GayCalgary Magazine - January 2014

JANUARY 2014

® ISSUE 123 • FREE The Voice of Alberta’s LGBT Community

Interview with

TONI BRAXTON

Sam Harris

”An Embarrassment of Riches”

Paris Hilton

DJs at Cowboys ICED Party

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Jordan McIntosh Magneta Lane Victoria - Full of Life MasterChef Canada ...and more!

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Community Map

Calgary • Alberta • Canada

Events Calendar

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Unapologetically Independent

Tourist Information

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

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Table of Contents

JANUARY 2014

®

Videography Steve Polyak,Sales Rob Diaz-Marino Craig Connell Printers sales@gaycalgary.com North Hill News/Central Web

Printers Distribution Web exPress

Calgary: Gallant Distribution GayCalgary Staff Distribution Edmonton: Clark’s Distribution Calgary: GayCalgary Staff Other: Canada PostFoo Edmonton: Farley Foo Other: Canada Post

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Courtney Aarbo, Barristers and Solicitors

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GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine GayCalgary Magazine 2136 17th Avenue SW Calgary, AB, Canada Calgary, AB, Canada T2T 0G3 T2T 0G3 magazine@gaycalgary.com ®

Office Hours: By appointment ONLY Phone: 403-543-6960 Toll Free: 1-888-543-6960 Fax: 403-703-0685 E-Mail: magazine@gaycalgary.com This Month's Cover Cher andToni Christina of Sony Main: Braxton,Aguilera photo bycourtesy Marc Baptiste Pictures; Annie courtesy of Mike Owen; TopLennox Right: Sam Harris Rex Goudie.

Mid Right: Paris Hilton Bottom Right: Gala

Proud Members of: Proud Members of:

Ex-gay Courses Offered in Calgary

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This Year at the High Performance Rodeo

9

Strike a Pose

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A celebration of Calgary’s gay history and Two-Spirit storytelling Vogue gets a foothold in Cowtown

10 MasterChef Canada

Judge Michael Bonacini dishes on eating camel and his favourite meal to come home to

12 Sam Harris

“An Embarrassment of Riches”

14 Barbie Burning and Witchrock

Magneta Lane’s new EP supports a girls’ option to keep her clothes on

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Writers and Contributors

Chris Mercedes Azzopardi, Allen, Greg Chris Beneteau, Azzopardi,Dave Dallas Brousseau, Barnes, Jason DaveClevett, Brousseau, Rob Diaz-Marino, Sam Casselman, Janine JasonEva-Trotta, Clevett, Andrew FarleyCollins, Foo Foo,Emily KeithCollins, Johnson, RobEvan Diaz-Marino, Kayne, Stephen Janine Eva Lock, Trotta, David-Elijah Jack Fertig, Nahmod, Glen Hanson, Steve Polyak, Joan Hilty, CareyEvan Rutherford, Kayne, Stephen Romeo Lock, San Vicente, Neil McMullen, Krista Sylvester, Allan Neuwirth, Nick Winnick Steve Polyak, and theCarey LGBTRutherford, Community Romeo of San Calgary, Vicente, Edmonton, Ed Sikov,and Nick Alberta.

Vivian and the GLBT Community of Calgary, Edmonton, and Alberta.

Photography Steve Polyak, Rob Diaz-Marino, B &Photography J, Farley Foo Foo Steve Polyak, Rob Diaz-Marino, B&J Videography Steve Polyak, Rob Diaz-Marino

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15 Ferron Thunder

Thunder and Light-ening to take fans by storm

16 Jordan McIntosh

The “Bieber” of Country to play first show in Calgary

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18 Just Duck Off...

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20 Truth: A Self-Portrait

Director Rob Moretti turns past pain into present success

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21 HBO’s Looking

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

22 CAPOLAVORO di UOMO: Masterpiece of Man

An Interview with contributing artist Marc DeBauch

24 Deep Inside Hollywood Jim Parsons having Visions

Edmonton Rainbow Business Association

Stage West’s latest offering a R&B hit parade Retirement community offers travel perks and cruise-themed dining

Gay European Tourism Association

28 Victoria, BC “Full of Life”

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26 Resort-Style Living for Seniors

International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association

National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association

25 All Aboard The Love Train

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

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Table of Contents  Continued From Previous Page

36 Gala

®

Unapologetically Independent

38 Still Breathing, Still Singing PAGE 28

Toni Braxton talks retirement, going lesbian and the hit song she hates

40 Rap is Gay

Comedian and creator talk ‘dirty’ new cartoon, its star (a gay rapper, what?) and homophobia in hip-hop

42 Paris Hilton Touches Down in Calgary Media Icon DJs at Cowboys ICED Party

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Readership

Readers Per Copy: 4.9 (PMB) Print Readership: >9800 Avg. Online Circulation: 310,000 readers Estimated Total Readership: >319,800 readers Frequency: Monthly

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History

52 News Releases 55 Directory and Events 60 Classified Ads

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51 A Couple of Guys

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Editorial

Ex-gay Courses Offered in Calgary

By Evan Kayne In the Fall of 2013, an article appeared in the Toronto Star where a reporter went undercover to infiltrate a Christian program that tries to “heal” people struggling with same sex attraction. The same program is currently running in Calgary. Jonathan Brower, Artistic Producer with Third Street Theatre (billed as “Calgary’s Queer Theatre Company”) attended it years ago. To this day he still feels the effects of this “counselling” and when he has spoken about his experience with this type of ministry and mentality to those in the conservative church, he has lost friendships, been deleted off Facebook, and called a liar.

Jonathan grew up in Calgary, in a household where both parents attended a church affiliated with the Evangelical Church Alliance. From an early age he faced the knowledge he was different – and different was not good in this church: “all the teaching of that right wing conservative church is quite anti-gay.” In his teens, Jonathan and his family had moved to Victoria, and over the next few years in high school and first year university, he started taking tentative steps out of the closet. During that time he was still involved with a Christian church; consequently he was ground zero on the battle between his Christian friends who were telling him homosexuality is wrong and his university friends who were encouraging him to accept and love himself.

Unfortunately, “I decided to move back to Calgary thinking that if I went to Bible College I would be able to find the answers to be able to not have to deal with homosexuality.” He went to Ambrose University College and basically went back in the closet. Yet even then there were the voices of doubt - he went there for two weeks until reconsidering and then withdrawing.

Jonathan next signed up with the international Pentecostal organization YWAM (Youth With A Mission). It’s a six month discipleship training program with the goal of building a Christian up as a missionary.

As part of the program requirements, you disclose your entire history; Jonathan had to mention he was attracted to men. The pastor mentioned previous YWAM attendees had a similar problem, and recommended Living Waters.

Living Waters is a Christian organization which has been around for quite some time – usually under different names depending on the location (other names include Desert Stream in the USA where they were affiliated with the notorious ex-gay organization Exodus). “So, she recommended I go to this because she’d sent a couple of students who went to this and they were guys and now they’re married with kids so there’s this healing possibility.”

This was about 2005 and when Jonathan returned from his six months with WYAM, he was intent on going to the Living Waters program. It was a year long program (weekly meetings) and he participated in it three times (2005-2006, 2009, 2010). Near the end, he was knowledgeable enough in the program to be picked as a small group co-leader (2011).

Continued on Next Page 

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

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It might seem surprising a program like this could exist in a progressive country like Canada. Considering how Canadian society has become even more accepting of GLBTQ folk during this same time, I asked Jonathan about the mental gymnastics required to convince someone Living Waters would be a viable option. Jonathan told me in the conservative Christian culture and community in which you live, you are constantly hearing voices of the people around you telling you “this isn’t right... this isn’t what God created you to be... it’s a sin like anybody else has to deal with.”

As part of his “counselling” over his same sex attraction, Jonathan’s pastors arranged meetings with ex-gay men. These were Christian men who “...were in their 50’s; married with kids...to give me encouragement and hope. I remember this one meeting so specifically. This guy was sitting on a couch and I came into the pastor’s house...and I meet him, I’m feeling totally awkward... I’m a 17 year old boy and I hear this guy’s story. He says Ask me anything you want. He was a lovely man and he really wanted me to find some peace in my life. A lot of that stuff was about peace, finding peace, not having this struggle.”

While this man was discussing his life with his family, Jonathan asked him the ultimate question: Are you still attracted to men? His response was it was still a daily battle. Jonathan responded, “You’re 55 years old, you have three kids, you have a wife, and you’re still experiencing that on a daily basis?! That just blew my mind and I thought this is crazy.”

That encounter was the start of Jonathan questioning just what was the honest life for him to lead. When the Toronto Star article recently appeared, Jonathan thought having the reporter go undercover in order to investigate the program was a bit morally grey. Yet, “I don’t know if there’s any other way to do it more objectively than that... but at least it came out.”

I still found it mind-boggling any LGBT youth would fall for any kind of conversion therapy when it has been routinely panned as being unsuccessful at best and destructive at worst. The viewpoint a lot of these churches feed youth who are struggling with same sex attraction is that this isn’t God’s plan for you, this world isn’t our own, you just need to get through it to get to heaven.

This mentality breeds the idea you have to hold tight to Jesus and get through the trials of this life. It’s drilled into people from day one – you are born into sin and need to surrender to God and let him transform you. The problem is that no matter how you dress the message up with words like “transforming” and “healing”, you cannot change the essential core of who you are, and if the churches view homosexuality as being abhorrent, you quickly see yourself as a monster.

Additionally, conservative churches encourage an “echo chamber” mentality of only listening to the church’s voices and ignoring any opposing viewpoints. “When I was in my church I remember my pastor saying, if you’re too open minded your brains will fall out. They’d say we need to be in the world, not of it. They’d say go out there and you’re the beacon, you’re the light for the people around you in this dark world to see that Jesus has changed your life. Sure, that’s great, but if the only reason to be in those relationships [with other church members] is to share the gospel and not actually have friendships based on just friendships – there’s always the idea our friends are hopefully going to give their lives to Christ, it makes it insular.”

Of course, you would think anyone offering a course promoting the idea you can change your behaviour (especially at this level) would have some education or knowledge of human psychology, right? About that...

“The one guy who was the leader, he had been to Bible College, but that was it. So there’s no counselling degree. And no teaching degree either,” Jonathan said. To a certain degree this isn’t news – pastors in many churches give out counselling advice based again not on any training they’ve had but on what scriptures they quote from the bible.

“There’s all these people going about things based on the bible...and that’s how they approach their issues...”

Listening to Jonathan further describe it, Living Waters sounds like a support group for addicts – the confessions about your week, the group support, and the leaders who rose up from the ranks but may not actually have any real training.

Online Last Month (1/2) Creep of the Week

The Moscow City Government

As you probably already know, Russia is not exactly a paradise for LGBT people.

Even talking about being gay is a crime there because it might corrupt... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3832

Hear Me Out

Celine Dion, Katy Perry, Donna Summer, Panic! at the Disco

Celine Dion, Loved Me Back to Life To have the glass-shattering lung power that Celine Dion has built an empire of love songs on in the... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3837

Creep of the Week Laurie Higgins

Hooray for Illinois, the latest state to allow gays and lesbians to get legally married.

As People for the American Way points out, that brings the grand... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3833

Deep Inside Hollywood

That new Tim Gunn show may eclipse Project Runway

That new Tim Gunn show may eclipse Project Runway It starts in January and it’s called Under The Gunn (no jokes, please, they’re unseemly).... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3836

Screen Queen The Gift Guide

COMEDY QUEENS The Heat As a disorderly Boston police detective with a mouth dirtier than the bottom of a garbage truck,... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3840

The OutField

Sochi Olympics: Kick butt and take names

In 1936 it was the Nazis. In 1980, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. 1984 brought retaliation for 1980. This year, it’s treatment of gay people. Another... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3841

Thinking Out Loud: The End of the Slippery Slope

Why same-sex marriage won’t lead the way to goat weddings and polygamy

I’ve heard some variation of this kind of argument more times than I can count: “If we let gays marry, next we’ll have to let people marry goats!... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3843

His final coming out was in 2012. “It was through a It Gets Better video that I posted on Facebook.” He had already laid the steps by not attending his original church – instead going to Hillhurst United (which is an LGBT welcoming assembly) so there was some tension. But when the video came out, “...there was a firestorm of backlash and email comments.”

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

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Online Last Month (2/2)

school because I’m going to spend some time working on not being gay.

He said Are you kidding me? Just go to school and be gay. Why does it matter? It was not what I was expecting...he was totally supportive.”

Thomas John Paprocki

Jonathan’s sister’s response was a bit different, as she’s still involved with a Christian church. It was “No matter what, I love you, but there wasn’t the support behind it.” She’s still trying to process it in her own way. The church she’s with is still a bit cold toward homosexuals.

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3834

Jonathan is a bit philosophical about the path he took to get out of the closet. “I’m the type of person who says no regrets. I’m here where I’m at because of the things I went through. I have that idea that the wounded deer leaps the highest. I look back on all my efforts trying to not be who I was. I was still trying to be authentic, but I thought that authenticity was in ridding myself of being attracted to men because that wasn’t okay under God.”

Creep of the Week

What a wonderful day for an exorcism!

On Nov. 20 in Springfield, Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn will sign the bill to legalize marriage for...

Hear Me Out

Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, Mason Jennings, Avril Lavigne

Lady Gaga, ARTPOP So much for that high-concept, post-modern ingenuity that ARTPOP promised even before Lady Gaga hawked it as the album... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3838

Hear Me Out ... for the Holidays Kelly Clarkson, Mary J. Blige, Erasure, Matthew Morrison

Kelly Clarkson, Wrapped in Red In 1963, background-singer-turned-soloist Darlene Love got with big-time producer Phil Spector to... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3839

“I would say in terms of the damage Living Waters and that type of [homophobic] thinking in conservative churches – even if they’re not outright saying or touching on the issue of homosexuality – the damage to those people who are still in the closet who are believing that and trying to change their orientation...I guess I would say don’t go to Living Waters if you are gay.”

Jonathan still has a lot of those negative voices in his head about his sexuality. “I’m constantly challenged in my own mind because of those things. I kind of wish I could dissolve all that and start fresh. I wish I hadn’t fought so long against myself because now I’m 28 and I’m still trying to figure out who I am...as someone who is in a faith background I would say you don’t have to pick a side. Everyone told me I had to pick a side – you either choose God or you choose to be gay. And that’s it. And I don’t agree. I would say don’t listen to people who say you have to make a choice between one or the other.” Jonathan has finally found a place where he can be happy as both Christian and a gay man.

The OutField

Broadway Impacts the NY Marathon

The Toronto Star Article on Living Waters http://www.gaycalgary.com/u625

There are eight million stories in the Naked City. There were also 50,000 runners in this month’s Naked City – er, New York City – Marathon. Each of...

Living Waters Website http://www.livingwaterscanada.org

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Welcoming Christian Assemblies in Calgary Note that some but not all United churches are welcoming/affirming to LGBTQ folk – we’ve only indicated these here as they are the most central in Calgary:

Creep of the Week Robert Ritchie

It was only a matter of time before someone made the connection between the fact that Illinois now recognizes marriage equality and the fact that Illinois...

http://www.hillhurstunited.com http://www.knoxunited.ab.ca http://www.scarborounited.org

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Granted he didn’t get too much directly because Jonathan knew this would be upsetting and had already purged his friends a bit, and had resigned any positions at his old church, but even then, he lost almost all social contact with his old church – this is a church he’d been attending since he was nine.

He did maintain friendships with two more progressive Christians from his old church. They still keep in contact and they still tell him they love him – sadly, it’s always with exceptions. “It’s still I love you even though you’re...you know.” One of those two friends posted Jonathan’s video on her page and while his page received few negative comments, a lot of people in the church commented on her page with the expected responses (he’s going to hell, this is unbiblical, god save his soul, etc.).

“It was the type of thing you see in the US – that type of response. But on my page when I posted it all I had was positive comments....in a lot of ways that’s how parts of the very conservative Christian churches are,” to your face they’ll tell you they love you, but on the down low they are saying very unchristian things about you.

Fortunately, at Hillhurst United, his family was more accepting. His mother told him she will love and support him no matter what. Jonathan originally came out to his father previously by telling him “I’m stopping

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Preview

This Year at the High Performance Rodeo

A celebration of Calgary’s gay history and Two-Spirit storytelling

By Janine Eva Trotta A fail-safe Calgary cure to the post-holiday blues continues to be the High Performance Rodeo, hosted annually by a variety of downtown venues and running this year from January 9th to February 1st.

Ed tie corper si. Alis dolor sendit am nulpute magna facipis duThe 2014 lineup includes a healthy melange of cabaret, comedy and celebration, from The Garter Girls & Peekaboo Pointe’s sensual burlesque to the Gob Squad’s film-as-it-happens screening.

But what may be the most affective show this year for members of the LGBTQT community is Club Carousel: A Cabaret Celebration of Calgary’s Gay History.

The city’s own Third Street Theatre is putting on the performance in partnership with the Calgary Gay History Project.

“We will be presenting a 50-minute cabaret performance from queer and allied artists in order to honour and celebrate the legacy of Club Carousel, one of the first queer spaces in Calgary,” says Paul Welch, artistic director for Third Street. “Club Carousel began operations in 1968 when it was illegal to be a homosexual in Canada (decriminalization took place in 1969, thanks to Pierre Elliott Trudeau) and it was the dawn of the community as we know it today.”

This was only one year after Everett George Klippert was arrested and charged with four counts of gross indecency and jailed for a second time after confessing to engaging in homosexual activities with four consenting adults in the Northwest Territories, where he had moved from Calgary after being released from jail on a similar charge.

It was 1967, the year Trudeau would aptly say, “Take this thing on homosexuality, I think the view we take here is that there’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation…”

Three months into his second prison sentence the Crown proceeded in declaring Klippert “a dangerous sexual offender”. A court-ordered psychiatrist deemed him “incurably homosexual” and his sentence was increased to a life term. He made appeals to both the Court of Appeal for the Northwest Territories and the Supreme Court of Canada. Both were dismissed.

Political outrage ensued, ultimately resulting in the Criminal Law Amendment Act, which would decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults.

Fobister has been named a tour-de-force for his dynamic story telling capabilities in the Ojibwan heritage.

These shows will hit the stage on the eve of January 30th. If you purchase your tickets together, by phone or in person at the Epcor Centre Box Office, you can see both for $50.

Agokwe begins at 7:30pm at the Engineered Air Theatre while Club Carousel starts at 9:30pm at the Big Secret Theatre.

The High Performance Rodeo http://www.hprodeo.ca

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Despite decriminalization in 1969 many law enforcers would continue to deem homosexuality as “horrible” and “vicious”. Though Klippert would be the last man in Canada jailed for homosexuality, he would not be released until 1971.

A dozen performers will take part in this month’s commemorative show on Calgary’s gay history, including a drag queen, a drag king, as well as performers in musical theatre, spoken word and a musician/singer/songwriter.

“We will also be speaking about major historical events throughout the performance, to give audiences context to what was happening in Calgary, Canada, and the world pertaining to the LGBT community,” Welch says.

The Cabaret will be followed by a panel of special guests, moderated by the Calgary Gay History Project head Kevin Allen.

Club Carousel will be performed on the same night as another queer favourite; Agokwe, by First Nations playwright/performer Waawaate Fobister.

Fobister will tackle several characters in this one-man show, which portrays the unrequited love between two boys from neighbouring reserves.

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Lifestyle

Strike a Pose

Vogue gets a foothold in Cowtown

By Greg Beneteau It’s minus 30 degrees and snowing outside – the kind of weather in which one trudges, rather than walks, down the sidewalk But inside Pulse Studios in Crescent Heights, the action is hot as dance instructor Tony Tran demonstrates some of the finer points of vogue to half a dozen students.

He catwalks down an imaginary runway, feet practically en pointe, hips forward, arms swaying to the beat. Then he stops, places one hand on his hip, and stares straight ahead at a mirror that runs the length of the room.

“When you turn, the head is the last to go, because that’s a photo opportunity,” Tran explains to the class.

When he’s not burning up the dance floor, the 25-year-old Calgary native heads up The Bad Girls Club YYC, a group he founded last year to help popularize vogue culture in Cowtown.

The group hosts its annual vogue dance party, Out of the Closet, on January 25th at Dickens Pub, inviting seasoned vogue veterans and curious onlookers to witness a new take on an old dance style.

Named after the venerable fashion magazine, vogue is a highly stylized form of dance that incorporates elaborate costumes, grace, and lots of posing. (Think ballet dancers at a fashion show).

Vogueing emerged as a cultural phenomenon among black gay and transgender youth in New York City’s Harlem neighbourhood in the 1970s and 80s.

Marginalized by the black community and excluded from predominantly white gay bars, groups of gay black youth banded together into houses, which also served as second families. The houses would compete for trophies and bragging rights in elaborately staged dance pageants, called balls.

In addition to being judged by their dance skills, vogue dancers are expected to embody the roles suggested by their outfits, which can range from military fatigues to zoot suits.

Dressing in drag and androgynous looks are common.

“I always tell my students, vogue is 50 per cent movement, 50 per cent attitude. You need to invest in the role you’re playing, otherwise you’ll be cut down, or chopped by the judges,” Tran explains. www.gaycalgary.com

In 1990, Madonna’s smash hit single “Vogue” hit the airwaves, giving the dance worldwide exposure. Later that year, the documentary Paris is Burning, which explored ball culture in New York City, was released to critical acclaim.

For much of the following decade, everyone wanted to strike a pose like their favourite celebrity. And though ball culture has largely faded from the public eye, vogueing continues to evolve and attract new followers.

“The dance style that was popularized by Madonna’s Vogue music video is known as Old Way Vogue. It’s very fluid and symmetrical,” explains Tran, who teaches regular drop-in classes in vogue at Pulse Studios. “There’s also New Way Vogue, which is more rigid involves a lot stretching and contortion, and Vogue Fem, which is very graceful and sensual.”

As a member of House of DangerKat, one of vogue’s most well-respected dance troupes, Tran has performed at balls in Toronto, Vancouver and New York City.

But he says there was virtually no organized presence for vogue dancers in his hometown, which led him to take action.

“Calgary tends to get looked over for its arts and culture, and a subculture like vogue even more so,” Tran says. “I wanted to bring something different to the table.”

The first Out of the Closet event last year drew a wide range of participants, both gay and straight.

“I was a bit worried that only the LGBT community would turn out, but I was wrong,” Tran says. “There were people from the dance community, a lot of young people. We had older ladies who just wanted to get dressed to the nines and watch the performers. It was a riot.”

Tran says vogue’s emphasis on individual expression and self confidence gives the dance form a universal appeal.

“Realness is a word that gets used a lot in vogue. It means you are who you are, and when you’re in the spotlight performing, you shouldn’t be afraid to be yourself.”

Out of the Closet http://outofthecloset.brownpapertickets.com Pulse Studios http://www.pulsestudios.ca

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Entertainment

 Judges Alvin (left), Michael (centre), and Claudio (right)

MasterChef Canada

Judge Michael Bonacini dishes on eating camel and his favourite meal to come home to

By Janine Eva Trotta Joining the 40-odd countries across the globe to have gained a MasterChef series on their home turf, Canada will air its inaugural episode this month.

One of the three topnotch judges selected to evaluate the fleet of home cooks who made it to the premier season was celebrity chef and celebrated restaurateur Michael Bonacini.

“We’re absolutely delighted and honoured to have [the show] here,” he says enthusiastically. “I’ve been in the restaurant industry for years… I’ve seen a lot of chefs come and go… good dishes and bad ones… this was a chance to put that expertise to work.”

Bonacini was flying back from Calgary to Toronto for auditions early last summer when weather re-routed his latenight flight to Ottawa.

“It was the day we were having those absolute terrible rain storms,” he recalls. It was 5am the next morning when he finally arrived, no doubt tired, but still possessing the joie de vivre that would decide his role in Canada’s first MasterChef series.

Roughly six weeks later “I received a wonderful phone call.” He was in, along with self-taught and Michelin-starred chef Alvin Leung, and Uruguayan-born, creative mastermind Claudio Aprile.

Bonacini calls the experience “quite unique and spectacular.”

“No two days were ever the same,” he describes.

Every episode involved the contestants taking on different ingredients, different individual and team challenges, hitting impressive highs and plummeting to upsetting defeats.

“The schedule was go, go, go, go,” says Bonacini. “It was an enormous production; there were lots of things going on.”

Contestants were made to attempt a slew of culinary feats – from home made breakfast cereal to camel meat.

“That gives you some sense of the spectrum that was presented to us,” he posits.

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Despite his lengthy career in the industry and worldly background, sampling camel was a first for even the seasoned Bonacini.

“I would have it again, that’s for sure,” he says, describing the carne as having an “interesting texture to it…almost venison-like…fibrous.”

As the challenges went on, the three judges were held in a constant suspense and sort of turmoil, trying to determine who was going to make it to the top ten or top five, or even top three. Their selections were in perpetual rotation, as one day a chef would triumph and the next create a complete flop.

“You get to see their strengths and their weaknesses,” Bonacini says. “You’re constantly mentoring them as you go by their stations.”

He’s reminiscent of Tim Gunn, and indeed sports a similar charismatic candour. His voice is melodic, possessing the gentle accent of his upbringing in South Wales where his fine tastes in food were cultivated by a Northern Italian father and the running of a family-operated hotel business.

“My father did the cooking 99 per cent of the time and, if I’m honest, my mother was famous for her steamed broccoli,” he gests playfully. “You could almost make a soup out of it.”

Bonacini’s father cooked everything from traditional English food to a cornucopia of good northern Italian cuisine, often incorporating the abundant local protein, lamb.

Yet the owner of 11 upscale residents in Toronto and area craves a very simple dish when he comes home after a long day in the kitchen.

“One of my all time favourite meals to look forward to, that my wife cooks, so when I come home at the end of the night… and the room of the house if full of the smell of a whole roast chicken,” he describes. “I think you’ll find that most chefs – when they’re not working – like to eat very humble, very straight forward things.”

Serve this poulet with a potato side, and just a little pan gravy, and Bonacini is satiated.

On the set, however, Bonacini et al. was consistently pushing the potential master chefs to go further – enhancing presentation, diversifying their use of spice, and making them realize their full potential.

He says that while you do tend to root for one cook over the other, it is a constantly changing game; a game he is much happier to be on the judging side of.

“My days of competing in a competition like this are probably, maybe passed,” he says. “In earlier years I got involved in all kinds of other cooking competitions, certainly when I was in Europe.” www.gaycalgary.com

Bonacini describes driving to Frankfurt and Luxembourg to participate in live competitions.

“As a chef you’ve got to be thick skinned because everyone is a critic,” he says. “Every guest, food critic, blogger – and rightly so. It keeps us on our toes; that’s for sure.”

All three judges selected for MasterChef Canada have somehow managed to thrive in that highly competitive market, yielding whatever recipe caters to their critics.

The Oliver and Bonacini restaurants include Toronto’s Canoe and Auberge du Pommier, and later this year Bonacini aims to open the doors to his first restaurant in Calgary.

Situated at the Hudson’s Bay Company on Stephen Ave, the eatery plots to offer a speakeasy scene on the lower level and a carnivore enthusiasts’ menu on the ground floor.

Though the concept is not totally cooked through, Bonacini says to think open flame charcoal, an emphasis on mountain food and an exceptional showcase of great Alberta beef.

Leung credits his structured upbringing in Scarborough, Ontario, by immigrant parents who pushed him to succeed, for his industry success. He co-owns the renowned restaurants Bo Innovation in Hong Kong and Bo London in England.

Leung is no stranger to TV. In 2011 he was the face of The Maverick Chef in Asia, and has also made guest appearances on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, Top Chef Masters, The Hairy Bikers, and Rhodes Across China.

In addition to creating the ‘X-treme Chinese’ cuisine that has won him multiple Michelin stars, Leung has also cooked up a healthy food franchise called Beautified, serving sushi burritos and Asian inspired salads.

While some might define Leung’s character flavour as brash and sassy, Aprile emits a milder brand of spice. Like Leung and Bonacini, Aprile moved to Ontario from elsewhere in the world, and has cultivated his craft internationally.

His accolades abound: from a stint at Bali Sugar in London, England to the experimental cooking techniques he implemented into the kitchen of Toronto’s Sen5es.

Aprile is co-owner and creative head of the ever-expanding Orderfire Restaurant Group, which includes the three Origin locations situated in the Greater Toronto Area, delivering fresh, fast food directly from chef to eater a la open-style kitchen.

It is a wonder these busy chefs found the time to step from ‘pan into the fire’ as it were. But all three conveyed no less than absolute zeal.

“I think Toronto – Canada – is a great market for this kind of show,” Bonacini says. “We’re all hoping it will go beyond just one season.”

He says the premier run should reflect to viewers the truly eclectic melange of Canadian home cooks who, coming from globe scattered cultural backgrounds, bring to the table a unique blend of tastes and methods.

“Everyone watching will see and connect with that,” he says. “Hopefully they will say to themselves… I want to get in on that action… and audition for next year.”

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MasterChef Canada Premieres on CTV, January 20th at 8pm ET http://www.ctv.ca/MasterChefCanada

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

11

Interview

Sam Harris

“An Embarrassment of Riches”

By Carey Rutherford If you’d gone to school with Sam Harris, and you ran into him in 2014 and asked, “So, what’ve you been up to, Sammy?” you would be starting an avalanche of creative activity which causes him to describe his current life as “an embarrassment of riches.” For not only did he start out as the winner of the original Star Search TV talent competition in 1984 with his amazing vocals, he has, by his own account, “written my own shows... written several musicals; I’ve written television sitcoms, (and) I co-wrote Liza’s Back at the Palace, for Liza Minelli which won a Tony...”

And before all of that, long before So You Think You Can Dance Canada, American Idol or Britain’s Got Talent, Sam climbed onstage at New York’s Earl Carroll Theatre and killed ’em at Star Search with his rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.

Back to the present...

“It’s a very good time to be Sam Harris. I am so grateful. It sounds corny, but I wake up every day saying Oh my God! Look at my life! I have this book coming out with an amazing publisher; I have a husband I love, and child I love; I’m singing, which is something I love; I’m getting to tell my story, and nothing is more thrilling to me than being in front of an audience. To be in front of people singing and telling stories is the greatest.”

It’s hard not to feel a little bit of envy over the length and breadth of Sam’s career: he’s never been a stockbroker, but instead seems to have had creative input into just about every media that has been available since the 80’s: TV, music recordings, stage, live performance, writing, directing and now, online.

“I’ve been very fortunate. I love to do what I do, and I’m always experimenting in new ways, and new areas, and have had the good fortune of a good deal of success in different areas. Working with people who teach me and inspire me, and with whom I collaborate: it’s a good life. And it got even better when I got a kid!!”

“When you have a child, it prioritizes things. And the other thing that I never could have known, growing up this misfit gay kid in this little town, is that sticking to my truth and being open and honest... I feel like I won the lottery! I’m married (partner of 20 years, married for 5), I have a child (5 years old), I have a full fabulous life. And, being someone who has a public platform, I get to promote the right side of history, as it were. By living it, being it, marching for it, and speaking up and being an example of it. In this particular time in history it’s a great time to be alive.

“When I look back at this generation I’ve grown up in and how things have changed. It’s remarkable.”

It won’t surprise GayCalgary Magazine readers to know that one of the themes of the aforementioned book that Mr. Harris is writing is optimism.

“Growing up in a small town in the Bible Belt (Oklahoma) had its challenges (but) I found my music and theatre, and creating and writing, and it got me through, and it gave me purpose. I left home when I was 15 for good: I was very young, and have been making a life and career of it ever since. I’m sort of an eternal optimist, which is a good thing to be in show-business, so the book (Ham: Slices of a Life, Simon & Schuster, 2014) covers all of those different kinds of things.

“It’s a funny book, and I’m very proud of the writing, but the content is not always funny. It deals with an attempted teen suicide, some very funny show-business stories, and many different aspects of my life.”

He mentions how he was encouraged to move from writing essays and plays to putting a book together by an author friend.

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

“(He said) Sam, you just need to be writing more, and I’ve heard this from others throughout the years, and I’ve always loved (writing), even though my primary career has been as a singer and an actor.

“I just started putting fingers to keyboard, and I love it: I love everything about writing! I love the rhythm of it, the punctuation of it, the storytelling of it. In all the different aspects of my career, which is singing and acting and directing, it’s all storytelling. So this was another way to do that.

We had a discussion about the different requirements of performance and writing: “I’ve always loved to write, ever since I was a little kid, and when we’re talking about the persona you create onstage and in concert, a very important part of that for me was finding things to make people laugh. I tend to sing a lot of ballads, and I found in writing up-tempo monologues that I was able to balance the shows that way. So it became a necessity, and then a major part of what I do onstage.”

Speaking of being onstage, “All of this has NOTHING to do with why I’m coming to Calgary, of course. It happens to be a date I’m doing (with the CPO on January 29th) called Rewind, which is 80’s music with me and Sheena Easton, who I ADORE! She’s a ball, hysterically funny, a great singer, and we’ve done a couple of these and they’re just a ball!

“I was approached to do this project, and was asked to come up with some people who would be fun to do this with, and Sheena was on my very short-list. Not only is she incredibly gifted, but she’s a mensch: funny, great to work with, and she’s the real deal.”

Sam mentions that he wasn’t too sure about getting involved in some kind of 80’s ‘tribute’ band: “But when the symphony concept came in, I thought, how perfect! Because there’s so many of these songs that are completely lifted to another level by having a symphony involved. These arrangements are so stunning, and for me to be able to sing a song like Open Arms with strings soaring... it’s just glorious! Ironically, the people who grew up with www.gaycalgary.com

these songs in the 80’s are now the people who like to hear the symphonic.

“There’s a silliness and a grandness to it that I’m just finding a joy to do... Sheena and I are guest stars: there’s music from the symphony and the pop band (that plays with them), and then Sheena and I come on and do certain songs.”

We then discussed the fact that ‘symphonic’ is exactly the feel that a lot of 80’s electronic music was trying for. So to actually create the wall of sound they were originally written for, using real performers and instruments, gives goose bumps.

Mr. Harris is a little more prosaic about it: “I’m a lyric guy: the lyric is everything to me. So when something reads poetically, and has a story with a character, that’s always what appeals to me... I look for songs that touch me... I have found that a great song, and a great lyric, is something that’s always changing and evolving and unfolding, so every time I sing it, it can mean something new.”

Come and hear something old become new, with Sam and Sheena and the CPO.

Rewind: Hits of the 80s With Sheena Easton and Sam Harris Wed, January 29th @ 7:30pm http://www.cpo-live.com http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3852

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

13

Interview

Barbie Burning and Witchrock

Magneta Lane’s new EP supports a girls’ option to keep her clothes on

By Janine Eva Trotta Just when we thought all the great angst anthems of the late ‘90s by femme fatales bands like Hole, Veruca Salt, Garbage and the Cranberries were knocked out of the mainstream by pop charters like Wrecking Ball and Last Friday Night, Toronto’s Magneta Lane offers a fresh EP full of that classic alternative fire.

Title track Burn offers an estrogen power video reminiscent of Volcano Girls in which a school aged girl burns not only a Barbie doll and a stack of Maxim-like magazines plastered with skinny-almost-nude covers, but also takes a bat to a TV screen projecting the all too common image of a size 0 woman’s grinding midriff in daisy dukes.

The wholly female trio’s point is simple: be who you are, not who you’re told to be.

“I want young people to know there are options,” says lead singer, guitarist and principal songwriter for the band Lexi Valentine. “We want them to make decisions based on what they feel comfortable with, not what society shoves down their throat.”

Valentine is not a staunch feminist; she loves pop and lives by the mantra ‘live and let live’. She simply does not believe women need to be super sexual in order to sell something or to get their message across.

“In all honesty if a person or artist is comfortable with doing that… then who am I to tell them not to do it?” she says. “Just don’t do it because some older guy in a suit is telling you to do it.”

Lexi’s sister/drummer Nadia King, and bassist French have lived through that managerial pressure. The three women started playing shows when they were just 15 to 17 years old. They lied about their age not only to get into clubs, but also to be taken seriously. Regardless of their youth they never did what they didn’t want to do.

“We always did the opposite of what we were told,” Valentine says, reminiscing of a show wherein she wore something different, something out of character, because she felt like it.

“It was fun,” she says. “They said, you looked different last night,” but the artist didn’t care.

That said, being young, naïve about the industry, and exclusively female did carry its other tolls. The trio quickly signed to a contract without knowing much about the industry. Though they were savvy enough to seek legal extrication, they found it difficult to be taken seriously by any management team. While hunting a good deal with their second LP Gambling With God, Valentine grew tired of being talked to as though she had ‘just put her big-girl shoes on’ and stated, “I’m out of here”.

The band took a break, and with clear heads and some added years of life experience the current EP Witchcraft began brewing in a basement with some “awful recording program…a guitar and a base”, and Valentine seeking to put into music the inner frustration she was contending with.

That’s when the opportunity to work with Finger Eleven’s Rick Jackett and James Black came around – and a mutual respect and friendship was determined. “[Jackett and Black] are super supportive of the band that we are,” Valentine states. She says her new managers never say we don’t like that, change it, but instead say that song’s great. Let’s make it better.

They work through encouragement rather than trying to mould the musicians into something they’re not.

Valentine heard them say we’re not into dressing girls up as dolls and she loved it. But if dressing like a doll happened to be something she

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

woke up one day and felt like doing, you can bet she’d be in doll garb on stage the next night anyway.

Witchrock, while reminiscent of the Magneta Lane of the past, introduces a band more rhythmic, more confident, and more resonating.

The band chose the name for the EP when trying to peg their own genre and realizing that none exactly fit. Are they witches? Unfortunately not.

But Valentine’s husky, strong voice is indeed spell binding.

Asked what has kept the band together and motivated for so many years (since 2003 to be exact) Valentine is quick to answer it is the fact they like each other – and they know when to take breaks.

“It’s so great to be in a band with two other people that I love,” she says. “One thing that we’ve been really good at is adjusting to whatever’s going on in people’s lives.”

Following the current tour Magneta Lane is on, French will be going back to school for her Masters.

“Nadia and I are starting a side project this year as well,” Valentine informs. “We’re constantly supporting one another’s dreams – not just as a band but as individuals as well.”

“There’s never any resentment.”

The band is adamant on staying dedicated to their fan base and continuing to record quality music, much like their preceding musical inspirations.

“If I had to pick one woman that I really look up to I’d have to say Patti Smyth,” Valentine says. “I love something that’s just raw energy and saying what you mean and not sugar coating it. She’s definitely one of the artists [who] does that.”

One might say Valentine is too. She has never felt pressure to lose weight or look a certain way, nor has she felt it necessary to date a fellow musician. Her five-year-strong relationship is with a man out of the industry, and Valentine says that difference keeps things interesting.

The time away on tour is hard, but it keeps them working at it.

“It’s important to maintain that connection with the people who support what you do,” she says. “And the people who have supported us the last decade.”

Magneta Lane Friday, January 24 at Broken City, Calgary Burn Music Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5elENTpAU0

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Interview

Ferron Thunder

Thunder and Light-ening to take fans by storm

By Krista Sylvester She’s known as the “lesbian Johnny Cash” and now audiences can catch a glimpse into the Canadian folk musician’s life through a documentary getting to know the icon that is Ferron.

Ferron Thunder and Lighten-ing was produced and directed by Bitch, who has cherished the collaboration with the renowned performer. Bitch is an indie rocker/performance artist who is from another generation of musicians but felt the urge to collaborate on this beautiful project with Ferron. And much like thunder and lightning go together in a storm, so did the creative collaboration between the two performers.

While younger generations may not be familiar with the semi-retired 61-year-old Ferron, they may recognize her creative influence on other popular musicians including Ani DiFranco and Indigo Girls. Bitch set out to create a raw documentary about the elusive folk singer and audiences won’t be disappointed with the result.

While Thunder focuses on Ferron’s life, Lighten-ing is a collection of songs spanning her 30 year career. One of the standout tracks includes a song written by Bitch and Ferron together, dubbed “Army of You”.

Audiences are invited to take a peek into the window of Ferron’s life through Bitch’s eyes. We spoke to Bitch about her lovechild documentary and album and this is what she had to say about the project.

GC: What can you tell our readers about the documentary?

B: Since hearing Ferron’s poetry and music for the first time and

GC: What’s up next?

B: We are working on a video for “The Pledge” to be released soon!

getting to know her, I have always wanted to help tell some of her story.

When I finished Boulder, I still wanted to tell more. Then I met Billie Jo Cavallaro, whose interest is in surrealism and we started connecting on the idea that we could paint a ‘visual poem’ of Ferron, and that’s what we set out to do!

Ferron Thunder http://www.ferrononline.com

GC: How do the music component and the documentary connect?

B: We made Thunder first. At first I had no intention of making an

Thunder and Light-ening See the first 10 minutes of “Thunder” here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llHk25TJpyM

entirely new audio recording. The music we were using was mostly from “Boulder” but by the time we were nearing completion of the film, so many of us had come together around it and one of our executive producers, Leslie Gearhart, started mentioning making a sound track. I thought Boulder is the soundtrack, really. But then I still had my internal ‘list’ of all the Ferron songs I still wanted to try, that hadn’t gotten onto Boulder.

Ferron and I were booked to play a festival in Iowa and I knew a great little studio there and since I am one to take a small idea and run with it, the next thing you know, Ferron and I were in Iowa, making “Lighten-ing”!

Stream “Lighten-ing” here: http://shortstoryrecords.bandcamp.com/album/lighten-ing Buy the whole double disk set, with a 32 page booklet here: http://www.gaycalgary.com/u632

Like many of us, Ferron’s poetry speaks to me on such a deep level. For Thunder, we had used quotes from her most recent poetry book, “Catching Holy”. So when we set out to record “Lighten-ing,” I

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3854

brought in a copy of an older book of her poems, “The (H)unger Poems,” and we used those to craft some new material. “The Pledge” was born this way.

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GC: What makes this project so unique?

B: One of the first things we hear Ferron say in the film is “I think all

documentaries deal with that sort of timeline life story, and I just don’t think like that.”

We like to say that this is not your average documentary. It’s doesn’t aim to give you a time-line of her life, or anything like that. Thunder - like Ferron, myself and Billie Jo - is very non-linear!

GC: What was your favourite part about the collaboration?

B: Working with Ferron has always been thrilling for me because of the

fact that we are different ages and come from very different eras, ideas and culture.

GC: You produced both the doc and the album, describe the challenges of each?

B: Every album I have ever made, I get to the end and I think, “if anyone had told me how much energy/time/focus that took, I may never have started!” They are all sweet challenges and I will definitely be taking a break for a minute! *laughs*

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

15

Jordan McIntosh

The “Bieber” of Country to play first show in Calgary

By Janine Eva Trotta Not everyone would boast that their life was a country song, at least not one of those songs about losing everything and the dog.

But country singer and teenage cutie Jordan McIntosh isn’t like that. He identifies with Taylor Swift’s style; naming himself the male antidote to her feminine, diary-like relationship-driven lyrics.

“I think my songs, especially the ones I’ve written…are about the guy’s side of the relationship,” McIntosh says. “I think it’s nice to give the guys a say and their side of what’s going on.”

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

“I’m a teenager so a lot goes on in your teenage years,” he continues. “It’s cool to be able to put all of your experiences into a catchy song… cool and scary to share these songs with the public,” he adds, explaining the vulnerability one opens themselves up to when they record an album almost entirely self composed.

You won’t hear about “the drinking and the partying and the tailgates and the girls” that a lot of male voices twang on about in McIntosh’s new album, slated for release this summer. At least not yet, though his hit video for the track Grew Up In A Country Song does feature a girl dancing on a tailgate. She’s McIntosh’s real life best friend.

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“It’s just cool to be able to share that with her,” he says, describing how important and rewarding it is to have the people he loves by his side, “ …and to look back and see everyone in my life was on board.”

McIntosh says that, while every parent wants to have their kids realize their potential and fulfill their dreams, his parents have gotten to experience that reality in a special way.

“I think it’s really cool for them to see [the dream] actually happening with their kid,” he says. “Since we all love music that much …they’re all kind of a part of it…they’re living vicariously through me with the things I’ve got going on.”

Music has always been a passion in McIntosh’s home’ “whether it’s play an instrument, or sing, or compose music.”

“Music was always there for me growing up,” he describes. “I’m the first one to take it to another level and make a career of it.”

McIntosh drew a lot of inspiration from his older sister who is also a singer. Her talent drove him to summon his own.

His writing direction is simple but genuine. He writes about what he knows.

“I grew up in a small town,” he says, speaking on the creation of Grew Up In A Country Song. “I took inspiration from that and thought of some of my favourite places and some of my favourite people that I grew up around.”

His home is just outside of Ottawa, where he recently graduated from high school.

“At one point it got really difficult – balancing school, music and social life,” he describes. “[Graduating is] one less thing on my plate.”

Like his sister did, McIntosh is taking a year off following high school. He wants to delve into work and take a solid go at his career before he makes any decisions about further education.

“Starting off with The Young Guns Tour, I thinks it’s really going to take off,” he says on a very hectic, and promising, 2014.

McIntosh is booked as special guest alongside fellow Canadian artists One More Girl and Brett Kissel for a cross-country tour that kicks off in Saskatoon on February 4th. The Young Guns Tour will be hitting Calgary on February 7th at the Cowboys Dance Hall and Edmonton on February 12th at the Cook County Saloon.

Though McIntosh has performed in Calgary before, at a radio stop and a morning show, this will be his first real show. He is “crossing his fingers” that he will be back in July to play the Stampede.

McIntosh won’t be taking the band he usually plays with around the Ottawa area on this tour. The singer will share a band with his co-performers. He will have one week with this band before setting off.

Asked what has been his biggest accomplishment thus far in his career he gratefully says signing with his current agency, Strut Entertainment.

“Over the past even few months they’ve really opened up a lot of things,” he says. “I’ve gotten to experience a lot because of them.”

This includes attending the Canadian Country Music Association Awards, appearing in the CMT holiday film Home for Christmas with George Canyon, going #1 on the DMDS Top 5 Downloads Chart in December for his holiday track Christmas Time, taking part in the Emerging Artist Showcase at the Boots & Hearts Music Festival last summer, and earning the Fresh Face Feature Artist title for the video for Grew Up In A Country Song on CMT. That fresh face caught the attention of country artist Johnny Reid who, McIntosh recently learned, played a part in landing him with the entertainment group he is with today.

McIntosh was filling a seat at the Junos with a friend when Reid recognized him.

“He came up to me and said I know who you are and you’re doing a great job,” McIntosh says, adding that he had covered some of Reid’s songs.

Inadvertently Reid was out for lunch with the right person at the right time when McIntosh’s manager was seeking an agency.

Reid put in a good word for the budding musician.

“It’s really cool to think that someone like Johnny Reid was out there talking about me,” McIntosh says.

Sound kind of like Bieber’s relationship with Usher? Similarities don’t stop there, nor do they end with both young artists’ teendream smiles, big brown eyes, or polished coiffures.

Both Canadians used Twitter and YouTube to reach out to their fan base and generate a great amount of publicity.

McIntosh had a cover of Lil’ Wayne’s How To Love for some time, tossed it for awhile, and then decided to bring it back. Audiences often don’t recognize the song until the chorus kicks in, and the lyrics become familiar.

“It always gets a really big response,” McIntosh says. “It’s one of my favourite covers to do.”

He decided to shoot a live video for the track, announcing so on Twitter to collect an audience for the taping.

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“A lot of people showed up and were excited to be part of it,” he says, adding that since it has been posted to YouTube, “the response has been unreal.”

The video has already attracted more than 200,000 views.

Certainly a good indicator that the young star is on the right track to meeting his big goal of attaining a worldwide platform from which to share his music.

“I just hope to have longevity; I think every artist hopes for longevity,” he says.

After wrapping this tour McIntosh will be releasing a new single aimed for end of February or some time in March, planning for a summer full of festivals, and recording his album in Nashville.

“I do a lot of my writing in Nashville and recording as well,” he says. “I’ve also been told countless times if you’re doing country music go to Nashville.”

With any luck the album will be released in time for McIntosh’s hoped for performance during the Stampede. The artist definitely has a tone of determination. Unlike most late-teens his focus is not on dating and partying.

“My relationship is my music and my career,” he says.

Jordan McIntosh http://www.jordanmcintosh.ca http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3855

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

17

Politics

Just Duck Off...

By Stephen Lock It is almost ironic how reality so often hits the stars of ‘reality shows’ right smack between the eyes. It’s almost as if they start buying into their own hype (or rather the network’s hype) and think they are no longer the ordinary, if somewhat quirky people they actually are, but are individuals the rest of us want to hear opine about something with which they really have no experience.

Now, I happen to enjoy watching Duck Dynasty and its partnershow Duck Commander (although I am not very clear on the difference between the shows; they’re both about the Robertson clan, their duck-call empire and the odd assortment of characters they deal with in the Louisiana backcountry in which they live).

They all proudly style themselves as ‘redneck’, only they aren’t; growing up in Alberta, I know a redneck when I see one and the Robertsons aren’t redneck - they is swamp folk!! Akin to hillbillies and all, y’know? Exceptin’ that hillbillies live in the mountains, whereas swamp folk don’t.

Of course, this slightly off-kilter, down-home, rough-aroundthe-edges, camo-wearing, Old Testament-bearded, squirrel-eatin’ schtick is exactly why the show is so popular. Like many of the reality shows currently out there, we all - myself included - tune in to chuckle at the impossible situations and bizarreness of these people. They’re not us and we are thankful for that (as are they, no doubt).

So when the ‘patriarch’ of the Robertsons, Phil, does an interview with, of all things, GQ Magazine and goes off the rails and starts talking about how blacks were a lot happier before the Civil Rights Movement and how homosexuality is a slippery slope to morphing into bestiality, you gotta know what’s going to hit the fan...and it ain’t duck!

Of course, his comments created a brouhaha of controversy ranging from condemnations of his narrow-minded intolerance and bigotry to arguments around free speech and the ‘intolerance’ of those opposed to what he said because, after all, if you have free speech then you are free to say whatever you want. Well...no...free speech is about being allowed to voice one’s opinion (so long as it is not traitorous or seditious or advocating violence against anyone), that’s true, but it’s also about dealing with the consequences of what you say.

Nobody prevented him from saying anything, and clearly what he said has not been suppressed by government agents skulking in the shadows. He is being held to account for what he said. Free speech cuts both ways. If he is free to say what he believes, as he should be, then he must also be able to defend those beliefs/ opinions in the public arena...which, in this day and age, is huge.

To read what conservative pundits have to say about all this you’d think all he pretty much said was he had some issues with homosexuality. Not surprising given he is a Born-Again fundamentalist non-denominational Christian. But he didn’t.

Here’s what he said: “Women with women, men with men. They committed indecent acts with one another, and they received in themselves the due penalty for their perversions,” Robertson said. “They’re full of murder, envy, strife, hatred. They are insolent, arrogant, Godhaters. They are heartless, they are faithless, they are senseless, they are ruthless. They invent ways of doing evil.”

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Now, the first two sentences in that quote are a direct lift from one of the Gospels. That’s fine. One can argue the perception of ‘sexual orientation’ was different 2,000 years ago than now and even argue the whole concept of a homosexual identity didn’t really exist in that culture at that time. But that would make little difference to a Bible literalist like Robinson. And he is totally free to believe those words, and hold them in his life, just as I am totally free to argue historical context and question whether they apply in the modern world.

Where he got into trouble, deservedly so in my books, is saying gay people are “full of murder, envy, strife, hatred.” That we are “insolent, arrogant, God-haters” and “heartless, faithless, senseless, and ruthless”, to boot. Oh...and we invent ways of doing evil, so I guess we are creative as well. But we knew that....blacks can all sing and have natural rhythm and gays are creative and stylish. I guess we just didn’t realize our creativity was for evil.

In the series, everyone has a role. He is “The Patriarch”, his wife Kay is the “Voice of Common Sense” (and “Long Suffering Patience” when it comes to the idiosyncrasies of her menfolk), Uncle Si, Phil’s brother and a Vietnam veteran, is the “Eccentric and Decidedly Odd Uncle”. Each of the boys (Willie, Alan, Jase, and Jep) occupy a niche with Willie being the “Fun-killing CEO” of the Duck Commander company exasperated by the laid-back attitudes of his brothers, who all work at the company; Jase as his nemesis and generally a thorn in his brother’s side; we don’t see much of Alan; and Jep is just sort of ‘there’ and always willing to go along with whatever harebrained schemes Uncle Si comes up with (and they’re often doozies!) or whatever small rebellion against Willie’s authority his brother Jase is planning. But at the end of each show, the family all comes together for a communal meal and realize God and Family is what matters, come what may. And that is what attracts a record number of viewers to the show. It’s kind of a rougher, modern-day Walton’s Mountain.

The show, however, is also at least partially scripted, as are most of the reality shows these days, and certain things about the Robertsons get left out or edited out.

Phil Robertson has also advocated marrying off girls. Not ‘young women’ - girls. With mom and dad’s permission, of course! He married Kay when he was 20 and she was just 16. Is it just me, or is that just a little creepy? No...it’s a little creepy.

“You got to marry these girls when they are about 15 or 16. They’ll pick your ducks,” he said referring, of course, to the womenfolk cleaning the birds the menfolk bring home from duck-hunting. “...

[Y]ou wait until they get to be 20-years old, the only picking that’s going to take place is your pocket.”

He then went on to say, “Make sure that she can cook a meal.

You need to eat some meals that she cooks, check that out,...[and] make sure she carries her Bible. That’ll save you a lot of trouble down the road. And if she picks your ducks, now, that’s a woman.”

None of this should come as a surprise, given who he is. If it wasn’t for the television series, which even he says might last for 5 or 6 years and that’s it, he’d just be some local in Monroe Louisiana who made a bundle of cash making and selling duck calls; a local ‘character’ and on nobody’s radar whatsoever.

I don’t really care what some guy who hunts ducks down in Louisiana thinks or believes. He is free to believe the sun revolves around a flat 6,000-year-old earth, for all I care. That’s fine. Believe whatever it is you want to believe so long as it doesn’t bring harm to others. www.gaycalgary.com

Robertson is not just some crusty old backwoods salt-of-theearth curmudgeon trying to get by and hold things together the best way he knows how. He has - whether he wanted it or not become an American cultural icon of sorts and with that comes a certain responsibility. That responsibility can very well involve him bringing a message of good old-fashioned values to Middle America (which he disparages as ‘a bunch of yuppies’ on a regular basis on the show) but he needs to temper that with the understanding that the very culture he is so critical about is the same culture that pays him and his family $20,000 an episode, over and above the millions he reportedly made off his Duck Commander product or any of the product licensing spin-offs the show has created.

This is not about ‘free speech’ or ‘freedom of religion’. It is about taking responsibility for ones actions and views. I would think an individual like Robertson, who you can’t help but admire for what he has actually accomplished in his own life, would hold to that.

I can almost hear him say ‘Man up! Be a man and take some responsibility’. We all screw up. We have all said and done things in our lives we regret or that blew up in our faces. I sure have. It’s not so much the screw-ups that screw us up, but the blaming of others or the failure to accept responsibility for our own failings and shortcomings that screw it all up. Did he honestly think buying into his own mythology and celebrity status and saying the things he said wouldn’t have repercussions? He is not stupid, but this sure was. Has the backlash to his comments been a form of censorship, an attack on his right to free speech? No. It hasn’t.

What? In order for free speech to be preserved, nobody can react to what someone else says or does? Those people uttering inane, uninformed or misinformed opinions can’t be challenged or, if need be, made to take responsibility for the statements? That’s ridiculous. He wasn’t arrested, he wasn’t thrown in jail and left

to rot. He was met with predictable reaction...some of it gut-level and not thought out very well, either, but predictable. Who does that fall on? The person making what they had to know would be ‘controversial’ and inflammatory statements or those who respond/ react to them? Whose rights are more important? The people exercising their right to free speech, come hell or high water, or those that such observations affect?

Certainly having a serious sit-down with him might have been called for, but suspending him only further fuelled the controversy and, I suspect, the only reason A&E did was because of concerns their sponsors - the companies that pay the bills - would pull their advertising.

The show is about him and his family and not having him in the show any longer would have changed the nature of the show, and resulted in lost viewership; that would cost A&E money. So he has been reinstated. What will happen from here is anyone’s guess.

Will he use the show as a platform to apologize? I doubt it. And even if he did, would such an apology be sincere or more along the lines of ‘I’m sorry you were offended’, which is no apology at all?

What’s done is done...move on. Or cancel the show. I think we can all survive the trauma of not seeing Duck Dynasty, and all its repeats, but of course if that were done it would create another ersatz ‘controversy’ about censorship and corporate retribution. All that would do is make Phil Robertson a martyr.

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

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Interview

Truth: A Self-Portrait Director Rob Moretti turns past pain into present success

By Nick Winnick With more than a dozen films on his actor’s resume, Rob Moretti is certainly a familiar face to some in gay cinema. With his new film, Truth, Moretti marks his second outing both as a writer and director. In Truth, Moretti explores some dark territory, following the tumultuous relationship between his characters Jeremy and Caleb as they dig deep toward each other’s secrets.

And not to spoil anything, but it goes just about as well for them as you’d expect when those shadows are finally hauled, protesting, into the light. I had a chance to speak with Moretti about his work, and about his own history with the themes of addiction, abuse, and honesty that make up the meat of the film.

GC: You’ve referred to Truth as tackling issues that were important

to you – namely alcoholism and mental illness – and that Sean Paul Lockhart, who plays Caleb, had experienced them as well. Tell me a little bit about your battle there.

RM: Actually, on January 3rd I celebrated 17 years of being clean and sober. I grew up a child of an alcoholic, and I grew up with my mother mentally ill and in rehabs. It was tough. I don’t regret any of that, because I don’t think that I would be the person that I am today if I didn’t experience all that. But if you can overcome that, you can get through anything.

GC: When you set out to make the film, did you focus on those issues, or did the story come first?

RM: It was the latter. The basic story was there, of a love gone wrong. I’ve always been a fan of thrillers and the horror genre, and films like Misery and Fatal Attraction. The baseline was there, and then it developed from these characters and our own experiences.

GC: Your character, Jeremy, is closeted. Is that something you experienced firsthand?

RM: I actually never really had any issues coming out. And, you know, thank God I never had an issue, because that on top of everything else would’ve been a little too much to handle. That idea of Jeremy being in the closet was based on some people that I know and people of my generation. It was a lot harder to be gay in the 80s and the early 90s than it is today.

GC: Lately there’s been some criticism of men – even gay men – being tone deaf on women’s issues. You’ve got one unstable female character in Caleb’s mother, and one whose function is primarily to drive the plot, in the case of Jeremy’s wife. Did you make a conscious decision to contrast those, and offer someone level-headed and affirmative in terms of Blanche Baker’s role?

RM: Yeah – the three women that are in the film are from all different walks of life and different stages of their own journey. There were a lot of elements of that character of the mom [that came from mine] - her always being away, being institutionalized. I wanted to have someone like that, and I also wanted to have someone who you would think would be an ideal mother, like Blanche’s character. I definitely did want to take it from A to Z. And there’s really not a lot of strong women characters out there, especially in gay film, and you have at least two here. Both of them are very intense.”

GC: This film ends pretty darkly for everybody. Was it a tough decision as a filmmaker to not give a happy ending to the issues you’ve had to deal with in your personal life?

RM: Absolutely. And the ending that I did put in the film, I wanted to leave somewhat open-ended. Is the character of Jeremy okay? Has his traumatic experience sent him down [Caleb’s] path?

GC: Do you think there’s some comment in there on the nature of honesty and truth in a relationship? Is there something to be said for maybe not being 100% forthcoming, or is it more about how you manage the timing and presentation of truth?

RM: I think it’s a hell of a lot easier to go in like an open book and just get everything out there. It’s much harder to carry those types of burdens as opposed to being yourself and being open and honest. It’s a chore to have to edit yourself, and your words, for the sake of the other

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person. If you go in open and honest, I think in the long run, people will respect that more.

GC: Compared to other films in this genre, the sex scenes are a lot more explicit. Tell me a bit about that decision.

RM: As I get older, I’m not really afraid of sex and sexuality. From the first scene where it’s kind of beautiful and exploratory, to after my character [tells Caleb that he] found his mom, where it’s kind of rough make-up sex. That stuff is real, so I wanted not to hide anything.

GC: Do you feel any more freedom to do that sort of thing working in gay film?

RM: Absolutely. I look at a colleague of mine who has a film coming out called GBF, and the MPAA gave that an R-rating, just for the whole gay thing. That could be a PG film. If I took this to the MPAA, it’d definitely be NC-17, or I’d have a huge battle with them. It’s not pornographic, it’s not done in a gratuitous way.

GC: Is there more in you about addiction, mental illness, the closet, honesty in relationships, or has the weight come off your shoulders in making this piece?

RM: A lot of it has come off, and I feel a tremendous growth from the first film. I’ve gotten older, [I’m more] comfortable with myself discussing these things, sharing these things. I think I was able to accomplish that in a much more honest way with Truth. Right now I’m pretty numb – I did get a lot out, but I’m sure there’s much more in there. I’m sure.”

You can see Moretti and his co-stars in Truth starting January 10th.

Find it online at truth-the-movie.com, streaming at Vimeo.com, and on DVD at tlagay.com

Truth Starting January 10th http://www.truth-the-movie.com

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Review

HBO’s Looking

by David-Elijah Nahmod The opening scene of Looking, HBO’s new serialized comedy/ drama, will no doubt elicit affectionate laughs of recognition from many gay male viewers.

As the story begins, Patrick (Jonathan Groff) is looking for love in the wrong place - the bushes at his local park. He tries to kiss the guy who approaches him, and asks for his trick’s name. “Stop talking!” is the response.

Their interlude is interrupted by the ringing of Patrick’s cell phone. “Excuse me, I have to take this,” says a sheepish Patrick as he saunters off.

Thus begins Looking, HBO’s much ballyhooed take on modern gay life, debuting on January 19th. The freshman season will comprise of eight episodes, four of which were made available to Outsmart for viewing prior to the launch date.

Comparisons to Showtime’s Queer as Folk are inevitable.

The groundbreaking gay soap which aired from 2000-2005, was considered shocking for it’s no holds barred sexuality, and graphic nudity. The world was a different place when QAF first took to the airwaves. Marriage equality wasn’t yet on the table, nor had any federal equality laws been passed.

In the ensuing decade, we’ve seen the election of Barack Obama, the first pro-LGBT president in US history. The Defense of Marriage Act was declared unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was repealed, and LGBT people currently enjoy unprecedented visibility in the media and a level of acceptance that many thought wouldn’t come in our lifetimes.

Looking is being produced in this brave new world, and what was seen as shocking and titillating ten years ago is now a matter of everyday fact. There are no coming out stories on Looking - the gay characters are presented as who they are, without commentary. What we get is an enjoyable, often familiar, sometimes silly slice of life set in contemporary San Francisco.

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Jonathan Groff is delightful as lead character Patrick.

The actor (who recently dated out actor Zachary Quinto of Star Trek) is as casually open about his own gayness as Patrick is about his own. In Patrick we see a lot of ourselves: a sweet, bumbling guy who yearns to find the elusive Mr. Right. Like many gay men, Patrick stumbles along the way, reaching out to people who don’t want him, and turning away from people who do. Will Patrick find his knight in shining armour? The only way to find out is to keep tuning in.

Looking is shot on location around many of San Francisco’s recognizable gay landmarks, including the legendary Castro district. The writing and the acting are sharp, often funny, and fast paced. Storylines should easily hold viewers’ attention.

The producers went for a “documentary”-style approach, shooting most scenes with a hand held camera in atmospheric lighting that’s perhaps a bit too low key; when some scenes begin, the screen is so dark, the actors appear in silhouette. It can take a moment or two until viewers can tell who it is they’re seeing. This was an artistic choice on the part of the filmmakers and seems to serve no purpose, so I hope this will be corrected in future episodes.

Be that as it may, Looking offers its viewers what the recent offerings such as The New Normal and Sean Saves the World do not: a peek into the lives of gay men who come across as real people. As we watch Patrick on his journey, we’re watching our own stories unfold.

Looking Starting January 19th on HBO.

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

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CAPOLAVORO di UOMO: Masterpiece of Man An Interview with contributing artist Marc DeBauch  Romeo and Julian by Joe Phillips

By Keith Johnson, B.Ed., M.Ed. “I really enjoy looking at male bodies. I paint images that reflect my taste in men.

I paint the male form as if I’m caressing the skin with my brush.”

Masterpiece of a Man is an astounding collection of gay erotic art featuring some of the world’s foremost contemporaries in the field. This hard-bound, coffee table book includes illustrations, drawings, paintings and digital images that stir the imagination and force the thumbs to flip frantically through the pages and the heart to palpitate slightly. Gay erotica will not be found in many of the mainstream galleries in Calgary but the rebellious and open-minded collector of all things fine will find this collection hard to put down. My recent interview with Marc DeBauch, one of the contributors to this masterpiece, was enlightening to say the least and an exciting opportunity to explore the medium including an erotic image of, dare I say, St. Nicholas himself. Timely and seasonal.

From a young age Marc became enamored with the male form. Self-confessing to experiencing puberty at the tender age of ten, Mr. DeBauch recalls his acquaintances interest in his differences. Marc recalls that as a young man one of his first experiences with erotica/pornography came from a neighbor’s reading material. Poorly constructed drawings of two men slapping each other on the behind with a towel, and he was hooked. His parents World Book Encyclopedia 22

GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

 Hesitant Surrender by Thomas Acevedo

rounded out his education on all things erotic and sexual.

The Volume G – Greek Gods was of particular note as Marc recalls the impact of these Adonises on what would eventually shape his perspective on the male form. How those Gods used the fig leaf as a sexual tool proved puzzling to the young lad. His Mother later explained.

As time passed, more publications became accessible to the Gay community and with the introduction of the World Wide Web the images have become ever abundant, easily accessible and of many shapes and forms. It was the age of 28 when Marc DeBauch would fully realize his passion and interest in the subject matter. By this time he had begun to perfect his skill at figure drawing, professing it to be extremely difficult and an art that only comes with years of practice. People began to respond to his work.

The genesis of CAPOLAVORO di UOMO : Masterpiece of Man began with the publisher, Capolarvoro Publishing located in Washington, DC. DeBauch points out the publisher’s long and accredited history of producing art books of high quality, outstanding imagery and their progressive stance toward the subject matter. The book includes not only the artist’s work but really features the artist and their accomplishments.

This 370 page full color book certainly fits the Capolarvoro Publishing style in its scale and breadth. Publishers from around the globe submitted work to the Publisher which were reviewed for submission by a team at the organization. The focus of the book was the fine art of painting and drawing.

Artists were predominantly solicited by word-of-mouth as the community is close-knit and cooperative in style. The book www.gaycalgary.com

 Snake Charmer by Paul Richmond

 Reclining Nude by Victor Gadino

confirms that the fine art world is once again embracing the male nude in all its glory. The male nude has often been depicted in gay magazines and other publications but it has rarely graced the walls of galleries and museums.

Debauch, a self-proclaimed art school dropout, points out that the erotic artist’s community is close and abundant with camaraderie. These artists have a unique challenge – the one of censorship - not often found in mainstream fine art.

Censorship seems to bring these artists closer, Debauch points out, as artists become more and more militant about exhibiting all of their work (no matter whom it offends) or none of it.

I asked, how are pornography and erotic art defined? What is the difference between the two? Mr. Debauch is reminded of one definition that states that anything that gives ‘right wing, Christian, Judges’ a hard on is likely pornographic.

The remainder is erotica. Pornography and erotica are often very different in quality, and taste level as well, especially as gay erotica enters the notable descriptor known as fine art. Even at Minneapolis’s Gay Pride Event (some 400,000 strong) Mr. Debauch’s work is one of the few exhibitors of its kind. His booth is extremely popular and attracts a wide spectrum of gawkers, participants and fine art lovers, as more and more straight people take in the event. As a flyon-the-wall Marc notes that his work gets reaction for love to hate to simply “icky”. He believes this to be success as good art needs to evoke some type of response or it may be purposeless, he quips.

Critical reviews are very good and since the book’s debut in May, 2013 sales have been brisk as the collection seems to serve as an up-to-date encyclopedia of homo-erotic art. This must-have work is inspiring other events such as the recent exhibitions at Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian

Art in New York who also served as the venue for the book’s launch less than a year ago.

The book is full of penises, all shapes and sizes including that of Santa Claus. Debauch states that it is no surprise that there just might be a Gay Santa Claus, a Gay Jesus or a Gay Barack Obama or least the notion of fucking (both literally and metaphorically) with these icons. Mr. Debauch says the book through its artists seems to be able to paint and draw the way some of us are really feeling sexually. A remarkable feat.

Mr. Debauch closes by reinforcing that this collection is an amazing accomplishment and will certainly become a collector’s item. It is both beautiful and comprehensive he says. You will not find this book just anywhere and it certainly will not be discounted. It is appearing in handselected book stores and on the book’s website, where a portion of it can be viewed for free.

As a special offer to GayCalgary Magazine readers, CAPOLAVORO di UOMO : Masterpiece of Man is being offered with free shipping.

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Gossip Michelle Rodriguez: 10% and 1% “Eventually it’s going to wrinkle up and I’m not going to be able to use it. I wanted to be honest about who I am and see what happens,” said Michelle Rodriguez several weeks ago when, after years of speculation, she addressed her bisexuality in her trademark blunt, funny style. Not that it was much of a secret, mind you, but it’s nice to finally have her quote-ready one-liners put to good queer use. And sadly, with the death of Paul Walker, Rodriguez’s appearance in Fast and Furious 7 won’t see theaters until 2015 (after a planned summer 2014 release). So in the meantime, a smaller project will have to do for her fans. She’ll appear in the indie 1%ers, written and directed by up-and-coming filmmaker Francesca de Sola (Rodriguez connection: She worked in the art department of Resident Evil: Retribution). Rodriguez will play a famous movie star looking to relax away from the spotlight by hitting an out-of-the-way dive bar with a friend (Danish actress Rie Rasmussen, Femme Fatale). And then things go wrong. Knowing and loving the typecast badass Rodriguez, we’ll just assume she regulates the situation when necessary. Could this be the Lady Road House we’ve longed for all this time?

Sundance, bloody Sundance The LGBT offerings at this year’s upcoming Sundance Film Festival involve some freshly acclaimed names as well as some old-school indie vets (and one iconic pop culture personality).

Ira Sachs, indie darling of the moment after his critically adored feature Keep the Lights On, returns with a new feature, Love is Strange, starring John Lithgow and Alfred Molina as a gay couple together for 39 years who must suddenly live apart. Meanwhile, Gregg Araki (Mysterious Skin) has a new one, too: White Bird in A Blizzard, starring Shailene Woodley, Eva Green and Gabourey Sidibe, and based on the novel by Laura Kasischke. But it’s To Be Takei that looks like it’ll be the fest’s biggest crowd-pleaser.

It’s a documentary about Star Trek’s funniest, most outspoken gay alumnus, George Takei, as he and his husband assume the role of activist around the country. And if you follow him on Twitter you already know that the man can work a crowd. Of course, then there’s the Nick Offerman documentary but, with the exception of the micro-culture of gay male Ron Swanson and/or mustache enthusiasts, it doesn’t really count as a queer offering. Porn, yes. Gay, not so much.

What’s Sandra Bernhard doing?  Jim Parsons, photo by Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

Deep Inside Hollywood Jim Parsons having Visions

By Romeo San Vicente “In negotiations” means they’re hammering out the money, so when the official casting for the horror movie Visions makes the news, you’ll know that they met Jim Parsons’ (The Big Bang Theory) quote. Oh, yes, and “quote” means the minimum amount of money an actor will accept to appear in a film, Super Bowl ad, music video or dictator’s birthday party.

Anyway, Visions, from director Kevin Greutert (Saw VI, Saw 3D), concerns a pregnant woman experiencing horrific visions.

That’s as much of a plot synopsis as is available for now, but it’s probably an easy guess that those visions aren’t just due to an overactive imagination. Isla Fisher is in negotiations to play the Rosemary in this Polanski-like thriller, and it can be assumed that Parsons would play her husband and, if the talks go well, that sassy Ellen Barkin will come aboard, too, perhaps as something demonic, which would be cool.

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It’s good to check in with your favorite people from time to time, see how they’re doing. And Deep Inside Hollywood loves Sandra Bernhard more than almost anyone (you’re great, too, Ellen; we just like ’em really sharp and sarcastic). She’s touring the country with her new one-woman show I Love Being Me, Don’t You and still jumping aboard the indie-film train every time it stops for her. She has no fewer than three in the pipeline, including Landlocked co-starring Armand Assante and Bob Balaban, plot details unknown; the mob comedy ’79 Parts starring Eric Roberts; and first-time feature director Guy Guido’s Lovin’ Brooklyn. It’s this last one that will probably generate the most heat, since it’s about a Latin Hustle dance competition and co-stars Courtney Galiano, choreographer of So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With the Stars audience favorite, Ukrainian heartthrob Maksim “Maks” Chmerkovskiy (you know, the one who takes off his shirt a lot).

We hope Sandra dances, too – it’s been a long time since that nude “Little Red Corvette” sequence in Without You I’m Nothing.

Romeo San Vicente has danced professionally in the Make It Rain industry and still gives private tutorials.

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All Aboard The Love Train Stage West’s latest offering a R&B hit parade

 Photo by Stage West

By Jason Clevett Over the decades Stage West has consistently offered quality shows to Calgary audiences. One thing they have definitely mastered over the years is the musical revue.

When it comes to bringing music that we love to life on stage, Stage West wins every time.

Such is the case with Love Train: The Soul of Motown. It seems like an odd choice, Calgary isn’t exactly an R&B hotbed, and many of the artists featured never played here in person. Coming just 2 years after Motown Gold, it also seemed a little soon to revisit the genre again. But with a long list of classic songs and a talented ensemble putting it together, it works out to an impressive evening of music.

There are some familiar faces in the show. Lee Siegel is a 6 show veteran whose voice is always a show stealer. Katrina Reynolds has appeared in 5 Stage West shows and stands out in this production, especially with an outstanding Tina Turner impression and a spoton Single Ladies. Rob James, who has barely aged since McMaster & James hit the scene in 2000, takes the one head scratcher in the show Blurred Lines and makes it work. It is always a pleasure seeing these folks on stage and their enthusiasm was infectious. In fact despite being well into the run, nobody in the cast phoned it in and it was clear they were having a lot of fun, which carried to the audience. The cast is rounded out by Troy Adams, Tafari Anthony, Andrew Broderick, Starr Domingue, Cavelle-Nell Romeo, Jeremiah Sparks, and Aurianna Angelique. While all talented, it is Angelique who brings the house down with a stunning rendition of Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You - it will give you goose bumps.

quickly recalled classics like Maybelline and Soul Man. While many of the group numbers worked, what most stood out was when the show stripped down or added character. Bringing the band front and centre around a piano to create a blues club for Etta James’ At Last (Reynolds) and Ray Charles’ Georgia On My Mind (Sparks) were very memorable for letting the singers voices shine. While recreations of Destiny’s Child, Adele and Bruno Mars offered a stronger portrayal of the artist and not just the songs, Troy Adams’ Prince strutting around in purple performing Kiss was another highlight.

So despite reservations about another R&B show, from start to finish Love Train: The Soul of Motown hits on all counts as another stellar revue from Stage West. Those that have seen similar shows in the past and are a fan will have a blast, and those new to seeing this style will enjoy it. There is something for everyone. I am already looking forward to the next revue, and crossing my fingers for a sequel to Canadian Explosion.

Love Train: The Soul of Motown Playing until February 2nd. http://www.stagewestcalgary.com http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3861

My companion for the evening didn’t recognize a lot of the song titles while perusing the program, but once the music started, one

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

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Resort-Style Living for Seniors Retirement community offers travel perks and cruise-themed dining

Additional Photos and Video Online: http://gaycalgary.com/a3862 

By Janine Eva Trotta When one conjures the image of a retirement home, the scents, sounds and imagery are not often enticing.

Dated furniture, powdered eggs, bargain bin artwork – a hospital-like quiet.

A Holiday Retirement community is nothing of the sort.

Inspired by cruise ships the hallways and atrium are wide, brimmed with glass windows and illuminated with sunshine. A happy buzz emanates from the dining room as residents chat, perhaps about the morning yoga class they took together or the happy hour they will partake in during the afternoon.

“This is an all-inclusive scenario,” says Transition Specialist and Community Sales Leader Paul A. Libin, as he proudly tours us through what one can see is his pride and joy. Libin works at the Canyon Meadows Independent Retirement Living community, one of the roughly 330 communities Holiday Retirement owns throughout North America. Twenty-five of these are located in Canada with two locations based in Calgary: Deer Run and Arbour Lake.

“We have a very busy monthly schedule with activities and events,” he says.

Indeed daily schedules are posted throughout the building, featuring items like carpet bowling, rummoli, darts, billiards, sing-alongs, health and wellness seminars, puzzle time, and sitting soccer.

“There’s always a wide variety,” Libin asserts. “We try to cover it all.”

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Guest speakers may include representatives from the Arthritis Society, the Parkinson Society, or a Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacist, happy to answer any health questions.

As we check out the exercise room, which overlooks the dining hall and central atrium, Libin boasts that the majority of residents do take time to use the equipment and stay in shape.

One might need to in order to work off the three meals prepared daily from scratch by Red Seal Chef Andy Heart in the elegant dining hall. On Saturday the lunch menu included a Tex-Mex salad, fresh baked bread, a cilantro chicken breast served with mashed potatoes, gravy and spinach, and a Boston Cream Pie for desert. If the main menu was not to one’s liking a chef’s choice selection was also available: garlic and Chardonnay prawns on rice, BBQ hot dog, chef salad or veal.

All meals are served with the choice of fruit juice, water, coffee and tea.

While lunch is designed to be the heaviest meal of the day, portion sizes are fully customizable to the diner’s appetite. Fresh fruit and salads are always an option, and between meals a hydration bar and coffee and tea counter provide beverages and pastries baked in-house as well as fruit, yogurt and candies.

Sugar-free options for diabetics are always on the menu and gluten free options can be worked out as well.

A private dining room, seating eight to ten, is available for residents to use to introduce family to the community upon

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moving in, or to book for special events and birthday meals.

Additionally, once a month the chef hand-picks residents for whom a private dining experience is created.

But wait! The best is still to come. Residence at a Holiday Retirement community entitles one to a free one-week stay at any of the other locations every year. This means Maui, Florida, Nevada, Phoenix – all-inclusive.

Guest suites resemble any room at an upper-end hotel and offer the same accommodations. All three meals are still provided, as is the in-house shuttle service with which you may take excursions to nearby malls, parks or other ventures.

These guest suites are also open to families coming to visit.

Holiday Retirement is not assisted living; it is high-end living for retirees who have maintained their zest for life.

A games room and full library is on-hand, stocked with books the Calgary Public Library rotates every few weeks.

Have a game of bridge, attend a wine and cheese or tapas soiree, tap your feet to one of the frequent entertainers that perform on the mini-stage before the sea of dining tables.

An on-site beauty parlour and barbershop is open almost daily for resident cuts and basic spa treatments.

Suites don’t come furnished but furnishings are available.

The community will also help future residents with the downsizing process if they are relocating from a home to a community unit.

Floor plans include studio, one-bedroom and twobedroom, though currently at Canyon Meadows all of the two-bedroom units are filled. Suites offer a European sized fridge and freezer, cupboard space, and a large amount of storage. Bathtubs can be customized to the resident’s preference, including a lipped entrance or a walk-in shower with bench.

The colour palette is neutral but the staff will help residents with a feature wall should they wish one to be painted.

If one still desires to cook, a resident kitchen is open for the taking.

The communities are pet-friendly so no resident need to say goodbye to their furry companions. The rooms are equipped with heat, air conditioning and built-in hepa filters

so even smoking is permitted in rooms, and goes virtually undetected by neighbours.

The monthly fee also includes an outdoor parking spot with plug-in, but should a garage space be required, one can be provided for an additional $75 per month. Scheduled transportation with the on-site shuttle service is, however, included.

Laundry facilities are located on every floor and do not require payment. Weekly housekeeping as well as utilities are also included in one’s rent.

And to the gay community, Libin says “Would our doors be open? It goes without saying.”

Security, comfort, transportation, and socialization: these are the assets of living at a Holiday Retirement community.

No buy-in is required, no long-term leases needed.

If curious about how affordable independent retirement living might be for you or your loved ones, visit the Holiday Retirement website for more information and a sample meal on the house. This carefree dwelling arrangement might be more reasonable that you think.

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Holiday Retirement http://www.holidaytouch.com http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3862

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

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Victoria, BC “Full of Life”

 The BC Legislature Building by day

More photos and videos online: http://gaycalgary.com/a3863 

By Rob Diaz-Marino The highway west of Kelowna took us up through the mountains, and along some surprisingly steep stretches that challenged our “little” (read “not a truck”) car. It was a relief to finally start coming down the other side, although with slopes just as steep, controlling our downhill speed without overusing the brakes was a challenge too.

Although Vancouver was on the horizon, we veered off toward Tsawassen to catch a ferry to our next destination: Victoria.

We have taken the ferry once before, many years ago when we did our article on the Mayne Island Resort. This time we were a little shocked by the fare of over $80 because of our vehicle coming along with us. We experienced the “waiting for the ferry” culture, as many Victoria residents, seasoned ferry-goers, parked their vehicles in the line and then wandered on foot to the souvenir and food market.

Taking the ferry is not something that can be done in a hurry, with ships only departing every hour (or 30 minutes during peak hours). We arrived just after 4pm, and had to wait nearly an hour for the next ship.

We loaded the car on board the 5pm ferry, but it was still another two hours or more of travel to our destination.

The regulars knew to grab seats early so that they could curl up and sleep, but we decided to wander the decks and check out the shops and take pictures of the views from the sheltered upper deck areas as the sun set.

The sky was dark by the time we arrived on Vancouver Island, and it was a half-hour drive south to get to Victoria.

We arrived at our bed and breakfast, Albion Manor, at around 8pm where we got ourselves settled before heading out for a long overdue dinner.

The Oscar Wilde room, where we stayed at Albion Manor Bed & Breakfast Inn, has an amazing atmosphere to it created by the antique furnishings and artwork. We had a delicious breakfast the next morning in their equally lavish dining room, where we got the chance to formally meet both owners Don and Fernando, and some of the other houseguests. Fernando was tickled to hear about my Spanish heritage, as he lived in Seville (where my dad grew up) prior to coming to Canada.

The couple gave us the full tour of their B&B, during which we got to see some of the other spectacularly decorated rooms with beautiful sculptures, wood carvings, handpainted wall and ceiling murals - some of it done by the multi-talented owners themselves! Even the yard around the house is very scenic, with many of the rooms opening out onto patios that access it.  Sights around the Inner Harbour

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

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 The BC Legislature Building at night

Next we were scheduled to go for afternoon tea – a traditional Victorian ritual - at the Fairmont Empress Tea Lobby. Conveniently, it was only a 10 minute walk away from the Albion, and with plenty of time to spare we decided to walk around downtown Victoria a bit and check out the shops before making our way to the Fairmont Empress Hotel. Steve and I weren’t expecting this to be a meal, but we ended up completely full from the unique and delicious sandwiches and desserts that were served with the tea.

After this we were taken on a tour through the Fairmont Empress Hotel, which was gorgeous both inside and out. The hotel is absolutely massive, and had so much history behind it, that it took several hours to fully explore.

With little time left before closing time for most establishments, we decided to stop by the Undersea Garden, as the structure had piqued our curiosity.

It looks almost like a ship docked just off the bay along Government Street, but after entering on the main floor you take a staircase down below the water level where you can observe several tanks of undersea life – fish, crabs, anemones, and more – through windows in the outer wall. They do a narrated show every hour, during which a diver enters the tank in front of the theatre area and interacts with some of the sea life. He brings some of the creatures

Albion Manor Bed & Breakfast Inn: Fantastic Class and Character http://gaycalgary.com/a3864

Albion Manor is a country manor in the heart of Victoria, just bursting at the seams with charm and character. Being located a mere 4 blocks away from the BC Legislature Building exemplifies just how close to downtown this Bed & Breakfast is.

Each room has its own unique décor, featuring impressive collections of antique furniture and art (the owners have fascinating stories about many of the pieces) and unique artwork and curios on the walls and shelves. Some rooms even have decorative hand-painted murals on the walls or ceilings for added extravagance, done by one of the owners.

Many of Fernando’s sculptures are also featured around the house. Many rooms have private entrances at ground level or from the deck, while “Henry VIII’s Wish Room” has its own ensuite Jacuzzi! It’s difficult to describe in words alone the visual experience of staying at the Albion Manor.

The common areas – living room, dining room, and downstairs den – are anything but common with a Victorianperiod feel. The yard is also a refuge of intricate beauty, with trees and gardens surrounding the house, and a serene fountain at one corner.

Each morning we were treated to breakfast in the dining room, with beautifully presented gourmet food served on elegant dishware. Breakfast was also an opportunity to socialize with the owners and other guests, and collect valuable tips about what to do in Victoria.

The owners (who are also a couple), Don and Fernando, are lovely people – very friendly and interesting to talk to, not to mention great hosts!

Albion Manor Bed & Breakfast Inn 224 Superior St, Victoria, BC http://www.albionmanor.com

 The Albion Manor Bed & Breakfast

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 The stain glass dome over top a ballroom in the Fairmont Empress Hotel

closer to the glass for the audience to see, and puts on a few cheesy comical antics. We caught their last show of the day before they closed for the season, and did some souvenir shopping on the way out. At the time of writing this article, we are sad to find out the facility will not be reopening next season, and feel lucky to have experienced it while it was still around.

We spent our last few hours of daylight exploring downtown Victoria, and stopped by Paparazzi Nightclub to introduce ourselves to the owners and chat a bit about the gay scene in Victoria. From what we can gather, Victoria is seeing a similar trend to most other cities across the country, where exclusively gay bars and clubs are dwindling and mixed bars and clubs are filling the niche. Paparazzi is the last of its kind at the moment, although we’re told the gay community is welcomed at gay friendly establishments like Garrick’s Head Pub and Hush Nightclub.

As the sun set, the air got a bit chilly for us without jackets, and so we hustled our way over to our dinner spot for the night: The Black Hat by Bistro 28. We had a relaxing dinner with our host Brian, who then wanted to take us to the Garrick’s Head Pub for a beer but we were far too exhausted from the day’s activities.

A chilly but brief walk got us back to the Albion for a peaceful night’s sleep, and

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Fairmont Empress Hotel: Afternoon Tea and a Walk through History http://gaycalgary.com/a3865 The site where the Fairmont Empress Hotel is built was once the tip of the Inner Harbour. It was filled in to provide the foundation for this National Historic Site of Canada. We learned this and other fascinating history as we were taken on a tour through the many different sections of this expansive building.

Particularly breathtaking was the large stained glass dome above one of the ballrooms – a treasure that was found covered over during renovations many years ago. As one of the oldest hotels in Victoria, there are many stories about architectural details – and even whole rooms – being lost and found again.

Curiosities aside, the Empress maintains a beautiful classic Victorian-era look throughout most of its interior. And even if you’re not staying a night, there are many reasons to still stop by, such as the Bengal Lounge which is well known and celebrated in Victoria for its curry cuisine (and felt like we had stepped into India) - the shops, the day spa, and of course afternoon tea.

We had the privilege of experiencing afternoon tea at the Fairmont Empress Tea Lobby. Not only do you get to enjoy a variety of different teas while surrounded by classical ambiance, but you also get a helping of strawberries with whipped-cream, followed by a sizeable tray of finger sandwiches (our favorite was the mango & curried chicken on dark rye), freshly baked raisin scones with Empress cream and strawberry jam, and a selection of desserts including Parisian macaroons, lemon curd meringue tarts, and devil’s chocolate and pistachio Battenberg. The tray is enough to serve 4 people, but made a filling lunch for the two of us (and our host).

The hotel is also quite picturesque from the outside as well, with bushes and ivy growing up the sides of the building, turning bright red and orange during the fall months. Pathways criss-cross the green space encircling the front of the hotel, leading to hidden gardens and even a bee farm!

It’s hard to miss the Fairmont Empress Hotel as you explore downtown Victoria, so don’t miss the opportunity to check it out, or stay a few nights!

The Fairmont Empress

721 Government Street, Victoria, BC http://www.fairmont.com/empress-victoria  The Coast Capri Hotel

GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

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 The Undersea Garden (now closed)

 Government House

Royal BC Museum: Exploring BC History http://gaycalgary.com/a3866 What better place to learn the history of British Columbia than the Royal BC Museum! Boasting a collection of over 7 million items and 26,000 square feet of indoor exhibits, there is a lot to take in. Their permanent exhibits include the newly added Natural History Galleries, along with the renowned First Peoples Galleries, Modern History Galleries, and BC Archives on Display. Plus don’t forget to visit the outdoor exhibits, weather permitting, such as the Cultural Precinct and the Native Plant Garden, and more.

The renowned First Peoples Gallery is impressively atmospheric. The dramatic lighting and immersive background noise create a sense of wonder as you walk amongst tall totem poles, animal masks, and other artifacts. Meanwhile, the Modern History Gallery features some impressive city displays, almost like an indoor version of Calgary’s Heritage Park but including an area for old China Town.

Upcoming exhibits for 2014 include the We Call Them Vikings Exhibition, and Our Living Languages: First Peoples’ voices in BC.

Royal BC Museum

675 Belleville Street, Victoria, BC http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca  Permanent exhibits at the Royal BC Museum

Craigdarroch Castle: Victorian-era Extravagance http://gaycalgary.com/a3867 In the 1890’s, Robert Dunsmuir, a wealthy coal baron, spared no expense when commissioning his mansion to be built. To this day, it serves as an example of some of the finest architecture and craftsmanship from the Victorian era, featuring beautiful stained glass, carved oak staircases, carved stone fireplaces, and so much more. Unfortunately Mr. Dunsmuir didn’t live to see it, passing away 10 months before it was completed, leaving it in the hands of his sons and widow.

Today it is owned by the Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum Society, and is still in the process of being restored to its former glory. While many of the 39 rooms have been refurnished with 1890-style pieces, several rooms still stand empty as placeholders for future development.

Be sure to climb to the top of the tower and check out what some call the best views in Victoria!

Craigdarroch Castle 1050 Joan Crescent, Victoria, BC http://www.thecastle.ca  Quail’s Gate Winery

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 Butchart Gardens: Sunken Garden

after another lovely social breakfast the next morning, we set out with an even busier itinerary than the day before.

First we hit the Royal BC Museum, which unfortunately was between feature exhibits at the time.

We made quick work of exploring their year round exhibits which were very well done, but from the perspective of quantity and variety, we still felt a bit spoiled from the Glenbow Museum back in Calgary.

Craigdurroch Castle was our next stop, and quite an impressive one at that. The tour took us up the front half of the gigantic mansion, and then down the back half.

Apparently the building had nearly been lost before a group of concerned women took charge of restoring the it as a historical monument.

Not all of the rooms have been fully restored yet, but enough to give visitors a glance into the extravagant Victorian-period lifestyle of the original owners.

Next, we went off the schedule to visit a few places of interest from the entertainment industry.

First we went to Government House.

Although we couldn’t get a tour of the inside at that exact moment, we did a quick walk around the expansive gardens surrounding the mansion. Then we made the drive out to Hatley Castle, which has been featured in movies like X-Men (the “mutant academy”), and in TV programs like Smallville (Lex Luthor’s Mansion) and

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Butchart Gardens: Natural Beauty Abounds http://gaycalgary.com/a3868 From Victoria, be prepared to drive nearly halfway back to the Ferries, and then veer west for a distance. Here beside Brentwood Bay, you will find the site of an exhausted limestone quarry that has been converted into a breathtaking sunken garden, with the terrain as much shaped by man as the trees and bushes themselves. At the centre of this artificial valley is an almost iconic stone mound with a staircase set in its side. Climb up to the top and enjoy the view from multiple different vantage points. At the end of the paths through the quarry is a stepped descent to a small lake where Ross Fountain impresses visitors with numerous different spray patterns.

As you walk back, you soon discover that this is not the only garden here. In fact, there are many more on the grounds beside the quarry area. The circuit takes you past the Concert Lawn & Stage and Fireworks Lawn, to the Rose Garden, past the Sturgeon Fountain and on to the Japanese Garden (you can sneak out the far end to get a view of Butchart Cove). You then pass by the Star Fountain and through the Italian Garden before arriving back at the visitor centre and gift shop. Make sure you don’t miss the Mediterranean Garden near the parking lot – it is easy to overlook if you’re in a hurry!

Butchart Gardens surprisingly is not just open during the summer. The staff work to maintain the garden’s beauty year round, whether that means replacing wilting flowers with new ones, or decorating the bare trees and bushes with Christmas lights. Also keep an eye out for special events such as the fireworks show put on every Saturday Night during the summer, concerts, Christmas events, and more.

The Butchart Gardens

800 Benvenuto Avenue, Brentwood Bay, BC http://www.butchartgardens.com  Butchart Gardens

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u Tuna Tataki

The Black Hat by Bistro 28: Now Rebranded to North 48

served on a Himalayan salt plate

http://gaycalgary.com/a3869 Chef and restaurateur Sam Chalmers must have a full plate, pun intended, between his very popular Bistro 28 in Oak Bay and this his second venture, The Black Hat in downtown Victoria. Both restaurants offer the same signature classics, along with the cozy “neighbourhood feel”. However, we were given advance warning that as of November 16th, 2013, the restaurant would undergo a rebrand to be North 48 with a new and improved menu.

q Chicken and

Waffles

I have to give them kudos for the Tuna Tataki served on a Himalayan salt plate with spicy mango sauce. The dish contained two things that I am really fussy about: uncooked fish and mango. And yet, after having my fair share I fought for the last piece. The meat seemed to just melt in my mouth as I chewed it, and being so fresh, there was none of the unpleasant “fishy” flavour that often turns me off such raw dishes. The spicy mango sauce complimented the flavour without tasting too strongly of the fruit itself.

p Steak Frites

8oz striploin & truffled frites

Following that were the main dishes. I tried the Steak Frites, which was a grilled 8oz strip loin on a bed of truffled frites and mayo. Steve ordered off the specials menu and tried the Chicken & Waffles, made with fried buttermilk marinated chicken breast on a corn, green onion and cheddar waffle, and drizzled with chili honey. Our host stuck with his personal favorite, the Miso Marinated Sablefish with Soba noodle salad, pickled mushrooms and cucumber, and roasted yam tempura.

All of us enjoyed our dishes, although after so much Tuna Tataki, I struggled to finish the ample helping of frites (aka. fries).

q Ricotta

Zeppole

To drink, Steve had the Rootbeer Fizz, and I had the Emerald City – both very tasty, and not overly sweet. We had a sampling of several desserts: a scoop of their house made sorbet, the Chocolate Pate with vanilla yoghurt and fennel sponge toffee, and Ricotta Zeppole with lemon and raspberry fluid gels. I only had enough room left in my stomach to try a bite of each one, though you couldn’t go wrong with any of them!

p Miso

Marinated Sablefish

North 48

Formerly the Black Hat by Bistro 28 1005 Langley Street, Victoria, BC http://www.northfortyeight.com

Arrow (the Queen Mansion). In real life, the castle is a school, and the inside cannot be toured while classes are in session. However the gardens surrounding the castle were open to the public, and absolutely gorgeous. I felt jealous of the students who get to use these areas to play and study.

And while on the topic of gardens, we next visited the ultimate one for Vancouver Island – Butchart Gardens.

Located in Brentwood Bay, this place was once a stone quarry, but now teems with all shades of plant life. We had a late lunch in their cafeteria before going for a slightly rushed tour through the huge area of interweaving paths.

At one point the path took us through a dark wooded area and as we came around the corner of a stone embankment we were greeted by a stunning view out over the sunken gardens in the former quarry pit.

There are benches scattered throughout the grounds to sit and relax, with all manner of fountains adding the soothing ambiance of

running water. Steve and I were totally blown away, and wished we could have stayed longer.

After this very busy day, we made our way back to Victoria to stop in at the Albion to get changed, and then decided we would go check out China Town while keeping an eye out for a place to eat. We stopped to photograph the red dragon statue and traditional Chinese archway, and the streets with strings of red paper lanterns and red and gold lights criss-crossing above them. There was no shortage of options for where we could eat, but we ended up at a sushi restaurant not even on our list of recommended stops. Victoria’s proximity to the ocean was probably a big contributing factor to the freshness of the fish, so we had a delicious meal.

We took our time walking back to the Albion, checking out some of the nighttime sights of the city, including the parliament building which is lit up with white rope light

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 Victoria’s Chinatown

Hatley Castle/Park: Deija Vu, Beautiful View http://gaycalgary.com/a3870 If you thought Craigdarroch was more castle than any single family could possibly want, then think again. One of the sons of the wealthy coal baron also commissioned Hatley castle to be built. But you will have to drive a distance out of town to reach this one, and you won’t get to tour the inside unless you come during summer break…or you enroll as a student. You see, the castle is part of the Royal Roads University now.

If you get an odd sense of deija vu when visiting this place, it is probably because the castle has been used in numerous TV shows and movies, probably best known as “Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngters” in the X-Men movies.

But the castle isn’t the only attraction here – the grounds and gardens are also very scenic. We explored the foot paths to the west of the castle, which took us in amongst the trees to discover hidden duck ponds, one with a bridge to a central island with a gazebo overlooking the water. Don’t skimp out when plugging the parking metre, you’ll want plenty of time to take it all in.

 Hatley Castle and Hatley Park

Hatley Park National Historic Site 2005 Sooke Road, Victoria, BC http://www.hatleypark.ca

Robert Bateman Centre: Nature & Wildlife http://gaycalgary.com/a3871 Robert Bateman is a world renowned Canadian artist who specializes in painting wildlife, and this 5000 square foot gallery is named after him. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that this gallery features an ample helping of his work - over 100 pieces. They range from typical Canadian animals in misty winter landscapes, to wildlife inhabitants on the African plains. In certain areas of the gallery, electronic displays can be controlled by a nearby podium to select which artwork to display, or motion sensors near paintings of birds can trigger the sound of the depicted species of bird chirping.

If you’re a fan of Robert Bateman’s work, or enjoy paintings of nature and wildlife, then this gallery is something to keep in mind.

The Robert Bateman Centre 470 Belleville Street, Victoria, BC http://www.batemancentre.org

 The Robert Bateman Centre

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James Bay and Fisherman’s Wharf: An Afternoon at the Docks http://gaycalgary.com/a3872 While your first thought may be that Fisherman’s Wharf just sounds like a dock jutting out into the sea, plastered in gull guano, you would be sorely mistaken. Located in James Bay, which is hailed the oldest neighbourhood in Victoria, Fisherman’s Wharf has several colourful rows of floating houses, docked pleasure vessels, and actual fishing vessels.

On the docks you can find food vendors and restaurants (some with paddle-thru service), fishmongers, rental kayaks, whale watching tours, and you can even catch a ride on the Harbour Ferry back to the docks near the Fairmont Empress Hotel.

Several seals enjoy visiting the wharf, and the businesses in the area are ready with buckets of minnows for tourists to feed them.

The seals will come right up on the side of the dock to catch the fish that you throw them (provided there are no dogs nearby).

With 9 piers to stroll along, as well as Fisherman’s Wharf Park on the land beside it, footpaths along the cost, and historical monuments such as Emily Carr House nearby, one could easily spend an entire afternoon exploring this part of town.

James Bay and Fisherman’s Wharf http://www.fishermanswharfvictoria.com  James Bay and Fisherman’s Wharf

after dark. Victoria brags a very mild climate all year round, and this was indeed a clement, cloudless autumn night.

Another restful night and alas, it was time for us to start making our way to our next stop, Vancouver. However there was time in the morning for us to do a few last minute things, so we visited the Robert Bateman Gallery to check out the collection of work by painter and naturalist Robert Batemen.

After that we took a stroll along the water’s edge and ended up at a place called Fisherman’s Wharf, which we instantly regretted not coming to visit with more time. As we walked along the rows of floating houses docked along the piers, some seals swam up beside the dock and put on a bit of a show for us and other tourists, in exchange for some food.

Unable to hold off leaving any longer, we made our way back to the Albion to check out and thank Don and Fernando for the amazing stay! As this brought them to the end of their busy season, they were already hard at work doing renovations for next year as we left.

It was another long wait for the ferry to get us back to the mainland, and then we were on our way.

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

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Gala

Unapologetically Independent

By Nick Winnick Those who are strangers to dancefloors may also be strangers to Gala, so allow me to provide a quick rundown. Italian by birth, and making a name for herself in the arts community of the American northeast since the late 90s, Gala has had a string of throbbing, danceable club hits that include Let a Boy Cry, Freed from Desire, Lose Yourself in Me. Her latest, released late in 2013, is Taste of Me. Even now, Gala finds a way to be provocative, with lyrics that are forward-thinking to some, and an expression of long-overdue sentiment to others.

In short, Taste of Me extols the virtue of non-monogamy in relationships. And while such arrangements have undoubtedly existed whenever there have been more than two human beings in one place, many of us will find it a relief to hear it, for once, out loud. “Every song [out] there is about, I love you, or I miss you, or you broke up with me, fuck you,” Gala explains. “But my friends don’t talk about this! It’s always in between, the reality. Something I’ve been hearing lately, and something that is also my concern, is monogamy versus [open relationships]. I wanted to write a song about that.”

The video accompanying Taste of Me has also been a labour of love for Gala. “I have a big passion for dance, and it was the biggest mourning of my life that I couldn’t be a dancer. Still, now, my voice trembles when I talk about it. So last year I said, enough: I have to make this video. I collaborated with the artistic director of Cedar Lake ballet, and it was very hard to get these people because I don’t have the budget to pay them at all. It made me very proud that

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

people at such a level would work with me just because they loved the concept.”

The video itself is not shot in one take, but edited so slickly that unless one is watching like a hawk, it certainly appears to be. “I’m a big fan of Hitchcock,” Gala says. “When I was a kid I watched The Rope, and I couldn’t believe they did it all with one take. They had to cut it, because they had film, so they had to change the roll. We had to cut because I didn’t have enough money to pay for a long stage!”

Shooting the video on a shoestring, operating as her own manager, artistic director, and dancing in the video at once could have easily run an artist into the ground. True to form, however, Gala’s primary concern in how the audience reacts.

The finished product is quintessentially professional, which puts it in a category of video production that’s hard for an independent artist to keep up with. “This video gets compared to Beyoncé, and people who have lots of budget. That’s why I’m pressing the Behind the Scenes video. For one person to put that together, without a manager, without an assistant, without a label, it took so much. And the first comment on Lose Yourself In Me, that I shot [the same way], was c’est pas mal, quand est le prochain? (That’s not bad, when is the next one?) And there, I was like, fuck, it took me one year to put this together. You have to love the work more than you love the love.”

Taste of Me is a quintessentially modern work, for all that its dancy, poppy roots will be familiar. The dubstep-inspired break in the middle is evidence of an artistic direction that Gala finds enthralling. “I really like the dubstep sound – not so much the beat as the sound. You hear a new song, and you could have heard it in the 70s. Some of the sounds that I’m hearing are sounds that you could have never heard in the past.” Of course, it’s easy to dismiss dubstep as an aural fad. After all, it’s found its way into everything from Mountain Dew commercials to the trailer for the latest season of Sherlock, but the creative decision behind it is soundly rooted in

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its catchiness. Unlike many independent artists, Gala doesn’t shy away from the commercial element of the work. In fact, to her, it’s integral. She recalls one anecdote, about former Beatles producer George Martin playing a long, complex jazz number to the delight of John Lennon “It was amazing,” Lennon was reported to say when the piece concluded, “but I don’t remember any of it.”

“I love that comment of Lennon’s.” says Gala. “That is the element of me that will always be pop, in the sense that I want people to remember my songs.” There is a tension, though, between the Gala who is played on radio and in clubs, and the Gala who performs live.

“I always hated doing the shows where it’s just a mic and a CD. I could get way more money, and I could do way more shows, but in 15 years, I’ve never done a show like that. On stage, I have a much more rock presence. I bring my band with trucks and lights, and at the end, I get not paid, because I have to pay my musicians, and flights and everything, but I deliver a show.”

As well as her live shows go over, Gala confides that she’s found it difficult to sell albums that focus on the fusion of rock and electronic, like one of her favourite groups, Depeche Mode.

And though she speaks about them in glowing terms, between the two of us we wondered whether Depeche Mode might have had an easier time being the stylistic iconoclasts they are while also being white men. After all, our conversation began, and remained rooted throughout, in Gala’s fierce and nuanced feminism.

In 2005, Gala founded Matriarchy Records as an attempt to involve more women in the behind-the-scenes business of music.

In her previous work with labels, she says; “the booking agents are guys, the managers are guys, the A&Rs were guys, the president of the label, the mixing engineer, the sound guys, the mastering, all of them. So in all these meetings that I had, at the table with lawyers, and labels – it was a period when I was trying to get out of Universal – everybody was like because the matriarchy has decided... or the matriarchy says that... And it was really funny to hear all these guys talk about the matriarchy. So it was a little ironic and also it was a bit of a dream, for me.”

Those with a dismissive attitude toward feminists often look for some grievance or personal trauma to “explain” the views of a woman like Gala. She confesses that she’s run up against the assumption any number of times, as she ages, that her views are nothing but an axe to grind. To the contrary, this perspective is one that she’s held from youth. “I notice these things – they were in my songs when I was twenty. Let a Boy Cry is about that. It’s not let a man cry, it’s allow him to be sensitive. I remember wanting to write a song about let a woman be strong, let a woman fight, but then I said, nobody’s going to listen to that song – let me flip it.”

She relates a story of a meet-and-greet gone mortifying, when dinnertime conversation with a prominent DJ took a turn for the ugly. “People were talking about how many wrinkles Madonna had, and Cher, oh my God, her lips, and so on. The whole conversation, both from my dear friend who’s fighting the oppression of the gay community, and this guy who just interviewed Cher on his show, were only talking about the appearances of these women. And I’m like, these two women changed pop! You honestly have nothing to say about their work?”

It hits close to home for Gala that gay men, in particular, can unconsciously reinforce those attitudes toward women. “Like, you know what oppression means, and you should understand it better.

And they do! They of course do better than most straight guys, but sometimes I notice how they can be very sensitive to their own

problems, but not to the women.” There is, in that, something to take to heart. If a little attention paid and a little compassion rendered can make life better, why not? It seems to be working so far.

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Gala Twitter: @galasound http://www.galasound.com http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3873

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

37

Still Breathing, Still Singing

Toni Braxton talks retirement, going lesbian and the hit song she hates

 Photos by Marc Baptiste

By Chris Azzopardi Toni Braxton is getting deep. Real deep.

“I have a bit of a cold,” she says, her voice doing that sexy-low thing it does when she sings, “so yeah, it’s very Bea Arthur from The Golden Girls.”

A little cold can’t stop Braxton, who’s already faced bankruptcy, is managing lupus and then, before friend/ producer Babyface intervened, almost retired from the music business altogether. Luckily, he changed her mind, and hearts everywhere were unbroken.

Love, Marriage & Divorce, her first album since 2010’s Pulse, brings Braxton back together with Babyface. The two most notably collaborated on her self-titled debut, the singer’s megaselling caper that scored her a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1994.

Braxton was candid as ever in our recent chat, talking about why she told Babyface that she’s a grown woman (“I have breasts now”), her desire to have a lesbian experience and how short hair put her back in touch with her roots.

GC: First of all, thank god for Babyface. I am so glad he wasn’t about to let you throw in the towel. What were you smoking when you said you were gonna give up on music?

TB: Obviously not weed, because I would’ve still stayed in the business! (Laughs) You know what, I was just in a sad space in my life. I think everybody goes through that, but I didn’t realize, I guess, just how sad I was at that time – and friends like Babyface, Missy Elliott, Fantasia and Anita Baker helped talk me out of that state. Sometimes you just need friends and family to rally around you and let you know it’s gonna be OK. 38

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GC: And now you’re in it for good?

TB: I’ll never retire. I’ll be 85 years old singing at the Cafe Carlyle like Eartha Kitt.

GC: How do you make a love album with an attractive, talented man like Babyface and not fall in love?

TB: I’ve been in love with him since he was in (’80s R&B group) The Deele. I was a huge fan. Very quickly he became my big brother when we started working together. I was the girl who was like, “I’ll never have a chance with him,” and from there we just became brother and sister. Our relationship was really weird. I will always, always love him. But it’s like having a crush on your cousin and you realize, “Maybe I shouldn’t have a crush on my cousin. That’s not hot.” (Laughs) GC: So then with “Sweat,” a song off the new album, is it weird to sing about makeup sex with your “brother”?

TB: (Laughs) Well, we really aren’t brother and sister, so it wouldn’t be incest! But I call him my “musical husband” and we are married, but just musically. We’re kind of like Elliot Stabler (and Olivia Benson) on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. You want them to get together, there’s a bit of attraction, but we’ve never crossed the line. That’s kind of where it is with us.

GC: How does Love, Marriage & Divorce compare to the work you and Babyface did in the ’90s?

TB: It’s similar. Kenny Babyface helped make my dreams come true. He helped develop my sound, and so I’m more comfortable with him than any other producer I’ve worked with.

And he’s given me great songs in my career but not the biggest songs in my career, which is really odd. He didn’t write “Un-

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Break My Heart,” he didn’t write or produce “He Wasn’t Man Enough,” but I was still on his label so he still fostered my career. But whenever we’re together, he is the one I’m most comfortable and creative with, and I feel home.

GC: So these recording sessions must have felt nostalgic for you and him.

TB: Working together was actually tough at first. The first couple of months we struggled because I’m his artist and he kind of developed me, so his artist grew up and I have my own opinions, my own thoughts, my own philosophies, my own judgments and my own career. We talked about it and it took a second for him to understand. We argued a bit – not badargued, but we just had creative differences. Later on he said, “You know, Toni, I have to give you credit. You’re an artist now and it’s sometimes hard for a brother to accept that his sister is growing up.” I said, “I know, Kenny. I have breasts now and everything.” (Laughs) GC: Looking back at some of the songs you did with Babyface, which stand out most to you?

TB: “Breathe Again” is my favorite song to sing. It makes me happy. It’s a beautiful, sad love song. I love “Another Sad Love Song.” But of all the songs that I ever recorded with him, I love them all except for “Seven Whole Days.” Hated it. Didn’t understand it. Why am I singing it? And it turned out to be a big urban song for me.

GC: You’ve been very passionate about wanting a lesbian role on Orange is the New Black. Where’s that at?

TB: My agent is working on that for me as we speak. I got a call (recently) that said, “We’re working on it.” We believe they’re taping in March, so we’ll see. I’m excited about it.

GC: Why the interest in playing a lesbian character?

TB: I just want something out of character. When people see me, Toni, as a performer, they see something completely different. If I were to play a lesbian, they could see me as an actress: “Oh, maybe the bitch can act!” And every girl has her lesbian crush. My lesbian crush would be Ellen (DeGeneres). I love how she dances. I like her haircut. Love everything about her. So this would be a way for me to channel my inner Ellen.

GC: And you already have the short hair.

TB: I’m halfway there!

GC: There’s some intense lesbian sex on that show. Would you be up for getting it on with another woman? Would you go as far as they’d ask you to?

TB: If the role called for it, I would be willing to do it. It would be a great endeavor, and I think I would be comfortable in that role. I don’t think it would be a stretch for me.

GC: It wouldn’t be a stretch? Are you saying you’ve had a lesbian experience?

TB: I’ve never had one in my life! Ever! This would be my first lesbian experience if I did Orange is the New Black, because I’ve never had one. There are a lot of things I haven’t experienced that I need to start experiencing. I need to start living. Like Aunt Mame said, I need to live! I would like to say, “I lived.”

GC: How do you feel about gay people having the right to love and marriage and divorce?

TB: We’re all people, so I don’t even like to get into those conversations. As an African-American woman, we were told we couldn’t vote, we were told we couldn’t have interracial marriages – and my dad’s biracial. So I hate that people put labels on how you should love and whom you should love. I think that’s ridiculous. Everyone should be able to love.

GC: How would you say this album looks at relationships differently than the love songs you sang a couple decades ago?

TB: You’re aging me! (Laughs) Twenty years ago I was just singing about having my heart broken, and now I’m dealing with my heart being broken – and possibly having to start over and look for love again. Kenny and I both went through divorces. For me it was more therapeutic than for Kenny, and we decided to put words and music to what I went through recently and what he went through in the past. It definitely www.gaycalgary.com

helped me a lot. I wanted to call the album Love, Marriage & Divorce and Babyface wanted to call it Love, Marriage & the D Word and I’m like, “Kenny, we’re grown, let’s just say it. Put it out there. It’s divorce.”

GC: Is it different singing from a personal perspective?

TB: Yes! It’s really different because you’re telling your story and you’re exposing yourself, but at the same time you’re using it as a healing tool. Every song on the album isn’t about something I’ve experienced solely. There’s a song on the album called “I Wish,” and it’s my mother’s story of my mom and dad’s divorce. It’s a really beautiful song that she inspired me to write.

GC: How about “Sweat”? Was that inspired by your own life?

TB: I think everyone’s experienced “Sweat” and I-hate-you sex. I haven’t had that in a while because I really haven’t been dating since my divorce, so I long to experience “Sweat” again.

That would be lovely.

GC: Why does the androgynous mystique interest you? Is it a conscious decision?

TB: No, no. It just fits my face. When I first came out, I had short hair on the first album. By the time I got to the second album I put some extensions in my hair, but I’m always comfortable with my short hair. My short hair gives me my strength. I know that sounds weird, the lack of hair, but I feel more powerful. I feel more indigenous of the artist I was when I initially came out. It makes me feel more at the center of my roots again.

GC: And it also could be your ticket to Orange is the New Black.

TB: I’m hoping so. They may make me take the little wave out, and I may have to have a little afro, but we’ll see!

GC: If anyone can make an afro look hot, it’s you.

TB: (Laughs) What a beautiful lie, but I appreciate it.

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

39

Rap is Gay

Comedian and creator talk ‘dirty’ new cartoon, its star (a gay rapper, what?) and homophobia in hip-hop  Photos by FX

By Chris Azzopardi He’s here, he’s queer ... and he raps? It’s almost an oxymoron, or at least it used to be. But then there was Frank Ocean, the hip-hop queer who came out last year, and Macklemore, the emcee whose pro-gay “Same Love” made a splash on urban radio.

The next step? Obviously a cartoon all about a gay rapper.

Chozen, the brainchild of Eastbound & Down creator Grant Dekernion, is the first of its kind – an FX original series starring an unapologetically queer ex-con who slays with his wicked rhymes. And you know, he just happens to like the penis. It’s pretty gay. But how gay?

“Oh gosh, I guess I don’t know what the parameters are for that,” laughs Dekernion. “You know what, I can tell you this: Chozen is a super confident, super open type of guy. He’s a pretty sexual guy. I see Chozen as a 15-year-old boy in that he doesn’t have a filter and he has some basic needs – money, food, sex – and he’s very open about that.”

In personifying the character, a creation that just came to Dekernion randomly one day, there was one fundamental goal: Do something that had never been done.

“I chose his sexuality, which is obviously a huge part of him but not all of him,” he says, “and I also had the story where he’s been on hard times, he’s coming out of jail and he’s not necessarily a bad guy. It’s this whole idea of a man trying to re-enter society.”

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Voicing the titular emcee is Bobby Moynihan, the longtime Saturday Night Live comic who, as a regular on the show, is familiar with doing gay things – most of it involving drag.

“They love putting me in dresses,” Moynihan laughs.

“That’s their favorite thing to do. I didn’t mind it at first. But now – it’s just stockings are hard to put on, and I’m lazy.”

For his part as Chozen, the comedian jumped at the chance to audition, and not just because this is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (there’s not exactly a demand for gay rapper roles – or fake cartoon ones, at that). What had Moynihan most pumped was working with Method Man. (The show also features the voices of Michael Peña, Danny McBride and Nick Swardson, the Reno 911! actor whose entire career has been one gay thing after another.)

Moynihan compares the show to Dekernion’s edgy Eastbound & Down, also starring McBride, and says, “(Chozen) is gay in the show and he’s very aggressive and he does enjoy the company of men, and there are scenes with that, but it’s not just the gay, white rapper show.”

And GLAAD, don’t worry: Chozen isn’t here to represent all the gays. “Chozen is one character – he’s one person – and he has traits that are unique to him, so I feel like he speaks for himself and the show speaks for him and he doesn’t speak for any community as a whole,” Dekernion says. “He’s an out-there, brash guy and he behaves in that way. What you see is what you get.”

What you get, according to Moynihan, is one heckuva dirty gay time. For instance, Chozen demonstrates how to play a butthole like a saxophone – and that, seen in the trailer, just www.gaycalgary.com

scratches the surface. “We go as far as we can,” Dekernion affirms. No full cartoon nudity, though. You will, however, “see him (Chozen) in various stages of undress.”

When he’s not making beautiful sounds out of a sphincter, Chozen is bonding with friends and having not-just-sexual relationships with other gay men.

“It’s not political, it’s not about identity politics,” Dekernion says. “It’s, ‘How does this man relate to people? How did he go through his life? How did he experience things?’ These are all common themes that affect everyone, gay or straight.”

Dekernion calls Chozen an “anomaly”; he doesn’t fit into any box, and he wasn’t directly inspired by any real-life rappers (and actually, Dekernion is the one spitting Chozen’s hot fire). But that doesn’t mean some of Dekernion’s own personal musical picks – like queer rapper/metropolitan virtuoso Mykki Blanco – didn’t rub off on Chozen.

“Mykki Blanco is great visually and he does cool stuff, and his clothes are interesting,” Dekernion says. “I am definitely hip to a lot of different people in rap, both from the straight and gay scenes, and I think there’s some really cool stuff going on.”

Could Chozen and the show inspire more of the same progay progress Macklemore and Frank Ocean have already brought to hip-hop?

“If something good did come out of it, that would be great. I think we’d all love that,” Dekernion says. “But I didn’t create the character or pick hip-hop or anything with the thought that, ‘Hey, this is gonna make a change.’ I think those things happen organically anyway – hopefully. But I work with people in the hip-hop community and they haven’t always been warm and fuzzy, but I’m hoping that will change. There have been some steps made for it, but obviously we still have a long way to go.”

One need only look to Eminem’s latest album to see that homophobia in hip-hop isn’t just a thing of the past. What would Chozen tell Eminem about his gay slurs if he were to confront him? Moynihan isn’t sure he’d be able to face him ... and only because the comedian himself couldn’t when the rapper was right there in front of him on SNL. “I just said ‘hi,’” he recalls, “and then ran away.”

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

41

Paris Hilton Touches Down in Calgary

Media Icon DJs at Cowboys ICED Party

By Farley Foo Foo Entrepreneur. Media icon. Actress. Singer. Fashion designer. Paris Hilton can also add DJ to her résumé.

Coming off of a successful night spinning for the crowd of New Years revelers at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Hilton jumped on a plane to come straight to Calgary to headline the 18th annual ICED party at Cowboys Nightclub in Calgary. Paris was gracious enough to speak with GayCalgary Magazine prior to performing to let us know exactly what she has in store for the Canadian party crowd, and to answer a few questions about what other projects and ventures she currently has in the works.

From the sounds of it, 2014 is going to be a very busy and rewarding year for the iconic blonde of whom the people just can’t seem to get enough!

GC: Paris, you’ve come to Cowboys Nightclub in Calgary to DJ. Tell us a little about how you got into DJing and what sort of music you’ll be playing for the crowd.

PH: Music has been a passion of mine since I was a little girl and I always loved putting together different playlists for parties. I’ve been going to clubs since I was a teenager and some of my greatest friends are DJs, so I’ve gotten tips from them for years. I started seriously training about three years ago and I love it. It’s fun to mix songs that make people happy and want to dance; I like controlling the party.

GC: What other projects, film, fashion, etc. are you currently working on?

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PH: I just opened my 45th Paris Hilton Handbags and Accessories store in South Africa; they are now in more than 40 countries all over the world. I’m working on new designs and will be expanding to even more locations this year. I’m also working on my 16th fragrance, after the release of my most recent perfume, Dazzle.

I’m excited to follow in my family’s footsteps and get into the hotel and real estate business, my new luxury resort; the Paris Hilton Beach Club is opening soon in the Philippines.

Right now I’m very focused on my music. I signed with Young Money Cash Money Records and will be releasing my album in 2014. I’m also traveling a lot to headline DJ shows, my New Year’s Eve show at The Bellagio’s HYDE Nightclub in Las Vegas [was] so fun!

GC: You mentioned your Handbags and Accessories boutiques, any plans on opening a Paris Hilton boutique in Canada in the future?

PH: You never know what the future holds; I love Canada and hope to open a store there someday.

GC: Your fragrances have proven to be extremely popular with your fans, having sold more than USD $1.5 Billion worldwide, can we expect a new one for 2014?

PH: Definitely. My most recent fragrance, Dazzle, did so well, I’m really happy that it got such a positive response.

I think scent evokes so many emotions, it’s fun to match fragrances to your mood, and so I’m excited for everyone to check out my 16th this year.

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GC: In the past we’ve enjoyed seeing you on The Simple Life and Paris Hilton’s My New BFF, would you ever do another reality TV program, or will your career as a DJ make that impossible?

PH: I had a great time filming those shows, we had a lot of fun and I met some great people. I’ll never say never, I get hundreds of scripts sent to me all of the time, if the right project came along I would be open to it. Music and DJing makes me so happy, so I’m really just enjoying being in the studio and in the DJ booth spinning my sets right now.

GC: What can fans expect from the show at Cowboys Nightclub?

PH: They can expect some great music! I like to mix electro-pop and house music; tracks that make everyone want to dance and party and have a good time. They can definitely expect to hear my new single; too, “Good Time” featuring Lil Wayne, I love it because it’s all about being at the best party.

Despite the cold weather, the 18th annual ICED had to be the hottest party in town that night! When the doors opened at 8pm, organizers estimate there was more than 700 people waiting in line to get in. At 8:30pm, the audience was treated to a hair show where 12 stylists had 12 minutes to create the most unique hair-do. Later that night, Paris made an appearance on the red carpet outside of Cowboys Nightclub, where fans clamored to get a glimpse of her up close, forming a solid wall of cell phone-wielding arms.

Afterwards, she DJ’d to a packed dance floor inside. The club was transformed from its usual warm western atmosphere to an icy-cool rave vibe with white fabric covering the walls, and black light throughout. Combined with her exciting DJ set, it was certainly a night to remember!

Paris Hilton http://www.parishilton.com Cowboys Nightclub 421 12 Ave SE, Calgary http://www.cowboysnightclub.com http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3876

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Photography HOT MESS Holiday Bash! at Local 522, Calgary

ISCCA A Lump of Coal! at the Backlot

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Photography ISCWR Miss Mary Christmas, Edmonton photos by B&J

ISCWR Kinky Flea Market, Edmonton photos by B&J

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ISCWR With Bells On, Edmonton photos by B&J

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Photography Crowns For Kids Closing Show at the Backlot

Jingle Balls Drag Show at Cowboys Nightclub

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Photography 1st Annual Sapien Family Christmas Party at TEN Nightclub http://gaycalgary.com/pa634

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Photography Junction NYE, Vancouver

STUDIO 54 NYE Celebration at Oasis Nightclub, Vancouver

photos by Farley FooFoo

photos by Farley FooFoo

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Photography 18th Annual ICED Party Hosted by PARIS HILTON w/Hair Show http://gaycalgary.com/pa641

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News Releases ADAM LAMBERT: Over The Years http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1098 COLUMN: What Are The HIV Positives? http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1099 Blonde Bitches: Meet the Cast http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1100 NSFW - NEW VIDEO! Cher Makes Video For Andrew Christian http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1101 GARETH THOMAS: Tom Daley will inspire young gay people http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1102 Concert - LADY GAGA’S artRAVE: The ARTPOP Ball - Calgary - MAY 25 http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1103 News: Tom Daley In Relationship With Another Guy http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1104 OPINION: Haters Back Off Tom Daley http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1105 Nordstrom To Post 30 Management Positions For New Chinook Centre Store On Dec. 5 http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1106 EDMONTON POLICE SERVICE - Police seek witnesses, tips in homicide investigation http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1107

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NSFW - The Andrew Christian Boys Celebrate The Holidays - The Night Before http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1112 Descent - NYE - 1am - Vancouver http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1113 Designer Andrew Christian Searches For Love on Millionaire Matchmaker http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1114 COLUMN: The Church Of The Poisoned Mind http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1115 COLUMN: Accepting Yourself As Gay – The Internal Boxing Match http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1116 Corporate America Champions LGBT Equality in Record Numbers http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1117 NSFW - WOW: David Gandy Naked http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1118 NEWS: HIV Returns To Bone Marrow Transplant “Cured” Men http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1119 NSFW - Dan Osborne Gets Naked For Reveal http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1120 TECH REVIEW: Sony Xperia Tablet Z http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1121

NSFW - Biggest Gay Event in Spain Over Christmas: My Pleasure http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1108

Book Review: Faitheist

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NSFW - Andrew Christian Boys Sweat It Out To ‘Yoga for Bros’ http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1109

IDINA MENZEL: Releases The Perfect Coming Out Song http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1123

HRC Statement on the Death of Nelson Mandela http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1110

Martina Navratilova, Jason Collins on Sport and Fight against Homophobia http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1124

Grindr Releases Best of 2013 Awards http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1111

COLT Studio Group Completely Revamps Their Flagship Online Store http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1125

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News Releases Movie Review: House of Boys http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1126

Open Letter From Olympian Brian Boitano http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1139

COLUMN: Religion And Sexuality http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1127

TECH REVIEW: Kobo Arc 10HD http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1140

Diva Extraordinaire Beyoncé Releases Surprise Album http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1128

MOVIE REVIEW: Mr. Angel – The Movie http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1141

Pulp Fiction – The Gay Sleaze Novels of the 50’s and 60’s http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1129

NEWS: Ugandan MPs Pass ‘Jail The Gays’ Bill http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1142

COLUMN: A Message From The Christmas Bunker http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1130

Nigeria and Uganda adopt harsh anti-LGBT laws in same week http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1143

NEWS: Saunders Confirms Ab Fab Movie? http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1131

COLUMN: Very Superstitious http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1144

OPINION: Equal Rights vs Special Rights http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1132

5 Pagan Origins of Christmas http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1145 NEWS: Code Breaker Alan Turing Pardoned By The Queen http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1146

BOOK EXTRACTS: It’s Ok To Be Gay – Diana King Coming Out Story http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1133

SUNDAY COLUMN: Sunny With A Chance of Cloud http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1147

Transgender, CrossDressing Shoppers Gain Access to Innovative New Fashion Website http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1134

FASHION: In The Hood With Adam Lambert http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1148

Chatty Man Alan Carr Puts His Best End Forward In Hilarious Kardashian Send Up http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1135

COMING OUT: Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1149

Petition Goes Live Calling For The Sacking Of Ivan Okhlobystin After Homophobic Rant http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1136

Celebrities Who Came Out As Bisexual, Lesbian or Gay In 2013 http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1150

SEXY CALENDAR: Tribute To Russian LGBTS http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1137 NSFW - 8 Reasons Why You Need Ben Cohen’s Calendar In Your Life http://www.gaycalgary.com/n1138

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

www.gaycalgary.com

Directory & Events 24

DOWNTOWN CALGARY

41 37 34

2 33

35

36

3 1 60

5 6

16

N

13

1 2 3 5

Calgary Outlink---------- Community Groups Aids Calgary------------- Community Groups Backlot------------------------Bars and Clubs Texas Lounge-----------------Bars and Clubs

6 Goliath’s--------------------------Bathhouses 13 Westways Guest House-----Accommodations 16 Priape Calgary (CLOSED) ----- Retail Stores 24 Courtney Aarbo-----------------------Services

FIND OUT!

Twisted Element--------------Bars and Clubs Vertigo Mystery Theatre------------- Theatre One Yellow Rabbit-------------------- Theatre ATP, Alberta Theatre Projects-------- Theatre

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

33 34 35 36

......... Wheelchair Accessible

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

 403-543-6960  1-888-543-6960

 magazine@gaycalgary.com

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

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---------------------------------- ✰  403-265-5211  Open 7 days a week, 2pm-close

 209 - 10th Ave SW

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

East Village Cafe (CLOSED)

 2nd floor, 610 - 8 Avenue SE

Calgary Eagle Inc. (CLOSED)

Local Bars, Restaurants, and Accommodations info on the go!

 424a - 8th Ave SE

http://www.gaycalgary.com/Directory

 1140 10th Ave SW

Club Sapien (CLOSED)

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

37 41 58 60

Pumphouse Theatre----------------- Theatre La Fleur (CLOSED)------------- Retail Stores Theatre Junction--------------------- Theatre Cowboys Nightclub-----------Bars and Clubs FAB (CLOSED)

 1742 - 10th Ave SW

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

 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

• Badminton (Absolutely Smashing)

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

GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

55

Directory & Events Calgary Events

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

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

Wing Night------------------------------  5-8pm

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

At 59 East Village Cafe 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 59 East Village Cafe

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

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

See 1 Calgary Outlink

 3rd

See 1 Calgary Outlink

 4th

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

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

 Old Y Centre (223 12th Ave SW)

Saturdays

See 1 Calgary Outlink

Thursdays

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

Tuesdays

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

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

Calgary Networking Club-------------- 5-7pm See 1 Calgary Outlink

 1st

 Kerby Center, Sunshine Room 1133 7th Ave SW

 3rd

At 3 Backlot

 2nd

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

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

Art & Music Show-------------------------  8pm

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

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

At 3 Backlot

See

Fridays

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

At 3 Backlot

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

Western Cup

Illusions-------------------------------  7-10pm See 1 Calgary Outlink

See See

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

 1st

 2nd

See See

Deer Park United Church Scarboro United Church Hillhurst United Church

• Bowling (Rainbow Riders League)

 Let’s Bowl (2916 5th Avenue NE)  bowling@apollocalgary.com

• Curling

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

• Golf

 golf@apollocalgary.com

• Lawn Bowling

 lawnbowling@apollocalgary.com

• Outdoor Pursuits

 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.

• Running (Calgary Frontrunners)

 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

 slow.pitch@apollocalgary.com

• Squash

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

• Tennis

 tennis@apollocalgary.com

By

ARGRA

At 3 Backlot

Saturday, February 15th

April 2014

Rainbow Community Church

By Apollo

Apr1719

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

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

• Volleyball (Recreational)  recvb@apollocalgary.com

• Yoga

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

Alberta Rockies Gay Rodeo Association (ARGRA)

 www.argra.org

• Monthly Dances-------------------------  Arrata Opera Centre (1315 - 7 Street SW)

✰

 77 Deerpoint Road SE  http://www.dpuc.ca

Calgary Men’s Chorus

 http://www.differentstrokescalgary.org

FairyTales Presentation Society

• Rehearsals

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

✰

 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  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.

 beachvb@apollocalgary.com

• Volleyball (Competitive)  vb@apollocalgary.com

GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

 403-278-8263

Different Strokes

 http://www.calgarymenschorus.org

• Peer Support and Crisis Line

Calgary Queer Book Club

Deer Park United Church/Wholeness Centre

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

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

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

 Weeds Cafe (1903 20 Ave NW)

Calgary Gay Fathers

• Volleyball (Beach)

56

At 3 Backlot

Art & Music Show-------------------------  8pm

Knox United Church

 Calgary Contd.

 Platoon FX, 1351 Aviation Park NE  bootcamp@apollocalgary.com

Friday, January 24th

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

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

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

• Boot Camp

By Calgary Police Service  CPS Headquarters (5111 47 St NE)

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

 1st

See 1 Calgary Outlink

Knox United Church

Wednesday, January 22nd

Diversity Open House------------------ 6-8pm

Sleigh Ride

At 1 Calgary Outlink

Wednesdays See

At 3 Backlot

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

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

Fetish Slosh----------------------------  Evening

Hounds and Hydes-----------------------  9pm

Saturday, January 25th

Between Men--------------------------- 7-9pm At 5 Texas Lounge

ARGRA at Backlot

Saturday, January 18th

Sundays

At 6 Goliaths

At 6 Goliaths

Karaoke-------------------------  8pm-12:30am

By

Voodoo Lounge-------------------------- 10pm

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

 2nd, 4th

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

Piggy Party Fundraiser

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

Student Night------------------------  6pm-6am See 1 Calgary Outlink

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

Friday, January 17th

 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

 girlfriends@shaw.ca

 members.shaw.ca/girlfriends

Girlsgroove

 http://www.girlsgroove.ca

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

 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 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

• Fake Mustache • Mosaic Youth Group

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

Mystique

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

• 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

www.gaycalgary.com

Directory & Events  Calgary Contd. 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

 403-797-6564

 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.

✰

Fairytales

Jubilations Dinner Theatre

Calgary Civil Marriage Centre

37 Pumphouse Theatre------------------  2140 Pumphouse Avenue SW  403-263-0079  http://www.pumphousetheatres.ca

✰

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

✰

58 Theatre Junction----------------------  Theatre Junction GRAND, 608 1st St. SW  403-205-2922  info@theatrejunction.com  http://www.theatrejunction.com

✰

24 Courtney Aarbo (Barristers & Solicitors)

 1138 Kensington Road NW  403-571-5120  http://www.courtneyaarbo.ca GLBT legal services.

 727 - 42 Avenue SE  403-243-6642  http://www.stagewestcalgary.com

DevaDave Salon & Boutique

 2nd Cup, Kensington

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

EDMONTON

Ellen Embury

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.

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.

 403-750-1128  www.DBBlaw.com Fellow, American Academy of Reproductive Technology Attorneys

Hardline

 Calgary: 403-770-0776

 Edmonton: 780-665-6666  Other Cities: 1-877-628-9696  http://www.hardlinechat.com Telephone classifieds and chat - 18+ ONLY.

Lorne Doucette (CIR Realtors)

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

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

Unity Bowling

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

SafeWorks

Free and confidential HIV/AIDS and STI testing.

Wild Rose United Church

 1317-1st Street NW

Restaurants

 2nd floor, 610 - 8 Avenue SE

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

✰

 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 (CLOSED) ------------- ✰

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

www.gaycalgary.com

 780-938-2941

The Junction (CLOSED)

 10242 106th St

Hooliganz Pub (CLOSED)

 10704 124 St NW

13 UpStares Ultralounge (CLOSED)

 4th Floor, Jasper Ave and 107th Street

• Centre of Hope

11 Steamworks------------------------------- ✰

 11745 Jasper Ave  780-451-5554  http://www.steamworksedmonton.com

Bathhouses/Saunas

• Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre

Community Groups

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

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

Wheel Pro’s

 4143- Edmonton Trail NE  403-226-7278  http://www.wheelpros.ca “Experts in Everything for Wheels”

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

Theatre & Fine Arts 36 ATP, Alberta Theatre Projects

 403-294-7402  http://www.ATPlive.com

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

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

Alberta Bears

 www.beefbearbash.com

• Safeworks Van

 403-262-3356  www.axisart.ca

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

Buck Naked Boys Club

 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.

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

 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

12 Woody’s------------------------------------ ✰

 11725 Jasper Ave  780-488-6557

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

Retail Stores

FLASH (CLOSED)

 780-424-0077

• Calgary Drop-in Centre

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

East Village Cafe (CLOSED)

 10220 - 103 St  http://www.yourgaybar.com

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.

 780-474-8240

6 Buddy’s Nite Club------------------------- ✰

 11725 Jasper Ave  780-488-6636

Evolution Wonder Lounge

 http://www.edmontonpride.ca

GLBTQ Sage Bowling Club

Bars & Clubs

 10018 105 Street  flashnightclub@hotmail.com

MFM Communications

Sharp Foundation

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

Edmonton Pride Festival Society (EPFS)

35 One Yellow Rabbit-------------------------  Big Secret Theatre - EPCOR CENTRE  403-299-8888  www.oyr.org

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

Cruiseline

 7-104 Dept. of Educational Policy Studies Faculty of Education, University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G5  http://www.fyrefly.ualberta.ca

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

Services & Products

 Calgary: 403-777-9494

 Edmonton: 780-413-7122  Other Cities: 1-877-882-2010  http://www.cruiseline.ca Telephone classifieds and chat - 18+ ONLY.

Camp fYrefly

See Calgary - Community Groups.

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

• Coffee Night

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

Best Health

 206A 2525 Woodview Dr SW  403-281-5582  besthealthcalgary@hotmail.com  http://www.besthealthcalgary.com

Living Positive Society of Alberta

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

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

✰

 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.

GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

57

Directory & Events DOWNTOWN EDMONTON

1

15

N 11 6 12

1 Pride Centre of Edm.---- Community Groups 4 Edmonton STD---------- Community Groups

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

Mondays

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

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

 3rd

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

 2nd

Tuesdays

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

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

Team Edmonton

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

6 Buddy’s-----------------------Bars and Clubs 11 Steamworks----------------------Bathhouses

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

Edmonton Events See

4

Team Edmonton

QH Craft Night-------------------------- 6-8pm See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

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

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

Team Edmonton

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

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

Youth Understanding Youth

QH Game Night------------------------ 6-8pm See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

Swim Practice--------------------------- 7-8pm Team Edmonton

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

Fridays

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

See

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

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

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

See

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

 Robertson-Wesley United (10209 123 St)

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

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

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

Thursdays

See

Wednesdays

Team Edmonton

12 Woody’s-----------------------Bars and Clubs 15 Evolution----------------------Bars and Clubs

See

Men’s Games Nights

 2nd, Last

Youth Understanding Youth

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

Soul Outing-------------------------------  7pm

 2nd

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

Saturday, January 11th

Saturdays

Dukes & Diamonds White Party---------9-11pm

Naturalist Gettogether See

Team Edmonton

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

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

By ISCWR at Woodys

Saturday, January 18th

Turnabout---------------------------------8:30pm

By ISCWR at Evolution

Saturday, January 25th

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

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

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

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

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

By ISCWR Bellevue Community Hall (7308 - 112 Ave)

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

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

Sundays

Saturday, February 1st

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

Headliners: Twiggy---------------------------9pm

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

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

See

GLBTQ Sage Bowling Club

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

See 1 Youth Understanding Youth See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton See See See

 2nd, 4th

BookWorm’s Book Club

 3rd

Team Edmonton

See

See

Team Edmonton

Team Edmonton

 robwells780@hotmail.com Support & social group for gay & bisexual men to discuss current issues.

• Movie Night

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

• Queer HangOUT: Game Night

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

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By ISCWR at Evolution

Team Edmonton

 Edmonton Contd.

• Men Talking with Pride

Grease

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

• Badminton (Mixed)

 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.

GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

•Ballroom Dancing

 Foot Notes Dance Studio, 9708-45 Avenue NW  Cynthia: 780-469-3281

• Blazin’ Bootcamp

 Garneau Elementary School 10925 - 87 Ave  bootcamp@teamedmonton.ca

• Bowling (Northern Titans)

• 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.

 Ed’s Rec Room (West Edmonton Mall)

 bowling@teamedmonton.ca $15.00 per person.

• Hockey

• Cross Country Skiing

 15450 - 105 Ave (daycare entrance)  780-328-6414  kungfu@teamedmonton.ca  kickboxing@teamedmonton.ca Drop-ins welcome.

 crosscountry@teamedmonton.ca

• Curling with Pride

 Granite Curling Club, 8620 107 Street NW  curling@teamedmonton.ca

• Cycling (Edmonton Prideriders)

 Dawson Park, picnic shelter  cycling@teamedmonton.ca

• Dragon Boat (Flaming Dragons)

 dragonboat@teamedmonton.ca

 hockey@teamedmonton.ca

• Martial Arts

• Outdoor Pursuits

 outdoorpursuits@teamedmonton.ca

• Running (Arctic Frontrunners)

 Kinsmen Sports Centre  running@teamedmonton.ca All genders and levels of runners and walkers are invited to join this free activity.

www.gaycalgary.com

Directory & Events Red Deer Events

Jasper

Wednesdays

March 2014

LGBT Coffee Night------------------------  7pm See

CAANS

 1st

Jasper Pride Jasper, AB

Mar2123

 Edmonton Contd.

• 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.

12 Woody’s------------------------------------ ✰

 11725 Jasper Ave  780-488-6557

Retail Stores Passion Vault

• Snowballs V

 15239 - 111 Ave  780-930-1169  pvault@telus.net “Edmonton’s Classiest Adult Store”

 January 27-29, 2012  snowballs@teamedmonton.ca Skiing and Snowboarding Weekend.

• Soccer

Products & Services

 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.

• Swimming (Making Waves)

 NAIT Pool (11762 - 106 Street)  swimming@teamedmonton.ca  http://www.makingwavesswimclub.ca

• Tennis

Cruiseline

 780-413-7122 trial code 3500  http://www.cruiseline.ca Telephone classifieds and chat - 18+ ONLY.

Robertson-Wesley United Church

 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!

 Kinsmen Sports Centre  Sundays, 12pm-3pm

 tennis@teamedmonton.ca

• Soul OUTing

• Ultimate Frisbee

• Film Night

 Second Sunday every month, 7pm An LGBT-focused alternative worship.

 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  http://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

Restaurants

 10242 106th St

 780-756-5667

www.gaycalgary.com

 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

• 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

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

 403-308-2893  http://www.galalethbridge.ca Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Lethbridge and Area.

Community Groups Medicine Hat Cares Centre

 356 - 2 Street SE, Medicine Hat, AB  403-527-5882  1-877-440-2437  info@aidscalgary.org

• 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

PFLAG Canada

 1-888-530-6777

 lethbridgeab@pflagcanada.ca  www.pflagcanada.ca

Pride Lethbridge

 lethbridgepridefest@gmail.com

RED DEER

 10708 124th Street, Edmonton AB  780-453-2440  http://www.theatrenetwork.ca

BANFF

MEDICINE HAT

 403-308-2893  Monday OR Wednesday, 7pm-11pm Leave a message any other time.

 Bi-monthly, contact us for exact dates.

GALA/LA

The Junction (Closed)----------------------

• Monthly Dances

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.

 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

 http://www.albertaballet.com Frequent productions in Calgary and Edmonton.

CANADA 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.

GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

59

Classifieds Event

140

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!

Wedding/Union

190

Erotic Massage

420

UltimateMaleMassage.com

Consulting

Adult Depot Large selection of gay DVDs from $14.95, and toys. Open Mon-Fri 12-8pm, Sat 12-6pm, closed Sundays and holidays.

Audition

Marriage Ceremonies Best Erotic Male Massage In Calgary.

Studio with free parking. Deep Tissue and Relaxation. Licensed, Professional.

Video on website. 403-680-0533

Rork Hilford MC, Commissioner for Oaths.

MarriageCommissioner@shaw.ca | 403246-4134

Erotic Massage

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.

215 Cleaning

Gay Talent Wanted 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

Models/Escorts

Want to attract the LGBT local or traveler to your business?

403-258-2777

mike@ultimatemalemassage.com McDougall United Church (Edmonton), an Affirming congregation proudly performing same-sex unions or same-sex marriages since 1998. http://www.mcdougallunited.com

527

460

Alberta Escort Listings

GET A LIFE! Commercial Cleaning Relaxation, Therapeutic, Foot Massage, Erotic Massage. Hot Asian Male Age:24 Swimmer Build.

YOU’LL KEEP COMING BACK FOR MORE. Call Mark 403-630-8048 www.markmassage.ca 12pm to Midnight (24hrs optional) Ladies Welcome

Internet

445

www.ABS-Hosting.com Make your mark on the Web... Create a blog, register a domain, build you personal website at www.abs-hosting.com 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

517

Does your business need a professional cleaner? Steve is bonded/Insured. Flexible prices and brings all his own supplies. Steve is a part of the LGBT Community and has been cleaning for over 5 years in Calgary.

(403)200-7384 getalifecleaner@gmail.com www.getalifecleaner.com www.facebook.com/getalifecleaner

Clothing/Fashion

520

Products/Services 500

Twice Trendy!

Used Quality Clothing

Certified Personal Trainer

Most clothing $3! New style? New family?

Broke as a joke? We have a great selection of gently used clothing for men, women, children and babies. We also keep a selection of furniture and housewares too! Twice trendy makes it easy to get quality style without destroying your wallet. Come check us out! #14, 3434 - 34 Ave NE.

Upcoming wedding/event/trip/class reunion?

If you want to look/feel better, increase your strength/endurance/flexibility, I CAN HELP YOU! call/text me 4038263305 or email me j_d_short@hotmail.com

Health

550

Trinity Best Health Store Vitamins & Minerals, Herbs and Greens, Active Lifestyle, Weight Management, Fitness Nutrition, Natural Bodycare. Located in Woodbine Square 2525 Woodview Drive SW 403-281-5582 | www.besthealthcalgary.com Gay Owned and Operated

Legal

557

Same-sex Spouse/Common-Law Sponsorship, LMO/Work Permit, Immigration, Citizenship, Separation/Pre-Nuptial/Co-habitation Agreements, Uncontested Divorces, Accounting, Translations, Commissioner foroaths. Active Professionals. #220, 2705 Centre Street NW Calgary 403-590-3818 • www.activeprofessionals.com

Ads starting at $10/mo. for the first 20 words. Submit yours at http://www.gaycalgary.com/classifieds 60

GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

www.gaycalgary.com

www.gaycalgary.com

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GayCalgary Magazine #123, January 2014

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www.gaycalgary.com

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