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Is Ellen Woodsworth going to become Jen Sung's political mentor?
A future and former politician?
Amanda Growe
The woman on the left is 26-year-old Jen Sung, who happens to be on the cover of this week's print edition of the Georgia Straight.
Most Vancouver residents probably recognize the woman on the right as former COPE councillor Ellen Woodsworth.
The photo was taken by Straight copy chief Amanda Growe at today's Dyke March on Commercial Drive.
Earlier this week, I accompanied Sung, the youth outreach coordinator for the Out on Screen Film Society, to the Straight's photo shoot. That same day, she was on a panel with Woodsworth at Vancouver City Hall to launch Pride Week.
At the time, I wondered if Sung might one day run for political office.
That's because she's extremely bright, poised, and articulate. She also speaks fluent Mandarin, having moved to the Lower Mainland from Taiwan at the age of seven.
As our city's Mandarin-speaking population keeps growing, parties will be seeking candidates who can converse with them.
After narrowly losing the last election, Woodsworth has more time on her hands to mentor the next generation of politicians. If she decides to share her wisdom with Sung, perhaps my initial hunch will one day come true.
You can follow the Georgia Straight's LGBT coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/StraightLGBT.
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isnt "dyke" a derogatory term for a lesbian, or is it ok to use? or is it like the N word, where black people can use it, but no one else?
if "dyke" has unpleasant connotations, using it for a pride march might just reinforce those negative connotations with people who already dont like lesbians.
personally, i think a pride/celebration type march should have a more positive name.
When a minority group takes a derogatory term and reclaims it as a term to identify themselves with, it potentially neutralizes and defuses the negative power of the term. So for example, if someone calls a lesbian a "dyke", it could potentially be perceived as the equivalent of someones simply stating a fact.
Also, the more that such a term is integrated into common usage, such as the word "queer" (which is used by many organizations, and has also shifted to becoming an umbrella term for non-straight communities), the less it can be used a slur to attack people with.