WHAT WE DID IN 2011.....stay tuned for details of BOLDFest 2012 Councillor Ellen Woodsworth BOLD WOMAN AWARD recipient for 2011  Ellen is a Vancouver City Councillor with COPE. She has been an out lesbian feminist activist since 1970, working for social justice and economic equality for all. When she came out she joined three other women and set up the New Morning, a lesbian feminist housing collective, and was active in many lesbian feminist activities such as a workshop at the Indochinese Women's Conference. Unable to put lesbian articles in the local women's liberation newspaper, she moved to Toronto to start "The Other Woman" Newspaper with Holly Devor now Aaron Devor. Ellen went on to speak at many events and to set up the first lesbian drop-in at the Toronto Women's Centre as well as organizing the first National Gay Women's Conference, CORA, the Women's Liberation Bookmobile and Wages Due Lesbians. After a three year stay in London England, she returned to Vancouver, where she has been active in many activities such as BC Chair of the Action Canada Network, President of Britannia Community Centre and South Vancouver Family Place, Chair of Bridge Housing Society for Women, cofounder of Breaking the Silence Against Violence Against Women in the DTES, on the first board of the Generations Project. As a City Councillor she has been able to work with the other Gay elected to set up the first City LGTTBQ Advisory Committee, host forums, rallies against homophobia, the Pride and the OutGames at City Hall, organize a huge city contingent in the Pride March as well as bring forward motions supporting the Trans community. Most recently, she pulled together MP Libby Davies and MLA Mable Elmore to co-host a fundraiser for the Dyke March. ...and a final piece of Ellen Woodsworth trivia – she played soccer in the
first Gay Games inSan Fransisco. GUEST PERFORMER UBAKA HILL  FRIDAY NIGHT FEMME/BUTCH FASHION SHOW "From Then to Now" It was a time to reminisce as models strutted down the catwalk in clothes you may (or may not) have recognized when you came out...hmmm. 39 Models wore clothes from lesbian owned and operated CLOTHINGSCOUT, a Vancouver Vintage Clothing Shop Fashion Coordinator: Leigh Burrows and the Leaping
Thespians
WORKSHOP OFFERINGS from 2011 Touring the Decades of Lesbian Herstory 1.45-3.45 Friday 9th  Elise Chenier is a sex rights activist, a historian of sexuality, author, and founder of the Archive of Lesbian Oral Testimony at Simon Fraser University. She is currently writing a book about gay marriage in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. She is also a big fan of Claire Robson's workshops. 4 MINUTE FITNESS 9.45- 11.45 Friday 9th  Janet Bristeir is an experienced teacher and educator of Health and Wellness, who is able to combine practical and functional concepts with patience and humour.
Memoir and Comics: A Quick and Inspiring Introduction to “Graphic Memoir” 9.45- 11.45 Friday 9th  Sarah Leavitt is a writer, cartoonist, editor, and now the author of a graphic memoir about Alzheimer's. Her comics, fiction and non-fiction have appeared in magazines, newspapers and anthologies, including Nobody’s Mother and Beyond Forgetting: Poetry and Prose About Alzheimer’s Disease. She wrote a popular monthly column on dyke culture in Xtra West, Vancouver’s lesbian and gay newspaper, from 2005 to 2008. In September 2010 Sarah’s first book, a graphic memoir, was published by Freehand Books — Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother, and Me. Just a month after its publication, Tangles became the first graphic work ever to be a finalist for the prestigious Writers’ Trust of Canada Non-fiction Prize, and went on to garner rave reviews in the Globe and Mail, Canadian Press, Vancouver Sun, Montreal Gazette and other publications. Tangles is a finalist for the Alberta Readers’ Choice Award, and recently won a CBC Bookie in the graphic novel category. Sarah has been interviewed on national radio – CBC’s The Next Chapter and Definitely Not the Opera – as well as local radio and television programs. She has been a featured reader at literary festivals in BC and Alberta, and will be touring Ontario in the spring of 2011. Tangles will be published in the UK by Jonathan Cape in late 2011.
Digital Storytelling with Nancy Strider 9.45- 11.45 Friday 9th & 9.45-11.45 Saturday Sep 10  Nancy Strider is an Emily Carr graduate who studied technology use by those who came of age before computers. At midlife she graduated with the prestigious Governer General's Award for academic excellence. Currently, she is an artist in residence for Quirk-e, the queer imaging & riting kollective for elders.
Yikes! Trans-Dykes! 9.45-11.45 Saturday Sep 10  Janis Walworth is the founder of the Center for Gender Sanity, which provides consulting and training on transgender issues to businesses and organizations. http://www.gendersanity.com/ Her wife, Michele Kammerer, was a firefighter with the Los Angeles Fire Department for 33 years. She transitioned from male to female as a Captain in 1991 and retired in 2003. Michele acted as Fire Chief for Robyn Tyler’s West Coast Women's Music and Comedy Festival from 1992 to 1995.
What Happened to Feminism? 4.00-5.00 pm Friday Sep 9  Mini-documentaries: Lesbian and Gay lives in Ghana, West Africa 9.45-11.45 Saturday Sep 10  Paula Stromberg's story writing, newspapers, photography and art designs have won more than 50 national and international awards. She was communications director for a union and an activist in the social justice movement. A professional writer for 30 years - newspaper editor, business and labour journalist - she has also published essays, poetry and short stories. Concurrently, she owned a small used furniture and antique business in Vancouver, Canada for a few years, taught dance at YWCA and Vancouver community centres for 10 years, and produced profitable dance shows and workshops across Canada. For the past three decades, she has invested Greater Vancouver and British Columbia real estate as well as operated rental properties. Shot entirely in West Africa, “A Good Day in Ghana” and “Women in Blue Jeans” are two mini-documentaries produced by award-winning writer Paula Stromberg. The mini-docs explore gay and lesbian lives in a UN Refugee Camp west of Ghana’s capital city of Accra. The stories out of Ghana are timely. Legally, things are heating up against gays and lesbians in Africa. The Christian Council of Ghana recently released a strongly worded message condemning homosexuality and is telling Ghanaians not to vote for politicians who support homosexual rights. According to July 19, 2011 news reports from Ghana, Western Region Minister Paul Evans Aidoo has ordered the immediate arrest of all homosexuals in the region. He also demanded that landlords and tenants provide information leading to the arrest of homosexuals In Vancouver, Stromberg volunteers with YMCA Connections
supporting newcomers to Canada, has worked as a business coach for two
entrepreneur programs and host facilitator for Gay, Lesbian and Transgendered
refugees and immigrants. See more at www.paulastromberg.com Cross-dressing Women in History – an illustrated
look at the difference a pair of pants makes! 1.45-3.45 Friday 9th Alexandra Henriques has been an activist for LGBT rights since heading Gays & Lesbians at U. of T. as a graduate student. Between Toronto and Vancouver, she’s worked in adult and higher education, community work, international development, cultural awareness and anti-racism, and social justice.  |
SUNDAY September 11 Our closing circle offers us an opportunity to share our reflections on our various weekend experiences and the ways in which they impacted us. It's also a time to come together in a different way, with the intention to celebrate our courage and diversity, to say our farewells, and to make our commitment to stay in touch with the BOLD energy we have co-created so that we return to our homes recharged and reconnected! Bridgid McGowan, a local queer femme witch, guided us through this process. She is a student of Buddhism, an activist, a songwriter, a composer, a performing artist, and a therapist who is passionate about personal, political, and social change. As a ritualist and priestess, she has provided teaching and spiritual direction to Reclaiming communities throughout Canada and the US for over 20 years, She is dedicated to creating spaces for self-reflection, community connection, and ecstatic worship to celebrate ourselves, each other, the Mysterious Ones, and all beings. 
Our host and speaker for the luncheon on Friday was CYNTHIA LOW. Cynthia is Executive Director of the Britannia Community Centre and has worked for many years for the rights of women, especially low income and poor women living on Vancouver’s Eastside. She was drawn to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre as a volunteer when she was a university student searching for a more meaningful life. She found what she was looking for there. At about the same time, she discovered Taiko drumming and brought this to the women at the centre. “As an Asian woman [of Chinese descent] who had a lot of socialization around being a woman—and a lot of the performers I saw were Asian women—it ignited an energy in me. In our culture, Canadian culture, the idea of yelling or rudeness has negative connotations. Especially for poor or marginalized women, or big women who are asked to take up less space. But in Taiko, it’s about taking up more space, not holding it all in.” We are delighted that this dedicated mover, shaker, and rhythm maker joined us at our first social event on Friday, and inspired us to take up our space for a beautiful BOLD weekend.
welcomed guest
performer UBAKA HILL Drummer Poet Visionary 
Come join historian Elise Chenier and memoirist Claire
Robson in a guided tour of the 40s, 50s,
60s, 70s, 80s & 90s. In this hands-on workshop you'll be invited to share
your own memories of these formative years, and to see them in the context of
lesbian history and culture in Canada, the US, and the world.
What can 4 minutes a day do for you?
Join writer and cartoonist Sarah Leavitt for a two-hour exploration of memoir and comics. Yes, that’s right: comics! Although many people think of comics as a medium best suited for superhero stories, or Betty and Veronica type dramas, in fact they can offer the perfect form for memoir – recording serious stories about life, love, grief and loss. This workshop will include a reading, with slides, from Sarah’s book Tangles: A story about Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me followed by a presentation about how various cartoonists (including quite a few dykes and other queers) have used comics to tell their stories. Then participants will have a chance to try some exercises to get their own creative juices flowing. P.S. If you think you can’t draw, don’t let that stop you. We’re going to talk about what it means to be able to draw. It might be different from what you assume… Taking Photographs That Tell a Story This is a two part workshop, limited to 10 participants, who must have their own digital cameras or smartphones. Workshop One Do you find yourself disappointed when you look at the photographs you took of an interesting indoor event, such as a celebration, meeting or other kind of event? All too often, we end up with shots of talking heads, or static groups, too small, too dark, or just…well…boring. In this workshop, digital artist Nancy Strider will show you how to focus on the particular story in a crowded event. She’ll offer tips on how to make the most of your tiny point and shoot camera or smartphone. Workshop Two (all participants must have attended workshop one) Bring the photographs that you’ve generated from workshop one for group feedback and professional advice. Learn how to share your images online, or select and organize a series of photographs that tell a story. The workshop will result in a group slide show that will be shown before Saturday night's performance with UBAKA HILL.
What is gender identity? How does it relate to butch/femme? Is transgender a third sex? Can a straight man become a lesbian by surgery? Janis and Michele will answer these and other questions you may have about transgender women, and Michele will talk about her own transgender experience.
What Happened to Feminism? Did it get swallowed up by queer theory and gender studies? Did young women decide that we don’t need it? Did we win the battle for equality? What about the jihab? Are we for it, against it, or stuck somewhere in the middle of the multicultural debate? What is a woman anyway? Are we different from men? And if so, how? Is Bridget Jones liberated, or just the product of a media blitz that’s obliterated our struggle for equality and replaced it with an emphasis on over-sexualization of girls and young women? What are the key questions and issues for third wave feminists in the 21st century? Bring your point of view, frustrations, and inspirations to a nonjudgmental, open-ended conversation facilitated by Pat Hogan and Claire Robson. We might not have answers, but we are eager to talk about this controversial topic.
Can retirement leave us feeling subtly empty? Some BOLD gals need an ongoing sense of purpose in life. Earlier this year, writer and activist, Paula Stromberg, returned from four months volunteering as a journalist/ photographer in Ghana, West Africa with women’s groups in law, politics and women’s micro enterprise. Pictured here, Stromberg visits a remote village in the Upper West Region of Ghana with successful District Assembly election candidate Fabiana Kavaarpuo (blue dress). As part of the 2011 BOLD Conference, Stromberg will discuss contribution: an ongoing journey to create attachment and spiritual fulfillment, as well her interviews with barren or widowed women accused as witches, and hidden lesbians and gay refugees who fear for their lives in Ghana.
 A romp through history uncovering some interesting nuggets like a short history of trousers around the world, and a star studded gallery of women we all know and their relationship to the culottes. From Joan of Arc to Marlene Dietrich, all the girls see the advantages of pantalons, whether it is to assert your rights, attract the girls, or avoid rape. |
