Report from The WLC’s Open Community Meeting

Christina, a founding youth leader of The Well’s RADAR youth drop-in, attended the WLC Open Community Meeting this past week and has graciously provided this report on her experience.

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The Women and Liminal Committee, also known as the WLC, hosted an Open Community Meeting on Friday, February 19th. It was held at The Conservatory for the Arts, a beautiful building on James St S from 6-8pm. Although I had to miss Radar, it was a meeting I thought was necessary to attend since I took part in proposing an event for Pride Week 2010 on behalf of youth. I was excited to hear what other events were being proposed and even more excited to hear feedback on the event I would be proposing. Food and copies of the agenda were provided at the meeting.

I liked that the WLC Members sat amongst those from the community, as opposed to sitting all together and facing community members. It made the discussion more comfortable, like we were one group together serving a particular purpose. We started the meeting off with welcoming remarks from WLC members as well as a woman who works for the Conservatory for the Arts. Both of these introductions gave insight into what would be discussed that night and information about the space we were meeting in. We took a few enjoyable minutes in which everyone shared their name and their most memorable pride moment. It was nice to look back and hear what other people enjoyed most about Pride. I’m pretty sure The Women and Trans March from last year was the most well-liked event, and it should be! It was a very empowering experience, and one that I will not forget. The poetry slam was another event that a number of community members expressed as their favourite.

From here, we went into talking about the WLC’s draft Terms of Reference. I think this was a great part of the meeting that allowed for a lot of feedback from community members. It gave us a chance to express our concerns with any aspects of it, but also gave community members a chance to express their positive reactions to what we were going over. I liked how open the WLC members were to hearing our feedback. They made notes on points that were brought up and are willing to revise the document based on community feedback.

Last on the agenda was the program for Pride Week 2010. This was the fun part; the part I had been excited for all evening. The events are set to be run from Saturday June 12th to Saturday June 19th. There are so many exciting events that have been proposed for this June, and still space for more. Some of the proposed events include: an oral groove party, a labour event, open mic, mock court on hate crimes, a catwalk & theatre slam, youth speed date & concert and the Women and Trans March. Each event was discussed by those who proposed it which allowed for feedback from everyone else. We also discussed other possible events to be included during the week as a group.

From many of these events, subcommittees must be made to help plan and organize each event. This is a great opportunity for members in the community to get involved. So pick one, a few, or all of the events and get involved. Let’s make this Hamilton’s best pride week yet!

Christina

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The WLC is an independent organization working to claim space for marginalized sectors of Hamilton’s LGBTQ communities and showcase LGBTQ diversity. The Committee is focused on affirming the rights of women, liminal and trans identified individuals, among other marginalized individuals within our communities. It aims to promote inclusivity and diversity within a human rights-based framework.  The WLC can be contacted at wlchamilton@gmail.com.