The 2018 Provincial and Municipal elections have come and gone— but who has been put in charge? And by whom? Do the people representing us really advocate for our well-being? In only a few months we’ve seen conservative action reduce investment in our social welfare programs, suggest bringing back harmful and ineffective gun violence prevention strategies, and enact “free speech” policies across post-secondary campuses. Municipally, long-standing incumbents ran and won in Toronto’s most working class and racialized communities, forming a homogenous City Council that does not look like Toronto. How do we understand politics when people who do not look like us are advocating for a future and policies that will work against us?

How have recent political events influenced your faith and spiritual communities? How do politicians and political parties use and manipulate our communities for their own gain? How are discourses of “civic engagement” promoted in harmful ways? How do we navigate the ongoing rise of social conservatism within our communities? Is electoral politics a viable way for us to seek “representation” and resist against injustice? How do we collectivize to resist a government that denies our humanity while declaring our citizenry, and demands our faithful support but dismisses our bodies and spirituality?

This week at ROARS we discuss the relationship between politicians, political parties, and politics in context with our “otherness.”

When: Monday, November 19, 2018. 4 PM – 6 PM
Where: 563 Spadina Avenue. Room 100. North Borden Building

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ROARS is a student-led peer support group that provides a safe(r) space for self-identified women, trans, two-spirited, and gender non-binary/non-conforming people to discuss, critically analyze, and take action on issues of sexism, misogyny, racism, transphobia, homophobia, biphobia, xenophobia, ageism, ableism, classism, White supremacy, colonialism, and settler colonialism, in relation to our lived experiences within religious institutions and spiritual journeys. This is a space to examine the impact of oppressive -isms and reclaim your own spirituality.

ROARS is a collaborative initiative between the Multifaith Centre for Spiritual Study & Practice and the Centre for Women & Trans People at the University of Toronto.