Kind Space hosts V-Day craft night

By Victoria Christie

The handwritten message — in bright red ink, decorated with glittery heart stickers and rainbow gems on each corner of the paper — was pretty clear: “I have a big fat lesbian crush on you.”

Kayla Spagnoli made this personalized card at the first Non-Heteronormative Valentine Craft Night in 2015.

Spagnoli and her twin sister, Jenna, organize the event every year. Together, they are known as the Feminist Twins.

The third annual craft night will be held on Feb. 9 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Kind Space on Somerset Street West.

But this year, there is a twist.

The $5 cover charge will go towards bringing Mandi Gray to Ottawa as a guest speaker.

She is a PhD student at York University who was sexually assaulted by a fellow student in 2015. She filed a human rights complaint against the university, and took her attacker to court, where he was later found guilty of sexual assault.

In past years, the cover charge has been lower and covered only costs for the night.

Spagnoli said her discovery of the word heternomormative — meaning heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexuality — sparked the idea for the event.

And thus, the Non-Heteronormative Valentine Craft Night was born.

“Even at Hallmark and Carlton Cards, it’s picking up,” she said. “People are starting to realize not everybody’s straight.”

Spagnoli said she is expecting 15 to 20 people to attend this year. But for her, the numbers don’t matter.

“As long as people are receptive and they feel like this event supports them, then I feel like I should keep doing it,” Spagnoli said.

Zac Johnstone, who identifies as non-binary, is planning to attend for the first time.

According to Johnstone, the night is a community-building opportunity, as well as an escape from the heteronormativity of the holiday.

“I think adding some crafts just makes it more entertaining,” said Johnstone, who studies social work at Carleton University, and prefers the pronoun they.

Valentine’s Day can be hard for those who are not straight, Johnstone said.

“It is this huge overblown event that is emphasizing opposite gender romance,” they said. “I think a lot of queer folks feel isolated because of that.”

For Johnstone, there are a few things about the holiday they would like to see change.

“I’d love to see more representation of queer and trans folks in Valentine’s Day and more spaces that celebrate the kind of love and romance that we have in our communities as distinct from heterosexuality.”

Elaine Tamblyn-Watts agrees.

“The idea that gay people … are some kind of super minority, like some kind of rarity that doesn’t need to be catered to; it’s ridiculous,” she said.

Tamblyn-Watts, a local feminist, attended the first craft night in 2015.

“There was a lot of glitter,” she said. “This is a very glitter-heavy kind of event. It was fun.”

Although the craft night is geared towards the LGBTTQ+ community, it is open to everyone.

As a straight woman, Tamblyn-Watts said an event like this is a great opportunity to not only make a card for a romantic partner but to make a card for a friend, as well.

“It’s an easy thing to make someone’s day,” Tamblyn-Watts said. “You make them a silly card with a bunch of stickers on it.”