Xtra Ottawa #263

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GOOD WELLNESS & VALENTINE’S FEATURE

Celebrate V-Day without busting all your new year’s resolutions 14 Guest editorial Fighting Trinity Western

By Marcus McCann 6

National news Toronto photographer to document LGBT lives in Russia 12

What’s On Event listings 24

Feedback 6

International news Ugandan ambassador says anti-gay bill causing problems 12

Daily Xtra Travel

Xcetera 7

Upfront Centretown Community Health Centre receives funding increase Ottawa centre to expand facilities, including programming 9 Onward Ottawa Checking in with Mayor Jim Watson as he prepares to run for reelection 10 Local news Denis Schryburt to run for Ottawa City Council 12 COVER PHOTO BY RÉMI THÉRIAULT MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM

From the archives Death by media assassination? 13

Out in the City Questioning ‘truth’ Theatre duo looks at gay conversion therapy in new play 20 Cover story Character study Ottawa actor Margo MacDonald explores gender roles and women’s empowerment 22

Xposed By Zara Ansar 25

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The two solitudes of two-spirit Nigeria’s president signs anti-gay bill into law Capturing Bank and Somerset in photo exhibit XTRA! JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 5

Comment

The outcome that we seek is this — gay and lesbian people daring together to set love free.

Xtra is published by Pink Triangle Press, at 2 Carlton St, Ste 1600, Toronto, M5B 1J3.

6 JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 XTRA!

To donate to the legal challenge, visit gofundme.com/twulegalchallenge Marcus McCann is a law student at the University of Toronto and the former managing editor of Xtra.

SAMUEL DANIEL TORONTO, ON

The Vatican and Uganda He lost me at “conversion” [“Uganda: Vatican Rep Caught Off- Guard by Anti-Gay Bill’s Passage,” dailyxtra.com, Dec 30]. It’s still bullshit, more of that “learn to be straight”–type therapy that really just messes people up.

MARIO JOHNOVITECH (FACEBOOK) TORONTO, ON

It’s nice to see the Catholic Church making these small steps towards being less of a despicable organization.

ALAN KING (FACEBOOK) RED DEER, AB

Sex-work ruling I read the Supreme Court ruling and it seems that it is gender neutral [“Sex Workers Celebrate Supreme Court Ruling,” dailyxtra.com, Dec 20]. While three females put forth the original application to the court, it seems to apply to all. Finally, the Charter prohibits discrimination and differential treatment on the basis of sex and would

#262 DEC 12, 2013–JAN 15, 2014

Trinity would be homophobic if they only banned same-sex intimacy [“Fighting Trinity Western,” dailyxtra.com, Dec 23]. They actually ban opposite-sex intimacy outside of marriage (premarital sex and adultery) as well, so they are more sexphobic than homophobic. Different cultures tend to have different beliefs. If gay people don’t want their culture to change, why do they expect Christians to change their culture? Live and let live.

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BC government and the law societies to refuse accreditation, as they ought to. For more than a year, people who care about this issue — law students especially — have been protesting and writing letters to push decision-makers into doing the right thing.

Court challenges are not the best way to challenge bigotry. They’re protracted, expensive, messy things. Even if justice prevails, courts can’t undo past harms. Even victories can result in bad precedents, which haunt the law for years to come. They can sap the energy out of an otherwise vibrant movement.

And they can’t get at many of the wrongs faced by gay and trans people.

No court case can cure the Catholic Church of its history of homophobia.

Indeed, formal legal equality is a narrow thing. It can address only the most basic of wrongs. But Trinity Western Law’s sexuality-based admissions policy is just such a case. It is a basic and obvious wrong.

Crowd-funding this legal challenge is a slight twist on an old theme. Gays have been taking the government to court for years. But thanks to technology, Ruby, Chaisson and I — and our allies — won’t need to embark on a road trip to get the job done, as fun as that would be.

OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

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It was not that long ago — just 20 years — that Janine Fuller and her friends piled into an old van and drove out of Vancouver, embarking on a multi-city road trip.

They were raising money for a court challenge to oppose the seizure at the Canadian border of books and magazines destined for Little Sister’s Book and Art Emporium.

Little Sister’s held benefit readings and screenings from Toronto to San Francisco. In one delightfully irreverent fundraiser, Cleis Press released an anthology excerpting material that had been seized at the border. They called it Forbidden Passages.

A decade before that, Torontonians struck the Right to Privacy Committee, which helped defray the legal costs of gay men charged in the 1981 bathhouse raids. It also sent volunteer observers to court proceedings and lobbied governments to make sure that such police abuse never happened again.

It’s worth remembering that most of our victories haven’t been won because our political leaders have been gracious or taken our best interests to heart. No: by and large, they’ve been cowardly and risk adverse. Our victories have come through protest and sit-ins and letter-

writing campaigns. And, sometimes, by suing the bastards.

The latest controversy was sparked

by Trinity Western, an evangelical Christian university in Langley, BC. The school makes students sign an anti-gay pledge, and students can face discipline or expulsion for “same sex intimacy.” Trinity Western wants to launch a law school, and in December, it won important approvals from the BC government and from the Federation of Law Societies of Canada.

Some have said that the decision of the BC government will inevitably be challenged in court. I think that’s probably true, but it depends on what you mean by “inevitably.” In this case, “inevitably” doesn’t mean “with no work” or “without people pitching in.” It means, rather, that we can count on gay and trans communities to oppose the decision and to rally.

That’s why a group of people — myself included — are crowd-funding a legal challenge to the accreditation of Trinity Western Law. Prominent lawyers like Clayton Ruby and Angela Chaisson have expressed interest in the case. I suspect lawyers who care about this issue will put in a lot of free or deeply discounted time. But there are fixed costs that cannot be waived, including disbursements and filing fees.

Taking legal action is not my first preference. My first choice is for the

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GUEST COLUMN MARCUS MCCANN

Trinity Western editorial

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Newsmaker of the year

Vladimir Putin’s anti-gay laws have ensured the Sochi Olympics will be about much more than sports 14

CAPITAL PRIDE 9

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 20

DANNIEL OICKLE

30

overrule an unfair law.

CAELAN TORONTO, ON

Mark Zmuda resignation We really need to have one school board [“US: Catholic School Students Protest Gay Vice-Principal’s Resignation,” dailyxtra.com, Dec 19]. It’s a pretty gross inequality for one faith to have their own schools, not to mention they are contravening employment law in this instance.

EARL COUSINS (FACEBOOK) TORONTO, ON

Calgary Village gentrification As in Toronto and most other places, even in the US, the gay village is also disappearing in Montreal [“Calgary’s Shrinking Gay-Club Scene,” dailyxtra. com, Dec 28]. Gentrification is the obvious cause. Behind the scenes there is much more: we live in a political world chock full of equal rights where some are more equal than others. If you remove a wildlife habitat, let’s say to build a condo, the wildlife disappear.

ZACK TORONTO, ON

OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

XCETERA

NOT KEN & BARBIE

Gay dolls? Nyet

Elton John, Stephen Fry, George Michael, Graham Norton and Tom Daley were refused entry into the Russian embassy in London . . . that is, their nesting-doll likenesses were. British LGBT group Kaleidoscope Trust tried to deliver the dolls to the embassy Dec 18; they made it past the English bobbies but not a Russian official, who refused the gift.

OMG

NO TO 377

A not-so-Orthodox calendar

Fuck section 377. Im very proud to be illegal in any context. I owe that to my sikhi heritage and my mom.

Like Madonna’s “Like a Prayer,” the 2014 Orthodox Calendar’s pin-up “priests” will “take you there.”

Calendar name: Bigger, Harder, Better Primary goal: “Demonstrate that Orthodox believers do not all fit the backward, hidebound stereotype portrayed in the press but rather are regular people with passions, preferences, interests and desires.”

Dedication: Tribute to LGBT Russians.

— Kanwar Singh Saini, who posted a photo on Facebook — taken at a Dec 15 Toronto protest against the Indian Supreme Court’s reinstatement of Section 377, which criminalizes gay sex — of himself kissing another man. Facebook suspended Saini’s account and removed the photo because it reportedly violated the site’s “terms and policies” but eventually reposted it, saying it was “mistakenly” taken down.

“Protecting your Rights and Freedoms” All Criminal Charges including • HIV non-disclosure • Drunk driving • Domestic assaults • Drugs • Fraud

OLYMPIC SNUBBING

Sochi no-shows Our head count of heads of state not going to the Olympics — so far.

Kris Peeters François Hollande

Minister-President, Flanders

President, France

Stephen Harper Prime Minister, Canada

Barack Obama President, United States

Ian M. Carter

Joachim Gauck President, Germany

Elio Di Rupo Prime Minister, Belgium MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM

Viviane Reding Benjamin Netanyahu,

David Cameron Prime Minister, United Kingdom

Joe Biden Vice-President, United States

Prime Minister, Israel

European Union commissioner

Criminal Lawyer Bayne Sellar Boxall

icarter@bsbcriminallaw.com C: (613) 808-0820 XTRA! JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 7

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Upfront

I think it’s up to individuals, whether you’re well known or not well known, to decide whether you’re going to come out or not. Mayor Jim Watson 10

Centretown Community Health Centre receives funding increase Ottawa centre to expand facilities, including programming COMMUNITY NEWS JULIE CRUIKSHANK

With a catchment area that includes Centretown, the Glebe and Old Ottawa South, the Centretown Community Health Centre (CCHC) provides primary care and vital services to an incredibly diverse urban population, one whose needs and demographics change each year. This everchanging, ever-expanding downtown population has left the centre stretched at the seams in its quest to accommodate as many people as possible and connect them with the vital services they need. But all of that is about to change.

On Dec 16, Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi announced that the CCHC is to receive not only capital funding from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, but also a $150,000 annual increase to its operating budget from the Champlain Local Health Integration Network (LHIN).

The funding will allow the centre to secure an additional 5,000 square feet of space in an adjacent building, relieving some of the pressure on its current facilities and opening up more space for patients.

“This was about two to three years in the works,” says Jeff Morrison, president of the CCHC board. “In the 10 years that we’ve been at this space [at 420 Cooper St] the demands on our services have grown astronomically.” This, coupled with the fact that its lease is set to expire in 2014, spurred the centre to action in search of a permanent solution. The CCHC team approached both the province and the Champlain LHIN with their funding requirements.

“We certainly recognized the need for a bigger space to accommodate more growth and services, not only for today, but going into the future,” says Chantale LeClerc, CEO of Champlain LHIN. When space became available in the adjacent building on Cooper Street, the solution fell into place. Part of the funding the centre received MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM

From left: Chantale LeClerc, Wilbert Keon, Yasir Naqvi, Jeff Morrison, Simone Thibault and David Chernushenko celebrate the Dec 16 announcement of increased funding for the Centretown CHC. EMILIE SARTORETTO

will go toward renovating that space to house its administrative functions.

“Why we were happy to provide the additional operating funds is because they will be able to serve more people,” LeClerc says. The LHIN anticipates that the renovations and expansion will allow the CCHC to serve 440 new patients

in primary care alone and more than 60 others through its mental health services. Nearly 100 more people will have access to addiction services.

The funding will also allow for more than 1,000 more visits for children through the early years services, more than 1,500 more encounters through the CCHC’s health promotion services and an ad-

CCHC’S GAY ZONE GAIE PROGRAM The gay men’s health clinic Gay Zone Gaie celebrated five years of providing sexual health services and social groups to the city’s gay community on Sept 25, 2013.

The clinic, which is run out of Centretown Community Health Centre (CCHC) and is open only three hours per week, has seen more than 5,000 men in the past five years.

“The fact that five years later it has grown as quickly as it has — it’s expanded, it will contin-

ue to expand — I think speaks volumes about its value to the gay community,” says CCHC board president Jeff Morrison.

The clinic will soon have access to an anoscopy clinic, led by Dr Paul MacPherson, to test for anal cancer. —Bradley Turcotte Gay Zone Gaie is open Thursday evenings, 5–8pm, at the Centretown Community Health Centre, 420 Cooper St.

ditional 300 hours of health education programming. “So for $150,000 they’re getting all of that, and that’s because they’ll be able to make better use of the space that they have,” LeClerc says.

The centre hopes to develop more programs, including at-home care for seniors, a downtown population that has grown in recent years. Also being considered is an expansion of the successful Gay Zone Gaie program.

The space that is freed up by the acquisition of the new building will be transformed into more patient-care facilities. The existing patient-care areas will also be renovated. “That will mean two things, really,” Morrison says. “It will mean better care in the space we already have and more care in the space we’ll be taking over.” He anticipates the project will take about three years from start to finish and says the CCHC will remain open during this time.

“The centre will never shut down; the doors will always be open,” he says. “There may be some disruption at times when things are being moved or things are being worked on, but at no point will we ever close the doors.”

XTRA! JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 9

ONWARD

OTTAWA

Checking in with Mayor Jim Watson as he prepares to run for reelection Q&A ADRIENNE ASCAH

Mayor Jim Watson recently sat down for a year-end interview with Xtra to discuss his take on LGBT issues, his plans for re-election and his opinion about public figures staying closeted. From street sweeps to promoting the Village, from Capital Pride to WorldPride, the Ottawa mayor tells us more in this edited interview, which took place Dec 19.

XTRA: When it comes to your legacy,

how would you like to be remembered in terms of your contribution to Ottawa’s LGBT community?

I think it’s always dangerous to have politicians talk about their legacy. It’s a little self-serving, but certainly I’ve been proud of my relationship with the LGBT community and being the first mayor to actually walk in the Pride parade and voluntarily declare it Pride Week. I look forward to

JIM WATSON:

continuing a strong relationship with the community. It took forever to get Village signs up, [so] I met with the organizers and others who wanted to put the signs up and we just did it. I think it adds to the ambiance of Bank Street.

Questions about your legacy are a bit premature since you’re running for reelection in 2014, right?

I am, yeah. I think we’ve accomplished a lot as a council together in terms of things like the light-rail project, which, as you know, we’ve debated for a long time — several decades — and I’m very proud to be the head of the council that actually got the project signed, sealed and construction started. That’s really going to help transform our city and the way we move about and the places people can live if they don’t have a car.

On Dec 7 and Dec 14, six men were arrested in what police refer to as john sweeps. How do you respond to

sex workers’ concerns that sweeps — whether they target sex workers or their customers — put sex workers in danger because they have to choose between their safety and avoiding arrest?

My view is that the police have a job to do, and if there’s any kind of illegal activity taking place, then the police are following the law of the land, which in this case is the Criminal Code. As a politician I try not to second-guess the police. I’m also on the Police Service board, and I think it’s not a healthy relationship if the politicians are trying to micromanage how the police do their job. I think what we do is try to set the broad parameters in terms of budget and policy. I think Ottawa has a very strong relationship with the GLBT community, with their liaison committee, and I’m proud of the work that they do to bring issues forward, but in terms of the day-to-day decisions on operations, sweeps and stings and so on, that’s really a matter for the [police] chief.

Mayor Jim Watson takes part in the 2013 Capital Pride parade.

Toronto has The 519, a city-funded, dedicated LGBT community centre. Would you consider looking into a city-funded LGBT community centre in Ottawa?

I remember this was examined many years ago, I think even when I was mayor the first time, back in the 1990s.

[Watson’s first term was 1997 to 2000.]

Some individuals got together and started to put together what I assume would have been a business plan or something along those lines, and to be

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WorldPride takes place in Toronto next year. Do you plan to attend, and will there be an Ottawa contingent going to represent our city?

I’m sure there’s going to be lots of people from Ottawa going to WorldPride.

Whether I’m going or not, it’s hard to tell because next year is our election year, so I’ll probably be spending a fair amount of time on the campaign trail.

But I would hope Capital Pride has a delegation going, and certainly there’ll be lots of residents going because I think it’s a pretty major event for our country and our province to host WorldPride for the first time.

Given your positive experiences of Pride, would you consider increasing funding to Capital Pride?

The festival funding goes through a jury system, so they try to keep it out of the hands of the politicians so that we don’t end up playing favourites. It’s based on a jury system through our arts-and-culture branch. They put in applications and they’re judged by their peers against a number of criteria. We have increased the funding each and every year we’ve been in office to the cultural branch, which allows more dollars to go into the festivals.

honest, I don’t think it really got the momentum. What I’ve always tried to advocate is a sense of inclusiveness when it comes to community centres.

We’ve got a lot of community centres that are scattered throughout the city based on neighbourhoods as opposed to gender or ethnicity. At one point there was a multicultural community centre that opened up on Richmond Road, and it really did not succeed, quite frankly, because there was a sense

that we were trying to — that the group that was trying to put it together was almost trying to ghettoize the multicultural community.

For queer groups in Ottawa that don’t have their own meeting spaces, do you think city facilities are currently inclusive and available to them?

Yeah, I believe so. I certainly haven’t had any complaints. There are deep discounts for not-for-profit groups.

Bullying is an ongoing issue that gets a lot of local and national attention.

Many queer educators say that when adults — particularly those who are public figures — stay closeted, youth perceive that as a tacit message that it isn’t okay to be queer. How can public figures who stay closeted tell queer youth to accept themselves, which youth perceive as a mixed message?

I think it’s up to individuals, whether you’re well known or not well known, to decide whether you’re going to come out or not. That’s a personal decision that individuals make. I think one of the things that we’ve tried to do through Ottawa Public Health and organizations like Jer’s Vision and the Youth Services Bureau is provide the funding for counselling for individuals who feel bullied.

I think the legislation that [Ottawa Centre MPP] Yasir Naqvi worked on at the provincial level to amend the Education Act was a positive step forward as well.

What do you say to the argument that sexual orientation isn’t a private issue because sexuality isn’t confined to what we do in private, and for people in positions of power, coming out is necessary in a world that marginalizes queer people?

As I said, I think it’s up to the individual to make that decision. When and if he or she is ready to announce that, then that’s fully their choice, and I respect that.

What are your plans to help promote and expand the Village so that it continues to be a vibrant location for locals and tourists?

I’m encouraged by the new direction of the BIA. I met with Christine Leadman

as we head towards the completion of LRT in 2018.

Many municipalities across Canada introduced citywide composting with relative ease. Why have Ottawans been so resistant to using green bins?

One, there tends to be a reluctance when a change is introduced, and the green bin was a change. We saw a similar experience when the blue bin and the black bin were brought in and people didn’t want to sort their recycling. Secondly, when the previous council signed the deal — people use this as an excuse not to use the green bin, which I don’t understand — but we haven’t met our target of 80,000 tons of waste going into the green-bin stream even though we’re paying for it.

Critics will say the system’s not working because we have such a bad contract. To that I say use the green bin more and

I look forward to continuing a strong relationship with the community.

MAYOR JIM WATSON [executive director of the Bank Street Business Improvement Area] on [Dec 18] on a couple of different issues, and I’m certainly open to ideas and suggestions from the community, the BIA and the working group as to how we can better enhance and market that particular part of Bank Street in the Village. I think that the parade was back on Bank Street was a positive thing, and it gives an opportunity on a go-forward basis when Lansdowne opens to see what kinds of events we could do for Pride at the public spaces at Lansdowne.

When light rail gets going, will there be signage to draw attention to areas like the Village, Chinatown and Little Italy?

I think that’s a great area. That’s one of the things that they’re looking at now

we’ll up our tonnage. We’re in arbitration with respect to how much yard and leaf waste can be included in the green bin.

The Ottawa Police Service established the first community-based hate crime unit in Canada in 1993. Do you see Ottawa’s hate crime unit as a success story, or is there more work to be done?

I think it’s both a success story and it’s one of these things where as long as there are hate crimes in our society and people abusing other people, there’ll always be more work to do. I think the fact that we have a dedicated unit and a very progressive chief of police and Police Service board should be a signal to the community that we take hate crimes seriously.

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XTRA! JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 11

LOCAL NEWS

Denis Schryburt to run for Ottawa City Council Denis Schryburt was so excited about filing his papers to run for Ottawa City Council he couldn’t stop shaking. “I was the first one at city hall last week to register,” he said in a Jan 9 interview with Xtra. “I was shaking because I was so excited. A friend of mine was there taking pictures and he said, ‘You’re shaking too much.’ I said ‘I know, I’m so excited.’”

Schryburt’s name is well known in both LGBT circles and the broader Ottawa community. He’s the community co-chair for the Ottawa Police Service’s LGBT liaison committee, a co-founder

Denis Schryburt. ADRIENNE ASCAH

of TotoToo Theatre, a former president of PTS and past vice-president of the Centretown Citizens Community Association.

From his day job as a civil servant to volunteering in the arts, for charities and supporting local business, Schryburt says he always focuses on trying to serve his community.

“I was born and raised in Ottawa; so were my parents, and the city has been fantastic to us,” he says. “We’ve lived a good life here. From a very early age my parents [told me] it’s important to give back.”

Winning the Somerset Ward 14 seat won’t be easy. The current councillor, Diane Holmes, has held her seat since 2003. She confirmed to Xtra she’ll be filing papers to run “in the next couple of weeks” and will begin door-to-door campaigning for the Oct 27 election in May. “She’s very well liked,” says Schryburt, who was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal last year for his community contributions.

“Definitely it will be a challenge, but I look forward to it.” — Adrienne Ascah NATIONAL NEWS

Toronto photographer to document LGBT lives in Russia

As Russia gears up for the Olympics, Toronto photographer Kristy Boyce will be quietly setting up shop in St Petersburg and embarking on the latest and riskiest endeavour of her What Dyke Looks Like project: capturing the faces and stories of LGBT Russians.

The project’s main focus to date has, as the name implies, been on dykes. Aiming to disrupt mainstream notions about gay women, Boyce has photographed more than 100 women and genderqueer folks over the past three years, everyone from two-spirit elders to femmes in pin-up girl poses, but all North Americans.

She’s now taking that project to Russia.

Of course, she’ll have to get through the border first. “I’ve always known that there’s a possibility . . . that they may not even let me into the country.”

A simple internet search would quickly alert immigration authorities to Boyce’s plans, but it’s too late to stuff her internet presence back in the closet. She just hopes Russia will be too busy with the Olympics and putting on a human-rights-friendly face to bother with her.

Boyce’s girlfriend is supportive, but not everyone is convinced this is a good idea. “My dad’s not impressed.

My grandmother just keeps saying, ‘You don’t come from a family with money, so if something bad happens to you, we don’t have $10,000 or $20,000 dollars to get you out.’”

12 JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 XTRA!

Photographer Kristy Boyce is the creator of the What Dyke Looks Like project.

But with her experiences as a freelance photojournalist, including stints in Zimbabwe and Ghana, Boyce feels equipped to manoeuvre through Russia.

As for the safety of her subjects, Boyce will protect the identities of those who request anonymity and will let the rest assume the risk of open participation. “I’m not labouring under any assumption that I know what’s better for Russian gays than they do,” Boyce explains, “because they know what life is like there and what the risks are.”

She notes that some of her contacts there are very out, even kissing their partners in Facebook photos, so it’s hard to know what day-to-day life is really like for LGBT Russians in the current climate. Of course, that’s largely the point of the project. — Elah Feder INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Ugandan ambassador says anti-gay bill causing problems

Uganda’s parliamentary speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, has assailed international criticism of lawmakers’ passage of an

anti-gay bill, saying that her country is a sovereign state and won’t be bullied.

Kadaga was reacting to information that Uganda’s ambassadors are being harassed about the bill, which has attracted renewed condemnation from a number of countries and human rights groups.

Kadaga also denounced British businessman and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, who criticized the anti-gay bill on his blog. Branson says that “Uganda must reconsider or find itself being ostracised by companies and tourists worldwide.”

Ugandan Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi reportedly has told ambassadors to undertake aggressive campaigns to shore up and promote Uganda’s image. But according to one report, Uganda’s ambassador to Canada replied that the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, yet to be signed by President Yoweri Museveni, is making it more difficult to do as Mbabazi is urging.

Meanwhile, Museveni, who is under ongoing pressure to either sign the bill or reject it, has said he intends to review the bill before deciding whether to give it his assent or send it back to parliament. — Natasha Barsotti OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

High jump Death by media assassination?

FROM OUR ARCHIVES KAREN PATRICK

To celebrate Xtra’s 20 years of publishing to Ottawa’s gay and lesbian community, we’re digging through our archives to reprint a selection of noteworthy stories that highlight our community’s rich history. “High Jump” first appeared in Capital Xtra #31, March 22, 1996.

T

HE YEAR IS 1975: A TIME of Pierre Trudeau and the Watergate tapes. The frontpage headlines clamour about an Ottawa high-school teachers’ strike. Then the panic begins.

March 7, 1975

A page-two story in the Ottawa Citizen announces a second arrest in the uncovering of a homosexual prostitution ring in conservative Ottawa. The date is Fri, March 7, 1975 — and a tragedy that will lead to one man’s untimely

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death has begun.

The morality squad had conducted a two-month vice-ring investigation, the article says. Juveniles were involved, police allege — and the media jump on the case. In 1975, consenting sex is illegal for heterosexuals under age 14.

For homosexuals, the age of consent is much higher: 21.

Twenty-one-year-old Michel Gravel is said to be the ringleader — and the media publish his name and address.

He is charged with several offences: keeping a common bawdyhouse, gross

indecency and contributing to juvenile delinquency.

Defence counsel Doug Singer argues his client is losing a chance at a fair trial because of the widespread publicity. But Judge Elmer Smith dismisses a publication ban motion, stating, “Nothing worthy of print” had been heard.

The judge releases Gravel on $1,000 bail. He is ordered to report to psychia-

trists at the Royal Ottawa Hospital Monday morning and to check in with the morality squad three times a week.

Police warn the press it’s only the beginning: charges against customers, some described as prominent persons, may be laid.

Records are seized from the Unique Male Modelling agency on First Avenue and from the Teenage Models for Nude Modelling on Gloucester Street.

Ten boys aged 11 to 17 are questioned in connection with the prostitution ring.

Over the next week, radio, television and print media dutifully report the sensational story as charges are announced, a few at a time — a highlevel bureaucrat, a journalist, civil servants. A total of 15 men are charged.

March 17, 1975

Ten days later, St Patrick’s Day 1975. The press announce four more names. “More people may be charged,” police declare.

That morning, Warren Zufelt, a 34year public servant goes to court to face charges of gross indecency in connec-

tion with the male prostitution ring involving juveniles. His home address, including apartment number, is printed in the press accounts of the arrest. That afternoon he will jump from the roof of the 13-storey Chesterton Towers apartment building.

Nepean police say Zufelt was pronounced dead on arrival at the Civic Hospital at 4:25pm. Zufelt, the media add, was unmarried.

No more names are announced by the police.

Zufelt’s lawyer, Leonard Shore, publicly accuses the media and police of irresponsibility. He argues that media and police are responsible for Zufelt’s death. He says Zufelt was “highly upset and terrified about the publicity.”

Later that week, 15 members of Gays of Ottawa protest in front of the Ottawa Journal and the police station.

The police and media are now under fire. The coverage is characterized as “vicious,” “a witch hunt,” by more than a dozen University of Toronto professors in a public letter.

By the weekend, the media have dropped the story altogether. A new juicy scandal has arrived, ripe for their reportage — Dr Henry Morgentaler is on his way to prison in Quebec, for performing illegal abortions. His lawyer says he hopes that his client will be out of jail in nine months.

XTRA! JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 13

GOODLovin WELLNESS & VALENTINE’S FEATURE

’

Celebrate V-Day without busting all your new year’s resolutions BY JULIE CRUIKSHANK

Ah, Valentine’s Day. The day when we celebrate that magical feeling that comes from thinking another human being is super great. Typically, we celebrate with chocolate, candy and champagne. Of course, given that it falls in February, most of us have only recently awoken from an eggnog coma. So what to do? How do you profess your love for your significant other(s) without skyrocketing right off the glycemic index? How do you say, “I love you” without giving in to the siren call of cinnamon hearts and Laura Secord? Luckily in Ottawa there are plenty of options for a Valentine’s Day that is fun and romantic — and also health-conscious. After all, love is sweet all by itself.

PLANT RECREATION CENTRE

930 Somerset St W ottawa.ca/en/residents/parks-and-recreation

If you’re going to work out, why not do it in a beautifully renovated heritage building?

Originally built in 1924 and named for a former mayor, Plant Recreation Centre has a lot going for it. Its façade is an impressive example of NeoGothic architecture, and extensive renovations undertaken between 1996 and 2004 preserved the original structure and added up-to-date facilities. “The cost to build Plant pool in the ’20s was $55,000,” says facility manager Jacques Morissette. “The renovations of this building were around $8 million.”

The area once occupied by the original pool is now used for yoga, pilates, aerobics, Zumba and myriad other fitness classes. The rest of the original building is made up of smaller rooms where a variety of classes, from music to martial arts to sword-handling, are offered. The pool area includes a 25-metre semi-Olympic pool, a smaller leisure pool, a whirlpool and a steam room. The centre also has a weight and cardio room with well-maintained machines and helpful trainers on hand, and the outdoor grounds include a basketball court, two soccer fields and, in the winter, a skating rink. At $76.50, an all-inclusive one-month membership makes a great Valentine’s gift.

14 JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 XTRA!

JULIE CRUIKSHANK

FLOWERS AND VINTAGE 502½ Somerset St W facebook.com/pages/sparrow-floral-design

COURTESY OF CITY OF OTTAWA

WELLNESS & VALENTINE’S FEATURE

Tucked away in a tiny shop at the corner of Lyon and Somerset streets, Flowers and Vintage offers an alternative to the traditional dozen roses from the grocery store. As its name suggests, half the store is devoted to vintage clothing and the other half is dedicated to flowers. Jamie Garner is the brains behind Housewife Vintage, and Vanessa Madely runs the floral side of the operation as Sparrow Floral Design. “We’re sharing the space just because we sort of felt that our aesthetics really complemented each other well, and flowers and vintage dresses are kind of a perfect combo,” Madely says. She combines unusual blossoms and greenery with vintage glass and Mason jars to create bouquets and arrangements that have a wonderfully rustic feel. “Before going into flowers, actually, my main interest was with antiques,” she says. “I’m just a really nostalgic kind of person, and I love anything old-timey with a history or with a little story behind it.”

If you prefer something less traditional than a bouquet, Madely also makes beautiful glass terrariums with air plants and succulents. She always has plenty of premade bouquets, starting at $30, ready for Valentine’s Day, and she takes custom orders the week of. The store is cash-only, so if you’re of the lastminute inclination, bear that in mind.

OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

Place for Paws

The name just about says it all

Angela Zorn

ottawamensyoga.ca

Boarding Camp for Dogs & Cats

2432 Old Hwy 17 RR #1, Rockland, ON K4K 1K7

The Glebe Minyan: The Glebe Minyan: A queer-friendly spiritual community A queer-friendly com grounded in Judaism, openspiritual to all!

Offering regular prayer services, educational andgrounded social events. in Judaism, open to

613-446-2280

THIMBLECAKES

JULIE CRUIKSHANK

LGBT owned and operated

Rabbi Anna Maranta, Spiritual Leader Tel: 613.867.5505 Offering regular prayer services, Email: glebeminyan@gmail.com

369 Bank St, thimblecakes.ca

At ThimbleCakes, the focus is on delicious treats made with wholesome ingredients. The shop offers a variety of gluten-free confections that are also egg-, nut- and dairy-free. They can also make cupcakes that are corn-free, soy-free, rice-free, sugar-free and vegan and use only organic sugars and flours. “There’s so many people with dietary needs and requirements, and so it only made sense,” says manager Katriina Kuhn. The shop offers an impressive array of flavours, from the traditional to the exotic, including red velvet, Irish coffee, chocolate blueberry and chocolate-chip cookie dough. “It’s fun when you can have a dozen cupcakes and every one is a different flavour,” Kuhn says. A single cupcake is $3.80, a half dozen go for $19.80, or if you really want to splurge, a dozen can be had for $35.80.

The shop also offers drinks, so if you’re looking for a cute spot for a mid-day Valentine’s date, consider stopping in for cupcakes and espresso.

and social events.

Kim’sBy Ins Choi Convenience January 22 TO February 8

– TORONTO STAR

JULIE CRUIKSHANK

PURPLE URCHIN

884 Somerset St W, purpleurchinsoap.com

If you want a spa experience but can’t quite afford a trip to Nordik Spa-Nature, Purple Urchin carries natural bath and body products perfect for at-home pampering. All their products are vegetarian and nearly all are 100-percent natural. For a romantic evening at home, light an EcoSoy candle ($17.99) and create a soothing bath with a Love Potion bath bomb ($3.99). If you’re going on a first date and want to bring a gift, try some bar soap ($5.99), available in an array of scents, including Lumberjack, Sweetgrass, Blackberry Ripple and Apple Cider.

Purple Urchin’s lip butters ($4.99 each or five for $20) are also crowd pleasers and come in Maple Walnut, Coconut, Honeycomb, Root Beer and Raspberry.

Of course, Valentine’s Day isn’t only for couples; for some serious selfpampering, sales maverick Carly Pereira recommends the Unmarked raw facial serum ($27.99) or the Cocoa Butter & Coffee scrub ($13.99). Another great option is the Chocolate Facial Mask ($9.99), which smells divine and leaves skin feeling soft and supple. For a less-sweet experience, there’s also the Dead Sea Mud mask ($13.99).

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WELLNESS & VALENTINE’S FEATURE

OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

GOOD

HERB AND SPICE WELLNESS SHOP 224 Bank St facebook.com/pages/ herb-spice-shop

An offshoot of the Herb and Spice food shop across the street, the newly opened Wellness Shop offers an impressive array of natural supplements and health and beauty products. If your energy levels need a boost this Valentine’s Day, here is a list of products, courtesy of the Wellness Shop’s registered holistic nutritionists, that can help stoke the fires of love. Of course, before using any supplements or medicinal products, be sure to consult a doctor or natural health practitioner.

AOR Classic Series I-3-C $35.29 Derived from cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and kale, indole-3carbinol (I-3-C) is an adrenal-booster particularly helpful to men. It is a negative regulator of estrogen, and research has indicated that it could have a preventative effect against some estrogen-enhanced cancers. It also has potential health benefits for FTM trans people. As always, though, consult with a doctor or natural health practitioner first.

JULIE CRUIKSHANK

Organic Traditions Maca X-12 $14.59

Lorna Vanderhaeghe Love personal lubricant $19.69

Maca is a turnip-like root vegetable native to Peru that helps to replenish the endocrine system, increasing energy levels and decreasing stress.

It contains the amino acid L-arginine, which increases oxygen absorption throughout the body and can improve blood flow to the genitals. For a more romantic maca delivery method, try the Vega maca chocolate bar for $3.29.

Water-based, latex-friendly and nonstaining, this lube is also long lasting and odour free. In addition to using it during sex, it can be used throughout the day to relieve vaginal dryness.

It doesn’t become sticky with use and contains no toxic preservatives, animal products, petroleum or mineral oils.

Purica Cordyceps capsules $55.39 Cordyceps is a mushroom traditionally used by the indigenous peoples of Tibet and Nepal that’s associated with vitality, energy, immune enhancement and libido. It contains a protein that helps to increase blood flow, meaning it can help to increase sexual stamina and the development and maintenance of erections.

Druide Sensual foaming bath $14.39 Aura Cacia Heart Song natural aromatherapy bubble bath $9.99 For a stimulating time with your honey or for some solo pleasure and relaxation, you can’t go wrong with either of these bubble baths. Both contain aphrodisiacal essential oils, including ylang-ylang, cinnamon, rose and ginger.

ZEN KITCHEN 634 Somerset St W zenkitchen.ca

Zen Kitchen’s vegan panna cotta. JULIE CRUIKSHANK

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If you’re trying to impress a vegan or vegetarian date, you can’t possibly go wrong with Zen Kitchen. The cozy little restaurant serves an all-vegan menu focusing on whole foods that are environmentally friendly, beautifully presented and big on flavour. “We depend entirely on fruits and vegetables and things like legumes for proteins,” says owner Dave Loan. “We try to balance healthy with flavourful and delicious. We’re not a restaurant that wants to compromise on the flavour in any way, and we’re known, actually, for doing big flavours.” Most dishes on the menu are also glutenfree, and Zen Kitchen can cater to almost any dietary restriction or requirement.

For Valentine’s Day, Zen Kitchen is offering a fourcourse chef’s tasting menu that focuses on the foods of love and passion (think chocolate, almonds, pomegranates, chilis and avocado). The cost is $65/ person with an optional $30 wine pairing, and the restaurant is now taking bookings for Feb 14 and 15.

It tends to fill up fast, so Loan advises booking early.

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SNOWBLOWER FESTIVAL

VENUS ENVY

Thurs Feb 6–Sun, Feb 16 Arts Court, 2 Daley Ave snowblowerottawa.ca #getfresh

226 Bank St venusenvy.ca

Getting freaky is a timehonoured Valentine’s tradition.

Whether you’re single or partnered, Venus Envy is the go-to spot if you’re looking to explore. It carries a huge range of sex toys, from the most discreet butt plugs to the biggest dildos and everything in between. Here are five of owner Shelley Taylor’s favourite picks.

Lelo Luna Beads $48 These Ben Wa balls are great for those who want something in the vagina while they’re enjoying other forms of stimulation.

They’re also an excellent workout for the Kegel muscles, which can help improve control and continence and also increase sexual satisfaction and orgasm. The Lelo Beads come in two different weights and include a silicone harness to hold the balls in place and a nylon string for easy removal.

addition to a plethora of speeds and vibration patterns, it also has a flared base for perineum stimulation. The Zwei can also be used vaginally, and the curve provides G-spot stimulation.

Lelo Luna Beads.

We-Vibe 4 $159.95 RodeoH harness boxers $59.95 “This is basically just a harness in a super cute package,” Taylor says.

The shorts come in a variety of styles and colours, are 95-percent cotton, and have a discreet Y-front opening that reveals a reinforced harness for holding a dildo or packer. They’re also extremely versatile — practical enough for everyday wear (with or without a packer) but strong enough to hold

a good-sized dildo. Taylor describes them as “the softest, most comfortable harness on the planet.”

Stronic Zwei vibrator $199.95 This solid, silicone vibrator is designed mainly for butt play.

“It’s kind of a fucking machine,” Taylor says, referring to the strong back-and-forth pulsations the toy produces when turned on. In

Created by an Ottawa designer, the We-Vibe has taken the sex-toy scene by storm in recent years. The latest model has a more refined shape to help it stay in place once inserted in the vagina. Designed for penile-vaginal intercourse, the We-Vibe also has great solo-play potential and comes with a remote control to change the sensations. It’s also great when worn internally and combined with a dildo and harness, allowing both partners in a pegging scenario to receive stimulation.

If you’re a guy who’s into guys, you won’t want to miss Snowblower, run by the AIDS Committee of Ottawa (ACO). “[It’s] a way to bring both a festival and a celebration together with some workshops and some sessions around health issues and health concerns for gay men,” says Rob Alexander, gay men’s health and wellness coordinator at the ACO. The theme for 2014 is Let’s Get Fresh, tying in with the ACO’s broader gay men’s community-outreach campaign.

This year the festival is being held at Arts Court. “It’s a great space,” Alexander says.

“It’s so comfortable, and they are so GLBTfriendly.” Events include a mental-health workshop on Feb 7 and a workshop on HIV treatment updates focusing on pre- and post-exposure safety measures on Feb 10, as well as two signature parties. There will also be a leather competition for the title of Mr Plow and a drag pageant for the title of Mz Snowblower. Titleholders will represent Snowblower and the HIV/AIDS community at events throughout the year, including Pride and the AIDS Walk. Events are free or paywhat-you-can, perfect for an inexpensive excursion alone or with your honey.

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WELLNESS & VALENTINE’S FEATURE

OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

NORDIK SPA-NATURE Chelsea, Quebec lenordik.com

If you’re looking to score some major brownie points this Valentine’s Day, a trip to Nordik Spa-Nature should do the trick. Located in the village of Chelsea, only 10 minutes from downtown Ottawa, Nordik allows city-dwellers to experience some luxurious relaxation in nature. The spa offers a huge range of treatments and massages, including Swedish, Thai, Californian and volcanic stones.

There are seven onsite pools and saunas kept at various temperatures for thermal treatments. Nordik spokesperson Marianne Trottier recommends the Källa pool, which uses Epsom salts to produce a unique weightless experience.

As part of the spa’s green mandate, all the onsite buildings use geothermal heating. Rainwater is recycled to water plants and gardens, and reusable dishes are used in the restaurant and the Panorama Lounge. For Valentine’s Day, Nordik offers a special table d’hôte menu with a wine pairing. And if you were thinking of popping the question during your visit, the staff have plenty of experience facilitating surprise proposals.

See below for a review of Nordik Spa-Nature.

MAXIMUM RELAXATION Nordik Spa-Nature offers a flawless and blissful retreat in the woods The best time to experience Nordik Spa-Nature is in the winter. One might think walking around in a robe and flip-flops surrounded by ice and snow a preposterous idea, but this Scandinavian-style haven in the woods will quickly change your mind.

Tucked away in the hills of Chelsea, this gorgeous spa offers a few essential things visitors must experience for maximum relaxation.

Nordik recommends working slowly through a thermal cycle, which is the practice of alternating between cold, warm and hot waters. With pools scattered around the property, some overlooking rolling hills in the distance, some with waterfalls, the ridiculousness of tub-hopping in the dead of winter floats out of the mind.

Though I tried only one of the frigid ice-water pools (complete with its own waterfall), moving from more temperate to hot pools is a dream.

It awakens the senses and makes

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the skin feel rejuvenated. Is Nordik the fountain of youth we’ve all been searching for? Basically, yes.

If the chill factor kicks in, take a quick nap in one of the three outdoor, heated hammocks. I fell asleep in one for 20 minutes, woke up, then asked someone walking by to give me another push to rock me back to sleep.

There are a few standout saunas on the property. The Vaporo is the most intense wet sauna my sinuses have ever experienced. The combination of extreme heat and eucalyptus vapour quickly clears any congestion or worry out of your head.

After a cool shower to lower your body temperature, head to the Tuli sauna at the top of the hill. This octagonal dry sauna is made of solid wood and is heated by a fireplace in the centre. The heat currents run in a circular pattern, which is apparently good for the back. It is bliss.

There is an aromatic sauna, called the Aromi, but I’d skip it and sneak

into one of the tiny barrel-shaped saunas instead. There’s even a twoperson barrel . . . sadly, it cannot be locked from the inside.

Finally, check out the Källa pool. Dug five metres into the rock on which the spa is built, this 23-centimetre-deep pool is so packed with Epsom salts anyone who enters it floats. It’s truly a magical experience. Once the earplugs are in and the underwater music kicks in, cross your arms behind your head and float away.

Only 20 people are allowed in at a time, so encountering anyone else is a rarity. I did bump into someone, but I simply let his toe push me off toward a stone pillar in the corner.

While more cliché activities like wine and cheese by the fire are available, I recommend spending time in silence or whispering to a loved one while sweating profusely — and then freezing like a polar bear.

— Phil Villeneuve AN XTRA SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT

XTRA! JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 19

OutintheCity

It’s a world where male and female roles are very clearly defined, and the moment that a woman puts on a pair of trousers, her world changes. Margo MacDonald 22

Questioning ‘truth’ Theatre duo looks at gay conversion therapy in new play ON STAGE CHRIS DUPUIS

Gay conversion therapy sounds a bit like going to theatre school.

“There’s a lot of rolling around on the floor together and touching each other’s bodies,” says Anthony Johnston. “You’re supposed to work on finding safe, non-sexual ways to hold each other.”

“If you get a boner, you’re supposed to admit it,” says Nathan Schwartz, laughing. “I guess that part is different.”

The Brooklyn-based theatre duo did some serious research on the controversial practice for their upcoming show A Quiet Sip of Coffee. In 2004, they sent a prank letter to Hope Springs (a “reparative therapy” organization) proposing it give them funds to workshop their non-existent play Never Cry Wolfman. Not expecting a response, they were shocked to get a note a few weeks later inviting them to develop their script on the condition they also spend two weeks working in the group’s rural British Columbia conversion camp. To make matters slightly more complex, Johnston is gay, while Schwartz identifies as straight.

“When you start looking into this stuff, one of the first things you realize is how seductive these groups are with their messaging,” Johnston says.

“As we started getting deeper into the material, it began to affect me in a way I didn’t think was possible. I found myself starting to ask if certain things from my childhood had led me to being gay and whether being depressed sometimes was actually because I’m gay.”

The easy route would have been to make a show that smacks down the increasingly discredited therapy and its proponents. But as the pair got further into their research, they were surprised by how it affected their positions.

“You can easily look at someone administering this therapy and say they’re doing it because they’re a complete bigot with their own internalized homophobia,” Schwartz says. “But that’s not necessarily the case. You have people who are 20 JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 XTRA!

As we started getting deeper into the material, it began to affect me in a way I didn’t think was possible.

ANTHONY JOHNSTON

trained therapists working with people who have feelings they can’t explain or don’t want to have, and that’s not necessarily coming from a place of hate. Sexuality is pretty elastic, and some people go through different phases in their life. If I go through a gay phase in high school and grow up to marry a woman, doesn’t that automatically mean I’m denying something in myself ? From that perspective, we need to be open to the idea that sexuality actually does change for some people.”

“As you look into it more, things start to get very grey,” Johnston adds. “Why should helping someone become something they believe they should be inherently wrong? If someone believes they were born in the wrong-gendered body, it’s perfectly acceptable to have them go through the kinds of therapy they need to help them become the person they see themselves as being. So if someone naturally has a same-sex attraction, to put it in the terms of this therapy, but deep down believes they are straight, is it inherently wrong to help them?”

The play also takes aim at the genre of documentary theatre, an increasingly popular style over the last decade, with shows like The Laramie Project and The Agony A QUIET SIP OF COFFEE Tues, Feb 11–Sun, Feb 23 and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs that uses Great Canadian verbatim sources as its material.

Theatre Company “It’s a show about questioning the 1233 Wellington St W gctc.ca importance of truth,” Johnston says.

“The trend towards documentary theatre recently suggests a real celebration of truth in art. But it’s such a subjective word when you’re dealing with art anyway.”

“If something didn’t happen for real, is it less interesting onstage?” Schwartz asks. “I don’t think we believe that, but clearly there’s a trend that’s Anthony Johnston (top right) and Nathan Schwartz wrote and star in A Quiet Sip of Coffee, a play that documents their experience at Hope Springs, a “reparative therapy” camp in rural BC. moving in that direction.”

OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

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Characterstudy

Ottawa actor Margo MacDonald explores gender roles and women’s empowerment

ONSTAGE JULIE CRUIKSHANK

It’s a beautiful thing when a part comes to you at the right time, the right place in your life that you can actually give something to it rather than just taking what’s on the page and playing it.

Margo MacDonald is a rare treasure indeed. An Ottawa native, she worked her way up through the ranks of highschool drama class, improv comedy and the University of Ottawa’s theatre program. Having completed her postgraduate studies at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, she took the unlikely next step of returning to her hometown instead of up, that you could make a company and moving on to pastures that, if not pre- make your own work . . . Now it’s quite cisely greener, boasted more established lovely to work in Ottawa, but it wasn’t theatre scenes where young actors always the case.” could get a foothold.

Working with independent and “I had kind of made a commitment emerging theatres is a priority for Macto Ottawa,” she says. “At that time there Donald; her next production is with were next to no [theatre] companies in the recently formed Bear & Co, which town at all, and basically everyone was will be mounting Canadian playwright just leaving. If they went through the Linda Griffiths’s Age of Arousal in Febtheatre programs, they immediately left ruary. “I would say it’s a play about and would go to Toronto or Vancouver women finding their power and their or somewhere — Montreal. And I real- passion,” she says. ized that if I wanted to do theatre in Set in a women’s typing school Ottawa, because I love this city, that I in Victorian London, the play inwould have to make it happen and that troduces us to former suffragette if everybody left there never would be Miss Mary Barfoot, who runs the school with her younger lover, any theatre here.”

And so Ottawa’s prodigal daughter Miss Rhoda Nunn. Rhoda and returned, bringing with her the drive to Mary’s world is thrown into see theatre in the city truly flourish. Part chaos by the arrival of the Madof the pull that drew MacDonald back den sisters — Alice, Monica was her involvement with A Company and Virginia — and Dr Everard of Fools, which she co-founded in 1990 Barfoot, the play’s sole male with her friend and classmate Heather character.

Jopling. “We started out as a street “Virginia is one of those people theatre company, and we just did scenes, who’s very uncomfortable in her you know, for pass-the-hat,” MacDonald skin,” MacDonald says of her character. says. Twenty years later the Fools are “I don’t think she’s ever been able to Ottawa’s oldest professional Shake- be or express who she really is . . . Her speare company, mounting numerous journey, I think, is the most extreme of shows each year and also running work- all of them in the play.” Virginia experiences an awakening when shops for elementary and she begins crossdressing, secondary schools.

AGE OF AROUSAL subverting the gender “We consciously made Fri, Feb 7–Sat, Feb 22 Gladstone Theatre role she has always been the decision to stay and 910 Gladstone Ave expected to play. “It’s a make theatre in Ottawa,” thegladstone.ca world where male and feMacDonald says. “I think male roles are very clearly having A Company of Fools here as a company that would hire defined, and the moment that a woman actors every year really helped with the puts on a pair of trousers, her world idea, amongst the younger ones coming changes.”

22 JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 XTRA!

In Age of Arousal, Margo MacDonald plays Virginia, who experiences an awakening when she begins crossdressing.

RÉMI THÉRIAULT

OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

MacDonald has always been drawn to roles that examine and subvert gender expectations, from her early days with the Fools, when she played male roles out of necessity, to her most recent turn as Constance Ledbelly, the sexually jumbled protagonist of Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Shakespearian romp Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), whom she played for GCTC in November. “I only came out to myself about seven or eight years ago, but I’ve always had, of course, that side of me,” she says.

Exploring gender and sexuality in the roles she played allowed her to express that aspect of herself before she was able to in her personal life.

“I was raised very religiously, and it just wasn’t even a possibility,” she says. “The idea of being such a disappointment to my mother, my family, the society that I grew up in, kept me for so long from even allowing myself to look into that side of my being.”

This struggle for acceptance and self-expression is at the heart of Age of Arousal. “[The characters are] all living with their own massive piles of guilt about not being who other people and society wanted them to be,” MacDonald says. “I don’t think that really goes away . . . I think it’s very much still a relevant journey.”

The play uses its Victorian setting as a metaphor for the restrictive lives the characters are leading, making their individual transformations all the more astonishing. “It’s . . . women finding what it is to be themselves rather than what it is to be the perfect Victorian woman.”

To prepare for the role of Virginia, MacDonald drew on her own experiences as well as those of her partner, who she says identifies as genderqueer. “Between the two of us, I have a lot of stuff to draw from to understand the part,” she says. “It’s one of those parts that I don’t think I could have successfully played 10 years ago. It’s a beautiful thing when a part comes to you at the right time, the right place in your life that you can actually give something to it rather than just taking what’s on the page and playing it.”

To play such a role now has been deeply satisfying for MacDonald.

“This is part of what my journey has been about as an artist. It’s like this is partly why I’ve lived these things is now to play this part, to do this brilliant play, and hopefully inspire something in the audience.”

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Stephen

Joseph

Kevin

Keiran

THE

Rick

by

Martin Casella

Director: Stewart Matthews Producer: Denis de Laviolette Stage Manager: Erin MacDonald

Tickets: www.tototoo.ca Arts Court Theatre February 12-15, 2014

“Irish Curse, The” is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.

Looking for Gay men, ages 18-30, non-European descent, for a Master degree level Coming Out study Contact Esther Schvan: 613-726-7155 XTRA! JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 23

SIMONE DENEAU PRODUCER

WHAT'S ON FOR MORE EVENT LISTINGS, GO TO DAILYXTRA.COM

Every Wednesday in January, 7–9:30pm. St John’s Church, 154 Somerset St W. Free. cgogmc.ca

Seniors’ Night Out Queer people 50 and older and their loved ones are invited to enjoy one another’s company over refreshments. The venue is wheelchair accessible and parking is available. For more info, contact ospn.rfao@gmail. com. Wed, Jan 22 and Wed, Feb 5, 7pm. Novotel Hotel, Heritage Room, 33 Nicholas St. Free. ospn-rfao.ca

Seniors’ Bowling

The Irish Curse — Arts Court Theatre, Wed, Feb 12–Sat, Feb 15

ART & LITERATURE The Hard Cover Book Club Men are invited to gather and discuss What Love Means to You People on Thurs, Jan 16, at 6pm, and The Picture of Dorian Gray on Thurs, Feb 20 at 6pm. Gay Zone, Centretown CHC, 420 Cooper St. Free. gayzonegaie.ca

and

THE ABRAMS BROTHERS

Venus Envy Book Club: The Naughty Bits

PTS, 331 Cooper St. Free. ptsottawa.org

BiAmore People who are bisexual, polyamorous and bi-curious get together for activities and discussion related to achieving healthy relationships. Takes place the first Thursday and third Monday of each month.

Mon, Jan 20, 7–9pm and Thurs, Feb 6, 7–9pm. PTS, 331 Cooper St. Free. ptsottawa.org

Spectrum

7:30 p.m. • Theatre • Tickets $29 +

Book lovers talk about Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, a novel about “the importance of being aware of ourselves and understanding the consequences of change.”

Tues, Jan 28, 6:30–8pm.

Venus Envy, 226 Bank St. Free. venusenvy.ca

This Youth Services Bureau program offers queer and questioning youth aged 12 to 25 a safe space to socialize, discuss sexuality and related topics, participate in workshops, receive counselling and more.

Every Tuesday, 7–9pm. YSB, 147 Besserer St. Free. ysb.ca

nac-cna.ca/presents

HEALTH & ISSUES

Reorienting Desire: It Gets Fatter Project

FEBRUARY 15 GROUP(E)S 10+ 613 947-7000 x634 | grp@nac-cna.ca

The Living Room HIV-positive people and their loved ones are welcome to access many resources, including a food bank, laundry facilities, internet, counselling and workshops. Contact The Living Room for an appointment. AIDS Committee of Ottawa, 251 Bank St, 7th Floor. Free. aco-cso.ca

Addictions Treatment

BOOK YOUR AD NOW! Booking deadline: Thursday, May 8

JAN 2014–JUNE 2014

THE BEST OF GAY & LESBIAN OTTAWA

Don’t miss the next edition!

Release date: Thursday, June 19 613-986-8292 or lorilynn.barker@dailyxtra.com

THE BEST OF GAY & LESBIAN OTTAWA

A hot date with ByWard Market Exploring The Glebe

The LESA (Lifestyle Enrichment for Senior Adults) program provides resources for people 55 and older experiencing issues with alcohol, medications, drugs and gambling. For an appointment, call 613233-5430. Centretown CHC, 420 Cooper St. Free. centretownchc.org

Hidden gems of Hintonburg

The Men’s Group

Suit up for the season at MEC

A peer-led support and social group for men of all ages, ethnicities, abilities and orientations. Takes place the first Tuesday and third Thursday of each month. Thurs, Jan 16, 7–9pm and Tues, Feb 4, 7–9pm.

24 JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 XTRA!

Queer seniors 50 and older and their friends are invited out to bowl a few frames. For more info, contact georgeis@rogers. com. Takes place the second and fourth Monday of each month. Mon, Jan 27 and Mon, Feb 10, 6:30pm. West Park Bowling, 1205 Wellington St. $3 per game, free shoe rental. ospn-rfao.ca

NIGHTLIFE Thursdays Are a Drag Zelda Marshall hosts a night of drag — queens and kings — and burlesque. Alyna Moore performs and DJ Bill spins progressive house. Every Thursday: music, 9:30pm–2am; drag, 10:30pm–midnight.

Swizzles, 246B Queen St. No cover. swizzles.ca

Thirsty Boy Thursday The hour before midnight at this weekly top-40 dance party is “pump hour,” when drinks are $4. Every Thursday, 10pm–2am. The Lookout Bar & Bistro, 41 York St. No cover. thelookoutbar.com

Capital Kings: Second Anniversary Show The Capital Kings drag-king troupe celebrates by giving their audience the royal treatment; they’re performing their best numbers from 2013, including some tantalizing group numbers. Fri, Jan 17, 8:30pm.

The Lookout Bar & Bistro, 41 York St. $3. thelookoutbar.com

LGBTQ Newcomers Group Drop-In

Sassy Saturday Night Drag

Queer refugees, asylum seekers and people from newcomer communities gather for conversation about sexual orientation and cultural and gender identities. For people 18 years and older. Mon, Feb 10 and Mon, March 10, 6–8pm.

Centretown CHC, 420 Cooper St. Free. centretownchc.org

The stage is festooned with feather boas, glitter and drama, with two shows nightly and a rotating lineup of drag queens.

Followed by dancing to music

by DJ Kitty Funkalicious. Every Saturday, 10pm–2:30am. The Lookout Bar & Bistro, 41 York St. No cover. thelookoutbar.com

LEISURE & PLEASURE

The Queer Mafia shimmies into 2014 to the beats of DJ Dan Valin. Partial proceeds benefit the Ten Oaks Project. Sat, Jan 18, 10pm. Babylon Nightclub, 317 Bank St. $5 before midnight. thequeermafia.com

An open rehearsal for anyone considering joining. No audition is required, but the musical director will want to talk to prospective members.

Midweek is the best time to hump. Ginette Bobo performs in drag, and DJ Martin spins electro, house and hip-hop mashups. Every Wednesday, 5–10pm. Mercury Lounge, 56 Byward Market Sq. mercurylounge.com

Get Lucky: The Venus Envy 13th Anniversary Party Ottawa’s award-winning sex shop jubilates with the sweet beats of CPI and Montreal’s dancehall queen, DJ The Salivation Army. All proceeds go to the Venus Envy Bursary Fund and Families of Sisters in Spirit. Fri, Jan 24, 10pm–2am.

Babylon Nightclub, 317 Bank St. PWYC–$10. venusenvy.ca

Capital Kings: Valentine’s Date Auction To ensure a steamy Valentine’s Day, members of the Capital Kings drag-king troupe are auctioning themselves off as dates for a gala. All proceeds go to Capital Pride. Fri, Feb 14, 8:30.

The Lookout Bar & Bistro, 41 York St. $3. thelookoutbar.com

SEX & BURLESQUE GeeKISSexy IV: Shiny Noobs Randy geeks grab their pan-galactic gargle blasters and head out for a night of burlesque. Fri, Jan 17, 8–11pm. Zaphod Beeblebrox, 27 York St. $12 advance, $15 door. zaphods.ca

Before Flogging 101

A workshop that explores how fat phobia influences our ideas about what is desirable.

For more information, contact itgetsfatterproject@gmail.com.

Registration required. Mon, Jan 27, 6:30–8:30pm. Venus Envy, 226 Bank St. PWYC. venusenvy.ca

Ottawa Gay Men’s Chorus Recruitment

We Love 2 Hump

Offbeat: Mashed Up

Those who enjoy hitting or being hit learn about safety, available products, technique and types of scenes in this demo-filled workshop.

Registration required. Sun, Feb 2, 6:30–8pm. Venus Envy, 226 Bank St. PWYC. venusenvy.ca

Thinking Outside the Box Everyone is welcome at this workshop designed to provide new pussy-pleasing ideas, from communicating needs and desires to fine-tuned fingerbanging. Registration required.

Tues, Feb 18, 6:30–8pm. Venus Envy, 226 Bank St. $20, $10 sliding scale. venusenvy.ca

PLAYS & MUSICALS The Irish Curse A wicked, rollicking and very funny new play about how men and society define masculinity.

Runs Wed, Feb 12–Sat, Feb 15, 8pm. Arts Court Theatre, 2 Daly Ave. $25. tototoo.ca

Submit your event listing to ottawalistings@dailyxtra.com.

Deadline for the Feb 13–March 12 issue is Wed, Feb 5.

OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS OTTAWA’S OTTAWA’S GAY GAY& & LESBIAN LESBIAN NEWS NEWS

XPOSED

1

ZARA ANSAR

Danniel Oickle album launch On Dec 12, Mercury Lounge hosted the launch of Danniel Oickle’s sophomore album, Blitzkrieg! Go to dailyxtra.com for more on the new album.

1 Oickle enjoys some downtime before his performance.

2 Emmanuel J Simón prepares for the show.

’90s or Bust party, with Wannabe Spice Girls On Dec 20, Sporty, Ginger, Baby, Scary and Posh rolled in on their tour bus to perform for a packed house of mostly rowdy women and a few men. The girls spiced up everyone’s night with their singing and dancing.

3 Clockwise from left: Catharine Merriam, Janee Olivia, Anika Johnson, Suzy Wilde and Barbara Johnston chill out before the second half of their show.

4 Ryan Mason poses in his trendy threads.

2

3 4

5

Fast Romantics at the Blacksheep Inn The Fast Romantics recently released their second album, Afterlife Blues, and played their first Ottawa-area show, at the Blacksheep Inn in Wakefield.

5 From left, Jeffrey Lewis, Shane O’Keeffe, Alan Reain, Matthew Angus and Lauren Heron in the greenroom after the show.

Red Handed Cyclelogik held its sixth annual Christmas art show, in which more than 40 artists worked with the colour red.

6 Justy Lisa Dennis and her amazing hat.

7 Jaime Mcleod, left, and Andrea Stokes share a moment at the photo booth.

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7 XTRA! JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 25

A world of gay adventure

Travel

Boys’ weekend in Vegas Party like a rock star in the city of sin

BY DANNY GLENWRIGHT

Las Vegas is not for pussies. It’s the kind of town where you can get married on your first date, sign your name with dollar signs and strip down with random floozies in a plush hotel room — right, Prince Harry?

Everything is big, Sweetie, huge. Lacroix, Chanel, Wynn! Wolfgang, Darling, Wolfgang! When Celine builds a dressing room in Vegas, she creates a replica of her real home, which is only minutes away from the Caesars Palace theatre that was also constructed for La Dion on the famed Vegas “strip.” When they make burgers in Vegas, they fly in the beef from Japan and top it with French truffles and foie gras; when they run out of water, they steal it from Arizona; and when they create ice sculptures, they carve them from cubes previously used to freeze Walt Disney (okay, that last one might not be true).

If you want to make it in Vegas you’d better have big tits, big tigers or big talent. The saying goes “Don’t mess with Texas,” but it’s Las Vegas that’s really something to be reckoned with. “Lost wages,” as the city is so tenderly known by locals (and there are so many ways to lose yours), is also gayer than Steel Magnolias. It’s the city of Liberace, Siegfried & Roy, Elton, Barry Manilow, David Copperfield and Frank Marino.

And those are just the divas.

It’s also a city flush with the best and worst of everything American — which means it’s a perfect place for a dynamite quick-and-dirty weekend getaway that you won’t soon forget (depending on 26 JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 XTRA!

how much you drink). This intrepid journalist took one for the team and got wasted like Britney for the sake of the story — and, of course, in order to suss out the best Vegas has on offer. Here are some suggestions for an excess-ful gay weekend in Nevada’s finest oasis.

Arrival

Grab a quick beer while you acclimatize at the McCarran International Airport — named after Pat McCarran, a Las Vegas senator from 1933 to 1954. McCarran was a Communist-hating politician who spent many years trying to restrict immigration to the United States and Nevada. It didn’t work, and the senator is surely rolling in his grave: one fifth of those who live in Nevada today were born in another country, making it one of the most diverse states. The airport has several bars and slot machines where you can drink to McCarran’s failed policies and whet your appetite for the weekend ahead. Better to enjoy the airport’s booze and blackjack at the beginning of your trip because you’ll likely retch at the sight of both on the way out.

Regroup and explore your mini bar

Now is not the time to stop and rest.

Check into your hotel (the city has dozens to choose from, including six of the world’s 10 largest), have a quick whore’s bath and pack the necessities for a night out: gum, cologne, condom, deodorant, p-p-p-poker face, check! Don’t forget a cheeky shot from the mini bar and you’re on your way.

ALEX HILL

Above, Bellagio. Right, the Luxor hotel’s Temptation Sunday is where all the cute boys of Vegas play in the afternoon sunshine.

Dinner on the Strip

The infamous Vegas Strip is like a Monopoly board, with as many pitfalls as opportunities. Please don’t end up in jail.

Depending on where you start, the Strip can seem either daunting or mesmerizing. If you’re planning a big Friday night out, better to save your energy and head

straight for one of its glitzy restaurants.

Try a light dinner at Andrea’s at Wynn, where chef Joseph Elevado’s sharing plates are just right for a group. Elevado spent almost a decade working under celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa (whose Las Vegas spot, Nobu, is also a mustvisit for dinner), and his modern Asian OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

ALEX HILL

Left, the buffet at Simon Restaurant at The Palms includes everything from French toast to sushi. Above, Roman guards (and gods) abound at Caesars Palace.

LAS VEGAS TOURISM

dishes show off what he learned. Our group especially loved Andrea’s wagyu beef tataki with ginger and green onion and the scallop sashimi with salsa verde.

Round one

Las Vegas has dozens of nightclubs, including several gay spots. The safe bet for a Friday night is Share, a two-storey nightclub, bar and lounge that offers VIP cabanas for groups that want to party like rock stars. For those looking for something more traditional, Share provides private rooms, and its website suggests customers “ask shot boys how you can receive special treatment and make your experience a little more Sharable.” Nothing says slutty vacation like an anonymous backroom hookup with a hot cocktail waiter.

Sweat it out

If you completed day one following the above instructions, you’ll be feeling a little worse for wear Saturday morning. That’s what you get for waking up in Vegas! Best to follow Katy Perry’s lead, shake the glitter off your clothes and sweat out your hangover at one of Vegas’s many luxury spas. The Bathhouse (not that kind!) at Mandalay Bay’s THEhotel offers spa packages that include everything from hot stone treatments to “soufflé” scrubs. My throbbing head thanked me for the spa’s gorgeous deep-conditioning scalp treatLAS VEGAS TOURISM

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ment. The Bathhouse’s dark and cavernous clothing-optional hot tub and sauna area also allows for a full recharge before heading back into the bright lights of Vegas. And its cute pool boys will help you get other systems back up and running.

Before leaving Mandalay Bay, grab lunch at Border Grill, where famous lezzie chef Susan Feniger — of cooking show Too Hot Tamales — and business partner Mary Sue Milliken have created a hot and spicy Mexican menu that’ll guarantee the previous evening’s booze continues to evacuate your pores. We couldn’t get enough of their Peruvian ceviche and Yucatan slow-roasted pork in banana leaves. If you’re ready to start drinking again, Border Grill’s flavoured margaritas are a very good place to start.

Glut, guzzle and gamble

Spend Saturday afternoon like any selfrespecting Las Vegas tourist: walk the Strip, gamble, spend money you don’t have, eat lots of bad food and drink slushy piña coladas from guitar-shaped plastic glasses. Remember that casinos offer free drinks to customers who gamble, so it’s a great way to get soused without the fuss of reaching for your wallet. I recommend the MGM Grand, where wait staff always made sure I had a bevvy so long as I was shifting cash from my bank account into the hotel’s

flashing appliances. Once you’re bored from not winning, jump on the handy Vegas Monorail and head back to your hotel to freshen up for an evening show.

It’s all coming back to me now

It’s not a trip to Las Vegas without a show.

And boy, did my group of boys put on a show as we walked drunkenly down the street on the way to see Celine. “There were nights when your cock was so hard,” we sang (well, shouted and squealed), so excited were we to see Canada’s most popular export. Celine didn’t disappoint, but of course, if you’re not into Ms Dion (don’t admit to that in Vegas), there are plenty of other options. Cirque du Soleil usually has a handful of shows on the go (give Zarkana a miss, see O if you can) or check out magicians Penn & Teller or one of the many celebrities always on hand.

Pre-clubbing drinks

If Vegas were a zoo, The Cosmopolitan hotel would be the panda enclosure.

Take yourself there Saturday night when you’re still somewhat fresh and classy and a few drinks away from “Work Bitch.”

(Britney’s video, by the way, was filmed in Vegas.) Head for The Chandelier bar, a three-storey affair surrounded by two million crystals that feels a bit like Studio continued next page XTRA! JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 27

continued from previous page

54 meets The Ritz. The Cosmopolitan is known for its mixology program that includes more than 150 cocktails. Your mouth will hopefully be filled with all kinds of wonderful things during a Vegas weekend but likely none more unique than The Verbena cocktail, also known as the Szechuan Button. The tequila-based potion is garnished with the bud of an Acmella oleracea plant, native to Brazil, which, when chewed, releases mouthnumbing chemicals. It intensifies everything you taste for the next few minutes, including the citrus cocktail it garnishes.

Adventurous types may want to grab a few extra Acmella buttons for later.

Round two

Krave Massive, Las Vegas’s newest gay club, should be somewhere on your agenda. Not to be outdone by the other superlatives floating around Vegas, Krave bills itself as the country’s largest gay club. While it doesn’t yet have the energy of an established space like Share, Krave is worth a visit. If you get there early, stop in for a drink where there’s plenty of vibe at Drink & Drag, a drag-queen bowlingalley bar in the same complex as Krave.

Warning: the Las Vegas City Council recently denied both bars liquor licences, so be sure to check online to see if they’re up and running again before you go.

COSMOPOLITAN

A room with a view at the Cosmopolitan hotel. Right, the Bathhouse at Mandalay Bay has a clothing-optional hot tub and sauna area.

Lather, rinse, repeat

You’ll be all fear and loathing when you look at yourself in the mirror Sunday morning. But you still have plenty to discover, so swig back a quick hair of the dog from the mini bar — or down a coffee if your stomach’s not there just yet — and get back out there. Start with a buffet brunch at Simon Restaurant at The Palms hotel. There’s something deliciously trashy about a Vegas buffet — but that said, it’s best to get your buffet fetish out of the way at brunch so you can reserve your evenings for the city’s best dining spots. The team at Simon knows their clientele, and the all-you-can-eat

ISRAEL GAY PRIDE June 9 – 17, 2014

Ontario Reg #50012754

TEL AVIV

“the city that never sleeps”

Experience this spectacular adventure, with fun events during Gay Pride and a special performance of Verdiʼs La Traviata at the foot of the breathtaking Masada. Designed exclusively for the adventurous LGBT traveler, the program includes visits to some of Israelʼs best known sites and plenty to celebrate along the way!

Visit www.aufgangtravel.com • 1-800-789-7117 7851 Dufferin St., Suite 204, Thornhill, ON L4J 3M4

NJ governor vetoes bill that makes amending gender markers easier

28 JAN 16–FEB 12, 2014 XTRA!

Sunday brunch includes sushi, paninis, peel-and-eat shrimp and an all-youcan-drink Bloody Mary bar complete with every possible garnish, from spicy beans to Mexican hot sauce. I drank my way through several of my group’s drink combinations because I’m a journalist who likes to get to the bottom of things.

Sunbathe like an Egyptian

The Luxor hotel’s Temptation Sunday is the Don Juan of Vegas’s gay party scene — a poolside event that’ll have the pants off any lad still wearing them. This is where all the cute boys come to play, and

MANDALAY BAY

it’s a refreshing homo vibe compared to many of the strip’s family-friendly or ultra-macho pool areas. Rent a cabana, order a bucket of beer or a pitcher of margaritas, get into a tiny swimsuit and kick back and enjoy the sunshine.

Leaving Las Vegas

It’s always hard to wrap up a vacation, but something about the debauchery that is Vegas makes it a particularly easy city to leave. It could be the sunburn or the scabies, or possibly that big hole in your bank account. It’s not that you didn’t have fun — of course

you had fun — but gosh, there’s only so much fun you can have before you collapse into an airplane seat and think, “I can’t wait to get home.” But beyond the slot machines, there’s something rather addictive about the city. And just like Celine before you, a new day will come and you’ll likely head back there again. For now, settle back into your seat, order a cocktail from the flight attendant and, whatever you do, don’t post any of your photos until you’ve had a chance to sober up. There’s a certain saying about allowing some things to stay in Vegas.

STOREFRONT

The city that never sleeps Pride in Tel Aviv & opera in Masada Tel Aviv, known as “the city that never sleeps” and the “white city,” is considered by many to be the most cosmopolitan city in the Middle East.

You can saunter down almost any street and find café-goers, joggers and dog walkers.

With its prime position on the Mediterranean coast, Tel Aviv is known for its sea, sun and surf. This fun-loving city never stops. There is always something to do or see, whether it be entertainment, art, shopping or visiting picturesque artists’ quarters.

Visitors can also enjoy a rich nightlife, shopping and international cuisine. Tel Aviv is considered a gayfriendly city, where anyone is free to live, love, work and play.

A specially designed tour to Israel for the LGTB community led by Colin Sines, president of Travel Gay Canada, is being offered by Aufgang Travel (based in Toronto) from June 9 to 17. The tour will put you in Tel Aviv just in time to celebrate Pride Day on June 13 with thousands of others who descend on the city each year for the festivities.

The tour will then continue to Masada, where you’ll enjoy a spectacular performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera La Traviata on June 16 (after you float in the Dead Sea).

Competing with all the gay capitals around the world, this experience of Israel encompasses both celebration and culture. In addition to visiting Israel’s regular attractions, more than 50 special events take place during Pride Week, culminating in La Traviata.

Above, Gay Pride Tel Aviv.

Below, La Traviata at Masada.

YYZ TRAVEL GROUP

OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

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Home Improvement & Repairs DTN Contract Services 613-780-7033 Merkley Supply Ltd 613-728-2693 Ottawa Chimney Services Ltd 613-729-1624

Housing Andrex Holdings 613-238-1835

Insurance John Shea Insurance Brokers Ltd 613-596-9697

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Lawyers Ian Carter–Bayne Sellar Boxall 613-236-0535 Mann & Partners, LLP 613-722-1500 Nelligan O’Brien Payne LLP 613-238-8080

Legal Services Ian Carter–Bayne Sellar Boxall 613-236-0535 Mann & Partners, LLP 613-722-1500 Nelligan O’Brien Payne LLP 613-238-8080

Massage – Certified/ Registered Spa Homâ 819-595-3044

Manotick Insurance Brokers Ltd 613-692-3528

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Mortgages Evan Weiner, AMP 613-224-4530 x224 Mortgage Alliance 613-612-8400

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Padraig Coaching & Consulting 855-818-0600

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Community Groups & Services

Tivoli Florist 613-729-6911

Centretown Community Health Centre 613-233-4443

Davidson’s Jewellers 613-234-4136

Linda Young Insurance Brokers Inc 613-825-1110

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Carol the Dog Trainer 613-729-4808

Pharmacies Shoppers Drug Mart Bank and Gladstone 613-238-9041

Politicians Office of Mayor Jim Watson 613-580-2424 Paul Dewar, MP 613-964-8682

Giovanni’s Ristorante 613-234-3156 La Cucina Ristorante 613-836-1811 Mamma Grazzi’s 613-241-8656

Gilmour Psychological Services 613-230-4709

Publications Pink Triangle Press 416-925-6665 pinktrianglepress.ca Xtra (Ottawa) 416-925-6665 Xtra (Toronto) 416-925-6665 Xtra (Vancouver) 604-684-9696

Recreational Vehicles

The New Oak Tree 613-253-9797 OTTAWA’S OTTAWA’S GAY GAY& & LESBIAN LESBIAN NEWS NEWS

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Social Groups The Couples Group couplesgroup.org

Spa Services

iTan Advanced Studios 613-562-ITAN

Theatre Orpheus Musical Theatre Society 613-729-4318

Upholstery Kessels’ Upholstering 613-224-2150

Web Design B2W Design Inc 613-804-2384 Jack of All Trades Design jackofalltrades design.com

Websites Squirt.org squirt.org dailyxtra.com 416-925-6665

Cage-free dog boarding Heated Floors

Weddings Cube Gallery 613-728-1750

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Ottawa Men’s Yoga ottawamens yoga.ca

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Classixxx Adult Store 613-523-9962

Power Sports Canada 613-224-7899

Absinthe 613-761-1138

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Tanning Salons

Dr Gordon Josephson, Registered Psychologist 613-231-4111

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The Foolish Chicken 613-321-4715

Mann & Partners, LLP 613-722-1500

Psychologists

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Southern Cross Grill on Queen 613-230-0400

Spa Homâ 819-595-3044

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Courtyard Restaurant 613-241-1516

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Pet Care

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