"Queers Making Trouble: Anyone Can Play" was a community event organized by Supporting Our Youth and held on Saturday June 17th 2000 at Tallulah's Cabaret, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, featuring a host of accomplished artists and activists including SOY's queer youth in activism contest winners Val Colden , Julia Gonsalves and Christina Strang , speakers Anjula Gogia , George Hislop and Mirha-Soleil Ross , The Brunswick Four performance ensemble, musician Boo Watson , free-style artist Paula "Bomba" Gonzalez , presenters Anna Camilleri and Shira Stern , curator/filmmaker Richard Fung and MCs TJ Bryan aka Tenacious and Rick Bebout .

Queers Making Trouble was created to recognize and bring together the queer youth in activism contest winners and long-time queer activists. Most remarkable about the event is the links made between the presenters and the audience in an open mic forum and between issues, not mutually exclusive, ranging from rights for transexual and transgendered people, globalization, censorship, white supremacy, racism, animal rights, feminism and ageism.

The event documented and celebrated activism and gains made from the 1940's with a view to the future and the changing face of queer activism. As well, Queers Making Trouble , was the culmination of a community partnership with Bleecker Street Cooperative Homes . The Bleecker Word Initiative, a word-based community development project coordinated by Anna Camilleri, featured several components including creative writing workshops for and with queer youth and co-op membership, writing tutorials and public presentation including radio interviews on CIUT and CKLN, postcard production of the contest winner's essays and publication in Xtra!, The Toronto Star's website and forthcoming in Reluctant Hero magazine.

See photos from the event.

Winners of the 2000 Queer Youth Writing Contest

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