The bodies of Indigenous people, queer people, migrants, people of colour and the poor have been exploited, governed, labelled and regulated by the Canadian and US states. The state has tried to interfere in our communities, our languages, our families, our love relationships and our ability to seek refuge. But we have seen that if we resist, we can win! No One Is Illegal-Toronto, their friends at Queers Against Israeli Apartheid called on queers, trans folks, two-spirted people, people of colour, migrants, workers, students, radicals, and allies to join us for an evening of discussion, reflection and celebration.
This spring, No One is illegal Toronto mobilized to stop the deportation of their friend Alvaro Orozco, who was rejected for refugee status by the Canadian government because he didn't "look gay enough". This summer, people fought and struggled against the corporatization of Toronto Pride and dropped banners asserting the growing movement of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid. They also mobilized together one year after the repression of our communities during the G20 - where we continued to challenge the Toronto Police and stepped up the fight against Rob Ford's planned austerity cuts to the Toronto Budget.
On Wednesday September 28th stories and thoughts were shared with HAVOQ (Horizontally Aligned Very Organized Queers) based out of San Francisco - who have been touring across occupied Turtle Island - on their Undoing Borders Tour - after launching their interactive zine "Undoing Borders: A Queer Manifesto". This zine is the culmination of over two years of collective work where in people came together to discuss and analyze the relevance of queer identity and migrant justice organizing, the intersections and the contradictions.
Natalie Koui-Towe from QUAIA, Craig Fortier from No One Is Illegal and friends joined Essex, Li and Molly from HAVOQ to discuss recent victories, struggles and reflections on the intersections of local queer organizing, anti-colonial and no borders analyses!
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