Queer City was a two and a half month long celebration that included performance, musical theatre, visual art and literary programming. Addressing a variety of themes related to sexuality, marginalization and identity politics, these two series ran concurrently and featured performances by local queer and two-spirited artists. Ranging in style from scripted play and poetry reading to solo performance and dance, both performance series worked to make visible the diversity of queer lives in the city. As co-curator Brice Canyon puts it, it is a “festival where on a queer day you can be seen forever.” The Queer City Series included performances by Christine Taylor, River Sui, Tanya Mars, Archer Pechawis, and lesbian comedy duo Random Acts (Jackie Crossland and Nora D. Randall). The Two Spirit Series, curated by Archer Pechawis, was presented in conjunction with the Pitt Gallery and featured works by Cliff Red Crow, Percy Lezard, Zachery Longboy, Denise Lonewalker (whose Mi'kmaq name, Nishka-Na-Wee-Wia, translates as “the spirit that dances”), Warren Arcan, and a coming out story by young playwright Raven Courtney. As co-curator Glenn Alteen writes in "Queer and Now," the focus on queer performance in Vancouver is timely, intersecting with the rise of queer theory and interest in a more explicit critique of the racism and homophobia that undergirds dominant views of sexuality.
