Thursday, August 25, 2011

FF-WPR Farewell to Jack Layton, the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office and Wendy Babcock

By anna Saini


Death in the summertime is unnatural. In the Winter and late Autumn it makes sense. Just as Spring is the season of birth winter is the time of death. The reaper begins its fatal sowing of the landscape in the late Fall after the harvest. There is some reason to it, at least. But Summer is the time of youth. Death is unfair in the Summertime.


In the post G-20 deterioration of Toronto politics into the Ford-era, the death of Jack Layton is not fair. Layton enjoyed all the privileges of a white upper class heterosexual man and, as former leader of the NDP, functioned within a system of electoral politics that alienates much of our communities. But I think a lot of regular people, people who you would not necessarily expect would feel kinship to a man such as Jack Layton, are experiencing his loss.


One reason for this is that Layton was regularly spotted riding the streets of Toronto on his bike, which is a grand equalizer. No one is immune to midday traffic, potholes or a collision with a pile of police horse shit. Not Jack Layton, not anyone. He was one of us. He was married to an Asian woman, a survivor of family violence and the first woman MP. Layton's marriage with his colleague Olivia Chow is perhaps the most charming reflection of Canadian multiculturalism in herstory.


We will miss Jack Layton championing the public interest even when we did not always agree that he had his finger on the pulse of it. In his role as leader of the official opposition he leveraged his placement to make real gains for working class people. He demonstrated logic, intelligence and genuine commitment, which is disheartening rare of late.


Exemplary of this void in Canadian politics is the recent dissolution of thee Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office into the Canadian Mental Health Association this summer. Previous to the July hand-off the Office was an independent provincial agency. By compromising the independence of the Psychiatric Patient Advocate, the Ministry of Health has created a conflict of interest that has the Canadian Mental Health Association evaluating and taking action on itself, as the main provider of outpatient mental health services.


The Office was created after a series of deaths at the Queen street Mental Health Center, which led to the revelation of prison-like conditions, involuntary drug treatment and unconsenting electroshock therapy in many of the province's psychiatric hospitals. 28 years later, amongst major inquiries into the killing of mentally ill people at the hands of Toronto police, a burgeoning population of caged and neglected mentally ill people in Ontario prisons and deplorable conditions in the province's psychiatric facilities the issues that prompted the Office's creation are even more relevant. The death of the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office is another critical blow to the voice of psychiatric consumers and their families against the assault and mistreatment that runs rampant within the broken system.


And the system is rife with casualties. People who don't get the help they need. People who are relegated to abuse and neglect by virtue of them being subversive and vulnerable. Wendy Babcock was one of these people.


As a law student at Osgood Hall Wendy was a leader in the movement to decriminalize sex work, a movement that recently made substantial gains when the Ontario Supreme Court ruled to strike down the laws criminalizing sex work on the basis that they violated human rights of safety and security of person. The Conservative government opted to appeal the ruling almost immediately and proceedings on this issue will likely stretch out over months if not years. With the Ontario Court ruling on its side there is a strong case for decriminalization in Ontario that would cause a ripple effect Federally. It's deeply saddening that Wendy will not witness the ultimate fruition of her labor except in spirit. However there were great strides made when she was with us and her memory will no doubt fuel our communities to further our goals and honor her legacy.


Despite Wendy Babcock's meaningful contributions to Canadian public policy before even having graduated from one of the most prestigious law schools in the country, the media, when they did not ignore the story completely, largely reported on her death as that of a “prostitute cum law student found dead in apartment”. So even in death Wendy, her friends, family, communities and all of those who looked up to her are traumatized by the stigmas on mental illness and sex work that plagued her and that she so fervently resisted in life. These stigmas are vestiges of irresponsible and lazy journalists. Wendy Babcock's death is a reminder that these stigmas often prove fatal and that this kind of death during youth is utterly unnecessary.


Friday, July 1, 2011

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: 40 Weeks at 40

Moms Talk about Pregnancy and Childbirth at Age 40 and Older

Submissions (approx. 1500 words apiece) are sought for a planned collection of firsthand, nonfiction narratives about the personal experience of pregnancy, up to and including childbirth, among mothers age 40 and older. As a woman who gave birth at 41, I plan to bring together diverse personal narratives from other 40-plus mothers in an accessible collection. A search for a publisher is under way and will not be limited to academic presses, since this collection is meant to serve scholars as well as a wide popular audience.

Please send submissions and queries to ivyfern@msn.com or to opdebena@plu.edu with "40 MOMS" in subject header. Include complete contact information.

Hard copies may be directed to:
Nathalie op de Beeck, Associate Professor
Department of English
Pacific Lutheran University
227K Hauge Admin. Bldg.
Tacoma, WA 98447-0001

Deadline: July 15, 2011 (this may be flexible-please contact me if you wish to submit a piece!)

Monday, April 25, 2011

Toronto Pride compromised by Zionism on all-sides

Toronto Pride is plagued with Zionism.

For years internal conflicts have led many to organize in response to pink-washing of Israeli Apartheid. This is the process where oppressors point to homophobic inclinations within the culture they are oppressing as a way to absolve and obscure guilt. It is used to silence the group experiencing oppression in protesting the oppression, even when they are protesting oppression as an LGBTQ issue. It disempowers the oppressed group by forcing a particular interpretation of cultural norms that is not indigenous to the culture.

Zionist pink-washing in Toronto Pride ramped up several years ago to support the exclusion of anti-Zionist queers of color organizers from the festival. Now funding may fall through in what Toronto Pride is claiming is an attempt to exclude the participation of Queers Against Apartheid. But pink-washing is not an option in this case, when many of the targets are other so-called Israeli's. Pride has initiated the Proud of Toronto Campaign (details below) to combat the funding cuts.

The funding cuts come at a time when many disenchanted queer activists are none too excited to swoop in to organize and save the festival. That said, it would be a great loss to the city and the queer community to lose Toronto Pride to the ugly forces of Zionism. First University of Toronto, now this?

The only hope for Pride is the guidance of a well-funded, well-supported organizing leadership that represents the real voices of the queer community in our city. We are indigenous, we are radical, we are anti-colonialist. We are ready for Toronto Pride to win us back.

Or perhaps more realistic is the approach of Queers Against Apartheid, who are abandoning Pride entirely and counter-organizing events during Pride Week publicizing Israeli Apartheid and contesting Israeli pink-washing of their international human rights record.

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Don't let City Council cut funding for Pride Toronto!

This a campaign to ensure that the City will fund Pride. It will also give you additional information about the business case for Pride as well as provide you an opportunity to write a letter to your councillor to tell them that you want Pride funded by the City. Please "like" and share in your networks.

The decision about whether or not to fund Pride Toronto is coming to City Council in April. A campaign has been waged to convince city councillors to vote against this funding. Pride Toronto is being accused of tolerating hate speech although there is absolutely no evidence that this has ever happened. This is an attempt to stop the group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid from participating in the parade. The heavy handed attempt to withhold funding from Pride is an attack on free speech and political expression in the parade, as well as an attempt to censor and control city funded events and programs - a very dangerous road to go down. To find your city councillor's and the mayor's email address go to http://app.toronto.ca/im/council/councillors.jsp. If you want to send your letter to the powerful Executive Committee, go to http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/decisionBodyProfile.do?function=doPrepare&decisionBodyId=262#Meeting-2011.EX5

For more info about the city council vote and the campaign to defund Pride go to http://www.xtra.ca/public/Toronto/On_a_razors_edge-9979.aspx

Proud of Toronto is looking for organizations to sponsor them. If you are an organization that can support the Campaign, please write to them at: info@proudoftoronto.com and let them know.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Maggie's Aboriginal Sex Worker Outreach Project

Thank you again to Chanelle Gallant for joining us on Frequency Feminisms. As promised here is more information about the Aboriginal Sex Worker Outreach Project. You can also visit http://maggiestoronto.ca for lots of great information on programs, services, resources, and events by and for sex workers in Toronto. The Aboriginal Sex Work Education and Outreach Project is by and for Aboriginal sex workers. Together we want to build your power to work safely, have safer sex and safer drug use, use street sense to reduce violence and HIV. We host talking circles, meals, develop resources and other activities and events. To get involved contact Maurganne at ASWEOP@maggiestoronto.ca or call 416-964-0150, extension 2 This project is for street sex workers of all genders and of Indigenous descent.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Needs of LGBT Haitians Largely Ignored in Post-quake Recovery Efforts

(New York, March 28, 2011) Violence and discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people has increased since the January 2010 earthquake, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and SEROvie said in a briefing paper issued today. The paper, The Impact of the Earthquake, and Relief and Recovery Programs on Haitian LGBT People (http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/article/publications/reportsandpublications/1369.html), documents anti-LGBT human rights violations that have occurred since the earthquake.

“UN Agencies, private organizations, and governments must recognize the horrible impact of the Haiti disaster on LGBT people,” said Cary Alan Johnson, IGLHRC’s Executive Director. “While the needs of some marginalized groups are at least acknowledged, LGBT people are completely ignored.”

Perhaps most shocking, conservative religious leaders in Haiti even blame LGBT for the earthquake, leading to increased stigma and violence.

“In the days and weeks after the earthquake, we were shouted at in the streets…you gay people, take your sin and go, you are responsible for this tragedy’” said Reginal Dupont, Program Manager at SEROvie. “Many masisi were attacked, verbally and physically.”

This irrational blaming of LGBT people for natural disasters is a global phenomenon, with conservative evangelicals like Pat Robertson having blamed homosexuality for the devastation of Hurricane Katrina as well as other natural disasters.

The findings detailed in IGLRHC/SEROvie briefing paper are based on more than 50 interviews conducted by IGLHRC and SEROvie in Haiti in April and September of 2010 with LGBT people and representatives of relief organizations, the United Nations and diplomatic missions in April 2010.

The much-needed security, health and community services provided by organizations such as SEROvie - rare enough before the quake - have been devastated and this has compounded the vulnerability of people whose lives were already characterized by secrecy, isolation, discrimination, and violence.

According to Reginald DuPont, SEROvie’s Program Manager, “Our center was a place for LGBT people to relax, obtain services, and find acceptance. The earthquake destroyed our offices, took the lives of fourteen young men, and deprived the community of a safe haven.”

IGLHRC and SEROvie acknowledge the devastation suffered by all Haitians but it is important to note that LGBT Haitians suffered a range of human rights violations, including those related to their right to security, in particular ways. “LGBT people rely on friends, family and trusted neighbors for security,” said Johnson, “The earthquake disrupted regular patterns of movement, scattered friends, families, and neighbors, and damaged or destroyed the doors, windows, and walls that had previously provided some measure of safety.”

As the briefing paper notes, the basic rights of LGBT Haitians were violated in other ways. Interviews with Haitians and international aid workers show how, for example, the well-intentioned policy of distributing emergency food rations to female heads-of-households had the unintended side-effect of excluding many gay men and transgender people living in families without an adult female. Many lesbian women living without male relatives or friends, although otherwise able to obtain food aid, were discouraged by chaotic and dangerous distribution lines.

This increased vulnerability of LGBT people in disasters and emergency response situations is not unique to Haiti, and IGLHRC and SEROvie draw on similar experiences from the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the 2005 Hurricane Katrina in the US and the 2010 Chilean earthquake in the briefing paper’s conclusions and recommendations.

“While earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes and other natural phenomena will continue to occur, there is nothing natural or inevitable about the ways in which LGBT people are denied equal access to housing, food and security that could mitigate the impact of such disasters,” said Johnson.

IGLHRC and SEROvie urge the government of Haiti and other governments facing such disasters, as well as donors and aid agencies, to base relief and reconstruction efforts on the respect and promotion of all human rights, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity, and to include LGBT organizations in relief and recovery efforts.

A PDF version of The Impact of the Earthquake, and Relief and Recovery Programs on Haitian LGBT People in English and French is available at http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/article/publications/reportsandpublications/1369.html

Victory in Indonesia!

Following a three-year struggle for union recognition and full bargaining rights, Indonesian workers have won a huge victory in their battle with Nestle. The IUF - the global union federation in the food sector - played a key role in a major worldwide campaign that went under the "Nespressure" slogan. As the IUF stated today on its website,

The agreement, which was initialed by the IUF and Nestlé corporate management on March 28 and signed by the union and local Nestlé management on March 31, sets the stage for the SBNIP to bargain the Panjang workers' collective agreement including the wage bargainingwhich Nestlé management had been steadfastly rejecting for years.

Full details of the victory are at http://cms.iuf.org/?q=node/851

Rights Groups Call on Government to End Abusive Solitary Confinement in Women's Prisons by BCCLA

The BCCLA and other rights groups are calling on the Minister of Public Safety to end the use of the Management Protocol program in women's prisons.

The BCCLA joined with other concerned groups, including the B.C. Union of Indian Chiefs, the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, the John Howard Society of Canada, Prisoners' Legal Services, Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, West Coast Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, Pivot Legal Society, and the Criminal Lawyers' Association, to express its serious concern over the continued use of this controversial program.

The Management Protocol is a program that exists solely in women's prisons. A key feature of the Management Protocol is its use of prolonged and indefinite solitary confinement, which places women in isolation for up to 23 hours a day. There is no judicial oversight on its use. Of the women who have been placed on the Management Protocol, all but one have been aboriginal, strongly suggesting that the Protocol is being applied in a discriminatory fashion.

In the wake of the BCCLA's lawsuit, filed earlier this month, challenging the Management Protocol and the use of prolonged, indefinite solitary confinement, the Correctional Service of Canada informed media that it would be "moving away" from the use of the Management Protocol. "Unfortunately, the Correctional Service of Canada has been claiming that it is 'moving away' from the Management Protocol for years," said Grace Pastine, Litigation Director at the BCCLA. "Meanwhile, women continue to suffer. We
need action, not words. The Management Protocol must be abolished."

In 2009, the Correctional Investigator, the independent ombudsperson for federal offenders, recommended that the Management Protocol be abolished.

The correctional service did not follow this recommendation, but instead stated that it would review its strategy "with a view to moving away" from the Management Protocol. In May 2010, the correctional service again claimed that it would "move away" from the Management Protocol.

"And yet, in 2011, we have still yet to see any true movement away from the program, or from
the use of long-term solitary confinement as an administrative tool," said Carmen Cheung, Counsel at the BCCLA.

The serious harms resulting from long-term solitary confinement are well-documented. It is almost 50 years since Canada passed a Bill of Rights that precludes cruel and unusual punishment and preserves due process; it is almost 30 years since Canada adopted a Charter of Rights embedding those principles into the constitution and guaranteeing them to all people in Canada.

Read the Letter to the Minister of Public Safety
http://www.bccla.org/pressreleases/11Toews.pdf