Thanks to Cindy Holmes for the presence of mind to take photos on Thursday evening. This is the panel of  folks who were in the movie "In Particular - barbara findlay"  at the Rio last Thursday.
Right to left:  Becca Plucer, director; Sheila Gilhooly; Shari Thorfinnson; Liz Whynot; Kimberly Nixon; Sadie Kuehn; Shantel Ivits; Deb Brady; Sandy-Leo Laframboise; Michelle Wilson; Tru Wilson; Barb Bell; Jeannette Piry and barbara findlay.
So many people have written to say how wonderful it was to be in community.  And community it was: from 13 year old trans girl Tru Wilson to 84 year old lesbian elder Jeannette Piry...
To Becca Plucer, the amazing director, and all of the outstanding folks who worked on the movie: we can't get enough history!  Thank you thank you thank you.
The movie will be available online after June 3, thanks to OUTtv, and I will post a link.

This year for the first time, the annual Legacy Awards will include the Kimberly Nixon Legacy Award.  The award pays tribute to trans pioneer Kimberly Nixon.
For those of you too young to remember, Kimberly applied to volunteer with Rape Relief, a Vancouver rape crisis centre.  She was accepted as a trainee, but when she went to the training, was told she could not stay because she was trans.
The human rights case  and appeals that followed took years.  During the decade of that fight, Kimberly worked tirelessly to ensure that all of the other other women's centres in BC did not follow Rape Relief's transphobic and misogynist exclusionary policy.
Thanks to Kimberly, the law in BC is that the ground of 'sex' in human rights law protects trans people.
Though Rape Relief won in the Court of Appeal, based on an argument that, like the Catholic Church, they should be exempt from anti-discrimination laws because they were a charity, all of the other women's centres had trans-inclusive policies by the time the case was done.
So - lose the battle, but win the war.
Kimberly Nixon is a hero whose legacy must never be forgotten.
Nominate a trans* activist who has made a difference in the lives of trans people! The nomination form is here. 

It is very important that we are represented as queers in all of the institutions of public life.
Dara Parker, formerly the fantastic ED of Qmunity, is running for the VanCity board.  I have endorsed her personally, and STRONGLY urge you to vote for her, and for other progressive candidates such as Nikki Sharma.

(If you are a technoklutz like me, who cannot even manage to figure out how to put Dara's photo on this page, here's how to vote:  Log in to your Vancity account.  Follow the links to the election!  Easy peasy...
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Here's what Dara says about herself.  
I am a passionate social profit executive with deep experience in financial management, governance, and strategic planning.
I serve as the Executive Director of QMUNITY, BC’s Queer Resource Centre. During my four years at QMUNITY, the organization has increased our budget by 61% – while building a healthy reserve fund – and increasing the number of people we serve by 23%. In 2014, we received the inaugural City of Vancouver award for Diversity and Inclusion.
During my career I have chosen to work with values-driven organizations making positive changes, including Cuso International, the United Nations Association in Canada, and Kids Help Phone.
After earning a Master’s degree in Urban Planning at UBC, I helped lead the development of the City of Burnaby’s social sustainability strategy.
I’m asking for your vote because my knowledge and experience will help advance Vancity’s commitment to helping people and communities thrive and prosper.

Website: www.daraparker.com  

Alberni Indian Residential School (from United Church of Canada archives page)

Watch this important video which was passed to me by Shirley Turcotte, amazing Metis healer and teacher.
One of the things that disturbs me about the current discourse of reconciliation is that we settlers are finding it easy (relatively) to apologize for residential schools, which no longer exist, but are not talking about or recognizing that reconciliation involves a transformation of everything we have assumed: about our legal status in this land (almost none of BC has been treatied: we are essentially uninvited occupiers), about the relationship between First NATIONS and our governments, about our current, continuing practices of cultural genocide through the child welfare system.
Watch the video.