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Susan G. Cole is an author and playwright and has been active in
the queer community for over 25 years. As an activist, she was a
member of the first lesbian political organization in Toronto, called
LOOT (the Lesbian Organization of Toronto), which was founded in
1977 and operated a coffee house and lesbian phone line.
In
1978, she founded, composed and played piano in Toronto's first
all-women's band Mama Quilla II and later formed the band NO FRILLS
that played the stage at Toronto's first Gay Pride Day in 1980.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Toronto's Pride Day and
Susan will be featured in a video commemorating the anniversary.
In
1988, her partner gave birth to their daughter, with the gift of
sperm from Susan's brother (a story in itself) and in 1989, Susan
wrote the hit comedy play A Fertile Imagination, about two lesbians
trying to have a baby, which has seen seven productions throughout
Canada.
She
has debated on the subject of gay rights on campuses throughout
Canada and made numerous television appearances as a commentator
on the same-sex marriage issue. She is currently the senior entertainment
editor at NOW
Magazine, Canada's premiere news and entertainment
weekly, and a columnist for the Canadian feminist magazine Herizons.
Susan
Speaks on topics of . . .
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| Confronting
Homophobia |
Coping
with stereotypes of what gay is and means. All gay men do not walk
around as limp-wristed, mincing queens, and not all lesbians look
like men. But then, so what if some do? What does it mean when we
assume that it's better for gays to be able to pass for straight.
How do we deal with homophobes who consistently sexualize gay people?
How do we deal with our own internalized homophobia? |
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| Gender
Fluidity |
There
was a time when gay liberation was intent on eliminating gender stereotypes
but currently, the pendulum has swung the other way and the transgender
issue has become a deep preoccupation for the gay community. How can
we support people who are transitioning and still create a world where
no person will feel they have to change genders - and surgically alter
their bodies - in order to survive? Ever seen what happens to a boy
who wears a skirt to school? Right now the world we live in is completely
hostile to gender fluidity and insists that there are two distinct
genders that have to look like and behave in very specific ways. |
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| Pop
Culture |
Quick
now, how many superstar entertainers can you name that are openly
gay? Not many, yet the fundamentalist right thinks that our culture
is being taken over by the queer nation. The sad thing is that the
L-Word, Queer Eye, Ellen and a very vital presence on the web notwithstanding,
we've made very few inroads into pop culture. And considering that
the head of PBS was forced to step down after Spongebob visited a
lesbian family and even the venerable Simpsons are under fire for
taking the gay thing too far, we've obviously got a long way to go
before queer visibility is acceptable. |
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| Queer
Families |
There are currently
over 20,000 families in North America with queer parents. As a lesbian
mother, I have watched this landscape changed dramatically since my
daughter was born 17 years ago. To this discussion I bring my own
personal experience. I've dealt with the public school system, the
medical system, the legal system - I've just adopted Molly and am
a part of a human rights petition to allow both same-sex parents to
be included on a newborn's birth certificate - and, most important,
with homophobia. For this component, I can do a how-to to answer questions
from a gay audience as to what's involved in deciding to have children,
making it happen and being a gay parent. And I can share my experiences
with debating homophobes on the subject of same-sex marriage, on Parliament's
docket as we speak, and queer parenting. |
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