5 Questions with the Rainbow West Zine Project

By Teen Health Source

5 Questions is where Teen Health Source volunteers ask 5 questions to people about their unique perspectives on everything to do with sex and gender. In this installment we talked with the Rainbow West Zine Project!

Rainbow West is a youth led initiative that provides 2SLGBTQ+ youth a safe space to engage in prosocial activities, peer support and community building. Youth and peer leaders in the program have created four wonderful zines to represent youth voices and art on the topics of Safer Spaces, Accessibility, Centering BIPOC, as well as Mental and Physical Health. Through this project, they hope to build capacity in improving queer and trans youth inclusivity and service access in the Toronto West neighbourhoods. 

They’re also recruiting right now for their next workshop series! Check out their LinkTree for more info: linktr.ee/Rainbowwest

Can you tell us a bit more about the goal of the project?

The Rainbow West Zine Project is a collective effort of 2SLGBTQ+ youth artists and peer leaders who met virtually over the course of several weeks, shared their experiences, fostered a sense of community and made art together.

The goal of the project was to engage 2SLGBTQ+ youth in collective zine making, a process that involves creation and publication of original or appropriated texts and images, which for the purpose of this project reflected the realities and experiences of 2SLGBTQ+ youth. In particular, the zines highlight the need for a discussion around accessibility, safe spaces in the community, the centering of BIPOC voices, as well as the mental and physical health of youth.

The project was funded the City of Toronto, through the Identify ‘N Impact Grant Program. The INI funding program supports youth led initiatives that promote youth empowerment and community safety. With the help of the INI grant, the artists as well as peer leaders received honorariums for their art and commitment to this important youth initiative.

What’s something that participants were surprised to learn or discover about themselves or each other through doing the project?

Participants learned how to cultivate a welcoming and safer space for one another, and build a sense of community virtually. The workshops allowed for a shared space where the artists led important discussions, shared experiences and worked together as a team to create the zines. The participants also recognized the need of building trust and respecting each other’s privacy and confidentiality in a virtual space, as well as learned that not everyone has equal access to virtual programming.

Why did the group choose to makes zines? What do you think makes them effective?

The zine making workshops provided the youth a chance to be involved with a community project, in times of physical distancing and isolation. The pandemic limited or completely took away the spaces where youth could safely come together, connect and create art. Folks enjoyed seeing other people’s skills and art work, as well as work collaboratively on an initiative. Participants had the chance to meet virtually, share their opinions, stories and feel welcomed and included.

The zines are effective because they represent a creative community effort to deliver an important statement to the service providers and the wider public; there needs to be proactive change in how we address the health and safety of 2SLGBTQ+ and BIPOC youth.

Every workshop began with a discussion on one of the themes of the zines, and the collective brainstorming sessions allowed folks to connect and support one another. The whiteboard function was used on Zoom where the participants discussed what community safety, accessibility, mental and physical health, and safe spaces meant to them. These whiteboard activities were used to further lead the creative process of the workshops, and are now displayed on the back covers of the zines.

What are some other zines or resources that you’d recommend?

1. The LGBT YouthLine has a series Zines that were created by 2SLGBTQ+ youth from the Grey Bruce region of Southern Ontario, as well as from the Northern regions across Ontario as part of the Provincial Youth Ambassador Project. The zines can be accessed through the links below:
   1. Navigating Rural Landscapes as 2SLGBTQ+ Youth
   2. Circle of Belonging; Letters of Love from Northern 2SLGBTQ+ Youth
2. LGBT YouthLine’s Provincial Youth Ambassador Project (PYAP) with the help of 18 2SLGBTQ+ Youth Ambassadors have created a series of Snapshots in the “We’re Here” zine series, that reflect the needs and experiences of 2SLGBTQ+ youth across Ontario.
3. East End Arts is a non-profit community arts organization that serves the east end of Toronto. Check out their website for program updates and creative opportunities!
4. SKETCH offers arts leadership, arts production and wellness programming. Their mission is to engage diverse youth across Canada to cultivate social and environmental change through the arts, build leadership and encourage the experience of the transformative power of the arts. Check out their schedule for opportunities to participate in creative activities and attend engaging workshops!
5. Scarborough Arts is a non-profit organization that offers creative arts programming and workshops in the Scarborough community.
6. Arts Etobicoke is a non-profit charitable organization that serves the community in West Toronto, and aims to improve people’s lives through the arts. They offer a variety of virtual events and workshops for people of all ages and levels of interest!

What can people do if they want more info? Either to get a copy of the zines, or if they want to participate in something like this in the future?

People can follow Rainbow West on Instagram (@rainbow.west.to), where we post updates about the current programming and our future events. We are hoping that in the future, Rainbow West will provide more opportunities for collective zine making, as it was an incredible experience for the participants, and provided the artists with an opportunity to share a space in times of isolation, make art and build a creative community.

The zines can be downloaded from the link pinned to our Instagram account. They can also be accessed as flipbooks and downloaded as PDF files here: anyflip.com/homepage/dsbtt

Check out our 5 Questions tag for more interviews from this series: Link.

If you have questions about this topic, feel free to contact one of our peer educators. [Link]

Last Updated: August 2021