"Please! Don't Insult Us"

I've been meaning to put this up for ages. Please! Don't Insult Us is a 2013 documentary by Heather Kirby. I first caught the film at OutShine 2013, a national GSA summit held in Toronto.

 From the imdb summary:
Please! Don't Insult Us is a documentary exploring an ad campaign released by the Institute for Canadian Values (ICV) in 2011, which was considered to be transphobic by many. The ads feature a young girl begging the school system to stop confusing her about her gender, and contains quotes from a Toronto District School Board (TDSB) equity guide. This film parallels reactions from outraged members of the trans and queer community who created a clever response campaign, with clarifications from representatives of the TDSB. While working to sort through facts and political connections behind the ICV ads, the film also opens up larger discussions around gender and sexuality inclusive teachings in Ontario schools.
 The film also explores -- briefly -- the sudden axing of the 2010 Ontario Health Curriculum.

 Heather's film can be viewed here: http://vimeo.com/62006304

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#IDAHOTB 2015 Toronto draws attention to youth

Image
Today is The International Day Against Homphobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia. The occasion was honoured this past Friday, above Nathan Phillips Square at Toronto City Hall. If you've never heard of IDAHOTB, don't feel too bad. The observance has only been around since 2005, after 24,000 individuals and several LGBT organizations had signed an appeal to support the " IDAHO Initiative " the year before. In 2009 IDAHO became IDAHOT, and just this year, it became IDAHOTB. So, the "B" is new, and the "O" is optional, so you can imagine the confusion some of us had hash-tagging our Tweets.  Celebrated annually on May 17th, this year's IDAHOTB marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the removal of homosexuality as a mental health disorder by the World Health Organization. According to the IDAHOTB central website, "May 17 is now celebrated in more than 130 countries, including 37 where same-sex acts are illegal, with 1600 events reported f
Read more

The Sin of Omission

Image
A particular Catholic blog that has caught my eye over the last couple of years is Everyday for Life Canada , written by veteran educator  Lou Iacobelli . There are two reasons I read it: Unlike many blogs in this arena, which simply link out other materials with a bit pithy commentary, Mr Iacobelli's entries are original essays. These range from personal reflections on faith to thoughtful explanations of the inner workings of the vast complex that is the Roman Catholic Church. The other reason I read it is that Mr Iacobelli was my eleventh-grade English teacher in 1976, just shy of forty years ago, at De La Salle College in Toronto. Mr Iacobelli was among a handful of teachers who provided me with an arena in which I could thrive. Having little interest in hockey or football in a school that excelled in both; being among the very few non-Catholics in the all-boys collegiate; and showing absolutely no talent for maths or sciences, to which the school's curricular scales were
Read more

When Everyone's A Bully, Nobody Is

Image
On the eve of the 2015 celebration of the International Day of Pink , many -- myself included -- were startled to find that Laureen Harper had been named an ambassador of the event. Ms Harper's letter of support appeared on the front page of the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity (CCGSD) , formerly known as Jer's Vision for its founder Jeremy Dias . Sparks flew briefly, and we went on about our business. CBC reported on both the controversy and the successes of the day: LGBT activists boycott #DayOfPink over Laureen Harper's involvement . Well, sort of. But not really. There were no disruptions of the event, per se. Ariel Troster posted an essay on Storify which elucidated the concerns of many: Why I won't be wearing pink tomorrow: How the #DayofPink just sold out trans youth . While the Harper Conservatives have been trying to paint themselves as gay-friendly, the party is stacked with vicious homophobes who said absolutely atrocious things during
Read more