XQQ-Pride-edition-Almost-final-Draft

BLEED AREA 

SOLSTICE 2016 

Price: $4.99 

Special for Pride! 

By Donation! 

PRIDE 

EDITION 

Special 

Interviews: 

Lorraine Grieves 

and 

Terry Froud 

The 2016 Canada 

BATHROOM 

REPORT 

Queer Op-Ed: 

Teaching the 

Elephant to 

Dance 

PLUS: 

Our regular columns: 

INSIDE: 

YOUR QUEER 

GUIDE TO PRIDE 

Pepper & Pearl 

The Stars Are Ours 

Events Calendar 

$$$ Hundreds of Dollars' Worth of Valuable Festival Coupons Inside!

Cross Queer Quarterly 

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Editor-in-Chief 

Production Manager 

Interview Editor 

Editor/Proofreader 

Horoscopes 

XQQ 

Atley Jonas 

Chrys Tei 

James Gardner 

Roxana Argast 

Barry Perlman 

XQQ (Cross Queer Quarterly) is a Victoria, B.C. 

based publication that represents the trans and gender 

non-confirming segments of the queer community. 

While the core of our focus is on stories directly concerning 

and of interest to trans/GNC people of B.C., 

we are open and committed to give a voice to any 

members of the rainbow community and those who 

stand with us as allies. 

Disclaimer: The ideas and opinions represented within 

are solely those of their respective authors. XQQ 

does not endorse or support any causes mentioned 

herein, unless expressly stated. 

Interview 

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accumsan diam eu quam. 

News 

Sed gravida consequat dolor. 

News 

Cum sociis natoque penatibus 

Op-Ed 

Curabitur et odio purus. Ut eu 

purus sed arcu 

Cool Beans 

Mauris convallis et turpis nec 

dignissim 

Trans Services 

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a cursus. 

Trans Guide to Pride 


Stars Are Ours 

CONTENTS 

XQQ Pride Edition 2016 

5 

7 

9 

11 

13 

15-19 

23-29 

30 

31 

Territorial Avowal 

WHY WE SAY AVOWAL 

In 55 when Ginsberg howled 

the world responded with a scowl 

in Oh Canada, we, a righteous crowd 

a machine unhindered onward plowed 

Into First Nations homes where we did say 

No kids allowed, take them all away. 

Their basic rights we cast aside 

Sucked from their marrow this source of pride 

For this, no price paid, our souls mislaid 

Our true shame, still true today 

So like Ginsberg in the past, 

Now in turn, this, our time to howl 

Their hearts, their land, unceded, we do avowal 

Alan Ginsberg was the poet laureate of the beatnik generation 

and Howl was the anthem he wrote for them. 

* Our Cover Image features Brae Carnes on the provincial legislature lawn. For 

more about Brae, flip to pg. 8 in this issue. 

The concept behind this cover was to illustrate how many trans people feel like 

they have no voice in their communities or control over their destinies throughout 

the many aspects of their lives: medically, legally, and socially. If this cover 

has made you think, or evoked strong emtions one way or another, then it has 

achieved its purpose! 

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EDITOR’S NOTE 

When I originally sat down to write this message, my intended 

message was very different than the one that you see before you 

now. It was written under a very different set of circumstances. It 

was written in anticipation of an amazing, fun-filled, joyful Pride 

month with the Victoria Pride Parade and Festival as its apex. This was before 

the tragedy happened. 

Along with the rest of you, I watched in shocked horror as the surreal news 

unfolded in Orlando, Florida, on June 12. I watched as the news media suddenly 

became inundated with reports of a mass shooting that took the lives of 

49 innocent victims at Pulse, a gay nightclub. When Anderson Cooper cried as 

he read out the names of the victims, I cried with him. A boy of 18... A mother 

of 11 children. The killings were brutal, indiscriminate, and incomprehensible. 

A large part of me wanted to throw in the towel and cancel the Pride issue altogether... 

At least until after we had a chance to mourn; a chance to recover; a 

change to make sense of it all, and to get to a place where celebration, joy, and 

happiness would make more sense. And still now, even as I convinced myself 

that we must go on, Pride juxtaposed with this tragedy is a non sequitur at best. 

Yet, isn’t this exactly the type of hatred that helped bring about about Pride in 

the first place? It was out of adversity, intolerance, and a “we’re not going to 

take it anymore” revolution, that the LGBTQA+ community banded together 

and sent a message to the world: We’re here! We’re Queer! Get used to it! If it 

weren’t for the Stonewall riots of 1969, history may have evolved quite differently. 

And now, forty seven years later, U.S. President Barack Obama dedicated 

the Stonewall National Monument at the site of the original Stonewall Inn in 

New York, the bar where it all started. It is the first national monument in the 

U.S. to be dedicated to the LGBT community. 

So while this year’s Pride festivities undoubtedly will have a dark shadow cast 

over them, let us at least use that as a dire reminder that our work is not finished. 

There is plenty left for us to do in fighting prejudice, intolerance, homophobia 

and transphobia, and the deadly violence it brings. Pulse is OUR generation’s 

Stonewall. It is OUR call to action and OUR reason for ensuring our voices 

are heard. We will MUST celebrate Pride for as long as it takes! And maybe 

someday, we truly won’t need to, because love and acceptance for all will be 

the norm. Although I have to say, I hope that even then, we’ll have plenty of 

chances to wear rainbow-coloured tutus and dance through the streets, because 

let’s face it, that’s a helluva lot of fun! 

On that note, I wish you all a wonderful Pride Festival. Please, keep safe, enjoy 

all the great events that are scheduled, and as we remember the victims of Orlando, 

remember also that they died dancing. I’d like to think that they would 

want us to celebrate extra-hard for them, and for ourselves. Hatred and violence 

must never be allowed to win. And the best way I can think of to fight it, is 

with love, laughter, happiness, and celebration... Even if it’s a hard thing to do. 

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Interview with Lorraine Grieves, 

Provincial Program Director, Trans Care BC 

By: James Gardner 

In 2015, the Provincial Health Services 

Authority (PHSA) assumed responsibility 

for the co-ordination of 

transgender health services from the 

BC Ministry of Health, and began consultation 

with people from transgender 

communities, clinical experts, and other 

stakeholders on how best to create and 

expand services. 

In May of last year, PHSA announced 

the rollout of the Trans Care BC Program 

during a community consultation event 

held in Vancouver. At that time, PHSA 

announced the hiring of a Provincial Program 

Director for Trans Care BC, and 

Lorraine Grieves took on the directorship 

in October of 2015. 

Grieves is a seasoned health services 

leader and certified clinical counselor, 

and has vast experience in the health and 

non-profit social service sectors. 

XQQ contributor, James Gard 

ner put some questions to Lorraine 

Grieves about her background and details 

about the program. 

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Where are you originally from? 

I am from a third generation, settler family 

of English and Scottish roots, and grew 

up on the Coast Salish Territories of the 

Tseil-Waututh, Musqueam and Squamish 

peoples. I have lived most of my life on 

the East Side of Vancouver. 

What brings you to this work (with the 

trans and gender non-conforming community)? 

I came to work with trans and gender diverse 

people and communities through 

my own community and family of gender-diverse, 

queer, and trans folks. Supporting 

loved ones and friends in accessing 

services and care, as well as providing 

direct professional health care support as 

a cisgender counsellor, led me to want to 

be a part of making change on a provincial 

level. Improving access to safe and 

supportive trans care closer to home is a 

need, and one that’s working to address in 

my new role with PHSA. 

It’s been a year since the Trans Care BC 

program was announced. What have you 

been able to accomplish so far? 

The first few months were focused on 

building a structure for the program to determine 

staff needs, etc. Getting a better 

understanding of the current state of care 

and the gaps in care across the province 

has been really important to ensure that 

we move forward in the best way. 

In October of 2015 we added aftercare 

funding for those who are travelling to 

Montreal for surgeries. At the end of May, 

we will have a team in place to support a 

Clinical Resource Hub, to provide navigation 

support for those seeking gender-affirming 

related care. Reducing wait times 

for assessments and services is a pressing 

priority and work is in progress to support 

this while we work on longer-term goals. 

This work includes gathering an inventory 

of current services throughout the 

province, and working through wait lists 

to ensure people are seen in a timely manner. 

Tools and methods for monitoring 

quality and outcomes of services are also 

being developed. 

The PHSA website is the best place to 

look for current updates, as there is a lot 

of work underway including engagement

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and planning with the regional health authorities. 

The overall program implementation 

plan reflects recommendations put forward 

by a Steering Committee in 2015. 

We have organized the work in alignment 

with those recommendations, which call 

for a focus on increasing access to peer 

and community supports closer to home, 

safe and supportive primary care services 

(doctors, nurses, mental health support, 

etc.) closer to home, medical transition 

services closer to home (I.e. surgery and 

hormones). 

All of the Trans Care BC program activities 

fall under these goals, with a provincial 

education strategy to support this 

work. 

What still needs to be accomplished? 

There is still a great deal of consultation 

and work to do. Currently there is no formal 

care pathway for trans health, provincially. 

Immediate work is underway to 

address this and once a consistent 

pathway is confirmed, our goal 

is to make the pathway clear and 

easier to navigate. 

There was a lot of distrust from 

the trans community heading into 

this program. Is that still the case, 

or have you been able to move 

past that? 

There seems to be a great deal of 

support from trans and gender diverse 

people and their supporters who I 

have been in contact with. We have also 

received a great deal of support from the 

Ministry of Health and PHSA leadership. 

Building an effective provincial system 

will take time as will building trust. However, 

we have begun to provide immediate 

support where there is opportunity, 

providing care coordination and aftercare 

support for those traveling for surgery, 

working through waitlists and seeking 

more surgical care planners (assessors). 

For longer term solutions we recognize 

that we need more input and are committed 

to continued collaboration with 

community members and health authorities 

around how implement this work and 

leverage the current system and supports 

across the province. 

Here are some issues of concern to the 

community. Can you speak to how PHSA 

plans to address these? 

The lack of aftercare following surgeries 

in Montreal... 

We now have a clinical hub resource team 

made up of a physician, nurses and health 

navigators who are connecting with each 

person scheduled to go to Montreal for 

surgery. They will work with local service 

providers to ensure appropriate care 

is available after surgery for anyone who 

requires support. 

A lack of sustainable funding... 

The current operating costs are supported 

by a core budget that sits with PHSA. A 

lot of the program work is under development 

as the program conducts further engagement 

work across the province. The 

annual operating costs associated with 

implementation of a provincial program 

for transgender health services will be determined 

as the model is developed. 

Only one surgical centre in Canada... 

Trans Care BC continues to work with 

GRS Montreal, as well as review other 

Improving access to safe and 

supportive trans care closer to 

home is a need, and one that’s 

working to address in my new 

role with PHSA. 

options available, to improve access to 

appropriate gender-affirming surgery options. 

In regards to the recent arson fire 

at the Montreal surgical centre, the clinic 

is continuing surgeries at alternate locations. 

All scheduled surgeries for BC residents 

are going ahead as planned. Trans 

Care BC continues to monitor the status 

of surgeries with GRS Montreal closely. 

We have also started work on the business 

case to allow lower surgeries to be available 

in BC. 

Bottlenecks in Montreal with the number 

of trans patients dependent on this site... 

According to the information we have 

been able to gather, bottlenecks for lower 

surgery are not with GRS Montreal. 

We continue to monitor capacity with 

the GRS Montreal service but according 

to our data right now the waits are two 

to three months maximum. The longer 

waits have been within the province for 

the surgical assessment and approval process, 

which we are working on resolving. 

Our clinical resource team hopes to have 

moved through the historical waitlists 

throughout the province by the end of this 

summer. And we will be engaging health 

authorities and primary care providers 

about a more streamlined assessor process 

throughout this coming year. 

What can we expect to see with the program 

in the coming months? 

In the next six months some of our work 

will focus on building a peer and community 

support provider network. This includes 

co-designing what peer and community 

support services need to be, in 

addition to what needs to be enhanced in 

various regions of the province. 

We will be talking with community members 

and the health authorities to build a 

program governance structure that includes 

key stakeholders. Including trans 

and gender diverse people and families in 

ongoing planning and program work 

is critical. We also have trans and 

gender diverse people working on our 

team. 

In addition to moving through historical 

waitlists, we also have clinical 

working groups focused on adult, 

child and youth clinical care pathways. 

Work is also underway to help 

streamline the assessor process and 

surgical pathway throughout this coming 

year. Our education project lead has just 

been hired and work on the provincial education 

strategy is also underway. 

How soon could BC have its own surgical 

care centre? 

The long-term goal is to enable gender-affirming 

surgical services to be provided 

closer to home, but this solution is complex 

and several years away to account 

for planning, training and recruitment. In 

the near term, PHSA is working on ways 

to improve the current system and by providing 

care coordination and system navigation 

support directly through the Trans 

Care BC program. 

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Spotlight on Brae Carnes 

Trans Activist, Awesome Cover Model 

Twenty fifteen was the year of the War of Bathrooms. In the 

aftermath of Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the United States 

finally put the same-sex marriage question to rest, U.S. Republicans 

then shifted their focus onto a NEW target: the trans 

community. In what could only be described as fear-fueled, right-wing 

conservative brain farts, legislators in a number of American states 

passed (or tried to pass) laws that would force everyone to use the 

bathroom corresponding with the “M” or “F” on their birth certificates, 

rather than the gender corresponding with their identities. All of this, 

of course, under the pretenses of preserving morality and “protecting” 

the public. 

Our own, Victoria-based Brae Carnes would have none of it. She shot a 

provocative photo series depicting just what it might look like, if some 

of these laws were actually put into practice. How would you feel, if 

you had to share the bathroom with someone like ME? Well clearly, the 

point had been made, and it didn’t take long for the photos to go viral. 

News outlets all over Canada and the U.S. started showing the photos, 

and media sources as far as the U.K. got on-board. Here, in case you 

missed it, or just wanted to see them again, are a couple of those shots. 

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Canada Bathroom Report 2016 

By Atley Jonas 

While battle lines have been 

drawn to the South over 

trans access to public bathrooms, 

the elephant in the 

room demands we ask the question: “So, 

what about Canada?” 

This is an excellent question, as much 

like the United States, individual provinces 

and municipalities get to make up 

their own rules regarding many issues. Is 

access to public bathrooms one of them? 

The simple answer is: it’s complicated. 

At the time of this printing, there was no 

national protection to guarantee public 

access to bathrooms corresponding to a 

person’s gender identity. Yet, at the same 

time, on the International Day Against 

Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia 

(May 17), Justin Trudeau’s Liberal 

government passed Bill C-16, prohibiting 

discrimination against gender identity and 

gender expression. It was an amendment 

to the Canadian Human Rights Act. 

Prior to this, a number of provinces had 

already taken that same step, making 

gender expression and identity protected 

classes when accessing public legal, 

educational, or medical services. These 

provinces included: Ontario, Nova Scotia, 

Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince 

Edward Island. In addition, Northwest 

Territories and Manitoba have included 

gender identity, but not gender expression. 

This distinction of course, makes all the 

difference in the world. While gender 

identity may be protected in some cases, 

gender expression is really what is being 

talked about when the topic of bathroom 

access comes up. How can we separate 

the girls from the boys? What should each 

of them looks like? 

While Bill C-16 takes the first step in the 

right direction it does not guarantee that 

a trans individual anywhere in Canada 

may use the bathroom in which they feel 

most comfortable, based on their self-proclaimed 

gender identity. It also deserves 

mention, that in many cases, claiming 

protection (or discrimination) as a protected 

class of gender identity may still 

require medical evidence of gender reassignment, 

or medical treatment of some 

kind. This however, while understandable 

from a politician’s perspective, becomes 

highly problematic for individuals who 

have no intentions of transitioning, or 

perhaps have transitioned, but still may 

not “pass” (scrutiny) of facility managers, 

law enforcement, the general public, and 

lawmakers. 

Microcosmically, a number of cities, 

schools, and organizations have undertaken 

efforts to fill the gaps that official channels 

have not yet addressed. For example, 

schools in Ottawa, starting in 2015, began 

rolling out gender-neutral bathrooms, following 

a lead set by Toronto, three years 

prior. A more recent battle was recently 

fought in Alberta, took the issue even a 

step further, following the fight of a transgender 

girl in Edmonton to use a girls’ 

bathroom rather than a gender-neutral one 

to which she had been assigned. In January 

2016, Alberta Education Minister 

David Eggen released guidelines to all 

of Alberta’s 61 school districts, advising 

that “gender-diverse students and teachers 

should be able to choose which school 

bathrooms they want to use, as well as 

the names, pronouns and clothing that 

represent their gender identity.” Yet, once 

again, as of the time of this printing, no 

such federal guidelines existed. 

Closer to home, the news in B.C. has 

been deafeningly silent. While individual 

communities, facilities, and schools may 

have provisions in place, there are neither 

provincials, laws, rules, nor guidelines to 

govern or protect trans bathroom access. 

Some institutions, notably UBC, have 

promised to champion the cause, going 

so far as to provide a map to gender-inclusive 

washrooms on campus, accessible 

from the UBC student services website. 

Legally speaking however, the situation 

is far more gray. While the Trans Rights 

BC website (transrightsbc.ca) assures 

students that they have a right to use the 

bathrooms corresponding with their gender 

identity, the section dealing with laws 

protecting trans students has to rely on 

broad precepts laid out in the BC Human 

Rights Code and the Charter of Rights 

and Freedoms, which do not (and cannot) 

make those promises. 

The state of Canada’s public bathrooms in 

2016 is very poor. There are very few specific 

provisions that protect trans rights as 

they relate to bathroom access. There is 

no federal law, and provincial, municipal, 

and institutional laws, bylaws, and rules 

are all over the map. Until something 

more cohesive comes into place, the best 

advice when using public facilities, is to 

exercise personal caution and situational 

awareness in order to avoid problems or 

harassment from the public, law enforcement, 

or facility owners or managers. 

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Teaching the Elephant to Dance 

Ramblings of an Uppity Queer Woman 

By: ChrYs Tei 

As Atley Jonas, our editor-in-chief noted 

a few pages back, editors and writers 

around the world facing the blank page 

of their Pride piece can’t write the story 

they thought they would. As chief cook 

and bottle washer around here, I do get 

to pen my ramblings on occasion, and 

so too I’m challenged. And then there’s 

the picture across from these words, 

commissioned and already drawn. 

(More about that in a second)... 

There’s no way that being mowed down 

by a madman in a nightclub can be in 

any way a dignified death. I am sure 

the survivors are as scarred as those 

who lost loved ones. May the boundless 

compassion of the goddess awaken in 

each of their hearts and give each the 

embrace and respite that no human can 

provide. 

Back to the sketch. The picture is Ms. 

Grieves, the director of Trans Care 

BC, getting the medical system to clog 

dance – at least a few hesitant steps. 

The elephant grimaces in the effort to 

please, and the rider, for at least the 

second it takes to get the snapshot, is 

smiling in celebration. Why? 

Because it’s Pride. A time to both celebrate 

and remember. After 18 months of 

preparation, the TransCare BC elephant 

is taking its first few tentative steps. It’s 

no simple dance step to teach a medical 

system (that, in places, still considers 

reparative therapy appropriate), how to 

provide trans-informed care. 

Being an activist is a lonely occupation, 

as I imagine we’ll hear when we join 

Michael Yoder at the Q Town event centre 

for “The Reluctant Activist.” Check 

the Q Town pages for the time. The few 

folks who comment usually tell me that 

I tend to chew ass more than hand out 

compliments. “You get more flies with 

honey.” “You’re not in step,” they tell 

me; protest just is not Canadian. I guess 

my immigrant blood boils at a lower 

temperature. 

So I thought for Pride, I will show them 

that even an ol’ trans dog can learn a 

new trick. After all, Lorraine is very 

cordial and gives me more time than she 

should, given the tasks she has before 

her. She really works to understand 

what I’m saying, where many give up. 

So here it is: “Well done! Way to go! 

Keep up the good work!” Honestly, it’s 

not a job I would wish on most and I 

feel a true appreciation for her efforts, 

her sincerity and her openness. 

But despite her efforts and achievements, 

the words sound hollow as they 

leave my mouth, as another part of 

my brain considers 60,000 homeless 

youth in Canada. Nearly half identify as 

queer. Queer kids, rejected (or worse) 

by families of origin, trading themselves 

for survival, ending up on our streets, 

broken. We step around them to avoid 

the thought that it is we, in our failure to 

grow families of choice in every town, 

who put them there. 

The words crinkle brittle on my teeth 

when I consider that as a trans woman, 

my options for surgery are not determined 

by my doctors, but by some 

faceless non-medical bureaucrat. WTF! 

I pay the same rates as Jimmy Pattison. 

This is a ratepayer equity issue lost in 

the culture of misogyny that objectifies 

women’s bodies. There is yet to be a 

trans man told to keep their tits because 

they’re too small. 

The words echo hollow when I sit 

across the desk from a prospective 

employer and I realize that I will never 

again work in an industry I spent over 

40 years in. We all smiled when Justin 

said, “Because it’s 2015?” but for some 

of us on many days it’s still not breaking 

1915. 

The words choke in my throat when 

well-meaning queers and allies tell me 

that I need to learn to accept my place 

as a woman and not be such an uppity 

queer. Go gender police your mom! 

The words seem empty when they 

reflect my fragility and that I can no 

longer manage it in the face of my own 

trans experience, and knowing that in 

my broken self, I am still one of the 

fortunate ones. 

What words shall we have then? I don’t 

know. I do know it’s neither any word 

I say, nor any by Ms. Grieves that will 

make the sound we both want to hear. It 

is your voice and others joining ours, in 

praise or in protest that fills our hearts 

and strengthens our limbs and moves us 

to action until there is no more list to 

complete. Try to err on the praise side, 

if in doubt. 

So today, laugh, giggle, praise, or sing. 

Ride the elephant and dance a bit – it’s 

right to be joyful. Life is a gift and 

it’s our choice how we spend it. But 

tomorrow, make a list, set a goal, pick 

a deadline. Join the Co-op!There is no 

shortage of things to do. 

Happy Pride! 

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PRIDE in the WORD: 

Canada’s Largest Pride Festival Literary Event 

Victoria Pride Society’s Erin Cotton is a Victoria-based 

Pride in the Word is Canada’s 

largest Pride festival etry is a handwritten love let- 

spoken word artist whose po- 

literary event. Each year it ter filled with dirty jokes and 

showcases both some of the proudest queer politics. Previously, she has 

and most talented writers from Victoria 

and across the country and is al- 

Gay Cabaret and last year’s Pride in 

performed in Cabaret Outre, the Big 

ways a great time. 

the Word. She has one too many poems 

about genitalia and is secretly a 

bit proud of it. Super queer and super 

weird, she’ll bring all the absurdist 

sexual politics you can handle. 

Nicola Harwood is a writer 

and interdisciplinary artist 

with a background in theatre 

and performance, particularly 

collective creation, comedy 

and feminist practice. Her first book, 

Jillian Christmas is a celebrated 

poet, musician and educator, 

who has won Grand Poetry-Slam 

Championship titles 

at both the Vancouver BedRocc poetry-slam 

(2011), and the Vancouver 

Poetry Slam (2012, 2014). She has 

also represented Vancouver at the 

Women of the World Poetry slam. 

Born and raised in Markham, Ontario, 

she currently lives in Vancouver, BC., 

where she serves as Artistic Director 

of Versəs Festival of Word. 

Oakland-based comedian 

Heather Gold is best known 

for her unique ability to 

make performance an intimate 

conversation in which people get 

real in public. She’s made over 50,000 

cookies with audiences in her hit interactive 

show “I Look Like An Egg, 

but I Identify As A Cookie,” named 

Best of the Bay. She has appeared at 

places like NY’s Dixon Place, Toronto’s 

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 

Google, Finland’s YLE Media and 

SXSW. More virtually she’s appeared 

in Wired, NPR, regularly on the CBC, 

and almost daily on twitter where she 

invites you to hang out with her @ 

heathr. She is currently working on a 

new show called: Everything is Subject 

to Change. 

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Flight Instructions for the Commit-Nachment Impaired helped to launch Cait- 

journalist and the author of 

Rodriguez is a former 

lyn Press’ Dagger Editions, Canada’s two self-published collections 

of poetry, Hidden/A 

first Lesbian imprint. A former Victoria 

Lesbian Avenger, Nicola now resides 

in Vancouver, where she is Chair Desire as well as a collection of short 

Escondidas and Distant Objects of 

of the Creative Writing department at stories White Lies. He’s fond of bow 

Kwantlen Polytechnic University. ties, beards and other “b” words. Born 

in Caracas, Venezuela, he now lives 

and loves in Victoria. 

This year’s event takes place at the Vic 

Theatre, which allows for great sight 

lines and comfortable, ample seating! 

Jillian Christmas 

Erin Cotton 

Heather Gold 

Nicola Harwood 

Nacho Rodriguez 

Mariko Tamaki 

Host: Billeh Nickerson 

Saturday, July 9 

Doors 6:30 

Reading 7:00 sharp 

Mariko Tamaki is a twotime 

Governor General’s 

Billeh Nickerson is the author 

of five books including 

Award nominee and the 

the 2014 City of Vancouver 

recipient of numerous 

Book Award nominated Artificial 

Cherry. He is also a founding collaborations This One Summer 

awards and accolades for her book 

member of the performance troupe (with Jillian Tamaki), Skim (with Jillian 

Tamaki), and Emiko Superstar 

Haiku Night in Canada, and a silver 

medalist at the Canadian Gay Curling (with Steve Rolston). Her most recent 

YA novel is Saving Montgomery 

Championships. This year marks his 

return as curator and host of Pride in Sole. She divides her year between 

Word, an event he has helped organize Toronto and Oakland, California. 

for over a decade. 

Vic Theatre 

808 Douglas St. Victoria, 

BC 

Tickets $13 and $10 for 

students/seniors/underemployed 

and are available 

at the door only. 

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DOWNTOWN Cross Queer Quarterly VICTORIA 

PARADE ROUTE 

Map Legend 

Parade Route 

Float Route 

Area designation 

A 

C 

D 

Parade Start 

Festival Entrance 

Float Parking 

WC 

ATM Machines 

Porta potties 

Sales 

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MACDONALD PARK 

THE HOME OF VICTORIA PRIDE FESTIVAL 

Oswego Street Floats Head This Way 

People Head This Way 

Simcoe Street 

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GRAPHIG DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION BY ELLIOT LANGE

2016 PRIDE FESTIVAL VENDORS 


Adam Hanna Ballroom Dance 

African Heritage Assoc. of Van. Island 

AIDS Vancouver Island 

Amnesty International 

Athlone Travel 

BC Govt. Employee & Srvcs Union 

BC Whale Tours 

Bike Tours Victoria 

BKN hoops & Accesories 

Blue Heron Art Enterprises 

BMO Bank of Montreal 

California Gold Tanning Studio 

Camosun Student Society Pride Collective 

Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock 

Carlas Pet Portraits&Tie Dye Dog Clothing 

Cashsave Imports 

CFUV 101.9 FM 

Cheesecake Burlesque Revue 

CHOICES Adoption 

Crisis & Info. Referral of Greater Victoria 

CUPE Vancouver Island District Council 

DAVID’s TEA 

D’Lishious Delights 

Epicure 

Eves of Destruction 

First Unitarian Church of Victoria 

G.T. Hiring Solutions (WorkBC) 

Gertie Zeiter Fused Glads 

Girl Guides: South Vancouver Island Area 

Grtr Vic Police Diversity Advisory Committee 

British Columbia Nurses Union 

Intrepid Theatre 

Investors Group 

Island Health 

Island photo booth 

Island Sexual Health 

Kaleidoscope Theatre Prod. Society 

KooKooMaMa Designs 

Kool Radio 

Liberal Party of Canada in Victoria 

LIN’s fashion jewelry 

Lovely things vintage 

Mystic Lotus 

National Money Mart 

North of Hadrian’s Kilts & Celtic Clothing 

Oak Bay United Church 

One Leaf 

Orca Spirit Adventures 

Our Place Society 

Party Animal Pet Gear 

Passion and Peformance 

Paul Mara Jewellers 

Peers Victoria Resources Society 

PFLAG Canada Victoria Chapter 

Prime Timers Victoria 

Public Service Alliance of Canada 

Rainbow Health Co-operative 

Remax Oak Bay 

Richard Mar Hair School 

Ricoshade’s Pride Wear 

Robert Cerins Designs Inc. 

SAJE Hairspa and Education 

Sensible BC 

Shoe Straponz 

SILK ROAD TEA 

Skippy’s Prop Shop 

Soroptimist Intnl. of Victoria Westshore 

Sparkle Shack Body Art 

Stillpoint Community Acupuncture 

Sunny Side Home Eclectic Repairs 

The Garden of Eden 

The Green Party of Canada & BC Green Party 

The Romance Shop 

Trio Beads 

Uniquely Cedra 

Uvic Pride 

Van. Isnd .Chapter Surfrider Foundation 

Van. Isnd. Mens Trauma Counselling Soc 

Victoria Community Micro Lending Soc. 

Victoria Humane Society 

Victoria Immigrant & Refugee Centre Society 

Victoria Lesbian Seniors Care Society 

Victoria Sexual Assault Ctr. & Project Respect 

Victoria Shakespeare Society 

Wandering Hive 

Wildflower Dyes 

20

BLEED AREA 


21


2016 Victoria Pride Board 

David Tillson – President 

David can be found yelling at 

parade drivers thinking he is 

helping the parade director 

President for 11 years, david has come to realize that the ferris wheel he 

wanted is only a metaphor for life. Altho Pride is a giant rollercoaster 

every year !!! david can’t decide whether he likes to ride the rollercoaster 

or ferris wheel most. david_tillson@victoriapridesociety.org 

Terry Froud – Vice President 

Terry can be found enjoying 

Pride after decades of making 

it happen for the South Island! 

Terry is a cornerstone of The Victoria Pride Society. Having been one 

of the first founding members of Victoria Pride over 20 years ago– we 

are pleased and honored to have him work in the role of Vice-President. 

terry_froud@victoriapridesociety.org 

Landen Cheetham – Secretary and Marketing Coordinator 

Landen can be found on festival 

day running around like 

a proverbial chicken making 

sure the sky isn’t falling. 

Pat can be found waving the 

next great act onto the beer 

garden stage. 

Jessica can be found roaming 

the festival, making sure the 

beans are everywhere they 

need to be while awaiting her 

turn to drag the stage. 

print(“Hello world”) 

print(“No-one is really sure of any of the following for Landen:”) 

choose(“digital avatar” || “live interaction”) 

choose(“talking to himself” || “bluetooth headset”) 

choose(“talking to Landen” || “talking to Heidi Ho”) 

print(“Certainties though are: his sarcasm knows no bounds, and you’re just as likely to 

talk to his alter ego Heidi Ho as you are to talk to Landen.”) 

print(“Landen has been volunteering with Victoria Pride for over 10 years and is currently 

the secretary, webmaster, and marketing co-ordinator keeping Victoria Pride online 

and connected.”) 

sayHelloWhenYouSeeHim() 

landen_cheetham@victoriapridesociety.org 

Pat Rundell – Entertainment Coordinator 

Pat is an award winning producer, director, actor, and theatre educator 

who received his formal training at the American Musical & Dramatic 

Academy: Los Angeles. Pat is the founding Artistic Director of Urban 

Arts Productions, and the Artistic Associate and Studio Director for 

Kaleidoscope Theatre. Pat is delighted to be joining the family of the 

Victoria Pride Society and looks forward to being a part of, and supporting 

the community. pat_rundell@victoriapridesociety.org 

Jessica Rewers – Treasurer 

By day Jessica counts the beans as the Victoria Pride Society’s treasurer.... 

by night she entertains the crowds as Candy Boxx.... either way 

Jessica hopes her contributions help make the LGBTQ community a 

wonderful place to celebrate life, ourselves, and the freedom to be whoever 

we want to be. AKA: the cash machine. 

jessica_rewers@victoriapridesociety.org 

Richard Lucas – Sponsorship and Events Coordinator 

richard@victoriapridesociety.org 

22

BLEED AREA 


Alan Chaffe – Festival Coordinator 

Alan can be found walking 

many kilometers to herd vendors 

and crew members to get 

the site ready! 

Alan is an economist by day and community activist by night. In his 

spare time, Alan works as a lecturer at the University of Victoria and 

is a full-time PhD student. He has volunteered in various capacities 

including Chair, Treasurer, and as a Human Rights Co-coordinator 

for national and international Pride organizations such as Capital 

Pride in Ottawa, Fierté Canada Pride, and Cape Town Pride Festival 

in South Africa. alan@victoriapridesociety.org 

Matt Tremble – Food and Beverage Coordinator 

Matt can be found handing a 

can of beer with one hand and 

handing out a bag of chips with 

the other. 

Matt is happy to bring his experience in food and beverage management 

for festivals in Victoria and on the mainland to the Victoria 

Pride Society and is looking forward to being part of another exciting 

Pride Festival and supporting our community. 

matt_tremble@victoriapridesociety.org 

Eva Patenaude –Media Coordinator 

Eva can be found in the middle 

of the parade route doing 

real-time Tweets and pics on 

Instagram. 

Eva is proudly gay and balances building a career in promotions with a busy 

social life and keeping active. She manages an electronics repair shop by day 

and promotes for Sugar Nightclub by night, where she is thrilled to be able 

to bring more Pride events to the community and promote the club as a safe 

and welcoming environment for everyone regardless of where they fall on 

the gender and sexuality spectrums. She also co-produces King Fling, a new, 

recurring drag event in Victoria and VPS sponsor, and performs as Drag King 

Chaz Avery. She is very excited to be even more involved by working with 

the Victoria Pride Society and hopes to help bring the community even closer 

together through social media. eva_patenaude@victoriapridesociety.org 

Wyatt can be found holding 

down the fort at Pride House 

and making sure there are rainbows 

for everyone! 

Wyatt Marchessault – Merchandise Coordinator 

Always excited to get involved with the community he was born and 

raised in, Wyatt is very happy to be in the role of Merchandise Coordinator 

with the Victoria Pride Society. 

wyatt_marchessault@victoriapridesociety.org 

ChrŸs Tei – Volunteer Coordinator 

ChrŸs can be found at the thing 

before the thing you are doing. 

ChrŸs Tei is a business executive with 40 years of project management and 

start-up experience in all kinds of ventures from websites to hotels. She spent 

just about the same amount of time figuring out what kind of queer she really 

is. Here’s ahint ChrŸs -Just Ask, it’s kind of obvious! 

Currently she is the Executive Director of Rainbow Health Cooperative, who 

provide healthcare, livelihood and related services to trans people and their 

families living in underserved communities. 

chrys.tei@rainbowhealth.coop 

Brittany Kohn – Parade Coordinator 

brittany_kohn@victoriapridesociety.org 

23


Celebrating 25 Years of Pride in Victoria: 

One-on-One With Terry Froud 

By: James Gardner 

During Pride Week in Victoria, 

Terry Froud hardly goes anywhere 

he isn’t recognized. As a longstanding 

organizer and entrepreneur 

in the LGBTQ community, he 

is a gay man of merit with a quick 

wit and solid resolve. 

Although I am new to Victoria, I 

was surprised I hadn’t met Terry 

before we sat down for this conversation. 

Froud took me back to 

the beginning of Pride in Victoria. 

What began as a few hundred people 

picnicking in Beacon Hill Park 

has now exploded into a weeklong 

celebration of rainbows, fancy 

floats, a festival and a beer garden. 

Pride is bursting at the seams. 

“Twenty five years ago, when I 

helped start Pride, I never would 

have dreamed it would be as large 

as what it is today,” says Froud. “I 

mean it’s just unbelievable for the 

size of the city. We’re one of the 

largest festivals in Victoria.” 

In 1989, Froud purchased Rumors 

nightclub on Government and 

Johnson, following a successful 

run of owning and operating several 

(straight) bars and hotels. He 

ran Rumors for 10 years. 

“Rumors was a small, physical 

bar, but it was always busy, we 

didn’t have a quiet night. One of 

the good things was that on Sunday 

and Monday, most of the bars 

in Victoria were closed. Many of 

the owners and the managers of 

the straight bars would come down 

to Rumors.” 

This is where Terry says bar owners 

learned how to treat gay patrons, 

which led to many of the 

straight establishments becoming 

more ‘gay friendly.’ It seems it has 

remained that way over the years. 

As a third generation Victorian, 

Froud says Victoria has always 

been a welcoming LGBTQ city. 

“I haven’t experienced any harassment 

here, and I am probably one 

of the better- known gay faces in 

town. I think Victoria is a great 

place to come out in.” 

As with most Pride celebrations 

around the country, Victoria is 

experiencing growing pains and 

along with that growth, tight finances 

are also being felt. 

Many Pride celebrations now rely 

on corporate sponsorships to stay 

afloat. However, Victoria Pride 

has managed to stay fairly homegrown, 

with a smattering of representation 

from local bars, banks 

and political parties showing their 

support. 

Froud doesn’t seem concerned 

about some commercialization 

sneaking into Victoria’s celebrations. 

Local establishments and 

some corporations are expressing 

interest in becoming involved in 

some way with Victoria Pride activities. 

24

BLEED AREA 

“TD Bank came on last year, and 

that’s our first major sponsor. The 

reason we don’t see a lot of commercialism 

is that we don’t have 

a lot of big companies here,” he 

says. 

Froud says he is very happy with 

the pace of Victoria Pride’s growth 

over the years. 

“I am very pleased with Pride. 

I’m leaving at a high time. I’ve 

stepped back a lot this year, mostly 

because of health, but I look at 

our board and I see people who are 

very capable.” 

The 69-year-old entrepreneur and 

organizer has been diagnosed with 

diabetes, and his doctor wants him 

to take it a bit easier. Stepping 

back from the limelight shouldn’t 

be too difficult for a man with 

close family ties. Besides his work 

in the Pride community, Terry has 

a 47 year old son, a granddaughter 

and great- granddaughter. 

“Many people at Pride know my 

granddaughter. She went to Pride 

for years and she used to dance on 

the Pride float at the parade. She 

grew up being around me and doing 

all the Pride events and it was 

very nice.” 

So it stands to reason, Victoria 

Pride is growing up too. Froud expects 

to see it to continue to grow 

in the coming years. 

“Pride in the Word is one of the 

largest literary events in Canada. 

We bring in people from across 

Canada and we’ve gotten so busy 

we’ve had to move it down to Vic 

Cinema at Nootka Court. That increases 

our seating to 220.” 

This year, he anticipates Pride 

celebrations will have the largest 

attendance yet, but parade entries 

will be capped at last year’s number, 

90, and booth and food vendors 

for the festival will be kept to 

150. 

Here is to another successful Pride 

Week in Victoria. 

James Gardner is a Victoria-based writer 

and transgender advocate. 

25



Dear P&P: I’m a trans woman. Recently I’ve gotten to know someone who is male, but enjoys dressing as a woman — 

but they don’t call themselves trans. HE says he’s a transvestite. My understanding is that means he cross dresses to get 

sexual pleasure or gratification out of it, which kinda creeps me out, considering that neither of us would necessarily 

“pass” if seen together, but yet we are completely different. And it’s not like I can wear a T-shirt that explains the difference 

to others. How should I deal with this? 

-No T for Tea 

Dear Tea, 

Your question was deceivingly complex to tackle. Not because of the question itself, but because there seems to be a 

lot going on, in terms of semantics, possible misunderstandings and misconceptions. But don’t worry — your friends 

Pepper and Pearl will get you sorted out! 

Rephrasing your question, all what you’re saying (in far fewer words, and much more simply) is that if your friend is 

not trans, what the heck is he? Because we seem to be wired somehow to require labels and categories that everyone’s 

supposed to fit into. (Don’t even get me started). But that’s where we get hung up with definitions of words that we may 

not all be using in the same way. 

HE uses the word “transvestite,” and unfortunately neither one of us can say for certain what that means to him. In the 

strictest and most technical sense, historically, transvestism simply meant to dress, behave, and present as a member of 

the opposite sex (if we assume a binary system for gender). It was originally used as a descriptive, observational term, 

coined by German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld. In his observations, he noted that transvestism could also be correlated 

with sexual arousal, so “could” immediately got reinterpreted as “did” and Bob’s your uncle — transvestism now 

meant that if you were a man who put on a dress, you had a sexual fetish. And hey, would you look at that! It’s even in 

the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) to this day! (Just look up “transvestic fetishism”). So of course, the term 

“transvestite” quickly turned into a pejorative (because obviously) since any kind of sexually-associated term outside of 

heterosexual, missionary-position sex between married people would clearly represent a form of deviancy and perversion. 

As a result, the number of people who actively use the term “transvestite” has dwindled, because of its reputation 

as a(n unreclaimed) derogatory term. In that sense, the term “crossdresser” is preferred. Although, I don’t know about 

you, but for me, even “crossdresser” kind of gives me the heebie-jeebies, because it still presents an unbalanced, patriarchal 

(read: misogynistic) binary view of the world. Why misogynistic? Nowadays, only MALES can cross-dress, and 

the act of doing so is seen by many as problematic. Females are generally accepted regardless of whether they pull on a 

pair of trousers, or into a dress on any given morning. The same cannot be said for males, who are still expected never 

26

BLEED AREA 

to venture into any territory that might somehow be considered “feminine.” Hey, I still know people who even refuse to 

eat quiche because they think it’s an inappropriate food choice for a REAL man… But I digress. 

In a nutshell, the reasons WHY your friend dresses the way he does, are, I’m afraid, HIS business — and no one else’s. 

It’s not your place, nor anyone else’s to guess, assume, or judge his motivations. And if it DOES happen to be motivated 

by a sexual fetish, then that too, is none of your concern… And wanting to hang out, or go out (dressed as a couple of 

fine ladies) in no way would indicate to me any cause for concern, even if it WERE motivated by a sexual kink or fetish. 

Oh, and while we’re on THAT note, let me just point out, that I think Western society still hasn’t gotten over their puritanical, 

Judeo-Christian roots, perpetuated through Victorian prudishness and utopian-colonial ideals, to allow people 

the freedom to explore themselves as sexual beings. If you could administer a truth serum to a thousand people on the 

street, you’d probably be shocked how many of them have some kind of sexual kink or fetish. The mind boggles at how 

many men might actually be wearing frilly, pink panties underneath their homogenous, dark drab suits and ties… And 

speaking of ties… How many would enjoy being tied up?… Or covered in strawberry ice cream while being whipped 

on the ass by a dominatrix? Hey. Everyone’s got something. And my point is, that if your friend having a fetish involving 

women’s clothing creeps you out… That’s something that YOU will have to work through for yourself, as it’s got 

nothing to do with him. 

So, my advice? First, don’t assume things that aren’t yours to assume. Enjoy your friendship for what it is, and go out 

with your friend just as you would with any other friend. You clearly seem to like spending time with him, so who cares 

what other people think? There’s no need for a T-shirt to explain anything. There’s always going to be self-appointed 

gender police, regardless of who you are and how you choose to present. And do you really think they care that one of 

you is trans and the other is not? And as for the creep factor… Until he asks you to cover him in strawberry ice cream, 

don’t worry about it! 

-Pepper & Pearl 

27


ARIES (March 21-April 19): The trick is 

to avoid rushing to assumptions 

about how 

you feel, Aries, when 

the associated situation 

is more complex than a 

single reaction can adequately 

encapsulate. 

This isn’t the type of advice I’d ordinarily 

dish out to you Aries folks, since I find 

you to possess some of the most reliably 

keen first-impulses of all the zodiac-signs. 

But we’re currently having an exceedingly 

watery moment… the kind of astrological 

vibe that yields its best results when 

we’re willing to feel into, around, and 

through our responses long enough to let 

them thoroughly wash over us, into all the 

nooks and crannies of our being. Think of 

this similarly to how you might experience 

those first moments of submerging 

yourself into a cold swimming-pool: The 

initial chill might be so unpleasantly jarring, 

you’d instinctively yell ‘fuck this!’ 

and drag your ass right out and straight to 

the nearest towel—though, if you’d given 

yourself just a few more moments to 

acclimate, you’d find the water’s actually 

a rather comfortable wading temperature, 

and an utter delight to splash around in. 

I’m not saying specifically that something 

you recoil from at first will later 

prove to be an utter delight, however… 

merely that you might miss out on a more 

thorough and/or satisfying experience by 

heeding only your very earliest reaction. 

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): With Mars 

essentially standing 

still in your relationship 

house (the 7th) this 

week, Taurus, you’ll 

have a hard time ignoring 

the unmistakable 

evidence of any interpersonal 

friction or conflict that’s reaching 

its point-of-no-return. Over the weeks 

ahead, you’ll probably have to assert your 

agency in determining where this strained 

coupling is headed next… if, of course, 

you’re courageous enough to make this 

go how you want it to go, to the best of 

28 

Stars R Ours 

By: AstroBarry 

your ability under these circumstances. 

But just as you’re due to act in your own 

interests in stopping any undesirable relationship 

dynamics from continuing, 

you also have a similar duty to yourself 

to discernibly step towards those individuals 

you wish to include more prominently 

in your life. In other words, your interpersonal 

preferences will be indicated 

through both (1) actively distancing from 

the negative and (2) actively identifying 

with the positive. One qualifying note: 

If you don’t already have strongly positive 

or negative feelings about a certain 

someone, specifically based on your actual 

lived experience with that person, give 

‘em the benefit of the doubt… and strive 

to enjoy their company on its own however-brief-or-lasting 

terms. 

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Rather than 

cower or cringe at the 

thought of how much 

you must get done, 

Gemini, please remind 

yourself that what 

you bring to this heap 

of responsibilities is 

unlike what anyone else could possibly 

bring. And though it would be pretty 

easy (not to mention self-indulgent) to 

answer this advice by fixating on your 

unique frailties or flaws, that definitely 

won’t help you advance your progress 

on the job(s)-at-hand. More than perfect 

qualifications or sheer mastery, what this 

moment demands most of you, my dear, 

is confidence in your undaunted willingness 

to work with whatever you’ve got 

(since that’s what you’ve got, and you 

don’t have what you don’t have) to do the 

very best you can do. Nobody could expect 

anything more than that from you, so 

you most certainly shouldn’t. As part of 

keeping your confidence levels up, try not 

to let your attention drift too compulsively 

to whatever unshakable complication, 

weighty debt, or psychic dark-cloud still 

looms off to the side, a nagging reminder 

of a life-chapter that’s already been lived 

yet continues to bleed its influence into 

today. I won’t say it’s totally irrelevant to 

your current situation, but replaying the 

past (for emotional self-torture purposes, 

no less) is about the furthest thing from 

‘practically helpful’ I can imagine. 

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I love your 

astrology of the moment, 

Cancer… with 

communication-maven 

Mercury now joining 

both the Sun and 

Venus in your sign, 

making it easier than 

it’s been in a while to accurately convey 

what’s on your mind and have it be 

welcomed with open-and-accepting ears. 

Plus, with the multiple trines to Neptunein-your-9th, 

you’re looking at the broader 

perspectival backdrop with a heightened 

idealism, allowing you to speak with 

sympathetic vision about how particular 

personal values and/or concerns of yours 

are connected to the larger project of 

creating a better world. Now, therefore, 

is an excellent time to unbashfully offer 

ideas, opinions, or advice to address dayto-day 

life-circumstances from a place of 

respecting the underlying commonality 

amidst diverse belief-systems, deliberately 

striving to choose a rightful path, and 

loving each other above all else. Because 

of Venus’s opposition to the Pluto-inyour-7th, 

there’s a chance your principle-driven 

wishfulness will face terse 

animosity from those who feel attacked 

(even if you’re not attacking anyone), 

on the grounds that you aren’t properly 

accounting for the ‘reality’ of their challenges. 

Don’t take the bait. You’re not 

being ‘unrealistic’ by proposing ways we 

could all improve our realities. 

LEO (July 23-August 22): Happily dissolve 

into the temporary 

nothingness of 

hosting multiple planets 

in your solar 12th, 

Leo. Mindful inactivity 

is the appropriate 

way to simply be with 

the emotional self-realization(s) now coagulating 

in your consciousness. To aim

BLEED AREA 

to ‘do something’ about how you’re feeling, 

on the other hand, is to paddle against 

the presently-more-benevolent currents… 

like you must prove your valiant character 

(to whom, exactly?) by taking some 

observable action in immediate response, 

if you’re to be seen (by who, exactly?) 

as the kind of person who ‘doesn’t take 

this sort of thing lying down’. Actually, 

you’ll have a more effective, meaningful 

response—at a more appropriate moment 

later—if, for now, you do ‘lie down’ for a 

spell, letting sense-impressions and memory-fragments 

and deep-soul-yearnings 

float through, softly shaping the inlets 

and bays of feeling which will eventually 

comprise an undulating shoreline 

of non-simplified reaction. You may encounter 

inner resistance to adopting such 

a reflective pause in the mad productivity 

rush, courtesy of a compensatory psychic 

drive to ‘stay busy’ so as to avoid essentially 

integrating the emotional self-realization(s). 

Don’t beat on yourself if you 

decide not to stay so productively busy 

this week. Existence, in and of itself, 

beckons. 

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): To 

relish the fruits of 

sincerely belonging, 

Virgo, requires you to 

actually put yourself 

in the mix. Togetherness 

won’t work very 

well if you presume 

there isn’t room on the team for you to 

really show up. In this context, ‘showing 

up’ involves being as frank about your 

true feelings as possible, in order to allow 

your comrades to authentically connect 

with you… but nonetheless framing them 

in a spirit of solution-driven collaboration 

(rather than mutinous self-interest or unconstructive 

complaint). The belief that 

‘sucking up’ any misgivings or discontent, 

so you can provide simple relational 

‘support’ to the other players without 

‘rocking the boat’, is not one to presently 

buy into. Any such well-meaning attempt 

to bury your own personal investment, 

opinion, or response beneath obligatory 

assent is liable to backfire (thanks to 

both Mars’s station in your 3rd and a Venus-Pluto 

opposition)… with your truer 

feelings on the matter, inconvenient and/ 

or disagreeable though they may be, seeping 

out anyhow. Better to take an intentionally 

group-minded lead on voicing 

where you are than to have to defend 

an unconsciously undermining attitude 

later. 

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): 

The most important 

quality to presently 

radiate in order to 

bolster your public 

reputation, professional 

standing, 

and/or hard-earned 

achievement-level, Libra, is that you actually 

care what happens, beyond how 

it impacts you and your aspirations. Of 

course there’s nothing inherently wrong 

about seeking what’s best for your own 

interests—we’ve all got to do just that, 

if we hope to functionally meet our material 

needs. But the particular context in 

which you seek to support yourself does 

matter, too… and presuming you aren’t 

toiling and striving and stretching to attain 

goals in this certain arena merely by 

chance, you probably have some sort of 

heartfelt connection to its larger project, 

purpose, organization, and/or governing 

board or else you wouldn’t have ended 

up there and stuck around. (If your career 

circumstances are purely random 

and you don’t feel any connection to 

where you are, you’ve got a bigger fish 

to fry—and I’d suggest attending to it by 

the end of ‘17.) Therefore, please lead 

with the part of your personality that’s 

legitimately invested in the success of 

the entire enterprise (which naturally 

includes your own personal success). In 

decision-makers’ eyes, your value goes 

up when you embody this genuine passion. 

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): 

As Mars returns to 

direct motion in your 

sign this week (on 

Wed Jun 29), Scorpio, 

you should deploy 

your wide-lens, 

values-driven, integrity-oriented 

discernment in deciding 

just how you’d like to assert your agency 

during this critically self-defining 

month ahead. This is a piss-poor time to 

be flippant, vindictive, escapist, or obsessed 

with what anybody else is doing. 

Rather, it’s your moment to put forth an 

emphatic finishing-touch for the world 

to see… a characterizing statement that 

epitomizes all the hard work you’ve invested 

in yourself since Saturn first started 

whipping you into shape back in late 

2012. In case you haven’t noticed, these 

past few months have been all about testing 

whether you’ve ‘learned your lessons’ 

(whatever they might be in your individual 

case) during these recent years. With 

Mars now stationing out of its retrograde, 

to wrap up the visit it initially began at 

the very opening of the year, you’re being 

asked to show your successful work—or, 

if circumstances require it, to really fix 

whatever’s been stubbornly giving you 

trouble thus far in ‘16. Stand tall in the life 

you’ve deliberately built for yourself, or 

start working up that final gallon of sweat 

that’ll decisively lay foundation for what 

you want to build but haven’t yet. Either 

way, don’t be distracted by petty bullshit 

that isn’t relevant to where you’re headed. 

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 

21): On account of 

this week’s Mars station 

in your 12th, Sagittarius, 

I must begin 

by advising you not to 

do anything crazy. Yes, 

the psychic-complexity 

levels of what you’re deal with have 

palpably intensified over the past couple 

weeks… but, I promise, it’s nothing you 

can’t deal with. The hardest part (as is 

often the case with you restless Sagittarians) 

is to not just take some responsive 

action, merely to signal you’re a ‘take 

action’ kind of person, without spending 

enough time to determine whether it’s the 

right action. At this juncture, the wrong 

response—which would, likelier than 

not, be motivated by some relational and/ 

or financial pressure (whether coming 

from someone else or your own ego) to 

prove you’re just as ‘for real’ about this 

as the other player(s) are—will cause you 

more complications or problems than just 

waiting it out. With the present converging 

of planets in your 8th, you’ll actually 

benefit from delving more deeply into the 

questions, concerns, mixed messages, and 

contrasting interests via open-ended interpersonal 

negotiations with those who also 

29


hold a strong stake. As far as timing’s 

concerned, Mars lands back in your sign 

during the first week of August… and 

that’s when the ‘take action’ part ought 

to come in. 

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 

19): Follow the needs, 

wants, and desires of 

your other half, your 

best friend, your partner-in-crime, 

and/or 

your trusted collaborator, 

Capricorn. The 

present planetary prominence of your 

solar 7th (the one-on-one relationship 

house) promises you a lighter, looser, 

and more loving experience of your week 

whenever you actively seek to favor, flatter, 

consider, and/or cater to the other person 

in any situational equation. Any inner 

struggle you feel when stretching to accommodate 

someone else’s preference— 

say, for instance, you find their choice to 

be arbitrary, impractical, or short-sighted—is 

an indication of how you allow 

your demanding standards (which, of 

course, are always most demanding when 

you turn ‘em on yourself) block you from 

appreciating the innate differences between 

humans, and thus from fully enjoying 

relationships themselves. Remind 

yourself there is no universally correct 

or superior way to live… just variations 

suited to different folks’ temperaments, 

skill-levels, interests, and aspirations. 

That said, there’s nothing necessarily 

wrong with taking quiet note of exactly 

who does things in a style that makes you 

crazy. Presumably, though, those who are 

guilty of such insanities aren’t the ones 

you’re in closest partnership with. (If they 

are? I’m left scratching my head.) 

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): 

You’ll register your 

professional (and/or 

public-sphere) tenacity 

not by aggressively 

insisting the reins be 

handed to you, Aquarius… 

but by quietly 

(and joyfully) continuing to carry out 

the relevant day-to-day work that’ll concretely 

back up your claim to leadership 

and/or authority. A war waged against 

anyone you think isn’t capably living up 

to their esteemed role—an inept manager, 

a small-minded authority-figure, 

a short-sighted organization—won’t be 

won on some declaration of superior vision, 

but by demonstrating both how to 

‘do it better’ and a personal willingness 

to do the literal ‘doing’. Don’t focus too 

much, therefore, on individuals or institutional 

impediments you feel you must 

somehow defeat in order to move yourself 

ahead. Instead, for now, concentrate 

on building your own version of success 

with your own two hands (and/or whatever 

other tools you already have at your 

disposal). Define leadership and/or authority 

through your actions, methods, 

and functional suggestions… minus any 

compulsive need to be acknowledged or 

accepted, which would only interfere with 

your presently-eased ability to happily 

work away. 

PISCES (February 19-March 20): Basking 

in the beauty that’s 

all around you right 

this very moment, Pisces, 

is just about the 

most effective statement 

you could presently 

make… exemplifying, 

through deed rather than word, 

what really matters to you in this life. A 

lineup of 5th-house planets—the Sun, 

Venus, and now Mercury—indicates you 

ought to be savoring the pleasures which 

most please you, for no other reason than 

to make the absolute most of this opportunity 

to enjoy your earthly incarnation 

while its limited supply-of-time is still 

available. The very act of frolicking, in 

whatever specific fashion you’re moved 

to do so, serves as a surprisingly potent 

form of emotional self-nurturance. By delivering 

yourself such surefire happiness, 

you’re essentially telling yourself, ‘What 

you like is important to me, and giving 

it to you is absolutely worth my while.’ 

This is actually a critical lifelong lesson 

for you Pisceans to incorporate into your 

self-image, thanks to your tendency to 

give everyone else what they like before 

tending so shamelessly to your own predilections. 

As such, be exceptionally aware 

of instances when you find you’re censoring 

yourself from frolicking exactly as 

you’d like, whether due to actual pressure 

from peers and/or your self-conscious 

fear of what they might think: The problem 

with that isn’t you, but your choice of 

incompatible peers. 

Barry Perlman is a professional astrologer based in San Francisco. He has been featured in The New York Times, on CBS Evening 

News, and TechTV’s “Fresh Gear.” He also belongs to the International Society of Astrological Research (ISAR). Barry has kindly 

given us permission to reprint his horoscope in XQQ. To book a consultation with him, please visit: http://astrobarry.com 

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