East Vancouver's Genderfest 2013 celebrates gender diversity

If you are trans, genderqueer, an ally, two-spirited, or any sexual orientation, but have felt like you can't find your place among Vancouver Pride festivities, there's an alternative.

In response to a perceived lack of non-gender-specific programming at Pride, Genderfest was created.

This East Vancouver–based festival celebrates gender diversity and helps to foster queer communities by creating spaces for them to gather and flourish.

The multiday event, which runs from July 25 to August 4, gets the party started with a launch at the Cultch (1895 Venables Street) on Thursday (July 25, 8 p.m. to midnight) with beats by DJs She and ManyBothans.

After all that grooving, things turn to dialogue with the first-ever Genderfest Conference. The conference will include workshops and presentations by barbara findlay, Dr. Cameron Bowman, Jaedyn Starr, and many more, as well as a community discussion on white privilege and racism in queer communities.

Other highlights include an all-bodies swim at Templeton Pool (700 Templeton Drive) on July 30 from 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. This event creates a welcoming, inclusive space for all types of bodies, whether trans, inked, pierced, people of colour, or whatever the case may be.

The whole thing wraps up with a visionary bootyshaker on August 4 (from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.) called Unicorn Born: Future Queer with DJs She and T at the Maritime Labour Centre (1880 Triumph Street).

What does the future of being queer look like to you? Show how you envision the future is queer at this event by dolling yourself up in your most queerevolutionary outfits, be it glitter, spandex, onesies, twosies, or freesies.

For more information and full details, visit the Genderfest website.