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April 5th, 2015

As you’ve likely heard, the acquittal of Cindy Gladue’s accused murderer Bradley Barton was appealed on Thursday, offering a small measure of hope that some of the injustices of the legal proceedings will be rectified the second time around. But this possibility doesn’t offer much hope for true justice for Cindy Gladue, because we know that the Canadian legal system isn’t broken, it was made this way: as Kwe Today writes, “I know as an Indigenous woman with sex working experience and who has also been in the criminal (in)justice system that the system does not and will not protect Indigenous peoples, especially Indigenous women in the sex trade.” It’s important to note that these protests took place the day after Ontario decided to uphold as constitutional Canada’s new sex work laws, which, as Ella Bedard’s recent piece demonstrated, continue to harm sex workers.

The real possibility for hope comes from the many across the country who came out on Thursday to honour and mourn Cindy’s life, and those of other murdered women, and in doing so, are creating alternatives to the forms of ‘justice’ our Conservative government imposes on us. This roundup features some of the important Indigenous voices who are speaking about what justice can mean within this system, and to the broader implications of this case. Please spend some time with this very important reading.

In Quebec on Thursday, we also saw a huge turnout of students and allies from the labour movement, filled with “hopeful anger” in the fight against austerity.

“When I was at the AFN Assembly, I asked everyone to keep a few simple words in mind that have been my inspiration: love, kindness, respect and forgiveness.” Interview with the brave, strong, generous Rinelle Harper.

From Texas, a narrative of deep and disturbing violence against two sex workers, and their ongoing resistance. Read on to learn about and support their fight for sex workers’ rights!

“I woke up and every day it was decided by society that I was a girl and at a certain point, I made the choice to keep the narrative going as a woman. At times it was debilitating. Other times it was joyous. Always it wasn’t quite enough for me.” A.R. Jardine, coming out as trans honestly and with vulnerability on Trans Day of Visibility.

Congratulations to Jack Saddleback, just elected as the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union president!

“We urge the University to stop treating gender-based violence as a communications crisis, but rather as a social crisis that requires honest engagement with the community.” It’s been a bad year for women at Dalhousie University, but we’re incredibly inspired by the work local activists and organizations (such as South House, NSPIRG and some members of the DSU) are doing in fighting rape culture on campus and off, even when it comes with death threats. In Solidarity and with gratitude!

For anyone who missed this piece making the rounds: some questions to ask before giving up. Be kind to yourself!

Dear tech industry, Instagram, men generally: don’t be afraid! It’s just a period!

Canadian women are leaving the workforce in significant numbers, and this is a real problem. Why is it happening? It’s significant that the decreases are happening especially in traditionally male-dominated industries, where “despite all the promotion of women in non-traditional occupations, Canada’s workforce became even more divided by sex last year”. Check out the GUTS blog next week for more on this topic!

For those also in the midst of “Ferrante fever”, a brilliant review by Dayna Tortorici in n+1. For those who aren’t, get reading!

“Black people are “known to police” simply for existing—we are over-documented in every single Toronto neighbourhood, regardless of its location, average income, or racial diversity.” Stop racial profiling in Toronto.

“I always think, when people say that they’re anti-porn, it’s not the sex that they’re offended by, it’s all of the baggage that we put on it. Like they don’t want to see a movie called Dumb Asian Sluts 5. The actual sex acts aren’t as offensive but when you put it in that context, it becomes offensive. I think if you have more sex-positive porn, then I think we’re all going to be a little more healthy.”
Great interview with Njaila Rhee.

“I tilt my head back and carefully toss my hair over my right shoulder in the way I have seen my younger sister do. I realize I know one more thing about her than I did before—what it feels like to do this and why you would. It’s like your own little thunderclap.“Scared of you,” John says. “You’re flawless.”A gorgeous piece by Alexander Chee on drag in Guernica.