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What's New at the Centre:
Welcome Back to School:
Drop in and say 'hi' on Sept 7th for button-making, food, and chats.
Join us at the Centre, 322 the Student Centre from 10am-5pm!
Everybody is welcome.
Sept 12-15: Sexweek 2011 (see CWTP at York on Facebook for more information)
please pre-register by emailing: cwtpyork@gmail.com
*let us know of any food allergies
*let us know if you need childcare during the workshop
Past Events:
Great Israeli Apartheid Week event on campus Thursday March 10th, 2011!
THURSDAY, March 10th: York's Complicity in Apartheid: Art, Culture and
Resistance
Speakers: Paul Kellogg, John Greyson and SAIA
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: York University, Student Centre room 307
Paul Kellogg is an assistant professor in the Master of Arts Integrated Studies
program at Athabasca University in Alberta. He received his Ph.D. (in Political
Studies) from Queen's University, and his M.A. (in Political Science) from York
University. While an undergraduate at York, he spent one year as editor of
Excalibur. He has published articles in various journals including the Canadian
Journal of Political Science, Contemporary Politics (U.K.), The International
Journal of Zizek Studies, New Political Science (U.S.), and Political Studies
(U.K.).
John Greyson is a Toronto video artist/filmmaker whose features, shorts and
installations include Fig Trees (Best Documentary Teddy, Berlin Film Festival,
2009), Proteus (Diversity Award, Barcelona Gay Lesbian Film Festival, 2004),
and Lilies (Best Film 'Genie', 1996). An associate professor in Film at York
University, he was awarded the 2007 Bell Canada Award in Video Art.
CWTP supports Israeli Apartheid Week, here is why!
Statement on Israeli Apartheid Week and Michael Coren’s Lecture
The Centre for Women and Trans People, York University
The Centre for Women and Trans People at York University stands in solidarity with the organizers of Israeli Apartheid Week, their political principles and intentions, and the events taking place from March 7th-11th, 2011. We are in full support of IAW’s work to recognize the rights of Palestinians, to expose the injustices and human rights abuses that occur under Israeli occupation, and to work against the ‘pinkwashing’ of Israel—the use of queer rights to justify the colonization of Palestinians, queer and non-queer alike.
While the Centre is in full support of rights for women and queers, we do not support the use of these rights to dismiss and perpetuate violence against Palestinians and to legitimize an apartheid state. We do not support the notion that Israel is tolerant while Palestine is homophobic and ‘backwards,’ and that this tolerance justifies the violence Palestinians (including queer ones) face as a result of apartheid. Rather, we understand that the rights of queers do not come at the expense of the rights of those living under occupation and colonization; we know that anti-racist and anti-colonial work is integral to anti-homophobia and queer movements. As such, we do not believe that IAW’s criticism of Israel and its work in securing the rights of Palestinians is anti-Semitic. Rather, ‘pinkwashing’ and the misuse of queer rights trivialize the struggles of queers everywhere (including in Israel) and dismiss Israel’s own acts of state violence.
The Centre for Women and Trans People also strongly condemns the fact that Michael Coren, a virulent and well-known homophobe, is speaking at York as part of the ‘Talk Peace. Stop Hate’ campaign. We understand that this campaign is intended to undermine Israeli Apartheid Week; however, it only reinforces the problem of pinkwashing and of using queerness and tolerance to legitimize racist violence. We do not understand how anti-IAW campaigns can rely on the idea that Israel is tolerant of all genders and sexualities and simultaneously call on someone such as Michael Coren to speak on Israel and ‘prove’ the legitimacy of an apartheid state. The opportunistic use of Michael Coren is both homophobic and racist insofar as he denies both the rights of queers and the rights of people living under occupation. It reveals how pinkwashing ultimately serves only to justify colonization and not improve the lives of queers, Palestinian and Israeli alike. As a result, The Centre fully supports Israeli Apartheid Week and the events taking place for it both on and off York campus.
Call Out for CWTP Resource Centre suggestions!!
The Centre for Women and Trans People’s resource library has undergone a
major makeover! Come by and check out our new variety of radical audio books, cds,
zines, graphic novels, magazines, DVDs, poetry and books.
We are always looking for non-academic, accessible resources that
center trans activism and radical 'disability' movements. We are also
interested in materials that have a strong focus on Indigenous resistance,
queer uprisings and social justice movements led by communities of colour.
Stay in touch to learn about our upcoming launch party, radical reading
circles, workshops, film screenings, online catalogue and more!
Send us your suggestions & join our newsletter at: cwtplibrary@gmail.com
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(for more information on all these events, check out the Programming: Upcoming Events section for the website)
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We are currently looking for new collective members and volunteers!! If you are itching to get involved in a space where you can meet people; share and acquire new skills; challenge and empower yourselves; find and build personal support systems; and organize to resist the systems of domination in our lives check us out! We are looking for students and community members who want to get involved at the Centre and help develop new projects, campaigns and ideas.
If you are interested in getting involved check out the Get Involved: volunteer section for this website
- CWTP is accepting applications for new Collective Members Application Form
Get Involved
(scroll down to find out how to become a volunteer with the Centre)
Find out how you can make your voice heard about Bill 94-- check out: http://nonbill94.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/hello-world/ or join us for a call-in and email-in on Tuesday May 18th from 1:30-2:30pm.
The CWTP York writes on Bill 94:
I am writing from the Centre for Women and Trans People at York University in support of the No to Bill 94 campaign. As coordinator for a women’s organization, it is deeply concerning to see a piece of legislation intended to dictate what women can and cannot wear in public. Bill 94 should be alarming to any organization that works to advocate for women’s right to choose; which is what most of us claim to be doing. Women’s movements have been fighting for years to have access to equal opportunities and to a full spectrum of choices for women. Despite this ongoing struggle, once again our right to choose is being undermined; this time, through racist legislation that masquerades as progressive and feminist.
Bill 94, in truth, is neither of these things. In fact, it is a direct assault on Muslim women. And inadvertently, an assault on all women’s rights because it implies that the state knows what is good for women, better than each woman knows for herself. Not only is it an assault because, once approved, women will no longer have the right to chose how to dress themselves, but also because women who fail to comply with the state’s dress code will lose the right to access healthcare, education, and employment.
The Bill is Islamophobic and affects Muslim women on both a practical and ideological level. It is a practical assault, for in its implementation it will deny Muslim women who wear the Niqab access to public services. It is also an ideological assault, as only Muslim women are targeted by a law regulating attire; thus implying that they are unable to make appropriate choices and to be agents in their religious practice and everyday activities. The manner in which the bill is being defended also implies that Muslim women are unable to exercise freedom, and must be mandated to ‘enjoy’ western ‘freedoms’—the hypocrisy is astounding. In this political moment, given the current war on terror that Harper professes to be fighting for women (while he cuts funding to Canadian women’s agencies and removes 'women’s equality' from the mandate of Status of Women Canada), this bill is dangerous and circulates notions of womanhood that excludes Muslim women. Muslim women’s dignity, agency and humanity are being threatened.
This is a Bill that should be raising eyebrows across the country. What is at stake is women’s right to choose. And this should never be mistaken for who has the right to chose for women. Defenders of Bill 94 seem to argue that it will have emancipating effects for Muslim women. While we should be quite familiar with this imperialist smoke screen since 9/11 and the occupation of Afghanistan, it still bears mentioning for those who are unwilling to check their racism. The only way to truly insure that there are systems in place to protect women’s rights and freedoms is to ensure that they have access to education, employment, healthcare, women’s shelters, counseling and most importantly, choices— all things which will be denied to some under Bill 94.
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Volunteer
Interested in Volunteering at the Centre?
We are looking for new volunteers and collective members for the summer and fall! We are interested in students and community members who have between 2-4 hours a week to share with the Centre and who can commit about year! Volunteering at the CWTP is a great way to meet people; share and acquire new skills; challenge and empower ourselves; find and build personal support systems; and organize to resist the systems of domination in our lives. It is a great way to make an impact at York and shape the work of an important campus organization.
Please fill out our Volunteer Application Form (available in PDF or WORD) and drop it off at the Centre, email us at cwtpyork@gmail.com or meet with one of the CWTP staff (All information provided on this form will be accessible only to designated staff and volunteers for the purpose of the Volunteer Program--printed versions of this form are available at the Centre).
Volunteers and collective members are required to attend a weekend of training before getting involved with the Centre. This weekend will be fun, interesting and a great learning experience! Over the course of the weekend you will learn about system of power and privilege in our society and what it means to be a feminist and trans-positive space. You will also learn about how collectives using a consensus-based decision making process operate, what it means to be non-hierarchal and how to make our organization, space and events as accessible as possible. In addition, throughout the year the Centre will be offering additional non-compulsory trainings, (such as poster-making, web-design, how to develop a workshop) and will be facilitating on going anti-oppression discussion groups—providing you with many opportunities to learn and grow!
Thanks again for your interest!
To apply to become a Collective Member:
Download our Collective Membership Application Form (available in PDF or WORD) and drop it off at the Centre. Printed forms are available at the Centre as well. All information provided on this form will be accessible only to designated staff and volunteers for the purpose of the Program. Submitting an application does not guarantee your acceptance as a Collective Member. Thanks for your interest.
© 2006 The Centre for Women and Trans People