The 519 Church Street Community Centre

Archive for October, 2009

Centre Voices: Matthew Cutler grows up, sorta.

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Centre Voices:

It takes a Village to build community.

Staff, Members and Friends of The 519 reflect on
the history and future of the Church-Wellesley Village

My first encounter with the Village was as a young, up-and-coming
conservative youth activist, dining with friends and colleagues at Bigliardi’s.

Later, the Village was a queer escape from my then-closeted
and oppressive Niagara existence.

Today it’s where I live, work and play.

As I look back on those periods in my life, I have trouble reconciling my current self with my past self.  So much has changed for me that it is easy to disassociate from ‘the me that was’.  The Matt Cutler who jet set around the country and world as a youth activist, seems like a completely different person from the Matt Cutler who ran for Mayor of Pelham in 2003 or from the Matt Cutler who stood with the Mayor of St. Catharines in 2005 to raise the rainbow flag for the first time - and none of those people seem like present-day me.

But really, isn’t that everyone’s experience?

How many of us, when reflecting on our adolescence, can see our present self in those moments?  Isn’t it more common to think “what was I thinking?” or “I was so young and naïve!”, “I would never do that now!”  Few of us would wish to return to those days - to re-live our high-school or university life, to go back and do it all over again.

And yet, as we separate ourselves from our adolescence we also romanticize it.   Those were the best days of our lives, with the best friendships, the best parties, the greatest loves and so many of our ‘firsts’.

This reality of human development became a hot topic at this month’s Queers and Beers event.  Perhaps, the group suggested, the Village serves as a tool for our ‘queer adolescence’.  Many of us move to the city and land in the Village. New to our queerness and unsure of our future, the Village creates the perfect laboratory for identity experiments - a place for us to try out new labels and versions of ourselves, to be something or someone we never imagined possible.  Then, when we begin to settle into a comfortable version of our self, many of us move away from the Village and create community in other areas of the city.  Much like our adolescent experience, we separate ourselves from our Village life, and we romanticize the time we spent there.

As an example, I remember thinking that the Village was packed with gorgeous men, the Bars were the best I’d ever seen and the kitsch at Out on the Street or FlatIrons Gift Store was funnier than anything I’d ever set my eyes on.  Today I find myself lust-struck on Church Street far less often, more likely to make dinner with friends and watch a movie than go dancing, and I can’t remember the last time I spent an hour chuckling over the sayings written across t-shirts at a camp-mart.  Truthfully though, I don’t think that Toronto’s men are more or less attractive today, that the establishments are better or worse in quality or that the novelty t-shirt business has lost its sense of humor - The reality is that as I’ve matured and grown into my identity my perspective on all of these things has changed.

In many ways this paints a sad picture of the Village - a transient place of fickle connections and passing relevance - but within the analogy lays hope for something better.

Sorting through my list of Facebook friends, I realize that many of my relationships and friends from my adolescence are now just acquaintances, in many cases mere connections to my past.  But some of my friendships have been maintained - the by-product of hard work and continued efforts to maintain connection and relevance in each other’s lives (something we do in spite of the separations of time and geography).

Similarly, my love affair with our Village endures because I work to maintain my connection and relevance to its current life. I continue to build relationships here and I feel at home when grabbing my morning coffee or shopping for gourmet cheeses, when I stop to chat with friends or when a store clerk knows my name.

Like a high school best friend, the Village and I have a connection which lasts, in the face of changing lives, identities and experiences - there’s just something that keeps us coming back to each other to share our lives, to celebrate our future and occasionally, to re-live the recklessness of our adolescence.

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Matthew Cutler is a twenty-something member of The 519 team, where he coordinates resource development and communications.  Always the adventurer, Matthew loves exploring new areas of the city and engaging in lively debates on current affairs with anyone who will indulge him.


Centre Voices: It takes a Village to build community is a blog series posted every Tuesday and Thursday on The 519’s blog. Staff, members, volunteers and friends of The 519 share their experience of the Village, the role it plays in their life today and their hope for its future.

Tags: Activist, Advocacy, Bigliardi, Church and Wellesley, LGBT, Matthew Cutler, Niagara, Pride, St. Catharines, The 519, The 519 Church Street Community Centre
Posted in Activism, Community Development | No Comments »

Centre Voices: Vash Ebbadi ‘catches gay’

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Centre Voices:

It takes a Village to build community.

Staff, Members and Friends of The 519 reflect on
the history and future of the Church-Wellesley Village

One of my fondest memories of the village is of my brother and I walking. Although, it was closer to a jog really. We were going to a friend’s place on Wellesley, walking north on Church when my brother turned to me and said, “Keep your eyes on the traffic lights, and walk as fast as you can.  If you don’t, you’ll catch gay.” Of course this is only funny now, as the running joke between us is that I didn’t walk quite fast enough…I had short legs as a kid.

I first moved into the village at the age of 5. In summer of 1993 my mother picked up shop from Iran, along with her two sons, and moved to a brighter future on Wood Street. I quickly settled into a new school, a new language and a new community at Church St. Public School and spent my lazy summer days in the school yard or at Cawthra Square Park.

In University, I began the arduous but liberating process of coming out. With this I began to realize a passion for Queer and Trans issues, and became involved in the community through volunteer work with groups at the University of Toronto and the greater community. Volunteering as Outreach coordinator for SC:OUT (Scarborough Campus OUT) allowed me to learn through teaching and become familiar with the faces that I share my community with.

In January of 2009, coming back to volunteer at The 519 brought with it a sense of nostalgia and pride. Just as I had grown and changed over the years, so had the little community centre that could (and the change continues!).

The Village has proven time and time again to be one of the most dynamic and diverse areas of Toronto. To me, it has come to be a meeting place of ideas, activism, growth, laughter, friendship, love, and most importantly community.

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Vash Ebbadi is a student and queer leader at the University of Toronto. He is an active member in the LGBTQ community and a volunteer at The 519. Although he no longer resides in the village, it is still the colourful backdrop to his lazy summer days.


Centre Voices: It takes a Village to build community is a blog series posted every Tuesday and Thursday on The 519’s blog. Staff, members, volunteers and friends of The 519 share their experience of the Village, the role it plays in their life today and their hope for its future.

Tags: Activist, Advocacy, Church and Wellesley, LGBT, Pride, SC:Out, The 519, The 519 Church Street Community Centre, University of Toronto, Vash Ebbadi
Posted in Activism, Community Development | No Comments »

Centre Voices: Eric Berndt kisses and tells

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Centre Voices:

It takes a Village to build community.

Staff, Members and Friends of  The 519 reflect on
the history and future of the Church-Wellesley Village

The first time I openly kissed another man in public I was living in Amsterdam as an exchange student .   We exited one of the city’s many coffeeshops not far from the Warmoesstraat one sunny afternoon completely engrossed in each other.  I didn’t pay much attention when a group of boys approached us laughing and shouting in Dutch.  It helped me that the epithets hurled at us were in a language I barely understood. My Belgian lover however hissed back at the homophobic boys, shaking his fists hurling equally hateful words back at them.  A few seconds later we had a full and open can of beer hurled at us, all of this in the so-called gay capital of Europe.

We disappeared hand in hand into a crowd and I felt shaken and disheartened.  But experiencing Amsterdam as a student was a far cry from anything in my hometown, Calgary.  For example Amsterdam houses the world’s first war memorial dedicated to LGBT people murdered because of their sexual orientation during the Second World War.   The City’s police have been protecting gay cruising areas since the early 1970s, etc.  The list of progressive policies could fill many blog entries. In Calgary, the police are only beginning to understand the importance of forming partnerships with LGBT communities; and public sex is a definite taboo.

But comparing the gay areas in Amsterdam to those in Calgary is a bit unfair.

Calgary is not known as a gay tourist destination to say the least. But there is a thriving queer community in that city, spread over the downtown core and where LGBT communities are fighting to create spaces of inclusion and safety.  No different than many other jurisdictions in Canada.  Growing up there, I can’t tell you how many times the word faggot has been hurled at me and my friends from passing cars as I entered Calgary’s iconic Boyztown & The RekRoom on 10^th Ave. S.W.-a place, now closed,  that was home to many more firsts in my life.

Truth be told, I’ve been gay village hopping for the better part of a decade. I lived in Montreal’s gay village for three years before moving to work here in Toronto at The 519.  Both Toronto and Montreal are considered gay capitals, though like every city there are parts where holding hands or kissing your same-sex sweetie can be completely unsafe. Like outside the ACC after a Leafs game, for example.   The truth is that anti-gay violence and social disapproval exists everywhere.

We may win legal equality in marriage or the workplace and the privilege to host World Pride 2014 or the 2006 OutGames. Yet social acceptance and freedom to express affection for each other in public spaces are all too often confined to small urban enclaves like the Church and Wellesley Village.  If this is changing and people feel open to express themselves outside the Village this should be viewed as a positive step in the fight for social acceptance and equality.

The Village will never die because people from all around the world need a safe space to meet, organize and celebrate with one another-a place where we can kiss and hold hands and cruise each other openly.

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Eric Berndt loves living in Toronto.  He moved to the Village in May 2008 when be took on the role of Manager, Resource Development and Communications at The 519.  In his spare time, Eric takes pictures, cooks dinner for friends, travels and reads poetry to Claudia, his 8 year old cocker spaniel.


Centre Voices: It takes a Village to build community is a blog series posted every Tuesday and Thursday on The 519’s blog. Staff, members, volunteers and friends of The 519 share their experience of the Village, the role it plays in their life today and their hope for its future.

Tags: Activist, Advocacy, Church and Wellesley, Eric Berndt, Homopobia, LGBT, The 519, The 519 Church Street Community Centre, The Village
Posted in Activism, Community Development | 2 Comments »

Centre Voices: Helen Rykens’ quarter-century love affair with the Village

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

Centre Voices:

It takes a Village to build community.

Staff, Members and Friends of  The 519 reflect on
the history and future of the Church-Wellesley Village

I’ve lived or worked in the Church Wellesley Village for over 30 years.  In the late ’70’s, at the dawn of the modern gay rights movement, most LGBT people lived “in the closet”. The village was a ghetto not because of poverty but because it was the only area of the city where people could be themselves. There was one restaurant - the Amsterdam Café, a few grocery stores and of course, Dudley’s Hardware.

In the early 1980’s when I started working at The 519, I recall a resident coming in and yelling at the staff for “bringing gay people into the neighbourhood”. He feared his property value would go down and it was all the fault of The 519. We escorted him out of the building, telling him hate language was not welcome.

In May 2005 the Church Wellesley BIA recognized Alexander Wood, a gay man of the late 18^th and early 19^th century with a large statue, placed on the corner of Church and Alexander Streets. I was proud and pleased to find out that the Village had always been a gay meeting place - apparently the area where The 519 now stands was known as Molly Wood’s Bush and was a gay cruising place. Imagine our complainant of the early 80’s - if only I could have told him that the neighbourhood had been gay since the 18th century!

Zelda’s recent move to Yonge Street puts it right on the strip of some of the earliest gay bars, notably, the former St. Charles Tavern, affectionately known as Charlies. If queer businesses are moving a few blocks away, it shows that the community is expanding, not dying.

Neighbourhoods change, and Church Wellesley has changed enormously in 30 years, as has the City itself. I’m glad we still have a queer identity in an expanding area of downtown, and equally happy to see other parts of the City - the City’s west end and Riverdale for instance, becoming more comfortable for LGBT people as well. When students ask me the boundaries of the queer community, expecting a postage stamp geographical definition, I always answer “Coast to Coast to Coast”.

Our community has come a long way and the whole city is becoming a more welcoming place to the LGBT community. That’s a good thing.

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Helen Rykens is a former resident of the Village and is currently the Office Manager for The 519 Church Street Community Centre. Having worked at The Centre for over 25 years, the things Helen has heard and seen in the Village could fill a large book.


Centre Voices: It takes a Village to build community is a blog series posted every Tuesday and Thursday on The 519’s blog. Staff, members, volunteers and friends of The 519 share their experience of the Village, the role it plays in their life today and their hope for its future.



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Tags: Activist, LGBT, The 519, The 519 Church Street Community Centre
Posted in Activism, Community Development | No Comments »

Centre Voices: Kyle Scanlon reflects on belonging and self-discovery in the Village.

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Centre Voices:
It takes a Village to build community.

Staff, Members and Friends of The 519 reflect on
the history and future of the Church-Wellesley Village

I admit I’d heard all about The Gay Village.  In my home town of Hamilton, the Village was viewed as a refuge in a storm of homophobia, one safe space to be yourself.

In 1997 I came to Toronto as a young dyke and within my first week of being in this huge city, I felt isolated and desperate for support. I was living “up north” (near Yonge and Finch) and I was certain I was the only LGBT person within miles. I was trapped! But once a week I had an opportunity to find community! Searching through the classifieds in Xtra, I had seen an ad for a women’s support group. Sweet relief! Finally, somewhere I could go to meet new people, make friends, and engage with my community. The group met at The 519, on the second floor and I became a permanent fixture, week after week, growing more confident with myself, with being new to Toronto, and with the queer community in the city. Each week after group about 10 of us would walk over to (what was then) Toby’s for snacks and each other’s company and practically set up camp for the night. (Toby’s made so much money off of us, it was a surprise they shut down.) I loved my time in the Village - seeing male couples holding hands, staring at beautiful women kissing….it was a paradise.

The Village sustained me through difficult times. Every time I went to a restaurant or a coffee shop with friends, it was on Church Street. This was the first time I saw such diversity within LGBT community and I was entranced. In fact, something about drag kings and transgender women particularly caught my attention. Even though I had never encountered trans people before in my life, something about their experiences felt familiar. A switch flipped. After much soul searching and the emergence of my repressed desire to live as a male, I came out as a transsexual. As an FTM I announced my decision to transition, and fearfully wondered once again: “Where do I belong?”

Once again the corner of Church and Wellesley - the Village - held an answer. The 519 came into focus with its FTM Support Group, and I found trans community members who could help guide me through a terrifying and confusing process.

That support group played an incredibly important role in my life by providing me with access to the supports I desperately needed. To this day the Village plays an important role in my life: It’s where I work (at The 519), and it’s where I play.

For more than 12 years the Village has been the backdrop of my life.

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Kyle Scanlon is a trans activist, researcher and front-line community worker who strives for social justice and has a passion for community capacity building and mobilization. He’s been a member of various research projects exploring the social determinants of health for local trans populations. As Trans Program Coordinator at The 519 Church Street Community Centre, Kyle continues to provide expertise on trans access and equity to a range of service providers across Ontario.



Centre Voices: It takes a Village to build community is a blog series posted every Tuesday and Thursday on The 519’s blog. Staff, members, volunteers and friends of The 519 share their experience of the Village, the role it plays in their life today and their hope for its future.

Posted in Activism, Community Development | 1 Comment »

Coming Soon: CENTRE VOICES: It takes a Village to build community.

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

The Church and Wellesley Village and the broader LGBT Community has been a hot issue in the mainstream and alternative media over the past few weeks.  Many articles, like this one in the Toronto Star have predicted the end of the Village.  The closure of Zelda’s and the ominous absence of Crews and Tango on the Church Street strip has caused many to wonder what is happening in and to our community.

Beginning tomorrow, The 519 will publish a new blog series called Centre Voices: It takes a Village to build community. Every Tuesday and Thursday for the next 6 weeks, staff, members, volunteers and friends of The 519 will share their experience of the Village, the role it plays in their life today and their hope for its future.  In doing so we hope to create a positive dialogue about the future of our community, about the neighbourhood which we have served for nearly 35 years.

On Thursday, October 15th, Kyle Scanlon, trans activist and program coordinator at The 519 will share a story of personal growth and development at the corner of Church and Wellesley.  Tuesday, October 20th will feature Helen Rykens, Office Manager at The 519 and member of The Centre’s staff for over 25 years.

Join us in this conversation - comment on the blog posts, become a fan of us and share your views on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.  We look forward to hearing your stories, too!

Tags: Advocacy, Alexander Wood, Church and Wellesley, Church Street, community, Gay Toronto, Gay Village, Lesbian Toronto, LGBT, Pride, Queer, The 519, The 519 Church Street Community Centre, Trans, Transgender, Two-Spirited
Posted in Activism, Community Development | No Comments »

What a difference a decade makes!

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Today marks the 11-year anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s tragic experience of homophobia on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. On October 6, 1998 he was beaten and left to die, tied to a fence on the outskirts of town. He died six days later and his murder became a watershed moment in America’s history, highlighting the violence and prejudice lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people face.

A month after the murder, members of the Techtonic Theater Project travelled to Laramie and conducted interviews with the people of the town. From these interviews they wrote the play The Laramie Project which was adapted into a film and which has been performed by hundreds of theatre groups across the globe. In the last ten years the play has been seen by over 50 million people.

The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later

On October 12, 2009 Tectonic Theater Project will premiere a compelling and groundbreaking epilogue to the original piece. Entitled The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later the play will be performed for one night only in New York at the Lincoln Centre’s Alice Tully Hall, in Toronto at Bread & Circus in Kensington Market and in over 120 other theatres across the world.

The epilogue focuses on the long-term effect of the murder of Matthew Shepard on the town of Laramie. It explores how the town has changed and how the murder continues to reverberate in the community. The play also includes new interviews with Matthew’s mother Judy Shepard and Matthew’s murderer Aaron McKinney, who’s serving dual life sentences, as well as follow-up interviews with many of the individuals from the original piece.

Toronto-based theatre company Studio 180 will stage the local performance. Prior to the performance, a pre-show component will be broadcast live from Lincoln Center to the participating theatres, hosted by Glenn Close, with Moisés Kaufman and the writers introducing the play, and some words from Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard and Executive Director of the Matthew Sheppard Foundation. Following the performance, there will be a live question and answer session moderated by NPR’s Neda Ulaby, with questions taken from audience members across the world, asked via Twitter and other social media, with the intention of taking as many questions from as many theatres as possible, and the questions not answered live to be answered online at www.laramieproject.org.

The performance will begin at 8pm on October 12, with doors opening at 7pm. Bread & Circus is located at 299 Augusta Avenue, 416.925.8898. Tickets will be available at the door only and admissions is By Donation with all proceeds benefiting The 519 Church Street Community Centre

Tags: Homophobia, Matthew Shepard, Studio 180, Techtonic Theater Project, The Laramie Project
Posted in Activism, Events, Resource Development | No Comments »

An Annual Celebration

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

Hundreds of photos - a year’s worth of memories - were projected overhead while over a hundred of The 519’s members, neighbours and friends sat down to a hearty meal.  For many, this was a time to reconnect with old friends and to meet some new ones. For others this was an opportunity to celebrate an organization which holds a special place in their heart.  For everyone it was an enjoyable evening worth remembering.

Last night’s AGM was a fantastic success for The 519.  With a huge turnout of members and a record-breaking number of candidates for the Board of Management, it is clear that the community feels a strong connection to its Community Centre and our work.

Mathieu Chantelois reflected on the past year and tenure on the Board as he stepped down as Chair, Maura Lawless spoke to the successes of the year and where we’re headed in 2010, and we all said goodbye to three dynamic community activists whose term on the Board came to a close: Joan Anderson, Marv Lucey and Donald Middleton.  Salah Bachir, Honorary Patron of The 519, spoke to Mathieu’s dedication to the Centre and Janet Rowe, Program Manager at The 519, gave a presentation on trends, successes and future directions in our programming.

The most exciting part of the evening however, was the election of new Board Members.  16 Candidates stood for election to 7 positions on the Board of Management.  With each of the Candidates presenting a unique set of skills and abilities to the membership the ballot decision wasn’t easy.  In the end one member of the Board was re-elected and 6 new directors joined the Board.

Check out the pictures from last night’s event here. Biographies of the newly-elected Board Directors are included below.

The 519 Church Street Community Centre’s Newest Board Directors

Pascal Dessureault

Pascal Dessureault is an accomplished member of our community, having served as President of his Student Union, as a Board Director of the Liberal Party of Canada (Quebec) and as the Press Secretary for the Montreal Outgames.  Pascal moved to Toronto three years ago to attend the University of Toronto and is excited to bring his energy, skills and sense of initiative to the Centre.

Natasha Garda

Natasha was re-elected to the Board of Management of The 519 after having already served on the Board for one term, including a year as Vice-Chair of the Board.  Natasha is a former Chair of Pride Toronto, a member of the Sexual Diversity Studies Advisory Board at the University of Toronto and an active and dedicated member of The 519 family.  Natasha is a teacher by profession and co-developed and co-implemented a program for at-risk female youth in Toronto.

Jodi Hoar

A former Executive Director, Board Director and Community Developer in various sectors, Jodi brings a wealth of experience to The 519’s Board of Management. Active in the start of the London AIDS Committee, a mediator in Restorative Justice and a former hospital Chaplain, Jodi is excited to share her broad experience and perspectives with the Board team.

Troy Jackson

An organized, dynamic and passionate community activist, Troy is excited to join The 519’s Board.  His involvement with Blockarama at Pride, Salaam, Africans in Partnership Against AIDS and many other organizations has prepared him well to help lead The 519.  Currently enrolled in “Daddy, Papa and Me” at The 519, Troy is excited to be part of the work we do at The Centre.

Lee Mark Schofield

A volunteer with the McMaster University Alumni Association, Scouts Canada and Big Brothers, Lee will be an asset to The 519’s Board of Management.  As a physician, Lee’s keenly interested in creating an open and supportive environment for the LGBT community and especially for LGBT youth.

Rudy Ticzon

Rudy has eighteen years experience in public affairs, community relations, policy development and communications, gained from working in the public, private and non-profit sectors.  Currently, he is the Community and Policy Advisor at the Law Society of Upper Canada, working with diverse communities and engaging various stakeholders in law, government and the education system.

Kira Vallen

Kira is a founding member of the Southwestern Ontario Association of Trans (SWAT), a former volunteer with the Elgin-Middlesex Training Board and a former member of the St. Thomas Auto Employee’s Credit Union Board of Directors. A regular outreach volunteer at The 519, Kira is brings a broad experience in Social Work, Labour Relations and Communications.

Tags: AGM, annual meeting, Board of Management, Janet Rowe, Jodi Hoar, Kira Vallen, Lee Mark Schofield, Mathieu Chantelois, Maura Lawless, Natasha Garda, Pascal Dessureault, Rudy Ticzon, Salah Bachir, Troy Jackson
Posted in Board of Management, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Monthly Children’s Book Review: The Halloween Book of Facts & Fun

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

519 Child & Family Services September Book Review

The Halloween Book of Facts & Fun

Written By Wendie Old and Illustrated by Paige Billin-Frye

ISBN 13: 978-0-8075-3133-4

With the arrival of Fall, many North American neighbourhoods and children’s programs prepare to celebrate Halloween.  The Halloween Book of Facts & Fun provides a practical and thoughtful introduction to Halloween’s histories and current practices - all with children in mind.  Whether you have celebrated Halloween yourself, or are a newcomer to this Fall tradition, check out what this book has to offer you and children in your life.

In many queer communities the Halloween “holiday” has been an opportunity for release, expression and play.  How do we begin to explain to our children what Halloween is all about? What are the some of the hidden histories behind this celebration of fear, imagination, dress-up, and ancestors?  While this book doesn’t discuss queerness specifically, it is a great tool to teach our children to question how things came to be, to introduce - in a simple way - examples of oppression and colonization, and reflect on what this celebration may mean to you and your family.

I especially like how it sensitively explains: Celtic historical beliefs and practices, how Christianity tried to replace Samhain, how women were oppressed as “witches”, why we “bob for apples”, and how Mexican and other Latin American countries have developed related traditions.

Inside you’ll find such topics and illustrations about:  The Origins of Halloween, Why Do We Wear Costumes and Trick or Treat?; The Tale of the Jack-o’-Lantern; Witches; The Truth about Frankenstein and Dracula; El Dia de los Muertos; Have a Halloween Party!; Halloween Safety Tips; and more.

Whether you’re looking to have fun with your kids, or to begin their education about our hidden histories, I highly recommend this book for parents, caregivers, daycare/family resource workers and elementary school teachers.

~ Chris Veldhoven, Queer Parenting Programs Coordinator

Tags: family resource centre, Halloween, LGBT, Paige Billin-Frye, Queer Parenting, Wendie Old
Posted in Book Review, Children, Queer Parenting | No Comments »