Irwin Oostinde, helping the poor, or helping himself?
One of the more interesting things about the W2 Media Centre is the imbalance between events focussed on media, and the number of parties and social events. Have a look at this screenshot from the events calendar on their website:
Doesn't this seem imbalanced?
Well, it’s actually worse than it seems from this screenshot- there must be a problem with their website. Because, actually, there are only two workshops-and the one about W2 seems (appropriately) masturbatory! And, isn’t this what is supposed to be their main purpose?
They do, however, have summer camps for kids! Do they do this in the same room as their ‘camp’ parties?
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The space at the W2 receives direct funding from the City of Vancouver. The space was created under the guise that it would be used for “cultural events, broadcasting, and media centre operations”, and would be focussed on serving the people of the Downtown East Side (DTES). I’ve been there many times- and, personally, the only time I saw a DTES resident there was outside of the front door, asking for money…
So, what does Irwin Oostinde qualify as a ‘cultural event’ for the people of the DTES? Well, it seems that his definition of culture has migrated from art openings to sadomasochistic sex parties! I wonder how many people in the DTES are attending these? Sounds more West-End to me!
Not that there's anything wrong with it…
Their ad in the Georgia Straight gives us some of the details of what goes on at these parties:
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Hmm, you gotta wonder what goes-on inside the ‘makeout booths’, don’t you? Well, I just asked some gay friends of mine about them- without hesitation, they said that these booths are used for sex! If you have any doubts, look at the ‘rules’ posted on their website:
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I think that item #3, CONSENT, makes things clear. Now, this is the 21st century, and there is nothing wrong with these sort of parties. That said, I’m not sure if the people of Vancouver would be pleased to hear that their tax dollars are paying for it!
And, the people of the DTES are still standing outside asking for change. Isn’t it about time that we changed leadership at the W2? And, when he leaves, let’s make sure that Irwin takes all of his ‘slutwear’ with him…
UPDATE: W2 Has written to me, and I’ve given them a response, click this link for the article!
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