#269 JULY 17–AUG 13, 2014
ONE ON ONE WITH PRIDE COMES MEAN GIRLS KATHLEEN WYNNE TO BROCKVILLE BURLESQUE E E E 7
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Editorial Under siege, now and then By Natasha Barsotti E 4 Feedback E 4 Xcetera E 5
Upfront Face to face with Kathleen Wynne Xtra sits down with Canada’s first elected gay premier E 7 New Capital Pride board brings fresh perspective Group is committed to representing Ottawa’s queer communities E 8 Cover story Guess who has eyes for you? How the federal government’s surveillance bill will invade your privacy E 10
Out in the City Pride comes to Brockville Small-town celebration promotes acceptance E 15 Secrets hidden in big hair A burlesque tribute to Mean Girls E 16
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What’s On E 18 Xposed E 20 Xtra Living E 21
Daily Xtra Travel Vintage vacations Airstream trailers, reborn motels and other retro stays E 22 Big sky country Alberta’s two biggest cities have plenty to offer LGBT travellers E 24
on dailyxtra.com E In-depth video interview with Premier Kathleen Wynne E Capital Pride directors remove vice-chair Luke Smith E New StatsCan report shows decline in reported gaybashings E Canadian Museum for Human Rights set to open in Winnipeg E Zelda Marshall on the evolution of Ottawa’s drag scene
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Under siege, now and then
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Maybe I looked in the wrong places, but I found no follow-up stories or editorials in the island’s media condemning the “no lipstickâ€? crowd’s actions. No expression of disgust, however empty, from the minister of justice, nor from the prime minister, who can’t or won’t give “a timelineâ€? for her plan to address the buggery law. Lest we forget, gay Torontonians — who just hosted the world for Pride — have been in the same boat as that still-nameless lipstick man who ed his tormentors. In October 1980, Xtra’s predecessor, The Body Politic, carried an editorial on the annual siege of Toronto’s gay St Charles Tavern, where thousands of people — “most of them young, most of them straightâ€? — annually descended for Halloween with chants of “Kill the queers!â€? The editorial concluded with a call to action that still applies to many of the world’s citizens who just gathered in Toronto to celebrate: “Every citizen, every elected official should share every gay person’s dismay at having to face, each year . . . humiliation and hate . . . passed over in silence, that has drawn no criticism, no condemnation, that has not moved one single elected official to say, ‘This is appalling and disgraceful. This must be stopped.’â€? As we reflect on WorldPride and prepare for Capital Pride, think of the nameless Jamaican man and everyone else still struggling to live freely.
Kathleen Wynne
Natasha Barsotti is the staff reporter at Xtra Vancouver.
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After watching this video and hearing her responses, I think we as Ontarians should consider ourselves blessed with Kathleen Wynne as premier [“Feature Interview with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne,â€? dailyxtra.com, June 26]. She is a ďŹ ne representative of the gay community, and her sensibility, wisdom and tact shows.
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The crime? A “homosexualâ€? allegedly applying or wearing lipstick in public. It might even have been lip balm for all we know. The details didn’t seem to matter to the incensed people who chased him into a store in a southern Jamaican parish and held him under siege for more than an hour. As I watched the TV Jamaica report, I almost forgot about the man holed up in his refuge, so entranced did I become with the mass of people so willing and eager to hold him hostage. They clambered on top of cars and crates for a good sightline to the door. With mobile phones at the ready, they clamoured for him to come out and face their censure. It was reminiscent of a scene from a Roman amphitheatre. All that was missing was a Caesar-like figure to turn his thumb up or down. And for what? Putting on lipstick, or possibly lip balm? Brushing his lips with his ďŹ ngers? Why? Even a hint of “scandalâ€? or a snippet of gossip fuels the rhythm of island life, and I don’t say this patronizingly. It often takes very little to arouse excitement and titillation, and before you know it, you have an audience angling
for the best vantage point to hear, view and provide running commentary on the unfolding theatre of the day. I use “theatre� deliberately, because even in the midst of their outrage, laughter and remarks are bandied back and forth among the spectators, demonstrating a profound lack of concern for the terror they are unleashing. In a way, the level of aggression and violence that is prevalent in countries like Jamaica and my own, Trinidad, where the murder rate is staggering, provides an apt backdrop to what went down in that carpark. Not to draw a glib connection between a homophobic siege and the murderous violence that’s a byproduct of drug- and gunrunning. But it’s no surprise that such an act of casual aggression is possible, particularly in a climate where leaders lack the political will to address the long-festering issue of anti-gay discrimination. What would have happened had the store turned the man away, instead of providing sanctuary and calling the police? Would he have suffered the same fate as teenager Dwayne Jones, who was chased, shot and stabbed in Montego Bay last year? Or as that hapless young man who was beaten and kicked by security guards at Kingston’s University of Technology, where yet another crowd gathered to jeer and cheer?
DJ Kitty Glitter brings Aussie sparkle to Glow Fair E 14
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EDITORIAL NATASHA BARSOTTI
FEEDBACK
Thank you for this very good interview. Kathleen is very honest and open with her relationship. Also, she is understanding of the challenge of religions and how we can be ostracized. She provides hope for us. PAUL SUDBURY, ON
Why should Kathleen Wynne sacriďŹ ce her “gaynessâ€? to make people comfortable? Doesn’t equality include the right to equal displays of public affection? If straight men can kiss their wives, why can’t gay politicians kiss their same-sex partners?
Read our condensed interview with Kathleen Wynne on page 7; watch the full version at dailyxtra.com.
Are we as liberal as we think? I thought I was a liberal until I read “Raging Homos� (dailyxtra.com, April 17) and realized just how reluctant I am to give voice and ear to those whose philosophy differs from my own. Thank you. FRANCES STOLIAR DAILYXTRA.COM
SAMUEL DANIEL DAILYXTRA.COM
If straight men can kiss their wives, why can’t gay politicians kiss their same-sex partners? FO R
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OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
Upfront
Let’s worry about this big community event ... It’s far more important than anyone’s political agenda or individual egos. Hannah Watt E8
Canada’s first elected gay premier doesn’t think she would be leading Ontario’s government today had she not come out and been true to herself.
TANJA-TIZIANA
Face to face with Kathleen Wynne Xtra sits down with Canada’s first elected gay premier POLITICS MARGARET WEBB
Midway through Toronto WorldPride celebrations, on Tuesday, June 24, Kathleen Wynne, the first openly gay person elected head of government in Canada, was sworn in as premier of Ontario. In the days following, she made appearances at a number of WorldPride events: The 519 Community Centre’s Starry Night on Thursday, the Pride and Remembrance Run on Saturday morning (she did the five kilometres in 31 minutes, 26 seconds) and the parade on Sunday afternoon. In the midst of it all, she took time to sit down with Xtra. Here are some excerpts from that interview. XTRA: First female premier of Ontario, first openly gay premier in Canada, and MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM
first openly gay head of state in the entire Commonwealth. This seems to me like an LGBT Obama moment. How do you feel about that? KATHLEEN WYNNE: Well, I’m excited about it. It’s hard, when you’re in it, to think that its impact will be as broad as it probably will be. But I know from the last 16 months having been in this role that there are so many girls and parents who are looking at me and feeling good because it changes the view that they have of what their daughters can do, and for the kids, it changes their view of what’s possible. And that’s a wonderful thing. We both came out in 1991, which was the same year that a seminal Canadian film called Thank God I’m a Lesbian came out. You’re a member of the United Church, I understand. Do you thank God you’re a lesbian?
I do. I thank God that I am who I am. I feel blessed to have had the particular set of circumstances that have led me to be in this office. I believe that coming out helped me to tap into who I really am. There’s a spirituality attached to that, and I’m quite sure that had I not come out, I wouldn’t be the premier of Ontario, because I wouldn’t have been able to tap into my whole being. So I thank God for the opportunity to be who I am. Symbolic gestures: so much of politics seems to be about those little important gestures. With you and Jane on the campaign trail, how much discussion did you have around how you were going to present your relationship?
Well, we didn’t have much discussion because we’ve been at it quite a long time, so there are norms that we’ve just established. It’s interesting: I was asked about election night and — there was a hug and not a kiss, right? And that was a hard question because I was being asked, “Why not a kiss?” and I have to
say that I am who I am. I try not to be defined by those — either public displays of affection or not, whatever particular comfort level Jane and I have with being in public and recognizing that the people that I’m with and that I’m interacting with have a certain comfort level, too. I want everybody to feel that they can interact with me, that there isn’t a barrier, that we’re not excluding, you know? So we are as affectionate as we choose to be in public, and our relationship is very strong. She was with me every single day on the campaign, and that was a very clear message to people about who we are as a family. We have a publicly funded [Catholic] school board that doesn’t recognize your relationship or your family. How do we move forward on this?
Very intentionally. I have had meetings with the cardinal, before he was the cardinal, because I was minister of education at that time, and he came in and met with
me, and I know that there are challenges still. And it’s one of the things that worries me. But it’s also one of the things that we have to accept and we have to push on. I think it’s very good that the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association is going to be marching in the Pride parade, despite criticism on that. I think it’s very important that teachers see themselves reflected in their organizations and in our curriculum. So I have been very clear, and our minister of education is very clear, that our equity policies and our legislation that’s in place applies to everyone. So the right for kids to form gay-straight alliances at schools — it’s absolute. We now have to push that and make sure that those schools and those school boards are safe, not just for the kids, but for the adults, and not just for the teachers, but for the parents and for all of the people who are associated with them. Watch the full interview on dailyxtra.com. XTRA! JULY 17–AUG 13, 2014 7
New Capital Pride board brings fresh perspective Group is committed to representing Ottawa’s queer communities PRIDE NEWS JULIE CRUIKSHANK
Despite internal conflicts in previous years and the recent departure of vicechair Luke Smith, the 2014 board of Capital Pride says it’s working cohesively as a group, even though most of its members are relatively new to the board. (For more on Smith’s departure, go to dailyxtra.com.) “There’s a real sense on our board of wanting to move in a positive direction,” says Jodie McNamara, who was elected chair last October after serving as vice-chair of operations last Pride. “Everyone’s very aware of the history of Pride in that there’s a sense of sort of — it’s mired in this cloud of conflict, or it has been in the past. There’s a sense of wanting to make good on the promise that is Pride.” “Little conflicts aren’t terribly important,” says 19-year-old Hannah Watt, who joined the board midway through 2013. “We’re running something incredibly huge, so let’s just run that and worry
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about little personal conflicts and little political vendettas and things like that later. Let’s worry about this big important community event that we’re doing. It’s far more important than anyone’s political agenda or individual egos.” “The majority of the board has only been involved for within the last year or two,” McNamara notes. “In an organization with a 32-year history, absolutely, that’s notable.” In addition to McNamara and Watt, the new board includes treasurer Giselle Gardipy, outreach director Ashley Blackwood, assistant treasurer Stephanie Lavergne, secretary Rob Schwartz, and vice-chair of operations Andrea Guilbault. The board’s newness has led to closer working relationships among members. “I think everyone’s a little bit more willing to ask questions,” Watt says. “There’s a little bit more information sharing, at the very least, so we don’t drop any balls and so we don’t get nervous about anyone forgetting anything.” For Gardipy, who joined the board
Treasurer Giselle Gardipy, chair Jodie McNamara and director of youth and families Hannah Watt, of the Capital Pride board of directors. JULIE CRUIKSHANK
last year, taking charge of Capital Pride’s financial organizing presented “a big learning curve.” She says the organization now works with a bookkeeping service and auditors to keep everything on track. McNamara acknowledges that the group has much to learn but says the board is committed to learning and moving forward. The focus of this year’s Pride is changing slightly, from parties to family and
educational events. That includes the Free to Love conference, featuring panels on LGBT athletes and trans youth; a series of international film screenings; and the return of the family-friendly Picnic in the Park, in partnership with the Ten Oaks Project. The shift, Gardipy says, is largely because of Capital Pride’s community partners, which include Gender Mosaic, Amnesty International, and a number of international embassies, such as
Sweden and the US. “There’s been a shift away from the board looking inward and asking itself what it wants and a shift to looking outward to the community and asking what they want,” McNamara says. “Ottawa’s not a major party city,” McNamara says. “Our LGBTQ scene has a lot of parents, it has a lot of youth, it has a lot of people in school, and so it’s less about dancing, it’s less about clubs, and it’s more about learning, togetherness, growth and community building.” McNamara says she’s been troubled in the past by a “tendency to insist on a focus on one part of the community, and sort of accepting the falling off the map of other parts of the community as collateral damage, or, you know, ‘You can’t please everyone.’ The truth is that I think we have to try to be there for everyone as much as is possible.” Parties and glitter are still an important part of Pride, and the people who love them are valuable members of the community, McNamara hastens to add. “The mainstream sort of denies us as a whole, gay men included . . . I think that we have an ethical responsibility to not repeat that particular mistake within our community.”
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COVER STORY
Guess who has eyes for you How the government’s surveillance bill will invade your privacy MATTHEW DIMERA
E CAN EITHER STAND with us or with the child pornographers.” With that infamous statement, former public safety minister Vic Toews sparked an inferno of public outrage in 2012 against the controversial Bill C-30, which ostensibly promised to protect children from internet predators. Twelve months later, the Harper government dropped the bill after its first introduction to the House of Commons. Then-justice minister Rob Nicholson said it was dead and wouldn’t be coming back. “We will not be proceeding with Bill C-30, and any attempts that we will continue to have to modernize the Criminal Code will not contain the measures contained in C-30,” he promised reporters in February 2013. “We’ve listened to the concerns of Canadians, who have been very clear on this.” The Conservative government kept that promise for almost 10 months. In November 2013, Justice Minister Peter MacKay resurrected 10 JULY 17–AUG 13, 2014 XTRA!
parts of Bill C-30 and slipped them into the newly packaged Bill C-13, this time under the auspices of combating cyberbullying. Opponents are concerned that these bills will allow the government to invade your privacy. The truth is, it’s been happening for years.
T
he federal government asks Canadian telecommunications companies for private customer information an average of 1.2 million times a year, according to documents released in April by the federal privacy commissioner. Those numbers were obtained by the commissioner’s office in 2011 and represent the responses of nine telephone and internet companies that “represent a substantial proportion of Canada’s telecommunications customer connections.” The nine companies provided their responses in aggregate through an intermediary law firm so that none of their answers could be attributed to any individual company. From those 1.2 million requests, the telecoms handed over private customer information at least 784,756 times. The real number is likely higher, since only three of the nine companies
disclosed how many times they had complied with government requests. It’s also unknown how many of those requests were made without warrants. In March, the House of Commons also learned that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) made 18,849 requests for customer data between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013. Of those, the majority were requests for “basic subscriber information,” and 99 percent of them were provided without warrants. That basic subscriber information includes names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, internet protocol addresses and local service providers. Other information requested by the CBSA included geolocation (cellphone tower locations), call detail records (date/time of calls, calling number, called number, redirecting number, length of call), text message content, voicemails, cell tower logs, websites visited and personal identification info like dates of birth. In all but 13 of the cases, the individual customers were not notified that their information had been accessed.
The CBSA disclosure came after NDP MP Charmaine Borg made an official inquiry in Parliament as to how, why and how often federal agencies accessed Canadian telecom data. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) did not disclose how many requests their agencies had made. The RCMP said they were unable to answer because they don’t keep centralized records of the requests they make to telecoms. CSIS also declined to answer Borg’s questions. “For reasons of national security and to protect CSIS’ ability to collect intelligence and provide advice to Government, CSIS does not disclose OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
W
hen we use telephones, mobile phones, desktop computers, laptops, tablets or other computing devices, we leave behind a digital trail of metadata. Metadata is information about other information. It’s the data created by communications devices and telecom service providers. In her paper “A Primer on Metadata: Separating Fact from Fiction,” Ontario’s privacy commissioner, Ann Cavoukian, explains the significance of these digital crumbs. “Metadata includes information that reveals the time and duration of a communication, the particular devices, addresses, or numbers contacted, which kinds of communications services we use, and at what geolocations. And since virtually every device we use has a unique identifying number, our communications and internet activities may be linked and traced with relative ease — ultimately back to the individuals involved,” she writes. Government officials in both Canada and the US have repeatedly defended the collection of this information as “only metadata.” Their position is that while the content of emails or phone calls should be private, the rest is fair game. But many experts argue that metadata is far more revealing than the actual content of our calls and emails. Even supposedly aggregate metadata isn’t that anonymous. A 2013 MIT study showed that only four time-and-location data points were needed to uniquely identify someone in 95 percent of cases. Sometimes whom you call is just as revealing as what you’re saying. What if you call a rape hotline, a domestic violence hotline, an addiction hotline or a support line for gay teens? What secrets would your cellphone reveal about you right now? What about your internet history? The more data someone can access, the more that person can learn about you. In isolation, a few bits of data may not say much, but start to piece them together and they begin to paint a vivid picture: where you live, what time you wake up, what time you leave for work, where you work, how you get to work, who your friends are and how often you talk to them, how close you are with your family, what time you go to bed.
When you then pair that information with a second or third person’s data, that image can reveal much more. If your phone spends every night at the same location as another phone, then it likely indicates you have some kind of relationship with the other phone’s owner. If you make a call to a gay men’s health centre and then later that week your phone visits that centre, what could that say about you? Or if you start making regular phone calls to a doctor who specializes in HIV, or one who specializes in cancer? Or if you visit a psychiatrist frequently? What if you’re making latenight calls to someone who isn’t your spouse? If every Saturday night you visit a gay nightclub and afterward your phone spends the night at a different location, never at the same place twice, what could someone infer about you or about your personal life? What could they infer if you never call back the people at whose places you stayed overnight? Do you use any dating or hook-up apps? OkCupid? Grindr? Squirt? Scruff ? All of the above? How often? Whom do you communicate with? Do you have a type? Now take all that information and combine it with your internet history. Which news sources do you read? The National Post? Sun News? The Globe and Mail? Do you visit gay-themed websites? What about porn? Do you have specific tastes or fetishes? Twinks? Bears? Twinks who dominate bears? How often do you watch porn and for how long? Privacy experts say that all sorts of details about people’s personal lives can be inferred by where they go and how they interact with others, both in person and online: including but not limited to health/medical history (abortions, HIV status), sexual orientation, sexual practices, religion and politics. The futurists who predicted Orwellian government-owned surveillance were partially wrong. Governments don’t need to create their own massive surveillance apparatus when they can just compel corporations to turn over what they know about their customers. In this current data age, information has become a valuable and monetized commodity to big business. Many companies you deal with — from the supermarket to your bank — collect swathes of information about you so they can learn how to make more money from you. But once that information is in the hands of corporations, it takes only a short jump for governments to access it as well.
What secrets would your cellphone reveal about you right now?
What about your internet history?
details of its operations and tradecraft,” their written response explained. In January, the CBC reported that classified documents released by American whistleblower Edward Snowden showed that Canada’s electronic spy agency tracked thousands of airline passengers for days after they left a Canadian airport by using WiFi information from their wireless devices. Despite these revelations, the Conservative government insists that concerns over invasions of privacy are unfounded and that Canadians have nothing to worry about. “What we do say is that privacy laws are respected by the government,” Prime Minister MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM
Stephen Harper told the House of Commons in April. “Law enforcement and other investigative agencies always seek warrants when they are required to do so,” he continued. “There is independent surveillance, independent oversight, to make sure that these laws are respected.” The government maintains that while warrants are needed to read the contents of emails and texts, or to listen to voicemails, they aren’t needed for what they claim is information more akin to what might be written on the outside of an envelope or in a phonebook. Critics aren’t so quick to dismiss the importance of snooping through our digital crumbs.
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ot surprisingly, Bill C-13 and its predecessor, Bill C-30, have awoken opponents from all directions of the political spectrum. Even after public outrage forced the government to kill Bill C-30, privacy advocates remained on guard that the Conservatives would try again. Last fall, more than 50 Canadian organizations joined the Protect our Privacy coalition, under the coordination of openmedia.ca. Members include the right-leaning Canadian Taxpayers Federation and the Canadian Constitution Foundation, as well as a slew of more progressive groups, including Xtra’s publisher, Pink Triangle Press (PTP). “More than ever, Canadians need strong, genuinely transparent, and properly enforced safeguards to secure privacy rights. We call on Government to put in place effective legal measures to protect the privacy of every resident of Canada against intrusion by government entities,” the coalition’s founding statement reads. When the controversial Bill C-30 was first tabled, it was briefly called the Lawful Access Act before being retitled the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act. But aside from the title, the bill didn’t actually include any mention of children or predators. So when MacKay introduced C-13, the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act, last November, championing it as a much-needed tool to combat the scourge of cyberbullying, for many privacy advocates there was a distinct sense of déjà vu. “[Cyberbullying] is clearly a case of the worst form of harassment, intimidation and humiliation of young people, which resulted in a feeling of hopelessness, that there was no other way out, and they took their lives,” MacKay told Parliament. Openmedia.ca’s executive director, Steve Anderson, welcomes the sections of the bill directed at cyberbullying but says there’s little in the bill to address it. Instead, he says, the bill focuses, once again, on government access to private information. “There are proposals in this legislation that are common sense and that nobody would disagree with. Yet by having most of this legislation consist largely of failed online spying proposals that Canadians have already clearly rejected, the government is doing great disservice to an issue many citizens care deeply about,” Anderson said in a press statement. “Our consultation with legal experts suggests that this legislation could enable state authorities to force telecoms to keep our sensitive private information in giant unsecured databases,” he said. “What’s more, it could give a range of authorities access to the private lives of almost any Canadian, even if they are not suspected of any wrong doing. It could open the door to suspicionless surveillance. That why it’s so important that the government address the concerns Canadians have by strengthening the privacy safeguards in this draft legislation and removing all the off-topic content.” NDP justice critic Françoise Boivin worries that the Conservatives are using a popular and sensitive issue to shield some of the bill’s other provisions from criticism. 12 JULY 17–AUG 13, 2014 XTRA!
TIPS TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS ONLINE Between the potential threats of government surveillance, criminal hackers and corporations, protecting your online privacy can seem like a daunting task (especially if you’re starting from scratch). Here are four beginner tips to start shielding your data from prying eyes.
1
Use a personal virtual private network (VPN). For a monthly fee, you can subscribe to a VPN service, which creates a secure tunnel online between the VPN server and your computer or device. It masks your IP address and encrypts all your internet activities. Any websites that you visit will see the IP address of the VPN server and not yours. It also allows you to use public WiFi safely. Be sure to
do some research to find a provider within your budget that doesn’t keep logs of your activity and will protect your anonymity.
2
Disable GPS and WiFi on your phone until you need them. While your cellphone company can figure out your approximate location using cell towers, GPS can provide your exact location. When WiFi is enabled on your phone, it broadcasts detailed information about your device, so turn it off when you’re not using it.
3
Stop using public WiFi. While public WiFi may be convenient and free, it also leaves your information vulnerable to hackers.
Never ever use public WiFi to access private information such as banking, social media or email.
4
Reconsider what you share on social media sites. Facebook’s entire business model is based on collecting and using your personal information, and if they have it, then they can share it with the government. If you’re not prepared to give up all social media just yet, then do your best to stay anonymous. Use pseudonyms when you sign up to make it harder for searchers to find you. Also, create a new email account for each website you join, so all your accounts can’t be connected or identified through a common email. — Matthew DiMera
Two of the most controversial elements from C-30 — warrantless mandatory disclosure of basic subscriber information and the requirement for telecoms to build intercept capabilities in their systems — have been removed. Privacy advocates like Michael Geist still say that C-13 should raise alarms for Canadians. A University of Ottawa law professor, Geist is one of the country’s leading experts in internet law. “We now know that many of the kinds of surveillance capabilities that I think he government people were envisioning claims that Bill C-13 and concerned about, when is entirely different they were thinking about from its predecessor Bill C-30, may already be in and that the contenplace,” Geist says. tious portions have He notes that the govbeen removed. ernment has been trying to Xtra’s request for an interintroduce similar and review with Justice Minister lated measures for years; Peter MacKay was declined. first under the spectre of Instead, a spokesperson fighting terrorism, then provided links to an online combating spam, then child statement called “Myths and endangerment and now Facts.” cyberbullying. According to the DepartAccording to Geist, Bill ment of Justice, “The Bill C-13 has two significant isdoes not contain the former sues that would affect CaNDP JUSTICE CRITIC Bill C-30’s controversial nadians’ privacy. First, it FRANÇOISE BOIVIN amendments relating to lowers the evidentiary bar warrantless access to subfor the government to get a scriber information and telecommunication warrant for your metadata. Under C-13, these infrastructure modification. It simply aims to warrants would be available if officials have provide police with the necessary means to fight “reason to suspect” that an offence has or will crime in today’s high-tech environment while be committed, instead of the current “reason maintaining the judicial checks and balances to believe.” needed to protect Canadians’ privacy.” Second, it grants immunity to telecoms that
“Nobody is against giving better tools to the police to make sure there is no cyberbullying happening,” Boivin tells Xtra. “But that bill is so much more than that.” She accuses the Conservatives of stonewalling critics’ valid concerns about privacy intrusion. “With this government it’s so hard to get the actual answers,” she says. “It’s more like [they’re] laughing at the opposition for even raising the issues.”
T
Nobody is against giving better tools to the police to make sure there is no cyberbullying happening. But that bill is so much more than that.
provide your personal information voluntarily. As it stands now, companies can either provide your information voluntarily during a normal police investigation or they can tell police that a warrant is needed before they will cooperate. This immunity would eliminate the threat of lawsuits launched by consumers concerned about their privacy and essentially give corporations no reason not to hand over your information when requested by the government. Ken Popert, the president and executive director of Pink Triangle Press, thinks that gay Canadians should be especially concerned about the government’s push for increased spying powers. “The deeper issue here is that the whole politics of equality do not address the content of our sexual and emotional lives, and those are the things that remain vulnerable to surveillance abuse,” he told Xtra in October. “There is a reason why Facebook has privacy settings and a reason why people use them,” he continued. “The very fact of what Grindr actually is would upset a lot of straight people if they understood it. It’s treated in the press as a humorous thing in a way but could be put to other purposes.” Popert thinks the mere suggestion of surveillance could scare people into silence. “We belong to a community that has a long history of being subjected to unbenevolent surveillance by government agencies,” he points out. “Now they want to keep an eye on everyone, not just us.” “There’s a deeper question of why the government wants to know anything about us, let alone to the extent it seems it’s willing to go into the details of our personal lives,” he says. He dismisses the common argument that only people who have done something wrong should be worried about heightened government surveillance. “Anybody who says that sincerely is stupid, and I think that an awful lot of people just say it cynically as an easy way of characterizing people who are opposed to this kind of surveillance as having criminal intentions,” he says. “What you think is wrong might not be the same as what the government thinks is wrong,” he notes. “There’s an awful lot of things that aren’t wrong that we do that we might not want everyone to know about.” He also worries about the potential for abuse by individual police or government employees who could use the system for their own personal gain, pointing to recent instances of police officers caught using databases to spy on former romantic partners.
B
ill C-13 passed scrutiny by the House’s justice committee, which reported back June 13, and is now awaiting its third reading in the House of Commons. Despite MacKay telling reporters earlier this year that he hoped the new bill would pass this spring, it failed to become law before Parliament recessed near the end of June. The House is scheduled to resume business on Sept 15. So far, MacKay has shown no signs of willingness to amend or remove the bill’s most contentious components. OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
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OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
Out in the City
We thought it’d be funny to see grown women reenacting these iconic high school characters. Rhapsody Blue E16
Pride comes to Brockville Small-town celebration promotes acceptance PRIDE EVENTS JULIE CRUIKSHANK
From Pride flotillas in the 1,000 Islands to celebrations in a Manitoba mining town, small communities in Canada — once considered bastions of conservatism — are beginning to promote themselves as gay-friendly destinations. In that sense, Brockville is slightly ahead of the curve. From July 13 to 19, the St Lawrence town will be celebrating Pride, something it has done for the past four years. Beginning with a week of festivities and ending with a parade, the festival focuses on youth and families and gets local businesses involved. The festival began as a way of creating something positive from a tragic situation. When a queer Brockville youth committed suicide, organizers, including media director Rhiannon Champagne and chair Brandon Timmerman, came together to show the community that Brockville could do better. “We just decided that this wasn’t acceptable anymore,” Champagne says. “[We] worked with the town and created this beautiful thing, and now it’s annual.” While Champagne says that the organizers initially met with some resistance from the town, once the first event took place successfully and was well received by the community, the municipality got on board. “Once it was up and running and the town saw how much support and feedback Brockville was giving our little cause, they were really into it.” She says that in some ways smalltown Pride events are even more important than those in big cities, because they reach the people who may need them most. “Some of the most vulnerable people live in small towns, and MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM
Brockville Pride promises a week of festivities focused on youth and families.
sometimes they just can’t get the voice and the support that they need because there are no outlets.” Bigger cities are more likely to have resources for LGBT people, she says, so it’s important for towns like Brockville to make their support for the community visible. Given its beginnings, involving Brockville youth in Pride is a priority for the organizers. “The turnout for youth for Brockville Pride is spectacular,” Champagne says, adding that the town also has a number of programs aimed at LGBT youth, including drop-ins in high schools and youth centres and programming through the local library. The Pride festival itself is almost entirely youth-led, with committees handling such tasks as sponsorship and volunteer coordination and a core branch of adults dealing with the legal aspects. Organizers meet all year, typi-
FACEBOOK.COM/BROCKVILLEPRIDE
cally starting right after the previous year’s event has ended. Funding comes from the City of Brockville, as well as from charity events and fundraisers like dances and yard sales; many local businesses donate items to be raffled off. “The amount of support that all of the businesses in Brockville are giving Brockville Pride throughout this is just amazing,” Champagne says. “I think businesses just understand that, you know, everybody is a person and people shop and buy things, so you might as well not alienate yourself and accept the fact that we are here and we’re here to stay.” Pride in Brockville is not just a beacon of hope; it’s also become a tourist draw for the town, attracting visitors from as far away as Dubai, Champagne says. “Every single year we’re getting
more and more people by the hun- says, giving them a chance to show dreds, and we’re expecting double their pride and be more visible. “I rethis year,” between 1,800 and 2,500 member last year, we were noticing a visitors, she says. lot more families were walking in the The major event of Brockville Pride parade, even with their pets, and there is, of course, the parade, [were] a lot more LGBT which takes place July couples with their children BROCKVILLE 19. But the town also has in their strollers,” she says. PRIDE Sun, July 13–Sat, July 19 activities planned for the “I know that’s definitely big week prior, and many local in Brockville now.” PRIDE PARADE Sat, July 19 businesses are involved. By holding Pride events, Noon, starting from Activities include a church Champagne says, small Brockville Armoury service, an AIDS memoritowns like Brockville demFESTIVAL & al, glow-in-the-dark bowlonstrate that they are good VENDOR FAIR Hardy Park ing, and a family-friendly places to live for members 1–4pm bouncy castle. After the of the LGBT community. facebook.com/ parade, the festivities wrap “It’s one thing to go to a big brockvillepride up with a party at local city to celebrate a Pride,” restaurant and nightclub she says, “but it’s also nice Bud’s on the Bay. to be able to come back home to where The festival has become very popu- you live and also have that acceptance lar with LGBT families, Champagne where you live.” XTRA! JULY 17–AUG 13, 2014 15
Secrets hidden in big hair It’s a Mean Girls burlesque, duh tal Pride and the Ottawa Burlesque Festival, will take place Aug 16. “The event was supposed to have a If a certain 2004 high school movie high school or semi-formal kind of has taught us anything, it’s that a) the flavour to it, because it’s happening in only costume you need is a baby-doll a high school dance sort of venue,” says dress and mouse ears (“I’m a mouse, Rhapsody Blue, an Ottawa Burlesque duh!”); b) one of the, like, rules of Festival board member. “But we didn’t feminism is that ex-boyfriends are off- want to repeat Queer Prom, which is a limits to friends; and c) separate event, so we “On the third day, God decided to have an event GET IN, LOSERS: A BURLESQUE TRIBUTE created the Remingthat spoke to the same TO MEAN GIRLS ton bolt-action rifle, kind of alienation in a Sat, Aug 16, 9pm so that man could fight fun, campy way.” Bronson Centre 211 Bronson Ave the dinosaurs. And the Many of the acts in ottawaburlesquefest.com homosexuals.” the tribute take adThe performers of vantage of how Mean an upcoming Mean Girls burlesque Girls, like nearly all high school movies, tribute are prepared to impart these saw actors in their 20s and 30s cast as and some of the many other secrets teenagers. they have hidden in their big hair. “We thought it’d be quite funny to Get In, Losers: A Burlesque Tribute see grown women reenacting these to Mean Girls, a fundraiser for Capi- iconic high school characters, because BURLESQUE JEREMY WILLARD
16 JULY 17–AUG 13, 2014 XTRA!
really that’s what happens in the movie,” Blue says. The roster of almost-too-gay-tofunction burlesque routines includes Imogen Quest and Dottie Dangerfield’s Damien and Janis Blow Off Some Steam, RoKit Cabaret’s Rise of the Mathletes, Sassy Ray Burlesque’s The Plastics Work Their Milkshakes, and Bettie Royale’s Mrs George Is a Cool Mom. Helvetica Bold rounds out the evening with her totally fetch monologue The Burn Book/Amber D’Alessio Made Out with a Hot Dog.
Imogen Quest plans to blow off some steam at Get in, Losers. JOHN FINNIGAN LIN
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ART & LITERATURE Shoot Me, Please Adam Barbu and Guy Berube co-curate this exhibit of Peter Shmelzer’s paintings and shootingrange-style posters. Runs until Sun, July 27. La Petite Mort Gallery, 306 Cumberland St. Free. lapetitemortgallery.com
The Hard Cover Book Club Men gather to discuss Steve Berman’s Boys of Summer, an anthology about the allure that summer can hold for gay teens, Thurs, July 17, 7pm; and Andrew Binks’s Strip, Thurs, Aug 21, 7pm. Gay Zone, Centretown CHC, 420 Cooper St. Free. gayzonegaie.ca
and related topics, participate in workshops, receive counselling and more. Every Tuesday, 7–9pm. YSB, 147 Besserer St. Free. ysb.ca
Pink Triangle Youth Drop-In A peer-led discussion and support group for queer and curious youth aged 25 and under. Every Wednesday, 7–9pm. PTS, 331 Cooper St. Free. ptsottawa.org
Queer People of Colour QPOC of all genders, abilities, ages or orientation meet and talk in a supportive, open and nonjudgmental environment. Takes place the last Tuesday of each month. Tues, July 29, 7–9pm. PTS, 331 Cooper St. Free. ptsottawa.org
HEALTH & ISSUES
LEISURE & PLEASURE
The Living Room
Seniors’ Bowling
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
Queer seniors 50 and older and their allies 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, July 28, and Mon, Aug 11, 6:30pm. West Park Bowling, 1205 Wellington St W. $3 per game; free shoe rental. ospn-rfao.ca
BiAmore
Jer’s Vision 10th Anniversary Pride Cruise
People who are bisexual, polyamorous and bicurious get together for activities and discussion related to achieving healthy relationships. Takes place the first Thursday and third Monday of each month. Mon, July 21, 7–9pm, and Thurs, Aug 7, 7–9pm. PTS, 331 Cooper St. Free. ptsottawa.org
Spectrum This Youth Services Bureau program offers queer and questioning youth aged 12 to 25 a safe space to socialize, discuss sexuality
Aboard Capital Cruises’ Empress of Ottawa, partiers enjoy a luxurious jaunt along the Ottawa River. Thurs, Aug 14, 6:15–8:30pm. Gatineau dock (in the Jacques Cartier Park beside the Alexandra Bridge). $25. jersvision.myshopify.com
Pride BBQ Lunch The Ottawa Senior Pride Network co-hosts a lunch with the Good Companions Centre that includes a musical performance by Jamie Anderson. For more info, contact ospn-rfao@gmail.com. Tues, Aug
19, noon. The Good Companions Seniors’ Centre, 670 Albert St. $11. ospn-rfao.ca
Alyna Moore, Ariel Sin and Cherie Blossom. Sat, July 26, 7pm. Ottawa City Hall, 110 Laurier Ave W. $10.
Aug 13, 6pm. Saint Paul University Amphitheatre, 223 Main St. $3. ospn-rfao.ca
OSPN Annual Pride Party
Against Me!
Last Chance
Queer people 50 and older and their loved ones are invited to socialize over refreshments. For more info, contact ospn.rfao@gmail.com. Wed, Aug 20, 7–10pm. The Good Companions Seniors’ Centre, 670 Albert St. Free. ospn-rfao.ca
Fronted by Laura Jane Grace, the punk rock band brings its Transgender Dysphoria Blues tour to Ottawa. Sun, Aug 3, 8pm. Ritual, 137 Besserer St. $23 advance. spectrasonic.com
This National Film Board documentary screening and discussion tells the stories of five queer people fleeing their countries to seek asylum in Canada. Mon, Aug 18, 4:30–6:30pm. Centretown CHC, 420 Cooper St. Free. centretownchc.org
Strip Spelling Bee It’s a lot like strip poker, but it’s spelling, and it’s in front of an audience of hooters and hecklers. Spellers must register in advance by contacting events@ ptsottawa.org. Thurs, Aug 21, 9pm. Babylon Nightclub, 317 Bank St. $10 spectators, free for spellers. ptsottawa.org
NIGHTLIFE Thursdays Are a Drag Zelda Marshall hosts a night of performances by drag queens, drag kings and burlesque dancers. DJ Bill spins progressive house. Every Thursday, 10:30pm. Swizzles, 246B Queen St. No cover. swizzles.ca
Capital Kings The drag king troupe kicks off the weekend right with different themes — from a wet T-shirt contest to the musical Grease — and hosts each week. Every Friday, 8:30pm. The Lookout Bar & Bistro, 41 York St. $3. thelookoutbar.com
Once Upon a Pride Zelda Marshall, Ariel Sin, Jasper Cox and others come together for a magical night of fairy-tale-themed drag and burlesque to benefit Capital Pride. Fri, July 18, 9–11pm. Zaphod Beeblebrox, 27 York St. $12 advance, $15 door. zaphods.ca
Offbeat: Mashup Revellers grind to music by DJ Dan Valin and singer/songwriter Kapri. Sat, July 19, 11pm–3am. Babylon Nightclub, 317 Bank St. $10. thequeermafia.com
Pride Party with VE and Mo Diggity DJs Yalla! Yalla! and Zehra bring heat to the dancefloor with throwback hits, R&B grooves, dancehall jams and hip-hop classics. Fri, Aug 22, 9:30pm–2am. Café Nostalgica, 601 Cumberland St. $5–15. venusenvy.ca
SEX & BURLESQUE Halloween in July Putrid partiers get on their fangs and fake blood and head out for music by
DJ Lowpass and burlesque performances by Rhapsody Blue, Jolie Stripes and Kitty Kin-Evil. Sat, July 19, 8pm–midnight. Café Nostalgica, 601 Cumberland St. $12 advance, $15 door. wondergeeksactivate.com
Get In, Losers: A Burlesque Tribute to Mean Girls This tribute to the movie Mean Girls is “almost too gay to function,” with performances by Helvetica Bold, Imogen Quest, Randi Rouge and more. (See story on page 16.) Sat, Aug 16, 9pm. Bronson Centre, 211 Bronson Ave. $15. facebook.com/ ottawaburlesquefestival
BDSM 201: Edge Play and Power Relationships Andrea Zanin hosts a two-part workshop aimed at people ready to go beyond the basics of BDSM. Sun, Aug 17, 6:30– 8:30pm. Venus Envy, 226 Bank St. $25, $15 sliding scale. venusenvy.ca
PLAYS & MUSICALS Young Forever Written by GregoryYves Fénélon, this dramatic comedy explores the effects of a suicide on a group of young adults. Runs until Fri, July 18, various times. Studio LéonardBeaulne, 135 Seraphin-Marion. $13, $10 students. youngforevertheplay. tumblr.com
The Book of Mormon A highly irreverent, ruthlessly satirical musical story of Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, who are sent to convert Ugandans when they’d rather be in Florida. Runs until Sun, July 27, various times. National Arts Centre, 53 Elgin St. $60.75–125.75. nac-cna.ca
RUNNERS & BENDERS
Queens in the Hall
Men’s Yoga at GayZone
Surely one of Ottawa’s biggest ever drag shows, this evening includes performances by more than 25 drag queens, including Eva Darling,
This class is suited to both beginners and experienced practitioners. Every Thursday, 5:15–6:45pm. Gay Zone, Centretown CHC, 420 Cooper St. Free. gayzonegaie.ca
Kapri at Offbeat — Babylon, Sat, July 19
Ottawa Frontrunners Queer people and their friends walk or dash around Ottawa’s streets and trails. For more info, contact ofr@ottawafrontrunners.org. Every Saturday, 9am, and every Tuesday, 6:30pm. Ottawa City Hall, Lisgar Street entrance, 111 Lisgar St. Free. ottawafrontrunners.org
SCREENINGS Pride Film Night: Queer As a $3 Bill
Against Me! — Ritual, Sun, Aug 3
18 JULY 17–AUG 13, 2014 XTRA!
The Ottawa Senior Pride Network and the Lesbian Information Xchange screen Silent Pioneers (1985), about coming out in an intolerant era, and Out Late (2008), about coming out after age 55. For more info, contact info@girlswanttoknow.com. Wed,
Submit your event listing to ottawalistings@dailyxtra.com. Deadline for the Aug 14 issue is Tues, Aug 5. OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
ce Last chan r to get you n! pride Porid e Get your g event listin to us by
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The New Art Festival Ottawa’s largest non-commercial outdoor art festival took place June 21 and 22 at Central Park in the Glebe. More than 200 artists participated in the New Art Festival, where art lovers could buy anything from visual art, pottery and jewellery to fibre art and woodworking. 1E Shirley Liu takes a break from checking out the artists. 2E Lucky Jackson and her eclectic pieces. 3E Eryn O’Neil poses in front of her work. 4E Community activist and organizer Bhat Boy shows off his detailed artwork. 20 JULY 17–AUG 13, 2014 XTRA!
Glow Fair Eight blocks of Bank Street were closed June 20 and 21 for the inaugural Glow Fair. The festival included acts from as far away as Australia (DJ Kitty Glitter), local performers, a silent disco, extended patios, performance art, and sound and light shows. 5E Marilena Gaudio, left, and Glow Fair organizer Sebastien Provost take a short break for the camera. 6E Carly Beau shows off her Glow Fair outfit. 7E Conn Simard, left, and Mike Knowles at their Stroked Ego table on Bank Street. 8E From left, Jeremy Pigeon, Jonathan Coté, Madison House, Christopher Mortagua, Mina Dadar and Simon Ducas. OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
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Community Groups & Services AIDS Committee of Ottawa 613-238-5014 aco-cso.ca Capital Pride capitalpride.ca Centretown Community Health Centre 613-233-4443 centretownchc.org The Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa 613-747-7800 casott.on.ca
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Counselling Antoine Quenneville, MA, C Psych Assoc 613-230-6179 x401 themensproject.ca Gilmour Psychological Services 613-230-4709 ottawa-psychologists.com Jerry SG Ritt, MA OACCPP, Psychotherapist 613-233-9669
Squirt.org squirt.org
Jewellery & Jewellers Davidson's Jewellers 613-234-4136 davidsonsjewellers.com
Lawyers Ian Carter – Bayne Sellar Boxall 613-236-0535 bsbcriminallaw.com
Home Improvement & Repairs
Mann & Partners, LLP 613-722-1500 mannlawyers.com
Merkley Supply Ltd 613-728-2693 merkleysupply.com
Nelligan O’Brien Payne LLP 613-238-8080 nelligan.ca
Hotels Brookstreet Hotel 613-271-1800 brookstreet.com
Legal Services
Housing
Ian Carter – Bayne Sellar Boxall 613-236-0535 bsbcriminallaw.com
Andrex Holdings 613-238-1835 andrexholdings.com
Mann & Partners, LLP 613-722-1500 mannlawyers.com
John King Team 613-695-8181 johnkingteam.com
Nelligan O'Brien Payne LLP 613-238-8080 nelligan.ca
Physiotherapy Vijay Sharma Physiotherapy 613-238-8885 vijaysharma physiotherapy.ca
Perspectives Restaurant at Brookstreet 613-271-1800 brookstreet.com/dining
Politicians
Spa Services
Office of Mayor Jim Watson 613-580-2424 ottawa.ca
Nordik Spa-Nature 819-827-1111 lenordik.com
Paul Dewar, MP 613-964-8682 pauldewar.ca
Prenuptial Agreements Mann & Partners, LLP 613-722-1500 mannlawyers.com
Pride Event Organizations Capital Pride capitalpride.ca
Psychologists Gilmour Psychological Services 613-230-4709 ottawa-psychologists.com
Publications Xtra Ottawa 416-925-6665 dailyxtra.com
Real Estate
John Shea Insurance Brokers Ltd 613-596-9697
Mortgages Mortgage Alliance 613-612-8400
Recreational Vehicles
Linda Young Insurance Brokers Inc 613-825-1110 lindayounginsurance.com
Motorcycles & Scooters
Powersports Canada 613-224-7899
Powersports Canada 613-224-7899 powersportscanada.com
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Giovanni’s Ristorante 613-234-3156 giovannis-restaurant.com Mamma Grazzi’s 613-241-8656 mammagrazzis.com
John King Team 613-695-8181 johnkingteam.com
Insurance
Courtyard Restaurant 613-241-1516 courtyardrestaurant.com
Warren Chase Urban Retreat for Men 613-241-0818 warrenchaseretreat.com
Theatre Orpheus Musical Theatre Society 613-729-4318 orpheus-theatre.ca
Travel The Spa Day Retreat thespajamaica.com thespaottawa.ca
Upholstery Kessels Upholstering 613-224-2150 kesselsupholstering.com
Websites Dailyxtra.com 416-925-6665 dailyxtra.com Squirt.org squirt.org
Weddings Brookstreet Hotel 613-271-3582 brookstreet.com/ weddings
To advertise, call 613-301-9910 or email matt.oleary@dailyxtra.com.
2014
Alternative Transportation
Centretown Community Health Centre 613-233-4443 centretownchc.org
Internet
Shoppers Drug Mart, Bank and Gladstone 613-238-9041 shoppersdrugmart.ca
JUNE–NOV
Ian Carter – Bayne Sellar Boxall 613-236-0535 bsbcriminallaw.com
Furniture
Manotick Insurance Brokers Ltd 613-692-3528 manotickinsurance brokers.com
Pharmacies
Absinthe Café 613-761-1138 absinthecafe.ca
THE BEST OF GAY & LES BIAN OTTAWA
Exploring New Edinburgh Beyond bo oks at After Stonewall Men’s grooming by Warren Ch ase Ottawa’s be st gay bars an d patios
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XTRA! JULY 17–AUG 13, 2014 21
A world of gay adventure
Travel
Vintage vacatıons Airstream trailers, reborn motels and other retro stays AEFA MULHOLLAND
If you’re nostalgic for childhood vacations in travel trailers, caravans or motels but time has tempered your tolerance for campfire fare, cramped quarters and drab, done-in décor, fear not: a dazzling array of dapper, designconscious cabin camps, trailer parks and motels has stepped into the spotlight over the past few years. For a streamlined stay with style, there are now a slew of reconditioned Airstream options from which to choose. The gleaming mid-century marvels have reclaimed their place in the hearts of holiday-makers, from upstate New York to Colorado to Cape Town to the foothills of the Pyrenees in France. With its nine retro 1940s and 1950s trailers, Bisbee, Arizona’s Shady Dell RV Park takes you back to a time when the Cold War was still hot and Tupperware was tops. The diminutive coppermining town in the Mule Mountains is unexpectedly LGBT-friendly and has a lively Pride every June. Things also stay firmly with one foot in the ’50s in the Belrepayre Airstream and Retro Trailer Park in Mirepoix, France. Europe’s first such camping creation, the park offers an array of 10 models of Airstreams, ranging from the 1940s to the 1970s. There’s also an aluminum diner and a restaurant/bar with a vinyl-only music policy. For an even hipper take on tin-can tourism, breeze into Berlin’s Huettenpalast, where a cache of quirky cabins and vintage trailers have come home to roost in an old factory in the Neukölln area of the city. More uber-cool urban camping can 22 JULY 17–AUG 13, 2014 XTRA!
be found in Cape Town on the rooftop of the Granddaddy Hotel , where seven Airstreams nestle alongside mailboxes, barbecues and an expanse of AstroTurf. Another option that boasts both cabins and trailers comes courtesy of Kate Pierson, of The B-52s. Kate’s Lazy Meadow motel in Mount Tremper, New York, near Woodstock, adheres to the moreis-more school of décor, with nine rustic, over-the-top suites and five similarly spaced-out Airstream trailers. In Kate’s own words, “You’ll find mind-blowing mid-century modern/space-age/rocketyour-socks-off décor.” And that’s an understatement. It’s co-owned and managed by Kate’s life partner, Monica Coleman. You’ll find plenty more parks farther west. It’s another slice of life in the past lane at Utah’s Shooting Star Drive-In. Eight trailers, including John Wayne’s digs from the set of The Searchers, an Airstream-only drive-in section and a posse of classic cars from which to watch films from the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s are all on the bill at this eccentric Escalante station. A ccommodations at Astoria’s Sou’wester, in the Pacific Northwest, range from a Silver Streak and a Spartan Manor to a Potato Bug and an African Queen. At Colorado’s Starlite Classic Campground in the Royal Gorge, 45 minutes from Colorado Springs, Winnebagos, Tee Pee trailers and Sportsmen are just some of the constellations of camping quarters. Motels have mutated far from the original utilitarian conformity of the
reassuringly similar rooms they were known for in the 1950s. Today’s boutique motels and reborn motor lodges offer distinctly different destinations. A couple of the most memorable motels are in Portland, Oregon. The Jupiter is a renovated motor inn in the happening Burnside neighbourhood. Offering rooms on the “chill” or “bar patio” sides, depending on your reasons for coming — and your tolerance for noise — the 80-room, pet-friendly place also entices guests with its Doug Fir restaurant and music and club venue. The in-spot frequently hosts local luminaries, including Beth Ditto and Penny Lane. Portland is also home to The Modera, which benefited from a multimillion-dollar midcentury refit in 2008 and is now a luxe haven of impeccable hospitality on the light rail line. North of the border, in Vancouver, the Burrard Hotel opened in 1956. Fifty years later it cast off its rough reputation and morphed into a sleek modern hotel with loaner bikes, gym passes and oodles of attitude. It’s an excellent address for downtown and gay-village social shenanigans. OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
AEFA MULHOLLAND
Clockwise from far left: Hotel Modera, in Portland, Oregon; the funky Thunderbird Motel, in Savannah, Georgia; Astoria’s Sou’wester, in Washington State; the Granddaddy Hotel, in Cape Town, South Africa; Kate’s Lazy Meadow in upstate New York.
SOUWESTERLODGE.COM
AEFA MULHOLLAND
LAZYMEADOW.COM
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AEFA MULHOLLAND
Elvis, Dean, Marilyn and Frank’s old favourite, Palm Springs, is another time capsule of a town, with its dozens of impeccably restored mid-centurymodern motels, a cool clutch of gay resorts and a stunning backdrop of the 3,000-metre San Jacinto Mountains. So line up the martinis, relive the glory days of this oasis in the desert and avail yourself of the hospitality of super chic moteliers, such as the folks behind the quirky 170-room Ace Hotel & Swim Club, the exquisitely retro Orbit In or the fun Century gay resort. Savannah, Georgia’s funky Thunderbird Motel has budget boutique billets within strolling distance of the 24 lush, Spanish-moss-draped squares that this southern city is famed for. It’s also just a 10-minute saunter from the infamous Club One, the haunt of notorious drag queen Lady Chablis, star of the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Meanwhile, one of the most atmospheric accommodations in LGBTfrequented Rehoboth Beach, in Delaware, is the snappy Crosswinds Motel. Centrally located, contemporary and affordable, it reopened in 1998, and
rooms were renovated from top to bottom in 2012. Down south, two divine destinations lure lovers of luxe vintage lodgings. The Belmont Hotel, home to BarBelmont, Smoke Restaurant and fantastic downtown skyline views, in the Bishop Arts District of Dallas, is a favourite with queer travellers and other fashionconscious folks. Austin, Texas’s Hotel San José is a boutique bungalow that opened in the 1930s and now appeals to visiting arts, music and design people. It’s crammed to its groovy gills during South by Southwest. Any time of year, grab a seat at Jo’s coffee shop and watch the action on bustling South Congress. So, whether you fancy a redone retro room on wheels or an old-school roadhouse with every modern trapping, with all these options to choose from, it’s time for a vintage vacation. Access this story on dailyxtratravel.com for web links to select featured businesses and attractions.
XTRA! JULY 17–AUG 13, 2014 23
Travel
Alberta’s two biggest cities have plenty to offer LGBT travellers
Big sky country THINKSTOCK
Edmonton
ROB SALERNO
Calgary There’s more to Calgary than the stereotypical cowboys and oil barons. But if your tastes run to cowboys, you’ll find plenty of those, too. In fact, the classic gay film Brokeback Mountain was filmed here. Still, Cowtown is a thoroughly modern and cosmopolitan city with lots for visitors to enjoy. You won’t have any trouble finding country-western bars in Calgary, but if you want to freshen up your wardrobe with some authentic cowboy gear (or heck, if you want to spice up your love life with some authentic cowboy gear), you’ll find plenty of shops selling cowboy boots, jeans, Stetsons, leather gloves, spurs and everything else you’ll need to rope a cowpoke in the shops on the Stephen Avenue pedestrian mall. You’ll also find the usual shopping mall stores, a good mix of bars and restaurants, and some cheap food trucks. The mall ends at Olympic Plaza, where medal ceremonies for the 1988 Winter Olympics took place. For more fine dining, interesting independent retail options and the bulk of the city’s nightlife, take a stroll along 17th Avenue SW. A more bohemian experience focused on cafés rather than bars can be found in the Kensington neighbourhood north of the Bow River. The Calgary Zoo is a world-class institution that also houses a botanical garden. The Glenbow Museum is the largest in Western Canada, and it focuses on local history with regularly changing art exhibits. But the best museum experience in the region 24 JULY 17–AUG 13, 2014 XTRA!
BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES
Top, the Calgary skyline. Above, the pirate ship inside the West Edmonton Mall.
is a 90-minute drive west, near Drumheller: the Royal Tyrrell Museum, which houses a magnificent collection of more than 100,000 dinosaur fossil specimens that were found in the Alberta Badlands. If you’re visiting in the winter, it’s worth making a trip to Canada Olympic Park. The facility is open year-round for training and recreation in various sports, but on certain days in the winter, the bobsled and luge track is open for visitors. It’s one of only two bobsled tracks in Canada. Sign a waiver and hit the ice — if you dare! It’s also fun to watch athletes train on the ski-jump and half-pipe courses. Calgary’s gay nightlife scene includes the old stalwart Twisted Element, which hosts drag performances, amateur strip nights and popular dance parties on the weekends. There’s also the Texas Lounge, a small basement bar that’s re-
ally more like the lobby of a bathhouse, which you enter through a rear parking lot off 17th Avenue. The local scene magazine is the monthly GayCalgary and Edmonton, which has up-to-date event listings. But if you’re looking for your Jack Twist, your best bet is at Calgary’s premier gay summer event, the Canadian Rockies International Rodeo — better known as the gay rodeo. The five-day event takes place in nearby Strathmore and features all the ridin’, ropin’ and racin’ you could wish for. Sure, it’s somewhat overshadowed by the annual Calgary Stampede, which is the city’s premier event and one of the biggest rodeos in the world. But it’s nowhere near as fabulous. Pride 2014 celebrations in Calgary take place Aug 22 through Sept 1. Visit pridecalgary.ca for more information.
If Calgary is Canada’s Dallas, then Edmonton is the Great White North’s Austin — a hip, artsy and active city with a strong pioneering spirit not quite sullied by its great oil wealth. With a strong arts scene, shopping that could keep you busy for days, and a thriving gay and lesbian scene, there’s plenty to keep visitors busy in Edmonton. Start with a stroll down Whyte Avenue in the Old Strathcona neighbourhood. This part of town features lots of quirky independent shops, nice restaurants and a bar and pub scene frequented mostly by a college-aged crowd. It can get pretty rowdy on weekend nights. On the north side of the river lies the downtown core, thick with office towers and government buildings. The sprawling grounds of the Alberta Legislature make for a pleasant stroll, and the massive, colonial-style building itself is quite beautiful. At night the grounds are a popular spot for gay cruising and for straight teenagers to sneak off and make out, but be warned — police patrol the area frequently. The North Saskatchewan River valley is the largest urban parkland in North America — larger than 20 Central Parks. The valley cuts deeply through the city along a meandering path, and it’s lined with recreational trails, park spaces, golf courses and wildlife areas. Included in the river valley system are the four glass pyramids of the Muttart Conservatory (a biosphere hosting plants in different environments), the Edmonton Valley Zoo and the costumed historical experience at Fort Edmonton Park. In the summer months, you can cross the valley in the High Level Bridge streetcar
for some excellent views. At night, you can take in a fine show at the Citadel Theatre or the new Winspear Centre for Music. The Varscona Theatre in Old Strathcona has been hosting the weekly drag soap opera DieNasty for more than 20 years — it’s an Edmonton institution frequented not only by the gays. The gay scene, such as it exists in Edmonton, is centred on Jasper Avenue in downtown. The combo pub/ dance club Woodys/Buddy’s attracts a mixed, casual crowd, while the more stylish dance club is the upstart Flash nightclub. Weekly listings can be found in the local free magazine GayCalgary and Edmonton. Finally, no trip to Edmonton can be considered complete without a stop at the massive West Edmonton Mall. The West Eddie (as the locals call it) was long the biggest mall in the world but now must settle for being the biggest mall in North America. You could easily spend days exploring it — it has a built-in hotel for when you get tuckered out. There’s also an indoor water park, a petting zoo, cinema, roller coasters, skating rink, mini golf, two night clubs, a comedy club, several large restaurants, indoor skate park, 24-hour gym, dinner theatre and a billiards and arcade complex. Among the more than 800 shops are several Edmonton-exclusive shops and the only Simons store outside of Quebec. Edmonton celebrated Pride in early June. Check edmontonpride.ca for details for 2015. For maps of both cities and listings of interest to LGBT travellers, go to dailyxtratravel.com.
OTTAWA’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
Eight great summer events for women raised and socialized as girls,” events are aimed at feminist activists, writers and creatives. Events include comedy, live music performances, speakers and workshops.
From Greek island antics to steamy Florida fiestas
Girl Splash Provincetown, Massachusetts July 22–26 provincetownforwomen.com
Just one of the five fantastic women’s events that happen in this LGBTadored Cape Cod town each year, Girl Splash has a hectic calendar of daily dance parties already lined up, from the opening kickoff party and Friday’s tea dance and deck party, all the way to the closing White Party on the Sunday night. Spend your days exploring the dunes, schmoozing on a schooner as it sails past Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod, going on an all-women’s whale watch, or mingling with the many, many women to be found roaming the colourful streets of P’town, and spend your nights at a bonfire in the dunes or on the dancefloor.
LaDIYfest Berlin, Aug 1–3 ladyfest.net
A spinoff from the original LadyFest events, this alternative women’s and trans festival takes a hands-on, opento-all approach to entertainment. Last year’s event started off with a vegan barbecue at the Tempelhofer Feld, an abandoned airport, where barbecue sites are tucked between runways. It’s definitely a unique spot to grill tofu. Along with the array of film nights, concerts, parties and live music on the schedule, this fest stands out from the crowd with options that include drumming lessons and haircuts. Cutting edge, indeed. MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM
Place for Paws
Boarding Camp for Dogs & Cats
Angela Zorn 2432 Old Hwy 17 RR #1, Rockland, ON K4K 1K7
613-446-2280
Womenfest Key West, Florida, Sept 4–7 womenfest.com
AEFA MULHOLLAND
Summer has finally hit and things are heating up. On top of the incredible social smorgasbord for women that’s on offer during summer’s plethora of Pride celebrations, there’s also a captivating collection of women’s events happening around the world, from Greek island antics to steamy Florida fiestas.
2 MINUTES TO CHURCH ST OR THE SUBWAY ALL OF TORONTO IS AT YOUR DOORSTEP
The steamy Womenfest is held every September in Key West. AEFA MULHOLLAND
Lesbomonde Reunion Montreal, Aug 2 diverscite.org
Following up on 2013’s event, which was without doubt the best ladies’ beach party in Canada, held on the sands of the St Lawrence River, this year Lesbomonde covers up and heads indoors for this super-hot girl party on the islands of the St Lawrence. Details are still to come, but book early for this one.
Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival
The tropical island delight of Key West, the southernmost point in the continental US, puts on this steamy social booking every September. A wonderfully walkable island, dotted with sixand seven-toed cats and free-roaming chickens, Key West is a quirky wee place with a decidedly LGBT ambiance and a character all its own. It even proclaims itself The Conch Republic, although everyone’s too laid-back to actually make any serious efforts toward independence. Highlights of Womenfest include eco tours, jet skiing, snorkelling and dolphin-watching trips, golfing among the palm trees, drag shows, yoga, speed dating, karaoke, comedy, cocktail parties, concerts and contests. The Bourbon Street Pub, an LGBT mecca, has a hectic itinerary, including the Beach Blanket Butch and Babe Bash, complete with tiki bar and hot tub, and the Burly Burlesque Show, while women-owned resort Pearl’s puts on the pool parties and Itsy Bitsy Bikini Contests. Las Vegas, Sept 4–8 shedonismvegas.com
Depending on the weather, Michigan can be equal parts mud and music, but the six-day extravaganza is always an amazing experience that attracts nearly 10,000 women to 650 wooded acres in the state’s northwest. Though organizers say the festival is intended for “womyn who were born female, raised as girls and who continue to identify as womyn,” they say they are forging dialogue and will not ask anyone’s gender. Affinity groups abound, with activities and workshops for pretty much any interest you can dream up. Daytime programming tends to music and comedy, early evening to theatre and dinnertime dramatics, while the night stage boasts the big draws, with this year including Elvira Kurt, Bitch and Melissa Ferrick.
Taking over the Rumors all-suite boutique resort, this weekend-long celebration is Sin City’s most alluring women’s event. Parties by day and night, pop stars, comedy, poker and a parade are just some of the enticements on the table for those who want to strike out for Nevada this September.
London, Aug 30 & 31 femifest2014.com
Women-only, feminist antics take the podium at this political festival in East London. Open to all “women who were
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Hart, Michigan, Aug 5–10 michfest.com
FemiFest 2014
TORONTO DOWNTOWN CENTRE
The 14th International Eressos Women’s Festival Lesbos, Greece Sept 6–20 womensfestival.eu
Workshops and walks, massages and reiki, art and photography workshops and exhibitions, outings and safaris, plus the company of women from all over the world are just some of the draws of this event at the ultimate lesbian destination. Folk music from Greece, Turkey and other areas of the Mediterranean lines up alongside DJ nights, fashion shows, open-air cinema showings and rock-climbing demos. Run by Sappho Women, this is definitely the only women’s festival on this list that offers the opportunity to learn how to master Greek dancing. XTRA! JULY 17–AUG 13, 2014 25
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