Sex Talk: A Sexual Health Workshop Series for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer and Women
This summer, learn how to have better orgasms, negotiate relationships, age with sexiness and so much more! “Sex Talk” is a participatory, holistic and sex-positive workshop series for lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and other women who have sex with women, including trans women who have sex with women.
ALL WORKSHOPS ARE FREE! Light snacks, safer sex supplies and sexual health resources will be provided.
Please register for each workshop at amehta@ppt.on.ca or at 416-961-0113 ext 123; workshop spaces are limited so register early! Also, let us know how we can make the workshop more accessible for you. Please note that all of the workshops are scent-free, wheelchair accessible and trans-positive.
There are more workshops to come in August and September! Check the website frequently for more u
Workshop content will be geared towards women who have sex with women. Trans men who have sex with women, women who have sex with trans men, genderqueer folks who have sex with women and people who don’t identify with those labels and aren’t cisgender* men, are also welcome to attend.
*Cisgender refers to those whose gender identity matches their biological sex
Getting the Sex YOU Want!
Thurs July 15 • 6:30 – 8:30pm • Sherbourne Health Centre • 2nd floor
By: Carlyle Jansen
Get more of the sex and pleasure you want! Don't settle for mediocre, allow yourself to endure or let the sizzle fizzle. Find sexy ways to negotiate and find wholehearted consent for meeting everyone's desires. Learn how to spice it up, communicate effectively, negotiate safer hotter sex, and deepen the intimacy you crave. Join us- you deserve it!
Less Drama, More Delight: Negotiating Healthier Relationships for LGBQ women
Tues July 20 • 7:00 -9:00pm • The 519 Community Centre • Room 107
By: Amandeep Panag and Arti Mehta
Healthier sexual and romantic relationships are possible! In this workshop, we’ll talk about skills to make your relationship(s) healthier including knowing what you want and communicating your boundaries. We will talk about the ways that homophobia, transphobia and other oppressions impact dynamics in our sexual relationships, as well as specific challenges we sometimes face as sexual beings in queer communities.
Busting Out: A Breast Health Workshop
Tues July 27 • 7:00 – 9:00pm • The 519 Community Centre • Room 107
By: Cheryl Dobinson
Let’s get together and talk about breast health! In this workshop, you’ll learn about ways to keep your breasts healthier as well as some of the specific issues LGBQ women face when it comes to breast health and breast cancer. We’ll also explore our feelings and concerns about breast health, and have the chance to share information and resources.
Sacred Sex: Fueling the Fire
Thurs Aug 12 • 7:00 – 9:00pm • Sherbourne Health Centre • 2nd floor
By: Carlyle Jansen
Deepen your connection to yourself and/or your partner(s) using sacred sexual techniques common to many spiritual traditions. Discover how to blend your spirituality with your sexuality in practical ways meaningful to you. Gain new techniques that will intensify your current lovemaking style as well as c
Colouring Outside of the Box: An Arts-Based Sexual Health Workshop for LGBTQ Women of Colour
Tues Aug 24 • 7:00 – 9:00pm • The 519 Community Centre • Room 304
By: Roxanna Vahed
Race, sex, health, wellness...and everything in between:
In this two hour workshop, we will use the creative arts to explore the relationships between our bodies, race/racism and our sexual health as queer/LGBTQQ2SI women of colour. We will use a range of tools for creative expression -
Empowered Health Care: Tips on Navigating and Advocating within the Health System
Wed Aug 25 • 7:00 – 9:00pm • The 519 Community Centre • Room 304
By: Phyllis Waugh and Amina Jabbar
Going to see your family doctor can be a trying experience as a LGBTQ identified person. In this interactive workshop, we will teach tips on how to navigate your way around the homophobia, transphobia and other oppressions we experience as women seeking primary health care. Learn how to get a doctor, take control of your health care, prepare for a visit and follow up.
“Sex Talk” is a project of Planned Parenthood Toronto, in partnership with the 519 Community Centre, and Sherbourne Health Centre. “Sex Talk” is generously funded by the Community One Foundation.
Facilitator Bios:
Carlyle Jansen got her start when she gave an impromptu sex toys seminar at her sister’s bridal shower—a United Church Minister—in 1995. Carlyle had just recently learned how to orgasm and her sister's friends were so thrilled with Carlyle’s ease in sharing her knowledge that they requested more workshops. Over time doing workshops at the YMCA, women said that they wanted a comfortable place where they could purchase the toys Carlyle was speaking about, and they wanted more workshops. Thus Good For Her was born. Good For Her has been around for 11 years, and still strives to carry the highest quality products that celebrate women's sexuality.
Amandeep Panag and Arti Mehta work in women’s programming at Planned Parenthood Toronto. Amandeep facilitates sexual health workshops with women in shelters and Arti coordinates programming for women who have sex with women.
Cheryl Dobinson, bisexual writer, researcher, and activist, is currently the Director of Community Programming at Planned Parenthood Toronto. She is also involved in research on bisexual mental health issues as well as on sexual orientation and health disparities through the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. In addition to working on projects such as the bi women’s zine she founded in 2002, The Fence, she facilitates support groups, leads workshops and teaches courses on bisexuality. Cheryl also has a long history of working in breast health, through her previous roles at Sherbourne Health Centre and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Phyllis Waugh is Chair of the Rainbow Health Network (RHN). She facilitates workshops as part of RHN’s Trainers Group. Currently, she’s involved in RHN’s Training for Change project, which is developing educational materials from an integrated anti-oppression framework. Phyllis is a Community Outreach Worker with Rainbow Health Ontario (RHO), a province-wide program that promotes access to services for LGBT people. Her varied background includes working at Toronto Western Hospital and other hospitals, working as an artist, and 30 years of activism in LGBT and other social justice issues.
Amina Jabbar is a queer-identified, first year medical student at the University of Toronto. She has a BSW from Ryerson University and an MSc in Health Research Methodology from McMaster University. Amina spent 6 years as an anti-homophobia warrior with Teens Educating and Confronting Homophobia and is a contributor to “Hear me Out: True Stories of Teens Educating and Confronting Homophobia.” She also provided sexual health education and training for four years as a Peer Educator at Planned Parenthood of Toronto. In the future, Amina looks forward to providing clinical care to LGBTQ people.
Roxanna Vahed has been honing her facilitation skills with groups over the past past decade in the areas of gender based violence, peace and conflict tools for children, and anti-racism and sexuality. Roxanna is wrapping up her final coursework following her successful completion of 3 years of training in Expressive Arts Therapy here in Toronto. Roxanna is a performer and dramaturge. Having co-founded the short lived feminist theatre collective in Montreal in early 2000, Roxanna’s commitment to theatre and its role in social change lead her to complete a MA in Drama at the U of T. In March through July 2008 Roxanna had the privilege to combine her expressive arts training with her theatre background, acting as dramaturge and artistic coach for H. Miranda on her biographical dance-narrative performance, depicting her experiences of returning to her family homeland of Guatemala in the role of a human rights witness. The piece, entitled Ni de Aqui, Ni de Aja (Neither from here, Nor from there), was performed at the Harbourfront as part of the Crossing Boundaries series. Since then Roxanna has been focusing on completing her Expressive Art therapy certification-