Save the date for these key canadian events!

20th Anniversary Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film and Video Festival
May 20-30
In honour of their anniversary, they are screening some favourites from the past two decades in the special FLASHBACK series. Happy Birthday Inside Out! One more year till you are legal in the States!

12th Annual Fairy Tales Queer Film Festival
May 27th to June 3
The annual festival, running May 27th to June 4th, showcases independent films made by and/or about the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, two-spirited and queer community.

tri-Pride Festival
May 30 – June 5
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer pride celebration in Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo and area in Ontario, Canada

A follow-up conversation with Daniel Oliveira
By: Christine Wach

CW: What does being ‘out’ at work mean to you?

DO: Being ‘out’ at work is about bringing your whole self to work. It is about focusing your energy on your job and not draining energy while you are coming up with excuses about your personal life. It means interacting with strait people the way they interact with each other. It is about being yourself, and being able to act and be like anybody else without having to make up stories about what you did on the weekend or pretending that your partner or husband or wife is just your friend. When you have to lie about your personal life it has a domino effect where the stories get difficult to trace and keep strait. It also means not having to constantly be aware of gender neutral language such as ‘friend’ instead of spouse for example. This type of self censorship is a waste of time and energy. This is particularly true in a high pressure environment where many workers would be better using their time for creativity and complex problem solving.

CW: How comfortable can people who work in the financial sector feel being ‘out’ at work?

DO: It really depends on what part of the financial sector that you are talking about. Right now a lot of major banks seem to be leading the way in terms of creating positive spaces for the LGBT communities. It also seems that once you get into Senior Management and you are respected for your accomplishments and position you are likely in a more comfortable position to be ‘out’. An example of this is Amy Hanen with TD Bank Financial Group who spoke on our panel at Out on Bay Street. As a junior level employee however it depends. Younger workers are still unsure: unsure what their rights are, and unsure about what they can talk about in an interview for example. When they do get the job they may wonder how their opportunities for advancement will be affected if they are ‘out’.

It can also be a double edged sword in the financial sector. There may be certain assumptions taken. Maybe people always think that you should always be the employee who is sent on assignments out of town or overseas. People may wrongly assume you don’t have a partner or a family or other commitments. So many LGBT couples do have families now, Paul Skippen from Accenture who was also on our panel and his partner have a 1 year old son for example.

This is why we have Out on Bay Street, by looking at the companies who participated in the Career Fair we can have a good idea which companies are actively and openly recruiting LGBT workers.

CW: Do you feel there are enough corporate training programs educating people on how to create LGBT positive work spaces?

DO: There are a lot of them—are there enough? It isn’t clear; there are a lot of consultants as well as internal training teams and HR groups. It is still a bit early to say, even for the companies at Out on Bay Street who are trying to encourage positive spaces it is yet to be seen just how effective it will be. We will have to wait and see how effective these training programs are.

Some companies think that enough has been done and don’t incorporate formal training programs. The thinking is that the Human Rights code is already written, Same Sex marriage is legal and now all we need to do is maintain the status quo. This is, (of course) not true. There is a lot of diversity training in Toronto but the challenge for multi-national companies is to take this training across the country or the globe. If these companies expand their training programs in smaller Canadian cities for example this has a powerful effect on how people see the LGBT people everywhere.

CW: Do you think Bay St is leading the way for other industries in terms of diversity training?

DO: A lot of big companies are leading the way Accenture is a good example and other multinationals such as TD Bank and KPNG. They lead because they understand the importance of having the whole person come to work. A very talented employee who doesn’t feel comfortable is simply not as valuable. Consultants are very complex problem solvers and if they are in the closet it becomes very difficult to give all of their needed focus to the job at hand. Consultants need to focus on the client, not on hiding their personal life from clients. TD Bank is a good example of a company who is leading the way in terms of diversity and becoming a presence around the world.

There are still organizations on Bay Street that ‘talk the talk’ but don’t ‘walk the walk’ for example. There are certain companies that you would have expected to see at Out on Bay Street that chose not to be there. The attitude is that we don’t need to be at this conference as we don’t have any problems with this type of discrimination here.

With companies cost cutting they are also putting more focus on where they are putting their financial resources for a better ROI in the short term. This is at the expense of things like Diversity training. Share holders want to know where the ROI is now, not on some possible intangible long term benefits from this training in the distant future.

CW: Where do companies need to go next?

I think next the question is what the effectiveness of these training programs is. It is one thing to have a program in place but another thing to know what the outcome of the training is.

Proctor and Gamble started their internal program as a couple of hours of Diversity training and now it is a three day long workshop. They saw that this brief look at creating positive spaces was merely lip service and a bigger investment was needed. We need to ask if these principals are being implemented in the workplace culture. We need to see that we are not just ‘talking the talk’. We need to know what the impact of this ‘flag waving’ has been. Or course at the end of the day these companies are here to make a profit. They need to see the return on investment of this training. The idea behind this is that when we feel we can bring our whole selves to work we are more productive and creative. So in the end we will need to assess whether or not this is actually happening.

Daniel Oliveira | About:
Daniel Oliveira was one of the five volunteers that organized the first Out on Bay Street conference and Career Fair in 2007 while he was at the Rotman School of Management. Daniel worked in management roles on two continents before going back to school to pursue a MBA, specializing in Marketing and Strategy. Daniel was recognized for his contributions to student life by being awarded the Gordon Cressy Student leadership Award in 2008.

Out on Bay Street | About:
The name Out on Bay Street highlights Toronto’s Bay Street as the symbolic focal point of business in Canada and how the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community is working towards reshaping the way businesses operate in the marketplace by promoting change and openness.

It is organized by the students from various business schools in Toronto area. The Organizing Committee are supported by the founding members of the conference and several volunteer advisers from various backgrounds.

For more information, please visit: http://www.outonbayst.org

More conversations to come… next week Christine talks with David Grisim.

World AIDS Day Events Listing – December 1st, 2009
Click on the event for more details:

AB, Edmonton – Annual AIDS Memorial and Candlelight Vigil

BC, Prince George – Positive Living North, Dinner and Candlelight Vigil
BC, Vancouver – National Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week 2009
BC, Vancouver – Dr. Peters Foundation, Voices of Hope, National World AIDS Day Concert
BC, Vancouver – Positive Women’s Network, World AIDS Day Condom Blitz

NS, Halifax – AIDS Vigil
NS, Sydney – Candlelight Vigil

ON, Mississauga – Peel HIV/AIDS Network Empowerment
ON, Ottawa – AIDS Committee of Ottawa
ON, Thunder Bay – AIDS Thunder Bay 2nd Annual World AIDS Day Breakfast
ON, Thunder Bay – Candle Light Vigil
ON, Toronto – 6th Annual World AIDS Day Breakfast
ON, Toronto – World AIDS Day Launch Party: Empower: Youth, Arts, and Activism
ON, Toronto – University of Toronto World AIDS Day 2009
ON, Toronto – HIV, Housing and Health
ON, Toronto – Community Carnation Memorial
ON, Toronto – Queen West Community Health Centre
ON, Toronto – Africa’s Children, Africa’s Future, Spotlight on Action
ON, Toronto – Voices of Hope National World AIDS Day Concert

QC, Gatineau – Bureau Regional Action Sida
QC, Gatineau – Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development
QC, Montreal – Voices of Hope National World AIDS Day Concert

SK, Saskatoon – AIDS Saskatoon, AIDS Awareness Week Condom Blitz
SK, Saskatoon – Glimmers of Hope Cake Celebration
SK, Saskatoon – Presentation of the AIDS situation and Candle Light Vigil, St. Pauls United Church

Socialize@OUTtv, the first gay and lesbian television network social networking site, is a new online community created for the community to share what we’re proud of online!  Every week OUTtv will highlight the top videos and pics.

Check out some of this week’s talent:

Capital of Canada’s PRIDE PARADE 2009
posted by William D. Dupuis Kennedy, Ottawa, ON

Ottawa, the National Capital of Canada had it’s most colourful parade. The Rainbow flowed passed the National Library of Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada…

Watch the video:

Check out more of William’s videos and pics HERE

Protest Against Homophobia Lithuania
posted by Darius, Warszawa, Poland

Protest Against Homophobia Lithuania.

Watch the video:

Check out more of Darius’ videos HERE

Join the Socialize@OUTtv community and see MORE videos and pics from this year’s Pride across Canada.

Socialize@OUTtv, the first gay and lesbian television network social networking site, is a new online community created for the community to share what we’re proud of online!  Every week OUTtv will highlight the top videos and pics.

Check out some of this week’s talent:

Ottawa Pride
posted by Amy Godin, Ottawa, ON

Relaxing (L) – View the pic
Other Half of my Rainbow (R) – View the pic

Check out more of Amy’s pics HERE

Ottawa Pride Bikers
posted by Perry Voulgaris, Toronto, ON

Ottawa Pride Bikers. View the pic

Check out more of Perry’s pics HERE

Join the Socialize@OUTtv community and see MORE videos and pics from this year’s Pride across Canada.

British Columbians are among the world’s most tolerant and accepting people based on a recent survey conducted by Angus Reid online and commissioned by Global TV.

BC and Ontario residents ranked highest among Canadians in the study:

Survey was conducted in August 2009 and online respondents were divided by age, gender and region – 1,006 Canadians, 1,002 Americans and 2,001 Britons.

Youth aged 18 to 34 – in all three countries were more accepting of same sex marriages than any other groups in the poll.

73% of Canadians, aged 18 to 34, said same-sex couples should continue to be allowed to legally marry.

55% of Canadians, aged 55 and older, favoured continuing the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Women were much more likely to approve of gay marriage.

Read more of the Angus Reid study HERE

Find more videos like this on OUTtv Socialize

Socialize@OUTtv, the first gay and lesbian television network social networking site, is a new online community created for the community to share what we’re proud of online!  Every week OUTtv will highlight the top videos and pics.

Check out some of this week’s talent:

Capital Pride Day in Ottawa, 2009
posted by Jim Stewart, Ottawa, ON

The nation’s capital has its Pride Day at the end of the summer, and it was a great way to end the season. Read more HERE.

Watch the video:

Check out more of Jim’s video HERE

Gay Pride 2
posted by Brian Long, Calgary, AB

Pride Calgary video.

Watch the video:

Find more videos like this on OUTtv Socialize

Check out more of Brian’s video HERE

Join the Socialize@OUTtv community and see MORE videos and pics from this year’s Pride across Canada.

OUTtv.ca’s Coverage of the 2009 Capital Pride Parade

OUTtv streamed the Capital Pride Parade live on Sunday, August 30th, 2009 at 1pm ET / 10am PT on OUTtv.ca, Socialize @OUTtv.ca, and LiveStream.com/OUTtv.

The live OUTtv coverage was hosted from the heart of Capital Pride Parade by Nelson Tome, OUTtv’s Ambassador Director and featured on Socialize @OUTtv, the network’s user-generated online community, inviting members of the community to share their thoughts about the 2009 Capital Pride Parade as well as an opportunity to submit and share their videos and photos for OUTtv’s Show Us Your Pride contest.

For more information, visit: http://socialize.outtv.ca

Thunder Bay, Jan. 2, 2009

The City of Thunder Bay on the north shore of Lake Superior is in a state of transition. From the early days of the blue collar trade through the port comes something with a bit more colour, “God Save the Queen” or it could have read “God Save the Queers”.

Like many cities of its size in Canada, the city offers few collection points for the GLBT community. In fact there is little to speak of as the regular socials have become extinct and there is no exclusive gay bar.

Advertised on-line, the “God Save the Queen” event boasted a night of drag shows with drag queens and drag kings. Something to crack the cool air of winter with excitement and some hot performances.  The event held at Pier 61, a second floor saloon, often referred to as the “Queer Pier” was packed with a predominance of women and a smaller number of men.

Jimmy Wiggins, event promoter, says he “wanted to throw a party and for people to have a good time”. He accomplish that, with outstanding performances given by Vega, Lady Fantasia, Boris, Dirt Bag Dean amongst others.

The inception of the event happened over coffee with a couple of local performers who helped organize the event. I asked Wiggins if he thought Thunder Bay was a friendly place for the GLBT community and he seemed to think so but said it “depends on what part of the city you are in”.

As I looked around I noted that the crowd was in the twenty something range and I asked Wiggins why there was only a younger crowd, he said “older people may feel intimidated by younger gay people” or because youth today connect and hear about activities on Facebook, MySpace or his website www.tbshows.com .

It’s wonderful to see that people in this community are trying to make a difference by organizing an event that entertains while bringing  people together on a white wintery night.

Lets hope that people like Wiggins can continue to bring more colour to the community as diversity equals strength, God Save the Queen!