GayCalgary Magazine - December 2016/January 2017

DEC 16/JAN 2017

® ISSUE 156 • FREE The Voice of Alberta’s LGBTQ Community

Interview with

MICHAEL BUBLÉ

Alaska

All Stars 2 winner comes to YEG

Joe Jonas

on ‘fun’ gay rumors

PLUS:

Best of 2016 • Emeli Sandé DJ Matt Effect • Casey Everett Alison Bechdel • Nathan Sykes ...and more!

Business Directory

Scan to Read on Mobile Devices

Community Map

Calgary • Alberta • Canada

Events Calendar

Pam Ann

Flying into Whistler Pride 2017

Tourist Information

STARTING ON PAGE 55

www.gaycalgary.com

Table of Contents

Videography Photography Steve Polyak

Steve Polyak, Rob Diaz-Marino, B&J Sales Steve Polyak Videography sales@gaycalgary.com Steve Polyak, Rob Diaz-Marino

Legal Council Courtney Aarbo,Printers Barristers and Solicitors North Hill News/Central Web

General Inquiries

® GayCalgary Magazine Distribution 2136 17th Avenue SW Calgary: Gallant Distribution Calgary,GayCalgary AB, CanadaStaff T2T 0G3 magazine@gaycalgary.com Edmonton: Clark’s Distribution Other: Canada Post

Office Hours: By appointment ONLY Legal403-543-6960 Council Phone: Courtney and Solicitors Toll Aarbo, Free: Barristers 1-888-543-6960 Fax: 403-703-0685 Salesmagazine@gaycalgary.com & General Inquiries E-Mail:

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine This Month's Cover 2136 17th Avenue SW Main: MichaelCalgary, Bublé, photo

by Warner Bros. Top AB, Canada Right: Alaska, photoT2T

by Magnus-Hastings-Green.

0G3 Mid Right: Joe Jonas, photo by Scott Schafer.

Bottom By Right: Pam Ann. Office Hours: 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 and Christina Aguilera courtesy of Sony Pictures; Annie Lennox courtesy of Mike Owen; Rex Goudie.

Proud Members of: Proud Member of:

Publisher’s Column

25th Anniversary of Men For Men/GayCalgary

10 GayCalgary Magazine’s Top 20 Most Read Articles in 2016

PAGE 11

Writers and Contributors

Chris Mercedes Azzopardi, Allen,Jeff ChrisBerry, Azzopardi, Dave Brousseau, Dallas Barnes, Keith Dave Johnson, Brousseau, Lisa Lunney, Sam Casselman, Ivy Miller, Steve JasonPolyak, Clevett, Mikey AndrewRox, Collins, Romeo Emily SanCollins, Vicente,Rob Brandon Diaz-Marino, Shultz, Janine and theEva LGBT Trotta, Community Jack Fertig, of Calgary, Glen Hanson, Edmonton, Joan Hilty, Evan Kayne,and Stephen Alberta.

Lock, Neil McMullen, Allan Neuwirth, Steve Polyak, Carey Rutherford, Romeo San Vicente, Ed Sikov, Nick Vivian and Photography the GLBT Community Calgary, Edmonton, and SteveofPolyak Alberta.

5

11 DJ Matt Effect

On Love, Life, and his First Time...In Calgary

12 Touched By An Angel

Emeli Sandé talks first album in five years, empathetic gay fans and her musical savior Mariah Carey

16 Finding Nathan Sykes

Boy bander on self-discovery, gay rumors and his sometimes‘bromosexual’ relationship with Tom Daley

18 January, Snow, Alaska

Interview with “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 2” winner, Alaska

21 Positive Thoughts

e n zi

A sense of community

22 Deep Inside Hollywood

a g a

Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Margaret Cho, ‘Finding Prince Charming’

23 Casey Everett It’s Fun & Hard

m

25 Philips Smoke-less Indoor Grill How to BBQ indoors and eat healthy

27 Philips Wake-up Light

PAGE 18

Publisher Publisher: & Editor: SteveSteve Polyak Polyak Copy Editor: Editor: RobJanine Diaz-Marino Eva-Trotta Sales: Steve Polyak Design & Layout: Rob Diaz-Marino, Steve Polyak Ara Shimoon

DEC 2016/JAN 2017

PAGE 13 PAGE 12

®

Waking up to a simulated sunrise

28 Pam Ann At Whistler Pride 2017 30 Stink, Stank, Stunk 31 The Frivolist

6 Ways to Start the New Year as the Best Gay You Can Be

National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association

Gay European Tourism Association

32 2016 in Review What the Celebs Said

PAGE 23

7 of 2016’s Biggest Grinches

International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association

Continued on Next Page  www.gaycalgary.com

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

3

Table of Contents  Continued From Previous Page ® Magazine Figures

33 Hear Me Out

Monthly Online Magazine Readership:

PAGE 28

Best Albums Of 2016

Combined total of PDF and ISSUU Downloads/Reads –100,000 copies

36 Catching Up with Alison Bechdel

Total Readership of PDF/ISSUU/WEB

Out cartoonist on new Dykes to Watch Out For, the universal appeal of Fun Home and her doubts about making it a musical

40 Having His Cake and Eating It Too

PAGE 40

PAGE 36

Joe Jonas on ‘fun’ gay rumors, Barbra Streisand fandom and the pleasures of S&M

44 Love Is Love Is Love

Michael Bublé on leaving an LGBT-affirming legacy, man crushes and male admirers

48 50 52 55 60

Queer Eye A Couple of Guys News Releases Directory and Events Classified Ads

a m

Scan for this Issue:

e n zi

ga

Scan for Latest Issue:

PAGE 44

Proof of monthly figures are available on request.

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

Name changed to GayCalgary in 1998.

Independent company as of January 2004.

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

February 2013, GayCalgary® becomes a registered trademark. December 2014/ January 2015 is the last print edition.

February 2015 is the first digital only edition.

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

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

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

http://www.gaycalgary.com/RSS Articles • Recent News • Prize Draws • Events • Travel Info

4

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

Copyright 2016. All rights reserved.

GayCalgary® is a registered trademark.

FEBRUARY 2017 Deadlines Ad Booking: Fri, Feb 3rd

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Submission: Tues, Feb 7th

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Please contact us immediately if you think you may have missed the booking or submission deadline.

Online: Friday, Feb 10th

http://www.gaycalgary.com/i156 More articles and exclusive content online!

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

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Editorial

 Men For Men logo

 Men For Men BBS login screen

Publisher’s Column

25th Anniversary of Men For Men/GayCalgary

By Steve Polyak As I brought up in the November 2016 publisher’s column – which marked GayCalgary Magazine’s 13th Anniversary – there was another milestone forthcoming.

In January, 1992, Men For Men BBS was up and running.

Men For Men BBS allowed guys in Calgary to connect using their computers and dial-up modems to interact with one another.

This was all done before the Internet became mainstream.

Think of the apps Scruff or Grindr; the website Squirt.org with no photos or graphics, with all text, no mouse or touch, but text menu options that you selected where you want to go.

Though it was used primarily for hook-ups or guys looking for friends, there was still a community events calendar, business directory, discussion groups and an extensive X-rated photo gallery, wherein you needed to download the photo to see it.

While you were downloading, you could not do anything else on the site but wait for it to complete.

The number of guys you could chat with live, one-on-one, was dependent on how many phone lines the system had. It started with one phone line, and all you could do was leave a message for other users, or post a message on the discussion forum. Once BBS got busy, I added four phone lines, and then guys could chat live one-on-one.

I was running it out of my apartment; I found out four lines are the limit for residential, even though I was paying for business lines. Eventually I had to move the system down to Boyztown and the Rekroom so I could expand to eight. Inside Boyztown and the Rekroom I set up four terminals throughout the bar so guys inside could chat with guys dialing in from outside. As the Internet finally became publicly available, I set up the BBS to allow people that were online to be part of the system.

Men For Men BBS became so popular that Men For Men Fridays were set up so guys could come down and meet one another face to face in the Rekroom. Lots of these guys were either in the closet, married, or just not part of the regular gay scene. Using the BBS helped them become comfortable in exploring their sexuality.

Once we were on the Internet, GayCalgary.com, MenForMenGalleries.com and several other domain names were registered in 1997 and 1998, and websites were setup shortly after. The business directory, events listings and the www.gaycalgary.com

forum became part of GayCalgary.com, where the X-rated photos became part of the MenForMenGalleries.com.

Once I got my first digital camera, photos I was taking throughout the community started getting added to the GayCalgary.com website. In 2000, we broadcast the first drag show live over the Internet. The videos became so popular that a separate website called GayCalgary.TV was created. After a while, it was brought back into the GayCalgary website to be along the photos that were also taken during those shows.

This was all done before YouTube existed, and streaming sites, like Netflix.

In 2002, we did our first email blasts letting digital subscribers know what was going on in Calgary. GayCalgary Internet kiosks were set up throughout Calgary’s gay bars.

Also, in several gay bars, the computer screen savers were adapted to run on the TVs, which showcased events going on in the community, as well as inside the bars. Each bar had photos of guys intermixed with the ads, but the photos of the guys were custom selected for each bar to go along with the clientele. Guys could also download the screen saver from the GayCalgary website so they could watch it at home.

It was too cost prohibitive to set up a computer to generate it live, even though I really wanted to, so all the bars needed it recorded to an eight-hour VHS tape every month. Eventually we could burn them to recordable DVDs, but it still took a long time to do it and – depending on how old the bar’s DVD player was – we could not always make sure the new recordable DVD format would work.

There was an off-shoot service called GayNetmeeting.com that allowed users with webcams and the Microsoft application NetMeeting, which was on Windows ’95 to Windows XP, to video-chat with one another. It was not as well-developed as webcam chat sites like you see today, since the technology was extremely new. There was a list of users on the site with their handle, a description of themselves, location in the world and if they were available to chat or were busy. You clicked on who you wanted to video chat with and off it went to connect you to them. It was only set up for one-on-one connection but, at its peak, we had several thousands of guys on the site at a time. Since the technology was new-tech – and more designed for business use than guys chatting with one another over

Continued on Next Page  GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

5

 From Previous Page

Online Last Month Mamma Mia, Here We Go Again.. One Last Time ABBA Musical Farewell Tour Comes to Alberta

It seems like at this point everyone should have seen Mamma Mia. The show, which wrapped up on Broadway in 2015 but still runs in London’s West End going on 18 years, is on its... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5338

Creep of the Week

Log Cabin Republicans

The Log Cabin Republicans have refused to endorse Donald J. Trump for President. On the one hand, Good for them. I mean, LCR isn’t a group with especially high standards (they... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5396

Hear Me Out  First graphic update to Men For Men Terminals

the Internet – it was hard to make sure everyone was of legal age, to monitor the site, or stop spammers. So I took it offline; it was starting to be easier to chat with webcams on other services.

With the newsletter email blasts doing well, and after talking to the owners of some of the gay bars and some of Calgary’s gay community groups, I decided to bring everything together.

I launched in November, 2003, the first edition of GayCalgary Magazine. My background was in computer technology and I saw that so many tech companies were also becoming media companies or merging with existing ones, so it became a logical next step for GayCalgary to do the same.

As people started to use their own home computers to access the Internet and Internet cafes started closing their doors, we removed the Internet terminals from the gay bars. Also, to concentrate on the magazine more, we stopped doing the videos for the bars. It was hard to make sure they were getting played and, with so many bars for us to do these videos for, it started taking several days every month to get them done.

The magazine grew and expanded into the Edmonton market. We added to the title “and Edmonton” and eventually realized that it was too hard for people to remember and say.

So, it got rebranded back to GayCalgary, but tailored to an Alberta-wide readership.

Technology advanced again and the print media industry needed to change along with it. Luckily, GayCalgary Magazine roots were already online: all editions of GayCalgary Magazine had been online since 2003. We even introduced features like streaming video in PDF editions of the magazine several years before devices like the iPad were launched. Advertiser ads were linked to their websites, that is, if they had one. As smart phones and tablets became more popular, some of these features became standard for other online magazines.

When we noticed that over 60 per cent of our readers were online, we knew it was time to start cutting back magazine locations and the size of the print run. I remember that – four years into doing the magazine – we noticed that more people had read the edition online before we had the hard copies in our hands for distribution, which was usually only a 24 to 48 hour turn around.

But once it was consistently more than 95 per cent of our readers reading us online, we decided the December 2014/ January 2015 edition was going to be the last in print. Shortly thereafter we saw other magazines follow suit. Even the newspaper industry was having problems keeping up with 6

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

Frank Ocean, Lady Gaga, Bon Iver Frank Ocean, Blond The genius of Frank Ocean’s intimate second release is its scant emphasis on sexuality. Despite the attention given to Ocean’s queerness after his groundbreaking... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5397

Creep of the Week

Donald Trump (Again)

At this point in the election, you hardly need me to point out that Donald Trump is a creep. He’s done so plenty of times himself. Not only that, but even people like Glenn Beck... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5351

Il Divo Serves Cheese & Chills

Water dripping slowly into a puddle. A horse.

A woman standing in a building. Close ups of each member of the band walking slowly.

Everything filmed in black and white. This was... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5354

Creep of the Week Brian Brown

They’re baaaaaaack. The National Organization for Marriage, that is. Though, they never really went anywhere. They were just stuck in place for awhile during the Obama administration.... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5401

The Frivolist

8 Things You Need to Do Now That the US Election is Over

It was the US election that would never end – until it did. Now that we’re free and clear of who’s our new president (which is still undecided as of press time, by the way), let’s... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5403

www.gaycalgary.com

Buying the Perfect Home for Your Needs

If you’re ready to take the plunge into homeownership, one of the first things you need to do is to determine your housing needs.

Buying a home without knowing what you need would... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5356

Bryan Adams Gives Red Deer a Night to Remember

There was an interesting energy in the Centrium in Red Deer on November 22nd. Despite having a moderately sized arena of their own, fans in the city typically have to drive to... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5357

Nick Carter Shines in Solo Spotlight

Nick Carter’s concert at Cowboys November 18th – part of his “All Canadian Tour” in support of album All American – was awesome. Which shouldn’t come as a surprise to... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5358

Wintersleep Wakes Up MacEwan Hall Ballroom

Wintersleep may be one of the hardest working Canadian bands today. Having just returned home from Europe the bands November 16th show at MacEwan Hall is the bands third Calgary...

the changes in technology: at one point we had more digital subscribers than some of the major local newspapers.

In 25 years, Men For Men/GayCalgary has done a lot. I tried to keep things in the bleeding edge technology area, and try things out before they became mainstream, all on a tight budget. How many companies rose and fell over the past 25 years that were in media or technology; how many merged with others or became a memory? The BBS ran on my Commodore Amiga 2000. It would be interesting to see how many of our current readers even know what that is today. For history’s sake, the machine is still in my possession.

During these 25 years, the gay community has changed a lot too. So many bars opened and closed their doors … and it is still changing. Community groups have rebranded; some favourites are gone and new ones emerge amid the increased amounts of gay friendly space. Cowboys Nightclub and Flames Central were places never before seen as gay venues – now they host large events and the staff and management have been great to deal with.

Gay Pride has grown to be bigger than I think anyone would have thought. Changes to gay rights have happened, like marriage equality and proper protection in our human rights code for the LGBTQ community.

I know I use the term we as I bring up the history of Men For Men/GayCalgary; people forget that it has mostly been I doing just about everything. I started all of this. I come up with most of the ideas. I do the tech research of where it needs to go to next and still do just about everything now. Just think of how many businesses, or non-profit groups in the LGBTQ community, still have the same person heading them after 25 years.

But I use the term we because numerous people have come along the way to help with the parts I could not do by myself.

Without Rob Diaz-Marino, there would be no way GayCalgary

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5359

Deep Inside Hollywood

‘American Gigolo,’ ‘Ocean’s Eight,’ trans cinema, Rosie O’Donnell American Gigolo is coming, eventually Back in 2014, before the world began falling apart in earnest, there were rumblings about a TV series based on the 1980 classic glamour-noir... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5410

This Little Light

Meet the playwright whose life story inspired this year’s acclaimed gaythemed hit “Moonlight”

“It was a lot,” Tarell Alvin McCraney says of his oddly coincidental evening recently, when the out playwright attended the premiere of Moonlight in Miami, where he grew... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5417

The Frivolist: 5 Things You Should Be Thankful For as a Modern LGBT Person

If you believe post-election social media, the world is going to hell in a deplorable hand basket. Our LGBT brothers and sisters are frightened for the rights they’ve fought for... http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5418

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GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

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 Early version of GayCalgary.com

or the magazine would be where it is today. Development of what the website is, layout and design, editing, graphics and so much more. We have known each other since 2001, including dating, for most of that. His decision to leave the magazine in 2014 was needed to give him time to work on his own projects, which he has been wanting to do for a long time.

He and Justin, his new boyfriend, still support me; they both know it is a lot of work, and Rob helps when I need it.

There have been so many contributors that I have lost count; others who have helped with programming parts of the website, the original GayCalgary logo, and pushing me forward. When I talk to other magazines, they see what has been accomplished and all assume I have a staff of at least 25 working in a large office. There are times that I wish that were the case, but our local gay economy could never really support that.

Back when the servers for Men For Men/GayCalgary were in the Rekroom, people did not know that as the party was happening outside the office doors, I was working away in the office. From the time the cleaning staff would come in to when the staff would leave, I was working on the different websites, sorting through photos, doing computer maintenance, testing out new tech, etc. I would pop out to the bar, order a drink, and then head back in. The only time I would really interact with people was when I was taking photos of events or video of the drag show.

Once the sever farm moved to my home, I could work on things a lot more easily without worrying about other people’s hours of operation. I would roll out of bed, work away on magazine stuff, and sleep again. Food and other things do happen, but most of my time is dealing with magazine stuff. I leave the house when needed, like to cover events, shopping, banking or just to get a break, which I do need every now and then.

Has it been easy to do what I do for the past 25 years?

GOD NO. With how many gay magazines have disappeared in Alberta during the last decades – some of them having ads for either Men For Men or GayCalgary – I am happy that I persevered. Without this, so many things would have been forgotten about or only discussed between friends on social media.

So, what is in store for the next 25 years? When I started I was 20. I am 44 now, and if I am 69 and still doing this, that would be scary. I am not planning on shutting things down, but the future of GayCalgary will change according to technology and demand.

Over the past several months, I have been working away on some back-end stuff. To help people find articles on specific topics, articles by specific contributors, or interviews we have 8

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

 GayCalgary.tv

done with their favourite celebrities, I have added keyword searches at the bottom of each article. All new articles are getting them, and I have gone back to the very first edition and started updating those to contain the same feature, and the same layout standards we use today.

Back to the contributors who have helped create the content: I will be setting up a special web page to highlight our current contributors with a link to the articles they have written. Contributors that are no longer writing for us will be listed, but not highlighted as the current ones will be. The new feature update will take time; there are close to 6,000 articles to update, but at least readers can use it right away on some.

Once I get through the first year or so of magazines, I will start to post them onto social media. I tried to do this before, but realized that I needed to bring things together so readers could continue reading the next article that we did on a specific bar or non-profit group. I also want to see what it was like when the magazine first started, and how much our community has changed.

I also need to ensure every edition is properly set up on ISSUU and Magzter. This way people can find all editions of GayCalgary and access it through those apps without needing to be going through the GayCalgary website, which should expand our readership further. It is also part of holding the magazine off site in a digital world. Unless you go to the Gay and Lesbian archives or a museum, you can’t easily access defunct publications and see what the gay community was like. By having it on ISSUU and Magzter, I am hoping those sites will last.

Other changes I’m working on will appear slowly.

Unfortunately, this gets me behind on other tasks, like getting current editions online in a timely manner. All articles and ads go online within a couple days of me receiving them plus, with the weekly email blasts, events listings, and social media postings, readers can remain in the loop without having a complete edition online.

We are still going strong with over 21,750+ digital subscribers; readers are still on the website an average of 20 minutes; there are over 300,000 readers per month; and, for the past five years, GayCalgary Magazine is the most popular LGBTQ+ magazine in Canada, according to Alexa.com. There might be bumps in the road, especially as the economy rebuilds, but the future looks good for us.

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5420 View Bonus Pics/Videos • Share with a Friend • Post Comments www.gaycalgary.com

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GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

9

GayCalgary Magazine’s Top 20 Most Read Articles in 2016

By Steve Polyak GayCalgary Magazine’s most read articles from 2016!

The list is created from the 5,600 articles we have online that have accumulated since the start of the magazine in November 2003. Check out the top articles of 2015 at http://www.gaycalgary.com/a4965.

Which articles are your favourites? Any articles you think should have been included in the list? Let us know in the comments section in the online article.

1. Whole Lesbian Sex: What Do Butches Want? http://www.gaycalgary.com/a178 2. Lesbian Sex Positions: More than just lesbian sex http://www.gaycalgary.com/a4172

11. Blue Rodeo Continues The Ride: Canadian Band Playing 30 Years of Music on Tour http://www.gaycalgary.com/a4966 12. Deep Inside Hollywood: Paul Rudd, Guy Pearce, James Franco, ‘I Love Dick’ http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5052 13. This Light of Ours: Actress Judith Light talks longtime LGBT advocacy, Transparent and how she ‘wanted to be like the gay community’ http://www.gaycalgary.com/a4946 14. The Orchestration of Rufus Wainwright: Singer-Songwriter Plays 2 Special Alberta Concerts http://www.gaycalgary.com/a4964

3. VIDEO INTERVIEW - Kris Holden-Ried: Hungry like the Wolf

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3701

15. VIDEO INTERVIEW - What the Frack? Tahmoh Penikett and Aaron Douglas http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1676

4. A Conversation with Henry Rollins http://www.gaycalgary.com/a575

16. A Couple of Guys: Getup and Go http://www.gaycalgary.com/a4988

5. NSFW: Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? An interview with “Best Top” Austin Wolf http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3741

17. NSFW – Solosexual: Portrait of a Masturbator: Exploring Bateworld.com and the book about being Solosexual http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5073

6. Patrick Masse: The out country singer talks country music http://www.gaycalgary.com/a4952

18. VIDEO - Ian Parks: Skyping with “Hot Toddy” from Where the Bears Are http://www.gaycalgary.com/a4069

7. Lucas Silveira’s Stairway to Heaven: Defying labels and loving Prides. http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5013 8. NSFW VIDEO - Billy Santoro, Fast Porn Nation: One Million Served? http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5068 9. VIDEO - Charlie Harding & Scotty Rage Interview http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5227

19. Mr. Jackson If You’re Nasty: Cheyenne Jackson on Botox, his ‘bi phase’ & getting his butt grabbed by Lady Gaga http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5032 20. Man at Work: Tyler Saint talks leaving the work at work http://www.gaycalgary.com/a3671

10. Whistler Pride 2016 http://www.gaycalgary.com/a4957

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5406 View Bonus Pics/Videos • Share with a Friend • Post Comments 10

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

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Interview

 At PurePride Calgary

DJ Matt Effect

On Love, Life, and his First Time...In Calgary

By Ivy Miller DJ and producer Matt Effect joins GC’s Steve Polyak for Matt’s first time in town, and they immediately jump into how anal Calgary is… about cleaning. Matt would know, having been to a variety of cities and countries. In fact, he’s moved from Australia to San Diego where he lives now with his new husband.

Matt and Steve cover other differences between countries, namely: gay rights. While some countries are picky about who to give rights to, Matt isn’t picky about what events he’ll do. “I guess I just kind of like to have fun, more than anything,” he says.

There is a huge network of people in the gay community making it easy for Matt to promote his business, especially through social media. At the same time, it’s easy to miss people in the masses. He and his husband shared mutual friends for years before they met.

Speaking of which, Steve points out, “…when you actually said his name, you actually had this nice smirk on your face.

It was adorable!”

Matt’s quick to say how lucky he is, not only for having the opportunity to marry, but for having found the right person to marry. When asked whether his husband travels with him much, Matt responds, “he go-go dances.” Possibly a hint for next year?

Matt and Steve further discuss Calgary. “Everybody’s fun and nice and, just approachable,” he says. “Even the hotel staff – and they don’t have to be!”

Hotel staff turn out to be a good indicator of a city’s friendliness. Unfortunately, some are terrible at acceptance.

This leads to a heartfelt monologue from Matt. “I think that’s

www.gaycalgary.com

what a lot of people don’t understand: what equality really means. They think it’s just getting married, but it’s the social acceptance, and people realising we are humans.”

He points out that while there’s still a ways to go to achieve equality for gay people, there’s even more for trans people to overcome.

Finally, Matt thanks his fans for all the support and words of encouragement. “I’m very fortunate that I get to do something I love and meet some amazing people along the way.”

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5421 View Bonus Pics/Videos • Share with a Friend • Post Comments

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

11

Touched By An Angel

Emeli Sandé talks first album in five years, empathetic gay fans and her musical savior Mariah Carey

By Chris Azzopardi Hello, it’s… Emeli Sandé, this generation’s only performer able to rival Adele as a powerhouse, tear-jerking force of nature.

The Scottish vocalist (born, funny enough, Adele Emily Sandé) is back for your pillow-sopping nights with her much-anticipated Long Live the Angels, a rumination on new versions of events, particularly the dissolving of a decade-long relationship that ended in divorce in 2014.

Among the best albums of 2016, Sandé’s triumphant catharsis pushes through the pain with spirited, choir-lifted credos of faith and love-led empowerment.

In this revealing interview with Sandé, the 29-year-old opened up about the gay fans who helped her realize she needed a break, discovering President Obama’s daughters listen to her music and how Mariah Carey helped her feel less alone.

GC: It’s been nearly five years since you released your debut, Our Version of Events. Why the wait?

ES: I was just going through such a personal and spiritual growth.

I mean, we spent so long promoting Our Version of Events, and it was amazing, touring, but I found it almost impossible to get back to ground zero and write music. I needed a timeout. I also was going through stuff myself that I needed to understand before I could put it in music and feel steady enough to go out there and give it to other people. So, it was a combination of both. I feel like for two years I just needed that time to dedicate to making this music.

GC: How would you describe the process of writing these songs while going through something as difficult as your divorce?

ES: I was always writing; this kind of feels like real diary entries.

With every song, it was almost like I was sponging up my life. I find it a lot easier to express emotions through music, so I was acting like I was fine, but the music was all telling the truth in what I was feeling internally. It was all kind of me writing my emotions as I felt them, or if I’d do sessions, whatever I was going through at that time in my life, it just kind of came out.

GC: Do you get emotional singing these deeply personal songs?

ES: Not really. I feel quite empowered when I sing them just because

it gives me an honesty on stage. Obviously, I hope they’re entertaining and they make people feel great, but it was really my truth. So, when I’m on stage it feels like I’m connecting with the audience and just kind of sharing myself fully. So, seriously enough, I kind of feel quite strong when I sing them. I feel liberated to tell the truth on stage.

GC: Tell me how your connection with your gay fans has evolved since releasing your debut album.

ES: During every show, I can feel my gay fans out there, and there’s a real kind of depth and understanding. I remember I was doing a show at KOKO in London, and it was around the time everything was going so fast, and I got a couple of notes from fans. A gay couple wrote, “Are you OK? If you want to come hang out with us, you can come on holiday with us.” I just thought it was so nice that they recognized – I must’ve been exhausted at that point, and I think they could see that. I really appreciated that letter from them. And I just appreciated all the different stories. I just love that I can also empower them through the music.

GC: Did you end up going on vacation with this gay couple?

ES: (Laughs) I didn’t end up going on holiday. But I just thought it was

 photos by Capitol Records

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such a sweet offer, and it showed there was a real level of understanding and empathy. I never even got a chance to thank them, but it meant the world to me. I just kept going at the time. But it was really empowering to be like, “Actually, maybe I do need to take time off if it’s that obvious to the audience.”

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GC: What kinds of stories do gay fans share with you?

ES: When I was in Washington, there was a guy – a big fan – and he

was just saying how much he loved “Read All About It,” and Our Version of Events helped him through coming out. He was there with his mom, and it just felt so amazing. And, recently, I’ve had a few gay fans talking about how (that album) empowered them to express their love to one another, how everything I had written gave them those words as they were getting married. I love stories of love. It really keeps me going and encourages me to write songs about that.

GC: How do your outsider feelings, which you’ve acknowledged you felt as someone growing up biracial, play into the music you write?

ES: I feel like that’s why I give music 100 percent of myself, because it’s always been this confidante in my life where I’ve found my own identity. Growing up feeling pretty different in Scotland, I started to identify with soul music and black music, and that’s the reason why I’ve always put everything into my music. It’s never been something that I wanted to be too shiny. Like, I’ve never faked it. Having that kind of release and anchor in my life, it’s always just made me want to be 100 percent honest in what I’m doing, so hopefully that speaks through the music.

I remember how alone I felt and what comfort music was to me, and that was only through artists who were telling the truth and being so real. So, that’s how I wanted my career to be. Even if things are difficult to speak about or process, it’s important to me to keep doing it as is, so if people are like me when I was younger, they have someone who is telling the truth and making them feel not so alone.

GC: For me, Mariah Carey’s Butterfly album made me feel that way.

I identified with a song on that album, “Outside.” For you, what was – ES: (Laughs) Me too! Oh my god, I love that album, equally. It’s so funny you mention that song, too, because it was one of my favorites.

When she speaks in interviews about how she felt being mixed race and how certain songs were based on that – and even though this was someone I’d never met, and we were on different ends of the world – I felt comforted by that.

GC: Have you been able to share that with Mariah?

ES: I have never been able to speak to her about the music, but I

met her a couple of times. I met her on American Idol once and she said, “You’re the girl who’s writing all those songs!” and I’m like, “Oh my god, Mariah Carey knows that I write songs!” (Laughs) I was completely starstruck. And I remember “Hero.” I remember that song she did on the Rainbow album, “Can’t Take That Away.” I would love one day to meet her properly and tell her how much her music influenced me.

GC: Do you call yourself a “lamb” like the rest of her hardcore fans?

ES: I didn’t even know that’s what we were called, but yeah!

GC: I’m envisioning a collaboration.

ES: That would be a dream.

GC: How would you compare Our Version of Events to this new album?

ES: This album is a lot more personal and specifically about things

that I’ve experienced. I wanted to make a conscious effort to be that honest, because it was such deep emotions for me that I didn’t want them to be generic. I wanted to get straight to the point. So, it’s a lot deeper, a lot more grown up. This is me stepping into womanhood, like a crash course in life bottled in an album.

GC: Which song did you write at your rawest moment?

ES: “Shakes.” The weird thing is, I didn’t feel like it was me channeling

this emotion into this song, but when I listen to it now, I was almost predicting the future. “Shakes” was pretty deep. But “Sweet Architect” is probably the rawest moment on the album, where I just – beyond relationships, beyond the music industry – this was my direct prayer to God. That’s probably the rawest and deepest moment on the album.

GC: Which song in particular do you think might resonate with your LGBT fans?

ES: I love “Babe.” “Babe” is the last song on the album, and I feel liberated when I sing that song. It’s all about letting love be love and letting go of any kind of fear. So, for the gay community and the rest of the community, I just feel like allowing yourself to love and feel and take care of someone and be good to someone else – I hope that one resonates.

GC: On the heels of World AIDS Day, tell me why it’s important to you to be a part of Elton John’s AIDS Foundation.

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ES: It’s just so important to me, especially when you’re looking at Africa. My father is from Zambia, and you just see it’s affected the country and a lot of communities. If there’s more research and awareness about it, so much suffering wouldn’t have to happen. So, I’m really proud to be a part of Elton John’s foundation and spread awareness about it. It’s so important because a lot of things are preventable, especially what’s happening in Africa.

GC: In 2013, you performed in front of President Obama and the First Lady. How many Xanax did you need to take beforehand?

ES: Just a couple of glasses of wine! (Laughs) I remember stepping into the White House with all the security you have to go through to get there and walking through the corridors, and we got a little tour before.

And meeting them – they’re so tall. That was the big thing. I’m like, “Wow, you guys are superhuman.”

They were talking about the music, and he was such a rock star. He was just so chilled out, and he made us feel relaxed and charged up. He had a chat with all the performers: “OK, let’s put on a show!” He made us feel like we were a part of some football team. He’s a true leader.

GC: Does Obama have a favorite Emeli Sandé song?

ES: He just said, “I think my daughters know your music!” And I

was like, “Wow. My music might be getting played in the White House!”

(Laughs)

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GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

15

Finding Nathan Sykes

Boy bander on self-discovery, gay rumors and his sometimes-‘bromosexual’ relationship with Tom Daley

 photos by Global/Def Jam Recordings

By Chris Azzopardi Since serenading queer crowds at gay clubs as a teenager, Nathan Sykes has been the subject of prurient curiosity regarding his own sexuality. He’s British, so there’s that. And the whole boy band thing, which began in 2009, when Sykes joined Eurodance group The Wanted, didn’t exactly disband “is he or isn’t he?” rumors.

Now, with his solo debut Unfinished Business out in the midst of a band hiatus, the giggly 23-year-old opens up about ongoing interest in his sexuality (“I didn’t know I was gay, but OK!”), his sometimes“bromosexual” relationship with Tom Daley and being “really drunk” at a gay club at 4 a.m.

GC: You’re 23, but you sound like you’re 30, and that’s a compliment.

NS: Thank you so much. That’s a marvelous compliment. It’s been

part of this journey of self-discovery as an artist, which has been incredible.

GC: What does your journey to self-discovery involve?

NS: Just really figuring out for the first time who I am. I knew who

Nathan from The Wanted was, and I lived my life for five years as Nathan from The Wanted. I’d be walking down the street (and people would say), “Oh my god, that’s Nathan from The Wanted!” (Laughs) Then, for the first time, I sat there, especially after the band decided to take a break, and I went, “Who the hell is Nathan Sykes?” And it was for me to figure out who that was, and it was an amazing journey of figuring out who I am as an artist, what music I wanted to create, how I want to be portrayed, how I want to look, how I’d like to come across. And then I was like, “Just be yourself,” and even that was a breakthrough moment. Because when

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you’re working so hard with four other people, it’s amazing for the first time to focus on being myself.

GC: In so many words, you recently said that after you turned 21, gay men have been less subtle with their thirst for you.

NS: (Laughs) I didn’t mean that in an arrogant way. That’s not a thing at all. I mean, I wish people had thirst for me! That would be amazing.

It’s just a massive compliment. I can go out with my friends and have an amazing time, whether that’s at a straight or gay club. We always have an amazing time when I’m with people who are gay, who are just so amazing and so flirty as well, which is fun. So, what I was trying to say is that people don’t see me as a baby anymore; they don’t necessarily see me as the youngest member of a boy band. People are seeing me as an adult now for the first time, which is cool.

GC: What’s been your best night at a gay club?

NS: (Laughs) There’s been quite a few really, really amazing ones.

I think just ending up in G-A-Y in London, drunk at 4 o’clock in the morning, because I’ve got loads of friends who are gay. It’s just fun and nice, and everyone is up for a good time and fun to be around. It doesn’t matter to me what the company is, whether you’re straight or gay, as long as everyone is happy and in a good place and having a good time. I draw off people’s energy, so as long as people are having a good time, I’ll have a good time as well.

GC: How do you handle a gay man who makes a pass at you?

NS: I mean, it’s a compliment for anyone to make a pass at you. I

think people always say it as a passing comment, and it’s the same as if anyone flirts with you: You take it as a compliment and you’re very nice back.

GC: When were you first aware that gay fans had an appreciation for you?

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NS: I don’t think ever. I still wouldn’t think that, because I never think that anyone would have an appreciation for me because I always go about my life just being me, so I wouldn’t really expect or acknowledge people having an appreciation. But when they do in person, that’s amazing. And when I see gay fans, it really is amazing. I make music for everyone, whether you’re straight, gay or any member of the LGBT community. Anybody who is a fan of me and likes my music, I’m always very grateful for them.

GC: What was your introduction to the gay community?

NS: You know what, I’ve been fortunate to have had a fantastic and

open-minded upbringing, so I’ll always be grateful for that. I started performing at a very young age, and even from the age of 6, when I’d be performing and ended up on TV shows, I’d be around gay people.

So, I’ve always been surrounded by gay people. When I went to Sylvia Young Theatre School in London – obviously being at theater school, I was around people who were gay. They’ve always been part of my life.

GC: As a boy band member, how often did you get pegged as the gay

one?

NS: When you’re in a boy band, there’s always speculation that you’re gay. I think at one point there was speculation that all of us were gay – probably in relationships with each other!

GC: It did not help matters that your bandmate Jay McGuiness said in 2013 that “most of us would have a dabble” with a guy.

NS: (Laughs) That is a very Jay comment. Obviously, people thought (we were gay) straightaway when we started off as a band. We started playing club shows and school gigs; we really started from the ground up. We’d be doing two schools a day and then probably two clubs in the evening, probably one straight club and one gay club, then potentially another one later. So, we were always very much aware of our gay fan base and the gay community, and had a lot of respect for any fan who came to see us because we obviously started out without any fans at all. Any fan we could get – I mean, we started off with more members in the band than we did fans! (Laughs) To build on that and have great success and sell something like 11 million records as a band is just a humongous compliment. And to have support from a fantastic gay fan base was obviously a massive part of that, so we’ll be forever grateful for all the support that we had as a band.

GC: Ariana Grande, your collaborator on “Over and Over Again,” is a very vocal supporter of LGBT issues. She once called homophobes “dumb as fuck.”

NS: I mean, I completely agree. I think as equal members of the community, everyone should be seen as an equal and there should be a lot of support. And also, I think education is important to bring awareness at a younger age because that’s when people are discovering who they are, and there needs to be the support there from friends, teachers and the community. Anything that can be done to help any issues in the LGBT community is incredible, and it’s one that I feel strongly about and that I think is massively important.

I’m someone who really prides himself on being close with my fans. I’ve grown up with a lot of them, and I’ve seen people go on their own journey of self-discovery. There was a fan the other day who turned up to a gig and introduced me to her girlfriend, and it was just the most amazing moment because I’ve seen this very quiet girl go through this journey and come out a wonderful, confident human being. And to introduce me to her girlfriend, which you could tell she was a tiny bit nervous about, it really was an incredible moment. It really got me, and I was like, “I’m just so proud of how confident and how comfortable you are.”

GC: What did you make of people thinking you were the gay exboyfriend Ariana was referring to during her song “Break Your Heart Right Back”?

NS: That was news to me! I’m not gonna lie. I woke up with a lot of messages on Twitter congratulating me, which I was quite confused about. Then, when I looked into it, I was very confused because it was news to me. I was like, “I didn’t know I was gay, but OK!” I think it was a misunderstanding that she later went back and (acknowledged).

GC: Are you familiar with the term “bromosexual”?

NS: I’m not, no.

GC: It’s basically a straight guy who has gay friends. Would you say

you have a bromosexual relationship with Tom Daley?

NS: You know what, I think I have a bromosexual relationship with quite a few gay men, but I’m not sure Tom is one of them. Tom is a

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lovely, lovely lad. I haven’t seen him in a while. Every now and then we cross paths, so I think when we do cross each other we probably have a bromosexual relationship. That’s gonna be a word I’m gonna be wrapping my head around. I’m out for a friend’s birthday tonight who’s gay and that’s definitely going to be a topic of conversation. I’m going to be like, “I learned a new word today and I need to share it with you.” So, thank you very much.

GC: You’ve expressed interest in recording music with your friend, Sam Smith. What’s the latest on that venture?

NS: Nothing further, really. Whenever I see Sam, it’s as a friend. He’s one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. He really is just the sweetest person, so whenever we do see each other, it’s as friends and not as potential collaborators. As a massive fan of Sam’s, I’d love to collaborate with him. He’s phenomenal in so many ways, so it’d be an honor, but it’s not something we’ve both spoken about. I think it could be really cool!

GC: Lastly, I want to acknowledge your shirtlessness in videos for “Give It Up” and “Over and Over Again.”

NS: Yeah, sorry about that. I do apologize.

GC: Was it just really warm on set?

NS: It was really, really warm. During “Give it Up,” it got so hot I

had to get in the shower just to get away any sweat. You know, you do get very nervous and quite self-conscious because you have quite a few people (there). My manager is never going to forgive me for saying this, but at one point I had two pairs of boxers over each other for the “Give it Up” video. I walked into the room and went, “Should I wear these boxers?” and then I took them down and went, “... or these boxers?”

Of course, she had the fright of her life because she thought I was just taking them off completely, but yeah, I mean, you do get quite nervous and like, “Should I contour my abs?” But in the end, I was like, it’s natural and everyone has different bodies and everyone’s body should be celebrated. People shouldn’t feel pressured into looking a certain way, so I was like, I’m not going to try to contour my abs into something they’re not, because if people see them in real life, they will be disappointed.

(Laughs) I am who I am who, and I’m just gonna be that way.

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17

January, Snow, Alaska

Interview with “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 2” winner, Alaska  photo by Garrett-Matthew

By Brandon Shultz With the holidays over and nothing but wintry weather on hand for months, it’s the perfect season for a visit from the reigning queen of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, Alaska. Later this month, Alaska brings her icy glamour to Edmonton, so we sat down with her after a recent Christmas show in New York City to discuss her crown, putting brands out of business, and the best way for fans to reach her.

Gay Calgary: You just wrapped up another season of your hilarious Christmas show, and lots of other queens did, too.

Why is Christmas such a goldmine for drag queen?

Alaska: Commercialism. Capitalism. Drag goes so hand in hand with consumerism because we’re poster children for excess. We’ve got jewels and everything you can think of glued onto our eyes, our fingers, everywhere. We look like Christmas— we’re always donning our gay apparel. Everybody’s spending money at Christmastime and if they want to spend it on drag queens, drag queens will be there to take it.

GC: Speaking of donning apparel, American Apparel signed you as a rep this fall. Do you have big modeling plans for Alaska’s future?

A: Well immediately After American Apparel asked me, Courtney Act, and Willem to be spokesmodels, they filed for 18

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

bankruptcy. I’m hoping that the two are not related. And I hope that other companies will see that drag queens are marketing machines. We’re built-in marketing monsters so other companies should catch on. I would love to see the Sears Girls.

The Payless Girls. I would love to be a K-Mart girl, so K-mart, if you’re reading, call me.

GC: It’s true that drag queens never stop promoting, and probably interact with individual fans more than most entertainers. Do you spend a lot of time replying to fans on social media?

A: Not as much as I used to. I like Twitter a lot because it’s a direct line with kids who are fans and fanatical about Drag Race and about Alaska, so those are the people that I’m writing these albums for and I really love Twitter for that. That’s the best way to contact me—tweet at me.

GC: You’re obviously busier than ever coming off your All Stars win. I think it was fairly obvious to most that you it was your crown to lose from day one. Did you have any sense of that, too?

A: I wish I knew from the beginning. It would have been less scary and a lot easier. I felt like a lot of people were watching with the idea that I was going to win, but that also meant there was more pressure on me and the judges were looking a little harder at me because of that. But there’s no guarantees! I was putting a lot of pressure on myself, and that’s not healthy to do www.gaycalgary.com

 photo by Austin-Young

in any scenario. I wish I would have just smoked a joint and chilled out, and eased into a little more and had fun doing it, but that’s where I was at in my life then. I was really serious about it and I really fucking wanted to win. I was taking it seriously. And, I mean, I guess I won, so…

GC: You also won Snatch Game this season. Why did you choose Mae West?

A: I vaguely knew All Stars was coming awhile back so I started thinking of different things. I was thinking of Blanche Devereaux, but she’s a fictional character and they’re not allowed, and Rue McClanahan wouldn’t really translate. So basically Mae West is Blanche Devereaux with a different accent. Always mind in the gutter, always sex. Sex everything.

GC: It’s a little risky because if a lot of the younger Drag Race audience doesn’t even know who Mae West is anymore. On the other hand Jinkx Monsoon picked Little Edie and also won.

Maybe it doesn’t matter.

A: If you’re out there trying to pick a Snatch Game character for Drag Race, there’s really only one person who has to know who the fuck it is and like it, and that’s RuPaul. And you. You have to know it inside and out, and live and breathe it. But only Ru’s opinion counts.

GC: You famously applied for Drag Race many times. Would you have won if you got on Drag Race the first time you applied?

A: No I would not have. The first time they brought me in for an interview they sat me in a tiny little room in front of a camera and I froze. I didn’t know how to just relax on camera and speak like I’m speaking to my friend, and that’s a huge thing. I see it happen with a lot of girls. They’re so stunning on stage, so gorgeous, fierce, and amazing, but then when they camera’s on they’re a different person. They’re trying to be what they think they’re supposed to be. Learning to relax into yourself and not really give a fuck about it is a really important key.

GC: That reminds me of Bro’laska, which I only recently discovered and binge watched. You and your brother are so relaxed together, even though you’re talking about all sorts of insane shit. How did that show come about?

A: The people at World of Wonder were like, so we have this idea where you and brother just sit and talk about topics and I was like “that is the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. No one’s ever going to watch that. It’s stupid. But sure. Fine.” So we did it.

It really came from doing “Be$ties for Ca$h,” where you sit with your bestie and answer questions about each other for cash. They did one called “Bro$ for Ca$h” with me and my brother and we had chemistry and they just thought it was fun so we started doing our show. And now I really like watching it, my mom likes watching it, my grandmother likes it… it’s fun for the whole family! It’s been a year or two now and I love it. www.gaycalgary.com

 photo by Magnus-Hastings

GC: What else do you want to do? What are Alaska’s goals?

A: Um. [Long pause.] You can put “long pause” there.

I like getting to be an artist and in the next year I want do projects that I’m really excited about. And I’m really secretive so I’m not gonna tell you what they are!

GC: Give me a general field, a genre, something!

A: Definitely music because I love doing music and it’s just fun. And, um . . . and other things, too!

GC: And what about for you not as Alaska?

A: I need to schedule time off from Alaska. For non-Alaska, I would like for him to have a day or a week off. I haven’t seen that in awhile and that’s challenging. Of course I’m really grateful that I get to work, but it’s also like, okay, I need to take a minute and grow a beard for a few days.

GC: You’re performing at Evolution Wonderlounge in late January. Any last words for your Alberta fans until you see them there?

A: I would like to say that my new album Poundcake is available on iTunes, and that anusthing is possible.

Alaska Performing at Evolution, Edmonton January 21st, 2017 http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5407 View Bonus Pics/Videos • Share with a Friend • Post Comments GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

19

Lifestyle

Positive Thoughts A sense of community

By Jeff Berry Community is a word I often hear bandied about at various HIV meetings, conferences and gatherings, but it’s sometimes a loaded word that often means different things to different people, and its definition depends on the setting or context in which it’s used. Community can be based on geography, such as the actual community of Hollywood, Florida, or it can be used to describe those who share a common history, or social, economic and political interests. Then there is the psychological sense of community, defined as “a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together.”

All of our various communities are in flux right now with an overall general increase in awareness of social injustices that exist in our society, and the realization that positive change needs to occur. Some communities have recently come under attack, both literally and figuratively, in the midst of a very divisive political climate. A direct attack on our brothers and sisters at Pulse nightclub in Orlando was devastating, and touched all of us deeply, and is beyond the realm of understanding. But even in the darkest moments, hope rises up, as seen with the lines of people that grew to be blocks long, waiting to donate blood; the makeshift memorials of flowers and candles that instantly began popping up; the tales of grace and heartbreak that emerged from those who survived. And the faces and stories behind the 49 members of our community who we lost but are not, and will never be, forgotten.

When recently summoned for jury duty at the Circuit Court of Cook County in Chicago, I spent a day with 41 other individuals while being questioned by the judge and lawyers for the plaintiff and defendants in a civil suit. I really didn’t want to be selected because I would have had to cancel a vacation I had been planning for months, but as the day wore on I was fascinated by the process of jury selection, and quite impressed by the knowledge and wisdom of the judge overseeing the case.

He kept stressing to all of us in the room how we are the only country in the world in which civil cases are left to 12 members of a community to decide, after weighing all of the facts. He used the word “community” several times throughout the day, and after being in the same room all day with the other prospective jurors, all of us sharing personal details about our lives, education and work history, I felt a strong sense of community.

Yes, we were all very diverse and had different backgrounds, but we were coming together to work toward a common cause, one that I believe benefits us all.

In July I was extremely fortunate to be able to attend the International AIDS Conference in Durban. Shortly after my arrival I was invited by Barb Cardell of Positive Women’s Network-USA to participate in a demonstration against HIV criminalization during Tuesday’s opening plenary. We arrived at the convention center early that morning in order to get seats toward the front of the room, a strategic move, I was told, when one is planning a demonstration. I had my chant memorized and my Stop HIV Criminalization T-shirt ready to go, so I felt prepared. Edwin Cameron, the final speaker, stepped up to the podium to give the Jonathan Mann lecture. (Mann was a prominent HIV researcher and activist who pioneered the idea of a link between human health and human rights, and died at age 51, with his wife, in a plane crash in 1998.) Cameron, a judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa, who is well known for his activism on AIDS and gay rights, is a tall, lanky www.gaycalgary.com

man with a soft-spoken demeanor, and an eloquent speaker who is living with HIV. As he began talking, the auditorium fell into a hush.

“At the start of a very busy conference, with many stresses and demands and anguishes, I want to start by asking us to pause quietly for just a few moments. It has been 35 years since the Western world was alerted to AIDS. The first cases of a baffling new, terrifying, unknown syndrome were first reported in the northern summer of 1981...

“These last 35 years since then have been long. For many of us, it has been an arduous and exhausting and often dismaying journey.”

My eyes started tearing up.

“Since this first report, 35 million people have died of AIDS illnesses – in 2015 alone, 1.1 million people. “We have felt the burden of this terrible disease in our bodies, on our minds, on our friends and colleagues, on our loved ones and our communities.

“AIDS exposes us in all our terrible human vulnerability. It brings to the fore our fears and prejudices. It takes its toll on our bodily organs and our muscles and our flesh. It has exacted its terrible toll on our young people and parents and brothers and sisters and neighbors.”

Then I began to cry.

“So let us pause, first, in remembrance of those who have died: those for whom treatment didn’t come in time; those for whom treatment wasn’t available, or accessible; those denied treatment by our own failings as planners and thinkers and doers and leaders; those whom the internal nightmare of shame and stigma put beyond reach of intervention and help.

“These years have demanded of us a long and anguished and grief-stricken journey. “But it has also been a journey of light—a journey of technological, scientific, organizational, and activist triumph.”

By then I was sobbing, uncontrollably, almost to the point of wailing out loud. It took all I could at that moment to suppress my emotions that came bubbling up to the surface from almost 30 years of living with HIV, and nearly a quarter of a century working in the field. It was as though someone finally gave me the permission to feel all that sadness, shame, neglect and anguish. It was OK, and I was going to be OK. Cameron went on to highlight the stunning achievements made by doctors, researchers, but most of all the advocates, to whom many of us with HIV owe our lives. I felt a true sense of community in that moment, and the sense that great things can be achieved when we all come together to achieve a common cause. So the next time you hear the word “community,” think about how wonderful and amazing communities are, and the potential they have and what they can truly accomplish.

Changing the world can seem daunting, next to impossible. But true change in our community starts with us, one person at a time. We only have to take the time to reach out, take our neighbors by the hand, and lift each other up.

Jeff Berry is the editor in chief of Positively Aware magazine, and Director of Publications at Test Positive Aware Network in Chicago. Find him on Twitter @PAEditor. This column is a project of Plus, Positively Aware, POZ, The Body and Q Syndicate, the LGBT wire service. Visit their websites -http://hivplusmag.com, http://positivelyaware.com, http://poz.com and http://thebody.com – for the latest updates on HIV/AIDS.

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Gossip Gadot perhaps singlehandedly redeeming DC’s superhero movie output. Isn’t it always up to the lesbians to make sure this stuff gets done right?

The mystery of Stephen Fry’s the Hippopotamus Though he’s currently starring on the CBS sitcom The Great Indoors, comic veteran Stephen Fry doesn’t allow himself the luxury of laziness in between acting gigs – he writes books. Good news for all of us, then, that one of them is in the process of a big screen adaptation. The Hippopotamus, from director John Jencks (The Fold), currently in postproduction, stars British character actor Roger Allam (The Lady In The Van) as the title’s hippo, a poet on a downward spiral who also happens to love long soaks in the tub. Out of work, he moves to a friend’s country home and encounters a variety of apparent miracles (or at least unexplained events) and presumably gets to the bottom of them. Joining Allam is Looking’s Russell Tovey, Fiona Shaw (Harry Potter’s Aunt Petunia Dursley), and Matthew Modine. Expect eccentric British country manor goings on and generous amounts of Fry’s wit in between lazy bathtimes.

Margaret Cho knows Alaska Is A Drag

 Luke Evans, photo by Starfrenzy

Deep Inside Hollywood Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Margaret Cho, ‘Finding Prince Charming’

By Romeo San Vicente Luke Evans stars in Professor Marston & The Wonder Women Here’s one you might have missed: the story of a man named William Marston, a Harvard psychologist who helped invent the lie detector test. He also created a woman – Wonder Woman, to be exact. Perhaps more unusually, he was married to psychologist Elizabeth Marston, and the two of them were involved in a polyamorous relationship with academic Olive Byrne, whose early feminism informed Wonder Woman’s character. When Marston died in 1947, the women remained a couple and raised the trio’s children.

Now, let’s say it together: This should be a movie! And thanks to writer-director Angela Robinson (D.E.B.S., The L Word) it will be. Starring Luke Evans as the professor, Rebecca Hall (Christine) as Elizabeth and Bella Heathcote (The Neon Demon) as Olive, Professor Marston & The Wonder Women will land in theaters sometime in 2017, hot on the heels of Gal 22

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

Until now the words “drag” and “Alaska” have conjured only one image, that of RuPaul’s Drag Race super-queen Alaska Thunderfuck 5000. Well, she’ll have to move over a little to accommodate the new movie, Alaska Is a Drag, from lesbian filmmaker Shaz Bennett. Based on her own short film, it’s the story of a young black gay man from Alaska named Leo (newcomer Martin L. Washington Jr.) who dreams of drag stardom, but whose reality is a job in a fish cannery.

This won’t do at all, of course, and thus begins our hero’s journey to Charisma, Uniqueness, etcetera. The indie film co-stars Jason Scott Lee (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story), Nia Peeples (Pretty Little Liars), and comedy diva Margaret Cho, who knows all about it thanks to having spent time in the judge’s chair on Drag Race. Wishing the movie luck and hoping it all turns out sickening.

Oh good, Finding Prince Charming has been renewed And now here’s something that will make you cheer or jeer, maybe a little of both: Finding Prince Charming has been renewed for a second season. Logo’s reality dating competition, a gay version of The Bachelor hosted by Lance Bass and featuring contestants who make you shout rude comments at the TV (don’t lie, girl, you know you hate-watch this thing just like we do), was a runaway hit and the bestworst thing on that channel since The A-List: New York. So the good people at that network are ramping up the unreality for a second season. We assume that nothing will change and we hope nothing does, because we love the tacky “fancy” house they all live in, we love watching large platters of food go uneaten, we love the fights, and we especially love the weird quasi-spiritual talk about “positive energy” that potential suitors blabber on and on about instead of having personalities. It’s all delicious, and we absolutely want more.

Thank you, Logo; make it soon, please, because our bodies are ready.

Romeo San Vicente is his own Prince Charming.

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Interview

 photos by GayCalgary

Casey Everett It’s Fun & Hard

By Keith Johnson At Evolution Wonderlounge in Edmonton Steve Polyak found some time to catch up with relative porn star newcomer Casey Everett. Since embarking on the scene in 2014 Case Everett has been kept extremely busy (his sweet backside paying off) and it appears there is no slowing down any time soon! He likes his backside used and appears as though it is no effort at all even though he repeatedly states “it is really hard work, fun but hard”. He certainly is making a great many hard as he discuss his career, his personal life and his love of pool parties!

The Las Vegas, Nevada resident has recently signed with DominicPacifico.com and reminds viewers that his dog tags were earned the old fashioned way. Recently exiting the military he had few career prospects so he thought he would give porn a try. And try he does! He points out how difficult his first scene was but with the right partner almost anything can be accomplished. “It’s easy and a good way to make money” he giggles nervously. Quick to point out that it is not easy for everyone. “Remember to keep breathing and you are sure to burn at least 200 calories per scene” he says.

Appearing at Whistler Pride in 2017 will be his first time on a ski hill. Unfortunately Casey Everett does not escort. “I tried escorting but it just doesn’t work for me”, he proclaims. Instead he will spend the year developing new content, making club appearances, and spending time joking around on set. “The gay for pay boys often make that a bit difficult”, he reminds Steve. But as long as everyone has their favorite porn queued up on their cell phone (gay, straight or bi) then the parties on.

Casey thanks his fans for their love and support in this brief but candid interview with the rising star.

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Review

Philips Smoke-less Indoor Grill

How to BBQ indoors and eat healthy

By Steve Polyak GayCalgary had a chance to review a new kitchen appliance from Philips: the Philips Smoke-less Indoor Grill. I was really excited to hear that we were getting something that would allow me to do BBQs inside the house. We don’t own a propane BBQ, but do own a George Forman Outdoor Grill, so having something that I could use indoors makes things easier when the weather sucks and involves less set up time.

There are two different ways the product is packaged: one with the non-stick grill and wire grill; and one without the wire grill, the difference being the wire grill accessory is designed for delicate foods like fish, seafood and vegetables.

The package we got came with both so we could see the difference.

When I took the grill out of the box, I realized that the unit is larger than I thought it would be. It looks a good size, but the bulk of the space is below the grill tray. The grill cooks from under the food, but the element heating the food is located along the inside of the grill base, and mirrors help project heat up to the food. The element is protected under glass so food cannot make contact to it directly. Think of placing a toaster oven on its back and a grill on the opening, and you get something similar, but don’t do it for tons of safety reasons. Directly on the bottom of the grill base is the easily removable and dishwasher safe fat/drip tray.

The package comes with a basic quick-read manual, which offers tips on use, cleaning and safety. It also comes with a cook-book. There are some recipes I would like to try and they did not look to be too complex; it also helps you get an idea that you should be able to adapt other recipes for the grill.

The first thing I decided to grill was your typical premade frozen hamburger patties from President’s Choice. The four patties were a little big for the grill tray and a couple of them hung over the edge but, as they cook, they get smaller so I wasn’t too worried. There are only three cook settings: www.gaycalgary.com

on, warm and off, which makes it easy for those who don’t know what temperature to cook food at. The grill cooks at a constant 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

As the patties cooked, I noticed some smoke, and then flipped them. With the amount of grease coming off, there was even more smoke. After looking at the instructions, there is mention that items with a high fat content will cause some smoke. If cooking these, they recommend you place the grill under the stove hood. Though the house filled with smoke, by opening the windows, I avoided triggering the smoke detector. However, each subsequent attempt at cooking these burgers did set off the alarm. Putting the grill beneath the hood fan also makes it hard to cook other items to go along with dinner.

Another issue I ran into is that if you want to put anything on top of the patty, like cheese, it needs to be processed slices. There is not enough heat on the top of the patty to melt or cook anything else. But the patties did come out with nice grill marks and tasted like they came off a BBQ. Seeing that the grill is supposed to be smokeless, I tried grilling a full-sized fish – enough for two people – on the wire grill top. Even though I greased the grill, the skin of the fish got stuck to it, so it was difficult to turn over. In the end the fish broke up while cooking. It still tasted great and there was virtually no smoke.

We decided to use the non-stick for an attempt with salmon filets. Using the non-stick grill is highly recommended. There were no issues with the fish sticking to the grill and they turned out amazing. It takes some getting used to seeing the side that is cooking with the bright red light shining up from

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

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underneath. Sometimes it helps to pull the items off onto a plate to check them vs. doing it on the grill.

We tried doing steaks on it several times. They were easy to check and turned out perfectly done. If there is space alongside of them, you can also grill peppers and other vegetables. We did not have an issue with smoke cooking these. There were small amounts, but not as bad as the burgers.

From what I can see, the smokeless grill is not truly smokeless: it depends on what you are cooking. If you are

making the patties from scratch, with very little fat, I could see it being ok. But not if you are purchasing them frozen, as a lot of people do. It would also be inconvenient to use for parties without keeping people waiting. It is ideal for use for two people. The steaks and salmon were smaller pieces, so space on the grill tray was not an issue. If you are mostly wanting to make those type of items, or kabobs or items with low fat content, you should be fine.

I wish the grill came with a cover. It would be nice to be able to reflect some of the heat back down so things like cheese on the patties would melt, or to help with speeding up the cooking process. Checking online, it seems they don’t have something available yet. A rotisserie add-on would also be cool. This way, instead of having the grill tray on the top, you could skewer something like a chicken a little lower into the base and have it slowly turning.

The grill tops and the grease tray are dishwasher safe. The protective glass of the elements should be cleaned if things spill on it. It does not come with anything to do that, but recommendations for glass top stove cleaners and a ceramic scrapper are included.

So, if you are looking for something that will help you eat healthier, don’t want to buy a BBQ for outside or deal with propane tanks, but crave that BBQ taste year-round, then the Philips Smokeless Grill would work for you. The price ranges between $375 and $400 depending on where you buy it.

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Review

Philips Wake-up Light Waking up to a simulated sunrise

By Steve Polyak I let Rob do the testing on this product. Since I work my own hours, I rarely ever need an alarm clock, but Rob needs it to get up early in the morning for work. The alarm clock he was using, prior to this, he would set to a radio station that he would get really annoyed with, and thus prompt him to get out of bed to turn it off.

He looked forward to trying something that was going to gently wake him instead.

The concept behind this alarm clock is that is supposed to help you wake by using yellow light that slowly gets brighter over the 30 minutes prior to the alarm going off. It is supposed to simulate the sun rising in the morning. There are two audio choices: natural bird sounds or FM radio, which is on the model we had. The audio goes off at the end of the 30-minute light cycle.

The display shows up amber in colour: it’s a nice, warm colour vs. the harsh grey that Rob’s other alarm clock lit the room with, which made it hard to sleep. It was so bright that he needed to place it across the room, whereas this one he placed right beside him on the nightstand without any issues. Phillips recommends the clock be 40 to 50 cm away from your head. It can also be used as a bedside lamp with 10 different levels of brightness.

After a stretch of use, Rob needed to add the natural bird sound along with the light to wake up. Light alone was not enough. Features he wishes it included are USB charging, Bluetooth or audio input so he could connect his phone. He also found it disappointing that there is no battery backup. If the power goes out, the clock is reset, which is bad if it happens in the middle of the night.

The clock includes a snooze feature, wherein you lightly tap the top of it. All the buttons are on the face of the clock, with an AM/PM or 24-hour switch and an alarm sound-setting switch on the back.

The model that we had tested is the HF3505/60 which came with FM radio, where the other model HF3500/60 does not.

The HF3505/60 goes for about $100, where the HF3500/60 goes for about $75. Everything else is identical other than the FM radio. The top model, HF3520/60, has a little bit different www.gaycalgary.com

face-front, where the time is displayed lower down compared to it being centered. It does have double the amount of brightness settings and five natural sounds along with the FM radio. It goes for about $170. When I asked Rob if he would go back to the old alarm clock now, he said no way.

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Interview

Pam Ann At Whistler Pride 2017

By Lisa Lunney Whistler Pride 2017 is set to be invaded by the one and only—Pam Ann. Everyone’s favourite air hostess is set to cause some turbulence and debauchery during pride.

GayCalgary caught up with her for a chat about fashion, visiting Canada and most important—her mile-high club.

GC: Canada is excited to have you back, what are some of your favourite things about this snowy country?

Pam Ann: People are so nice especially the cabin crew on Air Canada, I once got fingered flying on Air Canada from NY to Vancouver.

GC: How did the world of aviation sweep you off your feet?

Pam Ann: When you grow up in the middle of fuck knows where Australia all you dream about is getting on a plane and the fuck off the island. I wanted to see the world and the only way is to fly.

GC: What can you tell readers about the current state of the air travel industry with increased security?

Pam Ann: Personally, I love being fisted at security especially when I’m flying El Al en route to Tel Aviv, sometimes you get

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double fisted. I make sure I leave a bottle of water in my carry on purposely just so I can be pulled aside... have you ever seen Israeli security HOT!!!

GC: The question we are all dying to have answered. Why are bagged nuts are such a popular snack?

Pam Ann: Everyone loves warm salty nuts.

GC: What are your thoughts on Stewardess fashion and the practicality of a miniskirt?

Pam Ann: It’s amazing what a mini skirt can do for an air hostess. I’m always bending over picking up invisible forks.

GC: Any dreams of being a pilot?

Pam Ann: I’m not a pilot but I can fly a plane especially after a few cocktails. The Airbus is flown by a computer so it’s one switch on and one switch off... the rest of the time I’m doing shots with the crew, sucking cock and smoking pot. What you don’t want on an Airbus is the rainbow wheel (like on a computer) because then you have to reboot and at 37,000ft you’re fucked.

GC: Real talk. Who has joined your mile-high club? Who would you like to add?

Pam Ann: Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, Pamela Anderson have joined and I’d like to add Ryan Gosling and Obama.

GC: Have you experienced any turbulence both in the air and your personal life lately?

Pam Ann: I love turbulence nothing makes you more alive than the fear that you might die. As for my personal life, I live half the year in NY half the year in Miami busy, busy, busy.

GC: What can pridegoers expect from you at Whistler?

Pam Ann: Spontaneous hysterical offensive (to some) fun filled with elements of horrific fear.

GC: Any closing thoughts for readers?

Pam Ann: I’d rather cry in a Rolls Royce than be happy on a bike.

PAM ANN – International comedian superstar takes flight and touches down for a Snow Landing at the 25th Anniversary of Whistler Pride!

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Politics

Stink, Stank, Stunk 7 of 2016’s Biggest Grinches

By Mikey Rox From wayward politicians and Olympians to dangerous cults and corporations, this year had all the tenderness of a seasick crocodile. But before we bid adieu to 12 beleaguered months that we’re all eager to send packing, let’s vilify once more these seven Grinches with hearts (and other appendages) three sizes too small.

Scientology Three years after Leah Remini publicly cut ties with the Church of Scientology (of which she was a member for more than 30 years), the actress continues her crusade to expose the underbelly of the “religion,” which culminated in November with the premiere of the explosive docu-series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, currently airing on A&E. Through interviews with other ex-members, the reality program provides new details on what appears to be commonplace violence and harassment through the ranks; makes shocking revelations about the church’s policy on shunning anyone suspicious of Scientology and its opposition to same-sex relationships; reveals gross abuses of power by leader David Miscavige, and shows harrowing glimpses of its cult-like brainwashing abilities.

Donald Trump Every week it seems President-Elect Trump is embroiled in a new controversy, the flames of which are fanned by his famously thin skin and a strange affinity for stream-of-consciousness social media usage. If he wasn’t degrading women, he was practicing xenophobia, and if he ran out of steam in those regards, it was because he was busy choosing anti-LGBT cabinet members while taking potshots at the United States military. By all accounts, he’s the thinking person’s worst nightmare – most of whom will spend the next four years with their heads under the covers.

Death They say the only two certainties in life are death and taxes – and 2016 gave us a long list of famous people who no longer have to pay taxes. This year we said goodbye to some of the most prolific people on the planet (many of them allies to the LGBT community), including (but not limited to) David Bowie, Prince, Alan Rickman, Garry Marshall, Florence Henderson, Elie Wiesel, Alexis Arquette, Gene Wilder, and Anton Yelchin.

The Alt-Right This election year gave us myriad new concepts to bear, like how Russia is very much involved in our politics. But perhaps the most

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disturbing was the rise of the alt-right, whose ideology is firmly planted in white nationalism (and homophobia; don’t let ’em fool ya), even if the cowards behind the movement won’t admit as much. Far more frightening than a journey to 2020 with a Commander-in-Queef at the helm, it’s this group of “young rebels” – like traitor-to-ourcause Milo Yiannopoulos, a gay conservative “journalist” – of whom we should really be afraid.

Facebook Buzzfeed News made an astonishing discovery last month: Fake clickbait headlines on Facebook hooked users more often than real headlines. In fact, Facebook users engaged with farcical electionrelated headlines – most of which were either anti-Clinton or proTrump, says CBS News – with a share, like or comment more than 8.7 millions times while real news from legitimate sources garnered engagement fewer than 7.4 million times. What does this prove, you ask? Something you already know: We’re a nation full of idiots, and now they’re in charge.

Dakota Access If Dakota Access, the energy company responsible for a proposed underground oil pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois, had its way, it would have bulldozed tribal land of the Standing Rock Sioux while waving its middle finger in the rearview mirror. But despite bringing in a security force with attack dogs to goad environmental protesters into submission, the Army Corps of Engineers eventually denied easement of the line, declaring the land off limits while alternative routes are investigated.

Ryan Lochte Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte, who endeared himself to the nation during the 2012 Games with his every-bro demeanor and doofus-y grin, made us collectively regret that he was ever issued a passport when he falsely claimed that he and three other American swimmers were robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro. While surveillance video of what really went down that drunken night at a Brazilian gas station didn’t bode well for anyone involved – guns were actually drawn – his “over-exaggerated” retelling of the events had us wishing he’d swim back under the rock he came out of.

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Lifestyle

The Frivolist

6 Ways to Start the New Year as the Best Gay You Can Be

By Mikey Rox Another new year means another set of resolutions.

But given the kind of 2016 that most of us had, 2017 demands a different sort of resolve. Sure, you can still kick the smoking habit and cut back on the drinking and lose a couple pounds – if those are commitments you want to make for yourself – but we also need to remember to include bigger-picture concepts that keep our lives as a whole cohesive and in a continued pursuit of positivity. Here are six ideas to give you that fresh start we all so desperately need right now.

1. Organize Your Personal and Professional Life I’m self-employed, and as a result I have the luxury of taking the last week of the year off not only to relax and celebrate the holidays with my family and friends but also to prepare for the year ahead. I make a big list of to-dos right before Christmas of items I’d like to accomplish to get my personal and professional life in order so I can hit the ground running when I’m back at it in January. At home, I like to deep clean and organize the house, which is somewhat chaotic this time of year with all the holiday trimmings, and where work is concerned, I delete unused files on my computer, sift and expunge expired emails, prepare client schedules for the months ahead, and – on a day where I’m feeling particularly patient – organize my taxes so I can cop that refund ASAP. Completing these tasks while I have the extra time during break keeps me just busy enough to not get bored between holidays, but it also makes the transition into a new year that much smoother.

5. Uphold Your Convictions and Fight For Your Rights Just when we thought it was safe to be LGBT, along comes a new political regime that, on the surface at least, threatens all we’ve worked to accomplish civilly over the past few decades – which means that 2017 is no time to rest on our laurels. We don’t know yet what’s coming our way, but whatever happens we must be prepared to fight for our rights. Stay proud, stay vigilant, and most importantly stay on the right side of history. Do that, and together we’ll always come out on top.

6. Set New Goals and Map Out Paths to Success I’m a goal setter through and through, and I’ve found that the only way I have success in reaching them is to build an actionable plan around the end game. For example, if you want to increase your savings this year, it’s important to set weekly or monthly savings goals that, little by little, inch toward that larger sum. If you’d like to take a much-needed vacation, start planning ahead by researching what it’ll cost in terms of transportation, lodging, food, activities, shopping and other expenses that you may incur. Whatever your lofty goals are, you’ll have an easier time meeting them when you break down into smaller tasks what it’ll take to get there. The payoff will be that much sweeter as well; you earned it and you deserve it. Happy New Year!

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2. Eliminate the Literal and Figurative Toxicity There’s no denying that 2016 was a real bear. It took its toll on all of us emotionally and mentally, the genesis for most of which can be blamed on the lead up and subsequent fallout of a highly contentious election year. But that’s all over now, and it’s time to move on. Think positive, and steer clear of any negativity that tries to infiltrate your life – particularly on social media. Maybe a hiatus is order. If that’s what you need to clear your head and start thinking straight again (wink), shut it down and distance yourself until you feel ready to engage.

Take it from me that you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how freeing the stepping-away experience can be. You may never want to go back.

3. Focus on Your Physical, Emotional and Mental Health I wholly believe in living your life at 110 percent. Eat healthy; exercise most days of the week, if only for 30-minute sessions; and stimulate your brain by reading or playing strategy games (yep, mobile games apply), both of which are scientifically proven to enhance your creativity. If you find it difficult to schedule in this “me time” due to a hectic schedule, compromise and do what works for you. Plan a night or two a week, for instance, to make a new recipe, or drop in on a class at your gym to find the fitness motivation that you might not otherwise have on your own. It’s up to you how so long as you’re doing it.

4. Practice Tolerance For Others It seems like no matter where you turn, the scene is straight-up vitriol. This year, rise above the fray. Don’t let bad attitudes bring you down, and show compassion for those who are having a hard time finding their inner peace. Remember, we don’t all have to agree on everything, but we do need to respect one another. If respect isn’t reciprocal, however, you owe it to yourself to distance yourself from the negativity and focus on brightening your own light. It’s the only one that matters in the end.

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 Photos by Jake Bailey, KathClick, Starfrenzy, Warner Bros., Fox Searchlight Pictures, Jamie Nelson, Netflix, Webster PR. Mariah Care, and E!

2016 in Review What the Celebs Said

By Chris Azzopardi Beyond Mariah Carey calling me “dahhhling” in her famous diva affectation as my childhood self landed somewhere over the moon, a lot happened in 2016. Acting queen Meryl Streep spoke affectionately to me about her lifelong love for the LGBT community. Country queen Dolly Parton revealed that she, naturally, has been a confidante to her own gay and lesbian family members.

And then there’s Joe Jonas, who shared his fondness for S&M, potentially inspiring some adventurous bedroom behavior this year. Here’s a collection of some standout quotes from Hollywood queens – and one horny JoBro. “I’ve grown up with gay people and been in love with gay people.”

– Meryl Streep “I have a song called ‘Outside’ that a lot of people from the gay community have always said they grew up listening to and were like, ‘That helped me come out to my family.’” – Mariah Carey “I’ve had many people through the years who I have helped to feel good about themselves. I say, ‘You need to let people know who you are and you need to come on out.’” – Dolly Parton “I would be blessed with a gay son.” – Gwen Stefani “We love you, sweetie darlings!” – Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie actresses Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders “There are a lot of people, and time does this, who are going to be severely embarrassed for their bias and intolerance. And they’re

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going to have to live with that; that’s going to be their legacy. I refuse to have that as part of my legacy.” – Michael Buble “I’m not saying ‘Will & Grace’ is responsible for gay marriage; I’m saying that maybe there was an element that helped in some way.” – Megan Mullally “I think some of the shoes I wear are ugly but they don’t hurt. I just don’t want my feet to hurt anymore.” – Cyndi Lauper “There are thousands upon thousands of voiceless LGBT people within even just the Mormon community who feel like they can’t ask questions and can’t have doubts and can’t be themselves.

I want to be able to give a microphone to those people.” – Tyler Glenn “When we get married we want our wedding party to just be our two sisters in tuxedos. Jack has a straight sister, I have a queer sister; they’d be our best men/women and we’ll call it a day.

That’s our dream.” – Lena Dunham “It’s definitely fun when you bring some whips and leather and whatever you may be into - a little bit of S&M - into the bedroom.”

– Joe Jonas “I know what dark places feel like and I know what the absence of love and community feels like, and if I had a me when I was growing up to see, I would have perhaps been familiar to you guys a lot sooner than two years ago.” – Tituss Burgess “In my teenage years, I was very girly. I remember when I used to go on a French exchange in Paris and all the locals called me ‘mademoiselle’ because they thought I was a girl.” – Hugh Grant “I was a funny kid and that was one thing I always knew I had.

You know how you’re insecure as a kid? I was like, ‘Well, I know I’m funny.’” – Jane Lynch

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Review

Hear Me Out Best Albums Of 2016

By Chris Azzopardi

10. Britney Spears, Glory If you counted the Holy Spearit out after 2013’s weird let-down Britney Jean, you should know better.

Brit’s next success is always her next comeback, but Glory wasn’t just the teeter-totter effect – she’s over, she’s back – in full swing. Her return to artistic, well, glory repositioned the Vegas-headlining mom somewhere between the hazy Blackout and In the Zone with its celestial pop and less-fabricated production. And the nod to her Southern roots, the country-licked “Liar,” where she’s actually, like, singing? More of this singing thing please and stat.

9. Tyler Glenn, Excommunication Mormonism – but really all organized religion – got a much-needed wake-up call thanks to Tyler Glenn.

On Excommunication, the Neon Trees frontman was not about to sugarcoat his cutting words when he held the LDS Church accountable for his suicidal thoughts and made no apologies for being a glammed-out gay. In the process, Glenn’s first solo project as an out man sticks to his pop sensibilities, which make for the best music of his career. Standouts include the soaring “Midnight” and the sparsely produced “John, Give ‘Em Hell,” a sincere moment of encouragement that every shamed queer kid needs to hear.

song from Michael Kiwanuka’s stunning sophomore release, that we hear the British soul artist’s vintage-sounding croon wash over us like a warm bath. Kiwanuka is a modern-day Otis Redding, and his sensitive-man voice is unshakeable as it imprints an old-school vibe on each of these timeless tunes.

7. Angel Olsen, My Woman Some voices make everything in their path disappear. Angel Olsen’s heavenly drawl is one of them. With My Woman, the St. Louis native tangled you within her intoxicating world of stirring melodies and whispery vocal flourishes. If she didn’t have you with the stark synth-specked opener “Intern,” well, that’s probably your fault. But there’s no way you could resist “Sister,” a guitar sprawl that will have you yearning right along with it.

6. Emeli Sandé, Long Live the Angels Five years is practically a lifetime between albums in the transient pop world, but for Emeli Sandé, that time, it seems, is just what she needed. Reeling from the end of a longtime relationship to her childhood sweetheart, the gifted “Next to You” soprano let her forlorn feelings simmer into this devastating (the breathtakingly raw “Shakes”) and empowering (the lifting mid-tempo “Babe”) diary of a healing heart.

8. Michael Kiwanuka, Love & Hate It’s not until nearly halfway through “Cold Little Heart,” the cinematic-like launch

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5. Lori McKenna, The Bird & the Rifle Songwriter-to-thestars Lori McKenna is nominated for four Grammys this year: one for Tim McGraw’s rendition of “Humble and Kind,” a song she wrote and also recorded for The Bird & the Rifle, along with best Americana album, American Roots performance and American Roots song.

The recognition is overdue. As intimate as eavesdropping on a room full of revealing conversations, McKenna’s 10 character-driven songs – from the sincere “Wreck You,” about a relationship that’s gone off course, to the sharp ageism-commentary “Old Men, Young Women” – are showcases for her unique ability to tap into the human condition.

4. Miranda Lambert, The Weight of These Wings Country music’s incipient legend wanted her double-disc divorce album to speak for itself.

She eschewed the typical promo interviews. There was no buzzy primetime confessional.

Instead, Lambert’s glorious 24-song narrative – easily some of her best work – plunges deep into the heart and renders insight through her drunken, cigarette-dragging, broken-hearted path to contentment. The journey starts and ends with a pair of steadfast mantras, “Runnin’ Just in Case” and “I’ve Got Wheels,” meanwhile also challenging gender norms on “Tomboy” and enlisting rebound sex to remedy her breakup woe on the glorious Grammy-nominated “Vice.” At least half of Lambert’s steel-pedal confessionals – undoubtedly, “Pushin’ Time,” which is sweet, tender, perfect – will be sitting comfortably amid country’s classics.

3. Frank Ocean, Blond Out music maverick Frank Ocean is responsible for some of this past decade’s best R&B, and this year, Blond proved that his skillful debut Channel Orange wasn’t just a fluke. The open-hearted Blond works like magic, slow burning snapshots of childhood nostalgia, bygone 34

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relationships (with women and men) and one very moving car ride (the mesmerizing James Blake-assisted “White Ferrari”) into your life story as Ocean reveals his own.

2. Bon Iver, 22, Million “It might be over soon,” a piping voice cuts in.

Amid the loop, a gospel sample and garbled synths, Bon Iver laments the inevitably of dissolve.

Throughout 22, Million, the Wisconsin-born songwriter is grappling with time through lyrical vignettes of life that are fleeting, just like this fly-by album and its transcendental back half. If you’re not moved to tears by the time you get to the album’s quiet coda, “00000 Million,” then it will purge you with its wistful reminder to surrender to the sometimes nasty doings of fate.

1. Beyoncé, Lemonade Who even remembers Beyoncé before 2016?

With Lemonade, the Slay Queen recast herself as an edgy auteur, thrashing radio pop parameters with a few swings of her baseball bat. Yes, she pretty much ran the world – and yes, she definitely made earlier career efforts look like amateur hour. Suddenly, she was more than a song slayer – she was a black voice that mattered. A risk taker. A meme-starter. She was the reason we couldn’t stop talking about some good-haired hussy named “Becky.” The storybook narratives lifted the curtain to potential personal reflections on married life with Jay Z, but also took a broader look at current gender and racial divides. “Freedom” furnished the strength for us to survive Trump’s America. “Daddy Lessons” was the country song you never knew you needed from Beyoncé. And Lemonade as a whole? A cultural and genre-busting touchstone in both Bey’s career and pop music itself.

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Catching Up with Alison Bechdel

Out cartoonist on new Dykes to Watch Out For, the universal appeal of Fun Home and her doubts about making it a musical  photo by John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

By Chris Azzopardi For all her newfound commercial clout, it might seem strange that Alison Bechdel recently returned to her less-mainstream roots.

Even though her self-proclaimed “tragicomic” novel Fun Home has become a Tony Award-winning commercial smash, and is currently on its first national tour, Bechdel couldn’t ignore her despair when Donald Trump was elected president. Attempting to process the startling outcome, the Vermont-based graphic novelist sat down to draw the iconic characters from her popular Dykes to Watch Out For, which was first published in 1983 in a feminist newspaper, WomaNews, before being widely syndicated to outlets across the U.S. Bechdel hadn’t revisited her popular strip’s lesbian clan in eight years.

Within that time, she released two graphic novels: 2006’s Fun Home, about her father’s gay secret and her coming out, and its 2012 companion piece, Are You My Mother? In 2014, Bechdel was the recipient of the prestigious MacArthur “Genius” Grant.

Recently, the 56-year-old artist talked about getting back to the lesbian characters that first endeared her to LGBT audiences decades ago. Moreover, she discussed her doubts about Fun Home becoming a Broadway musical (“I’ll take your option money, but good luck!”), the next-level catharsis she experienced when it did, and the pressures of critical and commercial success.

GC: Are you a fan of musicals?

AB: Honestly, I really have not been. I didn’t quite understand the whole culture around musicals, and there are just people 36

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who are so passionate about musicals. That was not me. You know, I sort of thought of musicals as Guys and Dolls and people bursting into song inexplicably, but I also understood that there are beautiful musicals out there. I was a big fan of Sondheim, but somehow didn’t think of Sondheim stuff as musicals in the traditional sense.

GC: Do you have a new appreciation for musicals now that Fun Home is one?

AB: Absolutely, yeah. It’s an amazing form, or it can be in the right hands. I’m just thinking about the sort of stock Broadway musical where there’s a conflict, but things end up all happy.

That’s not so interesting. But the amazing emotional depth you can get in a musical is really interesting to me, and I was excited to see that happen with Fun Home.

GC: What was your first thought when you heard Fun Home was getting the musical treatment?

AB: My first thought, honestly, was, “That’s impossible. Yes, I’ll take your option money, but good luck.” I did not know much about musicals or the stage at all, and it just seemed like a crazy, complex book. Of course, they left out large parts of the book as one has to do, but in the early days, I just couldn’t imagine how that would be put on a stage. Also, because it’s just so dark and so sad, it seemed like the antithesis of a musical.

GC: Because of the emotional depth you explored in your book, did you have trepidation about how it might be portrayed on stage?

AB: If I had known more about musicals when I said yes to that project, I would’ve had a lot of trepidation, but I didn’t quite know what I was getting into. I also knew that Lisa Kron would be writing the book (for the musical), and I was a great admirer www.gaycalgary.com

GC: Do you have a favorite song from the musical?

AB: It’s really hard to pick.

I know that sounds corny, but I love all of the songs. Of course “Ring of Keys” is just incredible. You know, I’m not really a big song person. Some people just don’t have that part of their brain, and I think I’m one of them. (Laughs) It’s funny to me to see how that song has caught on in the culture, to see just how it’s gripped people, especially young people. Children just love that song. I mean, little kids who don’t even know what it means are singing it on YouTube – it’s crazy.

GC: Fun Home is the first Broadway musical with a lesbian lead, which is groundbreaking. Did you ever think we’d have a lesbian lead on Broadway and the lesbian lead would be you?

AB: No, I never did!

(Laughs) Not that Broadway ever took up any space in my brain at all, but yeah, it’s pretty surprising all around.

GC: How do you process the mainstream appeal of Fun Home and its resonance beyond the LGBT community?

AB: I guess it’s just really a picture of what’s been going on in the culture, and my story and the play came along at this particular juncture when people were finally open to hearing a queer story that’s also a human story. There was finally space for that. I think if the play had come out a little sooner, if the book had come out a little sooner, it might not have caught on the way that it did, but somehow people were ready for it.

GC: What do you think it is about the musical and the book that is resonating on such a universal level?

AB: For one thing, it’s about a family. Everyone’s got a family, of one fashion or another. Also, I think it’s about a family with secrets, and most families have some kind of secret. I think people relate a lot to that, to the catharsis of having a secret brought out in the open.

I’ve heard stories of people from all different kinds of permutations – not just gay family members, but all kinds of issues: mental illness, affairs, double lives. I think

of hers and really trusted her to get it right as much as she could.

GC: Were you consulted during its evolution?

AB: I had pretty much zero to do with what you see on stage, and didn’t have any official involvement in making that show.

GC: How difficult was giving up control of your source material?

AB: It was a leap of faith. I trusted Lisa, and (composer) Jeanine Tesori came on board.

I also had trust in her. When I say I wasn’t involved, it wasn’t that they kept me out – I just didn’t have any formal role.

But they would meet with me periodically and pick my brain about ideas about the book and my process writing it. So, I felt very connected to them even though I didn’t know what I was doing or what I was telling them. (Laughs) GC: Fun Home opened offBroadway in 2013 at New York’s Public Theater. When did you first see it, and what was your initial impression?

AB: The whole process took years, but the first thing I saw or heard was at the end of 2010. I got a script in the mail and a CD with music on it from a workshop they had all done that I didn’t see. Up until then, it just seemed like a fantasy that may or may not happen one day. But when I heard those songs, I was just blown away. It was really powerful, and very few of those actually made it through to the final musical. There were so many songs that came and went, but I knew that they had something really magical happening.

GC: Do you remember the experience of seeing this stage interpretation of your life?

AB: That too went through an amazing transition.

At one point the stage set was an exact replica of my home studio, where I spend all my time, and that was really freaky. It was like I was looking in the window at myself working. But that got abandoned at one point and the set became a much more stripped down, sort of imaginary space. But it was pretty freaky all around, watching this musical about me and my family.  photo by Alison Bechdel

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it’s a great relief for people to see this secret cracked open.

GC: What have been some of the most memorable responses you’ve heard regarding the book over the years?

AB: God, you know, it’s hard to hang onto those. Whenever I go to the show – I’ve seen it 15 or so times – people will recognize me in the audience afterwards, and I hear the most incredible stories, and people are sobbing. I get so caught in those exchanges – it’s really intense – that I can’t remember the details.

So, I’m sorry I can’t give you a good anecdote, but I’ve had amazingly intimate encounters with audience members.

GC: Of the three characters representing your life at various stages in the musical, do you have a favorite Alison Bechdel?

AB: (Laughs) I don’t. To me they all sort of fuse into a whole, and they’re bound up.

I couldn’t single one out. I do think it was a really interesting choice to have the adult Alison telling this story because that wasn’t really technically part of the book at all. That was  photo by Elena Seibert part of Lisa Kron’s genius, and it’s an odd role. She’s just mostly observing the action.

The adult is having memories of her childhood and her young adulthood and her family, and they’re playing out before her as she’s trying to write about them, trying to make sense about them.

So in a way, she’s kind of a passive observer, but she’s really not; she’s actually very actively engaged with these memories of her former self. I think it really pulls everything together in an amazing way.

GC: Is there something you get out of somebody else’s interpretation of your life versus the way you presented it in the book?

AB: Yeah, I feel like this play has been such a gift to me – a real kind of healing or catharsis that I thought I was getting from writing my book. But there was another level the play went to that’s much more emotional. Before, I was talking about the emotional power of musicals, and I felt … it sounds so trite to say healed, so I don’t want to say that. It was just such an amazingly respectful look at my particular family, the way that they stuck to my story and the details of the character. They invented a lot of stuff – they invented almost everything the character said because there wasn’t much dialogue in my book – but somehow it felt very accurate to what I had written.

GC: Did you worry about the way they might portray your father?

AB: I hadn’t considered the ramifications of that, and then in these early versions that I saw – different workshops and stuff – he would go from being a super negative character to being a little too soft. It was very interesting to see how that got calibrated in the end. It’s a very delicate balance to make him sympathetic enough to care about and also threatening enough for the story to work.

GC: So you were seeing these drafts of his evolution?

AB: I was seeing actual actors portraying him in different ways, reading the same lines in many cases but with really different 38

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emotional resonances. Some lighter, some darker.

GC: What intersections do you see between graphic novels and musicals?

AB: There’s a way the combination of music and drama is sort of like the combination of pictures and text. Very different too. But the way those two planes combine to create something greater than the sum of their parts is very similar.

GC: What kind of influence does the mainstream appeal of Fun Home have on your current work?

AB: I feel a bit like there are more eyes on me than there used to be. (Laughs) I used to be able to work free of that sense of anyone waiting for my work. So, I feel like there’s a little added pressure now, but I’m trying to use that in a positive way, like to motivate me.

GC: How’s the fitness memoir coming along, then?

AB: It’s coming along.

I’m not as far along as I’d like to be. I’m juggling a lot of different projects, so it’s hard to stay focused, but it’s coming, you could say that.

GC: Are these projects you’re working on graphic novels?

AB: Oh, some of them. I’m doing a lot of big stuff I can’t really even explain.

GC: Do you ever plan to revisit the characters from Dykes to Watch Out For? AB: Funny that you should ask that, because right now I’m just so distraught over the election that the only way I could see out of it, the only way I could help myself figure it out, was to start writing a Dykes to Watch Out For strip. I haven’t thought about these characters in eight years, but I’m right in the middle of writing an episode and kind of dragging them all out of storage.

GC: I can’t think of a better and worst time.

AB: I know. (Laughs) I don’t know if I’ll keep it up, but I’m definitely writing at least one episode. I’ll put it up online. I’ll do it for my local alternative weekly and put it on my website.

GC: Why did this feel like the right time to revisit these characters?

AB: When I wrote the comic strip, I did it in some ways just for myself to figure out what was going on in the world. I always found the world so confusing and baffling, and by using my characters and having to talk through stuff that was happening in the world, I could find my own way. I felt like – I’m so confused at what just happened to our country that I needed to sit down with these characters and figure it out, so that’s what I’m doing.

GC: Will you continue working with these characters?

AB: I might not have time, but maybe I’ll have to keep going.

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Having His Cake and Eating It Too

Joe Jonas on ‘fun’ gay rumors, Barbra Streisand fandom and the pleasures of S&M  photos by Scott Schafer

By Chris Azzopardi Why is Joe Jonas talking about whips and leather?

Apart from recalling his experience with both, the answer is simply because he can. Because the former baby-faced JoBro is all man now, from his 5 o’clock shadow to his steel physique, which he’s not been shy about showing off.

While making the promotional rounds for his debut as lead singer of Los Angeles-formed collective DNCE, the newly liberated 27-year-old hasn’t merely shifted away from the much-publicized “purity ring” of his youth, taking on a kinky array of topics including porn, boners and penis size – he’s erased its very existence.

Like younger brother Nick, middle sibling Joe wasn’t done destroying any traces of his Disney halo when he freewheeled through our recent talk. Read on as he chats about his fondness for S&M, gay fans who send him pics of their privates and preferring an “older, mature” man play his hypothetical onscreen lover.

GC: It’s been surprising to hear you talk so salaciously while promoting this album. But then again, I keep forgetting you’re not 17 anymore.

JJ: (Laughs) A lot of people do!

GC: What about your current professional life differs from your career as a Jonas Brother?

JJ: The biggest difference is the writing. I’m proud of the stuff I did with my brothers, but you grow up and go through a lot of different things, so you may be talking about something very innocent – a first kiss, taking somebody out for the first time 40

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– when you’re that age. But cut to when you’re 27, and you’re going through things that are a bit more mature, sexually or what not, and that’s what you’re gonna write about.

GC: A song from your new album, “Be Mean,” is essentially about S&M. Tell me about your decision to be so sexually liberated in your music.

JJ: Some people say, “We finally can talk about these kinds of things, and we want to go wild and crazy,” but really, it’s just stuff we’re going through. I feel like I’m free in my life to speak about it, and yeah, everyone should try a little bit of something new in the bedroom. It’s definitely fun when you bring some whips and leather and whatever you may be into – a little bit of S&M – into the bedroom. I wrote it about me and someone I was getting wild with, and maybe (we) busted some outfits out – you know, you get a little crazy. It’s a fun song, and I hope people can have fun with it and learn from it.

GC: What do you want them to learn?

JJ: (Laughs) Well... I would love for them to learn that it’s good to try new things.

GC: Maybe you should teach them, Joe. JJ: I’ll do a handbook.

GC: Have your brother, Nick, write the foreword.

JJ: Exactly. I expect you to be one of the reviewers.

GC: Were there moments before when people were trying to guide you to be something different than who you felt you were?

JJ: I would say “yeah” to that. Yes, because it may have been subconscious; it could just be friends you’ve surrounded yourself with, or on a deeper level it could be music people www.gaycalgary.com

around you saying, “This is the right direction for you, and this is where you should go next.”

I remember when I did a short run of a solo project (2011’s Fastlife, released on Disney Music Group’s Hollywood Records), all signs were pointing to a very R&B, smooth, sexy vibe for an album, and I listened without taking time for myself to really utilize influences that I love. I learned from it, but at the same time, it was jarring.

But I feel really comfortable in my life and career right now. I definitely feel like the best version of myself, and I’m glad I can have a good label now that allows me to spread my wings and create music that really is, for all of us (in the band), unique and special.

GC: Another change: Your body. What inspired the muscles?

JJ: I wanted a change of pace and to put myself through a challenge. It’s easy to eat junk food and party every night on tour, so I put myself through a season where I challenged myself physically, and I really enjoyed it. There were days that were tough, but seeing your body slowly changing, you just want to keep on it. I had a trainer on tour with me – this amazing boxer Ava Knight – and she came out and busted my ass, and I was really enjoying it.

GC: Has your beefier body gotten you more attention from gay men?

JJ: I think so! Probably, yeah. I’m seeing it just through DMs. It’s quite funny. But I take it as a compliment. It’s cool. At the end of the day, for me, it goes back to the music, and DNCE has done a lot of cool concerts, like Pride shows. We have a lot of gay fans, and we love that they’re so supportive, so hey, if that makes them happy, it’s all good.

GC: What do gay men DM you?

JJ: I bet you could take a wild guess. (Laughs) It’s all over the map, from selfies to you-know-what. It’s funny, too, because you can’t really tell what people are sending because everything now is blurred out, and I like to read some of the DMs and hear stories. But, of course, sometimes there are crazy ones, and it’s just straight nudity. You have to just find something good in it – or laugh, depending on what it is.

GC: I have to say, few things are making me feel optimistic about the current state of America, but your album is one of them.

JJ: Oh, man. Thanks! You know, honestly, that’s what we’re all about: taking people out of a place they don’t wanna be in and bringing some joy to a situation.

GC: Why is it important for you and the band to perform at Pride events or, like you did recently, at a club like G-A-Y in London?

JJ: In the world we live in now more than ever, it’s especially important that, like you said, our music can take you out of that. I think, what is a better time than now for everyone coming together and being stronger together, whatever your thoughts are on the election? It can be a heartache for some. I think for DNCE we try to bring some joy to you and happiness and share the love, and that’s what it’s all about for us. If we can put a smile on your face, that’s what’s important to us. And look, our gay fans are awesome and we want to give back in every way we can, so we’re putting on shows for them.

GC: How have you been processing the election outcome?

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JJ: I’ve been able to see a lot of different viewpoints. What I mean is, I just presented at the Glamour Women of the Year event, and it was a pretty somber crowd, obviously. Toward the end, there was a bit of hope. Bono actually won Man of the Year, and he said it best when he was like, I shouldn’t even be up here, but now more than ever, men and women should be uniting and coming together. It was interesting to see how they’re handling it, but for me, personally, I was bummed. Now, it’s time to come together, and there’s going to be some positive things hopefully. It may suck, but I love this country and I think that’s what it’s about.

GC: There are several videos online of paparazzi chasing you down and asking if you’re gay. Why do people think you’re gay?

JJ: I don’t know the real answer to it. I don’t have an issue with it. I think it’s a compliment. I have a lot of gay fans. It’s not like it bothers me. Some people handle it differently, but at the end of the day, I’m cool with it and think it’s kind of funny.

You have to learn to laugh; people are gonna create a story out of anything.

You know, it’s probably because I’m in touch with my feminine side. Look, I love fashion; I love to dress well. I love certain things like that. And I have a lot of gay friends, as well, so that could probably point them in that direction. But again, the gay community is something that is close to my heart, so I don’t mind. Hey, if they wanna think I’m gay, it’s fun.

GC: Reinforcing those rumors: the fact that you want to collaborate with Barbra Streisand.

JJ: Yeaaah! I love Barbra Streisand. It’s so funny: Our stylist is like the biggest Barbra Streisand fan in the world, and it’s

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amazing because I always make sure we play the song “Barbra Streisand” when we walk in the room before a fitting.

GC: Do you have a favorite Barbra album?

JJ: That’s tough to say. Look, I love theater as well. I had the opportunity to be on Broadway when I was younger, and I hope to be able to do it again one day. So, I would say the theatrical side of Barbra, I really love.

GC: You’ve also dabbled in acting. If you ever followed in your brother Nick’s footsteps and played gay, who’s on your shortlist of male romantic interests?

JJ: That’s a great question. I’d say for sure Daniel Craig. I think Matthew McConaughey is a hunk of a man. I’d have to go with George Clooney. Older, mature men.

GC: What message do you hope to send to people who are reluctant to support LGBT issues?

JJ: Look, we’re all human. Some of the best friends in my life are gay, and we don’t look at each other any differently, and it’s not like there’s any separation of who we are as people. Love is love. And if you have a problem with that, then you can just get out of this world – first trip to the moon, first trip to space – because I honestly feel like life’s too short to worry about dumb things like that. People are people, and I’m gonna help out in any way I can. And what better time than now?

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Love Is Love Is Love Michael Bublé on leaving an LGBT-affirming legacy, man crushes and male admirers

 photos by Warner Bros

By Chris Azzopardi “You know what I’ll be Googling tonight: Bublé, gay, queer, all that stuff,” says Michael Bublé one recent afternoon, after being informed that said search terms render colorful results.

All you lovers, though, needn’t search beyond the dreamy crooner’s recently released album, Nobody But Me, and its 10 feel-good tunes, including several new originals and reimagined classics gleaned from the Great American Songbook.

Love, naturally, is featured prominently on Bublé’s ninth studio album, as well as in our recent chat, during which the affable ally spoke about the “joy” the LGBT community has brought him and the importance of standing up for queer issues. And no, not solely because he’s a staunch LGBT-rights advocate – when his kids grow up and read this interview, he says it’s important to him that they feel “proud.”

GC: In 2010, you performed on a stage you deemed “phallic” because it resembled a penis. Then, a gay man threw you his keys, and you were not shy about bending over and picking them up.

MB: (Laughs) I remember! That was a guy named Paul O’Grady, and he’s very famous in the UK. He does an act where he dresses up as a woman, who is also very famous, almost like Dame Edna. He’s a sweetie pie. I was so happy that he did that that night because it just gave me so much.

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GC: How would you describe the affection for you from the gay community?

MB: The truth is, I don’t think I could’ve given them as much joy as they’ve given me. I’m in a business where, as you can imagine, I’m surrounded by the gay community. I mean, that’s just my life. I’m an artist, and so I’m surrounded by other artists. And everyone from my hair stylist who lives with me on the road to (my stylist) Jeff Kim, who puts me in my suits every day – I mean, god, the question isn’t who’s gay? The question is, who isn’t? (Laughs) And by the way, the ones that seem the most macho, they’re probably gay.

GC: Now would be a good time to talk about how your wife, Luisana Lopilato, thought you were gay when she first met you.

MB: (Laughs) Yes, she walked in this room with a man, and the man was so good lookin’ that he made Brad Pitt look dumpy, so I assumed they were together. I naturally assumed that this was her boyfriend or her husband, so I refused to hit on her.

And listen, it didn’t help that she didn’t speak English either at the time. Not a word. But the more I drank that night, the more brazen I got about trying to find out what the situation was between them. Finally, after two hours – and I don’t know how many shots and glasses of whiskey – I finally said, (effects a drunk slur) “You guys are such a beautiful couple,” and he said, “We’re not together.” He said, “She came because she likes you.” And at the same time, she was on the phone texting her mom saying, “Oh my god, Michael Bublé is all over my friend.

He’s so gay.”

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GC: She knows you’re straight now, right?

MB: (Laughs) I assume so. I mean, after the kids. Also, I assume she thinks I’m not gay when every night I say, “Mmmmm?!” and she says, “No, I have a headache.”

GC: You recently donated items that were auctioned off to benefit the Stonewall National Monument.

MB: To be honest, I’m doing more because of (my publicist) Liz Rosenberg. There’s something I have in the works. There’s the Harvey Milk High School that she was talking about here in New York, and I want to help there too. Listen, I love being able to spout words, but sometimes you gotta put your money where your mouth is. (Liz) said, “Should I call your manager to find out if he thinks it’s OK?” So she called my manager and my manager said, “Why are you asking me? Of course!”

GC: How long before there was a pic of you suggestively eating corn on the cob did you become aware of your gay following?

MB: (Laughs) I think it was hours.

GC: Just hours?

MB: Hours! You know, that day I took my godson, my best friend and his wife to Disneyland, and I was looking after him because he’s a little guy. He’s 4 years old and he had this corn, and butter was everywhere. So, I was trying to help him with napkins, and then I grab mine and it was dripping… and my first thought was… oh god, you know what I mean. It was just the worst timing ever. The truth is, I had fun with it. There are so many terrible things you could do to land in the press or go

www.gaycalgary.com

viral with, and if that’s the worst thing, then you know what, I just gotta laugh at myself.

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

MB: Listen, I’m not Madonna. I don’t look out and see thousands of gay couples out at the shows, but even at the start, man, when I played the Blue Note (a jazz club in Greenwich Village, New York City). I’ll tell you the honest truth: I played

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

45

the Blue Note 16 years ago, and the other night I had a show there, and I’m still close with one of the first fans I ever had in America. Forget about the world. In America.

And his name is Johnny Blue Note, and he’s about 6-foot-5, a New Yorker with a huge personality, and he’s beautiful. I got sentimental the other night. I did a big radio show to open up the record, and I looked into this little, intimate club, and there was Johnny Blue Note. And I got sentimental. I talked about (him) during the show.

So, I think from the very start there was Johnny. That was my first ever gig, and one of my greatest fans and harshest critics was Johnny. He was my foray into my relationship with the gay community and me as an entertainer. Even before my music director was Alan Chang, there was Bryant Olender and Bryant is this really smart, funny, talented, slutty, very gay musical director.

GC: You say you’re no Madonna, but still, you’ve performed with several gay icons: Barbra Streisand, Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue…

MB: Kylie Minogue, yes. I sang with her, and actually, I was supposed to see her in Vancouver. She was going to come over and have tea with me, but I had to fly to Europe.

She had been there and was going to come over, because I happened to sing with her on a Rod Stewart special and we really got on and liked each other, so I was just gonna hang out with her literally weeks ago.

And Elton John is somebody I’ve gotten to know. I love him very much. Obviously, we don’t have to talk about how talented he is – we know how talented he is. He’s also really warm and effusive with me, and I just saw him in Vegas.

I went backstage and gave him a big hug. He was so happy, and he really enjoyed being there. It’s funny, man, because I gotta guess that there are people out there who are gay in this business but won’t tell anyone.

GC: Have you met these closeted stars?

MB: Yeah, I meet them and I get the impression. And listen, I’m not gonna be the guy who

46

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

outs the person, but it always made me wonder: “Why?” I understand if they are afraid, or they don’t want to tell their parents, but the fact that it could be a question within this business of hurting your business is just mind-blowing to me.

GC: Do any of them confide in you?

MB: No. I mean, I have the worst gay-dar ever. I really do have the worst gaydar. I could be hanging with somebody and my friends will be like, “Michael, he was hitting on you hard,” and I’m like, “What are you talking about – he’s just a really nice guy!” Sometimes I don’t pick up the shit people are puttin’ down.

GC: If a gay couple asked you to sing any of the songs off this new album at their wedding, which would you sing and why?

MB: Aww. I think maybe “The Very Thought of You.” And to be honest with you, man: I don’t care if it’s a gay or a straight or a black or a poor wedding – love is love.

And I think that would be a really beautiful, romantic first dance.

GC: In the past, you’ve mancrushed on Blake Shelton and One Direction’s Niall Horan.

Who are you currently mancrushing on?

MB: That’s a good question.

God, you wanna hear who I’m man-crushing on? There’s a couple of them. My No. 1 man crush is probably John Oliver (host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver). The other is (The Daily Show host) Trevor Noah. Goddamn – what a stunning South-African man. You know what I love man? I love that they’re selfdeprecating and funny, and I know they’re empathetic because their point of view tells me that. Obviously, they’re liberal, progressive, self-confident; they have a great sense of humor. I just love that. (American astrophysicist) Neil deGrasse Tyson too. And god, the late (Anglo-American author and essayist) Christopher Hitchens. If you can man crush on a dead guy, I am man-crushin’ on a dead guy.

(Linguist and philosopher) Noam Chomsky, I love. I’m trying to think of people I spend most of my evenings www.gaycalgary.com

with, because this is who I spend most of my evenings with. Oh, Lawrence Krauss, the greatest astrophysicist. Honestly, their intelligence and skill at orating just… I mean, I’m wet.

GC: Is it true that your Uncle Frank and Uncle Mike, who have been together for over 40 years, taught you acceptance and open-mindedness?

MB: With or without them, the truth is, my father and my mother were so progressive, and I’m so lucky that my father just made it very simple. He just said, “It’s nature. A man can love a man and a woman can love a woman, and this doesn’t just happen with human beings – it’s science. It happens in nature.

It happens with almost every animal.” Having two boys of my own who I love more than I’ll ever love myself, I can’t tell you how crushing it would be if they couldn’t feel that they could tell their father that they were gay – or different in any way. To me, (because of them), it just became a much bigger issue.

GC: If one of your sons were to come out to you, how might you respond?

MB: With nothing but love. And I’m not saying that to you because it’s you or the magazine. It’s because I love them, man.

I love them so much that I just want them to be happy. My goal in life is to make them beautiful, happy human beings, and if that’s who they are – because I’m killed, just devastated, when I hear people saying they “choose.” “Choose”? What are you fucking talking about? You don’t choose. It isn’t a choice.

It is genetic.

And I understand some people have an issue with the whole marriage thing and the sanctity of this word “marriage.” I mean,

I don’t get it, but I can choose to listen to their point and hear it.

I don’t agree with it. I always joke, everyone jokes: Why can’t gay people be just as miserable as straight people who are married?

But listen to me, we are in a world – a dangerous world – right now, and if you’re not standing up against intolerance, then you’re for it. God, I sounded like George W. fucking Bush right there, holy shit. “If you’re not with us, you’re against us!”

GC: As an ally with a massive platform, it’s important for you to say that for this movement to move forward.

MB: I agree. And you know what, I think people are so afraid of losing fans.

GC: Are you afraid of that?

MB: No, no. I’m not. Because you know what, years from now, when my kids grow up and they read this, they’re going to be proud of their father because their father was on the right side of the line.

There are a lot of people, and time does this, who are going to be severely embarrassed for their bias and intolerance. And they’re going to have to live with that; that’s going to be their legacy. I refuse to have that as part of my legacy.

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GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a5411 View Bonus Pics/Videos • Share with a Friend • Post Comments 47

Photography

48

Grand Opening 628 Stage & Lounge, Calgary

HOT MESS Hockey Butts II at Dickens Pub, Calgary

http://gaycalgary.com/pa1278

http://gaycalgary.com/pa1277

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

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GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

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GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

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News Releases Walmart Settles Class-Action Suit Alleging Anti-LGBTQ Bias

NSFW - Circuit Festival Presents Its Mannequin Challenge

http://www.gaycalgary.com/n2325

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Research Finds Sexual Victimization Perpetrated

by Women More Common than Previously Known

NSFW - NEW Andrew Christian VIDEO: Boys Will Be Toys

Making Change at Walmart (MCAW), the national campaign to change Walmart into a more responsible employer, along with...

A New Journal Article Explores Sexual Victimization by Women Using U.S. federal agency data, researchers find that female sexual... http://www.gaycalgary.com/n2326

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Releases Vivacious 2016 Holiday Album

The 18th volume in the “Broadway’s Carols for a Cure” collection is full of Broadway’s favorite musicals such as Hamilton,... http://www.gaycalgary.com/n2327

Lights, cameras and... Mannequin Challenge!

The Circuit Festival team was in a photo shooting for their 10th anniversary when...

Welcome to the sexy house of AC. Models. We provide a stable of beautiful men for you to enjoy this holiday season;) Andrew Christian... http://www.gaycalgary.com/n2329

NSFW - Steam Room Stories: Camping it up!

When is it appropriate to camp it up? Ray Tezanos and Evan Bonifant let out their sassy sides on the latest episode of Steam... http://www.gaycalgary.com/n2330

Drag Queen Sherry Vine Celebrates Hanukkah with “Oy To The World”

gaySVTVworld Presents New Videos For Every Day of the Jewish Holiday gaySVTVworld is bringing viewers home for the Challah-days... http://www.gaycalgary.com/n2331

Watch Calgary Opera’s Mannequin Challenge!

Watch Calgary Opera and the cast and crew of Christmas at the Opera – Doctor Miracle (Le Docteur Miracle), recorded at Mamdani... http://www.gaycalgary.com/n2332

3rd annual Carol of the Belles brings seasonal cheer and a message about empathy and consent

Now in its third year, Carol of the Belles brings a dozen Calgary artists together to celebrate the season and raise important... http://www.gaycalgary.com/n2333

VIDEO - Bob The Drag Queen Surprised 9 Year Old Fan For Halloween

ABC News and Bob took his youngest fan trickor-treating in Los Angeles...Purse First!... http://www.gaycalgary.com/n2334

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News Releases VIDEO - PEG Presents CHRISTMAS QUEENS 2 Album and Webseries

Challenges For LGBT People In The Workplace And How To Overcome Them

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New Council of Europe Report Highlights Mistreatment of .GAY

8 Major Obstacles to Equality That LGBT Americans Still Face

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Christmas Festivities in Munich Stand Out with a Dedicated LGBT Christmas Market

Beyond Stereotypes: Poverty in the LGBT Community

We’ve heard your requests for more “Christmas Queens” and the ladies have answered! PEG proudly presents the “Christmas...

The mounting evidence that points to an unfair “community evaluation” for .GAY has reached fever pitch since the Council...

Holiday time in Munich is the time for festivity, shopping, entertainment and treats at their world-famous Christmas markets....

LGBT is a short form to the initialism which stands for lesbian, bisexual, gay and a transgender. It was a term used to replace...

LGBT Americans stands for Lesbians, Gays, bisexual and transgender Americans. LGBT rights in the United States got legalized on...

LGBT couples are struggling worldwide to find their own identity and some respect. After enduring a lot, now few couples successfully... http://www.gaycalgary.com/n2342

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Some America LGBT Rights Milestones Fast Facts

4 LGBT Issues to Focus on Now That America Has Marriage Equality

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Special Concerns of LGBT Caregivers

History Of Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Social Movements In The US

LGBT couples are still struggling for their rights and identity. Despite, the long battle, few have won the battle and some courageous...

As the Americans live longer much attention is paid to the concern related to caregivers. There are some unique consideration... http://www.gaycalgary.com/n2339

Same sex marriage legally is a great victory in the world’s history. Still American LGBT faces many cases of discrimination based...

The United States is the superpower. There are so many burning topics to discuss. Among all, LGBT movement is the hottest one.... http://www.gaycalgary.com/n2344

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GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

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Directory & Events DOWNTOWN CALGARY

11 16

10 12

2

6

3

7

15

1 8

4 5

13

1 2 3 4

Calgary Outlink---------- Community Groups HIV Community Link---- Community Groups Backlot------------------------Bars and Clubs Texas Lounge-----------------Bars and Clubs

5 6 7 8

Goliath’s--------------------------Bathhouses Twisted Element--------------Bars and Clubs Broken City-------------------Bars and Clubs Cowboys Nightclub-----------Bars and Clubs

FIND OUT!

9 10 11 12

Dickens Pub------------------Bars and Clubs Flames Central---------------Bars and Clubs Local 522---------------------Bars and Clubs Ten Nightclub-----------------Bars and Clubs

8 Cowboys Nightclub------------------------  421 12th Avenue SE  403-265-0699

 http://www.cowboysnightclub.com

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. ..........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

9 Dickens Pub

 1000 9th Ave SW  info@dickenspub.ca

 http://www.dickenspub.ca

 403-233-7550

13 The Pint-----------------------Bars and Clubs 15 The Blind Monk--------------Bars and Clubs 16 Backwards / Six 2 Eight------Bars and Clubs

Apollo Calgary - Friends in Sports

 http://www.apollocalgary.com  http://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.

10 Flames Central----------------------------  219 8th Ave SW  403-935-2637

 http://www.flamescentral.com

• Western Cup

11 Local 522----------------------------------  522 6 Ave SW  403-244-6773

 http://www.localtavern.ca

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

14 Night Owl

 213 10 Ave SW

 http://www.vinylandhyde.com

 587-224-5200

16 Six 2 Eight ---------------------------------  628 8th Avenue SW  587-352-2582

 http://www.628stage.com 12 Ten Nightclub (closed)

 1140 10th Ave SW

 403-457-4464



http://www.westerncup.com

• Badminton (Absolutely Smashing) • Boot Camp

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

• 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

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

15 The Blind Monk---------------------------  918 12th Ave SW  403-265-6200  12thave@blindmonk.ca

 http://www.blindmonk.ca  Mon-Sun: 11am-2am

• Golf

http://www.gaycalgary.com/Directory Browse our complete directory of over 750 gay-frieindly listings!

13 The Pint

 1428 17th Ave SW  calgary@thepint.ca

 http://www.thepint.ca/calgary

• Outdoor Pursuits

CALGARY Bars & Clubs (Gay) 3 Backlot------------------------------------- 403-265-5211  Open 7 days a week, 2pm-close

 209 - 10th Ave SW

4 Texas Lounge

 308 - 17 Ave SW  403-229-0911  Open 7 days a week, 11am-close

www.gaycalgary.com

6 Twisted Element

 1006 - 11th Ave SW  403-802-0230

 http:.//www.twistedelement.ca

Bars & Clubs (Mixed) These venues regularly host LGBT events.

7 Broken City

 613 11th Ave SW  info@brokencity.ca

 http://www.brokencity.ca

 403-262-9976

 403-384-9777

Bathhouses/Saunas 5 Goliaths

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

Community Groups Alberta Society for Kink

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

N

 golf@apollocalgary.com

• Lawn Bowling

 lawnbowling@apollocalgary.com

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

• 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

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Directory & Events Fetish Slosh----------------------------  Evening

Calgary Events

At 3 Backlot

Mondays

 2nd

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

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

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

Saturdays

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

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

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

At 5 Goliaths

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

ASK Meet and Greet----------------  7-9:30pm

Wednesdays

Fridays

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

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

See

ISCCA BBQs--------------------------------Dinner

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

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

At 5 Goliaths

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

Tuesdays

Calgary Networking Club-------------- 5-7pm

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

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

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

Beers for Queers--------------------------  6pm

Thursdays

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

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

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

 Kerby Center, Sunshine Room 1133 7th Ave SW

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

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

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

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

Buddy Night-------------------------  6pm-6am

 Bonasera (1204 Edmonton Tr. NE) See 1 Calgary Outlink

See 1 Calgary Outlink By

 1st

YYC Badboys at 13 The Pint

At 5 Goliaths

At 3 Backlot

Knox United Church

 Old Y Centre (223 12th Ave SW)

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

 3rd

Between Men--------------------------- 7-9pm Karaoke-------------------------  8pm-12:30am

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

 2nd, 4th

At 4 Texas Lounge

ISCCA at 3 Backlot

See 1 Calgary Outlink

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

• Tennis

 tennis@apollocalgary.com

• Yoga

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

Calgary Expo

 http://www.calgaryexpo.com

Calgary Gay Fathers

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

Calgary Men’s Chorus

 http://www.calgarymenschorus.org

• Rehearsals

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

Calgary Sexual Health Centre

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

1 Calgary Outlink

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

• Peer Support and Crisis Line

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

 1st

See 1 Calgary Outlink

 2nd

See 1 Calgary Outlink

At 5 Goliaths

 3rd

At 1 Calgary Outlink

 4th

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

 1st

Sundays See See See See See

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

Rainbow Community Church

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

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

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

 M-F, 8:30am - 12:30pm + 1:30pm - 4:30pm

Hillhurst United Church

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

HIV Peer Support Group

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

Calgary Queer Book Club

 Weeds Cafe (1903 20 Ave NW)

Deer Park United Church/Wholeness Centre

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

• Telephone Support

 403-278-8263

Different Strokes

 http://www.differentstrokescalgary.org

FairyTales Presentation Society

 403-244-1956

 http://www.fairytalesfilmfest.com Alberta Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

• DVD Resource Library

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

Gay Friends in Calgary

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

Girl Friends

 girlfriends@shaw.ca

 members.shaw.ca/girlfriends

Girlsgroove

 http://www.girlsgroove.ca 2 HIV Community Link----------------------  110, 1603 10th Avenue SW  403-508-2500  1-877-440-2437  http://www.hivcl.org

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

56

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

At 5 Goliaths

 Calgary Contd.

• Squash

 2nd

See 1 Calgary Outlink

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

See 1 Calgary Outlink

By

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

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

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.

• Coffee Night

 2nd Cup, Kensington

Safety Under the Rainbow

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

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.

Sharp Foundation

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

Spectrum Volleyball Calgary

 http://www.spectrumvolleyball.ca  spectrumvolleyball@gmail.com Join us for recreational, competitive or beach volleyball.

www.gaycalgary.com

Directory & Events  Calgary Contd.

Unity Bowling

DevaDave Salon & Boutique (closed)

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

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

Wild Rose United Church

Ellen Embury

 1317-1st Street NW

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

Restaurants & Pubs 10 Flames Central---------------------------- See Calgary - Bars & Clubs (Mixed).

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.

16 Six 2 Eight --------------------------------- See Calgary - Bars & Clubs (Mixed).

13 The Pint See Calgary - Bars & Clubs (Mixed).

Hot Water Pools & Spas

Retail Stores

 2145 Summerfield Blvd  403-912-2045  http://www.hotwaterpoolsandspas.ca

Adult Depot (CLOSED)

Interactive Male

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

 403-355-3335  http://www.interactivemale.com

Adult Source--------------------------------

Lorne Doucette (CIR Realtors)

 10210 Macleod Tr S  403-271-7848

 #102 2323 32nd Ave NE  403-769-6177

 1536 16th Ave NW  403-289-4203

 4310 17th Ave SE  403-273-2710

 http://www.adultsourcecalgary.ca

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

 #4 - 1126 Kensington Rd NW  403-283-3555  http://www.thenakedleaf.ca Organic teas and tea ware.

Free and confidential HIV/AIDS and STI testing.

• Calgary Drop-in Centre

Priape Calgary (CLOSED)

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

• Centre of Hope

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

Pushing Petals

 1209 5th Ave NW  403-263-3070  http://www.pushingpetals.com

• Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre

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

Services & Products

• Safeworks Van

6th and Tenth - Sales Centre

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

 633 10th Ave SW  403-239-5511  http://www.6thandtenth.com

 M-W: 12-6pm, R: 2-7pm, S-N: 12-5pm

Wheel Pro’s

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

Barry Hollowell

 403-819-5219  http://www.bcbhcounselling.com

Calgary Civil Marriage Centre

Theatre & Fine Arts

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

ATP, Alberta Theatre Projects

 403-294-7402

Christopher T. Tahn (Thornborough Smeltz)

 11650 Elbow Dr SW  ctahn@thornsmeltz.com  http://www.thornsmeltz.com

See Calgary - Community Groups.

One Yellow Rabbit--------------------------

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

Courtney Aarbo (Barristers & Solicitors)

 3rd Floor, 1131 Kensington Road NW  403-571-5120  http://www.courtneyaarbo.ca GLBT legal services.

Cruiseline

 Calgary: 403-777-9494

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

www.gaycalgary.com

 http://www.ATPlive.com

Fairytales

 403-808-7147

Pumphouse Theatre------------------------

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

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

Webster Galleries Inc.

 812 11 Ave SW  403-263-6500  http://www.webstergalleries.com

 T-S: 10am-6pm, N: 1-4pm

EDMONTON Bars & Clubs (Gay) 6 Evolution Wonder Lounge

 10220 - 103 St  780-424-0077  http://www.yourgaybar.com

SafeWorks

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

Vertigo Mystery Theatre--------------------

MFM Communications

 Suite 27, Building B1, 2451 Dieppe Ave SW

 403-471-0204  780-922-3347  nrg@shaw.ca  http://www.nrgsupportservices.com

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

 403-703-4750

3 Buddy’s Nite Club (CLOSED)

 11725 Jasper Ave  780-488-6636

NRG Support Services

La Fleur (closed)

 403-266-1707 Florist and Flower Shop.

Third Street Theatre

 #3 306 20th Ave SW 

http://www.thirdstreet.ca

 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.

Best Health

Theatre Junction----------------------------

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

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

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

FLASH (CLOSED)

 10018 105 Street  flashnightclub@hotmail.com

 780-938-2941

UpStares Ultralounge (CLOSED)

 4th Floor, Jasper Ave and 107th Street 4 Mama’s Gin Joint

 11725 Jasper Ave

Edmonton Expo

 http://www.edmontonexpo.com

Edmonton Pride Festival Society (EPFS)

 http://www.edmontonpride.ca

Edmonton Prime Timers

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

Affiliated with Prime Timers World Wide.

Edmonton Rainbow Business Association

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

Edmonton Illusions Social Club

 780-387-3343

 groups.yahoo.com/group/edmonton_illusions 2 Edmonton STD

 11111 Jasper Ave

Edmonton Vocal Minority

 780-479-2038  www.evmchoir.com

 sing@evmchoir.com

Fellowship of Alberta Bears

 www.beefbearbash.com

GLBTQ Sage Bowling Club

 780-474-8240

 tuff@shaw.ca

HIV Network Of Edmonton Society--------

 780-488-6557

Bars & Clubs (Mixed) These venues regularly host LGBT events.

Hooliganz Pub (CLOSED)

 10704 124 St NW

7 The Starlite Room

 10030 102 St contact@starliteroom.ca  http://www.starliteroom.ca 8 Yellowhead Brewing Co.

 10229 105 St  info@yellowheadbrewery.com  http://www.yellowheadbrewery.com

Bathhouses/Saunas 5 Steamworks

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

Community Groups AltView Foundation

 #44, 48 Brentwood Blvd, Sherwood Park, AB

 403-398-9968  info@altview.ca  http://ww.altview.ca For gender variant and sexual minorities.

Book Worm’s Book Club

 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.

Camp fYrefly

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G5  http://www.fyrefly.ualberta.ca

 7-104 Dept. of Educational Policy Studies Faculty of Education, University of Alberta

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

by HIV.

InQueeries

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

Imperial Sovereign Court of the Wild Rose

 http://www.iscwr.ca

Living Positive Society of Alberta

 #50, 9912 - 106 Street 780-424-2214  living-positive@telus.net  http://www.facebook.com/LivingPoz Living Positive through Positive Living.

• HIV Support Group

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

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.

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

57

Directory & Events DOWNTOWN EDMONTON

1

6

8

5 4 3

1 Pride Centre of Edm.---- Community Groups 2 Edmonton STD---------- Community Groups

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

Team Edmonton

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

 3rd

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

 2nd

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

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

7

3 Buddy’s-----------------------Bars and Clubs 4 Mama’s Gin Joint-------------Bars and Clubs

5 Steamworks----------------------Bathhouses 6 Evolution----------------------Bars and Clubs

7 The Starlite Room------------Bars and Clubs 8 Yellowhead Brewing Co.-----Bars and Clubs

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

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

QH Youth Drop-in------------------  2-6:30pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fridays

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

Tuesdays

See

2

See 1 Youth Understanding Youth

Mondays

N

Team Edmonton

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

Team Edmonton

Thursdays

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton See See See

 2nd, 4th

BookWorm’s Book Club

 3rd

Team Edmonton Team Edmonton

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturdays

See

Team Edmonton

See

Wednesdays See

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

GLBTQ Sage Bowling Club

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

Youth Understanding Youth

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton See

Team Edmonton

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton See See

Men’s Games Nights

Youth Understanding Youth

Come knit and socialize in a safe and accepting environment - all skill levels are welcome.

• Men Talking with Pride

 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

Seniors Association of Greater Edmonton

 780-474-8240

 tuff@shaw.ca

Team Edmonton

 Ed’s Rec Room (West Edmonton Mall)

 bowling@teamedmonton.ca $15.00 per person.

 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.

• Cross Country Skiing

• Badminton (Mixed)

• Cycling (Edmonton Prideriders)

 crosscountry@teamedmonton.ca

• Curling with Pride

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

 dragonboat@teamedmonton.ca

• Women’s Social Circle

 andrea@pridecentreofedmonton.org Women’s Social Circle: A social support group for all female-identified persons over 18 years of age in the GLBT community - new members are always welcome.

58

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

Team Edmonton

Men Talking with Pride---------------- 7-9pm See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

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

Team Edmonton

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

 Robertson-Wesley United (10209 123 St)

 2nd

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

 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.

• Golf

 golf@teamedmonton.ca

• Gymnastics, Drop-in

•Ballroom Dancing

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

 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.

• Blazin’ Bootcamp

• Hockey

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

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

• Martial Arts

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

• Outdoor Pursuits

 outdoorpursuits@teamedmonton.ca

• Running (Arctic Frontrunners)

• Slo Pitch

• Badminton (Women’s)

A support and information group for all those who fall under the transgender umbrella and their family or supporters.

Team Edmonton

• Dragon Boat (Flaming Dragons)

• Queer HangOUT: Craft Night

• TTIQ

See

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

 St. Thomas Moore School, 9610 165 Street

 coedbadminton@teamedmonton.ca New group seeking male & female players.

Come and watch ALL the anime until your heart is content.

Team Edmonton

Sundays

 2nd

• Bowling (Northern Titans)

Come OUT with your game face on and meet some awesome people through board game fun.

• Queer HangOUT: Anime Night

See

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

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

Come OUT and embrace your creative side in a safe space.

 2nd

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

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

Buck Naked Boys Club

 Edmonton Contd.

• Knotty Knitters

 2nd, Last

Naturalist Gettogether See

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

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

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

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

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

 hockey@teamedmonton.ca

 Parkallen Field, 111 st and 68 ave  slo-pitch@teamedmonton.ca Season fee is $30.00 per person. $10 discount for players from the 2008 season.

• Snowballs V

 January 27-29, 2012  snowballs@teamedmonton.ca Skiing and Snowboarding Weekend.

• Soccer

 soccer@teamedmonton.ca

• Spin

 MacEwan Centre for Sport and Wellness 109 St. and 104 Ave

www.gaycalgary.com

Directory & Events Red Deer Events Wednesdays

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

CAANS

 1st

Friday, August 15th

 Edmonton Contd.  Wednesdays, 5:45-6:45pm Season has ended.  spin@teamedmonton.ca 7 classes, $28.00 per registrant.

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!

bring a dish to share that will serve 4-6 people, and your own beverage.

• Swimming (Making Waves)

• Soul OUTing

 Second Sunday every month, 7pm An LGBT-focused alternative worship.

 403-308-2893  Monday OR Wednesday, 7pm-11pm Leave a message any other time.

• Film Night

• Friday Mixer

 NAIT Pool (11762 - 106 Street)  swimming@teamedmonton.ca  http://www.makingwavesswimclub.ca

• Tennis

 Kinsmen Sports Centre  Sundays, 12pm-3pm

 tennis@teamedmonton.ca

• Ultimate Frisbee

 Sundays Summer Season starts July 12th  ultimatefrisbee@teamedmonton.ca E-mail if interested.

• Volleyball, Intermediate

 Amiskiwacy Academy (101 Airport Road)  volleyball@teamedmonton.ca

• Volleyball, Recreational

 Mother Teresa School (9008 - 105 Ave)  recvolleyball@teamedmonton.ca

• Women’s Lacrosse

 Sharon: 780-461-0017  Pam: 780-436-7374 Open to women 21+, experienced or not, all are welcome.

Call for info.

• Yoga

 Lion's Breath Yoga Studio (10350-124 Street)  yoga@teamedmonton.ca

Womonspace

 780-482-1794  womonspace@gmail.com  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 & Pubs 12 Mama’s Gin Joint See Edmonton - Bars & Clubs (Gay).

Retail Stores Passion Vault

 15239 - 111 Ave  780-930-1169  pvault@telus.net “Edmonton’s Classiest Adult Store”

Products & Services Cruiseline

 780-413-7122 trial code 3500  http://www.cruiseline.ca Telephone classifieds and chat - 18+ ONLY.

Robertson-Wesley United Church

 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

www.gaycalgary.com

 Bi-monthly, contact us for exact dates.

• Book Club

 Monthly, contact us for exact dates.

Theatre & Fine Arts Exposure Festival

 http://www.exposurefestival.ca Edmonton’s Queer Arts and Culture Festival.

The Roxy Theatre (closed)

 10708 124th Street, Edmonton AB  780-453-2440  http://www.theatrenetwork.ca

BANFF Community Groups HIV Community Link

 102 Spray Ave  PO Box 3160, Banff, AB T1L 1C8  403-762-0690

JASPER Accommodations Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge

 Old Lodge Road  1-866-540-4454  http://www.fairmont.com/jasper

Whistlers Inn

 105 Miette Ave  1-800-282-9919  info@whistlersinn.com  http://www.whistlersinn.com

Community Groups Jasper Pride Festival

 PO Box 98, 409 Patricia St., T0E 1E0

 contact@jasperpride.ca  http://www.jasperpride.ca

LETHBRIDGE Community Groups GALA/LA

 403-308-2893  http://www.galalethbridge.ca Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Lethbridge and Area.

• Monthly Dances

• Support Line

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.

 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.

ALBERTA

 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 Community Groups 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.

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.

MEDICINE HAT Community Groups HIV Community Link

 356 - 2 Street SE, Medicine Hat, AB  403-527-5882  1-877-440-2437

• Telephone Support

 M-F, 8:30am - 12:30pm + 1:30pm - 4:30pm

 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

GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

59

Classifieds Wedding/Union

190

Rork Hilford MC

Furniture

335

Safe Step Walk-In Tub Co.

OFFICIANT

MARRIAGE COMMISSIONER COMMISSIONER FOR OATHS IN ALBERTA

Products/Services 500 Certified Personal Trainer

Safe Step Walk-In Tub Alert for Seniors.

Bathroom falls can be fatal. Approved by Arthritis Foundation. Therapeutic Jets. Less Than 4 Inch Step-In. Wide Door. Anti-Slip Floors. American Made. Installation Included.

Call 1-800-594-9682 for $750 Off.

WEDDINGS AND MARRIAGES at your venue or in my home studio starting at $150 Destination Location Style • Elopement Style • Quick and Legal • Formal or Stylish • Immediate or in the Future • Religion Free • Standard or Customized Ceremonies • Cross Cultural • Opposite Sex • Same Sex LGBT-TTQ

Dating Service

415

GUYSPY ALL MALE HOT GAY HOOKUPS! Call FREE! 800-913-8509 only 18 and over

hilford@shaw.ca • 403-246-4134

Cleaning INTERACTIVE MALE Interested in guys? You aren’t the only curious one. It’s just a phone call. Sexy. Discreet. Free.

Why not try? 1-800-913-8509

Magical Music DJs

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

517

GET A LIFE! Commercial Cleaning

Help Wanted

Want to attract the LGBT local or traveler to your business?

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GayCalgary Magazine #156, December 2016 / January 2017

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