Events for November 5, 2024 - November 5, 2024

💖 Happy Asian Heritage Month! The Youth Project (Nova Scotia) and QTAY/ACAS (Ontario) are super excited to host a Mini Film Festival this May created by and featuring queer and trans Asians. 👉 When: Friday, May 19th & Saturday, May 20th 👉 Time: 5:30-7:30pm EST / 6:30-8:30pm ADT 👉 Location: Zoom May 19th Celebrate our community with films made by community members, along with a short discussion with the creators. Creators include: - Amanda Ann-Min Wong (@amandaamwong) - Beau Gomez (@beaugomezx) - Serena Lam (@sserenalam) - Trâm Anh Nguyễn (@nghtanh) The Youth Project’s mission is to make Nova Scotia, located in Mi'kma'ki, a safer, healthier, and happier place for 2SLGBTQIA+ (Two Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, +) youth since being founded in 1993. The Youth Project is a multiservice organization with an aim to further the inclusion and wellness of 2SLGBTQIA+ youth under the age of 26. Our three main pillars of services are Education, Programming, and Support. Our team aims to create spaces for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth to feel supported, affirmed and celebrated. Queer & Trans Asian Youth (QTAY) is a program of Asian Community AIDS Services (ACAS) in Ontario, located in Tkaronto, for East and Southeast Asians aged 16-29 that strives to increase education, opportunities, support and resiliency skills for Asian youth in Toronto in dealing with the various social/health challenges and questions of being at the intersections of queerness and Asianness. QTAY has been providing social spaces, capacity development, and peer support for 2SLGBTQIAP+, curious and undecided East and Southeast Asian youths and their friends since 2000.

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdF1onSeLQLbDCC1uznXQ9Q6SnjsTvFiJYF8hR2MKjYOw6dmQ/viewform Demystifying “Do What You Love” Work Culture! When it comes to careers, how often have you heard the advice to just do something you enjoy? However, what if the work that brings you joy doesn’t pay a liveable wage, or comes with exploitative working conditions? Or what if you just don’t find paid work that fulfilling, regardless of the industry you’re in? Who benefits from the idea that paid work should be inherently enjoyable? How did we end up with a culture where paid work is so strongly tied to identity and worth? Join us for a discussion where we’ll explore how capitalism impacts the relationships between paid work, identity, and worth to create a “do what you love” myth that exploits and harms workers. We’ll be reflecting on definitions of career “success” and how we might redefine that success in ways that are more sustainable for ourselves, our communities, and the planet.

💖 Happy Asian Heritage Month! The Youth Project (Nova Scotia) and QTAY/ACAS (Ontario) are super excited to host a Mini Film Festival this May created by and featuring queer and trans Asians. 👉 When: Friday, May 19th & Saturday, May 20th 👉 Time: 5:30-7:30pm EST / 6:30-8:30pm ADT 👉 Location: Zoom May 20th Join us in watching and discussing Everything, Everywhere, All at Once! The Youth Project’s mission is to make Nova Scotia, located in Mi'kma'ki, a safer, healthier, and happier place for 2SLGBTQIA+ (Two Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, +) youth since being founded in 1993. The Youth Project is a multiservice organization with an aim to further the inclusion and wellness of 2SLGBTQIA+ youth under the age of 26. Our three main pillars of services are Education, Programming, and Support. Our team aims to create spaces for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth to feel supported, affirmed and celebrated. Queer & Trans Asian Youth (QTAY) is a program of Asian Community AIDS Services (ACAS) in Ontario, located in Tkaronto, for East and Southeast Asians aged 16-29 that strives to increase education, opportunities, support and resiliency skills for Asian youth in Toronto in dealing with the various social/health challenges and questions of being at the intersections of queerness and Asianness. QTAY has been providing social spaces, capacity development, and peer support for 2SLGBTQIAP+, curious and undecided East and Southeast Asian youths and their friends since 2000.

Dear Supporters, Community Members, and Friends, Please join us for the next ACAS Seed25+ Community Forum, 'Striving and Thriving.' It will be an interactive, informal conversation about work--including working in Canada, feminized work, multiple careers, starting businesses, working for free, working 2x as hard, working too much (is that even a thing?), barriers to paid work, mental health, challenges, successes, and lessons learned. It's gonna be fun! 😀 Date and time: on Tuesday May 23rd, from 7:00pm to 8:30pm Location: Online via Zoom To register, please send an e-mail to: womensupport@acas.org Our fabulous panelists for the evening will be: Jessica Pang-Parks Volunteer engagement professional Mercy Iyamu RSW and owner, Nurture Services Ananya Dhoundiyal Psychotherapist and trainer (CA-CBT) Anna Tieu General Internal Medicine Social Worker ...and the moderator will be Ambrose Fan (ACAS volunteer.) We look forward to connecting with you soon! Sincerely Jun

💙 When: Friday, May 26th 💚 Time: 6-8pm EST 💜 Location: Bampot House - 201 Harbord St, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1H6, Canada Calling all tea-enjoyers, casual or not! 🍃 Let’s celebrate Asian Heritage Month in May by sipping tea and having treats at QTAY’s “QTea House” social! 🍵 What significance does tea and tea practices like brewing, blending, and partaking have in your life as an Asian youth? Let’s chat and try different teas together. You're invited to enjoy our afternoon tea course of tasty treats, bring samples of your favourite teas from home to exchange, or even create custom tea blends together! ☕️ We can share our tea knowledge, traditions, and fun tea opinions! ♨️ Folks are welcome to join this QTAY social, “QTea House”, on Friday, May 26th from 6-8pm EST at Bampot House (201 Harbord St, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1H6, Canada). Free food and drinks will be provided! If you have any questions or concerns, or would like more information, please email Dany at youth@acas.org. See you soon~!

Join ACAS this Saturday May 27 at 12:00 pm to learn about HIV self-testing, receive HIV self-test kits, and a free lunch at a restaurant followed by a viewing of the film "Commitment to Life" for the INSIDE OUT Film Festival at TIFF Bell Lightbox at 2:00 pm. Only 8 spots are available. Please email officeadmin@acas.org to register. Meeting Place: 260 Spadina Ave. #410 Phone: 416 963 4300

Join us in celebrating the release of #ACASToronto 's new research paper on U=U Awareness & Acceptance amongst #Asian #GBMSM with some great performances, free food, and wonderful company! We'll be at Glad Day Bookshop @gladdaybookshop on May 27th from 6-8 pm EST. Along with some great food, you'll be able to grab some HIV Self-Testing kits, as well. We hope to see you there! Performers include: Beau Gomez Justin Anantawan Terence the Poet The James Arrow  

One of the most anticipated annual events for East & Southeast Asian gay, bi, queer cis & trans guys is back in-person! FREE Registration Required: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9WXYCCC SLAM Forum 2023 is coming! We will share, learn, and connect together in our experiences through multiple workshops held on May 28 at The 519. In this forum, we want to address the current issues that affect queer Asian guys coming out of the pandemic while also empowering folks to explore their own sense of sexuality. Date: Sunday May 28 Time: 10AM - 4PM Location: the 519 (519 Church St) Free Food provided by Three Monks and a Duck Sessions include: + Body Positive: Holding Space for Yourself with Daniel Uy + Bearing Witness: Conversations with a Gaysian Poz Photographer with Justin Anantawan + Discovery of Self through Sensuality and Burlesque with Kuya Atay + Treatment for HIV: Past, Present and Future with Medsexpert This event is supported by Viiv Healthcare

👉 When: Saturday, June 3rd, 2023 👉 Time: 11am - 5pm EST 👉 Location: Friends House, 60 Lowther Ave, Toronto, ON M5R 1C7 (Close to St. George Station, Bedford exit) Register now at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfDgLl8QFX58DA-bwnxMAWpawDck6qQ6-kRdDJ601i9fJajNA/viewform We're often told to love ourselves, love our bodies, practice self-care, celebrate ourselves... but we're very nuanced beings! Not everyone has the ability or know-how to do these things, and not everyone can do these things in the exact same ways. How can we hold space for what we have experienced and feel, while learning what it means to care for ourselves? Join us at Friends House on June 3rd from 11am-5pm EST in Close Comforts, Care, & Celebrations, a day filled with discussions and activities where folks can come together to learn about and discuss experiences of relationships to bodies, societal norms, and care. Activites include: Talking through consent, pleasure, and bodily healing; body mapping exercises; self-defense basics; free food; lovely music; and more! Part of ACAS' Pillow Talk workshop series: by and for 18+ East & Southeast Asian folks of Marginalized Genders (cis & trans womxn as well as non-binary folks) to explore relationships to their bodies, intimacy, health, & more. More information on acas.org. Much thanks to ViiV Healthcare for helping us put this on!

ACAS and ACT will host a Pre Pride Pink BBQ on Saturday, June 10th, 2023, from 5 to 9 pm. This a private event for ACAS Support Program and ACT Gay Men Coffee Night members. There are only 50 spots available, and it is first come, first served. This is one of the events in the lead-up to the Toronto #Pride Parade on June 23rd. To book your spot, please email support@acas.org