I am always learning about major news events through either Facebook or the occasional glance at a newspaper box. It’s not that I don’t care about what’s happening in the world, it’s just that watching the news is depressing. After fifteen minutes of CNN, you may think that it’s safer to just lock yourself up in your basement, waiting for the apocalypse, since there are no good human beings left on the planet. I’m tempted to do this, but I don’t have a basement, and luckily, I know several very good humans.
Vietnamese Monk and Activist, Thich Nhat Hanh, said: “People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?”
It is with this in mind that I bring you the second installment of our article on Alberta’s GLBT Figures who are making a positive impact in the community. Earlier this year, we asked you to nominate individuals who you thought deserved recognition for making a positive impact in their community through their personal efforts, or through their efforts within a business or community group. Due to an overwhelmingly wide range of responses, we decided to celebrate the top ten people that you selected, based on the best explanations given as to why they deserved recognition.
Five were showcased in the last issue, and we are proud to present the final five, in no particular order:
Kris Wells
Kris is the co-founder and Director of Camp fYrefly, which is Canada’s largest leadership retreat for sexual minority and gender variant youth. fYrefly stands for: “fostering, youth, resiliency, energy, fun, leadership, yeah!” Their mission focuses on building and nurturing the leadership potential and personal resiliency of young people, in an effort to help them learn how to make significant contributions to their own lives and to their schools, home/group-home environments, and communities.
In support of helping to create safe, caring, and inclusive schools and communities for sexual minority youth, he has been a volunteer for over 10 years with Youth Understanding Youth, which is Edmonton’s social/support group for LGBTQ youth. In 2005, Kris’ community service work was recognized by the Alberta Legislature with an Alberta Centennial Medallion.
In addition to supporting youth, Wells has categorically given the tangible contribution of his time to committees that are enthused to have someone of his experience and expertise on their team. He is the Chair of the Alberta Teachers’ Association’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Sub-committee and the Chair of the Edmonton Police Service’s LGBTQ Liaison Committee. He is also a consultant to the Public Health Agency of Canada, Canadian Teachers’ Federation, Alberta Government, World Health Organization, and UNESCO.
True to his passion, Kris is now in the final stages of completing a PhD, focused on sexual orientation and gender identity in K-12 schools, at the Faculty of Education, University of Alberta.
“I am involved in grass roots social change to support issues related to diversity, equity, and human rights. As a former closeted gay teacher who left the teaching profession because of homophobia, I have vowed to work to denounce conditions of oppression and announce new possibilities for the full and equitable inclusion of sexual minorities,” he shares.
Winter may slow some of us down, but Kris has a full slate. This winter, Camp fYrefly will be hosting its annual Gala Wine Tasting and Silent Auction in partnership with DeVine Wines & Spirits. Also upcoming in February and March 2010, Kris will be on a speaking tour at teacher conventions across Alberta, talking about the connections between masculinity, school violence, and homophobic bullying.
Kris articulately sums up his contagious motivation to find and create solutions to the problems that we face as individuals and as a community: “A school superintendent once told me that all people do is bring him problems. He suggested that what he really needed was solutions. I took this advice to heart and incorporated it into my community and educational work. It’s often easy to focus on problems and complain about them, but what is more challenging, and perhaps more important, is to build innovative programs and strategies that focus on solutions. After all, behind every solution is a problem! It’s just a matter of how the issues are framed and how we work to build coalitions across our differences to develop meaningful community solutions to the challenges that we experience on a daily basis.”
Ken Schultz
Ken Schultz is the owner and manager of Calgary’s longest running gay owned and operated bar that is still in operation today: the Backlot. The Backlot is celebrating its 13th Anniversary this year, on October 21st, and Ken has been there since the beginning.
Schultz has seen the Backlot organically become a friendly and neutral place where people can come and create new connections. “When I first started, it was because of my love of the working hours and the great opportunity to meet people. As time went on, I realized that I wasn’t the only one having fun and that the bar was allowing others a place to meet people and understand more about others in their community,” he states.
Ken has seen the community grow and change throughout the years and has clearly had a close up view into the queer culture of Calgary. “After all this time, there have been a lot of changes in this city. Over the years I have seen a lot of different groups of guys come and go; different ages, economic backgrounds and at various stages of being ‘out’. I have guys who have been coming to the bar from the beginning who still come to see us, there are ones that used to be regulars that visit occasionally, and there are people that used to frequent the bar quite regularly that I haven’t seen in years.”
“The one thing that all of these people had in common was that they were looking for a safe, comfortable place to meet others in their community and I feel that there is still a need for those places today.”
His passion for people reaches not only to the many diverse people that he has met over the years, but also to those who are just beginning their journey. “Those of us who have been out and accepted for years must realize is that every day there are people who are just coming out. They need the comfort and safety of the gay community, our community, as much as we needed it all those years ago.”
Marni Gras [aka Marcel Panas], Empress 33 of Edmonton and All of Northern Alberta
Marni Gras, Empress XXXIII of Edmonton, started out with a small role in The Lion King in 2003, and soon became a lion-hearted force to be reckoned with. During her reign as Empress from May 2008 to August 2009, she launched one of the most successful fundraising projects in the history of the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Wild Rose (ISCWR). The “Cheer Up” project saw the court selling Marni’s pom-poms throughout Edmonton and the ICS circuit, eventually raising over $12,000 for her charities.
Many may not know that the man behind Marni, Marcel Panas, identifies as straight, with a wife and child. “If you’re thinking strictly in terms of a demographic, I would be put into the mid-30’s white male, married with children section,” he laughs. “But as we all know, we are much more than what can be seen on the outside.”
The charities that Marni supported during her reign; The University of Alberta AIDS Research Centre and the Royal Alexander Hospital NICU, are extremely close to her heart for many reasons.
In late 2006, Marcel’s wife, Laurina, gave birth to two boys, 16 weeks early. Alexander and Andrew, weighing only 1lb, 13oz each, were extremely ill and fragile for many weeks. This family of four spent many days and nights together in the NICU of the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. They had come close to losing one or the other of their boys numerous times during their ordeal. On April 1st, 2007, Andrew fell asleep forever in Laurina’s arms. 15 days later, Alexander went home and now enjoys a healthy and happy life as a toddler.
Marni shares that during this time of unimaginable grief, the community rallied around her and her family, and that “it was during these most trying of moments that the true heart of the GLBT community was displayed.”
She adds that this serves as a constant reminder that, “the love for a child is not exclusive to the straight community, just as much as the effects of AIDS are not exclusive to the gay community.”
Through her contributions to charity and dedicated involvement in the community, Marni is widely increasing the awareness and positive image of the ISCWR. She was also, along with her Emperor XXXIII, Sundance Lonestar and other members of the ISCWR, part of the first Monarchs to ever be formerly introduced to the Legislative Assembly of a Canadian Province.
At Edmonton’s 34th Coronation Ball, Marni remembers looking out at a crowd of over 250 people. “There were people from every corner of the community – guys in leather, boys in dresses, men in suits, and we were all there for the same reason. The diversity was obvious and beautiful.”
On how her reign has changed her personally, she says: “I really believe in myself and believe I can do so much more in my community. We are all different but we’re proof that when we can respect and celebrate those differences, we can do so much more.”
Jenny Lambert-Wheeler
For many people, including myself, Money Pennies was and is a stepping-stone to getting to know and getting involved in the gay community. Jenny is well known to most Money Pennies regulars as a friendly, welcoming face and strong ally for the community. Jenny and her husband, Terry, moved to Calgary from Edmonton a few years ago to help run Money Pennies with the owners – Jason and Lizaine, their son and daughter.
Her reputation precedes her and she is often talked about as being someone who not only cares about helping the business thrive, but who cares deeply about the hearts and well being of the people who walk in the door. She credits a lot of this to her own life experience and the things that she has learned by having a gay son.
“He came out to us when he was 19. At first [my husband and I] tried to change him. It’s a phase, we thought. To be honest, we’d never really thought about gays or lesbians because it never affected us personally. We soon realized that he was not going to change. It was us that had to change. Now, we’re so much richer for the people that we’ve met. The gay community is wonderful, and was instrumental in our journey to understand and accept.”
Since then, Jenny and Terry have been involved in various organizations that promote education and acceptance of the queer community. They were members of PFLAG in Edmonton for 17 years, with Terry serving as President for 10 of those years.
Along with helping with the day-to-day business, Jenny is the main coordinator for all of Money Pennies fundraisers; and there are many. Most notably, she, along with many others in the community, raised just under $30,000 for one of Money Pennies beloved employees, Sandra Casey.
Sandra was killed by a hit and run driver on January 18, 2009. “She was such a wonderful person, nobody ever said anything bad about her,” shares Jenny. The whole community was devastated, but pulled together to be able to grant Sandra’s wish of being buried alongside her mother in her native Ireland. “So many people gave of their time and money, whether they were gay or straight. We had little kids coming in, giving 5 dollars of their money. Musicians, artists, businesses; we were in this together and we raised it all in 10 days. This is a prime example of what the community can do when we come together.”
Allan Oen [aka Dyna Myte] - Empress 30 of Calgary and All of Southern Alberta
Allan is not only known as the owner of both Goliath’s Bathhouse and the Texas Lounge (The Bunker) in Calgary, but also for his hard work and dedication as an Empress as Dyna Myte.
The Texas Lounge has become an unofficial home bar for the Court, as well as a casual place to enjoy some karaoke and a few drinks among friends. Allan utilizes his space as a safe place for anyone to come and be themselves, but also wants to give back to the community that has given him so much love and support.
As a bar owner, Allan has been a long time supporter of the Beswick House, an AIDS hospice in Calgary. The Texas Lounge hosts regular events, both bar and Court related, in order to enrich the lives of the guests at Beswick House.
As Empress 30 for the ISCCA in Calgary, Dyna Myte, and a phenomenal House were able to donate over $42,000 to their charities. Her can-do attitude was undeniable, never turning down an event.
The Imperial Sovereign Court of the Chinook Arch (ISCCA), like Edmonton’s equivalent ISWR, is a charitable non-profit group that fundraises in the GLBT community through drag performances and other methods. Dyna believes highly in spreading the philosophy of what the Court stands for. She encourages its growth through mentoring new people and showing them the support they need to spread their wings and soar to new heights.
Says one of the readers who nominated Allan: “Allan deserves recognition for making a great impact in Calgary’s Gay Community, because of his hard work and dedication during his coronation and reign. He cares about every customer and turns them into friends. There is only one Allan, one of a kind.”
