Queer Peers

08/30/2026

🍓 Berry Good Medicine: Strawberry Rattle Making 🍓

This two-part virtual gathering is an opportunity to create and paint your own strawberry rattle while learning the teachings, care, and responsibilities that come with carrying a rattle. Together, we will be guided by Ale MacLeod Kinepik Beadz (they/them) from Beardy’s & Okemasis Cree Nation.

This space is rooted in relationship, respect, and shared learning, creating an opportunity to connect with culture, creativity, and community from wherever you are.

🗓️ September 23 & 25, 2026
🕓 3:30–5:30 PM PST | 4:30–6:30 PM CST | 6:30–8:30 PM EST
💻 Virtual via Zoom

📦 Free mailed art bundles with everything you need to participate.

This program is intended for Indigenous participants. Capacity is intentionally small to honour the teachings, care, and community held within this space. Registration is required, and selected participants will be contacted with the Zoom link.

Register via the link here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdXpX_RA0etQnaj9sv01UhaMpwQqWbY8ZavxUZMuBvy2Ya1aw/viewform?usp=header

Huge thank you to Letters to Strangers for supporting this program and helping us create accessible, culturally grounded opportunities for our Indigenous kin.

We look forward to sharing some Berry Good Medicine with you all. 🍓❤️

08/27/2026

Why does support for 2SLGBTQI+ communities matter?

For many Canadians, the answer is simple: because everyone deserves to feel safe, respected, and included, whether it's at work, at school, in their neighbourhood, or around the family dinner table.

Over the past four years, the Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan has invested in community-led initiatives, helping organizations provide support, build connections, and address discrimination

So far:

🏳️‍🌈 2SLGBTQI+ Projects Fund
More than 130 projects have reached over 39,000 2SLGBTQI+ people and allies, creating spaces where people can find support, access resources, and challenge harmful stereotypes.

🤝2SLGBTQI+ Community Capacity Fund
More than 110 community capacity projects have helped strengthen organizations across the country, reaching over 10,000 people and ensuring local groups have the tools and knowledge they need to support their communities.

💜 WAGE launched the Unity campaign, encouraging Canadians to learn more about 2SLGBTQI+ experiences, reflect on their own perspectives, and take practical steps to reduce stigma.

The Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan is about people.

It's about making sure a young person has someone to turn to, helping families better understand and support each other, creating communities where everyone can participate, contribute, and belong.

When people feel safe and valued, our neighbourhoods, workplaces, and communities are stronger for it.

Read the 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan here: https://ow.ly/N8Zi50ZEJiu

Results to date: https://ow.ly/fJZz50ZEJit

08/25/2026

We will miss you Dolly! Thank you for being an amazing Ally… 💔✨🌈

Dolly Parton was an icon and incredible ally to the LGBTQI+ community. Through her music and fierce allyship, she taught us all that "not a one is turned away when it’s family.”

Our hearts are with her family, friends, loved ones, and fans today as we mourn her loss.

08/22/2026

Canada opened its first national monument to LGBTQ+ people on Friday, and it only exists because the Canadian government spent forty years hunting gay people out of their own jobs.

From the 1950s into the mid-1990s, the military, the RCMP and the federal public service investigated and forced out anyone suspected of being gay, le***an, bisexual or trans.

Researchers estimate around 9,000 lives were upended. Todd Ross was discharged from the navy in 1990, with paperwork stating he was "not advantageously employable due to homosexuality."

The government even funded a device to help with the hunt, measuring pupils, pulse and perspiration while subjects were shown provocative images. It never worked. It ran for years anyway, and became known as the "Fruit Machine."

Survivors sued. A class action brought by 719 of them ended in a $145 million settlement, and $15 million of that was set aside to build a monument in downtown Ottawa.

It is called Thunderhead, a white column with cloud-shaped openings, and Ross, now co-chair of the LGBT Purge Fund, had a hand in what went inside it.

"Really to gay it up, we lined it with mirrored tiles so it feels like you're inside of a giant disco ball," he told CBC.

08/20/2026

Please help save Rainbow Camp! 🌈💕

**Belonging cannot wait.**

Years ago, Rainbow Camp received a telephone call that has never left us.

A parent called to tell us that a young person registered for camp had died by su***de before they had the opportunity to attend.

There are some calls you never forget. This was one of them.

We cannot know what attending Rainbow Camp might have changed, and we would never make that claim. But we do know how important it is for 2SLGBTQ+ young people to have places where they feel accepted, supported and surrounded by people who understand them.

For many young people, Rainbow Camp is much more than a summer experience. It may be the first place where they feel safe enough to be themselves. It is where isolation becomes connection, fear gives way to hope, and young people discover that they are not alone.

According to Statistics Canada, one in four 2SLGBTQ+ youth experienced suicidal thoughts in a single year.

Right now, Rainbow Camp does not have a suitable site.

We hear a great deal about funding long-term systemic change. That work matters—but young people must live through the present before they can benefit from a better future.

We need frontline programs. We need safe and affirming spaces. Most urgently, we need somewhere to hold Rainbow Camp again.

**Help us bring Rainbow Camp back in 2027 while we continue working toward a permanent home.**

If you can donate, connect us with a suitable property, introduce us to a funder or become a partner, please reach out.

**Systems change takes time. Belonging cannot wait.**

🌈 rainbowcamp.ca

If you or someone you know is thinking about su***de, call or text 9-8-8. If there is immediate danger, call 9-1-1.

08/10/2026

SEE YOU THERE!! 💕✨🌈

We will be hosting another Q***r Peers gathering here at the Arts Hub. Join us for a chance to chat and form connections!
In partnership with , a 2SLGBTQ+ peer support group for adults in our area.

08/06/2026

Discover compassionate counselling and psychotherapy services at Dearborn Therapy in Kenora for personal growth and mental wellbeing.

07/27/2026

2026 marks the 36th anniversary of the coining of the term "Two Spirit" at the third Annual Intertribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Le***an American Conference in Winnipeg on July 27, 1990.

The term Two Spirit is an English umbrella term used to reflect and restore Indigenous traditions that were forcefully suppressed by colonization, honouring the fluid and diverse nature of gender and attraction, and their connection to community and spirituality. It is used by some Indigenous People rather than, or in addition to, identifying as LGBTQI.

Learn more about the term Two Spirit and Two Spirit identity at egale.ca/twospirit

07/22/2026

A snapshot of us ❤️

Did you know? We currently offer in person services/groups in the following nearby communities:

🪶 Dalles First Nation- Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation
🪶 Grassy Narrows First Nation- Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek (on specific work assignment).
🪶 Rat Portage- Wauzhushk Onigum Nation (on specific work assignment).

Coming soon:
✨ Shoal Lake #39- Iskatewizaagegan
✨ And potentially Cat Lake First Nation Bizhiw-zaaga’igan

If you’d like to learn more or explore bringing our services to your community, we’d love to connect. Reach out to us anytime! 🫶🏽

07/17/2026