Over the last two months nearly 300,000 students have gone on strike for some period of time to fight the tuition hikes and the plan to massively privatize the public university system in Quebec. Queers and feminists are on the front lines, standing loud and proud shoulder to shoulder with other students to end the assault on public education by the Liberal government.

(Photo Credit: Samuel Kühn)

According to QuebecTuitionFees.ca, Tuition fees in Quebec will increase by $325 more every year for the next five years, starting in the Fall semester of 2012 going until 2016-2017. The total tuition bill, including mandatory institutional fees, will go from $2,890 to $4,700 per year.

These efforts of the Charest government to privatize university funding in Quebec have sparked widespread protests. Over 300,000 students are now on strike, demonstrating daily, occupying colleges, universities and civic spaces throughout Quebec. The students are joined in legion by university faculty, student groups, labor unions, social movements, community groups and citizens across the province and throughout Canada.

The students on strike are at the forefront of an important struggle over public education and its role in Quebec society. Issues of economic class disproportionately affect other marginalized communities that face social and economic disadvantages. Tuition hikes will further marginalize those with fewer resources by creating a class-privileged and more homogenous student body.

Below you will see a lists of the largest events being hosted. The complete program is available online and includes more than 30 workshops on various topics such as sex work, intersexuality, body image, harm reduction, disability activism, HIV/AIDS, and solidarity with people of colour in the queer community.

Aside from the workshops there will be performances, concerts, debates, parties, film screenings, an art exhibit, direct action, collective cooking, knowledge- and skill-share, and lots more!

The majority of events will take place at Sissy Space X (SSPX) 2229 Sainte-Catherine East, near metro Papineau in Montreal.

Playing off Pride's futuristic year 3011 theme, this rag-tag, post-apocalyptic girl gang angrily proclaimed there is "no future in capitalism" while tearing up Viagra/Pfizer advertisements along the parade route, chanting "No One Is Illegal!" / "Harper You Suck, But Do You Swallow?!?", and leafleting the crowd. The sassy flyer outlines how the current economic, political and social climate, as well as shifts in global capitalism, compounded by heterosexism, patriarchy, and racism, are endangering queer and trans communities as well as those of people throughout the world.

More photos and details from the leaflet after the jump.

"We wanted to put together a series that had not only parties, but also reintroduced the politics into 'Pride' to actively engage people in a discussion about issues in our communities. You don't need corporate sponsors for that, and you don't need exorbitant entrance fees." Said Octavia, one of this year's organizers.

This year's festival has expanded its geography of participation with contributions from New York City, Toronto, and Portland, Oregon as well as the consistently impressive talent from the city of Montréal itself. Some notable events include two queer history walking tours, a workshop for/about queer sex workers hosted by none other than Stella, and an all day queer book fair. There will also be a special edition of the regular monthly party Meow Mix featuring Rae Spoon, Ledges Blast, Peaches Lepage, 2fik, Alex Cafarelli, NO/HO/MO and DJ Like the Wolf, which will be a fundraiser for Project10, an organization that works to promote the personal, social, sexual, and mental wellbeing of queer youth and young adults 14-25.

In addition to the video database, Carlos and co-editor Christina Motta have assembled a narrative text pulling on six major themes from the interviews including discussion on the limits of tolerance/liberalism, trans and intersex identities, AIDS activism, and much more.

Rounding out the web-based project is a sporadically published online journal with its inaugural issue, Queerly Yours: Thoughts and Afterthoughts on Marriage Equality, focused on opening up space for more complicated conversations about LGBTIQ investments in this thing we call marriage. Yasmin Nair and I were asked by Carlos to put together a piece for the journal about our perspectives on gay marriage through our participation with Against Equality. I was also interviewed as part of the video database of American LGBTIQ participants.

The thirteen-minute video provides a context for LGBTQ activism in central Maine from the seventies to present day and shows how Outright L/A has grown from a small program operating out of a box in the basement of the YWCA to multifaceted program that has outlived all other Outright queer and trans youth programs in the state.

This oral history video project was made possible by a grant from The Harward Center for Community Partnerships at Bates College's Carignan Fund for Community Programs.

Full events listing after the jump....

And of course, many more queer critiques of queer investments in militarism are available online through Against Equality's digital archive.

More visual sass from Mr. Fish after the jump.

Unlike the FCKH8 campaign, we don't think you can buy (or swear) your way to a more just world. I also wouldn't make the assertion that gay kids kill themselves because they can't join the army like they do either, but that's a whole other story! These trinkets are just a small gesture towards breaking the silent spectacle of consent that all LGBTQ folks think marriage, the military and the prison system are places where our movement should be putting our time energy and money.

To get your buttons click here!

Touring with the book has meant many things. Sleeping in the back of my truck, driving insane distances every day, barely eating meals, depending on the kindness of old friends for shelter, delivering a lecture (sometimes two!) daily, talking and strategizing with enthusiastic students and community members, racking up insane credit card debt, worrying about my dog back home, and pissing off a good number of the gays.

Young folks in this video also throw a lil bit of sass at Dan Savage's "It Gets Better Project" and the overemphasis on gay marriage and over turning DADT in mainstream gay and lesbian politics.

Oh shoot girl, no you didn't!?

Could it be that young queers in some of the most militarized school districts this country has ever seen are sick and tired of military recruiters lying to them about careers in the U.S. Military?

And we aren't just talking about not being able to join because of a teen's same sex loving ways. It's hard to get a free ride to the university of your choice from the inside of a body bag. Or how about a little bit of PTSD with those fries?

Let the insanity of trying to get more queer and trans folks killed in the US war machine stop!

To the memory of all the hardworking veterans of the anti-war movement this Veteran's Day!