#ace toronto

[toronto-aces-and-aros]

Upcoming workshop: Asexuality 101, presented with OurSpace

Tuesday, November 19 6:30pm - 8:30pm 519 Church St., glass lobby room

Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/2499245960165685/

From the Facebook event description: “Gay, bi, and queer men’s culture is very sexualized, but not all of us feel the same way about sex. Some can't get enough sex, other guys can only have sex when an emotional connection is present, and then there are guys who couldn't care less about sex. At this workshop, we will explore the spectrum of people’s relationships with sex as we talk about asexuality and the Ace community. “This is a free workshop and you do not have to identify as Ace/asexual to attend - this event is open to all other LGBTQ folks and allies! If you know someone who identifies as Ace/asexual or you just want to learn more about asexuality and the Ace community, this workshop is for you and will provide you with some of the information you need to be a better ally to people who identify as Ace/asexual.”

While OurSpace is a group focused on queer and/or trans men, the workshop is open to people of all genders and sexual orientations.

We regret we are unable to offer ASL interpretation.

Accessibility at The 519 Community Centre (519 Church St.):

large ramp to enter building; elevators inside

all gender washrooms available

please avoid scented products (we will have unscented soap)

closest TTC station is Wellesley which is *not* an accessible station

[visualkeybusby]

We’re Toronto bound!

We’ll see you soon, Canada!

[toronto-aces-and-aros]

February 2019 Ace Toronto Events (no ASL)

Ace Toronto events for February 2019:

Monthly discussion: "'mental health', 'mental illness' and 'madness'" with cupcake decorating (with vegan, gluten-free options)

Sunday,  February 17:  1-3pm-- 519 Church St., room 100

Monthly Social: with some improv and interactive games prepared (regular colouring sheets and board games also available)

Saturday,  February 23:  2-4pm-- 519 Church St., room 100

Accessibility at The 519 Community Centre

(519 Church St.):

large ramp to enter building; elevators inside

all gender washrooms available

please avoid scented products (we will have unscented soap)

closest TTC station is Wellesley which is *not* an accessible station

we regret that we are unable to offer ASL interpretation

[toronto-aces-and-aros]

Cupcakes from this past weekend’s discussion!

[toronto-aces-and-aros]

Ace Toronto’s December 2018 cookie-decorating social

Cookie-decorating social (with gluten-free & vegan options) & open discussion

Sunday, December 16th, 2018 (1-4pm)

519 Church St., room 100

Apologies for the shorter-than-usual notice.

Accessibility at The 519 Community Centre

(519 Church St.):

large ramp to enter building; elevators inside

all gender washrooms available

please avoid scented products (we will have unscented soap)

closest TTC station is Wellesley which is *not* an accessible station

we regret that we are unable to offer ASL interpretation

[toronto-aces-and-aros]

Ace Toronto 2017-2018 census

It's census time again and this year we're going for something a little shorter, focusing more on "programming" (i.e., discussion topics and social activities), accessibility, and general feedback. 

Census here.  (Open until January 20, 2018)

Please fill it out if you are local-ish, even if you haven't interacted with the group much or at all -- we still want your feedback!

The survey is an opportunity to share your thoughts on Ace Toronto meet-ups, events and organising, etc., and for us to get a sense of where our community is at currently.

The 2015 census report (with comparisons to 2014 data) is already online here . Unfortunately there are no graphs (yet). Th 2016 report (with graphs) will be available some time in the New Year.

[toronto-aces-and-aros]

Some photos from Ace Toronto events and that local aces submitted about what offline ace community stuff means to us.

And of course there’s Pride participation:

(Check out the 2017 Toronto Pride ace/arospec group photoset.) [updated link with the recreated post because the original post was accidentally deleted]

[toronto-aces-and-aros]

Would you like to facilitate ace/arospec workshops in the GTA?

As some of you already know, Ace Toronto has an Education & Outreach Team that facilitates workshops around ace and arospec topics. We also do various other activities like host info tables at various event, develop printable resources, etc.

We've been facilitating workshops through Ace Toronto for more than 3 years and have developed positive relationships with various community organisations. Most of our workshops are for youth, but some are for teachers, service providers and more general audiences.

This work isn't necessarily "the same ol' 101 stuff", as we try to take a more integrative approach based in recognising and challenging larger systems of marginalisation and oppression. (This means things like racism, ableism, heterosexism and other systems of oppression always need to be part of our conversation about things like compulsory sexuality and amatonormativity.) And of course, all our work also includes information about gender diversity and trans and/or non-binary identities. (Our work is politically in line with our Mission Statement.)

We also try to be more interactive and do most of our workshops without powerpoint.

We are looking for more volunteer facilitators!

Do you have knowledge of ace and/or arospec stuff or issues around relationships, consent, etc. but no experience facilitating (but would like to get some)? Please volunteer!

Do you have experience with facilitation but not so much with ace/arospec stuff (but would like to learn more)? That's great too!

Are you new to ace and/or arospec stuff and also new to facilitation? If you're willing to put in a bit more work with training, we'd be glad to have you!

There are facilitation activities throughout the year but late mid-late fall and mid-late spring are our busiest times. Workshops are often on weekday afternoons and evenings, though there are also occassional weekend events.

If you're interested in getting involved, please e-mail us ([email protected]) with:

a bit about yourself (e.g, name, pronouns, roughly where in the GTA your are, how your situate yourself in the context of ace/arospec stuff, and anything else that you'd like to share),

what kind of experience you have that might be relevant to doing this kind of work, and

why you'd like to become a facilitator (it doesn't have to be long!)

Please note that while Ace Toronto often receives financial compensation for these workshops, the individual facilitators do not (beyond the possibility of being reimbursed for travel costs). All money received from our outreach and educational activities goes toward Ace Toronto event costs (e.g., allowing us to have ASL interpretation for some of our events, occasionally book spaces that require fees and print some resources).

Please pass this along to anyone who might be interested.  @yu-aces @ryepride @teenhealthsource