out, considering that neither of us would necessarily “pass” if seen together, but yet we are completely different. And it’s not like I can wear a T-shirt that explains the difference to others. How should I deal with this?

-No T for Tea Dear Tea, Your question was deceivingly complex to tackle. Not because of the question itself, but because there seems to be a lot going on, in terms of semantics, possible misunderstandings and misconceptions. But don’t worry — your friends Pepper and Pearl will get you sorted out!

Rephrasing your question, all what you’re saying (in far fewer words, and much more simply) is that if your friend is not trans, what the heck is he? Because we seem to be wired somehow to require labels and categories that everyone’s supposed to fit into. (Don’t even get me started). But that’s where we get hung up with definitions of words that we may not all be using in the same way.

HE uses the word “transvestite,” and unfortunately neither one of us can say for certain what that means to him. In the strictest and most technical sense, historically, transvestism simply meant to dress, behave, and present as a member of the opposite sex (if we assume a binary system for gender). It was originally used as a descriptive, observational term, coined by German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld. In his observations, he noted that transvestism could also be correlated with sexual arousal, so “could” immediately got reinterpreted as “did” and Bob’s your uncle — transvestism now meant that if you were a man who put on a dress, you had a sexual fetish. And hey, would you look at that! It’s even in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) to this day! (Just look up “transvestic fetishism”). So of course, the term “transvestite” quickly turned into a pejorative (because obviously) since any kind of sexually-associated term outside of heterosexual, missionary-position sex between married people would clearly represent a form of deviancy and perversion. As a result, the number of people who actively use the term “transvestite” has dwindled, because of its reputation as a(n unreclaimed) derogatory term. In that sense, the term “crossdresser” is preferred. Although, I don’t know about you, but for me, even “crossdresser” kind of gives me the heebie-jeebies, because it still presents an unbalanced, patriarchal (read: misogynistic) binary view of the world. Why misogynistic? Nowadays, only MALES can cross-dress, and the act of doing so is seen by many as problematic. Females are generally accepted regardless of whether they pull on a pair of trousers, or into a dress on any given morning. The same cannot be said for males, who are still expected never

26

BLEED AREA

to venture into any territory that might somehow be considered “feminine.” Hey, I still know people who even refuse to eat quiche because they think it’s an inappropriate food choice for a REAL man… But I digress.

In a nutshell, the reasons WHY your friend dresses the way he does, are, I’m afraid, HIS business — and no one else’s.

It’s not your place, nor anyone else’s to guess, assume, or judge his motivations. And if it DOES happen to be motivated by a sexual fetish, then that too, is none of your concern… And wanting to hang out, or go out (dressed as a couple of fine ladies) in no way would indicate to me any cause for concern, even if it WERE motivated by a sexual kink or fetish.

Oh, and while we’re on THAT note, let me just point out, that I think Western society still hasn’t gotten over their puritanical, Judeo-Christian roots, perpetuated through Victorian prudishness and utopian-colonial ideals, to allow people the freedom to explore themselves as sexual beings. If you could administer a truth serum to a thousand people on the street, you’d probably be shocked how many of them have some kind of sexual kink or fetish. The mind boggles at how many men might actually be wearing frilly, pink panties underneath their homogenous, dark drab suits and ties… And speaking of ties… How many would enjoy being tied up?… Or covered in strawberry ice cream while being whipped on the ass by a dominatrix? Hey. Everyone’s got something. And my point is, that if your friend having a fetish involving women’s clothing creeps you out… That’s something that YOU will have to work through for yourself, as it’s got nothing to do with him.

So, my advice? First, don’t assume things that aren’t yours to assume. Enjoy your friendship for what it is, and go out with your friend just as you would with any other friend. You clearly seem to like spending time with him, so who cares what other people think? There’s no need for a T-shirt to explain anything. There’s always going to be self-appointed gender police, regardless of who you are and how you choose to present. And do you really think they care that one of you is trans and the other is not? And as for the creep factor… Until he asks you to cover him in strawberry ice cream, don’t worry about it!

-Pepper & Pearl

27

Cross Queer Quarterly

Stars R Ours By: AstroBarry

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The trick is

to avoid rushing to assumptions about how you feel, Aries, when the associated situation is more complex than a single reaction can adequately encapsulate.

This isn’t the type of advice I’d ordinarily dish out to you Aries folks, since I find you to possess some of the most reliably keen first-impulses of all the zodiac-signs.

But we’re currently having an exceedingly watery moment… the kind of astrological vibe that yields its best results when we’re willing to feel into, around, and through our responses long enough to let them thoroughly wash over us, into all the nooks and crannies of our being. Think of this similarly to how you might experience those first moments of submerging yourself into a cold swimming-pool: The initial chill might be so unpleasantly jarring, you’d instinctively yell ‘fuck this!’ and drag your ass right out and straight to the nearest towel—though, if you’d given yourself just a few more moments to acclimate, you’d find the water’s actually a rather comfortable wading temperature, and an utter delight to splash around in.

I’m not saying specifically that something you recoil from at first will later prove to be an utter delight, however… merely that you might miss out on a more thorough and/or satisfying experience by heeding only your very earliest reaction.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): With Mars essentially standing still in your relationship house (the 7th) this week, Taurus, you’ll have a hard time ignoring the unmistakable evidence of any interpersonal friction or conflict that’s reaching its point-of-no-return. Over the weeks ahead, you’ll probably have to assert your agency in determining where this strained coupling is headed next… if, of course, you’re courageous enough to make this go how you want it to go, to the best of 28

your ability under these circumstances.

But just as you’re due to act in your own interests in stopping any undesirable relationship dynamics from continuing, you also have a similar duty to yourself to discernibly step towards those individuals you wish to include more prominently in your life. In other words, your interpersonal preferences will be indicated through both (1) actively distancing from the negative and (2) actively identifying with the positive. One qualifying note: If you don’t already have strongly positive or negative feelings about a certain someone, specifically based on your actual lived experience with that person, give ‘em the benefit of the doubt… and strive to enjoy their company on its own however-brief-or-lasting terms.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Rather than cower or cringe at the thought of how much you must get done, Gemini, please remind yourself that what you bring to this heap of responsibilities is unlike what anyone else could possibly bring. And though it would be pretty easy (not to mention self-indulgent) to answer this advice by fixating on your unique frailties or flaws, that definitely won’t help you advance your progress on the job(s)-at-hand. More than perfect qualifications or sheer mastery, what this moment demands most of you, my dear, is confidence in your undaunted willingness to work with whatever you’ve got (since that’s what you’ve got, and you don’t have what you don’t have) to do the very best you can do. Nobody could expect anything more than that from you, so you most certainly shouldn’t. As part of keeping your confidence levels up, try not to let your attention drift too compulsively to whatever unshakable complication, weighty debt, or psychic dark-cloud still looms off to the side, a nagging reminder of a life-chapter that’s already been lived yet continues to bleed its influence into today. I won’t say it’s totally irrelevant to

your current situation, but replaying the past (for emotional self-torture purposes, no less) is about the furthest thing from ‘practically helpful’ I can imagine.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I love your astrology of the moment, Cancer… with communication-maven Mercury now joining both the Sun and Venus in your sign, making it easier than it’s been in a while to accurately convey what’s on your mind and have it be welcomed with open-and-accepting ears.

Plus, with the multiple trines to Neptunein-your-9th, you’re looking at the broader perspectival backdrop with a heightened idealism, allowing you to speak with sympathetic vision about how particular personal values and/or concerns of yours are connected to the larger project of creating a better world. Now, therefore, is an excellent time to unbashfully offer ideas, opinions, or advice to address dayto-day life-circumstances from a place of respecting the underlying commonality amidst diverse belief-systems, deliberately striving to choose a rightful path, and loving each other above all else. Because of Venus’s opposition to the Pluto-inyour-7th, there’s a chance your principle-driven wishfulness will face terse animosity from those who feel attacked (even if you’re not attacking anyone), on the grounds that you aren’t properly accounting for the ‘reality’ of their challenges. Don’t take the bait. You’re not being ‘unrealistic’ by proposing ways we could all improve our realities.

LEO (July 23-August 22): Happily dissolve into the temporary nothingness of hosting multiple planets in your solar 12th, Leo. Mindful inactivity is the appropriate way to simply be with the emotional self-realization(s) now coagulating in your consciousness. To aim

BLEED AREA

to ‘do something’ about how you’re feeling, on the other hand, is to paddle against the presently-more-benevolent currents… like you must prove your valiant character (to whom, exactly?) by taking some observable action in immediate response, if you’re to be seen (by who, exactly?) as the kind of person who ‘doesn’t take this sort of thing lying down’. Actually, you’ll have a more effective, meaningful response—at a more appropriate moment later—if, for now, you do ‘lie down’ for a spell, letting sense-impressions and memory-fragments and deep-soul-yearnings float through, softly shaping the inlets and bays of feeling which will eventually comprise an undulating shoreline of non-simplified reaction. You may encounter inner resistance to adopting such a reflective pause in the mad productivity rush, courtesy of a compensatory psychic drive to ‘stay busy’ so as to avoid essentially integrating the emotional self-realization(s). Don’t beat on yourself if you decide not to stay so productively busy this week. Existence, in and of itself, beckons.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): To relish the fruits of sincerely belonging, Virgo, requires you to actually put yourself in the mix. Togetherness won’t work very well if you presume there isn’t room on the team for you to really show up. In this context, ‘showing up’ involves being as frank about your true feelings as possible, in order to allow your comrades to authentically connect with you… but nonetheless framing them in a spirit of solution-driven collaboration (rather than mutinous self-interest or unconstructive complaint). The belief that ‘sucking up’ any misgivings or discontent, so you can provide simple relational ‘support’ to the other players without ‘rocking the boat’, is not one to presently buy into. Any such well-meaning attempt to bury your own personal investment, opinion, or response beneath obligatory assent is liable to backfire (thanks to both Mars’s station in your 3rd and a Venus-Pluto opposition)… with your truer feelings on the matter, inconvenient and/ or disagreeable though they may be, seep-

ing out anyhow. Better to take an intentionally group-minded lead on voicing where you are than to have to defend an unconsciously undermining attitude later.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22):

The most important quality to presently radiate in order to bolster your public reputation, professional standing, and/or hard-earned achievement-level, Libra, is that you actually care what happens, beyond how it impacts you and your aspirations. Of course there’s nothing inherently wrong about seeking what’s best for your own interests—we’ve all got to do just that, if we hope to functionally meet our material needs. But the particular context in which you seek to support yourself does matter, too… and presuming you aren’t toiling and striving and stretching to attain goals in this certain arena merely by chance, you probably have some sort of heartfelt connection to its larger project, purpose, organization, and/or governing board or else you wouldn’t have ended up there and stuck around. (If your career circumstances are purely random and you don’t feel any connection to where you are, you’ve got a bigger fish to fry—and I’d suggest attending to it by the end of ‘17.) Therefore, please lead with the part of your personality that’s legitimately invested in the success of the entire enterprise (which naturally includes your own personal success). In decision-makers’ eyes, your value goes up when you embody this genuine passion.

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21):

As Mars returns to direct motion in your sign this week (on Wed Jun 29), Scorpio, you should deploy your wide-lens, values-driven, integrity-oriented discernment in deciding just how you’d like to assert your agency during this critically self-defining month ahead. This is a piss-poor time to be flippant, vindictive, escapist, or ob-

sessed with what anybody else is doing.

Rather, it’s your moment to put forth an emphatic finishing-touch for the world to see… a characterizing statement that epitomizes all the hard work you’ve invested in yourself since Saturn first started whipping you into shape back in late 2012. In case you haven’t noticed, these past few months have been all about testing whether you’ve ‘learned your lessons’ (whatever they might be in your individual case) during these recent years. With Mars now stationing out of its retrograde, to wrap up the visit it initially began at the very opening of the year, you’re being asked to show your successful work—or, if circumstances require it, to really fix whatever’s been stubbornly giving you trouble thus far in ‘16. Stand tall in the life you’ve deliberately built for yourself, or start working up that final gallon of sweat that’ll decisively lay foundation for what you want to build but haven’t yet. Either way, don’t be distracted by petty bullshit that isn’t relevant to where you’re headed.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): On account of

this week’s Mars station in your 12th, Sagittarius, I must begin by advising you not to do anything crazy. Yes, the psychic-complexity levels of what you’re deal with have palpably intensified over the past couple weeks… but, I promise, it’s nothing you can’t deal with. The hardest part (as is often the case with you restless Sagittarians) is to not just take some responsive action, merely to signal you’re a ‘take action’ kind of person, without spending enough time to determine whether it’s the right action. At this juncture, the wrong response—which would, likelier than not, be motivated by some relational and/ or financial pressure (whether coming from someone else or your own ego) to prove you’re just as ‘for real’ about this as the other player(s) are—will cause you more complications or problems than just waiting it out. With the present converging of planets in your 8th, you’ll actually benefit from delving more deeply into the questions, concerns, mixed messages, and contrasting interests via open-ended interpersonal negotiations with those who also 29

Cross Queer Quarterly hold a strong stake. As far as timing’s concerned, Mars lands back in your sign during the first week of August… and that’s when the ‘take action’ part ought to come in.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): Follow the needs,

wants, and desires of your other half, your best friend, your partner-in-crime, and/or your trusted collaborator, Capricorn. The present planetary prominence of your solar 7th (the one-on-one relationship house) promises you a lighter, looser, and more loving experience of your week whenever you actively seek to favor, flatter, consider, and/or cater to the other person in any situational equation. Any inner struggle you feel when stretching to accommodate someone else’s preference— say, for instance, you find their choice to be arbitrary, impractical, or short-sighted—is an indication of how you allow your demanding standards (which, of course, are always most demanding when you turn ‘em on yourself) block you from appreciating the innate differences between humans, and thus from fully enjoying relationships themselves. Remind yourself there is no universally correct or superior way to live… just variations suited to different folks’ temperaments, skill-levels, interests, and aspirations.

That said, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with taking quiet note of exactly who does things in a style that makes you

crazy. Presumably, though, those who are guilty of such insanities aren’t the ones you’re in closest partnership with. (If they are? I’m left scratching my head.)

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18):

You’ll register your professional (and/or public-sphere) tenacity not by aggressively insisting the reins be handed to you, Aquarius… but by quietly (and joyfully) continuing to carry out the relevant day-to-day work that’ll concretely back up your claim to leadership and/or authority. A war waged against anyone you think isn’t capably living up to their esteemed role—an inept manager, a small-minded authority-figure, a short-sighted organization—won’t be won on some declaration of superior vision, but by demonstrating both how to ‘do it better’ and a personal willingness to do the literal ‘doing’. Don’t focus too much, therefore, on individuals or institutional impediments you feel you must somehow defeat in order to move yourself ahead. Instead, for now, concentrate on building your own version of success with your own two hands (and/or whatever other tools you already have at your disposal). Define leadership and/or authority through your actions, methods, and functional suggestions… minus any compulsive need to be acknowledged or accepted, which would only interfere with your presently-eased ability to happily work away.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Bask-

ing in the beauty that’s all around you right this very moment, Pisces, is just about the most effective statement you could presently make… exemplifying, through deed rather than word, what really matters to you in this life. A lineup of 5th-house planets—the Sun, Venus, and now Mercury—indicates you ought to be savoring the pleasures which most please you, for no other reason than to make the absolute most of this opportunity to enjoy your earthly incarnation while its limited supply-of-time is still available. The very act of frolicking, in whatever specific fashion you’re moved to do so, serves as a surprisingly potent form of emotional self-nurturance. By delivering yourself such surefire happiness, you’re essentially telling yourself, ‘What you like is important to me, and giving it to you is absolutely worth my while.’

This is actually a critical lifelong lesson for you Pisceans to incorporate into your self-image, thanks to your tendency to give everyone else what they like before tending so shamelessly to your own predilections. As such, be exceptionally aware of instances when you find you’re censoring yourself from frolicking exactly as you’d like, whether due to actual pressure from peers and/or your self-conscious fear of what they might think: The problem with that isn’t you, but your choice of incompatible peers.

Barry Perlman is a professional astrologer based in San Francisco. He has been featured in The New York Times, on CBS Evening News, and TechTV’s “Fresh Gear.” He also belongs to the International Society of Astrological Research (ISAR). Barry has kindly given us permission to reprint his horoscope in XQQ. To book a consultation with him, please visit: http://astrobarry.com

30

BLEED AREA XQQ Pride Edition 2016

XQQ CALENDAR

31

Cross Queer Quarterly

32