Elevation of the convent in Montreal

Tuesday, August 9, 2016 was the elevation of the convent in Montreal…

So here is our speech

Good evening everyone!

We are here before you as a freshly high sisters
and our first action as a sister will be to formalize the presence in Montreal and around the world of a new convent of the Sisters of perpetual Indulgence: the convent of the Sisters of Montreal.

This convent was established on territory occupied and non-transferred and is the result of two years of work and meetings.

As Sisters, our vows are to expiate guilt and promote multiversal joy.
These vows are not just about what we have been and have professed to continues to do as long as we are Sisters for our communities.
It is a vow that we make first and foremost to each other.
It is a vow that I make to each one of you.

These vows are also about asking ourselves:
Who is here and who is not and why?
Who have we not put?
Who did we scare off?
Who jumped into our arms when seeing us?
Who left without saying a word?
Who needs our help?
Who knows our sorrow?
Who shares in our joy?

We want you to know that we are here for all the people in our various communities.
We want you to know that we are not a one-hit wonder of activism and we’re here to stay.
We want you to know that one remembers:
We remember how the Boycott of the bar Ms. Arthur and the police raid of the Garage Sex moments have been key in the history of our communities and how the Cabaret of the Cleo, despite the fact that it is surrounded by spaces more and more hostile to our communities, continues to occupy an important place.

We remember how, after more than 10 years of “gay marriage”, the Village is more straight than ever, the LGBT community we find it difficult to convince the Government that homophobia, and lesbophobia is and the biphobie, transphobia and the transmysoginie are common currency inside and outside our communities lesbian, gay, and queer.

We remember that, despite the levels of sophistication of the prevention and treatment of HIV, these methods are not fighting the serophobie and the stigma surrounding HIV, we must fight it together.

We remember the legacy of the city of Montreal kinky. The red light district. The village. The neighbourhoods we shared when the village wouldn’t take us.
We remember where our communities came from, but we also keep in our minds and hearts where our communities are going.

We will remember to grow, adapt and flourish just got our communities do.
We will never forget. We are here for our communities.

We are part of our communities.

We are community.