Identities, Aesthetics, Politics, Performances: Planning Q2Q

Conference organizer C.E. Gatchalian examines the motivations and outcomes of the Q2Q: A Symposium on Queer Theatre & Performance in Canada. He suggests that time seemed right for this conference; to quote directly from the call for papers we issued, “In an era of same-sex marriage, anti-retrovirals, and sex-positive anti-bullying campaigns, what does Canadian queer performance still need to get angry about? Is there a danger in becoming too complacent?” In a country broadly recognized as having some of the most progressive lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, intersex, two-spirit (LGBTQI/2S) laws in the world, is queer theatre still necessary? Or does greater assimilation demand, on the contrary, radicalized, unapologetically queer art?