Note: Nudity is optional, bare as you're comfortable
For updated info, please check: http://qtcase.com
The World Naked Bike Ride is more than a simple fight for the right to be naked in public. It puts the focus of understanding oppression on the human body.
Globally, we see the effects of climate change, war and poverty disproportionately harming, displacing and killing people of color. Locally, we see colonial violence enacted by the city to crack down on homeless people in encampments, entrap poor people in exploitative labor and substandard housing, and the shut-downs of Asian massage parlors.
The Tkaronto Naked Bike Ride is a radical protest to confront colonial violence targeting the bodies of racialized, disabled, queer, trans, working class, sex worker, homeless and poor people's bodies.
Schedule
1pm
Pre-ride meet up at Allan Gardens:
socializing, sign-making, body-painting, and photos
3:30pm
Naked (optional) Bike Ride:
Starting at Allan Gardens, with 2 accessibility stops (details will be posted on the qtcase.com website)
6pm
Naked (optional) March:
Starting from City Hall, we will be marching up Yonge St., going across to Church and Wellesley, then through the gayborhood and back to Allan Gardens
7pm
Nudist (optional) Picnic/Community Gathering at Allan Gardens
Please note that this is a non-sexual nudist event.
While these are naked events, clothed people are welcome. Bare as much as you're comfortable without pressure. In a bodyphobic society, there are many reasons to feel uncomfortable. For example:
- certain bodies are objectified
- body dysphoria is common (esp. for trans folks living in a transphobic society)
- there is a lot of shame and stigma in going naked in a body phobic society
We want everyone to feel safe, and your presence at the event is more important than sticking to nudity, because we're here to confront body phobia and body oppression in all of its many forms.
Please also STACK THIS EVENT with as much radical politics, messaging, perspectives, etc., especially centered around IBPOC, queer, trans, class struggles and gender oppression issues. The bland and mostly white image of nudism needs to be shaken up, because it has never been based in people's lived reality. There is no real divide between nudism and the highly politicized communities many of us live in, because OUR BODIES ARE POLITICAL!