Queer It Up! is done for this year... we THANK YOU for your support!!

Mississauga News: Residents Queer It Up! http://www.mississauga.com/community/article/1047579--residents-queer-it-up

QIU! organizers would like to thank everyone who came out and supported the Queer It Up! 2011 March and Community Fair. The event gathered close to 200 people throughout the day and this year's new location at Port Credit Memorial Park was a great success.

We would like to thank the community organizations who had booths at the event and suffered in the heat to be there! Thank you for supporting the event and for making Queer and Trans folks in Peel aware of the safer spaces in the region. 

We would especially like to thank and make a special announcement to those who donated to QIU! Without the support of your donations we would not be able to hold this event and be as successful as we were this year. Thank you to the individuals, community agencies and businesses who donated generously in proud support and contributed to raising awareness for the event. We hope to have these great supporters and more on board in the coming years. Thank you to the Community One Foundation for their financial support!

And last but not least, we would like to thank our fabulous entertainers, who truly gave QIU! its community vibe, and our amazing volunteers, who worked tirelessly in the heat all day to make the event run smoothly!

On behalf of

Associated Youth Services of Peel, 

East Mississauga Community Health Centre 

and Peel HIV/AIDS Network

Congratulations to everyone on another fantastic year of Pride Celebrations in Peel!  

Community Fair Participants:

Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention, Assaulted Women’s Helpline, Associated Youth Services of Peel, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, City of Mississauga, East Mississauga Community Health Centre, Everest College, LGBT Youthline, Mississauga-Erindale NDP, OUT@UTM, Outreach Team-Region of Peel, Peel Children’s Centre/Nexus Youth Centre, Peel HIV/AIDS Network, Peel Public Health-Health Sexuality Program, Peel Youth Village, Pride Committee of Peel, Rainbow Health Ontario, Schizophrenia Society of Ontario, Supporting our Youth, UTM Students’ Union, YMCA

Donations provided by:

Community One Foundation

Positive Space Coalition of Peel

Bramalea Community Health Centre

YMCA 

Michelle Bilek, Mississauga-Erindale NDP  

Rusty's No Frills - 99 Lakeshore Rd East, Mississauga 

The Great Canadian Pizza - 278 Lakeshore East, Mississauga  

Gino’s Pizza - 707 Lakeshore Rd East, Mississauga 

Dairy Cream – 715 Lakeshore Rd East, Mississauga 

Elmwood Meat Market - 170 Lakeshore Rd East, Mississauga 

Burrito Boys - 9 Stavebank Rd, Mississauga
Starbucks - 111 Lakeshore Rd West, Mississauga 
Maple Lodge Farms - 8301 Winston Churchill Blvd, Brampton
Wholesale Club - 325 Central Parkway, Mississauga

Performers:

Host: Ryan G. Hinds

Ryan’s flashy, sometimes controversial, and always entertaining performance work blends cabaret, theatre, music, dance, club=culture, video, text and design. Comfortable in every venue from legit theatre to clubs, Ryan has even performed with live band atop the marquee of Bloor Cinema.

DJ: Peter Zurub

Resident DJ at Comfort Zone and long time Toronto underground dance club scene DJ/Promoter.

Ramon Vitug

Ramon Vitug is a 22 year old recent graduate of the joint Theatre program at UTM and Sheridan College.  He is humbled to be able to perform today, and would like to dedicate his performance to his grandmother.  He is excited to perform for Queer It Up and would like to thank all those involved in the organization of this amazing event.

Vivek Shraya

Vivek Shraya is a Toronto-based artist. Winner of the We Are Listening International Singer/Songwriter Award, Vivek has released albums ranging from acoustic folk-rock to electro synth pop, driven by powerful vocals, incisive lyrics, and tight pop hooks. God Loves Hair, his first collection of short stories, was a 2011 Lambda Literary Award finalist, won the Applied Arts Award for Illustration in 2010. Vivek has performed and read  internationally, sharing stages with Tegan and Sara, Dragonette, and Melissa Ferrick.

Dainty Box

Dainty Box is a femme fatale.

K & The Lens

Kevin, the lead singer of K & The LENS, started performing at the age of 10. He has been professionally trained in acting, dancing and singing, and  has been able to accomplish many things in the industries ranging from movies, TV shows, music videos and showcase. Graduating from Performing Arts at Sheridan College has given Kevin many opportunities and is honoured to perform for everyone today. The LENS represent three unique and beautiful voices of three women (Loni, Elsie, Natayla) who have a passion for the arts.

Kumari Giles

Kumari Giles identifies as a queer, mixed, performer, hailing from Toronto. She has been a leader in the LGBTTIQQ2S+ community on the UTM campus, connecting and engaging queer and trans youth. You might have seen her on QIU stages before as well as Fruitloopz, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and more! With a passion for arts, learning, and supporting the voices of queer and trans people from all places, I hope to engage, inspire and have some fun!

Amai Kuda

Amai Kuda is a singer/songwriter, community activist and the mother of a young child. The name Amai Kuda means "mother to the will of the creator" in the southern African language Shona. Through parenthood, community work and art, Amai is a vehicle for creation and change. She co-founded and coordinates Moyo Wa Africa, Seven Directions and R3, dedicated to the decolonization of African peoples and to indigenous solidarity respectively.

ILL NA NA 
ILL NANA/DiverseCity Dance Company is a queer positive multiracial dance company that embraces difference as strength, combats oppressive power structures by expressing their voices through dance, and operates from the grassroots as a collective through consensus. Utilizing both classical dance techniques and urban dance forms of hip hop, ballet, jazz, house, vogue, step, latin, modern, and wushu kung fu, ILL NANA creates dance works with a style all their own. These performers are fearlessly out and proud, sexy, masculine, feminine, and all that is in between, representing the super queeroe’s and real humans in all of us.