SExT: Sex Education by Theatre
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The cast reacts to Bodak Consent

11/2/2018

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Our first official music video "Bodak Consent" was released a month ago today and we are proud to say that we have just hit 7,000 views and 100 YouTube subscribers! 

Before "Bodak Consent" went live to the public, we had the cast film their reactions to watching the video for the first time. Suffice to say, their faces were priceless.

Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel if you haven't already: www.tinyurl.com/SExTEdShow

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#WeTheStudentsDoNotConsent

9/21/2018

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This afternoon an estimated 40,000 students across Ontario walked out of their classrooms to protest the repeal of the 2015 sex ed curriculum. It was the largest student walk-out in the history of Ontario. We are so proud of the students who advocated for themselves today and WE HEAR YOU.
Above are some REAL questions and comments from our latest national tour. Sex education IS education and we are so happy that this topic is back in the headlines today; this time, from the youth's perspective, the perspective that sex ed affects most.

We here at SExT will continue to LISTEN to the voices of young people who KNOW their own realities and who KNOW what they need. We will continue to provide and advocate for up-to-date, evidence-based, comprehensive, inclusive, trauma-informed, relevant, meaningful, life-saving, and sometimes hilarious sex education by BRAVE and POWERFUL youth for youth that CELEBRATES all cultures, religions, abilities, sexualities, and genders 👊🏻👊🏼👊🏽👊🏾👊🏿. Our mission continues to  #RevolutionizeSexEd!
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SExT's first Superhero Sunday

7/1/2018

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Wifeys for lifey!
​Every successful organization needs role models. Here at SExT, we have this superhero duo who work very hard to make our organization a successful one. They shine the brightest in stressful situations and they never ask for breaks or a day off. Their work never gets the full credit it deserves and even though they might be under-appreciated, they still work as hard as they can to bring joy and smiles on other people's faces. I'm talking about Supergirl aka Elena Juatco and Wonder Woman aka Shira Taylor.

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An open letter to Premier-Designate Doug Ford

6/10/2018

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Dear Mr. Ford,

I got to vote last week! I can finally check that off my bucket list. It was actually pretty easy, just marking down an “X” on the paper – no trick questions. I didn’t know how fast the results would pour in though, and if I’m being honest, the outcome wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for. I say this because of your proposed repeal of the new sex-ed curriculum.


I’m not just any person writing about what sex education means to me. I’m a youth from the Flemingdon and Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood of Toronto, a community where the new sex-ed curriculum caused a lot of uproar and I’ve seen first-hand the impact of the sex-ed protests. I know that more than 200 elementary school children were taken out of school as a way for their parents to make a statement of their disagreement. I know this because I used to work as an after-school program leader in the community. I know this because some of them were kids from my program. When their friends would ask me, “Sara, why isn’t so-and-so here today? They weren’t here yesterday or the day before too,” what could I say back? I wasn’t allowed to say what I wanted to say to them back then, but I’ll say it now.

I respect that parents should be able to teach their children whatever they want, and I respect the people in my community who have made their decisions on the curriculum. As a Bengali-Canadian child born and raised in Canada, the cultural shame that comes with talking about the body (a taboo topic) conflicts with my own curiosity and access to knowledge as a Canadian student. I have never in my life gotten the “birds and the bees” talk from my parents. In fact, they’ve never really talked about anything sex-related at all, except about periods, and that’s just with my mom. But how do I know so much about sex if it wasn’t through school? Because kids talk. A LOT. Plus, there's the power of a simple Google search. Even if a parent never discussed the topic of sex with their child, it would be impossible for that child living in today's world to not know anything about it. Even if that child managed to avoid sex education, the result would be dangerous. My Grade 12 teacher had a question box for her Grade 9s to write down any question regarding sex-ed because she didn’t want them to rely on the internet for answers. She told us that one student's question was, “What is sex?” She then proceeded by saying, “God forbid he/she ever gets raped or they wouldn’t even know what happened to them.”

Let’s pretend for just a minute that rape and sexual assault don’t happen. It’s a real danger that no one should have to go through. Well the same thing goes for sexting, cyberbullying and suicide. If students are not taught about these things, how will they know who they can turn to, what their resources are, and how to protect themselves?

The sex-ed curriculum isn’t just about sex, it's about physical and mental health. “SExT: Sex Education by Theatre” is a project created by PhD student Shira Taylor as a way to incorporate sex education, along with other stigmatized topics, with the use of theatre. The topics include consent, abusive/healthy relationships, stereotypes, mental health and LGBTQ+ issues which are addressed using comedy, music, dance, and spoken word to eliminate the discomfort surrounding these concepts. As a peer educator from the Flemingdon and Thorncliffe Park community, I thought it was important to not only learn and educate myself, but to speak out on these types of subjects as a way of starting a conversation in a less threatening way (rather than in a classroom setting).
What we want to promote is a comprehensive educational approach, to teach with love and acceptance, not by fear. We can’t stop the flow of information, but what we can do is spread the right information safely.

Yes, learning the biology of the human body is important. But what about the emotions and feelings that come with our growing and changing bodies while we figure out who we are? We learn in school that the human brain does not fully develop until age 21, so does it really make sense to promote the concept of “ABSTINENCE IS KEY, DON'T HAVE SEX” to a bunch of people who make rash decisions due to their late prefrontal cortex development? Because when you’re told not to do something, chances are you’re going to do it anyways.

We want to work with you these next 4 years of your term to educate and protect youth. These are our peers, our friends, our siblings; and we want the best for them, as do you, I’m sure. Before you make any decisions about what to do about the new sex-ed curriculum, I urge you to watch our show for yourself. I want you to see the audience go crazy with laughter. I want you to hear their silence when we talk about abusive relationships. I want you to see their excitement when we use popular dance moves to rap about consent. I want you to see what we’re all about, first.

That being said, I would like to formally invite you to a viewing of our show, “SExT: Sex Education by Theatre” because it’s time for teens to give the talk. I really do hope you take us up on this offer.

Best Regards,
Sara Ahmed with the Cast of SExT
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Farewell Saskatchewan

6/3/2018

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The SExT family with Roxanne Ma from The Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR) on our last performance of our Saskatchewan tour. We did it!

​We woke up to a rainy day. The clouds were sharing the same emotions as most of us. We knew it was going to be our last day of our tour, so emotions were through the roof. 
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Heavy rain and lightened hearts

5/31/2018

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​May 30, 2018 - North Battleford & Turtleford, Saskatchewan 

On the second to last day of shows during this tour, with cold, gloomy weather came a gloomy mood. Maybe it was my ill-fitting clothing for the tempature of the weather or maybe it was the darkness of the sky. Either way, I was faced with an overcast of moodiness that fluctated greatly as we performed. ​

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As always, SExT finds a way!

5/30/2018

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May 29th, 2018 - Île à la Crosse & Beauval 

We awoke later than usual, thanks to the school being a whole 5 minutes away. The night before we had fallen asleep to cloudy cotton candy skies with flashes of lightning in the distance. Thuriga spent the night taking videos while a wild dog lay at her feet. We were prepared for our next 2-show day.

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Memories made with Dene High School & Twin Lakes Community School

5/29/2018

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May 28th, 2018 - La Loche & Buffalo Narrows

Today we woke ​up and left our hotel in Buffalo Narrows at 7:40AM for a two show day. The sky was blue and beautiful. The birds were chirping. The cold breeze would hit us and give us the chills. As the tour bus departed the hotel, we looked back at the lakefront and remembered how peaceful and beautiful it was when we arrived there yesterday: the long walks some of us took in the perfect weather, the bald eagle we saw, the ducks, the beaver, tadpoles, the breath-taking sunset. ​

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Our day off in La Ronge

5/26/2018

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May 26, 2018 - La Ronge, Saskatchewan

Today was our first free day! So of course we decided to sleep in late. Our driver Richard offered to take us on a tour around the town and show us all the beautiful spots nearby. ​

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A Warm Weyakwin Welcome

5/24/2018

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May 24, 2018 - Weyakwin, Saskatchewan

Today we woke up and followed SMT (SExT Mean Time) and left half an hour late to perform for Kiskahikan School in a small community called Weyakwin. We took a detour and drove near the most beautiful parts of Canada. It was breath taking. We saw elks on the road.  While on the ride to our next destination, we got a phone call from our ex-cast mate Saad from Pakistan. Talked about our shows, and Saskatchewan. He was really into it.

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An Antidote for Bitterness

5/18/2018

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O.G. SExT Cast Member & Resident Blogger Aleef Khan on stage in Kapuskasing, Ontario as part of the #SExTNationalTour. In today's blog he opens up about relationships and what it means to be courageous.
This bitterness manifested in you from a long string of failures in the romance department is quite different from your typical heartbreak. Heartbreak is a sharp pain that goes away after a while and bitterness is that dull pain that persists for an indefinite amount of time. People get heartbroken after their significant other dumps them. People get bitter when that thing happens a few more times. Countless rejections, cheating partners (one after another), abusive relationships and nasty divorces can also make people bitter. ​

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From Audience to Cast Member

5/14/2018

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SExT Cast Member Sara Ahmed holding the 2018 SExT National Tour Guide and her original information ticket she saved from one of the first runs of the show 4 years ago.

You know how on TV, sometimes a character will be in love with a musician or a show, and then by the end of the episode they get to go on tour with them? So unrealistic right? Well, that's what happened to me.

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How NOT to talk to yourself

5/9/2018

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The cast of SExT on stage at Kapuskasing District High School, the first stop of our 2018 National Tour.

The person you talk to the most is not your grandma, cat, or bestie. It is you! The inner voice in your head is constantly talking to you. From your waking moment to your slumber, you are listening and talking to yourself. Hence it is important that we don’t do it the wrong way. I don’t really know what the “right” way is, but I definitely know what the “wrong” way is. ​

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My Journey with SExT (from the point of view of Isfan)

5/8/2018

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"I'm legend ... wait for it ... Dary." 

​- Isfandyar Virani, Co-Producer, Co-Stage Manager & Original SExT Cast Member
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Introducing our new stage manager for the SExT 2018 National Tour .... Isfandyar!!!
As a cast member of SExT, I am required to know information about STIs, mental health, healthy relationships, etc., but before becoming a peer educator and going national, I think I’m obligated to talk about our roots and where we come from.

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Theatre and Life Lessons from Guest Artist, Hamza Haq

5/5/2018

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The cast of SExT performs a number for guest artist, Hamza Haq, who recently came into our rehearsal for the first time this week to help us gear up for our upcoming National Tour!
Lesson 1: All Hamzas are Late.

Elena and Shira kept gushing over how this big shot actor dude was going to come to our rehearsal and teach us something. I never heard of him or saw him. His first impression wasn’t good since he was late. Not awfully late, but still late. All people named Hamza are always late (Cardinal Rule #1). That’s okay though; if a Hamza in your life is early, something is terribly wrong. ​
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The Art of Changing the World

10/30/2017

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Mary Getachew sings "Tunnel Vision" in a performance of "SExT" alongside Amen (guitar), Saad & Michelle Nyamekye (dance). Photo by Dahlia Katz.
SExT: Sex Education by Theatre came together because of Shira Taylor, a PhD candidate out of the University of Toronto, deciding to focus her thesis on using the arts to give youth the tools, information and voices they need to educate themselves and each other on the various topics of Sex Ed. More importantly, SExT gave my community (Toronto’s Thorncliffe/ Flemingdon Park) the chance to decide what was important to us, and how we wanted to communicate those learnings back to our community.
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Your Rite of Passage

7/24/2017

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"How will you grow if you are always stuck in the same echo chamber all your life?"
In ancient times, rites of passage meant more than just getting your freak on at your best friend’s barmitzvah. They were downright horrid traditions that were meant to push you out of your comfort zone.  In order to become a man from a boy or woman from a girl, you had to go through one of the most dreadful experiences in your whole life. 

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SExT talks stigma at Jane Street Hub

7/9/2017

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On June 3rd SExT had the pleasure of performing for Jane Street Hub as part of their Community Info Fair, highlighting sexual health as well as health and wellness in the African, Caribbean, Black, and Latino communities. The event included resources, community services, workshops, counsellors, performances (wink-wink), and anonymous testing for STIs. Having a safe space for conversations on these stigmatized topics such as STIs and mental health, and having it be accessible to everyone, is so incredibly important. I would like to thank the organizers for this.

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Just not meant to be?

5/8/2017

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We always say a variation of this in our love lives. If we meet someone awesome we say, "It was always meant to be!!!" But when the same person leaves us because we stepped on his Hello Kitty collection or some other stupid shit we say, "It was never meant to be *cry*". What the hell is this exactly?

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Turning The Tide

1/9/2017

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Your disadvantages and shortcomings can be used to turn the tables.  With a little bit of reframing, you can actually turn what makes you feel insecure into an advantage. 
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How to improve self-esteem and end up winning every time (Part One)

12/1/2016

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Google defines “self-esteem” as "confidence in one's own worth or abilities; self-respect." 
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It is true. We made the Premier cry.

10/11/2016

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Premier Kathleen Wynne's emotional response to SExT was captured on camera by our very own cast member, Thuriga Balasubramaniam, who put together a vlog to share that exciting day with you all. Enjoy!
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How to let go of the past and be happy again

8/22/2016

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Tired of your past making its way into the present? When you are just about to talk to that pretty girl, do you start remembering all those times girls rejected you and made fun of your “not that big nose”? When you think you found the one, do you start fearing that he/she will dump you for the dumbest reason just like the last one did? When you are just about to get into a relationship with that “cool guy”, do you start remembering how the last “cool guy” ended up being a serial killer who eats people and more importantly, always left the toilet seat up ON PURPOSE, WHAT A SOCIOPATH?! Or are you one those people who love and accept their past relationships and are happy with the present? GTFO of here. Just joking. Chill out. Send this to your friends who might not be in the best place. Heck send this to your friends because this article is entertaining. (I added that just in case someone gets this article and immediately says, “Hey, you sent me this article because you think I am unhappy? Do I look unhappy, HUH?! I just haven’t had my coffee and vodka mix for breakfast yet!”) ​

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Seven Dumbass Myths about Mental Illness

8/3/2016

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Hey you, yes you. Do you know someone with a mental illness, but know nothing about it whatsoever? No worries. Read on. Ignorance ain’t a sin ... or is it? Dun dun dun!!!!

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How to “pick up” women or men in the club respectfully

7/27/2016

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Hey it’s your main man Mr.K, the womanizing Nutella addict here. I will be sharing some of my tips of how to impress the ladies and gentlemen at clubs, bars, sides of the roads, in dingy alleyways ... wherever you're chilling at basically.   ​

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