The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans, Two-Spirit, and Queer Community Centre of Ottawa was an incorporated

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organization which worked towards providing a

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

for the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

community in Ottawa, the capital of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

History

GLBTQ groups in Ottawa have had a variety of initiatives to try to create a visible focal point for their community in recent decades. Each of these projects has appeared to build upon the efforts of the previous project.

ALGO Years

One of the earliest groups to have attempted to create an LGBT community centre was the Association of Lesbians and Gays of Ottawa. The project came at a time when homosexuality was still treated as criminal, a disease, and/or a deviancy. ALGO was successful in organising a variety of social events for the LGBT community in the city.

Pink Triangle Services' Initiative

In later years as ALGO eventually declined in Ottawa's community the project to create a community centre was picked up by Pink Triangle Services (or PTS). As PTS grew and so did the number of services it provided to the city's GLBT citizens it became necessary to expand their facilities. To date, PTS continues to lease space for their facilities. Part of the intention behind the LGBT community centre of Ottawa Initiative was to create a space that could house PTS and other LGBT organisations at a reasonable cost. For a time the initiative managed to lease a space near the intersection of Bank and Nepean Streets. This community centre served to provide an alternative space for a variety of PTS projects as well as a location to host the events and projects of other organizations in Ottawa's LGBT community. In 2004

Bob Chiarelli Robert Chiarelli (born September 24, 1941) is a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who served from 1987 to 1997 and again from 2010 to 2018 who represented the ridings of Ottawa West and Ottawa W ...

, the mayor of Ottawa, pledged his support for a community centre, although no actual details were given at the time. In 2005 an emergency summit was held to discuss the future of the community centre initiative. As members of the

ad hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with '' a priori''.) C ...

committee felt that the task was too daunting to continue and it was replaced with new membership in a steering committee. The new steering committee members went to task and, with both direct and indirect help from PTS, ''

To Be In linguistics, a copula (plural: copulas or copulae; abbreviated ) is a word or phrase that links the subject of a sentence to a subject complement, such as the word ''is'' in the sentence "The sky is blue" or the phrase ''was not being'' i ...

'', ''

Capital Xtra! ''Xtra Ottawa'' (formerly ''Capital Xtra'') was a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community newspaper published in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was launched in 1993. Unlike its biweekly sister publications ''Xtra'' in Toronto and '' Xtra Van ...

'' and the city of Ottawa, was able to begin the process of incorporating into its own organisation. In 2006 the city of Ottawa provided a $5000 CDN Trust held by Pink Triangle Services to begin the process of incorporation which would finally result in the receipt of Letters Patent in April of the same year.

GLBTTQ Community Centre of Ottawa, Inc.

Upon receiving its letters patent, the community centre initiative became "The

Gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

, Lesbian, Bisexual,

Trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trans (festival), a former festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom * ''Trans'' (fil ...

Two-Spirit Two-spirit (also two spirit, 2S or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern, , umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ...

, and Queer Community Centre of Ottawa, Inc." As of May 2006, the new corporation is on its way to applying for charitable status under Canadian law. On September 17, 2006, the Community Centre's inaugural Annual General Meeting was held. Guests included City of Ottawa Mayor

, and a group of Two-Spirit Drummers from Minwaashin Lodge. Five new

Trustees Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

were elected and the Nominations Committee was charged with seeking new candidates to fill the remaining vacancies. The proposed corporate

by-laws A by-law (bye-law, by(e)law, by(e) law), or as it is most commonly known in the United States bylaws, is a set of rules or law established by an organization or community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authorit ...

were also passed and the members received the Chair's report and a financial statement from the

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

. The 2006–07 board began the process of strengthening ties within Ottawa's

community as well as consulting with various parts of it in order to further develop its strategic planning. In late 2008 a GLBTTQ Community Centre of Ottawa Facebook group was created and a core group of volunteers began preparations for a special General Meeting to elect a new board of trustees and reinvigorate the project. That Special General Meeting took place on February 19, 2009, elected a seven-member board of trustees.

Controversies

Though the process of creating the community centre has been relatively smooth there have been some minor controversies.

Name

One of the first controversies was over the name of the new corporation. the previous community centre had been named using the term ''GLBT'' but with a mind towards inclusivity some members of the community wished the corporation to include more Ts and Qs to represent Two-Spirit, both

Transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

, and

Transsexual Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignmen ...

, as well as Queer and Questioning peoples. Other members wished to have an unrelated name such as was the case with The 519 Church St. Community Centre, which would put no particular emphasis on any group. Ultimately the above name was chosen and it was decided that the general community would later be invited to make suggestions for a working name and logo for the community centre. The acronym used by this organisation is unique not just in Canada but worldwide. The community centre has also recognised the variety of identities used by members of the

community and seeks to welcome all those groups and their allies.

Location

Many members of the community feel that the area around the intersection of

Bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

and Somerset Streets is the core of the gay community while others feel that other neighbourhoods also have large concentrations of

peoples. While no decision has been made it has been noted by the steering committee that issues of accessibility and infrastructure will be critical to the centre's future location(s). As a result, the steering committee initiated plans to survey the LGBT community through the media, and its website.

Funding

In 2006 the community centre initiative received approx. $5000 Canadian to support the process of incorporation. With the upcoming mayoral elections in Ottawa this caused some backlash in the general community. However, this controversy seemed to have died down around the same time as Alex Munter announced his candidacy for

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

, as well as next to the more prominent local issues.

Near dissolution

At the 2007 annual general meeting, a motion to dissolve the corporation could not be voted on because quorum was not met.

References

External links

GLBTTQ Community Centre of Ottawa, Inc.

Ottawa Xpress

{{LGBT LGBT community centres LGBT culture in Ottawa Organizations based in Ottawa 2006 establishments in Canada