QueerEdge
From Gay to Queer Liberation
This feature documentary links the principles and tenets of gay liberation in the Stonewall era to today’s queer liberation movement.
“Within the highly diversified LGBTQ movement are politicized, critical, progressive queers, often pushed to the margins, yet pushing the envelope.” - Dr. Nick Mulé, Director
ABOUT THE FILM
The film interviews over 30 academics, activists and artists, who provide in-depth insights on their queer liberation sensibilities, contributing to a critical socio-political analysis of gender and sexual politics.
The interviews, spanning historical and contemporary LGBTQ issues, reveal internal politics, provide a critical analysis of the mainstreaming effects of the LGBT equality movement vs. the progressive, sex-positive views of the queer liberation movement, and uncover an internal divide between those who are content with equality and those who continue to fight for liberation
Length: 75 min. 59 sec.
Copyright 2019
For screening inquiries, contact Nick at nickmule@yorku.ca
FILM PARtICIPANTS
Alec Butler
Harold Desmarais
Farzana Doctor
Loree Erickson
Jane Farrow
Frank Folino
Richard Fung
Sky Gilbert
Amy Gottlieb
John Greyson
Marcel Grimard
Charlie Hill
Ashleigh Ingle
Ed Jackson
El-Farouk Khaki
Gary Kinsman
Alan Li
Tim McCaskell
Roy Mitchell
Lali Mohamad
Morgan Page
Ken Popert
Nik Redman
Marie Robertson
Hershel Russell
Miriam Smith
Syrus Marcus Ware
Tom Warner
Anna Willats
Kristyn Wong-Tam
Andrea Zanin
If Pride loses its political roots, and its politics that should be steeped in sexual and queer liberation politics, then why have it at all? We’ve lost the purpose of Pride.
Pride came out of political protest, it was born out of that; the spirit largely still exists and it should never be watered down.
Pushing back and dissenting is,
or ought to be, foundational to the work we do.
If we’re not dissenting, I think we’re consenting to the status quo.
THE DIRECTOR
Nick Mulé, PhD, has been a queer activist for over 30 years, including being the founder, former chair and current member at large of Queer Ontario. A first-time filmmaker, he directed, wrote and produced QueerEdge: From Gay to Queer Liberation. He is currently associate professor at the School of Social Work at York University in Toronto, Canada, where he is cross appointed to the Faculty of Health and seconded to the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies.
Nick teaches policy, theory and practice. He publishes and has research interests in the areas of social inclusion/exclusion of gender and sexually diverse populations in social policy and service provision and the degree of their recognition as distinct communities in cultural, systemic and structural contexts. He also undertakes a critical analysis of the LGBTQ social movement and the development of queer liberation theory.
Additionally, Nick is a psychotherapist in private practice serving gender and sexually diverse populations in Toronto.
FILM SCREENINGS
APRIL 12, 2019
Living on the Margins 2019 Conference
University of Westminster
Regent Campus
7:00 PM
London, UK
MAY 15, 2019
Queer Ontario
10th Anniversary Screening
7-11 pm, Main Hall, Tranzac Club
292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto.
The screening will be followed by a talkback and Q&A panel on“Gay Liberation Then, Queer Liberation Now.”
RSVP to nickmule@yorku.ca.
Fully accessible space, gender inclusive washrooms. Tranzac is located a short walk from Bathurst subway station. Everyone welcome! Light refreshments provided. Cash bar on site.
For closed captioning, Direct Voice, and ASL interpretation, please contact Nick at nickmule@yorku.ca by April 20th.
JUNE 4, 2019
Sexuality Studies Association
Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences
University of British Columbia
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
9:30 - 11:15 AM
CIRS - room 1141
August 21, 2019
Capital Pride
Ottawa Public Library,
Ottawa, ON,
October 3, 2019
Faculty of Social Work,
Wilfrid Laurier University,
Kitchener, Ontario
February 6, 2020
Sexuality Studies Program
York University
Toronto, Ontario
January 21 – 28, 2022
Spotlight on Academics Film Festival
Thunder Bay, Ontario
QUEER LIBERATION THEORY PROJECT
The Queer Liberation Theory Project is a community-based research study led by principal investigator Nick Mulé, PhD (York University), and community group Queer Ontario.
The Project seeks to advance the public education and community development work being done in the name of queer liberation, by resurrecting the principles of the historical gay liberation movement, re-contextualizing them within contemporary queer discourse, translating the findings in theoretical terms, and disseminating them through various accessible multimedia platforms.
The Project will review international literature, and has created a multi-media resource list of sources that deal with queer liberation theory and perspectives. The QueerEdge feature documentary, consisting of interviews with Ontario-based academics, activists, and artists who engage in queer liberation activism, thought and artistry, is part of the Project's public education and queer community development strategy. The Project has made available a clear language pamphlet, ‘Queer Liberation in the 2010s’, as well as an ‘Understanding Queer Liberation’ infographic.
RESEARCH TEAM
The Queer Liberation Theory Project is a community-based research study that features the following partnership:
-
Principal Investigator: Nick Mulé, PhD, York University
-
Community-Based Partner: Queer Ontario
"I think what’s important for young people coming up [to know] – and I see the energy and I think it’s great - everything that we have today that old people like me fought for, we could lose."
I think that the problem with gay marriage is the way it has usurped all of queer politics so that the only thing we can talk about, the only thing that straight people can conceptualize as a problem for queer people, was whether or not we can get married just like them.
Director's Publications
on Gay/Queer Liberation
Mulé, N.J. (2019). “Evolving Sexual Citizenry: Developing Queer Liberation Theory” in S. Petrella (Ed.) Erotic Subjects and Outlaws. Freeland, Witney, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press.
Mulé, N.J. (2018). “Gender and Sexual Diversity and Social Work: Critical Liberationist Connections,” Canadian Social Work, 20 (1), special edition on Critical Social Work: Past, Present and Future, 111 – 123.
Mulé, N.J. (2018). “Politicized Priorities: Critical Implications for LGBTIQ Movements” in C.L. Mason (Ed.) Queer Development Studies: A Reader (pp. 239 – 250). New York, NY: Routledge.
Mulé, N.J., Khan, M. & McKenzie, C. (2017). “The growing presence of LGBTQIs at the UN: Arguments and counter arguments,” International Social Work, 0020872817702706.
Mulé, N.J. (2016). “Broadening Theoretical Horizons: Liberating Queer in Social Work” in S. Hillock and N.J. Mulé (Eds.) Queering Social Work Education (pp. 56 – 78). Vancouver: UBC Press.
Mulé, N.J., McKenzie, C. & Khan, M. (2016). "Recognition and Legitimization of SOGI at the UN: A Critical Systemic Analysis.” British Journal of Social Work 139, 1 - 18.
Mulé, N.J. (2015). “The Politicized Queer, the Informed Social Worker: Dis/Re-Ordering the Social Order” in B.J. O’Neill, T.A. Swan and N.J. Mulé (Eds.) LGBTQ People and Social Work: Intersectional Perspectives (pp. 17 – 35). Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Mulé, N.J., Lowik, A.J., Teixeira, R., Hudler, R. & Hader, D. (2014). “Engaged Queer Scholarship: Probing a New Paradigm of Knowledge Creation,” Scholarly and Research Communication 5 (3), 17 pp. http://src-online.ca/index.php/src/article/viewFile/160/327
Mulé, N.J. (2011). “Marrying Heteronormativity, Divorcing Diversity: Same-Sex Marriage in Canada”, We Who Feel Differently Journal, Issue 1, Spring, 13 – 22. http://www.scribd.com/doc/54840320/We-Who-Feel-Differently.
Mulé, N.J. (2010). “Same-Sex Marriage and Canadian Relationship Recognition - One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: A Critical Liberationist Perspective." The Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services (special issue), 22 (1 - 2), pp. 74 - 90.
Mulé, N. (2010). “Queer Liberation”, Queer Ontario – Think Tank, http://queerontario.org/think-tank/queer-liberation/
Mulé, N. (2010). "Troubling ‘Equality’”, Queer Ontario – Think Tank, http://queerontario.org/think-tank/troubling-equality/
Mulé, N.J. (2006). “Equality’s Limitations, Liberation’s Challenges: Considerations for Queer Movement Strategizing”, Canadian Online Journal of Queer Studies in Education, 2 (1), http://jqstudies.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/jqstudies/article/view/3290 25 pps.
*To see a comprehensive listing of Nick J. Mulé's publications see his research profile at: http://profiles.laps.yorku.ca/profiles/nickmule/
RESOURCES
Annotated Bibliography, listing over 250+ resources related to queer liberation, including books, academic journals, documentary films, autobiographies, and like-minded organizations, can be found on QueerOntario's Queer Liberation Theory Resources List page or by clicking HERE
Pamphlet: Queer Liberation in the 2010s’ produced by Queer Ontario (QO) provides an updated iteration of earlier pamphlets produced by QO’s predecessor the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario (CLGRO)
Peer-Reviewed Journal Article: Mulé, N.J., Lowik, A.J., Teixeira, R., Hudler, R. & Hader, D. “Engaged Queer Scholarship: Probing a New Paradigm of Knowledge Creation,” Scholarly and Research Communication 5 (3), 17 pp.
Infographic: Understanding Queer Liberation’ features clear, accessible text and symbology to describe queer liberation
Webpage: Liberation Theory Project on the Queer Ontario website
FUNDERS
The Queer Liberation Theory Project is a research project made possible thanks to funding from:
-
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
-
York University
-
Inside Out-OUTtv Post-Production Fund
I feel like my interest and my heart is in resistance always. I think it’s important to resist, I think it’s important to not assimilate.
I think the biggest disservice we do to ourselves is when we deny our own history.
Certain corporate donors dictating policy, dictating procedures where all of a sudden, an organization [Pride Toronto] that came about as a groundswell of community no longer represents the community, but represents somebody’s financial corporate interests, and to me that’s one of the biggest dangers that we face.
