Inside Vancouver

Vancouver’s Jenna Talackova – First Transgendered Miss Universe Contestant – Gets New Reality Show – & Then She Doesn’t – UPDATED

by Dana Lynch in Vancouverites on May 30, 2012

Jenna Talackova. Photo: Twitpic via The Vancouver Observer

Vancouverite Jenna Talackova is more than just a famous beauty; she’s renowned for winning a significant victory for civil rights. As you may remember, she was the first-ever transgendered person to compete in the Miss Universe Canada pageant. Her experience with the pageant made international headlines when she was first disqualified for being transgendered then, after a public outcry, petition and threatened lawsuit, was finally reinstated by the Miss Universe organization (headed by Donald Trump). Her fight led to a landmark rule change that will allow transgender women in all competitions starting in 2013—a huge victory for trans people and equality.

Though Talackova ultimately lost the Miss Universe title (to fellow Vancouverite Sahar Biniaz), she’s won something that has the potential to make a much bigger impact: her own reality show!

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Vancouver’s Jenna Talackova – First Transgendered Miss Universe Contestant – Gets New Reality Show – & Then She Doesn’t – UPDATED

Chosen Family Portraits at MOV

by Dana Lynch in Vancouverites on August 10, 2011

One of the Vancouver family portraits on display at MOV's "Chosen Family Portraits" exhibit. Photo: MOV

“There are the families we are born with and there are the families that we choose.”

That’s the theme of a engaging new exhibit at the Museum of Vancouver (MOV): Chosen Family Portraits. Created in conjunction with the Vancouver Queer Film Festival, Chosen Family Portraits is a community-based art project that lovingly captures “chosen” (i.e., not necessarily biologically or legally linked) families among Vancouver’s queer, gay, lesbian, and transgender population.

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Chosen Family Portraits at MOV

Vancouver Pride Parade 2010 – Sunday, August 1

by Dana Lynch in Events on July 24, 2010

Photo © Vancouver Pride Society

Vancouver’s annual Pride festivities have kicked into overdrive—this week is packed with activities; check out the complete schedule here—which means only one thing: The 2010 Vancouver Pride Parade is right around the corner!

Though it began as a protest march in Davie Village in 1978, today’s Vancouver Pride Parade is as much an exuberant celebration of spirit and diversity—and an inspiration to LGBT communities around the world—as it is a political statement on human rights.

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Vancouver Pride Parade 2010 – Sunday, August 1

Vancouver Pride 2010 – 2010 Pride Events in Vancouver

by Dana Lynch in Events on July 16, 2010

Saturday, July 17, is Gay Day @ Playland, the event—along with East Side Pride—that kicks off Pride in Vancouver and starts the countdown to the Pride grand-finale, the enormous annual Vancouver Pride Parade & Festival.

Vancouver Pride 2010 Schedule of Events

July 17 - Gay Day @ Playland
July 24 – Picnic in the Park at Stanley Park’s Brockton Oval
July 29 – Pride Movie Night at Vancity Theatre
July 30 – Davie Street Pride Party at Davie & Thurlow (in the West End)
July 31 – Annual Terry Wallace Breakfast at Davie & Bute (in the West End)
August 1 – Annual Pride Parade (see route map here) & Sunset Beach Pride Festival

For more information on each Pride event, check out the Vancouver Pride Society site. You can also see pics of the 2009 Pride Parade here.