Quietly seeking tolerance

Quietly seeking tolerance

Queer West Village home to growing lesbian community

By Tom G. Kernaghan

“I don’t need to be a big urban dyke,” says Stephanie Rogerson, a lesbian artist and writer who lives in the Annex but wants to move to the west end.

For many years, lesbian women, like gay men profiled in this section of last month’s Village Gleaner, have been choosing to live in the west end instead of Church and Wellesley streets, or what is often referred to as the Gay Ghetto.

Somewhere over the rainbow

Somewhere over the rainbow

West end gay community is spreading out

By Tom G. Kernaghan

“In North America, we tend to put people in one spot or another,” says Tom Riley, a local gay man in his 50s. “Sexuality is really a continuum.”

Riley is one of many gay men who have chosen to make Toronto’s west end, sometimes called Queer West Village, their home. For over 15 years, there has been a general shift of the city’s gay population away from Church and Wellesley streets, or what is often referred to as the Gay Ghetto.

Culture shock in Canada

Culture shock in Canada

Subculture youth project slow to catch on among Russian youth

By Tom G. Kernaghan

“There’s something that keeps young Russians from integrating,” says Ilia Avroutine, head of the Subculture youth project at Russian House, a non-profit group in Swansea formed to preserve and share Russian culture in Canada.

Jami Mosque served changing community

Jami Mosque served changing community

Toronto’s oldest mosque welcomes all

By Tom G. Kernaghan

Toronto’s oldest mosque sits on a quiet street just east of High Park.

Jami Mosque has served many Muslim newcomers by offering youth and marriage counselling, funeral services, religious education, and settlement advice since it opened in the late 1960s. Located at 56 Boustead Ave., the mosque has been a spiritual Canadian home to a diverse mix of Muslims from all over the world—Europe, India, Pakistan, the Middle East, Africa, and the West Indies.

More action for Afghan women

More action for Afghan women

AWO tackles a legacy of oppression

By Tom G. Kernaghan

There is an Afghan proverb that reads, “Little talk, more action.”

Here in Toronto, the Afghan Women’s Organization (AWO) is talking and acting in an effort to serve the specific needs of Afghan women. Through its Village area head office on Dundas Street West, and three additional outlets in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), the AWO provides Afghan refugees and immigrants with a wide array of services in the areas of advocacy, settlement, employment, language, training, and education.

Viva Latino

Viva Latino

Latin community expresses itself through art, dance

By Tom G. Kernaghan

Forty-five years ago, the Argentinean poet Jorge Luis Borges wrote that each one of us ultimately discovers the “patient labyrinth” of our life’s work is really a drawing of our own face.

Today, Toronto’s Latin population, estimated by some at around 250,000, has a multitude of faces. This richly expressive community, which hails from more than 20 countries, is comprised of individuals diverse in education, income, national culture, history, and values. But there is a unifying similarity: their desire to move forward together and become part of Canadian society.