GayCalgary Magazine - February 2013

FEBRUARY 2013

® ISSUE 112 • FREE The Voice of Alberta’s LGBT Community

SHARON

NEEDLES Dave Franco

Gets gay with brother James

Tegan and Sara

Quin Sisters on Pop Evolution

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Lindi Ortega Brent Corrigan COLT Men of Armour ...and more!

Business Directory

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Calgary • Alberta • Canada

Events Calendar

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Buck Angel

In Calgary to talk Sex

STARTING ON PAGE 55

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Table of Contents

Photography

Steve Polyak, Photography Rob Diaz-Marino, B&J, James Steve Polyak, Rob Diaz-Marino, Birkbeck, Cheryl Telles, Rob Browatzke B&J

Videography

Steve Polyak, Videography Rob Diaz-Marino Steve Polyak, Rob Diaz-Marino

Printers

Web Printers exPress North Hill News/Central Web

Distribution

Calgary: Distribution GayCalgary Staff Calgary: Gallant Distribution Edmonton: Greenline Distribution GayCalgary Other: CanadaStaff Post Edmonton: Distribution LegalClark’s Council Other:Barristers Canada Post Courtney Aarbo, and Solicitors

Council Sales &Legal General Inquiries

® CourtneyGayCalgary Aarbo, Barristers and Solicitors Magazine 2136 17th Avenue SW Sales & AB, General Calgary, CanadaInquiries T2T 0G3 GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine sales@gaycalgary.com 2136 17th Avenue SW Calgary, Canada Office Hours: ByAB, appointment ONLY T2T 0G3

Phone: 403-543-6960 Toll Free:By 1-888-543-6960 Office Hours: appointment ONLY Fax: 403-703-0685 Phone: 403-543-6960 E-Mail: Tollmagazine@gaycalgary.com Free: 1-888-543-6960 This 403-703-0685 Month's Cover Fax: Main: Sharon Needles, photo by Austin Young E-Mail: magazine@gaycalgary.com Top Right: Dave Franco, photo by Shutterstock ThisRight: Month's Middle TeganCover and Sara, Cher and Christina courtesy of Sony photo by Aguilera Lindsey Brynes Pictures; Annie Lennox of Mike Owen; Bottom Right:courtesy Buck Angel Rex Goudie.

Proud Members of: Proud Members of:

Edmonton Rainbow Business Association

International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association

Trademark Trials and Tribulations

8

Not Just for Fun.

Publisher’s Column

Guitarist Jack Antonoff on LGBT activism, the band’s Ally Coalition and being straight with ‘lesbian chemicals’

11 Edmonton Pride Centre

A chat with new Executive Director, Mickey Wilson

13 Lindi Ortega

Toronto’s best kept secret comes to romance Calgary

14 Off the Beaten Path: Violence, Women and Art

The Art Gallery of Calgary Gives Voice to an Issue too Often Mute

16 Alberta Positive Voices Conference 2013 17 Brandy Will Always Love You

Singer talks gay following, her zero tolerance for hate and why Frank Ocean’s coming out is a ‘gift’

20 The Tegan and Sara Interview

Quin sisters on pop evolution, advantages of having a lesbian sibling and why more artists should come out

e n zi

24 Sexual Orientation and the Influences of the Womb 25 Offence as a Virtue

a g a

26 Sharon Needles Injects her Way to the Top

m

A chat with RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 4 Winner

28 Deep Inside Hollywood Logo turns back time for Cher

29 Cocktail Chatter The Rusty Nail

30 Out of Town

Austin: Where to Eat, Play, and Stay

32 Michael Lucas Undresses Israel 34 Out Destination

PAGE 26

Memphis

35 Out Destination National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association

PAGE 13

Writers and Contributors

Mercedes MercedesAllen, Allen,Chris JoeyAzzopardi, Amato, Chris Dallas Azzopardi, Barnes, Dave Brousseau, Sam JasonCasselman, Clevett, Andrew Jason Clevett, Collins, Andrew Rob Diaz-Marino, Collins, EmilyJanine Collins,Eva RobTrotta, Diaz-Marino, Shane Janine Gallagher, Eva Trotta, EvanJack Kayne, Fertig, Stephen Glen Hanson, Lock, Lisa Joan Hilty, Lunney, EvanSteve Kayne, Polyak, Stephen Romeo Lock,San NeilVicente, McMullen, Ed Sikov, Allan Neuwirth, Krista Sylvester, Steve Polyak, JeromeCarey Voltero Rutherford, and the LGBT RomeoCommunity San Vicente,ofEd Calgary, Sikov, Nick Edmonton, Vivian and the GLBT CommunityAlberta. of Calgary, Edmonton, and Alberta.

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Publisher: Steve Polyak Editor: Rob Diaz-Marino Sales: Steve Polyak Design & Layout: Rob Diaz-Marino, Ara SteveShimoon Polyak

FEBRUARY 2013

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Nashville

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GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

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Table of Contents  Continued From Previous Page

37 Let’s Get Franco

®

Breakout star Dave Franco talks new coming-of-age film, his sex appeal and getting gay with brother James

40 New Year, New Gear!

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PAGE 40

Photos of COLT Men of Armour, featuring Priape Leather Gear

41 Brent Corrigan 43 Buck Angel

PAGE 41

FtM transsexual activist, pornstar, and educator in Calgary to talk sex

46 Queer Eye 53 A Couple of Guys 54 Mz. GayCalgary February 2013 Roxy Riccochet 55 Directory and Events 60 Classified Ads

a m

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Magazine Figures

Originally established in January 1992 as Men for Men BBS by MFM Communications.

Name changed to GayCalgary in 1998.

Independent company as of January 2004.

First edition of GayCalgary.com Magazine published November 2003. Name adjusted in November 2006 to GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine. February 2012 returned to GayCalgary Magazine.

February 2013, GayCalgary® becomes a registered trademark.

Disclaimer and Copyright Opinions expressed in this magazine are specific to the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of GayCalgary staff and contributors.

Those involved in the making of this publication, whether advertisers, contributors, or the subjects of articles or photographs, are not necessarily gay, lesbian, bisexual, or trans. This magazine also includes straight allies and those who are gay friendly.

No part of this publication may be reprinted or modified without the expressed written permission of the editor or publisher.

Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

GayCalgary® is a registered trademark.

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Editorial

Trademark Trials and Tribulations Publisher’s Column

By Rob Diaz-Marino, MSc. We are very proud and excited this month to finally let the cat out of the bag; it’s regarding something coming to fruition that we have been working toward for a very long time. As of February 1st, 2013, GayCalgary is a registered trademark!

In layman’s terms, to have our trademark registered means that we have proven ownership of the name GayCalgary and our logo design, and have exclusive rights to their use. It means we have proven to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) that we have distinguished the name as uniquely describing our business, enough that it cannot mean another company and is not vernacular. This affords us additional legal protection if our trademark is infringed upon, imitated, tampered with by altering or removing it from wares or print materials where it belongs, used or implied without permission, etc. Of course, it also prevents others from registering or using the same or a similar sounding name or trademark anywhere across Canada.

We’ve already started rolling out the new version of our logo with the (R) in place of the TM. However, because of our wide reach, our logo is out there in so many places that we anticipate it will take a few months before we are able to flush out every outdated instance (perhaps longer in some cases).

We ask that any businesses or groups who have older digital copies of our logo on file, to please discard these copies and request the new logo from us as needed prior to using it on any new materials. It is still acceptable for our older logos to be displayed within images of the cover or content from past editions of the magazine.

It’s hopefully a little known fact until now, that a competing LGBT publication once registered www.gaycalgary.net and www.gaycalgary.org to direct internet traffic to their own website, even though they were fully aware we had been using the GayCalgary name for nearly 10 years at the time. We had documented occurrences of this same publication censoring our logo with black squares when it appeared in ads they were publishing for events that we sponsored. These acts were blatant attempts to cause confusion between our two products and brands – perhaps with the intention of poaching readers and advertisers, or simply blotting us out of existence in their world. We had a messy battle that ended with the other company underhandedly (in the middle of lawsuit proceedings, without informing their own lawyer) selling the assets of their magazine to a new owner so that we would have nothing to sue them for. As they did this, they also transferred ownership of

www.gaycalgary.com

the two domains to a company in India where Canadian law had no jurisdiction to demand they be given back to us. At the point the lawsuit was moot - they had already cut off their own foot - so we didn’t proceed. We eventually did get both domains back after their registration period lapsed and their company out in India didn’t renew. Having our trademark registered at this time would have ended the whole situation swiftly and in our favour.

Meanwhile in Winnipeg, Manitoba, we were aware of Swerve Magazine (now Outwords Magazine) being forced to change their name, despite having used it for many years, due to the Calgary Herald launching their own “Swerve Magazine”. It was an accidental naming collision but, being run by a nonprofit organization, the smaller Manitoba publication did not have the resources to take on the larger Calgary paper legally.

Horrors like these motivated us to take measures to protect our name and brand. Even though the price was steep to initiate a trademark application, we felt it was worth the investment. However, getting our trademark registered was no easy matter – in fact it was quite an ordeal. The process took nearly 5 years from start to finish.

At first we had a third-party company handle the filing of the application, but they bailed out at the first sign of trouble.

Because the name GayCalgary didn’t directly describe the products that we offer through our business, it was necessary to make special case arguments. But we knew such a trade mark had to be obtainable because other companies had succeeded in registering trademarks such as GayCanada® and GayVancouver®.

I spent many nights studying application guidelines and trying to make sense of the reasons given for their initial rejections of our application.

We went through several iterations where I would adjust our application, resubmit, wait for several weeks for CIPO to get back to us with objections, and then I would adjust further. With how busy we were just running the magazine, there were several times when we cut it close, or had to ask for extensions on our deadlines for responding to their concerns. It was nerve wracking with the threat looming of our investment going down the toilet if we didn’t succeed.

What didn’t help is that, initially, we were paired up with a trademark representative who was of the mind that we should be paying a trademark lawyer the big bucks to handle

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GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

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 From Previous Page everything. As a result, he seemed reluctant to explain to us clearly what we needed to do to handle this ourselves.

Nevertheless, we were able to knock down the objections one by one, until we got to the juncture where we were required to prepare evidence to prove our trademark was recognized across Canada. After another dissatisfying conversation with our trademark rep about what this entailed, and our next deadline to respond or forfeit approaching fast, Steve finally managed to get a new rep to help us out. Thankfully it was a night and day difference – the tone of the conversation went from “I doubt you’ll pull this off, but try if you like” to “there’s no reason why you can’t do this”. The new rep was glad to explain to us what constituted evidence of use, and what other information they were interested in, in order to satisfy their requirements. He also told us what we needed to do to request an extension, which we did.

For this next step in the process, it paid off to have “the archives”. This is what we call the shelves full of boxes in our basement where we keep past editions of other publications, plus program guides, posters, catalogs and pamphlets from past events, concerts, and conferences. Our job was to sort through and catalog every occurrence that we could find of our logo appearing in publications across Canada (other than our own), as well as to document the estimated size and reach of audience that those print materials had received. Another catch was that we could only submit evidence from things that were published before our initial trademark application.

Ironically, the very publication that had tried to screw us became evidence in proving our trademark use across Canada. Because of our broad community involvement over the years, they had no choice but to let through numerous instances of our logo in ads that they published. We were able to feign ignorance and go with the print and distribution quantities that they claimed to advertisers, no matter how overinflated we knew them to be. They weren’t the keystone to our argument - we had a wide enough variety of other evidence that established our brand across Canada that we might have done without them – but they still worked in our favour. It felt satisfying on a karmic level to use the momentum from their own punches to trip them up in a way.

The guidelines for formatting the evidence that we provided to the trademark office were pretty loose, so we still did some nail biting as we waited to hear back from them on our submission. When we didn’t hear anything for several months, Steve finally phoned our rep to check if everything was alright.

Happily, our rep told us that our evidence was accepted, and that our trademark would be moving forward. Furthermore, he expressed that he was very impressed with the way we had prepared and organized the evidence – apparently a better job than he has seen paid trademark lawyers do.

This was very exciting news for us to hear, however we needed to wait through additional formalities before we could truly register the trademark. Once accepted, a trademark is published in a list for a period of 3 months, during which time anyone across Canada who can prove their own use of a conflicting trademark may raise objection, or if not, forever hold their peace. This was not an issue for our trademark, so the 3 months passed by uneventfully.

Finally, last month we paid an invoice for a nominal fee to finalize the registration of GayCalgary® as our trademark for the next 15 years. It was anti-climatic, but we were over the hump and this particular struggle was now in the past.

What a relief: one less thing on the back burners, and some peace of mind that we have earned exclusive rights to use the name GayCalgary, thus better enabling us to protect our brand by legal means should we ever need to.

January 2013

Online Last Month (1/2) Music Speaks For Itself at Nelly Furtado Concert I can’t help but feel for Nelly Furtado.

Her first tour of Canada in 5 years saw discounted tickets on groupon, shows cancelled in Winnipeg, Ottawa and Hamilton,... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3307

Creep of the Week Robert C. Jones

In the uphill battle for marriage equality, gays and lesbians have had to stare down many a disappointing court decision where bias and homophobia masqueraded... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3311

Deep Inside Hollywood

Matthew McConaughey joins The Dallas Buyers Club

Maybe you’ve seen photos of recent public appearances by actors Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto and wondered why they’re both so emaciated.

The... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3315

Hear Me Out

Ke$ha, Alicia Keys

Ke$ha, Warrior She’s tweeted a pic of her dildo “boyfriend” and written songs about getting drunk, stripping naked and getting hit on by old... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3316

The OutField

Chris Mosier runs after Hurricane Sandy

These days, if you can run, you can raise funds. Every weekend, it seems, there are road races to cure breast cancer, build schools in impoverished African... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3318

The Religious Freedom Red Herring Why people of faith are not the ‘real victims’ of the marriage equality fight

By the time you read this, you’ll probably know if the Supreme Court has decided to hear one of the three marriage equality cases knocking at its venerable... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3319

Creep of the Week Bernard McGuirk

December is upon us, dear readers. The halls are getting decked, gay apparel is being donned, people are striking harps and joining choruses, and a certain... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3312

We hosted the memorial for our friend Don Turgeon at the Backlot, as mentioned in last month’s Publisher’s column.

Many of his close friends from Calgary, and some even from 6

GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

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Online Last Month (2/2) Creep of the Week Antonin Scalia

A famous Italian Catholic has had a big change of heart regarding marriage equality after publicly saying some pretty nasty things about gays. “I’m upset... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3313

Hear Me Out Best of 2012

10. Cat Power, Sun Clocking in at just under 11 minutes, “Nothin’ But Time” starts simple enough, with just piano and fuzzy static – then... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3317

Tips for First Time Buyers

Choosing a Realtor before Finding a Home

Purchasing a first home is a wise financial investment and can provide priceless personal and emotional rewards as well. Home ownership offers an unprecedented... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3321

Confessions of a Marriage Doubter

When there’s so much more to LGBT rights, why all the fuss about marriage?

I’ve been writing about marriage a lot lately, which seems weird to me because even up to my own wedding in 2008, I had mixed feelings about the massive... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3320

Red Deer stopped by to pay their respects and reminisce with others at the function. We compiled a slide presentation of photos that we had from Don’s life, and played some of the mix CDs that we found amongst the stuff of his that we inherited.

At one point in the evening, we all gathered around the room and took turns sharing our memories about Don. Even the people he clashed with back in the Boyztown/Rekroom days were able to look back on those times with a certain fondness.

We’d like to thank the Backlot for hosting this event, East Village Café for catering, and La Fleur for providing flowers.

On a happier note, Cowboys Nightclub hosted an amazing event last month in partnership with OUTtv and GayCalgary Magazine that featured RuPaul’s Drag Race season 4 winner, Sharon Needles. While Sharon took to the stage for a few numbers, the focus was on selecting Calgary’s next drag superstar! A selection of contestants who applied for the competition were given the opportunity to perform and receive feedback from the panel of judges, which included Sharon.

The contestants brought their A-game to the stage (including Ruby Hymen who used a disc grinder to shoot sparks from her belt buckle), making for a very entertaining night. At the end of the show, the judges selected their top 3 contestants, and the audience selected a winner by applause. Deva Dave came out the victor for her glamorous performance. Following the show, patrons lined up for the opportunity to meet Sharon and get their photo taken with her. Cowboys was so busy that it was hard to move, and all in all it sounded like the people who attended had a really fun time – on a Wednesday night, to boot!

On a general note about Cowboys Nightclub, I have to say it’s refreshing to see how friendly and helpful the staff have been toward their newfound LGBT clientele. One of the security staff came to help me up the stairs as I was overburdened with our coats, camera, tripod, and a bag of things. It was so kind and unexpected that it caught me a little off guard, but it was appreciated nonetheless.

This Month Only a few days before press with this edition, FLASH Nightclub in Edmonton announced on their Facebook page that they are shutting down after February 23rd. Another bar is already slated to take its place after some renovations.

This will leave Edmonton with only 2 gay bars still standing: Buddys and Woodys, on different floors of the same building along Jasper Avenue. Steamworks, the only remaining gay bathhouse in Edmonton, is next door to the two bars.

Creep of the Week Pope Benedict XVI

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View Bonus Pics/Videos • Share with a Friend • Post Comments

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3314

Healthy Living: HIV Vaccines Get Closer to the End Zone There have been some big breakthroughs in HIV recently. These include advances showing that HIV infected people who take antiviral drugs are far less infectious... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3322

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GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

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Not Just for Fun.

Guitarist Jack Antonoff on LGBT activism, the band’s Ally Coalition and being straight with ‘lesbian chemicals’  fun, photos by Fueled by Ramen

By Chris Azzopardi If Nate Ruess, Jack Antonoff and Andrew Dost have taught us anything, it’s this: You can be fun. and still stand up for something serious.

The breakout single that sent the New York-based band’s sophomore album, Some Nights, soaring, “We Are Young” entered the pop-culture zeitgeist almost overnight with commercial spots and a Glee rendition.

Their ubiquitous earworms gave them a platform, and they stood on it and told the world – time and time again, during sold-out shows and in online essays – how they support equal rights.

In this interview with Jack Antonoff, the 28-year-old guitarist talks about being drawn to the gay community’s “inspiring” ways of uniting in the face of oppression, the stigma of being a straight man who doesn’t care about the fight and how he loves Lena Dunham like a lesbian.

GC: You’re one of the gay community’s biggest supporters, and you’ve been very outspoken about it. When and why did gay issues become so important to you?

JA: I wish there was a great story or a poetic answer, but I just don’t

know how anyone could not be outspoken and enraged with any violation of human rights. If the government decided tomorrow to strip Jews or African Americans of certain rights, no one would say, “How did you get involved with Jews’ human rights, blah blah blah?” It would just be this universal violation that we would all be up in arms about. But the issue of gay, bisexual and trans rights, the discrimination is so ingrained in us that it’s this slow-moving process of people realizing how shameful it is, the way we treat our citizens. Anyone who is even remotely cognizant is speaking up and fighting for equal rights.

GC: It’s hard for some people to understand that you don’t have to be gay to care about gay people. Is that the case for you and the band?

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GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

JA: One-hundred percent. That’s the big thing: We’re less concerned with the Westboro Baptist Church than we are with just the average American who has a good heart and is pretty smart but isn’t completely educated on the issues, and if this person knew everything would stand up and fight.

I think most Americans have no issue with homosexuality or gay people. They just think, “Oh, they have civil unions; we have marriage – what’s the difference? Who cares.”

They don’t realize that 1,000-plus rights are denied. They don’t think of adoption rights or work comp rights. Connecting all the dots is a huge thing and the difference between people being like, “Yeah, I think gay people should be equal” versus really making a big deal out of it and really thinking about it when they vote. The reason for the band speaking out is, if you have any sort of stage or soapbox in 2013 in America – and really anywhere in the world – you should be using that to discuss human rights and all people being treated equal.

GC: So as a celebrity you have a responsibility to speak up?

JA: Absolutely. It’s a really weird life. Public figures deserve privacy.

They don’t deserve to be thrown into the fire just because they have an audience. I mean, we’re out here because we’re artists, we’re songwriters. What I do is what I am and I would understand if someone only wanted to put out what they’re there to put out. But it’s just one of those complicated generations. Ten or 15 years ago it was a little different because at that point we were only X amount of years away from a learning curve of not really understanding what was going on.

But now, in 2013, we have all the information and we’ve seen the effects of homophobia and we’ve seen the effects of denying citizens’ rights. It’s just a time where I don’t think any of us have the luxury to not stand up.

www.gaycalgary.com

GC: As a straight ally in the fight for gay rights, what effect do you think you have on the gay rights movement that you wouldn’t if you were gay?

JA: It’s all about the power we each have based on who we are and where we come from. Obviously, LGBTQ people have the power that comes with being oppressed.

Those who are denied rights have the most inspiring voice in fighting for them. But beyond that, there is a distinct power that comes with being a person who is not denied rights but still cares and will fight for them as if they were their own rights. Furthermore, being someone who others presume wouldn’t care, or even opposes gay rights, gives you an even greater power in speaking up for gay rights.

There is stigma that comes along with being straight – like we don’t care. Being straight and standing up for gay rights is a statement that says “this is everyone’s issue.” We are not all free unless we are all free.

Just because I was born into the elite class of straight Americans who have maximum rights does not mean that I won’t fight as if it were me being denied human rights.

GC: If fun. were a band 30 years ago and had come out in favor of gay rights, you probably would have jeopardized your career. What does it say about this time in our lives that you’re able to stand up and still maintain a significant fan base?

JA: We get asked, “If you guys are gonna be political, do you worry you’ll be offending people who are coming to your shows?” And the answer for us is, “Well, if anyone has a problem with us, then they’re homophobic and hateful and we’re glad to not have them come to our shows.” (Laughs) It’s an amazing time, and I think with the way the Internet works, it’s easy to think that there’s a lot more hate than there is. Obviously we only hear the most disgusting stories and, as they should, the horror stories inspire change. But what we’ve learned from touring and being outspoken in the press about this is that there is great support – and even where there isn’t great support, there is a hunger for knowledge.

We set up booths at our shows and it’s not like people are coming up slamming their fists down and being like, “Stop redefining the family.”

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JA: (Laughs) We haven’t really begun yet, because we have this theory. We’ve all been at this for, like, 12 years (in different bands) and there’s always this crazy hunger to work on new material. When you work on new material while you’re out promoting your current album, it becomes like this inside joke – we’re out there playing and imagining a new song that (we’re) not sharing with our audience.

So we made a conscious effort to stay in Some Nights mode because if we thought too much about the future or worked too much on new songs, it would be like making out with the person you’re with and imagining someone else. We’d be cheating on our audience. That might sound pathetic, but the point is, we’re playing our biggest shows ever, people are really excited over this album and we’re gonna deliver best if we stay here. We always work really well in the moment, and the next album will be no exception.

We never get that. We get people coming up and saying, “I don’t really know why this issue matters.”

GC: Will you bring the booth on the current tour? And how about The Ally Coalition that the band and your sister, Rachel, recently formed – is that coming with you, as well?

JA: The Ally Coalition, or TAC as we call it, will be with us for the foreseeable future. We’ve always done a lot with the issue and then we realized that if we had a big umbrella to funnel all this under, we could do so much more. So we started The Ally Coalition, which is a nonprofit.

And it’s kind of boundless.

On this tour, we’re really going to be getting into homeless gay youth in different cities. We’ll be working with different shelters.

What’s really cool about TAC is it has given us the opportunity to participate in all the different aspects of what comes along with human rights, and there are a lot of sub issues. We’re just trying to focus on different areas on different tours. A dollar from every ticket goes to The Ally Coalition and then that money gets funneled out to the coalition and what we do, and then a decent portion we donate to different gay groups.

GC: Because I’m a gay man, I can’t end this interview without asking you if your relationship with Lena Dunham is anything like an episode of her show, Girls.

GC: You’re on the road through the rest of the year. How does fun. have fun on the road?

JA: We’re really square. Our definition of fun at this point is just taking care of ourselves. We all get great joy out of not eating disgusting food, getting a lot of sleep and going to the movies. But our schedules have been so completely insane, so the great enjoyment aside from playing – which is the greatest joy of all – is just trying to be like a normal person out there and not like you’re on Mars.

GC: There are a lot of queer people who look at “We Are Young” as an

anthem of liberation and individuality. How does it feel knowing you’ve written the theme song for a new generation of not just youth but queer youth?

JA: That’s just the coolest thing I’ve ever heard, because it’s always subcultures – it’s always people who are oppressed – that are the most vibrant. That’s part of the reason why I feel so drawn to the gay community in general – the very fact that there’s an opposition in general that creates an amazing community within the gay community. You can’t really find that anywhere else. It’s inspiring.

GC: Were any of the songs on Some Nights written with the gay community in mind?

JA: Not initially and not directly, besides “One Foot,” which talks about being in the closet and the church and the offensive things that come out of there. But these are songs about feeling separate and about feeling pushed aside and feeling down on yourself and pushing on.

That’s the theme of the album. That’s the idea of all of it: carrying on and moving on. “Carry On” speaks to the same issues that gay people go through, which is a lot of the same issues that a lot of people go through.

It’s just on a different scale. It’s about having other people treat you like you’re less than and finding a way to move on.

GC: I don’t have to tell you this, but this next album will be a crucial one for you. You have six Grammy nominations to live up to. What’s your game plan for the third album?

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about our relationship.

JA: (Laughs) No – there’s nothing awkward or clunky about our relationship. I think what probably happens when you put two awkward/clunky people together is that their awkward/clunky world seems like a normal world. And I think that’s something that’s nice

GC: I could picture you two dancing to Robyn in her bedroom, though.

JA: I’ve been dancing to Robyn since Body Talk came out. Anyone

who has ears should be dancing to Robyn. (Laughs)

GC: Both of you are gay magnets, and for different reasons. You’ve been said to have a lot of lesbian friends, actually.

JA: I do.

GC: If you were to compete in a gay-off with Lena, who would win?

JA: It would be a really epic tie. We both have so many wonderful gay

people in our lives. People identify with other people for different reasons, and I personally am really comfortable around lesbians because, in some ways, we view women the same way. I’ve never really identified with the way a typical alpha-male views women. It’s always an awkward forum for me to hang out with another guy and talk about girls, because I can’t really find a way to fit in. I’ve never really had those big macho alpha qualities.

So a lot of my lesbian friends have this way that they talk about women, and in the way they connect with them I just feel a little bit more comfortable. Which kind of makes me think that maybe I’m a straight man with, like, lesbian chemicals. I think you can be a man who loves a woman but love someone the way a gay man loves another man or a woman loves a woman.

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Community

Edmonton Pride Centre

A chat with new Executive Director, Mickey Wilson

By Lisa Luney Mickey Wilson took time from his busy schedule running the Edmonton Pride Centre to chat with GayCalgary Magazine about changes to the centre, plans for the New Year and more.

GC: On behalf of GayCalgary Magazine, congratulations on the new position!

MW: Thanks. It is exciting and daunting!

GC: Starting fresh with a new year, what are some of your resolutions?

MW: I don’t make resolutions. I haven’t for 25 years. People always say, “None? There must be one thing.” I don’t make resolutions and no matter how many times people ask my answer doesn’t change. In my experience, everyday life is a mixed sort of affair. For most of us we can’t have everything we want so it seems prudent to be satisfied with what we have and accept what we cannot change. I’ve tried whining and complaining but it made no difference at all. Each day rolls into the next regardless of whether we choose to laugh or cry. None of us knows what life has in store for us.

So while I don’t make resolutions I do try to learn what each day has to offer, take pleasure when and where it’s offered, and accept that both sunshine AND the rain have an important place in the grand scheme of things.

GC: That is a refreshing view! Can you offer readers a sneak peak at the Mickey that the public doesn’t see? What are some of your passions, hobbies and favourite pastimes?

MW: My greatest passion is justice, not only for the LGBTTQ community but also for all people. I want to leave the world having changed it a little every day because I have changed and grown. That way I think we can make the world a better place.

I am blessed to have someone significant in my life. Although our journey is vastly different than we imagined, we support the other’s dreams and give each other the freedom to follow them.

I also love my dogs. I have four wonderful creatures that I was privileged to adopt. Chiclet and Luna are Corgi crosses and Ringo and George are purebred Pembroke Welsh Corgis. They keep me active, warm and going home every night.

I love books and poetry but don’t have enough time to read or write like I want. And I love warm sunny summer heat!

GC: It must be extremely exciting and rewarding to now be the head of the EPC. Can you tell us your feelings about your position?

MW: It is exciting and for me it is truly “living the dream.” I have been an active chair stacker, board member, ticket seller, activist, balloon blower, sign maker and advocate in the queer community for over 25 years. All volunteer...and loved it. Now I get paid to go do what I love every day. What could be better than that?

GC: What was it about the Edmonton Pride Centre that drew you in and motivated you to take on such a challenging position?

MW: I have seen the Pride Centre in many incarnations and was at the meeting where GLCCE was put away and a new opportunity was given birth. We all know that the Pride Centre is an important part of the Edmonton landscape and I truly believe that it can get to that next level. With the support of the community, which is critical, it can be a vibrant and sustainable entity that serves the many aspects of our community.

GC: Can you tell our readers a bit more about your role at the Edmonton Pride Centre?

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 Vanity Fair, Mickey Wilson and JJ Velour

MW: As Executive Director I am responsible for daily operations: overseeing staff and programming, facilities etc; fundraising and grant writing and development of a culture of support and giving in the community. I also work closely with the Board of Directors to take their priorities and develop a strategic plan. From there my role is to weave my vision through the logic model and bring it to life! Everyday can feel a bit like the magic of the Yellow Brick Road if we let it. And of course there is the mopping of floors, renovating and appreciating as well as indulging in the lovely pastries our fabulous volunteers bring in.

GC: What changes have you already made? What changes will you work toward for the future?

MW: I have already made a number of changes to the space, to the engagement of community, to the direction of programming. The biggest change I want to make is to create a sense of ownership in the community, build energy and have the Centre be an active and tangible presence in the LGBTTQ community and into the broader community as well. I want to build relationships and partnerships and be a space that has something for almost anyone, even if they think they don’t need it. Out tag line is “Your Community ~ Your space’” I hope I can make that so.

GC: Prior to your involvement at the Pride Centre can you tell us about your participation in the community?

MW: I have spent that last 4 years living south of Lethbridge.

I was active in the community there as President of the local queer community organization. I participated in planning the first Pride celebration there, developed a linkage with the City and the Police Department, schools, BGC and started a youth group and annual camp out.

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But before going there I lived in Edmonton for many, many years. I was involved in many community organizations here over the years and have many deep ties in the queer community in Edmonton. I was Chair of Pride, pastor at Lambda church, volunteer at Womonspace, Prairies Regional rep for EGALE, founder of TTIQ, Chair of the national Trans committee and participant in many other local committees and round tables.

But most importantly, I have friendships and colleagues and mentors and teachers that have been a part of my life for over 30 years. Edmonton has not always been my favourite place in the world (there are warmer climates!) but, it is a place I can hang my hat and my heart and call home.

GC: The Alberta LGBT community is such a tight-knit family.

How do you plan to include the younger generation, and welcome them into the community in the coming years?

MW: All families change and grow and welcome new members into their midst. It is the way the world turns. The queer family is no different. Each member is important, each voice needs to be heard, each generation valued, understood and respected in context. The youth have much to offer, the older people in our midst have already given much and have so much history and wisdom to share. Those of us in the middle can support some and mentor others. We have the financial stability to be philanthropists ensuring that the new generations have a doorstep to come to, find safe space and get their questions answered when the time comes.

If we ask the right questions and listen, every age in our community will find a place to belong at the Centre and inside this vibrant and diverse community.

GC: What do you hope to see in the community for 2013?

MW: I hope that the community takes ownership of the Centre and supports it - in other communities too. It is very hard to find support and access funding and people need to step up and donate, become regular givers.

I also hope that people will expand their circle of welcome, learn something new and find ways to leave a positive, lifechanging footprint in the world around them. I hope the alphabet soup figures out that we are all in the pot together and that we are stronger and better because of it! I also hope people who haven’t, will find the support, courage and strength to come out, to be who they want to be and love who they love.

And I hope the rest of us will be there to walk alongside. It’s a tough journey sometimes and we need all the help we can get.

GC: What is your five-year plan for the Edmonton Pride Centre?

MW: Well, there really isn’t enough space for a lot of details but it is to create a vibrant, relevant and sustainable community Centre: good programming and resources; fun events that target the many different audiences we serve; good education components and a healthy communities focus; meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships and partners; a strong and focused voice; a welcoming and responsive space. That’s the kind of Centre we are building.

GC: Is there anything else you wish to share with readers of GayCalgary Magazine?

MW: Come see me, or if you can’t then call or send me an Email. If you don’t know me, then let’s get to know each other.

If you do and it’s been a while, let’s reconnect. If you were here last week...come again! Oh yeah, and don’t forget to make a donation.... we are counting on you!

GC: Thank you Mickey! We look forward to a bright future.

The Pride Centre of Edmonton 10608-105 Avenue, Edmonton, AB http://www.PrideCentreOfEdmonton.org http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3325

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GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

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Lindi Ortega

Toronto’s best kept secret comes to romance Calgary

By Janine Eva Trotta “I’d rather have you still beside me than have you always running through my mind… Oh look out California, I’m coming for my lover’s heart tonight.”

Pretty lyrics sung from a pretty mouth. Lindi Ortega, or “indie Lindi” as she has come to be hailed, is not a household name yet, but her vocals are certainly reminiscent of many a well loved classic singing legend.

Ortega has been called a mix of Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Johnny Cash. I hear a Canadian voice in that melange too, something of a Sarah Slean. Ortega is a unique mix of Irish and Mexican blood and says both backgrounds have come to influence her vocal practice.

“I hear a lot of country in old Irish Folk tunes; I feel they are very similar,” she says. “I also think, rhythmically, my guitar playing is very influenced by Latino music.”

Cigarettes & Truckstops is Ortega’s aptly titled latest record, released in October of last year by Last Gang Records - the Canadian label that formed and launched the band Metric at a time when no one else would take them on. The label has also worked with Canadian big timers the New Pornographers, K-OS, Chromeo, Noize and Tiga.

Since 2010 Ortega has been touring hard including a circuit as backup singer for Killers’ frontman Brandon Flowers on his promotion of a solo album entitled Flamingo. She has performed dates throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, Mexico and the States and in 2012 received two Juno nominations for New Artist of the Year and Roots & Traditional Album: Solo for her first album release, Little Red Boots. This was followed by a naming as a long list nominee for the Polaris Music Prize.

Ortega has opened for the likes of k.d. Lang, Social Distortion, Dierks Bentley, and James Vincent McMorrow, and recently appeared on ABC’s new hit series Nashville performing the debut single off her second album, The Day You Die. Her solo tour that kicked off in December in Los Angeles will bring her to Calgary on February 16th at the Palomino, in Edmonton on February 17th at the Avenue Theatre, and to the Jasper Legion on February 18th before heading west for the tour’s completion in Victoria on February 23rd.

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“I live mostly in hotels and tour vans, but my home address is Nashville, Tennessee,” she says. “I love the adventure. I love meeting new people.”

Her style is fun to watch and her tunes are catchy. Her videos have a vintage style, incorporating Super 8 footage and classic western backdrops.

“I love old school country and outlaw country, as well as a lot of folks, roots, rock and blues,” she says. “Sometimes I make up dark little tales in my mind about murder and such.”

Her new album is said to be largely based on her move from Toronto to Nashville, a move that brought her closer to the origins of several of her influences, such as Hank Williams.

Billboard has called it, “…heartfelt and mood-inducing, a uniquely bluesy twist on pre-outlaw country.”

It features tracks that should indeed accompany any journeyer on their long ride to wherever their destination may be.

Although the old country, bayou feel is a great listen the last track is where I believe Ortega really finds her own voice. Every Mile of the Ride is that melancholy song you conclude a mix CD with, that you name your theme song as your train pulls away from a sojourn in Europe.

As for the Californian lover she sings sultry warning of her coming to, in the title track Cigarettes & Truckstops, he will just need to keep on waiting. “…that romance was ill-fated,” Ortega says.

Lindi Ortega: On Tour Feb 16th – the Palomino, Calgary Feb 17th – the Avenue Theatre, Edmonton Feb 18th – the Jasper Legion http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3326

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13

Off the Beaten Path: Violence, Women and Art

The Art Gallery of Calgary Gives Voice to an Issue too Often Mute

By Janine Eva Trotta Not all art paints a pretty picture. But what it can do, instead, is offer an impactful prospective on a subject that needs to be asserted.

Off the Beaten Path, the current exhibit at the Art Gallery of Calgary (AGC), aims to motivate its viewer toward social change with a powerful collection of artworks created by 32 international artists.

“When we encounter violence against women, we often experience a sort of blindness,” describes the show’s curator, Randy Jayne Rosenberg. “We choose not to see the devastation of domestic violence, calling it a family affair. Honour-killings of women in faraway regions of the world become nothing more than a cultural difference.”

The show intends to bring these themes close to home. In fact, written on the gallery’s wall are these chilling words, taken from the Calgary Emergency Women’s Shelter: every 6 days a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner.

These are not issues that exist somewhere else or belong to someone else. These are our themes on display for us to submerge ourselves in, think about, and emerge with a positive discourse for change.

“The beauty of this project is that it combines the highest integrity of art with important messaging and storytelling,” Rosenberg says.

And through this non-tabloid, non-media approach the show intends to use the language of art to represent a real senseless suffering, and to create a new approach to addressing this global problem; an approach that aims to take women and all those affected by this form of violence “off the beaten path”.

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“The works themselves were not created for this show,” explains The AGC’s Chief Curator Kayleigh Hall. “The artists were working within their own practices and the curator selected these pieces to comprise the show.”

This means a stunning array of multi-media contemporary art pieces encompass every space offered by the gallery’s four floors.

From Cut Pieces, a film by Yoko Ono made in 1965 which plays on two old television monitors purchased at a pawn shop, to a collection of exotic mix material dresses that hang in eerie silence by Peruvian artist Cecilia Parades, the exhibit takes us through a harrowing journey of various forms of gender based violence.

Curator Anne Ewen booked Off the Beaten Path at the AGC with two intentions: to find a show that would attract new audiences for the gallery and to showcase a number of international artists.

Indeed this show achieves these goals, but more intuitively it forces its viewer to examine an all too infringed human rights violation through the glasses of several different cultures. That is the right for women to be safe in her home, in her government, in her society and within her own skin.

Thus the exhibit is grouped into five sub-themes: Violence and the Family; Violence and Politics; Violence and the Community; Violence and the Individual; and Violence and Culture.

We see the large knotted brooms that Mexican women in border towns have reintroduced culturally as a method of symbolically sweeping the demons that have taken so many

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of their daughters and sisters away from them; as a symbol of their suffering.

On a ceiling hangs several sheer chiffon sheets inked with female silhouettes, perpetually in motion yet forever suspended.

Korean artist Jung Jungyeob suggests these figures are suspended in anonymity and held in insignificance.

On a wall, nine pictures selected from a photography project that took place in Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia illustrate the struggles that women dwelling in areas of conflict face. A Global Crescendo: Women’s Voices from Conflict Zones gave cameras to several women in these countries, to empower them to take images of their own trying circumstances.

“Off the Beaten Path promises to be the first of many exhibitions at The AGC which promote an exchange among community-based initiatives and groups, augmented by a wonderful roster of public and education programs,” says Hall.

Indeed the calendar for February and March are well stocked with screenings, talks and workshops.

February 14th the gallery will screen The Burning Times at the Central Branch library, a documentary that examines the witch hunts that occurred in Europe in the 18th Century, what the films deems as a time of “female holocaust”.

On the 16th the gallery will interview and photograph Third Street Theatre, Calgary’s new LGTBQ performance creation ensemble, for a future online exhibit.

February 21st at the Central Branch, Heaven on Earth, a film that explores the isolation and disappointments experienced by a Punjabi family who immigrate to Canada, will be screened; and on February 28th, Finding Dawn, a documentary commemorating the estimated 500 Aboriginal women who have disappeared or been murdered in Canada over the last 30 years will be shown.

March 6th, Josie Nepinak, Director of the Awo Taan Healing Lodge, will share the story of her cousin’s disappearance off the streets of Winnipeg in 2011 at the AGC. The following evening, collaborative quilting artists Linda Hawke and Cat Schick will discuss their initiative on the exploration of female perspective of sleep and dreams, and support of healing through art.

October 19th and 20th, the gallery will host a Chicago-based initiative entitled the Voices and Faces project, in which writing is used as a form of therapy following sexual abuse. Though the workshop is free, participants will need to submit an www.gaycalgary.com

application. The workshop has space for twenty contributors. If interested you may contact the gallery by phone.

Calgary marks this traveling show’s 10th stop thus far, and inaugural showing in Canada, though recently the show has been booked by the Art Gallery of Winnipeg for 2014.

Off the Beaten Path opened in Norway before heading to galleries throughout the United States and Mexico.

When the show closes at The AGC March 9th, it will be packed up to head next to Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa.

The show offers viewers a message tree on which to leave their comments and thoughts about what they saw in the gallery. According to the messages left thus far, Hall says the show has been well received.

For more information on public programs or to attend a workshop visit The AGC website.

The Art Gallery of Calgary 403.770.1350 http://www.artgallerycalgary.org http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3327

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Community

Alberta Positive Voices Conference 2013

By Mark Randall, AIDS Calgary The Alberta Positive Voices Conference (APVC) is a biannual event that brings together people living with HIV/AIDS from across the province to learn about better health management and new advances in the pandemic, while providing opportunities to form networks of friendship and support. Current estimates show that over 71,000 Canadians have HIV/AIDS, including more than 4,000 Albertans. This year’s conference, Back to our Roots; Building our Future, will be held March 15th to 17th, in Nordegg, Alberta and it will bring together 100 people living with HIV/AIDS and their spouses/ partners for what has been described as a life changing experience.

This APVC is unique because it is planned and delivered by people living with HIV/AIDS for and to people living with HIV/AIDS. Positive individuals participate at all levels; as planners, committee members, speakers and attendees.

Positive Voices epitomizes the MIPA principle: the meaningful involvement of people with HIV/AIDS. The APVC was first started in 1999; hosted and organized

by Living Positive and held at the Grey Nuns Centre in Edmonton. From that time through today it has been hosted

by HIV Edmonton, Central Alberta AIDS Network, Wood

Buffalo HIV Society and AIDS Calgary with growth at each event to impact positively on the lives of over 700 Persons Living with HIV/AIDS in Alberta.

The APVC is funded through the Alberta Community Council on HIV and additional funders and donors and hosted for 2013 for the first time by Lethbridge HIV Connection. The APVC all inclusive scholarship provides transportation to the conference and back via Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer pick up locations and includes all meals, snacks, conference supplies and accommodations.

We have our advisory committee members prepared to assist you with scholarship application, questions about the conference, seeking and collecting sponsorships, donations or other items and to act as liaisons speaking to the overall conference details and updates to community. Committee members are available in Edmonton, Calgary, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge to anyone interested in applying to attend or supporting the 2013 APVC. Scholarship application forms are available at your local AIDS Service Organization or you can fill out the online scholarship application by following this link: http://www.gaycalgary.com/u541 The APVC works to break isolation, foster self-esteem, growth and understanding of living with HIV/AIDS while building the capacity of future leaders living with HIV/ AIDS; to better inform policy and services, break the isolation created by HIV stigma and discrimination and build personal advocacy skills in PLWHIV/AIDS in Alberta.

The APVC is currently accepting abstract submissions for the conference, and additional sponsors and donors to provide the best experience possible. If you are able to provide any of these services or items we would be happy to provide details and answer any questions. For any additional information, please use the contact information at the end of this article.

Mark Randall, APVC Committee Chair Email: bakrboy@hotmail.com Phone: 403-669-9936 Fax: 403-263-7358 http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3328

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GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

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Brandy Will Always Love You

Singer talks gay following, her zero tolerance for hate and why Frank Ocean’s coming out is a ‘gift’

By Chris Azzopardi The ’90s wouldn’t have been the same without Brandy. The plucky then-teen, who was just 16 when she released her 1994 debut, dominated the charts with an iconic run of hits: “I Wanna Be Down,” “Have You Ever” and her diva-off with Monica, “The Boy is Mine,” a song so abiding that even Glee couldn’t resist a cover.

But with a starring role in Moesha, debuting in 1996, the crosspollinating performer quickly made it clear that she wanted to conquer not just music but acting, too. Later that decade, she’d star in Cinderella with Whitney Houston.

Brandy’s relationship with the legendary icon, and the tragedy of her death last year, is evoked in the title of Brandy’s latest album, Two Eleven, eerily representing the day Houston died and also Brandy’s birthday.

Now 33 and recently engaged, Brandy opened up about those early years as a tomboy, how she can still channel heartbreak despite her happiness and why her gay audience is, as she says, “the best audience.”

GC: Can you believe it’s been almost 20 years since you released your self-titled debut?

B: Oh my lord. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long. I remember doing the photo shoot for the album like it’s yesterday. I have so many memories of doing the first album and working with some of the producers that I worked with, and being in the middle of Times Square doing the video (for “Baby”). I remember certain things about that album like it was yesterday.

GC: And how about those clothes? You were such a tomboy then.

B: I was! I was a tomboy. I still am sometimes. Boys are fun.

(Laughs) It’s fun, you know, wearing the boots and the baggy clothes – and the hat! Back then baggy clothes on a girl were so cute. If you didn’t have baggy clothes, you were not hot.

GC: Besides your fashion evolution, how else have you changed between that album and Two Eleven?

B: With the first album I was just a teenager trying to find my way. Now I’m a woman and I know very much who I am, but I have not lost that innocence and that shy part of who I am. I’m still very shy. You would be shocked to find out that I’m still stage fright, and although I will talk to anybody I meet – I’ll have a full conversation with them – there are still some things that make me shy and bashful. I never wanna lose that. I never wanna lose the part of me that I had when I first started – you know, the humble side. You always wanna be appreciative, and I think I’m more that now because of my struggle and because of everything that I’ve been through. I’m appreciative for every little thing that comes my way – even this conversation, to bring awareness to me and my music is a blessing.

GC: That’s what keeps you grounded, right?

B: Yeah, I’m very grounded. Too grounded! (Laughs) GC: You say you’re shy. What makes Brandy blush?

B: When people express how they feel about me and my music, and when people come up to me and cry when they meet me, I just feel so awkward. It just makes me so introverted. I don’t know.

Continued on Next Page   Brandy, photos by Gomillion & Leupold

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GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

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When other people I admire say things and people just go on and on, it makes me feel really weird. And when people talk about me like I’m not there, that’s weird. And when people put me on the spot – I don’t like being put on the spot. It’s just – I get really shy at times. And I’m stage fright. Oh my god. Right before I get on stage, I’m just like a – I was about to curse. (Laughs) I’m a nervous wreck.

GC: You didn’t seem so shy when you were singing a love song to a gay guy at San Jose Pride a few years ago. Yeah, that’s right – I saw the YouTube video. Do you remember that?

B: (Laughs) I do, I do! It’s funny, when I get into the zone onstage, it really becomes about my fans and making them happy and making them feel my heart, so the shyness goes away a little bit onstage. Like, once I’m there, once I start, I can sing to my gay fans – and my straight fans, and whoever wants to hear me sing – and I’ll get through it.

GC: When did you know you had a gay following?

B: This older guy came up to me – I was about 16 years old – and I think he was my makeup artist’s friend or boyfriend. They didn’t really admit it to me, but I kind of thought something was going on, and he comes up to me and he’s like, “Brandy, girl! We gay boys love you! We looooove you.” And I’m like, “Really? That’s dope!”

One of my best friends was gay in high school and he just had so much love for me, but I didn’t know I had a following of gay fans, and so he was like, “Oh, and you so pretty. If I was straight I would take you out.” (Laughs) He just made me feel so good, and then I noticed that a lot of gay people loved me and just made me feel so good. I have two gay best friends now, and I know they will keep it all the way real with me.

If I’m not looking my best or if I could have sounded better, I go to them because they’re gonna tell me the truth.

Everywhere I go, (my gay fans) come out and support me and make me feel so loved and so appreciated. I did a whole run of gay clubs recently with the album. I would do my other stuff and then go and perform at like 2 in the morning. The energy just feels completely different. Like, they go in for me. And I’m telling you, I become this other person onstage because of that. Ah, I could go on and on about my gay fans.

GC: So you did a club run for Two Eleven?

B: I did. I did a lot of stuff in New York. I did some stuff in – oh, where was I? I don’t know where I’ve been, but it was specifically for my gay fans. They have been the best audience for me. It’s just a different level of love. It feels like overseas love, because when you go overseas and you haven’t been in a long time they go crazy – and that’s how I feel.

GC: You seem to know your gay fans pretty well. Which songs off the album do they love?

B: I know they love “Let Me Go” and “Do You Know What You Have.” They’ve really been showing a lot of love for Two Eleven as a whole. But I go to this site that one of my gay fans started for me called BrandySource.net and get all of their opinions on what I should do next, if they didn’t like my outfit … I need to know what they think! And they’re gonna tell me the truth. I love that. And it’s no shade, either! It’s just all love.

GC: My favorite songs of yours have always been the ballads.

There’s nothing like a Brandy ballad. How are you so good at sounding so sad?

B: (Laughs) Because I’ve been through a world of pain. I’ve had my heart broken a few times at a very young age – and then after that, somebody else broke my heart. So I’ve had my encounters with heartbreak, and I can remember what that felt like.

GC: You and Frank Ocean haven’t just worked together, as you did on this album, but you’re also friends. What did you think of

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his coming-out letter on Tumblr?

B: I was so amazed by that. It was just so brave and it represented so much.

His truth just set him free.

I just think that when you can tell your truth – and are proud of your truth and use your truth for your art and to inspire someone else to connect with their truth – you are now a gift. He is a gift.

GC: Do you think the urban community is more accepting and open when it comes to gay people than it was when you first started two decades ago?

B: It better be more accepting. This is just the way it is, and people just need to realize that love is unconditional. It knows no sex, no race, no culture. It just knows itself. That’s it.

And if people don’t want to see that, then they’re blind.

I have no words for people who don’t want to accept or see that.

GC: Did you notice early in your career much homophobia within the urban community?

B: I’ve always been a part of that world. I’ve always accepted people for who they are and what they want to do. I wasn’t ever like, “Oh my god, that’s amazing that this person’s gay or that that person’s this.” I’ve never really looked at it like that. It’s always been a part of my life.

I went to Hollywood High School and I saw everything, and I was so amazed by my best friend. He knew how to do the splits! I didn’t even know how to do the splits. I’m like, “Dang, you know how to do the splits?! I don’t know how to do the splits. We’re in the same damn class. You’re a boy, I’m a girl – what’s up with that?” We just connected and it’s just always been a part of me. I never really looked at it.

GC: Your daughter is 10 now. How are you teaching her acceptance and love for everyone?

B: I teach her that love is unconditional. It knows itself and that’s it. My tennis coach is a lesbian and she’s got a great partner and

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they have a child together, and we’ve all hung out.

It’s not something I keep from her. She needs to know that this is the way it is and that love is gonna do what it do. That’s what I teach her. She loves my gay friends and she loves my tennis coach and her partner, too. To her, this is the way it’s supposed to be.

GC: For the new album, Frank wrote “Scared of Beautiful,” a song you’ve said you relate to. Does that mean gay men understand women better than straight men?

B: I honestly think that gay men understand women differently than straight men understand women, because my gay friends are like my girls sometimes. They understand me more than my girls understand me. They understand me sometimes more than women understand me, so you know they’re gonna understand me a little more than my man understands me. (Laughs) My gay friends are like my girlfriends, and I connect to them sometimes more than my actual girlfriends because they just get it. They get it on the man side and they get it on the girl side, too. And sometimes straight men just get it on the man side and they think you’re trippin’. They think you mad at them! Your gay friends are like, “Girl, I feel you.”

GC: Beyoncé told me the same thing when I interviewed her: that when she refers to the girls running the world, she also means the gays.

B: Yes, B! B, I agree, girl. You guys give us life.

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GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

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The Tegan and Sara Interview

Quin sisters on pop evolution, advantages of having a lesbian sibling and why more artists should come out  Tegan and Sara, photos by Lindsey Brynes

By Chris Azzopardi They’ve been on the verge of straight-up pop music for years, but Tegan and Sara are going all in with Heartthrob.

Don’t think they’re all happy and stuff, though.

“It’s our most heartbreaking record,” Tegan reassures. “It’s a great record for people who loved our past music. It’s just that they have to get past the sound.”

The sound she’s referring to was captured in all its heavenly bliss when their seventh album’s first single, “Closer,” instantly aligned itself with some of the best pop songs of the mid ’90s.

We revisited that defining era in music – and even before then, when the girls were hanging New Kids on the Block posters in their bedroom – during our new interview with the Quin sisters.

GC: Are your house parties anything like the one in the video for “Closer”?

Sara: We were reimagining our teen years when we were putting this video together. In middle school and high school, we loved house parties. Our house parties then would’ve been an R-rated version of this. We were fairly disgusting and doing things that I would be embarrassed to have on camera. I’m like an old woman now. A house party for me now means more than two people over and me going to the store to get wine. (Laughs) Tegan: Our house parties have gotten quite a bit less interesting than they were when we were younger. I still think we can throw down a pretty mean shindig, but we don’t generally do karaoke. And I’ve never had a costume party.

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GC: “Closer” could really be the theme song to somebody’s first kiss. What songs remind you of your first?

Sara: There’s something about Björk, because this girl I had a crush on loved (Post), and if I hear it now I’m completely transported back to high school. I never could have told her that I felt something for her, that I had a crush, so whenever I hear any songs off of Post I immediately go there.

Tegan: I remember discovering Ani DiFranco and really embracing the side of me that liked girls. I was also really into Ace of Base and I would sit in my parents’ huge Jacuzzi tub in their bathroom and fill up the tub after school and sit in it and talk on the phone (with my friends) and listen to that Ace of Base record over and over again. It’s so weird that I was naked the whole time. (Laughs) GC: Was your first kiss with a boy?

Tegan: My first kiss was with a boy. If anything, I loved having boyfriends because I could talk about how much I liked girls with them all the time. (Laughs) In my teen years I dated boys but I didn’t hate it. I wasn’t like, “Oh, gross.” And then I kissed a girl and was like, “One’s not right and one is definitely awesome.”

GC: For this album you really immersed yourself in ’80s and ’90s pop music. What was the first pop album you owned?

Sara: My first choice as a child was New Kids on the Block.

We had all the records, sleeping bags and posters. Everything you could possibly have. Then I branched into punk, grunge, rock and indie rock. It’s only recently, in the last six or seven years, that I’ve gotten back into what I would now classify as pop music.

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Tegan: New Kids on the Block was huge for us. That first cassette tape that came out in 1986 was, besides children’s music, the first music that we picked ourselves. It was very empowering. Around that same time, I remember really getting excited about Michael Jackson, because he was on the radio all the time. In sixth and seventh grade it was Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul and Ace of Base. I think our parents were slightly horrified because we grew up with U2 and Bruce Springsteen, so we were much more blue-collar than that. Then came dance music – as much as we were total punkers and really into hardcore music, we were really into dance music, too. And then we got into Nirvana and we’d go to raves on the weekend. We were very confusing. (Laughs) GC: Why didn’t a full-on pop album come before this one? Are you just at a point in your career where you don’t really care what people think?

Sara: We’ve been around now for 13 years, and you almost do stop caring what people think. If anything, you try to stop caring because you think to yourself, “We made some of our best music when we didn’t have an audience. We didn’t think anybody cared about us. So maybe it’s best to go back to when you’re trying to excite yourself and the band, and ultimately people will gravitate toward that.”

Tegan: I think we were self-conscious. We didn’t think we could just jump right in, and I’m so glad we didn’t. I think we would’ve alienated our audience – and I also think we would’ve just alienated ourselves from our genre, as well. We were so indie rock that if, all of sudden, we made a pop record, they would’ve been like, “What the fuck?” This gradual evolution has

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been necessary. I don’t think we would’ve existed if we had tried to do it differently.

GC: Did you worry about the hipsters who can’t really appreciate anything beyond that angsty indie rock?

Tegan: No. It’s not necessarily hipsters, but there is a certain type of person who is really interested in what’s cool and being hip, but they don’t actually buy records. So when we sat down to make this record with Greg Kurstin, we talked about our fears. He said, “Don’t worry about your fans. You wrote great songs. Who cares if you put a bunch of keyboards on it? That is what you’re listening to; it’s what you’re inspired by. Embrace that part of yourself and don’t worry.”

Heartthrob is that record where I just want people who love that record. We’ll take anybody. I don’t really care. If people from the dance world like it, great. If people from the indie world like it, great. If it’s those people who like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, that’s fine, too.

GC: Sara, feeling isolated within the queer community and not having LGBT role models is what inspired your song “I’m Not Your Hero.” But you had Tegan. Most people would think that would be the best kind of support. Is that not the case?

Sara: Certainly having Tegan in my life has meant that I feel inherently supported, because I have someone who is like me and who is going through a lot of the same experiences I am. My life would be entirely different if Tegan were straight. I’ve always had this person who reflects, for good and for bad, so much of me. We look the same, and we enjoy so many of the same things and have so many of the same ideas about the world. We have this band and we also share this culture and identity of being queer.

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I can say all that now as an adult in my 30s, when I’ve built a whole language for myself around that identity – but when I was 15, 16, 17, I didn’t have any of that. In fact, I had no idea if I was really gay or if Tegan was gay. I didn’t understand any of that. I was astoundingly confused and blind about what was really going on, and there was lots of loneliness in that.

Talking about feeling isolated within the queer community is so hard. It’s hard enough when you just sort of exist within a community and sometimes you feel like they’re actually not representative of you or like that’s all you have. It’s complex, and there was a time in my life where I felt all of those things.

It gets even more complex when you are a public person and now you represent both people. You feel sometimes there’s a burden there, and sometimes you feel proud and other times you feel like everybody is mad at you because you’re not saying the things they would say. It’s complicated.

GC: Is it a double-edged sword to talk about being lesbians because you care about the gay rights movement but also because you just want to be musicians?

Tegan: I won’t deny that there have times in the last 12 years that I wish we never said we were gay. It overshadows the music, for sure. But honestly, and without coming off cheesy, every single day right now it feels like I run into someone who tells me a story about them or someone they know or their kids where they found comfort in that we’re different and we’re outspoken, whether it’s because we’re gay or because we’re women or because we have funny haircuts. (Laughs) There seems to be people finding incredible comfort and inspiration and empowerment in who we are. We’ve had people be like, “Oh, they’re gay or “Oh, that’s gay music” or “I don’t like 22

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gay people,” but we gain so much from being out that it kind of neutralizes that. Like, I don’t care. There have been moments where it’s been dark, where someone is really homophobic, and I just wanna, like, run away and hide. Instead I just pick up a 2-by-4, metaphorically speaking, and bash through it and keep getting up on stage and being proud of who we are.

I know so many people who are closeted, and I make fun of them. I’m like, “You’re so ridiculous. What career are you protecting? You’re supposed to be selling your art. You’re supposed to be projecting this image, and you’re just clouding your image because you are not proud of you are.” You have to be proud. In the end, who cares if I was cool or not. Did I make change? Did I help the world? That should be more important.

GC: What’s more challenging: growing up gay or a twin?

Sara: I would say being gay. I had no other experience to compare it to. I always had a best friend. I always felt like I had someone who was someone I could check in with. We always had each other. But I think being gay is so complex and I felt incredibly isolated in that, in not understanding my identity.

The world at large is projecting an image of heteronormativity all the time, and you’re thinking, “I’m not like that. I don’t behave like that.”

Tegan: Being a twin, because we didn’t come out until we were almost out of high school. I didn’t feel weird about being gay, because we had gay friends and we had a really alternative group of friends and my mom was a social worker. Being a twin and just always being grouped together – always having to share same stories, the same friends, everything – it was so hard. That was way harder.

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GC: If you’re having a disagreement in the studio, who wins that battle?

Tegan: It depends on who wrote the song. If it’s Sara’s song and she disagrees with me, she ultimately has veto power – which is annoying, because a lot of times I’m right. (Laughs) Sara: We’re fairly democratic in the studio. We’ve never really had a huge blowout over a decision about a song in the studio.

We’ve had blowouts about a lot of things, but it’s not usually like, “Hey, I think this guitar should be like this.”

GC: What’s your biggest pet peeve about each other?

Sara: She’s incredibly stubborn, and there’s this impulsive go-for-it attitude – and sometimes that drives me crazy when it seems like it’s going against me. But when it’s in terms of bringing us to the next level, I love that confidence and boldheaded stubbornness. That’s when I think, “Yes, go for it” – as long as it’s not directed at me! (Laughs) Tegan: It would take me 24 hours to tell you all my pet peeves. We’ve been doing a lot of vocal work – lots of warming up and warming down – but she doesn’t warm up and warm down in her space or on her time; she does it right in the middle of the dressing room while we’re trying to talk before we go on stage. It makes me wanna tackle her.

GC: Have you tackled her?

Tegan: When we were young. I haven’t physically attacked her in probably, like, 15 years. (Laughs)

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GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

23

Politics

Sexual Orientation and the Influences of the Womb

By Stephen Lock For those of us who grew up gay or lesbian, and who often knew ‘something’ was different about us from an early age, a study by neuro-scientist Simon LeVay, one of the first researchers who posited that sexual orientation is connected to fetal brain development, was of little surprise even as it created waves of controversy in academia.

LeVay originally shook things up in 1991 when he published a paper in Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in which he observed the nucleus of the hypothalamus of homosexual men was smaller, and more closely aligned to that of women, than it was in heterosexual men, and concluded this difference indicated at least a suggestion that sexual orientation was biological rather than a learned or acquired behaviour. He did warn, however, that his findings were not to be taken as suggesting there was a genetic cause.

“It’s important to stress what I didn’t find. I did not prove that homosexuality is genetic, or find a genetic cause for being gay. I didn’t show that gay men are born that way; the most common mistake people make in interpreting my work. Nor did I locate a gay centre in the brain.

The [section of the hypothalamus studied] is less likely to be the sole gay nucleus of the brain than [it would be] a part of a chain of nuclei engaged in men and women’s sexual behavior.”

In other words, what LeVay’s original study found was the size difference in the hypothalami of homosexual vs heterosexual males and those of females was one of several factors involved in the possible biological basis of sexual orientation and the sexual behaviour associated with it. What differences might lie within lesbian brains was not studied.

It would be interesting to see if, in fact, lesbian hypothalami were larger than heterosexual women and more aligned with that of heterosexual men.

The LeVay study should also not be interpreted, I would suggest, as saying that homosexual men are more ‘women-like’ than heterosexual men. Of course, in some quarters, that is exactly what occurred. Those that believe gay men are all effeminate or ‘want to be women’ (and that view is still out there, surprisingly enough) obviously never encountered a beefy, butch, cigar-smoking, shaved-head blue-collar/redneck Leather Daddy... Cripes, all one needs to do is watch porn put out by Raging Stallion Studios or COLT for that little theory to get tossed out the window!! But I digress....

More recently, LeVay released another study, Gay, Straight and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation (Oxford University Press, 2011) in which he states that homosexuality has nothing to do with psychological issues, childhood sexual trauma, or ‘choice’ in the usual sense of the word. He reinforces his view that sexual orientation is associated with prenatal brain structure differences. Again, this will come as little or no surprise to anyone who has come out as gay, lesbian or bisexual. It’s something the GLBTQ community has maintained for decades.

“Sexual orientation is an aspect of gender that emerges from the prenatal sexual differentiation of the brain,” LeVay has been quoted as saying. “Whether a person is gay or straight depends in large part on how this process of biological differentiation goes forward, with the lead actors being genes, sex hormones, and the brain systems that are influenced by them.”

Essentially what LeVay is saying is that various maternal hormonal influences within the womb and the way a particular fetus’ brain develops along with the physical differentiation between what will become a male fetus and what will become a female fetus, are part of a “soup” of influences for the eventual sexual orientation of the individual.

During the development to a gendered being, the fetus encounters various hormonal activities which will determine if it develops as male.

Not to be overly simplistic but the ‘default’ position for fetal development is female and from there this is either fine-tuned or altered as a result of such things as testosterone.

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While in the womb, what becomes a male fetus is bathed in testosterone and this, in turn, influences the development of external genitalia and various secondary sex characteristics. This is one of the reasons men have nipples, for instance. Ours just didn’t develop into mammary glands or develop the ability to, post puberty, produce milk; the testosterone bath arrested that development and channeled it down a completely different road.

The influence of testosterone also accounts for differences in brain structure between males and females, how we communicate verbally and non-verbally, and the fight or flight responses.

“If testosterone levels during a critical prenatal period are high,” Levay has stated, “the brain is organized in such a way that the person is predisposed to become typically masculine in a variety of gendered traits, including sexual attraction to females.

If testosterone levels are low during the same period, the brain is organized in such a way that the person is predisposed to become typically female in gendered traits, including sexual attraction to males.”

In the instance of bisexuality, and its various degrees, LeVay believes it results from “intermediate levels” of testosterone although he admits there is no direct evidence of this.

However, there is more going on than just the ‘either/or’ of hormonal influences.

There is a growing understanding that sexuality may be influenced by several combinations of genetic information. If so - and it would seem probable - it would explain the different ‘types’ or ‘styles’ of homosexuality such as butch or femme lesbians, or hyper-masculine gay men.

Factor into all this predispositioning societal and environmental influences, and it is clear that human sexuality is...well...anything but clear. We are a complex species and our sexuality and how we express that sexuality (and our sexualness for that matter) is likewise complex and still not totally obvious .

In 1996, when he published Queer Science, Levay cautioned “...[I]t is important to stress several limitations of the study. The observations were made on adults who had already been sexually active for a number of years. To make a really compelling case, one would have to show that these neuro-anatomical differences existed early in life - preferably at birth. Without such data, there is always at least the theoretical possibility that the structural differences are actually the result of differences in sexual behavior....” adding, “Furthermore, even if the differences in the hypothalamus arise before birth, they might still come about from a variety of causes, including genetic differences, differences in stress exposure, and many others.”

He also acknowledged that since the brains he studied were those of gay men who had died of AIDS, there was the possibility, although he believed it to be unlikely, that the difference in hypothalamic size was the result of the disease.

“There is always the possibility that gay men who die of AIDS are not representative of the entire population of gay men,” he wrote.

“For example, they might have a stronger preference for receptive anal intercourse....Thus, if one wished, one could make the argument that structural differences [in the region of the hypothalamus he studied] relate more to actual behavioral patterns of copulation rather than to sexual orientation as such.”

In other words, the smaller region could be more tied in with behaviour than it was with sexual orientation generally. It is possible, and LeVay acknowledged this, that if one could study the hypothalamus of living humans in some way other than dissection and pair that with in-depth interviews about their sexuality, we would have a far deeper understanding of the role biology plays in sexual orientation and sexual behaviour.

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Trans-Identity

Offence as a Virtue

By Mercedes Allen A controversy has ricocheted across the comment pages of the daily newspapers across the U.K. which has raised questions about free speech, decorum and journalistic censorship.

It started with an otherwise excellent piece about female anger by The Guardian columnist Suzanne Moore in New Statesmen, in which she offhandedly commented, “We are angry with ourselves for not being happier, not being loved properly and not having the ideal body shape – that of a Brazilian transsexual.” Ms. Moore received complaints from trans people on Twitter, and fired back, which led to a larger uproar.

Her friend Julie Burchill, known for controversy and vitriol, responded with a tirade complaining that Moore was being persecuted by “a bunch of dicks in chick’s clothing” and “a bunch of bed-wetters in bad wigs.” Burchill tossed out some insults (“they’re lucky I’m not calling them shemales. Or shims” — later, she did anyway), deliberately misgendered trans women, and scoffed at the thought that trans people experience any kind of struggle.

The Observer, a publication of The Guardian and where Burchill’s screed appeared, eventually apologized for publishing the article, and removed it from the paper’s website. This has led to outcries among several columnists and publications, and The Telegraph reposted it. A number of others have followed — including at least one Canadian columnist, in his blog.

As someone who is trans-identified, I actually don’t take much issue with the original article. Ms. Moore was attempting to be flippant about lookism.

I understand that, although it’s never a good idea to turn an entire class of people into a punchline. When said people are targeted for this kind of thing regularly, doing so can be button-pushing.

But then, along came Ms. Burchill, as subtle as a grenade in a bowl of potato salad.

Frankly, I don’t like being angry. It takes too much energy. And if I had to get angry at everyone and everything that deliberately invalidated trans people, used them as a punchline or categorized them as freaks, I’d need to find another planet to live on. But shutting up and taking it consumes energy, too, by consuming spirit. When a person faces a constant barrage of these attitudes, then no matter how thick a person’s skin gets, sooner or later, some barbs get through and wound. This is why trans people react, and often with a lot of anger.

Whether the energy exists or not, there is reason for the outrage.

Transsexual and transgender people routinely face invalidation, and arguments about their very existence. In Canada, for example, Parliament is again wrestling with whether trans people should be included in human rights legislation, and there’s a chance that Randall Garrison’s Private Member’s Bill may not pass. Last week, every sitting Member of Parliament was mailed a two-page diatribe by reparative therapy advocate Dr. Joseph Berger, who asserts about transsexuality that “Scientifically, there is no such a thing. Therefore anyone who actually truly believes that notion, is by definition deluded, psychotic.” In the process, Berger claims to be writing a scientific paper which nevertheless includes no citations, and reduces the motive trans people have for transitioning (at the risk of losing their spouses, children, family, friends, careers, homes and economic stability) to “just unhappiness.”

For this reason, Berger claims, Canadians shouldn’t have to dignify trans people with the “special right” to have equal access to employment, housing and services. We reserve those things for real humans.

There is some of this invalidation in Julie Burchill’s piece as well, such as her protest of the use of the recently-coined prefix “cis” as an antonym to “trans” (but from the same Latin root) — much like “heterosexual” is to “homosexual.” To Ms. Burchill, it seems, we’re simply being whiny and overreacting when we’re upset about terminology that compares us to “normal,” “real,” or “natural-born” men and women, and feel the need to

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invent something characteristically neutral. And if you’re wondering why trans people should be upset about being compared to “normal,” it illustrates just how ingrained marginalizing attitudes are in the social dialogue.

Burchill’s article comes in the wake of the Leveson Inquiry, which delivered its report in November of 2012. Initiated to look into the ethicality of practices exposed by News International‘s phone hacking scandal, the Inquiry took notice of harassment and invasions of privacy experienced by a pregnant trans man and by a trans youth. Looking further, investigators learned that while “Sex Swap” and “Tran-o-saurus” headlines were mostly limited to tabloids (which still go there almost weekly in the U.K.), even mainstream papers were regularly guilty of ingrained sensationalistic, comedic, demeaning or ridiculing portrayals of trans lives. Additionally, this is not the first time that The Guardian has faced protests for commentaries of this kind, although it has also worked most earnestly thus far to provide the opportunity for counterpoints to be made. It’s probably for this reason that the controversy has stretched into its second week of commentaries and even a protest.

As someone who is also a writer and op-ed blogger, I have mixed feelings about whether the Burchill article should have been pulled from The Observer‘s website. Once the commentary was out there, it couldn’t be unsaid, so neither option was likely to make anyone very happy. The article’s removal is an acknowledgement that there was a “collective failure of editing” (as editors of The Observer put it), but also makes it more difficult to point to its failures and pick the attitudes within apart. But the best policy would have been to have considered the column carefully before it went into print.

Opinion columnists today do not usually turn in pieces riddled with the N-word or flippant jokes about disabled people. This isn’t because they fear the dreaded banhammer, but because we as a society have learned enough about many minorities to realize the need to show a little empathy and respect. And if a columnist did turn in an article of that nature, most editors would certainly raise questions, for the same reason. Journalistic freedom of speech is not simply a question of saying or publishing anything that one might wish to say, but instead comes with a responsibility to provide balance, and call out attitudes that need to change. Burchill’s column is a cause célèbre solely because society feels no need to extend the same balance, empathy and respect to transsexual and transgender people. And as long as the Burchills of today are given widespread attention while trans people are dismissed and ignored, this is the way it will remain.

For all their complaints that crying “transphobia” shuts down the conversation, Burchill and Moore have failed to realize that crass invalidation, ridicule and indifference are already attempts to end discussion, thus maintaining a status quo in which transsexuality remains the stuff of lurid sensationalism and cheap stand-up comedy. The usual responses of ”grow a spine” or “get a sense of humour” do the same, and defending it all by crying journalistic freedom of speech attempts to abdicate any responsibility for the consequences of that speech. It is also overlooks the imbalance that exists between the reach of noted opinion columnists, versus the almost nonexistence of trans voices in mainstream media, to act as a counterbalance.

Or to put it simply, it’s a case of “a little free speech for me, and a little shut-up-and-take-it-like-a-man for you.”

But times change.

Eventually, these social attitudes will be an anachronism. And maybe that assurance is why I’m not angry.

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25

Sharon Needles Injects her Way to the Top

A chat with RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 4 Winner  Sharon Needles, photos by Austin Young

By Jason Clevett “Someone do a shot with me, no way I can drink all this by myself!” It was after this statement that I found myself downing a glass of whisky, after raising a toast to the success of Sharon Needles. Backstage prior to hosting the search for Calgary’s next drag superstar at Cowboys, Needles was celebrating the success of her debut album PG-13. The previous day the album hit #26 and the single This Club Is A Haunted House was #5 on the iTunes pop charts.

“As soon as Season 5 debuted, my single hit #5 on the iTunes pop chart, beating out Pink, Adele and Destiny’s Child. Is that

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not some crazy shit? It is not on a record label we didn’t put one dollar into marketing. This was all social media, word of mouth and fan devotion. If that doesn’t show that I have the best fans in the world I don’t know what does. Lady Gaga, move over!” she said. “PG-13 is an album that is beautiful, spooky and stupid. It spans everything from pop electronic metal and punk. I have gotten to work with so many of my idols on this album. I even got RuPaul to do the intro to my album. It is very exciting. It is a pop record that is licked with hidden secrets for my fans to figure out lyrically based on the rolodex of pop culture that lives upstairs.”

It has been an amazing ride for Needles, who was on the first stop of a cross-Canada tour in conjunction with the 5th season

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of RuPaul’s Drag Race, airing Monday nights on OUTtv. The fourth season had its share of drama and controversy, including not crowing a winner on the finale and taping three endings to the reunion special.

“The funny thing about what some people call a myth of none of us knowing who won, is that no one believes us. They think it is this story we created to keep our lips tight. But if anyone knew anything about a drag queen they would know that we drink a lot and we can’t keep a secret. When those two things mix we would have leaked the answer. What RuPaul did was film all three of us winning and we would find out live on television with the rest of the world. We were told about three minutes in advance. It was hard enough doing the show and not finding out who won, coming back months later and not finding out, but it was also kind of romantic and heartfelt to be able to sit with your family and friends around your television set and find out that way. I wish they would release the footage of the other girls winning.

Chad Michaels did it so eloquently. Phi Phi O’Hara when the crown got on her head she tripped, the crown fell off her head, she stepped on it and she broke it!”

She was convinced at first that there was no way she would win. With the fans influencing the final decision her feelings changed as the show aired.

“Leaving the studio and the whole world not knowing, I knew I was not going to win. As the show started progressing and I started getting all this love from all sorts of different fans of drag around the world I started thinking I had a chance. Usually my favourite girl doesn’t win Drag Race and majority-wise it is a disappointing winner most seasons. So I thought maybe Ru would let Chad Michaels win so she could keep using me for her morbid little game and her terrifying network.”

Needles, Michaels and O’Hara found out at the same time as the rest of the world when the show was broadcast who the winner was.

“Me and Chad Michaels and Phi Phi were together at a nightclub in New York City. We threw a huge party and were all on pins and needles. They asked who wanted Phi Phi to win and you heard a couple of people cheer. For Chad Michaels there were more cheers, and when they said my name it ripped the roof off the building. That is when they started chanting my name and I looked over at Phi Phi and she was chanting my name as well. It was really weird to watch that come full circle and her support me and be on my team after all the bullshit we put each other through. It was great to be with our top three sisterhood and be surrounded by our friends and my Mom. I was really drunk I don’t really remember it that well.”

If Needles were to give advice to the Season 5 contestants, including her boyfriend Alaska, it would be to always act like you are having a good time.

“It is a very stressful thing to go through and it can show up in your face.

Those queens that can laugh at themselves being read are the ones that no matter where they end up in the competition will be remembered and loved by the fans. Another thing is quit crying! It always comes off as a desperate attempt to have a back story so you don’t get sent home. You’ve got to save your tears for the right moment, if you haven’t noticed they all cried like five times on the first episode.”

Taking guidance from RuPaul is also important.

Every time I have interviewed Ru she makes a statement that is inspiring, and this applies to her girls as well.

“The thing I take from her every single day is when she told me what other people think of me is none of my god damn business. Being the type of drag queen I am and saying the shit that I do and being politically aware and ridiculously offensive, I get some hate mail. Ru taught me that I am not designed to make everyone happy, I am here to make those who love me feel embraced just between us. Thank you Ru for telling me that because it has made me the hardcore dead bitch I am today.

America’s Next Drag Superstar, recording artist, comedianne; Sharon Needles continues to make an impact, yet remains humble when looking back at her recent success.

“It is insane. A year ago I was paying my rent by taking a dish full of quarters to the coin star. Drag was a hobby that I used to entertain my friends and fans in Pittsburgh. Now I’ve taken my favourite hobby and not only turned it into a huge success but also a business. It has changed me from being a downtown punk rock drunk clown doing it for fun and turned it into a business. It has matured me and thickened my skin but also put a telescope on my own insecurities. I always feel like I am not giving enough or am not good enough for this much attention so fast. It is a learning process every day and I cry a lot.”

See more of Sharon Needles including her thoughts on Chad Michaels, memories of the wrestling challenge, who her all-star partner would have been, and much more in our video interview on GayCalgary.com

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 5 Monday Nights on OutTV www.OutTV.ca http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3333

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27

Gossip

 Cher photo by Screen Gems

Deep Inside Hollywood Logo turns back time for Cher

By Romeo San Vicente Did you know Cher could write? Neither did we. But the Oscar-winner is working with co-writer Ron Zimmerman on a drama pilot for gay cable channel Logo and she just might star in it, too. The script has no title just yet, but word is that Logo is looking for the period drama, to be set in 1960s Hollywood, to give them another hit show so that reruns of Bewitched aren’t all they have up their sleeve over there besides RuPaul’s Drag Race. And Hollywood in the 1960s is a world Cher remembers well, so the whole thing could take on an air of autobiography if she wants to spill the dirt.

Word is that the show is not specifically gay, in spite of Logo’s participation. And Cher’s participation. And… oh who’s kidding whom? It’s going to be really gay, especially if she’s writing a part for herself as a 22-year-old pop star ingénue.

Sean Hayes is playing that Hollywood Game It’s not the same kind of exposure as a weekly sitcom brings, but Sean Hayes is still out there in front of the camera, whether it’s with his upcoming recurring role on Smash’s second season or unrecognizably nebbishy as Larry in last year’s unexpectedly funny The Three Stooges. But the real money and power come when you pull the strings, as Hayes has learned in his time as producer of Grimm and Hot in Cleveland. So it’s no shock to learn that the comic actor has a goofy game show up his sleeve, too. Hollywood Game Night, based on his own idea, will place two contestants in a Hollywood cocktail party setting to mingle with celebrities (better name: Drinking With The Stars) and compete for cash prizes. NBC has already ordered eight episodes for an unspecified future date.

Now to get some big names who’ll drink the contestants under the table and/or be cruel enough players sabotage their chances.

Somebody get Lindsay Lohan and Tommy Lee Jones on the phone.

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The L Word is still a thing This might be news to you, but Showtime is still cashing in on The L Word. It all seems very long ago and far away since the days when the fashionable world of Los Angeles lesbians soaped it up on premium cable. And we don’t really know anybody who watches The Real L Word and its contrived, scripted “reality,” yet apparently it’s still on TV and has a viewership of some sort. But David Nevins, who makes these sorts of things happen at the cable channel, is eyeing new, different sort of life for the brand as a stand-alone documentary. The idea: get out of New York and Los Angeles, hit the road and make a real documentary (or two, or three, or more) focusing on real lesbian communities in the places cameras usually don’t go, like the Midwest and the South and other places with no Prada boutiques or skateboard/smoothie/hair salon hybrids. Could gritty, true lives of gritty, true lesbians be the franchise’s next-phase salvation? It’s all in the ambiguously defined research stage right now, but get ready: this could all turn into something… what’s the right word… real.

Academy Awards get the documentary treatment with TCM Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman already have their own Academy Awards as the team behind 1984’s The Times of Harvey Milk and 1989’s Common Threads: Stories From The Quilt. So who better to direct a documentary feature about the Oscars themselves? The filmmaking partnership is shooting material now for a feature-length doc for Turner Classic Movies, one that will focus less on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences itself and more on the history of the awards: the trends in nomination, the patterns of history that find themselves reflected in winners and losers, the snubs and oversights and upsets and controversies – in other words, the things people are genuinely interested in. Set to air during the channel’s Oscar Month in 2014, here’s hoping they secure that footage of Rob Lowe singing to Snow White. That was the best.

Romeo San Vicente’s Oscar party is clothing optional.

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Lifestyle

Cocktail Chatter The Rusty Nail

By Ed Sikov I’m still on a chestnut-colored drink kick, long past the restoration of power after Hurricane Sandy made it possible for us to drink cocktails on the rocks again.

Dan and I had been forced by circumstance to imbibe our drinks neat; we had no choice, given that we had no ice. (Nor electricity, nor running water.) Since vodka and gin tend to lose a little something when served at room temperature, we’d stuck with Scotch, Jameson Irish whiskey and finally cognac as we grew increasingly filthy and piggish in our safe, dry, but hygiene-compromised apartment. It’s just as well nobody climbed the 12 flights of emergency-exit stairs to visit us during our confinement. We’d have sent them reeling with our reek (unless of course they were into piggy stuff, in which case we’d have been fragrant sexual superstars).

In any case, once we were able to shower, shave and shop, I brought back to the apartment a bottle of Chivas Regal and a bottle of Drambuie, a liqueur made from Scotch. Drambuie has a sweetish, resinous quality to it.

It’s unctuous in the best sense of the word. But a little goes a long way, which is why the Rusty Nail is such a delightful cocktail. You get the best of Scotch – peaty, smoky, and strong – and the best of a good complementary liqueur all in one wee glass. Or not so wee, as the case may be.

Rusty Nails are a 9 to 5 drink, meaning not the raucous Dolly Parton song of that name but the proportions: 9 parts Scotch to 5 parts Drambuie, or so a popular website advises. Oh, gimme a friggin’ break! Who on earth either mixes such a vast Rusty Nail or calculates the math for a normalsize cocktail? For you sticklers out there, that’s 1.8 parts Scotch to 1 part Drambuie. Phooey!

To top it all off, this inane proportion makes a far too cloying cocktail. If you want to sip a bonnie Drambuie, do. But if you want a good Rusty Nail, I advise a smaller proportion of liqueur to Scotch. In fact, I make my Rusty Nails by pouring a healthy amount of Scotch into a glass full of ice (or, if you’re making a round for a crowd, into an icy cocktail shaker) and adding just a thimble full of Drambuie for each drink.

One of the side benefits of the Rusty Nail is that you don’t need to invest in a top shelf Scotch. Let’s face it: You’re adulterating the Scotch by adding a liqueur, albeit one made of Scotch. So there’s no reason at all to splurge on a fine single malt only to kill its well-crafted flavor notes with a foreign substance, however delicious that substance may be. I chose Chivas, because I didn’t plan to use the whole bottle on Rusty Nails. But if I were you, I’d just as soon go with a good, drinkable blended Scotch like Ballantine.

The Rusty Nail (classic version) 1.8 parts blended Scotch 1 part Drambuie

The Rusty Nail (my variation) 2 parts Scotch 1/4 part Drambuie Pour both ingredients into either a glass full of ice and stir; or, for a crowd, pour the contents into a cocktail shaker full of ice and shake, then decant into Martini glasses.

The Pickleback “Are you pregnant?” Dan asked me the other day.

“I’m not sure,” I said through the chomp of a pickle – my third in so many minutes – “but I rather doubt it.” It’s true that Dan and I have been experimenting sexually lately, but I am confident that nothing we’ve tried would result in either one of us having been impregnated.

“So what’s with the pickle obsession?”

“I question the word obsession,” I said after another satisfying crunch.

“It’s not as though I’m serving you pickle souffles or pickle-tofu casseroles.”

“You have successfully turned my stomach,” Dan noted with a sour expression on his face. I curtsied and headed back to the refrigerator for another pickle. “It’s wintertime,” I yelled from the kitchen. “Time to eat preserves and pickles! I think they’re supposed to have a lot of Vitamin C.” I pulled this theory out of my, um, head. Hey, it sounded plausible.

“You pulled that out of your ass,” Dan countered. “It’s more likely that you’re pregnant.”

I shrugged. What difference did it make if I was hauling Claussen’s pickles home by the case? There are worse vices, I thought to myself.

That’s when inspiration struck: a pickle juice cocktail! I was elated. I’d just invented a hip new drink! It would be an instant sensation – I’d be famous, albeit briefly and only in limited circles. So I hurried to the computer, went online to check whether indeed I’d come up with something new, and was immediately crushed to discover that I’d been beaten to the punch.

Apparently “The Pickleback” is already a hipster hit.

The recipe is quite simple, but it’s also needlessly exacting in its ingredients: A Pickleback is a shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey followed by a shot of pickle juice. Although it was only 4 o’clock on Sunday afternoon, I had to have one immediately. Fortunately, we had most of a fifth of Jameson, and of course I had more than enough pickle juice.

Usually I drink Jameson – and all whiskeys, Scotches, and bourbons – on the rocks, but the Pickleback demanded that the shot be served neat.

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The Pickleback 1 shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey (or any sweet bourbon or sour mash) 1 shot of chilled, strained pickle juice (I recommend Claussen’s) Down them in order. Then make another set. Serve, of course, with pickles.

I eagerly poured a shot glass full of Jameson and a twin glass full of pickle juice. (I strained out the bits of garlic and spices with a tea strainer.) I didn’t bring them into the living room, knowing I’d just end up being the brunt of Dan’s mockery, but instead downed both shots while standing at the kitchen counter. The Pickleback was delicious! The smooth, sweet whiskey found its soul mate in, of all things, salty-sour pickle brine! Who knew?

I’ve subsequently experimented with other whiskeys and even bourbon; they all work. Why the recipe specifies Jameson is unclear. It’s a great combination, but so is Jack Daniels and pickle juice, Knob Creek and pickle juice, and so on.

My stealthily created Pickleback, safe from Dan’s critical eye, enabled me to make another one of them without his knowing, so I was a bit looped when I emerged from the kitchen smacking my lips. Dan noticed my heavy-lidded eyes immediately. “Better watch the hooch, honey,” he advised. “It’s not good for the baby.”

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29

Out of Town

Austin: Where to Eat, Play, and Stay

 One of the longest-running gay bars in Austin, Oilcan Harry’s is one of several cool hangouts in downtown’s lively Warehouse District.

Photo by Andrew Collins

By Andrew Collins Austin isn’t just liberal by Texas standards - it’s one of the nation’s most progressive cities, as well as a luminary in live music venues, cutting-edge restaurants and bars, indie retail, and outdoor recreation. It’s routinely cited as one of the coolest and most livable cities in the country, and it’s steadily developed into a highly popular gay and lesbian destination, especially during key arts and cultural events, like South by Southwest in mid-March, Gay Pride in early September, Austin City Limits Music Festival in early October, and the Austin Film Festival in late October. The city makes for a great visit yearround, though, as even during the hot summer months, you’ll find plenty of great ways to cool off, from swimming at Barton Springs to boating and sunbathing at clothing-optional Hippie Hollow park, on Lake Travis.

The Lone Star State’s capital city, Austin (austintexas. org) continues to soar in population - it’s grown from about 470,000 to 820,000 since 1990, to become the nation’s 13th largest city. There’s a sizable and very visible gay scene, and many businesses around town are LGBT-owned, although the community is very well-integrated within Austin’s as a whole there’s no specific gay neighborhood, and at many of the city’s top nightspots and restaurants you’ll encounter a decidedly mixed crowd. Austin may also have more lesbian-owned

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accommodations than any city in the country, including hip, design-driven boutique properties like the Hotel San Jose and the Kimber Modern.

Here’s look at some of Austin’s favorite GLBT hot spots for eating, drinking, and accommodations.

Austin Eats: From Barbecue to Artisan Ice Cream The locavore food movement thrives in Austin. Many leading farm-to-table restaurants are in the trendy South Congress (SoCo) and South Lamar neighborhoods, a short drive across the river from downtown, and just across I-35 from downtown in steadily gentrifying East Austin - these areas also abound with cool food trucks. In South Lamar, you’ll find the stellar gastropub Barley Swine (barleyswine.com), a bustling if cramped space serving first-rate food and hard-to-find beers and wines. Recent dishes have included a chicken-fried chicken egg, and duck foie gras with carrot, lavender, farro, and hibiscus. If there’s a wait for a table, step next door to Henri’s (henrischeese.com), a dapper little spot serving artisan cheeses, charcuterie, and wine.

South Congress Café (southcongresscafe.com) has been one of SoCo’s hot spots for years, turning out delicious contemporary Texan cuisine, like mesquite-grilled pork chops and - at brunch - carrot cake French toast with cream cheese-pecan syrup.

Owned by talented gay restaurateur Lou Lambert, the Elizabeth Street Café (elizabethstreetcafe.com) serves creative Vietnamese food, including hearty noodle bowls and Texas-inspired kaffirlime fried chicken bahn mi sandwiches. Owned by the same team is Lambert’s (lambertsaustin.com), a sleek downtown space that describes its fare as “fancy” barbecue (think coldsmoked quail and oak-grilled Colorado lamb T-bones). For more authentic Texas barbecue, prepare to stand in line for a seat www.gaycalgary.com

at Franklin Barbecue (franklinbarbecue.com), which is justly famous for its tender brisket and smoked sausage.

Across from two gay bars in the Warehouse District, Peche (pecheaustin.com) is a romantic, cozy place with exposedbrick walls and high ceiling, serving pre-Prohibition-style cocktails and fine American and Continental fare. Nearby, Frank (hotdogscoldbeer.com) is a good bet for cold beer and hot sausages, with the “Jackalope” (antelope, rabbit, and pork sausage with cranberry compote, sriracha aioli, and cheddar) a signature specialty. A few blocks away, head to stylish and contemporary La Condesa (lacondesa.com) for artfully plated food inspired by Mexican street vendors, including ceviche, carnitas taquitos, and carne asada. Return to South Lamar to campy Maria’s Taco Xpress (tacoxpress.com) for cheap and tasty Tex-Mex fare, from al pastor tacos to gorditas.

You might want to break up your exploring with a stop for sweets - a longtime favorite for its rich, creatively flavored ice creams (bacon-jalapeno popper, banana pudding, Mexican vanilla) is Amy’s (amysicecreams.com), which has locations in several fun neighborhoods, including South Congress, downtown’s Old West, and the UT district. Newer in town and receiving lots of attention for its superb artisan ice cream, gay-owned Lick (ilikelick.com) serves such delightfully daring flavors as roasted-beets-and-fresh-mint, and goat cheesethyme-honey.

Coffeehouses also have a major presence in Austin. The cafe inside the famous and LGBT-popular Book People (bookpeople. com) bookstore is always a good bet. South Austin’s Bouldin Creek Café (bouldincreek.com) has delicious fair-trade coffee and chocolates, plus excellent breakfasts (try the migas) and veggie tacos. And in East Austin, Texas Coffee Traders (texascoffeetraders.com) is one of the city’s most respected artisan roasters.

Gay Bars and Hipster Lounges In downtown Austin, the Warehouse District has long been a favorite hub of gay nightlife - it’s home to long-running Oilcan Harry’s, an always-packed stand-and-model bar that attracts a hot collegiate crowd and has a spacious back patio. Next door, Rain on 4th (rainon4th.com) has a lovely deck out back, a cozy billiards bar up front, and a mid-size dance bar in the middle, and a couple of doors down, newcomer Posh (facebook.com/ PoshAustin) restaurant and bar is rapidly become a popular option in the neighborhood. For a somewhat mellower scene, head across the street to stylish Halcyon (halcyonaustin.com), a gay-friendly hangout serving everything from espresso drinks to cocktails, plus tasty food.

On the east side of downtown, Rusty’s (rustysaustin.com) is an inviting, mixed guys/lesbians venue with live music, often of the country-western bent - there’s also a fun Latin party on Sunday evenings. Nearby Lipstick 24 (lipstick24austin.com) is the city’s top lesbian venue, although everybody is quite welcome here - head for the attractive deck on warm evenings, and enjoy the live entertainment, which ranges from local bands to poetry readings to belly dancing. A few miles north of downtown, ‘Bout Time II (bouttime2.com) is a welcoming neighborhood bar in a relatively new and roomy space that has karaoke, dancing, and great drink specials.

On the west side of downtown, the Iron Bear (theironbear. com) is - you guessed it - a hot spot for bears, otters, and the like - it’s an attractive space with cool bartenders and a noattitude vibe. Also popular with the leather-bear set is Chain Drive, a rough-and-tumble bar that’s been thriving on the edge of a sleepy downtown-adjacent neighborhood for years. This area, particularly its main drag Rainey Street, has suddenly become a hot destination for drinking and dining, with a passel of cool, hipster lounges and restaurants set inside converted Arts and Crafts bungalows. Favorites include Javelina Bar (javelinabar.com) for delicious bar food (green-chile pork fries, miga burgers), and Blackheart Bar (blackheartbar.com) for live music and a great selection of bourbon and whiskey.

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Some downtown clubs have gay nights, including Barbarella (barbarellaaustin.com), which hosts a very fun TuezGayz party each week, and the Warehouse District’s Republic Live (republicliveaustin.snappages.com), which often has gay parties and events. And then there’s the slew of noteworthy mixed hangouts, including (to name a few) Gibson (gibsonaustin.com) on South Lamar, the sleekly decorated Hangar Lounge (thehangarlounge.com) in downtown gay-popular Warehouse District, quirky Cheer Up Charlies (facebook.com/cheerupcharlies) in East Austin, and Spider House (spiderhousecafe.com), a funky bar and coffee lounge near UT campus.

Austin Lodgings: Sleek Hotels, Chic Inns In the heart of downtown, the wonderfully glamorous, significantly historic, and allegedly haunted Driskill Hotel (driskillhotel.com) is where dignitaries and celebrities often stay when in town. This gorgeously restored 1886 building with fine artwork lining the hallways has warmly furnished rooms, the acclaimed Driskill Grill restaurant, and an inviting bar that serves great cocktails and tasty snacks like truffled popcorn and house-baked soft-pretzel sticks. Other great options downtown include the swish W Austin (whotelaustin.com), with its striking, contemporary rooms and see-and-be-seen bar and restaurant; and the 31-story Hilton Austin (hilton.com), a great option for convenience to 6th Street music clubs and Rainey Street lounges and restaurants.

Across the river, you’ll find another excellent lodging base in retro-trendy SoCo, home to the bargain-priced Austin Motel (austinmotel.com) - rooms at this quirky slice of ‘50s-style Americana have simple but comfortable furniture, and some have kitchenettes. A few blocks away, and owned by the trendsetting, lesbian designer Liz Lambert (sister of gay restaurateur Lou Lambert), the Hotel San Jose (sanjosehotel. com) is another vintage motor court, but it’s been given a swanky postmodern, minimalist makeover - the spacious courtyard suites are especially posh. Lambert also owns the stylish Hotel Saint Cecilia (hotelsaintcecilia.com), which is nearby but on a quieter residential street. In the same area, partners Kimber Cavendish and Vicki Faust run the Kimber Modern (kimbermodern.com), a dramatic boutique hotel whose high-tech, minimalist rooms have such notable features as plush platform beds and sleek yet warm furnishings.

Austin has a handful of lesbian-owned B&Bs, each with its own charm. In SoCo, the Park Lane Guest House (parklaneguesthouse.com) is a peaceful, eco-minded hideaway comprising three spacious cottages as well as a more affordable room in the main house. Not far from here, Gateway Guesthouse (gatewayguest.com) is a striking 1918 beauty with six smartly furnished rooms or cottages; co-owner Bess Giannakakris - a talented chef - prepares delicious breakfasts and teaches cooking classes at the inn. And in leafy Old West Austin, the Brava House (bravahouse.com) is an elegant 1880s Victorian within walking distance of downtown and a number of great restaurants.

For a relaxing yet potentially invigorating experience out by Lake Travis (near Hippie Hollow’s popular gay beach), book a weekend at Travaasa Austin (travaasa.com), an “experiential resort” where you can go on hikes or horseback adventures, take archery or yoga classes, enjoy a massage in the serene spa, take cooking or mixology lessons, or simply chill out for a few days in this rural setting that’s just 20 miles northwest of downtown. The property comprises several clusters of buildings with upscale rooms, plus a terrific restaurant - Jean’s Kitchen - that focuses on locally sourced cuisine as well as craft beers, wines, and spirits from the Austin and Hill Country region.

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31

Michael Lucas Undresses Israel

By Shane Gallagher When many people think of Israel, it is often in terms of modern war or ancient religion. But there is much more to the Jewish state than missiles and prayers.

In Undressing Israel, gay porn auteur Michael Lucas and Israeli director Yariv Mozer examine a side of the Holy Land that is largely overlooked: its thriving gay community.

The film spotlights a diverse range of local men, including a gay member of Israel’s parliament, a trainer who served openly in the army, a young Arab-Israeli journalist, and a pair of fathers raising their children.

Michael Lucas also visits Tel Aviv’s vibrant nightlife scene and attends a same-sex wedding in this guided tour of a country that has emerged as a pioneer for gay integration and equality.

GC: Why is it important for you to introduce people to gay Israel?

Michael Lucas: When Israel makes news, it is almost always in the context of terrorism or occupation. Israel is often cast as an oppressor and people who know little

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about the Middle East come away with the idea that it is an intolerant place that is only supported by those on the political right. Israel is actually the most liberal country in the area by far, and its very impressive record on gay-rights issues is a clear illustration of that. The gay lives that are shown in Undressing Israel do not exist in any of Israel’s Muslim neighbors.

GC: What surprises viewers most in the film?

ML: The variety and openness of Israel’s gay community, and how comfortably it is integrated into the rest of Israeli society.

GC: Where is Israel in the battle for gay equality?

ML: Israel is considerably ahead of most of the world in many important ways. For example, Israel’s parliament repealed prohibitions against sodomy in 1988, fifteen years before the United States Supreme Court did the same. Discrimination against gays in employment has been prohibited nationwide since 1992. Gay Israelis can adopt their partners’ children.

Gay people may sponsor their partners for immigration, which is something you can do in Canada but we still cannot do here in the United States.

GC: Are gay men allowed to serve openly in the military?

ML: Yes, and they have been since 1993.

GC: Where is Israel in terms of gay marriage?

ML: Israelis are not as interested in achieving the word “marriage” as much as they are in the rights that it accords, particularly when it comes to having children. Although gay marriage does not exist in Israel—because of opposition by the country’s still-powerful religious minority—the state effectively recognizes common-law marriage for samesex couples. (Israel does officially recognize gay marriages performed abroad.)

GC: Is it true that Israel is experiencing a gayby boom? www.gaycalgary.com

ML: Absolutely, yes. It’s a very family-oriented culture. Per capita, in fact, Israel has the highest number of children with gay parents in the world. I think that at least half of my gay Israeli friends have children.

GC: What is like to be a transsexual in Israel?

ML: Transsexuals face special challenges everywhere, but Israel is unusually accepting by international standards. One of the biggest celebrities in Israel is Dana International: a beautiful, openly transsexual pop singer who is widely loved by Israelis. In 1998, she was selected to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest, a hugely popular annual competition held among many of the active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union. She won.

GC: How is Israel’s nightlife?

ML: Tel Aviv’s club scene is comparable to Sydney’s. It has clubs, bars, discos, gay beaches and a huge Gay Pride parade.

GC: Is Israel safe?

ML: Yes. In 2002, Israel began construction on the West Bank Barrier, which the government said was essential to prevent would-be suicide bombers from entering Israel and attacking civilians. This concrete-based wall has indeed stopped suicide bombings and other attacks.

And Israel proper is not a violent place. The rate of gun-related death is less than one-fifth of what it is in the United States.

GC: What’s the overall message of Undressing Israel?

ML: I would like for people to take away a greater understanding of how progressive and tolerant Israel really is. People sometimes ask why we should care about Israel. This is why: because Israel shares our core values. And in some areas—like gay rights—it can even help inspire us to live up to those values a little better.

Undressing Israel http://www. undressingisrael-themovie.com http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3337

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33

Out Destination Memphis

 Duck March Doug

By Joey Amato Known for Blues, BBQ and Elvis, Memphis is a city steeped in culture and tradition. There are many things to do and see in Memphis, but one of the largest tourist attractions by far is Graceland, the former home of Elvis Presley. I was a bit surprised to see that the estate was located in the heart of an urban neighborhood instead of the sprawling countryside, but once you enter the music note adorned gates, you are quickly transported back in time.

Many of the rooms in Graceland still contain the same furnishings and décor as it did when Elvis and his family lived there. Over 600,000 visitors tour Graceland every year, making it one of the most visited homes in the country. The mansion sits on 13.8-acres and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2006. The only portion of the mansion that is off limits to guests is the upstairs, as Elvis always wanted to keep that portion of his home private.

Hundreds of gold records and memorabilia can be found throughout the estate. Even the clothes worn by Elvis and Priscilla on their wedding day can be seen behind glass in another building constructed on the property. Visitors can also tour Elvis’s private plane collection. I’m not talking about model planes, these are the real deal. Finally, pay your respect to the King with a visit to the Presley family grave site in the meditation garden.

If all of the touring has made you hungry, head downtown to find some of the best BBQ east of the Mississippi. Hidden in an alley off of 2nd Street is Charles Vergo’s Rendezvous, a Memphis institution featured on Travel Channel’s “Man v. Food Nation.” Even though host Adam Richmond suggested trying the ribs, my guest and I both opted for the succulent Pork

Shoulder sandwich. At just $7.95, this delicious over-sized sandwich arrives overflowing with pork and accompanied by baked beans and a unique mustard and vinegar-based slaw.

It’s the perfect way to begin a culinary journey of Memphis.

After lunch, walk over to the historic Peabody Hotel and catch a glimpse of the world-renowned Peabody Ducks, which have been featured on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Sesame Street, the Oprah Winfrey Show and in People magazine. Over the years, celebrities including Paula Deen, Joan Collins, Kevin Bacon, Emeril Lagasse, Patrick Swayze, and Peter Frampton have received the coveted role of Honorary Duckmaster. The Peabody is a member of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association, so you and your partner will feel welcome staying here.

Spend the early evening walking down Beale Street and listen to any one of dozens of live bands perform, or grab a cocktail at Wet Willie’s. Beale Street comes alive after dark, but if you’re looking to catch a great drag performance, head to Crossroads, one of Memphis’ premier gay bars. The establishment boasts a large stage, outdoor patio and multiple bar areas. However, they don’t serve alcohol but encourage patrons to bring their own.

Other options include Drew’s Place and Pumping Station, but club-goers should head to Spectrum. The 30,000 squarefoot complex boasts two dance floors and is the hottest place in town to meet and mingle with the young and fabulous crowd.

Memphis is home to many music-related attractions in addition to Graceland. The Stax Museum of American Soul Music, located at the original site of Stax Records, pays tribute to all of the artists who recorded there. The museum features an amazing collection of more than 2,000 pieces of memorabilia from soul pioneers including Ike & Tina Turner,

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Out Destination Nashville

 Parthenon & Tulip Garden

By Joey Amato Creative, diverse, friendly and welcoming are words often used to describe Nashville. It has long been a destination rich in culture, music and food and is quickly becoming one of the premier LGBT destinations in the country.

As the largest city in Tennessee, Nashville is home to dozens of arts organizations, historical landmarks, James Beard award-winning restaurants and fabulous entertainment and nightlife venues.

Nashville is also the headquarters of the state’s largest HIV/AIDS organization, Nashville CARES, numerous gay sports leagues, the Nashville GLBT Chamber of Commerce and the Oasis Center, an organization designed to support and educate LGBT youth.

While in Nashville be sure to visit some of the city’s premier LGBT-friendly cultural attractions, most notably the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. In the past year, the Warhol Live exhibit as well as To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum have all exhibited at the Frist. This summer, the museum will premier “Creation Story: Gees Bend Quilts and the Art of Thornton Dial.”

History buffs should head straight to the Parthenon in Centennial Park. This exact replica of the Athens original,

also houses a 42-foot tall statue of goddess Athena, the tallest indoor statue in the Western Hemisphere.

If you desire, try to catch a performance by the Nashville Ballet. Since its founding in 1986, the group has grown to become the largest professional ballet company in Tennessee, presenting a varied repertoire of classical ballet and contemporary works. The company is now comprised of 22 professional dancers from around the world.

Another LGBT-friendly highlight is the glorious Cheekwood Botanical Gardens & Museum, a 55-acre botanical garden and art museum located on the historic Cheek estate. Enjoy a brisk Nashville morning strolling with your partner through Cheekwood’s beautifully manicured gardens and admiring the culture and heritage of one of Nashville’s most prominent families.

Those yearning for music history should head to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum located in the heart of downtown Nashville. The $37 million facility features more than 40,000 square feet of country music artifacts and archives in addition to a full service restaurant. The Hall of Fame is currently exhibiting The Bakersfield Sound: Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and California Country which tells the story of the stars, sidemen and songwriters who created and popularized a new kind of country music in mid-20th century America.

Just a short walk away is the famous Ryman Auditorium.

Referred to as the “Mother Church of Country Music,” the Ryman is a National Historic Landmark and has hosted musicians from Chris Isaak and James Brown to Patsy Cline and Bruce Springsteen. The Ryman recently received Pollstar Magazine’s coveted “Theater of the Year” award again for the fourth time in the past decade.

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 Nashville - From Page 35

 Memphis - From Page 34

 North Front Evening

A vacation to Nashville would not be complete without a visit to the Grand Ole Opry, country music’s longest running show. The show brings together an incredible mix of talent to a live audience three times per week. Superstars including Vince Gill, Keith Urban, and Reba McEntire as well as new acts such as The Band Perry and Luke Bryan have all graced the Opry stage.

Touring the city is sure to make you hungry and luckily there are new culinary hotspots popping up everywhere in Nashville. Favorites among gay locals include Virago, Kayne Prime, Watermark and City House, owned by James Beard award-winning chef Tandy Wilson. In addition, GQ Magazine recently voted The Catbird Seat, one of the best new restaurants in America.

Don’t forget to say hello to Top Chef Arnold Myint at one of his wonderful dining establishments which include PM, Cha Chah, and Suzy Wong’s House of Yum, the latter conveniently located on Church Street, adjacent to one of Nashville hippest gay bars, Tribe.

In recent years, Church Street has become Nashville’s gay mecca. In addition to Tribe and Suzy Wong’s, the street is also home to Play Dance Bar, Canvas and Blue Gene’s as well as Out Central, Nashville’s LGBT community center.

Just across the bridge from downtown, the neighborhood of East Nashville has been known as “the gayborhood” and offers tons of dining and nightlife venues to fit every taste.

Two of the most popular LGBT destinations are Lipstick Lounge and Mad Donna’s. Mad Donna’s is the best place in town to play a game of drag bingo while dining on wonderful cuisine, while Lipstick Lounge offers karaoke and live entertainment throughout the week and is a favorite among the ladies.

After a long day of sightseeing, check into the beautiful Hutton Hotel. Located in Midtown, this swanky property features an urban-chic sophistication not seen at many hotels in the city. Rooms are lavishly appointed with luxurious linens, flat-screen televisions and granite flooring.

A state-of-the-art fitness facility and in-room spa services are available to all guests.

Nashville is truly a magical place that people can’t comprehend until they see it for themselves. So put on your favorite pair of cowboy boots and head on down to Music City USA. For more information, go to www.visitmusiccity.com

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 Beale Night

Aretha Franklin, The Jackson Five, Al Green, Sam Cooke, James Brown and Ray Charles.

A few miles up the road is Sun Studio, a recording studio opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips in 1950. The building is known for recording what is being called the first rock-androll single, Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats’ “Rocket 88”.

The studio also holds the nickname “The Birthplace of Rock & Roll.” Music legends including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis all recorded here at some point in their career.

For dinner, I recommend Local Gastropub on Main Street.

Diners should choose to sit outside and watch as street cars and decorated horse-drawn carriages travel up and down the street, which is closed to thru-traffic, giving Local Gastropub a very European vibe. The food at Local is varied and plentiful.

For starters, try the Smoked Duck Quesadilla with chipotle aioli or the Crispy Spanish Shrimp with sweet paprika mayo. For a lighter entrée, choose one of Local’s signature salads. The Seared Tuna Tostada contains ahi tuna cooked to perfection over a bed of mixed greens, marinated cucumbers, crisp wontons and toasted sesame seeds with a Thai dressing.

If you have more of an appetite, try the Fish & Chips, a hearty portion of North Atlantic cod deep fried in a Ghost River Golden Ale batter with lemon dill tartar sauce served with hand cut fries. Another great selection is the Shrimp & Grits, served with chaurice sausage broth, tomato jam and fried egg.

Memphis is a great weekend destination and an excellent city for those looking to learn more about music history.

Remember, bring your appetite and don’t forget to pack your blue suede shoes!

For more information of Memphis, visit www.MemphisTravel.com

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Let’s Get Franco

Breakout star Dave Franco talks new coming-of-age film, his sex appeal and getting gay with brother James  Photos by Summit Entertainment / Jan Thijs

By Chris Azzopardi James Franco isn’t the only one fearlessly exploring homosexuality in his career. His own brother, Dave, is too. With himself, even.

The 27-year-old has attracted a big gay fan base ever since he starred in the 2007 indie After Sex, the one where Mila Kunis was a lesbian, and put Channing Tatum in his place after a homophobic mix-up in last year’s 21 Jump Street. But it’s Dave’s viral Funny or Die videos, where he’s had sex with himself and also told actor Chris “McLovin” Mintz-Plasse “I wanna strip you down” (and other homoerotic things), that have really made the gays smitten.

Now the heartthrob is fighting zombies in the film adaptation of the best-selling book Warm Bodies, also starring Nicholas Hoult of A Single Man. In his first gay press interview, we picked Dave’s brain on the outsider theme of his new flick, whether he plans to work on a gay project with James and how his sexually explicit videos are in no way baiting the boys who love them.

GC: Under what conditions could you fall in love with a zombie?

DF: I don’t think the physical appearance is getting in the way for me. (Laughs) As long as they were a good person in the past life, and there’s just some kind of sweetness behind those eyes, I’m in. I don’t need much else.

GC: Do you think there’s some subtext in the movie’s theme about love being boundless and knowing no sex or race – even life or death – that you think your gay fans might appreciate or relate to?

DF: Definitely. If you take the zombie element out of the movie, it is still this coming-of-age movie about this outsider who is trying to find himself and eventually does through love.

It does speak to the fact that it doesn’t matter what your race

or your sexual orientation is. Sometimes you can’t explain a connection that works.

GC: When were you first aware you had a gay following?

DF: My friend I grew up with started calling me out and saying, “Dude, I can’t even imagine what people who don’t know you think of you.” It’s not like I’m doing these videos because I’m trying to shock or confuse people. I’m generally drawn toward material that’s just different and unique and is gonna maybe surprise people a bit. So I was first aware that there was maybe some awareness of me from the gay community when all my friends were telling me there’s all this stuff online and if you Google my name, the first thing that comes up is “Dave Franco Gay.” (Laughs) GC: So right around the time you fucked yourself?

DF: (Laughs) That didn’t help things.

GC: Whether you’re having sex with yourself in “Go Fuck Yourself” or talking dirty to Chris in “You’re So Hot,” are these videos your way of showing your acknowledgement and support for the gay community?

DF: Yeah, sure – definitely! I have gay friends and of course I’m comfortable enough with my sexuality that I’m open to doing videos like that. I know a huge audience is going to think that I am gay. I’m just trying to blur the lines, I guess. I’m not consciously trying to do that, but it’s not something I think about. Like with my friends who are gay, it’s not like that’s the first thing I associate with them. They’re just another friend, and they just happen to like guys.

GC: Why are all the videos so gay?

DF: There are a lot of very overtly gay things in these videos, but for some reason while I was making them, or while I was even initially thinking of the ideas, I swear to god I didn’t

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 Interview - From Previous Page think, “OK, we’re gonna make another gay video that’s gonna shock people.” The way “You’re So Hot” came about: I worked with Chris on a movie called Fright Night and in between takes we would play this game.

It was a game that he and his buddies played growing up and it just made me laugh my ass off, so when the movie was done and we were back in L.A. I thought to myself, “This would make a really funny short.”

GC: Being comfortable with your sexuality seems to be something that runs in the Franco family. Obviously your brother also has no qualms with his sexuality. But whereas you explore it with humor, James has more of a political and sexual agenda. Do you see any overlap in the way you two explore homosexuality?

DF: That’s a good question.

The main overlap is just how hard we dive into it. There’s nothing subtle, I guess, about how we embrace gay culture – and there basically are no boundaries. We both push the envelope.

I don’t know why a lot of what we create deals with that subject matter. I get asked that all the time, and I’m not consciously thinking to myself, “I’m gonna make these sexually explicit gay videos.”

It just comes through us for some reason.

GC: You obviously have lots of appeal in the gay community. To know that, you don’t have to look further than Perez Hilton’s recent post, which includes a couple of pics of you and “Dear Dave Franco, FUCK ME!!!” as the headline.

DF: Uh-oh. Come on.

GC: How do you react to the gay community’s excitement over you and your videos?

DF: I gotta embrace it, right? I love it. At this point, I’m so happy that anyone is even aware of me or is a fan of me. It’s still something that I don’t think I’ll ever get used to. From just what I’ve heard and what I’ve observed, the gay community, when they revolve toward someone or something or a movie, they come full force and they tell everyone about it.

Tell me if I’m wrong.

GC: No, word spreads fast in the gay community if a Franco brother is naked.

DF: Exactly. So I totally embrace it.

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 Photo by Summit Entertainment / Jan Thijs

 Photo by Shutterstock

GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

GC: With your upcoming role in Now You See Me alongside some heavy hitters, your career is really taking off.

Are you ready for a lead role?

Any idea what you might want that to be?

DF: I’m definitely ready for a lead role. My criteria for picking a project these days is just wanting to work with filmmakers I admire. I do want to make my own films one day. I’ve been writing and producing and editing all these Funny or Die videos, and it’s kind of been practice on a much smaller scale. I want to work with guys like Jonathan Levine, who directed Warm Bodies and who I’ve admired for years. I just wanna be on set with these guys and see the process and see how they work with actors regardless of how big or small my role.

So, honestly, I would be an extra in all of Paul Thomas Anderson’s movies. I just wanna be around these guys.

GC: The Funny or Die videos really helped launch your career, as did the “Acting with James Franco” skits. Other than Broken Tower, do you have plans to work on any projects with James that might have a gay sensibility?

DF: I love my brother and I respect him so much, but in general, I have been trying to distance myself from him just in terms of work, because I need to kind of carve my own path at this point. I don’t want to be referred to as “James Franco’s little brother” for the rest of my life. So it’s hard sometimes, because he is creating so many of his own projects and he asks me to be a part of them and I would love to – but at this point, I just need to distance myself from him work-wise.

Down the line, who knows, man. We do work very well together and our sensibilities are very similar, obviously.

We might push the envelope almost too far if we combine our heads. I’m open to the idea. If I establish myself a little bit more, and people start giving me my own due, I would love to work with him down the line.

GC: You say “almost too far.”

You mean make it too gay? I think that’s already been done by both of you.

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 Photo by Summit Entertainment / Jan Thijs

I’m always writing something. I’m working on a feature-length film right now. Two years ago I made a decision to only audition and meet on projects that I’m actually passionate about. I knew it might be the stupidest decision I ever made because I might never work again, but in the meantime, that’s how these Funny or Die videos came out.

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 Photo by Shutterstock

DF: Who knows how weird it could get if the two of us get together.

GC: You mention his projects, and currently James is making headlines for his interest in gay art films, including the gay sex indie Interior. Leather Bar. Have you seen it? Do you plan to?

DF: The only one I’ve seen is Broken Tower, just because I was a part of that production. I’ve obviously heard stories or read about these projects, but I really have no basis to say anything at this point.

GC: Do you get annoyed when journalists bring your brother up?

DF: No! I totally understand it. It could be a lot worse. At least he’s a very well-respected guy, and I do love him. We get along very well. But with that being said, it is a little comforting, and I feel slightly relieved, that at least the James questions have been dialed down a little bit.

GC: What’s coming up for you besides Now You See Me and Warm Bodies?

DF: There are a few things that are in the air that I can’t quite talk about just yet, but I am always pumping out these Funny or Die videos. I do all of them with one of my good friends who I’ve known since childhood, and we have one coming out in a couple weeks. This one is actually the cleanest one we’ve done.

The rest are rated X, but this one’s like a hard PG-13.

Without giving too much away, it’s with an NBA star who’s 7 feet tall and then, of course, myself. I’m not the biggest guy in the world, so it’s this odd couple – the two of us competing in a series of events. It’s still in the same vein and tone as the rest of the videos, but because he’s a professional athlete, he can’t push the envelope as much as I’d generally like to.

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Brent Corrigan

Former “Twink” porn actor on growing up and going Mainstream

By Jerome Voltero Back in the days when I had the bandwidth to review porn films every month in this magazine, I recall seeing Brent Corrigan as a big name in the Twink section of the video store. I can’t say for certain if I ever reviewed one of his films, but I certainly remembered his name and face.

At the beginning of February, PURE Pride held their Together 2013 party at Brixx Bar in Edmonton for which they flew Corrigan out as a special guest. Prior to the show, he sat down for an interview with GayCalgary Magazine. We were curious if he has ever visited our part of the world prior to this trip.

“I’ve been to Winnipeg and Saskatoon. I was actually here earlier in January. The year is starting off pretty big. This is actually the first time in the span of having done adult [films] for 6 or so years, now in my retirement Canada is catching on, we want Brent Corrigan. But I’m happy to come.”

He had one gripe from his first impressions of Alberta - the cold weather. However, at the time of the party it was pretty

mild outside – nothing compared to the snowstorm and biting cold a few weekends ago.

“I’d like to actually come to central Canada when it’s maybe nice out one time. (laughs) The last two months I’ve been here it’s been [just below 0] degrees – actually it’s warmed up a bit, apparently, from what people tell me, because usually it’s like what, [-30] or something? But I look forward to coming back during fairer weather.”

To be honest, I almost didn’t recognize the actor when I first saw him. The once skinny kid has since blossomed into a well muscled and intelligent young man. Alongside all that personal growth, Corrigan also made the career move of retiring from the porn industry to pursue opportunities in mainstream film.

“It’s a little bit complicated. I announced in November of 2011…that I was not intending to go back to doing adult [film].

I had avoided making announcements like that because I didn’t want to come out of retirement right away, I wanted to make sure that I had a foothold in mainstream. Even prior to that, I hadn’t done work in 2 or 3 years, so now I’m looking at about 3 years of not having done any work in front of the camera in the adult capacity. I’m still doing touring and still appearing, I still have my website TheNewBrentCorrigan.com, and I post on the blog regularly. I have all my old adult material there, streaming, so you can still familiarize yourself with the best of it. But I consider myself transitional, if you will.”

Corrigan, known by his real name Sean Paul Lockhart outside of his adult film career, told us a bit about what he has been working on lately.

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“I did Judas Kiss with Charlie David. We actually shot that out of Seattle, where I’m from. The last movie I shot was a film called Truth. It’s not even released yet. We shot it outside of New York City in December of 2012. I’m producer and the star of that. This is my first big [mainstream project], top billed, Sean Paul Lockhart is #1 there. It’s the first one ever. It’s a really deep dark movie, it’s very gritty and subversive. It’ll do the festival circuits: CAN, Tribeca, and Sundance is just passed, we missed that. Some other stuff: I’m actually directing my fist mainstream project in March, which is next month. I’m doing 3 or 4 projects this year, and I’m just taking whatever they’re throwing at me – working as best I can, and taking it wherever it comes.”

This begged the question whether he is ultimately hoping to take his career into the realm of Television.

“I’m not against [doing TV]. [But] I really love film, I really love the format and the process of telling an hour and a half long feature piece. Because of my adult background, a lot of television networks wouldn’t consider me, or they’d probably have a problem with me. I look at it realistic, about the mainstream acting: I’m not going to be a Disney kid – that’s

cool, I never wanted to be. …Really what I want to do is direct.

So acting is about getting experience and being around it, and learning as I’m doing.”

We asked about the model search area of his website, and whether this project would be put on hold for his other pursuits.

“I get regular people who come in and want to work. …I’m still paying models and doing some stuff but I’m not as active as I would have been maybe 4 or 5 years ago. For me, specifically, where I want to aim – my genre would be like not twink, gravitating away from that toward the hunk, young, collage guys sort of area because I find the models are a little more manageable, and I find them to be a little more…widely appreciated. (laughs)” Finally, he had something to say to his Alberta fans and GayCalgary Magazine readers: “I just want to say thank you for having me out here, I look forward to being back out to Edmonton and Calgary maybe sometime. …You people are really awesome, everybody’s really friendly, and you can’t put a flame to that.”

Brent Corrigan, aka Sean Paul Lockhart http://www.TheNewBrentCorrigan.com http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3342

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Buck Angel

FtM transsexual activist, pornstar, and educator in Calgary to talk sex  Buck Angel

By Krista Sylvester In surprising fashion, female-to-male transsexual porn star/activist/entertainer/educator Buck Angel’s most commonly asked question is which bathroom he uses.

And for those curious minds, it’s the men’s. But really?

Though Angel takes it all in stride, he stills finds it interesting that society is so obsessed with ensuring men use the men’s washroom and women use the women’s bathroom - at least the one they were born into.

“It’s stunning people want to know what toilet you use,” he says, “but it’s fascinating. I understand that is the thing people might want to know but I also think it’s the reason transgendered people are so afraid to use public washrooms.”

“People can never understand why someone would want to get into the porn industry, but for me I noticed there wasn’t a lot of positivity in it and I think specifically for trans-women, they didn’t feel in control of their work and were feeling a lot of the times degraded,” he explained. “I think that’s how sex workers feel a lot of the time and that’s really sad.”

So Angel decided to produce his own porn, and he’s already noticed a big change in the right direction.

“I noticed there is a lot more genuine queer porn being produced and now all kinds of people are doing it. Even lesbian porn has become more positive and gay women are taking over, not just a straight man producing it the way he thinks it should be.”

However, Angel still wants to see progress regarding the stigma of porn.

But that doesn’t mean people can’t ask Angel anything and everything, and he literally means anything and everything – especially when it comes to sex. The pornographer turned activist will be in Calgary this month fielding questions while on a panel and hopes to hear many about sex, his past, his present and he doesn’t want anyone to hold back.

“I think many people think of ‘porn’ as a dirty word and it doesn’t have to be. That doesn’t mean everyone has to watch porn but everyone should have a positive attitude about sex, whatever that means to them.”

“I think people feel very comfortable talking to me about sex so I’m hoping a lot of the questions are sexual in nature,” he says. “I think I will get a lot of questions about being a trans-man and my porn history; it’ll probably run the gamut of my sex change and how I got into porn and why.”

“I’m not just a pornographer anymore. I want to help people feel more comfortable about themselves.”

All of which are questions he has no problem answering.

After working behind the scenes in the porn industry and observing the stigma around the word “porn”, Angel wanted to inspire more positivity in the industry.

And that’s the “stepping stone” of how Angel became an advocate for people who feel they don’t fit into a box.

Dabbling in a bit of everything leaves little time for Angel but, he is starting to focus on fitness and making a DVD to help people take control of their own fitness and health. Known for his rock hard body, it’s hard not to see how successful such an Angel-produced fitness DVD might become.

“I use to hit the gym and pump weights but now I focus more on overall fitness and eating properly and I want to share that.”

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The critically-acclaimed documentary Angel produced last year, dubbed Sexing the Transman, will be featured through a Fairy Tales event and Angel hopes people learn a lot from the film.

“I think it’s fascinating that these people go through a life-changing transformation. It’s really fascinating that these men who used to be women use to be very attracted to women, but after their transformation became very attracted to men. It’s just so fascinating.”

Angel says it’s also liberating to watch these people become more comfortable in their bodies and love themselves and love sex after not liking anything about it before the transformation.

While Angel might be known as a hardcore porn star, the “real man with a pussy”, he wants to be known as the activist he has become and that’s what this film is all about.

“I love hearing from people who take something from this film, or something I’ve done. It’s amazing.”

Calgarians will have two chances to approach the self-described “approachable” Angel at the movie premiere or at the sex panel talk on Saturday, February 16th where he will be joined by local dominatrix Lady Seraphina and local trans activist Lyn Baer.

“I want people to come up and hang out with me and ask me questions, he says. “I hear people tell me after they wanted to talk to me but were too nervous, so no, please come up to me.”

Fairy Tales presents: Buck Angel Saturday, February 16th www.fairytalesfilmfest.com http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3343

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Photography Queers Never Die at New City, Edmonton photos by James Birkbeck

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GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

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Photography Dayzis Trippin into the 60s photos by Cheryl Telles and Rob Browatzke

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Photography ISCWR - Turnabout at the Mercury Room, Edmonton photos by B&J

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GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

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Photography The Big Gay White Party at the Starlite Room, Edmonton http://gaycalgary.com/pa391

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Photography Search For Calgary’s Next Drag Superstar at Cowboys Nightclub http://gaycalgary.com/pa407

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GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

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Photography TOGETHER 2013 2nd annual celebration, at Brixx Edmonton http://gaycalgary.com/pa410

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Ken had been videotaping the ISCCA Coronation for 6 years, so he knew the people from the court quite well. One drunken night in 1999, half an hour before the close for applications for Emperor/Empress of the ISCCA, he had a bet with a fellow drag queen. He put his application in, and soon became Empress 23 of Calgary, he claims by a narrow margin of only 13 votes.

Otherwise she has held the title of Princess 24, and others.

Roxy, aka Ken, has been out in Calgary’s LGBT community for nearly 20 years. Ken is proud to have worked at Source Adult Video for 22 years now, and 4 and a half years at Goliaths/Texas Lounge - his favorite watering hole.

“A lot of people don’t get me sometimes, especially when I’ve had too many ‘buka,” he says.

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GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

Roxy recently hosted her 11th Annual Disney Show at the Texas Lounge, a drag show to raise money for Beswick House, an AIDS Hospice. Otherwise she has participated in fundraising events for numerous other charities. She says, “It’s all about the community. I may not be the best but I believe in the charities.”

For more photos visit: http://gaycalgary.com/pa411

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Directory & Events 24

DOWNTOWN CALGARY

43 41 37

59 34

2 33

35

36

3

60

16

5 6

1

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13

1 Calgary Outlink---------- Community Groups 2 Aids Calgary------------- Community Groups 3 Backlot------------------------Bars and Clubs 5 Texas Lounge-----------------Bars and Clubs 6 Goliath’s--------------------------Bathhouses

13 Westways Guest House----Accommodations 16 Priape Calgary----------------- Retail Stores 24 Courtney Aarbo-----------------------Services 33 Twisted Element--------------Bars and Clubs 34 Vertigo Mystery Theatre------------- Theatre

FIND OUT!

CALGARY

LGBT Community Directory GayCalgary Magazine is the go-to source for information about Alberta LGBT businesses and community groups—the most extensive and accurate resource of its kind! This print supplement contains a subset of active community groups and venues, with premium business listings of paid advertisers.

✰....... Find our Magazine Here

35 One Yellow Rabbit-------------------- Theatre 36 ATP, Alberta Theatre Projects-------- Theatre 37 Pumphouse Theatre----------------- Theatre 41 La Fleur------------------------- Retail Stores 43 Lisa Heinricks--------- Theatre and Fine Arts

......... Wheelchair Accessible

Accommodations 13 Westways Guest House------------------- ✰  216 - 25th Avenue SW  403-229-1758  1-866-846-7038  westways@shaw.ca  www.gaywestways.com

Bars & Clubs 3 Backlot---------------------------------- ✰  209 - 10th Ave SW  403-265-5211  Open 7 days a week, 2pm-close

Spot something inaccurate or outdated? Want your business or organization listed? We welcome you to contact us!

60 Cowboys Nightclub------------------------ 421 12th Avenue SE

 403-543-6960  1-888-543-6960  magazine@gaycalgary.com

 424a - 8th Ave SE

Calgary Eagle Inc. (CLOSED) Club Sapien (CLOSED)

 1140 10th Ave SW

Local Bars, Restaurants, and Accommodations info on the go! http://www.gaycalgary.com/Directory

Browse our complete directory of over 650 gay-frieindly listings! www.gaycalgary.com

59 East Village Bistro  2nd floor, 610 - 8 Avenue SE Restaurant and lounge.

Bathhouses/Saunas 6 Goliaths------------------------------------ ✰  308 - 17 Ave SW  403-229-0911  www.goliaths.ca  Open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day

Community Groups 2 AIDS Calgary-------------------------- 110, 1603 10th Avenue SW  403-508-2500  info@aidscalgary.org  www.aidscalgary.org

✰

Alberta Society for Kink

 403-398-9968  albetasocietyforkink@hotmail.com  http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/ group.albertasocietyforkink

Apollo Calgary - Friends in Sports

FAB (CLOSED)

 1742 - 10th Ave SW

http://www.gaycalgary.com/CalgaryTravelRSS http://www.gaycalgary.com/EdmontonTravelRSS

58 Theatre Junction--------------------- Theatre 59 East Village Bistro------------Bars and Clubs 60 Cowboys Nightclub-----------Bars and Clubs

5 Texas Lounge------------------------------ ✰  308 - 17 Ave SW  403-229-0911  www.goliaths.ca  Open 7 days a week, 11am-close 33 Twisted Element--------------------------- ✰  1006 - 11th Ave SW  403-802-0230  www.twistedelement.ca Dance Club and Lounge.

 www.apollocalgary.com  www.myapollo.com A volunteer operated, non-profit organization serving primarily members of the LGBT communities but open to all members of all communities. Primary focus is to provide members with well-organized and fun sporting events and other activities.

• Western Cup 31

 www.westerncup.com

GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

55

Directory & Events Calgary Events

Heading Out----------------------- 8pm-10pm

Student Night------------------------  6pm-6am

Rec Volleyball--------------------------- 7-9pm

Mosaic Youth Group--------------------  7-9pm

Alcoholics Anonymous--------------------  8pm

At 59 Village Bistro with

Mondays

Buddy Night-------------------------  6pm-6am At 6 Goliaths

ASK Meet and Greet----------------  7-9:30pm  Bonasera (1204 Edmonton Tr. NE)

Prime Timers Calgary

At 6 Goliaths

See 1 Calgary Outlink

Yoga-----------------------------  7:40-9:15pm Apollo Calgary

Between Men--------------------------- 7-9pm See 1 Calgary Outlink

 2nd, 4th

Bootcamp---------------------------  7-8:30pm See

Apollo Calgary

Karaoke------------------------------  8pm-1am At 5 Texas Lounge

Fetish Slosh----------------------------  Evening At 3 Backlot

 2nd

Alcoholics Anonymous--------------------  8pm  Hillhurst United Church (Gym Entrance) 1227 Kensington Close NW Wednesdays

Communion Service-----------------  12:10pm See

Knox United Church

 6020 - 4 Avenue NE  badminton@apollocalgary.com

• Boot Camp

Buck Angel Panel-------------------------  3pm

Uniform Night-----------------------  6pm-6am

Coffee------------------------------------ 10am

By

Apollo

By Prime Timers Calgary  Midtown Co-op (1130 - 11th Ave SW)

Curling-------------------------  2:20 & 4:30pm

Bootcamp------------------------------- 7-8pm

Alcoholics Anonymous--------------------  8pm

See

Apollo Calgary

 golf@apollocalgary.com

Worship------------------------------  10:30am

Western Cup-------------------------  All Day

By Apollo Calgary Mar2830

Sunday Services---------------------  10:45am

Customer Appreciation----------------  All Day

Illusions-------------------------------  7-10pm

Worship Services------------------------- 11am

April 2013

Womynspace---------------------------- 7-9pm

Int/Comp Volleyball----------- 12:15-1:45pm

At 3 Backlot

New Directions-------------------------- 7-9pm

Church Service----------------------------  4pm

 Hillhurst United Church (Gym Entrance) 1227 Kensington Close NW

See

Karaoke-----------------------------------  7pm

See

At 3 Backlot

See

Fridays See 1 Calgary Outlink See 1 Calgary Outlink See 1 Calgary Outlink

 1st

 2nd  3rd

See See See

• Squash

 Mount Royal University Recreation  squash@apollocalgary.com All skill levels welcome.  tennis@apollocalgary.com

 beachvb@apollocalgary.com

• Volleyball (Competitive)  vb@apollocalgary.com

• Volleyball (Recreational)  recvb@apollocalgary.com

• Yoga

 www.argra.org

 YMCA Eau Claire (4th St, 1st Ave SW)  calgaryfrontrunners@shaw.ca East Doors (directly off the Bow river pathway). Distances vary from 8 km - 15 km. Runners from 6 minutes/mile to 9+ minute miles.

• Slow Pitch

56

Alberta Rockies Gay Rodeo Association (ARGRA)

• Monthly Dances----------------------------- Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association 1320 - 5th Avenue NW

Calgary Gay Fathers

 calgaryfathers@hotmail.com  http://www.calgarygayfathers.ca Peer support group for gay, bisexual and questioning fathers. Meeting twice a month.

Calgary Men’s Chorus

 http://www.calgarymenschorus.org

• Rehearsals

 slow.pitch@apollocalgary.com

March 2013

Deer Park United Church Scarboro United Church Hillhurst United Church Knox United Church

Apollo Calgary

At 6 Goliaths

Mar1721

Survivor Party-------------------------  All Day

Apr21

Calgary Comic Expo-------------------  All Day

Apr2628

Rainbow Community Church

Legend:  = Monthly Reoccurrance,  = Date (Range/Future),  = Sponsored Event

• Outdoor Pursuits

• Running (Calgary Frontrunners)

Sunday, February 17th

Oscar Party----------------------------  Evening

Glo Party-------------------------------  9pm

By ARGRA Mar16  Arrata Opera Centre (1315 - 7 Street SW)

 1st

Alcoholics Anonymous--------------------  8pm

 Robin: 403-618-9642  yoga@apollocalgary.com

 outdoorpursuits@apollocalgary.com If it’s done outdoors, we do it. Volunteer led events all summer and winter. Hiking, camping, biking, skiing, snow shoeing, etc. Sign up at myapollo.org to get updates on the sport you like. We’re always looking for people to lead events.

By Fairy Tales Murray Frasier Hall, Room 164, U of C

Worship Time---------------------------- 10am

At 1 Calgary Outlink

• Lawn Bowling

 lawnbowling@apollocalgary.com

Sexing the Transman---------------------  7pm

Sundays

Lesbian Meetup Group-------------  7:30-9pm

• Volleyball (Beach)

• Golf

By Fairy Tales That Empty Space, MacEwan Hall, U of C

At 3 Backlot

Apollo Calgary

• Bowling (Rainbow Riders League)

 North Hill Curling Club (1201 - 2 Street NW)  curling@apollocalgary.com

Apollo Calgary

 Hillhurst United Church (Gym Entrance) 1227 Kensington Close NW

See

• Tennis

• Curling

See

By Different Strokes  SAIT Pool (1301 - 16 Ave NW)

 Platoon FX, 1351 Aviation Park NE  bootcamp@apollocalgary.com  Let’s Bowl (2916 5th Avenue NE)  bowling@apollocalgary.com

At 6 Goliaths

Running-----------------------------------  9am

 Kerby Center, Sunshine Room 1133 7th Ave SW

 Calgary Contd.

• Badminton (Absolutely Smashing)

Flashlight Night---------------------  6pm-6am

 3rd

Lesbian Seniors---------------------------  2pm

Calgary Networking Club-------------- 5-7pm At 6 Goliaths

By Different Strokes  SAIT Pool (1301 - 16 Ave NW)

Saturday, February 16th

Swim Practice (June)------------  7:30-8:30pm

 1st

Apollo Calgary

Swim Practice (June)-------------------  5-6pm

Saturdays

At 6 Goliaths

Student Night------------------------  6pm-6am

See

 4th

Women’s Volleyball----------------  7-8:30pm

Tuesdays See 1 Calgary Outlink

See 1 Calgary Outlink

 Hillhurst United Church (Gym Entrance) 1227 Kensington Close NW

 Old Y Centre (223 12th Ave SW)

Thursdays

Inside Out Youth Group---------------- 7-9pm See

Pool Night-----------------------------  Evening

 Temple B’Nai Tikvah, 900 - 47 Avenue SW

GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

Calgary Sexual Health Centre---------

✰

 304, 301 14th Street NW  403-283-5580  http://www.calgarysexualhealth.ca A pro-choice organization that believes all people have the right and ability to make their own choices regarding their sexual and reproductive health.

1 Calgary Outlink---------------------------- ✰  Old Y Centre (303 – 223, 12 Ave SW)  403-234-8973  info@calgaryoutlink.ca  http://www.calgaryoutlink.com

FairyTales Presentation Society

 403-244-1956  http://www.fairytalesfilmfest.com Alberta Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

• DVD Resource Library

Over a hundred titles to choose from. Annual membership is $10.

Gay Friends in Calgary

 http://www.gayfriendsincalgary.ca Organizes and hosts social activities catered to the LGBT people and friends.

Girl Friends

• Peer Support and Crisis Line

 1-877-OUT-IS-OK (1-877-688-4765) Front-line help service for GLBT individuals and their family and friends, or anyone questioning their sexuality.

 girlfriends@shaw.ca  members.shaw.ca/girlfriends

• Calgary Lesbian Ladies Meet up Group • Between Men and Between Men Online • Heading Out • Illusions Calgary • Inside Out • New Directions • Womynspace

 http://www.girlsgroove.ca

Calgary Queer Book Club

Deer Park United Church/Wholeness Centre Different Strokes

Hillhurst United Church

 1227 Kensington Close NW  (403) 283-1539  office@hillhurstunited.com  www.hillhurstunited.com

HIV Peer Support Group

 403-230-5832  hivpeergroup@yahoo.ca

ISCCA Social Association

 Weeds Cafe (1903 20 Ave NW)  77 Deerpoint Road SE  http://www.dpuc.ca

Girlsgroove

 403-278-8263

 http://www.differentstrokescalgary.org

 http://www.iscca.ca Imperial Sovereign Court of the Chinook Arch. Charity fundraising group..

Knox United Church

 506 - 4th Street SW  403-269-8382  http://www.knoxunited.ab.ca Knox United Church is an all-inclusive church located in

www.gaycalgary.com

Directory & Events  Calgary Contd. downtown Calgary. A variety of facility rentals are also available for meetings, events and concerts.

Lesbian Meetup Group

 http://www.meetup.com/CalgaryLesbian Monthly events planned for Queer women over 18+ such as book clubs, games nights, movie nights, dinners out, and volunteering events.

Miscellaneous Youth Network

 http://www.miscyouth.com

Wild Rose United Church “Yeah...What She Said!” Radio Show

 CJSW 90.9 FM  yeahwhatshesaid@gmail.com

• Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre

 1213 - 4th Str SW  403-955-6014  Sat-Thu: 4:15pm-7:45pm, Fri: Closed

• Coffee Night

 Good Earth Cafe (1502 - 11th Street SW)

NETWORKS

 networkscalgary@gmail.com A social, cultural, and service organization for the mature minded and “Plus 40” LGBT individuals seeking to meet others at age-appropriate activities within a positive, safe environment.

Parents for Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)

 Sean: 403-695-5791  http://www.pflagcanada.ca A registered charitable organization that provides support, education and resources to parents, families and individuals who have questions or concerns about sexual orientation or gender identity.

Positive Space Committee

 4825 Mount Royal Gate SW  403-440-6383  http://www.mtroyal.ca/positivespace Works to raise awareness and challenge the patterns of silence that continue to marginalize LGBTTQ individuals.

Pride Calgary Planning Committee

 www.pridecalgary.ca

Primetimers Calgary

 primetimerscalgary@gmail.com  http://www.primetimerscalgary.com Designed to foster social interaction for its members through a variety of social, educational and recreational activities. Open to all gay and bisexual men of any age, respects whatever degree of anonymity that each member desires.

Queers on Campus---------------------

 279R Student Union Club Spaces, U of C  403-220-6394  http://www.ucalgary.ca/~glass Formerly GLASS - Gay/Lesbian Association of Students and Staff.

✰

• Coffee Night

 2nd Cup, Kensington

Safety Under the Rainbow

 www.sutr.ca A collaborative effort dedicated to building capacity and acting as a voice for the LGBTQ community, service providers, organizations and the community at large to address violence. For same-sex domestic violence information, resources and a link to our survey please see our website.

Theatre & Fine Arts

FAB (CLOSED)

36 ATP, Alberta Theatre Projects  403-294-7402  http://www.ATPlive.com

59 East Village Bistro  2nd floor, 610 - 8 Avenue SE Restaurant and lounge.

 107, 100 - 7 Ave SW  rob@axisart.ca

AXIS Contemporary Art--------------------

Retail Stores  140, 58th Ave SW  403-258-2777 Gay, bi, straight video rentals and sex toys.

41 La Fleur------------------------------------ 103 - 100 7th Avenue SW  403-266-1707 Florist and Flower Shop.

The Naked Leaf----------------------------

 403-283-3555

16 Priape Calgary------------------------- ✰  1322 - 17 Ave SW  403-215-1800  http://www.priape.com Clothing and accessories. Adult toys, leather wear, movies and magazines. Gifts.

Services & Products Calgary Civil Marriage Centre

 403-246-4134 (Rork Hilford)  MarriageCommissioner@shaw.ca Marriage Commissioner for Alberta (aka Justice of the Peace - JP), Marriage Officiant, Commissioner for Oaths.

24 Courtney Aarbo (Barristers & Solicitors)  1138 Kensington Road NW  403-571-5120  http://www.courtneyaarbo.ca GLBT legal services.

Cruiseline

 403-777-9494 trial code 3500  http://www.cruiseline.ca Telephone classifieds and chat - 18+ ONLY.

DevaDave Salon & Boutique

 810 Edmonton Trail NE  403-290-1973 Cuts, Colour, Hilights.

Duncan’s Residential Cleaning

 Jim Duncan: 403-978-6600 Residential cleaning. Free estimates.

Lorne Doucette (CIR Realtors)

Sharp Foundation

 403-543-6970  1-877-543-6970  http://www.mfmcommunications.com Web site hosting and development. Computer hardware and software.

MFM Communications

SafeWorks

Free and confidential HIV/AIDS and STI testing.

www.gaycalgary.com

✰

Jubilations Dinner Theatre

 Bow Trail and 37th St. SW  403-249-7799  www.jubilations.ca

Camp fYrefly

Edmonton Pride Festival Society (EPFS)

 http://www.edmontonpride.ca

43 Lisa Heinricks (Artist)--------------------- Art Central, 100 7th Ave SW, lower level  http://www.creamydreamy.com 35 One Yellow Rabbit------------------------- Big Secret Theatre - EPCOR CENTRE  403-299-8888  www.oyr.org 37 Pumphouse Theatre------------------ 2140 Pumphouse Avenue SW  403-263-0079  http://www.pumphousetheatres.ca

✰

Stagewest-------------------------------

✰

 727 - 42 Avenue SE  403-243-6642  http://www.stagewestcalgary.com 58 Theatre Junction---------------------- Theatre Junction GRAND, 608 1st St. SW  403-205-2922  info@theatrejunction.com http://www.theatrejunction.com

 780-471-6993  http://www.bucknakedboys.ca Naturism club for men—being social while everyone is naked, and it does not include sexual activity. Participants do not need to be gay, only male.  7-104 Dept. of Educational Policy Studies Faculty of Education, University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G5  http://www.fyrefly.ualberta.ca

See Calgary - Community Groups.

Adult Depot-----------------------------

 305 10th Street NW  http://www.thenakedleaf.ca Organic teas and tea ware.

 403-262-3356  www.axisart.ca

Fairytales

 403-461-9195  http://www.lornedoucette.com

 403-272-2912  sharpfoundation@nucleus.com  http://www.thesharpfoundation.com

Buck Naked Boys Club

See Calgary - Bars and Clubs.

Scarboro United Church

 134 Scarboro Avenue SW  403-244-1161  www.scarborounited.ab.ca An affirming congregation—the full inclusion of LGBT people is essential to our mission and purpose.

 Howard McBride Chapel of Chimes 10179 - 108 Street  bookworm@teamedmonton.ca

 403-850-3755  Sat-Thu: 8pm-12am, Fri: 4pm-12am

See Calgary - Bars and Clubs.

AltView Foundation

 #44, 48 Brentwood Blvd, Sherwood Park, AB  403-398-9968  info@altview.ca  www.altview.ca For gender variant and sexual minorities.

Book Worm’s Book Club

• Safeworks Van

Club Sapien (CLOSED)

Mystique

 www.beefbearbash.com

 Room 201, 420 - 9th Ave SE  403-410-1180  Mon-Fri: 1pm-5pm

See Calgary - Bars and Clubs.

 mystiquesocialclub@yahoo.com Mystique is primarily a Lesbian group for women 30 and up but all are welcome.

Alberta Bears

• Centre of Hope

 1317-1st Street NW

Calgary Eagle Inc. (CLOSED)

 The Old Y Centre (223 12th Ave SW) For queer and trans youth and their allies.

Community Groups

 Room 117, 423 - 4th Ave SE  403-699-8216  Mon-Fri: 9am-12pm, Sat: 12:15pm-3:15pm

Restaurants

• Fake Mustache • Mosaic Youth Group

 403-797-6564

• Calgary Drop-in Centre

Unity Bowling

 Let’s Bowl (2916 - 5th Ave NE)  sundayunity@live.com

✰

34 Vertigo Mystery Theatre------------------ 161, 115 - 9 Ave SE  403-221-3708  http://www.vertigomysterytheatre.com

EDMONTON Bars & Clubs 6 Buddy’s Nite Club------------------------- ✰  11725 Jasper Ave  780-488-6636 14 FLASH-------------------------------------- ✰  10018 105 Street  780-938-2941  flashnightclub@hotmail.com

The Junction (CLOSED)

 10242 106th St

Edmonton Prime Timers

 edmontonpt@yahoo.ca  www.primetimersww.org/edmonton Group of older gay men and their admirers who come from diverse backgrounds but have common social interests.

Affiliated with Prime Timers World Wide.

Edmonton Rainbow Business Association

 3379, 11215 Jasper Ave  780-429-5014  http://www.edmontonrba.org Primary focus is the provision of networking opportunities for LGBT owned or operated and LGBT-friendly businesses in the Edmonton region.

Edmonton Illusions Social Club

 5 The Junction  780-387-3343  groups.yahoo.com/group/edmonton_illusions 4 Edmonton STD  11111 Jasper Ave

Edmonton Vocal Minority

 780-479-2038  www.evmchoir.com

 sing@evmchoir.com

GLBTQ Sage Bowling Club

 780-474-8240

 tuff@shaw.ca

HIV Network Of Edmonton Society----

✰

 9702 111 Ave NW 780-488-5742  www.hivedmonton.com Provides healthy sexuality education for Edmonton’s LGBT community and support for those infected or affected

by HIV.

InQueeries

 inqueeries@gmail.com Student-run GLBTQ Alliance at MacEwan University.

Imperial Sovereign Court of the Wild Rose

 http://www.iscwr.ca

Living Positive Society of Alberta

12 Woody’s------------------------------------ ✰  11725 Jasper Ave  780-488-6557

Bathhouses/Saunas 11 Steamworks------------------------------- ✰  11745 Jasper Ave  780-451-5554  http://www.steamworksedmonton.com

 #50, 9912 - 106 Street 780-423-3737  http://www.facebook.com/LivingPoz Living Positive through Positive Living.

Men’s Games Nights

 Unitarian Church (10804 119th Street)  780-474-8240  tuff@shaw.ca

OUTreach

 University of Alberta, basement of SUB  outreach@ualberta.ca  http://www.ualberta.ca/~outreach

GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

57

Directory & Events DOWNTOWN EDMONTON

11 6 12

N

4 14

4 Edmonton STD---------- Community Groups 6 Buddy’s Nite Club------------Bars and Clubs

Edmonton Events Boot Camp------------------------------ 7-8pm Team Edmonton

TTIQ------------------------------------- 7-9pm See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

 1st, 3rd

HIV Support Group--------------------- 7-9pm See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

 2nd

QH Youth Drop-in---------------------- 3-8pm See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

Martial Arts---------------------  7:30-8:30pm Team Edmonton

Swim Practice-------------------  7:30-8:30pm See

Counseling----------------------  5:30-8:30pm

Martial Arts---------------------  7:30-8:30pm

Bowling-----------------------------------  5pm

Knotty Knitters-------------------------- 6-8pm

Intermediate Volleyball--------  7:30-9:30pm

Sundays

QH Craft Night-------------------------- 6-8pm

Fridays

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

Team Edmonton

Men’s Games Nights--------------  7-10:30pm

Monthly Meetings---------------------  2:30pm

Youth Sports/Recreation-----------------  4pm

Youth Sports/Recreation-----------------  4pm

QH Game Night------------------------ 6-8pm

Saturdays

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton See

See

Youth Understanding Youth

Team Edmonton

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton See

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

Thursdays

Book Club-----------------------------  7:30pm

 2nd, 4th

BookWorm’s Book Club

 3rd

See See

Men’s Games Nights

Team Edmonton

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton See

Team Edmonton

 Unitarian Church (10804 119th Street) See Edmonton Primetimers

 2nd

Friday, February 15th

King/Queen of Hearts Pageant--------------9pm

By ISCWR at FLASH

Naturalist Gettogether See

See

Buck Naked Boys Club

 2nd

QH Youth Drop-in------------------  2-6:30pm See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

Monthly Meeting----------------------  2:30pm

By Edmonton Primetimers  Unitarian Church, 10804 - 119th Street

 2nd

Saturday, March 2nd

Dukes and Diamonds------------------------8pm

By ISCWR  The Mercury Room (10575 - 114 St.) March 2013

U of A Pride Week------------------------ All Day

Mar1322

Legend:  = Monthly Reoccurrance,  = Date (Range),  = Sponsored Event

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender/transsexual, Queer, Questioning and Straight-but-not-Narrow student group.

✰

 10608 - 105 Ave  780-488-3234  admin@pridecentreofedmonton.org  http://www.pridecentreofedmonton.org  Tue-Fri 12pm-9pm, Sat 2pm-6:30pm We provide a safe, welcoming, and non-judgemental drop-in space, and offer support programs and resources for members of the GLBTQ community and for their families and friends.

• Counselling

 780.488.3234 Free, short-term counselling provided by registered counsellors.

• HIV Support Group

 huges@shaw.ca Support and discussion group for gay men.

• Knotty Knitters

Come knit and socialize in a safe and accepting environment - all skill levels are welcome.  robwells780@hotmail.com Support & social group for gay & bisexual men to discuss current issues.

58

 2nd, Last

Youth Understanding Youth

 Edmonton Contd.

• Men Talking with Pride

Team Edmonton

QH Youth Drop-in---------------------- 3-8pm

Team Edmonton

Youth Sports/Recreation-----------------  4pm

Pride Centre of Edmonton-------------

See

Ballroom Dancing--------------  7:30-8:30pm

Yoga---------------------------------  7:30-8pm

Women’s Social Circle------------------ 6-9pm

See 1 Youth Understanding Youth

Running------------------------------  10-11am

Movie Night----------------------------- 6-9pm

Team Edmonton

QH Youth Drop-in---------------------- 3-8pm See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

Team Edmonton

Men Talking with Pride---------------- 7-9pm

See

Swim Practice--------------------------- 7-8pm

GLBTQ Sage Bowling Club

Team Edmonton

See

QH Anime Night------------------------ 6-8pm

Cycling---------------------------  6:30-7:30pm

GLBTQ Bowling------------------  1:30-3:30pm See

See

Team Edmonton

Yoga---------------------------------  2-3:30pm

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

Wednesdays

See

QH Youth Drop-in---------------------- 3-8pm

See

Tuesdays

See

14 FLASH-------------------------Bars and Clubs

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

Mondays See

11 Steamworks----------------------Bathhouses 12 Woody’s-----------------------Bars and Clubs

• Movie Night

Movie Night is open to everyone! Come over and sit back, relax, and watch a movie with us.

board for the next term. If you are interested in running for the board or getting involved in some of the committees, please contact us.

• Curling with Pride

• Queer HangOUT: Game Night

• Badminton (Mixed)

• Cycling (Edmonton Prideriders)

Come OUT with your game face on and meet some awesome people through board game fun.

• Queer HangOUT: Craft Night

Come OUT and embrace your creative side in a safe space.

• Queer HangOUT: Anime Night

Come and watch ALL the anime until your heart is content.

• TTIQ

A support and information group for all those who fall under the transgender umbrella and their family or supporters.

• Women’s Social Circle

 andrea@pridecentreofedmonton.org Women’s Social Circle: A social support group for all female-identified persons over 18 years of age in the GLBT community - new members are always welcome.

Seniors Association of Greater Edmonton

 780-474-8240  tuff@shaw.ca

Team Edmonton

 president@teamedmonton.ca  http://www.teamedmonton.ca Members are invited to attend and help determine the

GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

 St. Thomas Moore School, 9610 165 Street  coedbadminton@teamedmonton.ca New group seeking male & female players.

• Badminton (Women’s)

 Oliver School, 10227 - 118 Street  780-465-3620  badminton@teamedmonton.ca Women’s Drop-In Recreational Badminton. $40.00 season or $5.00 per drop in.

•Ballroom Dancing

 Foot Notes Dance Studio, 9708-45 Avenue NW  Cynthia: 780-469-3281

• Blazin’ Bootcamp

 Granite Curling Club, 8620 107 Street NW  curling@teamedmonton.ca  Dawson Park, picnic shelter  cycling@teamedmonton.ca

• Dragon Boat (Flaming Dragons)  dragonboat@teamedmonton.ca

• Golf

 golf@teamedmonton.ca

• Gymnastics, Drop-in

 Ortona Gymnastics Club, 8755 - 50 Avenue  gymnastics@teamedmonton.ca Have the whole gym to yourselves and an instructor to help you achieve your individual goals. Cost is $5.00 per session.

 Garneau Elementary School 10925 - 87 Ave  bootcamp@teamedmonton.ca

• Hockey

• Bowling (Northern Titans)

 15450 - 105 Ave (daycare entrance)  780-328-6414  kungfu@teamedmonton.ca  kickboxing@teamedmonton.ca Drop-ins welcome.

 Ed’s Rec Room (West Edmonton Mall)  bowling@teamedmonton.ca $15.00 per person.

• Cross Country Skiing

 crosscountry@teamedmonton.ca

 hockey@teamedmonton.ca

• Martial Arts

• Outdoor Pursuits

 outdoorpursuits@teamedmonton.ca

www.gaycalgary.com

Directory & Events Red Deer Events

Nordegg Events

Wednesdays

March 2013

LGBT Coffee Night------------------------  7pm See

CAANS

 1st

Positive Voices Conference------------  All Day Goldeye Conference Centre

Mar1517

 Edmonton Contd.

• Running (Arctic Frontrunners)

 Kinsmen Sports Centre  running@teamedmonton.ca All genders and levels of runners and walkers are invited to join this free activity.

• Slo Pitch

 Parkallen Field, 111 st and 68 ave  slo-pitch@teamedmonton.ca Season fee is $30.00 per person. $10 discount for players from the 2008 season.

• Snowballs V

 January 27-29, 2012  snowballs@teamedmonton.ca Skiing and Snowboarding Weekend.

• Soccer

 soccer@teamedmonton.ca

• Spin

 MacEwan Centre for Sport and Wellness 109 St. and 104 Ave  Wednesdays, 5:45-6:45pm Season has ended.  spin@teamedmonton.ca 7 classes, $28.00 per registrant.

• Monthly Dances

Restaurants The Junction (Closed)----------------------

 10242 106th St

 780-756-5667

12 Woody’s------------------------------------ ✰  11725 Jasper Ave  780-488-6557

Retail Stores Passion Vault

 15239 - 111 Ave  780-930-1169  pvault@telus.net “Edmonton’s Classiest Adult Store”

Products & Services Cruiseline

 780-413-7122 trial code 3500  http://www.cruiseline.ca Telephone classifieds and chat - 18+ ONLY.

Robertson-Wesley United Church

 NAIT Pool (11762 - 106 Street)  swimming@teamedmonton.ca  www.makingwavesswimclub.ca

 10209 - 123 St. NW  780-482-1587  jravenscroft@rwuc.org  www.rwuc.org  Worship: Sunday mornings at 10:30am People of all sexual orientations welcome. Other LGBT events include a monthly book club and a bi-monthly film night. As a caring spiritual community, we’d love to have you join us!

• Tennis

• Soul OUTing

• Swimming (Making Waves)

 Kinsmen Sports Centre  Sundays, 12pm-3pm  tennis@teamedmonton.ca

• Ultimate Frisbee

 Sundays Summer Season starts July 12th  ultimatefrisbee@teamedmonton.ca E-mail if interested.

• Volleyball, Intermediate

 Amiskiwacy Academy (101 Airport Road)  volleyball@teamedmonton.ca

• Volleyball, Recreational

 Mother Teresa School (9008 - 105 Ave)  recvolleyball@teamedmonton.ca

• Women’s Lacrosse

 Sharon: 780-461-0017  Pam: 780-436-7374 Open to women 21+, experienced or not, all are welcome.

Call for info.

• Yoga

 Lion's Breath Yoga Studio (10350-124 Street)  yoga@teamedmonton.ca

Womonspace

 780-482-1794  womonspace@gmail.com  www.womonspace.ca Women’s social group, but all welcome at events.

Youth Understanding Youth

 780-248-1971  www.yuyedm.ca A support and social group for queer youth 12-25.

• Sports and Recreation

 Brendan: 780-488-3234  brendan@pridecentreofedmonton.org

 Second Sunday every month, 7pm An LGBT-focused alternative worship.

• Film Night

 Bi-monthly, contact us for exact dates.

• Book Club

 Monthly, contact us for exact dates.

Theatre & Fine Arts Exposure Festival

 http://www.exposurefestival.ca Edmonton’s Queer Arts and Culture Festival.

The Roxy Theatre

 10708 124th Street, Edmonton AB  780-453-2440  www.theatrenetwork.ca

BANFF Community Groups Bow Valley Cares Centre

 302 Buffalo Street, Banff, AB  PO Box 3160, Banff, AB T1L 1C8  403-762-0690  1-877-440-2437  info@aidscalgary.org

LETHBRIDGE Community Groups GALA/LA

 Henotic (402 - 2 Ave S) Bring your membership card and photo ID.

• Monthly Potluck Dinners

 McKillop United Church, 2329 - 15 Ave S GALA/LA will provide the turkey...you bring the rest. Please bring a dish to share that will serve 4-6 people, and your own beverage.

• Support Line

MEDICINE HAT Community Groups Medicine Hat Cares Centre

 356 - 2 Street SE, Medicine Hat, AB  403-527-5882  1-877-440-2437  info@aidscalgary.org

 403-308-2893  Monday OR Wednesday, 7pm-11pm Leave a message any other time.

• Telephone Support

• Friday Mixer

 M-T: 1:30pm - 4:30pm  W-F: 8:30am - 4:30pm

 The Mix (green water tower) 103 Mayor Magrath Dr S  Every Friday at 10pm

Gay & Lesbian Integrity Assoc. (GALIA)

 University of Lethbridge GBLTTQQ club on campus.

 galia@uleth.ca

• Movie Night

 Room C610, University of Lethbridge

Gay Youth Alliance Group

 Betty, 403-381-5260  bneil@chr.ab.ca  Every second Wednesday, 3:30pm-5pm

Lethbridge HIV Connection

 1206 - 6 Ave S

 M-F, 8:30am - 11:30pm

• In-person Support

ALBERTA Community Groups Alberta Trans Support/Activities Group

 http://www.albertatrans.org A nexus for transgendered persons, regardless of where they may be on the continuum.

Theatre & Fine Arts Alberta Ballet

PFLAG Canada

 http://www.albertaballet.com Frequent productions in Calgary and Edmonton.

Pride Lethbridge

CANADA

 1-888-530-6777  lethbridgeab@pflagcanada.ca  www.pflagcanada.ca  lethbridgepridefest@gmail.com

RED DEER Community Groups Affirm

 Sunnybrook United Church  403-347-6073  2nd Tuesday of the month, 7pm Composed of LGBTQ people, their friends, family and allies. No religious affiliation necessary. Activities include support, faith and social justice discussions, film nights, and potlucks!

Central Alberta AIDS Network Society

 4611-50 Avenue, Red Deer, AB  http://www.caans.org The Central Alberta AIDS Network Society is the local charity responsible for HIV prevention and support in Central Alberta.

LGBTQ Education

 LGBTQeducation@hotmail.ca  http://LGBTQeducation.webs.com Red Deer (and area) now has a website designed to bring various LGBTQ friendly groups/individuals together for fun, and to promote acceptance in our communities.

Community Groups Canadian Rainbow Health Coalition

 P..O. Box 3043, Saskatoon, SK, S7K 3S9  (306) 955-5135  1-800-955-5129  http://www.rainbowhealth.ca

Egale Canada

 8 Wellington St E, Third Floor Toronto, Ontario, M5E 1C5  1-888-204-7777  www.egale.ca Egale Canada is the national advocacy and lobby organization for gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, transidentified people and our families.

Products & Services Squirt

 http://www.squirt.org Website for dating and hook-ups. 18+ ONLY!

Theatre & Fine Arts Broadway Across Canada

 http://www.broadwayacrosscanada.ca

OUTtv

 http://www.outtv.ca GLBT Television Station.

Pride on Campus

 rdcprideoncampus@gmail.com A group of LGBTQ persons and Allies at Red Deer College.

 403-308-2893  http://www.galalethbridge.ca Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Lethbridge and Area.

www.gaycalgary.com

GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

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Classifieds Event

140

Jeremy Dias in Edmonton Jeremy Dias, the founder of Jer’s Vision (http://www.jersvision.org/), will be speaking at a luncheon at McDougall United Church in Edmonton on Sunday, February 3, 2013. The program, which starts at 12 noon, is free. Donations to help cover the cost of the lunch are appreciated. Jer’s Vision is an organization that works to reduce bullying, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of discrimination in schools and youth communities. McDougall United Church, 101 Street and MacDonald Drive, Edmonton, AB, T5J 2B7, http://www.mcdougallunited.com/, 780-428-1818

The Fetish Slosh at the Backlot!

Come on down to the Backlot the 2nd Tuesday of every month for a no-cover Fetish party.

Upcoming dates are November 13, December 11th, etc. You can dress up in Leather, Latex, cuffs, collars, or just your skivvies. Have the conversation you like without offending a vanilla in sight. The Backlot supports and promotes the alternative lifestyles of Calgary so feel free to express your KINK!

Audition

305

Elizabeth’s Antique & Collectible Sale

Check out www.Squirt.org for the Hot Escorts in Calgary, Edmonton, and the rest of Alberta.

New Improved Features. Free to Post and Browse. Videos, Pics, and Reviews. Join Now! Code: GCEE

Products/Services

Marriage Ceremonies

Alberta Aviation Museum, 11410 Kingsway Ave., Edmonton, AB. March 15-16, 2013.

Friday 2-8PM & Saturday 10-4PM. $5.00 Admission. Over 120 tables of Pop Culture, Vintage Clothing, Advertising Collectibles, Shabby Chic, Antique Furniture, Militaria, Jewelry, Petroliana, Art Glass, Vintage Toys, China, Records, Sports Memorabilia, Coins, Stamps and so much more!

Erotic Massage

Do You Need a Computer Hero?

On-site home and business computer service.

15yrs experience. Certified, insured, BBB member. GLBT Owned. Friendly & respectful service. Call 403-444-0700, Calgary & Area.

240

527

Want to attract the LGBT local or traveler to your business?

It’s not about special treatment. You can’t assume the LGBT person, or the straight person will follow the pack anymore. The LGBT market is becoming more and more aware of what organizations support them, and which ones don’t, ultimately sending them away from businesses and communities that do not recognize them or their lifestyle. Does your staff need LGBT sensitivity training? Want to attract the market but unsure how to proceed?

Local, Domestic, International, We can assist.

Check us out at http://blueflameventures.ca, Email us at info@blueflameventures.ca, Call us at 604-369-1472. Based in Alberta.

420

UltimateMaleMassage.com

Adult Depot

Health

550

Large selection of gay DVDs from $9.95, aromas and toys. Open Mon-Fri 12-11pm, Sat 12-6pm, closed Sundays and holidays.

403-258-2777

Cleaning

517

GET A LIFE! STOP CLEANING!

Beauty & Mayhem Production Agency is are looking for Gay Talent to perform in Adult entertainment Productions. Call Pj @ 403 826 2670 E-mail: pj@beautymayhem.ca www.xxxbmpa.com

Consulting

500

Rork Hilford MC, Commissioner for Oaths.

MarriageCommissioner@shaw.ca | 403246-4134

215

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Models/Escorts

460

Alberta Escort Listings

Sales Rep Wanted GayCalgary Magazine is looking for a part time sales rep. Income by commission, sales experience required. Duties include contacting new advertisers and maintaining existing customers. Contact Steve at sales@gaycalgary.com.

Premium organic medical marihuana shipped quickly, discreetly to your door. www.mycm.ca

560

Massage in Edmonton

Does your home or business need a professional cleaner? Steve is bonded/Insured.

Flexible prices and brings all his own supplies.

Steve is apart of the LGBT Community and has been cleaning for over 5 years in Calgary. getalifecleaner@gmail.com http://www. getalifecleaner.com (403)200-7384 www. facebook.com/getalifecleaner

Registered Massage Therapist in downtown Edmonton. Relaxation and therapeutic massage. For appointment phone Dwayne at 780-483-3190 or 780-918-5856

Ads starting at $10/mo. for the first 20 words. Submit yours at http://www.gaycalgary.com/classifieds 60

GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

www.gaycalgary.com

Medical/Dental

562

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Prescriptions not helping? Health and Natural Lifestyles Inc. is the number 1 alternative health clinic in Calgary for the last 4 years. Why not try Alternative Health fixing your body naturally and without side effects.

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Christmas/New Years special on Blood Analysis 2 for1 for new clients, $75.00 savings. Check us out at www.healthyoption.com or phone 403-212-6077.

Be vibrant, be healthy, be happy!

 Mail Forwarding To reply by post, mail to: Box # c/o GayCalgary 2136 17th Ave SW Calgary, AB, T2T 0G3 To reply by E-mail: box#@gaycalgary.com

 1015

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GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

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GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

www.gaycalgary.com

www.gaycalgary.com

GayCalgary Magazine #112, February 2013

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