Archived: February 13, 2006

Here's some of the stuff we've been up to over the past year (that's fit to print):

Limp Fisters preparing for the September 24th Worldwide Anti-war Rally.

Radical queers against war and occupation.

Limp Fisters in the Toronto Dyke March.

Blocking out neo-nazi homophobes at the pride parade in London, Ontario.

Anti-Racist Action and Limp Fist block fascists from disrupting London Pride.

A Limp Paw pro-vegan sign in the Toronto Dyke March, 2005.

Limp Fist in the Dyke March.

Archived: February 10, 2006

February 9 : RAGE ! Toronto Queers: 25 Years Later

Join Xtra for RAGE ! Toronto Queers: 25 Years Later,  a provocative
community forum celebrating the 25th anniversary of the bathhouse raids, co-
sponsored by Cruiseline.

Add your voice to the exploration of Toronto's queer activist roots and
participate in igniting new activity!

PANELLISTS:
~ Andrew Brett
~ Anna Willats
~ Barbara Hall
~ David Rayside
~ Joey Shulman
~ Marianna Valverde
~ Peter Bochove
~ Jamie Berrigan, Moderator

Thu, Feb 9. 7pm.
Metro Central YMCA
Auditorium
(20 Grosvenor St)

FREE ADMISSION!

On Thu, Feb 5, 1981 more than 150 cops raided every major gay bathhouse
in Toronto, arresting 286 men. They were humiliated, insulted, beaten and
subjected to taunts like "too bad these showers weren't hooked up to gas." By
midnight on Friday, 3,000 gay men, lesbians and allies had taken to Toronto
streets in the most militant protest of the entire preceding decade.

EQUAL MARRIAGE * SUPREME COURT SWINGERS DECISION * BIJOU
RAID * PUSSY PALACE RAID * THE FEDERAL ELECTION

HOW FAR HAVE WE COME? WHERE ARE WE GOING? WILL ANGER
MOBILIZE US AGAIN?

Archived: September 24, 2005

CALLING ALL ANTI-WAR QUEERS!

Be part of this year's QUEER BLOC in the anti-war rally and march on September 24th!

Limp Fist invites you to be part of the queer contingent on this worldwide day of protest, when Toronto mobilizes to get the troops out of Iraq, and to let American war resisters stay in Canada.

WHEN : Saturday, September 24th - 1 pm
WHERE : US Consulate, 360 University Ave
WHAT TO BRING : signs, banners, pink and black everything, queerness
HOW TO SPOT US : we'll be the queerest ones there

We'll be meeting before the rally for a sign-making, banner-making party at Bellevue Park (in Kensington Market) starting at 11am the same day.  Bring supplies and talent (or lack thereof).

Archived: July 11, 2005

PRO-SEX! PRO-QUEER! ANTI-FASCIST! NO FEAR!

When the LGBQT community is under attack, what do we do?

Stand and fight back!

On Sunday, July 10th, Anti-Racist Action (ARA) Toronto will be mobilizing members of the queer and anti-fascist / anti-racist communities across southern Ontario to travel to London to take part in their Pride celebrations, including their annual parade. For the past four years, neo-nazis and white supremacists from a number of organizations (including the Canadian Heritage Alliance, the Northern Alliance, and Blood & Honour) have attempted to intimidate and disrupt the London's Pride parade, through harassing parade participants and engaging in ultra-homophobic behavior.

This year however, anti-fascists and queers will gather in a strong contingent within the parade to loudly defy and oppose the homophobes and their attempts to intimidate London's LGBQT community on this day when we should feel safest to express who we are. Come to London with ARA Toronto and stand in solidarity with their community against this neo-nazi intimidation!

We'll be meeting at 9:00AM sharp this Sunday, July 10th, at the park by 519 Church Street (the community centre) in Toronto, and departing shortly thereafter for London. We'll be leaving London for Toronto shortly after the day's festivities (around 6:00PM or so). The march is at 2:00PM, and we'll be there in advance to meet other participants and take in some of the events happening in the city.

Please come out to show a strong and unified opposition from across southern Ontario to the neo-nazi scum who come out each year to promote homophobia and racism against London's queer community!

Archived: June 21, 2005

As Pride Toronto holds one more bourgeois gala you weren't invited to and can't afford, limp fist urges you to cum and join us as we...

RESIST! ROVOLT! CELEBRATE!

Tuesday June 21st
6:30 – 8:00
Bay & Wellesley
(south west corner)

bring
ghetto blasters
pink and black outfits
party favours
noise makers
anything outrageous

Archived: June 7, 2005

An Open Letter to the AIDS Committee of Toronto

To Whom It May Concern:

We the Limp Fist collective are writing to register our complaint with the distasteful theme of this year's Fashion Cares event. Like many others in the community, we felt the Bollywood Cowboy motif was incredibly insensitive to the South Asian community, advertisements depicting Hindu gods and goddesses played by white models particularly so.

We are aware of the key role Fashion Cares plays in fundraising for AIDS research but we do wonder whether the overall direction Fashion Cares has taken is rather more part of the problem than part of the solution. The Bollywood Cowboy theme was overtly racist and demonstrably lacking in any cultural sensitivity. As we all know, racism plays a key role in the spread of HIV/AIDS and it is therefore incumbent upon organizations like ACT to counter racism as part of its preventative strategy rather than support and reinforce it.

In addition to the blatant racism, we are concerned that the event itself reinforces elitism in the queer community that makes anyone unable to afford the event or the luxuries it promotes not worthy of membership in the “gay club”. The deification of designer labels and corporate logos is disturbing given the things we know about income, people with AIDS, and vulnerable populations. Finally, the nearly exclusive representation of heterosexual norms within the performance itself is serious cause for concern. The event has seriously shaken our confidence in ACT's role as a leader in the queer community of Toronto.

Sincerely,

Limp Fist Collective

Archived : June 11, 2005

RETHINKING BOLLYWOOD COWBOY
Members of the South Asian community and over 25 leading community groups are extremely disturbed with the marketing materials used for Fashion Cares, Canada's largest HIV/AIDS Fundraiser (presented by ACT (AIDS Committee Toronto). The theme for this event, to be held on June 4, 2005 at the Metro Convention Centre, is "Bollywood Cowboy". With the support of our community members ASAP is taking a lead on this issue to develop a cohesive community response.

Rethinking Bollywood Cowboy: A statement from the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention

ASAP believes that all voices should be heard. While the Bollywood Cowboy theme may have been developed with good intentions, we would like to point out some of the concerns that our community has expressed. Please take a moment to critically think about some of the racial and cultural ramifications this theme has produced.

1. The lack of consultation at the organizational level with community groups, and the absence of South Asian fashion entrepreneurs at this event, further reinforces our community's invisibility. We believe that it is critical to actively work with and within the ethno-racial communities that are featured at such events.

2. Although Bollywood is a part of South Asian culture, it does not represent the culture. Using this particular theme as a portal into Indian culture is misleading and unjust. We are concerned that this year's theme has furthered stereotypes of South Asians as eroticized, one-dimensional characters.

3. One of Fashion Cares' marketing materials features a sexualized and exotic woman seated in a goddess pose. Hindus and non-Hindus alike have been outraged by such flagrant use of religious imagery.

4. The pairing of cowboys and Indians alludes to the exploitation and extermination of Aboriginal peoples. While in this case South Asians are the primary target, the colonial connotations remain extreme, unfair, and racist. We are committed to ensuring that this type of representation does not occur in the future.

As the only community AIDS service organization serving South Asians, we are puzzled and disappointed that no community consultation at the organizational level occurred prior, during and after the production of this year's theme. We cannot continue to ignore the ways in which damaging stereotypes are reinforced. The LGBTQQ community, from which ACT finds its roots, has worked extremely hard to ensure that sexual diversity is recognized in complex and valuable ways, we need your assistance to ensure that ethno-racial groups are recognized in respectful ways too. Over the past few weeks we have met with members of ACT to address these concerns. While they have taken note of this issue, we believe that these concerns should also be heard by our community.

A public apology as well as an appropriate plan of action needs to be issued that will ensure that ethno-racial communities are not targeted/mis-used again at ACT.

We welcome debate and dialogue on this matter. To confirm your support and for further information, please contact Seema Opal at ASAP at 416-599-2727 or info@asaap.ca, and/or ACT at 416-340-2437 or chairofboard@actoronto.org.

In solidarity,
The Board of Directors & Staff Members,
Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAP)