Fearlessly Fierce AGYU@Pride

Pride is a salute to the history, courage, and future of LGBTQ+* people. It is also a time of reflection and remembrance for all those who have been silenced or forgotten. The Art Gallery of York University (AGYU) invites you to connect with the spirit of Pride and join us in solidarity with Toronto’s queer communities and their accomplices.

With an explosion of gold and glitter, Nadijah Robinson brings all the glitz and extravagance of a ball to the politics of queer visibility and representation. Through a series of conversations and interviews with key members of the York queer alliances Nadijah was able to translate their oral histories into the Fearlessly Fierce campaign that focuses on education, healing, and celebration. Students fearlessly march in Toronto Pride to bring forward the voice of Black Trans Women in the diverse LGBTQ+ communities at York and the surrounding area. As a tribute to trans women of colour, the float provides a vehicle for a mourning procession, protest, and celebration in unity with trans activists. Ceremonial rituals and funerary practices, such as the pouring of libations, distribution of memorial effigies to the crowd, and dancing, have been inserted to honour the women who have died. The event serves as a memorial, but also a celebration, acknowledging all those that have survived and persevere. Adorned with sashes and gowns emblazoned with slogans of support for #BlackTransLivesMatter and #SayHerName, the float pays tribute to the women that continue to struggle with transphobia and oppression.

Working alongside The Centre for Women and Trans People (CWTP), Trans Bi Lesbian Gay Asexual at York (TBLGAY), York Federation of Students (YFS), Centre for Human Rights (CHR), Glendon Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (GLgbt*), The York United Black Students’ Alliance (YUBSA) and the SexGen York Committee, AGYU proudly waves the rainbow flag at the Trans March, Dyke March, and Pride Parade on Church Street. Together we showcase the acceptance, diversity, and inclusivity that York promotes.

Keep a look out for us at the Pride Parade on Sunday June 29th at 2pm, Bloor & Church with a route that goes all the way down Yonge to Dundas Square. All York students are welcome to jump and dance to the bouncing tracks of DJ Bambii who has created the ultimate music playlist fitting of a dance-march (New Orleans-style jazz funeral) where onlookers join in to commemorate the life of the deceased with loud, upbeat, raucous music.

AGYU supports all of the York & student-led events:

Celebrate!
Glendon Campus Flag Raising
Opening Ceremony & Reception
Monday June 22 at 10:00 – 11:00am
Breezeway, York Hall, B Wing

Keele Campus Flag Drop
Opening Ceremony & Reception
Monday June 22 at 3:30 – 4:30pm
Student Centre

Party!
Summer Jam Pride BBQ
Monday June 22, 4:30pm – 8:30pm

Embrace!
#EmbraceYU Launch
York Pride Reception
Tuesday, June 23, 11:30am – 1:00pm
Kaneff Tower – 2nd Floor

Collaborate!
Banner & Float Decorating
Wednesday June 24, 12:00pm – 4:00pm
Vari Hall

Create!
Craft Fair
Craft Creation Booth
Student Centre Room 307
Thursday, June 25, 2:00-4:00pm

Volunteer!
#EmbraceYU Pride StreetFair
Saturday June 27 and Sunday June 28, 12:00pm – 8:00pm
Church Street

Student Booth @ Pride StreetFair
Saturday June 27 and Sunday June 28, 12:00pm – 8:00pm
Church Street

Participate!
Trans* Pride Rally and March
Friday June 26, Rally 7:00pm & March 8:00pm
North Stage Intersection of Church and Isabella Street

Dyke March
Saturday, June 27, 2:00pm
Church at Bloor Street

Perform!
Pride Parade
Sunday June 28, 2:00pm
Yonge Street from Bloor to Dundas Square

Nadijah Robinson received her BFA from the University of Ottawa in 2010, and has recently shown work at the Gladstone Hotel, with the Nia Centre for the Arts, and has completed a large-scale public mural in the heart of the Church Street Village. She currently serves on the Board of Whippersnapper Gallery, and is excited to attend a residency at the Fresh Milk International Artist Residency in the fall of 2015.

Kirsten Azan, baptized Bambii, is inarguably one of the fastest rising and well-respected DJs in the industry. She’s opened for Bun B, Big Freedia, Machine Drum, Nguzunguzu and her event series JERK has been at capacity since its inception. She is part of a new generation of artists pushing back on the notion of a single genre or scene. Whether spinning at an after hour, club, D.I.Y. venue, or art opening, the dancefloor is charged with sets that seamlessly unite electronic, hip-hop, house, dancehall and even the odd film excerpt. She possesses a rare combination of musical vernacular coupled with raw creative instinct. This can be credited to years of formal Jazz piano training, a stint in an arts high school, and witnessing Pentecostal women caught up in musical rapture when her great grandma took her to church as a kid. This early eclectic exposure to both music and also political narratives, have informed Bambii’s risk taking during and in-between sets. She’s adamant about creating inclusive queer-positive spaces, has led critical online conversations, and has been quoted in publications such as Chart Attack and Thump

Stay Connected!
@A_G_Y_U
#FearlesslyFierce
#EmbraceYU
#BlackTransLivesMatter
http://yorkatpride.tumblr.com/

Ensure you dress for the weather and bring sunscreen – the march goes ahead rain or shine.

* LGBTQ+ is an abbreviation used to represent a broad array of identities such as, but not limited to, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, intersex, queer, questioning, two-spirited, pansexual, gender and sexual minorities and allies.

Trans* refers to a person whose gender identity is not the same as the sex they were assigned at birth. Community members who may self-identify as trans can be transgender, transsexual, intersex, third gender, genderqueer, genderfluid, non-binary, bigender, or any other identity that is not cisgender (cisgender people are those whose gender identity is the same as the sex they were assigned at birth)

AGYU IS SO OUT (THERE)