This original acrylic painting features two native Toronto birds in flight, with spring flowers. fruits and the radiant Sun. This imagery represents freedom, new beginnings and boundless energy awaiting our Army of Lovers. Nature elements are a metaphor for the vibrance, diversity and resilience of the Queer community. Where there is nature, there is queerness.

This piece invites community members to collaborate on the artwork by colouring in the blank spaces, because we all got a part to play in envisioning and building community. Every person’s voice and experience matters.

Gender is highly varied and complex in plants. In the botanical world, a flower that contains both male and female reproductive parts within the same structure is considered a “perfect flower”, however humans are still discriminated against if they step outside of the binary. This illustration aims to envision a future of more growth and acceptance in our communities in the same way we embrace and appreciate the diversity of nature including it’s different forms of gender. The flowers depicted are forget-me-not, Hubricht’s bluestar, and fireweed representing hermaphroditic plants (perfect flower), begonias representing monoecious plants (male and female flowers can be different but found in the same plant), and shrubby cinquefoil representing dioecious plants (plant can only be fully male or female, certain other species of dioecious plants can also change gender from one to another to adapt to their environment).

Tarot cards are usually used to predict or give insight into the future, with different cards meaning different things. This interactive postcard invites participants to design their own tarot card as a way to imagine or manifest the future they desire for future communities of The 519. Crystals and candles are often used in conjunction with divination to attract or wish for certain things, with different colours having different meanings. Folks are encouraged to colour in the rest of the illustration to further align with their vision and wishes.