Tobin Ng

3 weeks ago | xtramagazine.com | Tobin Ng

In an early scene in Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance, dozens of people clad in leather jackets, blazers and bell bottoms march toward the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. Some carry rain-battered signs with slogans like “We will not hide our love away,” while others link arms and huddle under umbrellas. The camera is situated in the midst of the crowd, and as viewers, it feels as though we’re brushing shoulders with the protestors as they pass by.

Jun 3, 2024 | broadview.org | Tobin Ng |Emma Donoghue

Ellen Woodsworth has long been an advocate of the people. The activist and former Vancouver city councillor has travelled around the world to lead awareness campaigns and speak at peace conferences, advocating for the rights of women, seniors and 2SLGBTQ+ people. In 2002, she became Canada’s first out lesbian city councillor with her Vancouver election win and was re-elected six years later, focusing her efforts on housing and homelessness.

Mar 26, 2024 | xtramagazine.com | Tobin Ng

Over the past year, the term “gender ideology” has increasingly seeped into Canada’s political lexicon. At a meet-and-greet in November, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of attempting “to impose his radical gender ideology” on children and schools.

Feb 21, 2024 | broadview.org | Tobin Ng

Joseph Caple was getting ready for his first year at high school in Nelson, a city in B.C.’s southern interior. Caple, a gender non-conforming trans man, was just starting to figure out his identity. As he looked over his course sign-up sheet, he realized there were only two course options that he could take to fulfil his mandatory physical education (PE) credit: boys’ PE or girls’ PE. “I’m just like, ‘Okay, I don’t fit into either of these,” Caple says.

Feb 5, 2024 | broadview.org | Tobin Ng

Susanda Yee still remembers the smell of the herbs they received after their first acupuncture session in their early 20s. Yee, who uses she/her and they/them pronouns interchangeably, had visited a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioner to help her manage period pain and a soccer injury. They recall the feeling of the acupuncture needles and how the herbs the practitioner gave them were neatly packed into a small parcel. “There were a lot of curiosities for me,” says Yee.