LIX - Newsletter

Hello LIX Chicks,

How are ya'? I have some great news and some sad news this month. First, the sad news...LIX member and Ottawa dyke icon, Kathi Sansom, died on January 22nd. I have included a lovely tribute to Kathi in this e-news. The tribute was written by one of our members who wishes to remain anonymous...it is her belief that the piece is the product of input from many of Kathi's friends and, as such, she doesn't want to take all the credit for it.

The great news is that at this month's LIX networking meeting on February 7th, we had a lively and very productive group discussion about where LIX began and where it's going, what we do well, and what new things members would like to see happening. On behalf of the LIX Steering Committee, Kerry Beckett facilitated the evening's discussion with her usual pushy but charming butch style. She began with a brief history of LIX and then outlined some of our many achievements since we first began in the summer of 2005...three sold-out Proud Chicks Dance Parties, two fabulous Dinner/Speaker meetings, a film night at SAW Gallery, a LIX Taste for Life dinner event that raised more money than any other participating restaurant, the LIX Chicks team participation in the Ten Oaks Project Bowlathon and our presence at Capital Xtra's LGXPO each year.

Kerry then initiated a discussion about our monthly networking meetings. There has been a significant shift in our networking meetings from a primarily business focus to much more of a social focus. Did the members present want to change the format and drop the business part altogether? Absolutely not, was the reply. The women who come to the networking meetings place great value on learning about lesbian businesses in the area. Our five-minute infomercials are an integral part of the monthly meetings and they will remain as such. What we are going to encourage is more use of the five-minute spots for non-business presentations. In the past, we've heard about the Lesbian Outdoor Group (LOG), the Cluny Project, Al-anon, Big Sisters...to name a few. So if you belong to a group that you'd like to tell us about, know of a good speaker, or have a project that you'd like to present, contact Lucy at lucygirl@sympatico.ca and book a slot...these presentations can certainly be longer than five minutes. In fact, women saw this as an opportunity to develop the 'information' part of Lesbian Information Xchange.

And speaking of five-minute infomercials, women want to know ahead of time what infomercials are coming up so they don't miss anything. So...in March we will have the pleasure of hearing from Allana MacIntosh who is involved in Grief & Bereavement work and also from Karen Molson who will be talking about Paradise Found lectures. We will also post this information on our new LIX Facebook page (more on that coming up).

Our one-minute go-rounds from women who aren't promoting a business have become a bit boring, to be honest...'Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm here to socialize" doesn't tell us very much about Sarah. And women were clear that they want to get to know each other better. So we will be implementing a variety of ice-breaker exercises to try and spice up the introductions section of the meeting!

We talked about the fact that LIX has close to 300 members now. Where are you all? How can we get more of you out to a networking meeting? Is the extent of your involvement reading the monthly LIX e-news? I invite you to send me an email at info@girlswanttoknow.com and tell me what role LIX has in your life and why you don't attend the meetings at Swizzles.

The LIX presence in Pride (or shall I say the almost non-existent presence) has been a thorn in my butt for the last two years. A tiny group of about eight of us have marched with the LIX banner in the Pride Parade and, to be honest with you, I've been really disappointed with the poor turn-out. Before you snap my head off, I acknowledge that many women are marching with other groups, some women aren't physically able to march, and some women don't have the luxury of being 'out' enough to march. But eight LIX Chicks out of close to 300? Anyway, I got to give a short but heartfelt rant about that at the meeting and I feel much better, thank you very much. And just as I was about to give up on LIX participation in the Pride Parade, up went the hands! A member volunteered to create a LIX Pride subcommittee! I look forward to hearing more about this initiative as we approach summer. Two other ideas that came up and were well-received were Sunday afternoon film showings and Sunday afternoon tea-dances. We'll keep you posted on those!

The best news is that LIX Chick, Deanne Fountaine, volunteered to create a LIX page on Facebook...a private group site for LIX members so that we can communicate with each other easily, post events, invite women for impromptu get-togethers and dates, facilitate the development of special interest groups more easily, have lively discussions, etc. Deanne went right home after the meeting and created our site! If you're interested in participating, you will need to be a member of Facebook to join this new group. And joining Facebook is free and easy as pie. You just go to www.facebook.com and follow the instructions.

Once you're a Facebook member, to join the LIX Facebook group, send me an email and I will 'invite you be my friend' (this is Facebook lingo). Once I do that and you accept my 'invitation' you will be able to go to the LIX page anytime you like. And you can email Deanne at deannef@gmail.com if you have any trouble joining or negotiating your way on Facebook...she has kindly agreed to be our official LIX Facebook administrator! Wait 'til you see Deanne's Facebook page...fabulous! One word of caution here though. While the LIX email distribution list IS totally confidential, if you choose to join the LIX Facebook group, other LIX members of that site WILL be able to check out your personal profile. Other Facebook members (non-LIX folks) CANNOT get into our site...rest assured...Deanne has set it up as a private group...which is why you need to have me 'invite' you to join.

So there's your summary of the meeting. Thank you to all of you who participated in the discussion. Thanks for all the kudos and positive feedback you gave us as a Steering Committee. I hope that many of you will be eager to join our new LIX Facebook group and take advantage of the opportunities it offers. Take good care.

In Memory of Kathi Sansom

Kathi was born in 1941 and during the early hours of Tuesday, July 22 she died at too young an age of 67. Kathi Sansom was a role model for Ottawa’s lesbian community, especially for the activists. She consistently demonstrated a rare ability to care for people while being able to push back, but always in a polite, reasonable and tactful manner. She fought for what she believed in and never hurt other people in the process.

Kathi was a fixture in Ottawa’s LGBT community and at just about any event you would see Kathi having a good time, whether she was taking tickets at the door or just mingling with others. Kathi was a special lady, always demonstrating a positive attitude, and people looked forward to seeing her. If you were lucky you might be the recipient of one of her gentle hugs and warm smiles. People have commented that Kathi always made them feel welcome and for some monthly events like the SAGE meetings and brunches, people would show up month after month knowing that they would receive one of Kathi’s warm greetings. She made shy people feel welcome and useful and that brought them back month after month. She cared.

Kathi demonstrated a tenacity that most people could only wish to have and she continued to stay true to her volunteer activities even as her health failed her. First it was arthritis and then later, kidney failure started to take its toll. Yet people would go up to her to ask how she was, and she never complained and she always replied that she was feeling good. Kathi was in love with life and she fought a strong and ferocious battle to stay alive. During her volunteer days she was involved for many years with Dignity Ottawa and she was a regular supporter for events held by PFLAG, Egale, PTS, Bruce House, Lambda, SAGE and others groups.

Kathi and her partner, Eileen Murphy, were together for almost 30 years and the deep and enduring love and devotion they showed to one another demonstrated that love can conquer all, including social pressures, prejudice and discrimination. Kathi Sansom will be sorely missed [photo courtesy of Jan Studwick]

LIX Chicks Want Ads

LIX Chicks Tips

1. Wanted: Back Issues of On Our Backs. Do you have any issues of On Our Backs, that fabulous and out-of-print magazine that brought us the Best of Lesbian Sex? I'm looking for the following issues to complete my collection: All of 1984-1986; all of 1998 (except Aug.-Sept.); June-July, 2002; June-July, Aug-Sept, and Oct-Nov. 2004; Spring-Summer, and Fall 2006. If you have of these issues, and you're willing to part with them, drop me a line at Djuna@rogers.com.

2. Job Posting. Ottawa Living - we are currently seeking an Advertising Sales Consultant. Job type: Full time or part time. Location: Ottawa, ON. Job Category: Advertising, Sales. Industry: Media. Years of Experience: Two. Contact Wendy Denley at wendy@ottawaliving.ca

3. Wanted: Board Members for Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre (ORCC). The Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre is a proactive, anti-racist, feminist organization working to end all forms of sexual violence. We counsel and support women, educate for change and work to create a safe and equitable community. Our goal is to provide services to all women in the Ottawa area. This includes, for example, immigrant & refugee women, women with disabilities, lesbians, women from a range of socio-economic classes. As a board member for the ORCC you will be a part of a team of women dedicated to support survivors of sexual assault and work towards the elimination of sexual violence from our communities. We welcome you to join our team and look forward to hearing from you. For further details please go to www.orcc.net, or contact Sandy Onyalo, Executive Director at sandyo@magma.ca.

4. Wanted: One or Two-bedroom Apartment. Two cool lesbians with an easy going cat looking for an apartment, $800-$900, pet friendly, laundry on site, 2 car parking. If you can help please call Laura or Angela at (613) 806-5821.

There's a fascinating historical site dedicated to the women's rights movement just four hours from Ottawa in Seneca Falls, NY! It’s here that you’ll find the site of the first women's rights conference in 1848. Seneca Falls is a quaint little town with beautiful old Victorian homes, a museum that celebrates the advancement of women's rights up to today, and a Women's Hall of Fame. They have examples of newspaper articles decrying the women's conference, books that talk about the natural role of women as mothers and wives, as well as amazing photos of activists from Susan B. Anthony to bra burners in the 60's and up to today. The story of the amount of political activism it took for women to get the vote (about 70 years' worth of campaigning), and the very important role that lesbians played in that fight made me so much more appreciative of our heritage as women and lesbians. Seneca Falls is about 45 minutes out of Syracuse by car, and you can stay in several smallish towns along the way. There's a big outlet mall in Waterloo, which we also visited as part of the trip (a lot of different stores, discounts ok but not amazing). Our only suggestion for accommodations: don't stay in Auburn, NY. It's close to Seneca Falls, but it’s the location of a maximum security penitentiary, a fact we didn't realize because we arrived at night. We woke up the next morning to find gun towers pretty much looming behind our Holiday Inn! So that’s why it was less expensive than other places! The website for the women's rights park: http://www.nps.gov/wori/. (Djuna Penn)