Looking for help in getting "The Main Point" of Occupy Toronto out!

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Looking for help in getting "The Main Point" out! Much of the general public doesn't know what Occupy stands for.  Public support is essential to the longevity and legitimacy of the movement. We can say we represent the public, but that's not true if they don't know what the hell we're representing them for.  Check out the list of proposals determined by the Occupy Toronto General Assembly on the form below and if they resonate with you, lend a hand!


You can help in three ways:
1. Vote on which OccupyTO proposal is most important to you!
2. Write an extremely short summary of each proposal.
3. Create a drawing/logo to go with each proposal.


These summaries and drawings will be used to make 1/4 page mini-posters and distributed everywhere to tell the citizenry exactly what we stand for. I hope to put 3 proposals on each 1/4 page. Submit your vote, summary, or logo through the link below!
tinyurl.com/helpoccupyto

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@OccupyToronto Need some help telling people what "The Main Point" of OccupyTO is. Click to lend a hand! tinyurl.com/helpoccupyto #occTO

A Reflection on Today's Protest

I've just gotten home after the rally and peeled off my fourth pair of socks. I'll be nursing a cup of hot chocolate as I type this out. =) I hope everyone got home safe and warm!

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Today was cold, wet, and windy, hardly ideal conditions for getting a crowd of people outside. But Toronto, we did it. Over 200 people braved the cold to protest the inequalities that took place when Proposition 8 in California, Proposition 102 in Arizona, and Amendment 2 in Florida banning same-sex marriage, and Act 1 in Arkansas preventing same-sex couples and single parent households from adopting children all passed. Countless more people showed their support honking their horns outside the US Consulate, and those who could not attend were with us in spirit.

I have the unique perspective of being both a young adult, as well as the organizer of this protest. I came out as a queer woman after WWII, after Stonewall, and after same-sex marriage became legal in Canada. I haven't faced the same discrimination and barriers that other LGBTTI2Q folk have.

Then came marriage in California, a huge step forward! Even while the publicity against Prop 8 was growing more and more frenzied I never considered that it would pass- after all, gay marriage had been legal in Canada for years. What a shock, when I woke up to find out that several of these anti-gay measures had passed on Tuesday, November 4th. Later that week I saw the protests in California. The events of that week bore an eerie resemblance to a lot of what I was learning in the queer history unit we had started at Triangle Program. (Canada's only high school for LGBT youth and their straight allies, where I have just started in September.)

I found out about Join the Impact, and the fact that Toronto's protest, originally planned for November 12th at City Hall had been mysteriously cancelled, and jumped in.

After a whirlwind of flyer's, emails, news releases and attempted protest permits Saturday rolled around, and you all gave me the privilege of seeing hundreds of people unite for one cause and one belief. People who believe that the majority cannot speak for a minority, that love can't be voted on, that there is no exception to equality for everyone. An estimated 1 000 000 people participated in rallies worldwide, including Australia, Belgium, China, Japan, The Netherlands, Puerto Rico, the UK, and Germany.

There is nothing more powerful than voices raised, fighting to change the society we live in. My faith in the world I will become an adult in, (and marry in, and have kids in) became stronger just when the world seems to be falling apart. There is hope in these streets and in these hearts. Thank you Toronto.

-Katherina (Kat) Yerro

Personal Side of a Protest

Tomorrow seems like it's going to have a pretty good turnout, enough that I will be swallowed up into a giant crowd and possibly lose myself, become one with a group. Of course, I'm going to try not to let that happen because I am organizing it, and that would be kinda bad.

It's strange to me that so many of my straight friends are not going to be there. Sure, some people have work or are hermits or whatever, but a lot of my straight friends didn't even consider going. "Oh, you're protesting hate against gays on Saturday? Guess I'll do something on my own then." Like it doesn't apply to them, or whatever. When I brought it up everyone said, "you can get married here, why does it matter?"

It matters because everyone matters! Because other people don't have the fundamental rights that you do, and because they're people too! Because....because you have a duty towards your fellow man. At my old (Catholic) school they would have said, "Stewardship." Love is love is love. Family is family. Why should one be any more important than another?

Thursday

Thursday was fun. Two of my friends from the Triangle Program came with me to post flyers all around the Gay Village, around Church and Wellesley, and I poked one onto a subway pole.

I also got offers for help, so thank you Lauren and Andrea.

I used a template from the Join the Impact website to create a news release and sent that out to several Toronto area newspapers.

*For more information about the protest, check out
http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/page/Toronto
and
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=34488983610

Wednesday

Wednesday was the first real Go-Day. As a student at the Triangle Program in Toronto, (Canada's only school for LGBTTI2Q youth and their straight allies) it was pretty damn easy getting the student body involved. One of our teachers weaved it in to our Queer History unit and told the class about it. It was pretty cool.

That night I had group therapy. The group I attend is for queer and questioning youth who are also clients at the mental health clinic where it is hosted. I love Group, it's usually the very best part of my week and has often saved my life. (Both by using the skills we were taught and by telling myself that I just had to make it to Group, just make it to Group.) Unfortunately we found out that the fall session might have to be cut short because there are fewer participants than there were initially, and funding is always tight. I waited until the end of Group to talk about the rally and as always, found a ton of support in my peers and the social workers who run it.

Then I went home and answered emails. I tried to find out more about getting a protest permit, but it proved difficult to find information on it. Luckily on a tip from my teacher I was able to look up the LGBT Liason for the Toronto Police. I also made up smaller versions of the flyer with four to a page, then settled in to try to do some bio and chem.

At this point the event had become hundreds strong!

*To help out the Triangle Program, head to the website. http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/triangle/
Cooks are still needed for the nutrition program, and the budget is ridiculously tight.
*To help out my Group, email me at katyerro[at]gmail[dot]com and I'll give you information. I don't want to directly link anyone because there are confidentiality concerns, k?
*To help out with the protest, check out
http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/page/Toronto
and
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=34488983610
*To help me out with my homework, email me! Haha, just joking.

Tuesday Night

• Checked to make sure there wasn't another rally already
• Created the Facebook event
• Updated the Join the Impact website
• Created ugly flyers
• Created slightly less ugly flyers
• Emailed the information to everyone I knew
• Jumped up and down in my room to use up that adrenaline

*For more information about the protest, check out
http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/page/Toronto
and
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=34488983610

Why Join the Impact?

To be honest, I got most of my information about Prop 8 and other anti-gay measures from AfterEllen and watching The Ellen DeGeneres Show. I was so sure that none of these propositions would pass, despite the millions of dollars that went towards proving me otherwise. I was also sure that Obama would win the election.

1/2, that ain't bad. Canada's already got same-sex marriage, why should I care?

When I thought about it more, it seemed worse and worse. Yes, there are piles of states that haven't even considered gay marriage, but California in particular took a step forward... and then a huge step back. Arizona? Hello, adoption? That is the nuttiest thing I have ever heard. I believe that if we're working towards equality, that has to include everyone, everywhere.

I heard about the huge protests in California when I was watching Ellen and wished that I could have been there. Then a few days later this article popped up on AfterEllen and I went into a total frenzy. I have never surfed the Internet as quickly as I surfed Tuesday night. As soon as I found out that the Toronto protest had been there and then mysteriously disappeared I decided to take the wheel, but this was not something Toronto could opt out of.

*For more information about the protest, check out
http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/page/Toronto
and
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=34488983610