Xtra, Vancouver's Gay and Lesbian News

COLD CASE Who killed Edgar Leonardo? ›11

STEPPING DOWN Film Fest loses programmer ›14

VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

THE FEMME PROJECT Toni Latour’s new photos ›21 #497 SEPT 6, 2012

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PRIDE Thawing in BC’s Bible Belt ›16

COMMENT 6 XCETERA 8 NEWS 11 OUT IN THE CITY 19 XPOSED 24

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Roundup #497

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SEPT 6, 2012

NEWS

Stepping down Amber Dawn leaves the Vancouver Queer Film Festival.

›14

‘NEWSFRONT

ONLINE

Film Fest asked to boycott Israel

Sissy bounce with Big Freedia

Protest shows film’s power to spark dialogue, festival organizers say. › 11

Check out our video on xtra.ca/vancouver

Minuteman Press sues WE Vancouver

Gay couple denied apartment in Brampton

The company that printed the Vancouver Pride Society’s 2012 Pride guide is now suing WE Vancouver (formerly the Westender) for $25,000 too. › 12

Counting Pride attendees Why are the parade attendance numbers so hard to pin down? › 13

OPINION

Pressure to be parents With rights come heteronormative expectations, warns Xtra’s sex expert, Dr Pega Ren. › 18

OUT IN THE CITY

Coming of age in Michael Harris’ Homo New young adult novel grapples with coming out, being out, sex and HIV. › 19

The Femme Project “If how you look is too straight, then you can be perceived as an outsider, or perceived as not necessarily believing you are really queer,” says photographer Toni Latour. › 21

“When I asked if she is denying apartments to gay people, she said, ‘That’s right. My client doesn’t like gay people, and we have every right to decide who lives in the apartment and who doesn’t.’ › xtra.ca/toronto

REGULARS

Commentary › 6 Xcetera › 8 Xposed › 24 COLUMNS

Naked Eye Andrea Houston › 6 Ask the Expert Dr Pega Ren › 18 Blitz & Shitz Raziel › 22 The Stuffington Post Graeme Gerrard › 33 CARTOONS

The Brotherhood Tyler Dorchester › 32 LISTINGS

Parties ›20 Meetings & groups ›20 Art, festivals & performances ›20

COVER PHOTO BY NICK SCHAFER

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Comment Russia’s gay gag Naked Eye Andrea Houston

W

E ARE WATCHING A revolution unfold in Russia.

This is a revolution against religious and political oppression. It is a fight for gay liberation, women’s rights and free speech.

Depressing news about post-Soviet Russia seems to surface daily. The latest: anti-gay activists are suing Madonna for $10 million for “offending” them during her Aug 9 concert, where she declared her unwavering support for gay rights.

“Maybe someone does not see the link but after Madonna’s concert maybe some boy becomes gay, some girl becomes lesbian, fewer children are born as a result and this big country cannot defend its borders — for me it causes moral suffering,” one of the activists said.

Russia’s “war on gays” is not new.

Homosexuality was illegal in the former Soviet Union. After it fell, gay sex was decriminalized in 1993, but virulent homophobia continues to run deep.

St Petersburg introduced a gay gag law in February, making it a crime to say anything positive about gay and lesbian people.

Four other cities followed suit.

Neighbouring Ukraine introduced, then shelved, its own legislation in July.

Gay rights activists in Russia have long attempted Pride marches, but they are continuously met with police violence — rainbow flags are confiscated and demonstrators hauled away. A former mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov, referred to gay Pride events as “satanic gatherings.”

Moscow’s top court recently upheld a ban on gay Pride marches in the Russian capital for the next 100 years. It is as absurd as it is terrifying.

How is the Canadian government responding? So far with deafening silence.

The closest the government came to any kind of condemnation was to advise Canadians travelling to Russia in March to “avoid displaying affection in public, as homosexuals can be targets of violence.”

In other words, if you get attacked in Russia for acting gay, you have only yourself to blame, according to our Department of Foreign Affairs.

Unlike our wimpy elected officials, the Canadian people have not been silent. Many of us have joined a growing global chorus singing a punk prayer with the women of Pussy Riot, who were sentenced to two years in a Siberian prison on Aug 17 because

they belted out an anti-Putin protest song inside an iconic Moscow cathedral.

Russian prosecutors claim the song was intended to offend the Orthodox Christian community. The three members of the band were convicted of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.”

What’s the Canadian government’s response? On Aug 20, when Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird was asked about the issue, he couldn’t even bring himself to utter the band’s name.

“We believe in every part of the world of sentencing having some relation to the serious nature of the crime,” Baird said. “Obviously, there’s, I think, widespread concern that this was perhaps too much and there were perhaps political considerations. We support around the world independent judiciaries, and we certainly take note of what’s happened.”

The statement followed news that the band may have a Canadian connection. Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova reportedly holds permanent resident status in Canada.

If Tolokonnikova is Canadian, then Canada must step in. Is the Harper government afraid to rock the boat given its already rocky relationship with the Kremlin?

Meanwhile, in the wake of Madonna’s concert, Russian authorities say they, too, want her punished for speaking up for gay Russians. The deputy prime minister called her a “whore.”

In Russia, gay activists are fighting back, and it’s important that we support them.

All eyes will be on Russia in 2014 when it hosts the Sochi Winter Olympics. Russian authorities have already made it clear that queer people are not welcome.

In March, a Russian court upheld the government’s ban against Pride House, which was pioneered at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics as a place of celebration and refuge for gay athletes and asylum-seekers.

The court ruled that Pride House “leads to propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation which can undermine the security of the Russian society” and provoke “socialreligious hatred.”

If an athlete comes out during the Sochi Olympics and speaks proudly of being gay, will Russian authorities haul him or her away for upsetting the fragile sensibilities of Orthodox Christians and Vladimir Putin?

It is nothing short of an international embarrassment.

Andrea Houston is staff reporter for the Toronto edition of Xtra.

“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 1033 Davie St, Ste 501, Vancouver, BC V6E 1M7.

INBOX Apology accepted A FEW YEARS BACK, ROBIN, you had no sense of humour and had your head where the sun don’t shine with respect to corporate involvement in Pride [“Finding Pride,” Xtra #495 Aug 9]. I took it personally as you singled out me and my Canadian real estate firm.

We had a well-decorated themed small float, marchers with signs, and handed out 500 balloons to children along the route while dancing and singing. We were queers and allies who paid a premium to be in that parade as a national company. I defended then and will reiterate now my right to march in that parade representing anyone that I choose.

I have marched since moving here in 1982. Many years with charities, social causes, and for years I worked begging companies to show their support by putting their name and logo on the Pride Poster visibly — not just giving us money under the table. Do I think that the parade could use more edge and creativity lately? Yes. But from my perspective, I am proud of everyone who walks the walk.

Blair Smith Burnaby, BC

Caged-in street party PRIDE IS A VERY AFFIRMing and particularly empowering event, especially for gays just coming out. I’ve participated in parades in my hometown, Montreal, as well as the city of my Alma Mater, Toronto.

Toronto has enclosed bar/entertainment areas, usually (although not this year) with Grammy/Juno dance music divas in mostly large parking lots with stages that are free of charge for those of age of majority.

Montreal has enclosed areas also free of charge, also usually with free entertainment from dance music divas, with canvassers suggesting voluntary $2 donations. Children are allowed, but alcoholic beverages can only be purchased by people over 18.

This year I had the chance to be in the vicinity of London’s World Pride and although it was a fiasco I was pleasantly surprised that on Pride Saturday the usual cover charge for megaclub Heaven was waived with a free wristband given out on the street.

Charging for the Davie Street Dance Party, not to mention the rather claustrophobic caging of Davie St, goes against the idea of inclusivity and gives the allure of an exclusive venue.

Clifford Chan Vancouver, BC

Don’t let Islam off FOR BREVITY, CLARITY, accuracy, and importance Mr McKeown’s “Don’t let religion off” letter merits applause [Letters, Xtra #495 Aug 9]. Unfortunately, the letter will receive only a small readership. Unfortunately, too, he let Islam off the hook.

I AM PROUD OF EVERYONE WHO WALKS THE WALK.

Send your correspondence by mail to 1033 Davie St, Ste 501, Vancouver V6E 1M7, fax 604-684-9697 or email comment@xtra.ca.

The younger Bible-based religion follows in the odious footsteps of the Jewish and Christian religions, in both (Mr McKeown’s words) “their institutions’ historic and ongoing homophobia,” and in the immoral and unethical stance, vis-à-vis women, that the Big Three have formulated. The three religions have held virgin females in the highest regard, though — for fucking, labour, and off-spring production. This attitude, muted, is ongoing.

Mike Tropp Vancouver, BC

comment Re: “Leather community mourns two losses,” xtra.ca July 13

Both Barney Hickey and Doug Gault were men of exceptional talent, energy, empathy and vision and both had the ability to pull others together towards a vision of a better and more tolerant world.

The community has benefited for years from their energy, and can use the example that they set to continue their work. I will miss them both and will always remember them.

—Peter C Saskatoon, SK To comment, go to xtra.ca.

Rammed down my throat I AM AMAZED AT THE HATE that spews from people in regards to trans folks and acceptance.

Carrie of Montreal accuses Jenna Talackova of using scare tactics to start her career [Letters, Xtra #495 Aug 9].

Really? Is that what you think? Jenna merely fought for the right to present herself as the woman she is, and always will be, in a beauty pageant.

I would like to tell you this, Carrie: I will not sit back passively and have your hateful presence rammed down my throat in the aggressive manner you present. I am out, loud and proud, and have fought hard for my rights and those of others. This is not the last you’ll see of me, and if fighting for my rights means I’ll be in the public eye, then so be it.

Velvet Steele Vancouver, BC

Pride’s lessons for all YOU’RE OUT AT THE LATest hot gay club, dancing,

when out of the corner of your eye you catch the typical parasites hanging on. The straight girls. The fag hags.

But is that all they are? Women out on the prowl for the stereotypical reason of finding a fashion-forward gay friend there to help them accessorize that Prada clutch with their new shoes? Wrong.

There are some straight women who fall into the “gay” world simply by accident. That’s how it happened with me. One TV channel click well over a decade ago to some BBC series about gay men and my mind was pulled into a place I had never even considered. Watching those gay men and women hiding who they were in the daylight business hours, then unleashing their own self and so much more in a place they were comfortable with at night. With people that let them be true.

I had spent most of my childhood, adolescence and early adult years being bullied for everything from my weight to my choices to even my family. I’d run home crying because some guy shouted out his car window hurtful comments while I was walking my dog. Was there a home for me in that world I saw on television? Was I going to fit in anywhere?

I made a decision to venture out. I grew up in Ottawa, but attended my first Pride in Toronto. Everywhere I went people were saying hello, starting up conversations and generally treating me like I was just one of the folks. I felt at ease talking and never once thought I was being judged. I simply got to be me.

I do realize that it was a joyous week and people were probably on their best — and most drunk — behaviour. But I had never felt more alive, more part of something.

I didn’t grow up in a gay-friendly environment. As I was preparing for my next vacation to Toronto, my father turned to me and said he knew why I was going and that I should be ashamed of myself. The comment jolted me. Suddenly I was incredibly hurt and angry, and responded, “Well, I’m not ashamed and I will enjoy every minute of it.”

Once again, my real world berated me. But the world I love awaited me.

While the decade may have changed, my thoughts and feelings have not only remained, they have come alive.

I am proud of what I was a part of, and have fought alongside friends that have dealt with discrimination.

I have moved across the country and will be going to my very first Pride in Vancouver this year with a friend who has never been. While I know it will not compare to the Pride of my youth, I am nothing but overjoyed at the thought of being there.

So, the next time you are out dancing up a storm and see those women laughing and dancing on your turf, just know we’re there because it feels like home. And on behalf of all the women like me, thank you for accepting us and inviting us in.

Christa Keeler Nanaimo, BC

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Xcetera PINTEREST.COM

Salvatore Cordileone

WHO’S THE THREAT HERE AGAIN? encounters of the driving-car-after-drinking kind, and spent a night in jail.

Aka the “Father of Prop 8” because of his zealous campaign against same-sex marriage in California, Cordileone will be formally installed as archbishop mere days before he is due in court to face the drunk driving charge.

He has apologized for his “error in judgment.”

ENVELOPE, PLEASE… VANCOUVER QUEER FILM FESTIVAL

RIGHTWING BROMANCE

And the 24th Vancouver Queer Film Festival winners are…

I really want to make this video just so other people like me can really just take advice and get inspiration, because it’s hard being a straight-acting gay boy at the end of the day.

— Welsh rugby player, Tom “Bozzy” Boswell, 18, in a moving coming out video.

FOOTBALL SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (VIDEO CLIP)

Donald H Dwyer

Maryland lawmaker, Republican Donald H. Dwyer, who has suggested that gays are a threat to children, proved he is in dire need of supervision around the kiddies.

The Tea Partier, who admitted he was drinking while operating his boat, crashed his vessel into another … full of children, three of whom were hospitalized.

And while Dwyer was posing a threat to children on the high seas, back on land Archbishop-elect of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, was busted for his close

NO MORE SHAME

RUGBY CATHOLICNEWSAGENCY.COM

BAD KARMA

NEWYORKER.COM

OUTTV PEOPLE’S CHOICE FOR BEST FEATURE AWARD

Javier Van de Couter’s Mia OUTTV HOT PINK SHORTS AWARD

Jose Ignacio Correa’s Jackie JURIED GERRY BRUNET MEMORIAL AWARD

Some Tea to go with that GOP? TomKat may be over, but no fear, Brangelina have new company.

Introducing … RomRya ... RyaRom? They tinker topless under hoods, slurp from the same milkshake, cuddle copiously, and piggyback ... on each other.

When’s the wedding, right?

What … they don’t believe in that?

So… they’re just going to live in… sin?

Cool!

David Nguyen’s Insert Credit INAUGURAL THE COAST IS QUEER AWARD PRESENTED BY GAYVANCOUVER.NET

Clark Nikolai’s Treviano e la Luna Audiences voted for their favourite feature film and short film via paper ballot or through the official Festival iPhone app, created by B’stro.

On behalf of the entire San Francisco 49ers organization, we are on your side, and we promise ... it gets better.

— SF 49ers safety Donte Whitnet in the first It Gets Better video produced by a National Football League team.

He appears with linebacker Ahmad Brooks, and defensive tackles Ricky Jean Francois and Isaac Sopoaga.

BREAKING NEWS › FIERTÉ MONTRÉAL HONOURS DAVID TESTO > TRESPASSING CHARGES LAID AGAINST 25 GAY MEN IN DURHAM > RUPAUL IS GETTING HER OWN COMIC > GAY COUPLE DENIED APARTMENT IN BRAMPTON > UGANDA REGULATORS CANCEL GAY PLAY’S RUN MORE AT XTRA.CA

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To read the full description of this position and details on how to apply, visit the Jobs section of xtra.ca.

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C Closer than y you think. ssquirt.org

GLOBAL DANCE CONNECTIONS SERIES

TWO PROGRAMS OF CONTEMPORARY DANCE FROM GERMANY Presented with Transatlantique Montreal/Festival Quartiers Danses

fabien prioville dance company

EXPERIMENT ON CHATTING BODIES

Photo credits: fabien prioville dance company by Ursula Kaufmann, Morgan Nardi Choreography by Eckhard Schonlau

Friday September 21, 2012 • 8pm

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dispatches › issues › opinion

Upfront COLD CASES

MINUTEMAN CLAIMS IT ALSO HAS TWO EMAILS FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO CONTACTED WE...

Minuteman sues WE Vancouver › 12

QUEER FILM FEST

Still no arrests Who killed Edgar Leonardo?

Jeremy Hainsworth WHY? THAT’S THE QUESTION TRACY TOMIC ASKS HERself over and over when she thinks of her late friend Edgar Leonardo who was last seen alive Aug 23, 2003.

The case of the 36-year-old’s killing remains one of Vancouver’s unsolved cases but for Tomic, it’s part of her reality. “It kind of never really went away,” she tells Xtra.

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) assures the community that no unsolved homicide case is ever closed.

Tomic says it was she and Leonardo’s landlady who found his body in his West End apartment four days after he failed to show up for work at Air Canada.

Tomic says she talked the landlady into opening the suite door. They looked around the apartment. “She took me in the bedroom and there he was,” Tomic remembers.

“It was really, really horrific. He had been dead for three or four days.”

“There was a struggle,” she says. “Obviously, he fought for his life and lost. It breaks my heart.”

A year after Leonardo’s death, the lead investigator in the case said there hadn’t been a single tip towards a suspect. Even a Crimestoppers re-enactment failed to turn up any leads.

VPD Det Richard Akin suspected a bad date. “I think it’s fairly obvious: He met somebody and Nine years later, Tracy Tomic is that person killed him,” optimistic that whoever killed Akin said in 2004. her friend Edgar Leonardo “There’s no other mo(above) will be brought to tive, other than a bad justice. XTRA FILES date, as far as we can tell.

And we’ve looked at a lot of stuff,” he added.

He said it’s believed Leonardo met his killer in a coffee shop.

Part of the problem in cracking the case may have been that Leonardo was not very well known in the gay community, Akin noted.

Leonardo’s killing is not the only gay man’s death that remains unsolved.

On Oct 8, 2005, Tony Robertson, 51, left the Dufferin Pub to head home around 2am. He was viciously beaten on Main St, two blocks off Hastings.

Police determined that two men watched while a heavyset man with a crew cut in his early 20s assaulted Robertson.

They believed Robertson may have had a verbal exchange with the men before one of them attacked him.

Robertson was only blocks from the Strathcona home he shared with David Reed, his partner of 22 years, when he was beaten and left to die.

Police didn’t believe the incident was a gaybashing.

VPD spokesperson Const Lindsey Houghton says advances in technology often allow police to reexamine evidence. When new officers move into the homicide section, they are given old cases to look over in case a new set of eyes on old information might yield a different avenue of investigation, he adds.

And there always remains the hope that someone may know something that could be “the piece of the puzzle that allows us to solve the case,” he says.

Film fest asked to boycott Israel Protest shows film’s power to spark dialogue: Out On Screen David P Ball ABOUT A DOZEN ACTIVISTS STAGED A protest to draw attention to what they consider “pinkwashing” by Israel’s government, at the screening of an Israeli-backed documentary at the Vancouver Queer Film Festival (VQFF) Aug 22.

The documentary, Invisible Men, by gay Israeli director, Yariv Mozer, follows in part the journey of Louie, a gay Palestinian who seeks refuge in Israel after receiving death threats from his own family, only to face harassment and deportation, before eventually fleeing to Europe.

An Aug 21 letter sent by Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) to Out On Screen, and read after the film’s screening, says the documentary, “rather than supporting Palestinian queers, replaces their voice with an Israeli narrative, funded and supported by the very government engaged in a military occupation and apartheid structure in Palestine that targets Palestinian queers just as directly as every other Palestinian.”

QuAIA member, Amal Rana, pointed to Mozer’s and the film’s financial ties to the Israeli government as a symbol of “pinkwashing,” a bid to portray Israel as gay-friendly while glossing over its human rights record, she said.

QuAIA said they were “disturbed” about the inclusion of the documentary and another Israeli film, Joe + Belle, in the festival.

“As someone from a Jewish and Muslim background, and someone who’s queer, I don’t feel really comfortable going into my own festival,” Rana told Xtra.

“Palestinian queers themselves have said that the first thing we need to tackle is the occupation. They agree that homophobia and transphobia exist everywhere — in Palestine, in Israel, and everywhere else,” she says.

The activists called on Queer Film Festival organizers to adopt a cultural boycott of Israel.

But the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) has criticized QuAIA for its boycott demand, saying that Israeli queers deserve an opportunity to celebrate the “extraordinary inroads” the state has made towards equality.

“It’s very telling that QuAIA doesn’t contend the fact that hundreds of gay Palestinians have fled to Israel in order to join Israel’s open and vibrant gay community,” Darren Mackoff, CIJA’s Pacific Region Director told Xtra. “The idea that Israel’s

“As someone from a Jewish and Muslim background, and someone who’s queer, I don’t feel really comfortable going into my own festival,” QuAIA’s Amal Rana says. DAVID P BALL

LGBT community, which includes many gay Palestinians, should be subject to a boycott is not just absurd — it’s offensive.

“I’m not sure why we can’t celebrate Israel’s achievements in advancing gay rights without the conversation being reduced to one-dimensional, ‘us-versus-them’ thinking. This is not to say that Israel’s government, like every other democratic government, shouldn’t be subject to fair criticism for particular policy decisions.”

Film festival organizers said they welcomed the post-film discussion.

“We are grateful to those members of the queer communities and our allies who share their feedback about the films we screen,” executive director Drew Dennis and programming director Amber Dawn say in an Aug 22 statement. “Film has the power to inspire discussion and dialogue.

We welcome the opportunity to host these conversations during our festival, and year-round.

“Since our founding 24 years ago, we have been proud to be a place of conversation, hosting community-based dialogue panels that encourage divergent viewpoints to be expressed in an environment that embraces diversity and respects differences.”

Festival–goers told Xtra they found the documentary “very disturbing” and “painful,” while another said she worried its deeply intimate approach was “exploitative” of the subjects. Although most attendees Xtra spoke with were inspired by the film, they were divided about QuAIA’s boycott.

“I always welcome new information, so I’m glad I got the chance to hear the letter they presented,” says filmgoer Jim Matteoni. “But I’m even more glad I got a chance to see the film.

“Boycotting and excluding a film like

that is a way of putting our own blinders on. That has me a little bit scared. But the public protest about the film — and making us aware that this might be pinkwashing by the government of Israel and cultural associations — is justifiable, and I’m glad it happened... Boy, it’s a tough one. I have to say, I’m still sitting on the fence.”

Another attendee told Xtra he disagrees with the protest, and felt the panel discussion afterwards — featuring the Rainbow Refugee Committee, No One Is Illegal and QuAIA — was dominated by Rana’s reading of QuAIA’s statement.

“I felt generally that what they did was an ad hominem, that the film was sponsored by the Israeli government, and that it was feeding into a colonial mentality,” said Ron Kidd outside the Vancity Theatre, where Invisible Men played. “They grabbed too much attention.

“The whole situation is very painful. I’ve been in the Occupied Territories, and I’ve seen how brutal the occupation is. But I don’t believe in cutting off free speech either.”

The activists’ statement acknowledged the film’s claim to be “socially conscious,” and director Mozer’s portrayal of the discrimination faced by Palestinian refugees in Israel.

In San Francisco, Palestinian rights activists disrupted a screening of Invisible Men at the LGBT International Film Festival in July, an action that was both applauded and jeered by the audience.

Mozer, who attended that screening, challenged activists about the value of a cultural boycott.

In 2009, the Toronto International Film Festival also became mired in controversy even before it began, when it faced criticism for its City to City showcase on Tel Aviv.

12

Vancouver’s gay & lesbian news

XTRA! SEPT 6, 2012

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Minuteman sues WE Vancouver More allegations of Pride guide fraud Nathaniel Christopher

The News Roundup. On xtra.ca.

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PRIDE

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THE COMPANY THAT PRINTED THE Vancouver Pride Society’s (VPS) 2012 Pride guide is suing WE Vancouver (formerly the Westender) for $25,000, alleging the weekly newspaper fraudulently secured ads by misrepresenting itself to potential advertisers as the publisher of this year’s Official Pride Guide.

Blueline Printing, which does business as Minuteman Press, says it signed an exclusive contract with the VPS to publish its guide in May 2012.

Minuteman’s lawsuit follows one ďŹ led in July by the VPS, which accuses WE of acting “with great malice aforethought causing us to suffer significant financial losses in the form of advertising sales for the legitimate ‘Official Vancouver Pride Guide.’â€?

WE Vancouver has denied the VPS’s allegations and asked the court to dismiss the case.

In its statement of defence, WE says it wasn’t notiďŹ ed until June 7 that it had lost the contract to publish the VPS’s guide. Once it found out the guide would be printed elsewhere, WE claims it took “all reasonable stepsâ€? to dissociate itself from the VPS’s Pride guide.

In its statement of claim ďŹ led in small claims court on Aug 16, Minuteman alleges that emails between the VPS and WE show the newspaper knew it no longer had the contract on April 24.

Minuteman says it conďŹ rmed its own contract with the VPS when it was informed by a third party that WE had solicited an ad for the “Official Pride Guide.â€? “The VPS was able to produce an email chain from Ms Gail Nugget [Nugent], employed as the Advertising Manager for the defendant,â€?

Minuteman says in its statement of claim, summarising the email chain as: “An acknowledgment from the defendant that they did not hold a current contract, an invitation from the VPS to submit a proposal, and a request from the defendant for an immediate meeting stating ‘Advertising revenues are down’ with regards to their other revenue streams.’�

Minuteman claims it also has two emails from community members who contacted WE with respect to the “Official Pride Guide� after July 10. “In neither instance did the defendant correct or inform the community member that they had no affiliation with the Official Pride Guide. The defendant was thereby trading on its past contractual relationship with the VPS and their carefully planned scheme of misrepresentation,� Minuteman alleges, “further depriving us recognition, and thereby circulation, as the legitimate publishers of the Official Pride Guide.�

None of the allegations has been proven in court.

For more on this story go to xtra.ca

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XTRA! SEPT 6, 2012

13

PRIDE

Counting Pride attendees Why are attendance numbers so hard to pin down?

Richard J Dalton Jr IF ORGANIZING A PARADE SEEMS like a massive undertaking, try counting the throngs of onlookers.

The Vancouver Pride Society (VPS) boasts on its website that the annual parade draws more than 600,000 people, and 750,000 for the 13 Pride events combined. But the number seems to be more of a guestimate than a hard fact. “It’s far from science,� VPS president Tim Richards acknowledges.

Richards says police say this year’s number of parade attendees was on par with last year, when Pride officials provided an estimate of 640,000 attendees. He says he doesn’t know if police provided the estimate last year.

Parade attendance ďŹ gures are important to event sponsors, Richards notes.

A presenting partner pays at least $50,000 for the expected crowd exposure, according to the Pride partnership package material. The package says event banners that recognize partners make more than 750,000 impressions.

Partners support Pride because “it’s the right thing to do, but it’s also good for business,� Richards says.

The ďŹ gures also are important to plan for security and marshalling along the parade route, Richards says.

Current and former VPS officials have cited the police, ďŹ re and ambulance services as sources for the crowd estimates.

But the agencies tell Xtra they don’t provide crowd estimates for Pride events.

Const Brian Montague of the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) says: “Anecdotally I can tell you that some of the officers who attended numerous parades said it’s the biggest crowd that they can recall.� But, he adds, the police don’t normally do crowd estimates.

Police have provided attendance ďŹ gures for previous parades. In 2001, Pride hired consulting ďŹ rm westQuest to conduct an economic impact study.

The report says: “With an official police attendance estimate of 100,000 in 2001, the Vancouver Pride Parade is part of one of the largest pride festivals held in Canada, and one of the largest on the west coast of the continent.�

VPD spokesperson Lindsey Houghton tells Xtra via email that this year the police provided attendance ďŹ gures for the Celebration of Light but not Pride.

He says the VPD provided attendance ďŹ gures for Pride and other events in previous years but stopped doing so after some event organizers said they would rather report the ďŹ gures themselves.

Asked if Pride officials made such a request, he writes: “I don’t know if

Pride organizers speciďŹ cally requested to provide their own stats this year.â€?

Richards says he would have appreciated a police estimate. “To my knowledge, we would never have turned down an offer for them to do a crowd count,� he says.

Lieut Carol Messenger, spokesperson for Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services, says the ďŹ re department doesn’t track attendance or keep statistics, either.

She suggests contacting the parade organizers.

Kelsie Carwiphen, spokeswoman for BC Ambulance Service, says, “The number of people that attend the Pride parade is not something we’d track.�

A spokesman for the mayor’s office also says city agencies do not estimate attendance.

Tim Kraumanis, who sits on the VPS board of directors, told Xtra before the parade that the police or ďŹ re departments provide attendance ďŹ gures.

Told by Xtra that those organizations say they don’t provide such statistics, Kraumanis says he doesn’t know which city agency provides ďŹ gures.

Ken Coolen, who was president of Vancouver Pride for three years until this year, says organizers obtain ďŹ gures from several sources, including BC Ambulance Service and the fire and police departments and even the media.

Told the government agencies say they don’t provide ďŹ gures, he says, “It was always very hard getting anybody to go on record with the number.â€?

Coolen says the city charges for services based on the estimated attendance, so

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Those estimates, though, would be determined in advance of the parade.

Asked why the parade organizers usually wait several days to provide attendance figures, he says, “We use different approximations from different groups. And so they’ll give us unofficial numbers, but they’ll never go on record with a number.�

Counting attendees is a difficulty

IT WAS ALWAYS VERY HARD GETTING ANYBODY TO GO ON RECORD WITH THE NUMBER. —Former Pride Society president Ken Coolen

faced by many Pride organizations.

Pride Calgary depends on the police, says president Dallas Barnes. “We have no actual way of doing it ourselves,� she says. “It would take way too much time.�

At least two other Canadian Pride events turn to professionals to determine crowd estimates.

Montreal Pride hires an external ďŹ rm to do a survey at Pride every three years, says vice president Jean-SĂŠbastien Boudreault.

Boudreault says the statistics are important to determine how many security guards are needed. “But also it’s important when it comes to negotiate partnerships with

sponsors,� he adds. “The more people who attend Pride – the more visibility a sponsor gets — the more money we can get when we negotiate the partnership.�

In between surveys, the organization determines crowds at certain events based on the number of people who enter the doors and, for the parade, the organization gets crowd estimates from the police and ďŹ re departments, Boudreault says.

But in Montreal, as in Vancouver, the police say they don’t provide crowd estimates. “It is very hard to calculate a crowd and since we are not specialists we let the organisers of the event provide their own estimate,� says Montreal police spokesperson Anna-Claude Poulin.

The Montreal fire department did not respond to Xtra’s calls.

Toronto also hires an outside research company to conduct an economic impact study. In 2009, Enigma Research Corp estimated that 411,000 people attended Pride.

Richards says Vancouver Pride might consider conducting another economic impact study. “There’s different processes to actually do counting, and at the end of the day one of our goals is to look at having an economic impact study that would have to include a more scientific approach than what we’ve received in the past,� he says.

But such a study could cost $20,000– $30,000, a substantial sum for a nonproďŹ t, he says. “It’s a lot of cash, so we have to take a look at that to see what we could afford to do,â€? he says.

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Vancouver’s gay & lesbian news

XTRA! SEPT 6, 2012

Q&A

Queer Film Fest’s programmer steps down Amber Dawn says last year’s accusations did not change her selections

XTRA: How would you describe your tenure as Out On Screen’s programming director over the last four years?

AMBER DAWN: Arriving at Out On Screen, I had many experiences as an audience member and as an artist who has shown short films and also performed at the festival. So I already had the affection and the ambition. What I didn’t realize is how actually competitive the world of film and film festivals is.

Every festival these days shows queer film. In fact, queer cinema is considered to be the most avant-garde, thoughtful cinema of all time.

What I needed to learn the most is to be aggressive and to be always an ambassador for the Vancouver Queer Film Festival, to make sure that artists and major film industry professionals knew that the Vancouver Queer Film Festival is a contender, and that they should show work with us.

Community building is huge. One of my bigger personal motivations was making sure that trans and genderqueer community understood very clearly that

As programming director, did you feel any pressure to tone down the content of the film festival as a result of those accusations?

I didn’t change my selection. But I was perhaps very careful with how I worded things in the guide. I’ve used racier language in the past.

So there was a bit of a chilling effect?

Like I didn’t cuss in the guide. You don’t see the word “fuck” in the guide, for example. Fortunately, we’re a community that loves synonyms so I think that regardless of language the intention of each film was conveyed.

I tried not to say “fuck” on stage when I had the microphone, but I don’t know if I was always successful.

Natasha Barsotti AFTER FOUR YEARS AS THE VANcouver Queer Film Festival’s director of programming, Amber Dawn is stepping down to write her second novel, a memoir entitled How Poetry Saved My Life, inspired by the “brave voices” from the stories she brought to the festival’s screens and audiences.

Xtra sat down with Amber Dawn on Aug 28 to chat about the achievements of the last four years; the state of queer film; and the accusations, levelled against festival organizers and their educational arm Out in Schools last fall, of introducing children to “homosexist politics and pornography.”

Here’s an excerpt from that interview.

think, ‘Oh God, if I would have just seen anything like Out in Schools when I was in high school, it would have radically changed my experiences as a young person.’ So to have someone attack something that to me feels so necessary and valuable, yeah I felt intimidated.

Has the film festival suffered at all because of these accusations?

I don’t think so. I mean, I think our staff team was fatigued having to respond to the accusations, but I don’t think the programming has been altered whatsoever.

Have you faced funding losses because of the situation?

After four years of selecting the films screened at the Vancouver Queer Film Festival, Amber Dawn is leaving to work on her memoir to be published next spring. FATIMA JAFFER

I am programming with gender diversity in mind, and I was really interested in quality films that would speak to them.

What’s your sense of the quality of films now available that speak to queer experiences?

I think the quality has gone up. Since I became a queer cinema viewer in the early ’90s actually, I’ve seen the quality of films continually rise.

There are some big projects that are getting funding, which allows filmmakers more opportunity to produce better quality work. But story is always important, too. You’ll always see very experimental work, low-budget work at the festival, so long as there’s a message or there’s a thread that links our community to the film.

The Falls, which was the gay Mormon film by Jon Garcia, is a good example. It took $7,000 total to make that film, that’s rock bottom for a feature production, and it sold out. It really spoke to our audience. Amateur actors, first-time filmmaker, and yet it

still resonates.

It’s important to appreciate new filmmakers who maybe don’t have those financial resources to show the highest quality just yet. There’s places that we were able to show for the first time this year: Ecuador, Sri Lanka…

Are you finding there is a growing pool of non-Western films to pick from?

Absolutely. And they’re not always the easiest to access. Two years ago, we brought Madame X from Indonesia.

Indonesia has a queer film festival there called Q! Fest, which is constantly under attack. They have to announce their venues almost in secret, or else they will have too much threat. To have a queer film come out of Indonesia...

How did you feel when you heard Kari Simpson’s accusations last fall?

It’s heartbreaking to me. Of course, I’m going to be feel protective of all of Out On Screen’s programs. But the Out in Schools team, in conjunction with myself, all of our various commit-

tee volunteers, the school board, look so closely at what films are brought into the high schools. They have to go through a very rigorous screening process to be adopted into an Out in Schools workshop, and are not only screened but endorsed by Vancouver School Board and many educators, so it’s hard when someone flings mud.

We had to become very nimble and wise with how we responded to those attacks. It wasn’t a time to have a kneejerk response. It wasn’t a time to mirror the hateful language. It was a time to be very strategic. In essence, I learned a lot about how to respond to hatred.

Did you feel intimidated?

I did. I did feel intimidated. You know I’ve had many experiences in my life where people have questioned my life choices or who I am — anywhere from family members to media — but I’m so protective of the folks that I feel an alliance to, and youth I certainly feel a huge alliance to, and like many people who support the Out in Schools program, I

Oh, I don’t think so. I think the shift in public funding is occurring for many reasons, and in particular, what the current government values. So I think public funding is something we understand is not what is going to sustain our festival.

I can tell you now that none of our public funders withdrew support based on Kari Simpson and her political group, Culture Guard. In fact, the feedback we get from jury members, who sit on the jury for public funders, it’s very positive. We are held in esteem with the various arts councils.

How do you think the festival should respond to threats from the Christian right?

I think it’s important in the face of hatred, but also just as a practice, for community groups to be very upfront, visible and transparent about what they do. Our community is one that asks for accountability. They want to know what their community organizations like Out On Screen are up to.

Read the full interview, and find out which films Amber Dawn is proudest of having programmed, why she’s leaving and what she thinks of the call for a boycott against Israelibacked films, on xtra.ca

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XTRA! SEPT 9, 2012

15

COMMUNITY

Vancouver’s underwear King Top Drawers turns 20 Mark Robins WHEN DAVID KING OPENED HIS underwear shop several blocks beyond the traditional boundaries of Vancouver’s gay village 20 years ago, he wasn’t necessarily thinking long-term.

“It was definitely a departure at the time, back 20 years ago, as all gay businesses were up on Davie St,” he remembers.

The lack of a suitable space for his store on Davie pushed King a few blocks over to Denman. “I thought if Denman doesn’t work I’d move somewhere else.

I even looked at Robson as well, but this location kept coming back to me.”

He needn’t have worried.

“I remember the first weekend being very exciting, and being able to pay the rent after those first couple of days,” he says.

“Every day I would see fingerprints on the windows when I opened the store and I knew it was a good sign.”

Originally a journalist, King not only needed to learn the business side of underwear, he also realized early on that to survive he would need to take

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risks with the lines he carried.

“When the store first opened it was strictly black and white underwear,” King says. “It was a real focused concept look, but it didn’t last very long. It looked good, but didn’t sell that well.”

In the last two decades, King has seen many changes in men’s underwear design and prices. Not only are gay men willing to pay more for what he calls a recession-proof luxury, but today’s top-selling underwear is almost unrecognizable compared to the shapeless boxer-brief, tighty-whities and Lycra bodysuits he remembers from 1992.

Today it is all about fit, colour, fabric, sex appeal and anything that enhances.

“Things like hidden pockets in the front pouch that give you a boost to lift or shape, sort of enhancing what you already have,” he says.

“Fabrics are also big,” he notes, “like modal, which is like a bamboo and is so light and comfortable. Skimpy is a big thing too. There is a much bigger market for it now than there ever was.”

As Top Drawers evolved, King went beyond simply chasing the next big fashion trends of the established brands, and began to carry local designers too. One such designer whose work caught King’s eye was Ryan McKillop, who credits King with giving him his big break.

Acco mm od Resources ations Acco untants Banking Ba Apartments Ar t Ga Ad ult Adve rtising Busin ess &nkruptcy Bars & Clubslleries Ar t Supplies Agencies AIDS/HIV Ar Bicycles Bo Profe ssion Butchers Ca okkeep tis ts Ar ts & Craft al Orga Co mm un ity rpet Cleaning Cater niz ati ons Busin ess ing Books & Magaziness Contrac tin Grou ps & Se rviceing Chat Lines Chee Su pp lie s & Se rvice se Shops Ch s Crises Servig & Renovations Co s Co mp ute r Co ns ult ocolatiers okwa re Co Dermatologces & Shelters Cr smetic an ts Co ns tru cti on Cro osssGardening y Drag Enter tainms-Dressing Dating Se Services Counsellin Gr rvi g en vic ap ce t es hic Ev s De en De nta erv ts Framing & Barbers He sig rviice ces & Posters l Se alth & Person Services Grocery Gy Home Impro Fu urn na ms rni r iitu rn itturre e R movaall Ha m nts & Re l Care Health Food & Hair Re Inves tmen veme H ir ir Sty Sttyl pairs Nutrit tyli ty ylist ylis lliis ists sstttss om me e Fu Leather Lift Serrvices JewelleryHotels Illustrators Ins ion Ho F urn u ur rni r n nis is ish sh s hin hi h ing ng gs In nte teri ter Certified/Ree Legal Services Lim& Jewellers Juice Baurance Int ri io i or o r De D esig sign n che en ens La & Storage gistered Massage ousine Services Lo rs Kitch L wy wye ers rs miith ths hs Ma Personal TraMusic Optical Serv Meats & Delicatesse cksm Ma assssa sag age eices Optom ns iners Pet ind exdirec rtg tg gag age Ph ges ho es Mo Care tory.ca etrists OrgaMoort otto Mov o og grra Pe vin ap i ing t ph g Sit h he er rs tin nic s ic c g P lum Plu Fo Fo & Boarding um oo Publicatio mb od od Pa bi b ing Pain i ng Po ticcia inttin ing Pet Sto g c ian an tor nss Pssy orres res es & Su Re creati onns Real Es tate Real liti ycch Supplies h ho olo log og giist st s Pssy y ycch c ho gen Cafes Sexu Re fle xo log y Re no Es tate Ag ho ents otth ts Real Es P h erra aap py y tat t te e Inv In nv n Ta x Se rv iceal Counselling Spa va tio ns & R v ve es e Re stm st s tm s sto me to en ents rat ts Tree Service s Te lec om mu nic Services Ta ke Ou t ion s Re ssta ta ta ur u rran a tss & an at & eliliv s Trophies ve ery erry Yoga y Ta Tatto Upholsteryion s Tra ns po rta tio De g Accomm ttttoo tto oo o oin oing g mmo n T ve l A Web Sites od da at atiion ons Accoun HIV IV Re Ag gen ge Weddings Tra R sourc ncci n c cie ur es A i u e es nta s tan nt Wo W Ap t ts s pa me art rtm en Banking Ba ult n’s m me ’ss Se ltt Advertisin en nts ts Arrtt G ller Adu ervi erv rrv viiic v ice ce cess g Ag Agenccie ies es A Art Supplies Busin ess &nkruptcy Bars & ClubsGa ies AID ies ie A IDS DS lie S/ / Ar Bic tis t sts Arts & ycles Book Butchers Ca Profe ssional Orga keeping Bosts Craft ftss niz ati rpet Cleaning o s & Ma Co mm M ga mu Catering Chons Busin ess Su ppok un nit ity lie l i s & Se rvzines up at Lines Ch ps & S ps Contrac tin y Grou Se errv vic eese Sho ice s ice ess Co mp Ren op s no pu ov Ch ute Crises Servig & Re va t ati oc r Co ns ultan on ola nss Cook ces & Shelt tio tts Co ns tru tiers Dermato ers Cross- wa re Cosmeti eticc Se tollog log Dra Serv Dr rvic ices Coun cti on ag g En E e Gardening y D er ttainme essing Dating Service Graphic De tter t Eventss Fra s Dental Seselling & Barbers He sign Serviceen Fr F am rvices mi ing i ng & s alt Groc P Po h & Persona Home Im l Care Healt ery Gyms Hair Remosters Furniture mp pro rov ve em me en h nts va tss & Repairs Inv ve esstm tm me i s Hotels IlluFood & Nutrition Homel Hair Stylists en erv rv rviice ces Jew u str s Leather Lift Se Fu tra ew ato rni to tor elle el sh rss Ins ery Insu ry & Jewelle ura e Legal Se ran ncce e Int In or De ings errss Ju Certifi rv rtifie Jui e Ba ed d/ sig s gn /R B rs Kit he erior Re n eg gis isttered Me ices Limousine Serv ce en Music Op nss Lawy ats & Delica ices Locksm ch wye pti ers ticca Se rs erv tessens rviice iths Massag ces Op Pet Care Peall S ns Mortg ptometrist tes rtga eag ge es e t s s Sit Mo Or ting & Board ganic Food vin ving Plu mb ing g & Storag P Pa r ag ain ing int Po P e tin oli ing liti Pet Sto g Pe ticcia ers ian rso nss Ps yc ho on Estat n na al Trainers tTO teRO ReNT al al Es log ist s Ps res & Supplies Photo O’S tat tate GA e Ag AYge yc ho Reno en &nts BUva h otth graphers LE ts Re SIN SBal he er era tioES IAEs rap ap ns S&DI py Ntat y Pu ta e Inv P ub ReRE I estm blilicccaati sto CT Servi OR rat tio t on Ys Resta te ion nss Real s Ta FALce Tak al L 201 cr ation e Ou urants & Caents Recre Outt & Delive 1 ke o Transpo Re fl fle liv ery xolog fes Sexual ry Ta lo y rta T tto oo oing oin Co g Ta Tax un Sites Wedd tion Travel Agencieatt selling Spa s Tree Servix Services Telec ings Wome l ec om mu mun n’s Service ces Trophies nic ica atio on nss s Yoga Upholsteryati Web

“Every day I would see fingerprints on the windows when I opened the store and I knew it was a good sign,” says Top Drawers owner David King. JESSICA ODDAN

After losing his corporate job and unsuccessfully attempting to join Project Runway, McKillop found himself on King’s doorstep three years ago, hoping to sell a few pairs of his hand-sewn underwear samples. He never expected to walk away with an initial thousandpiece order.

“David made my dreams come true and we’re still on the journey togeth-

er,” McKillop says. “He cultivates new brands, sticks it through and he is so willing to work with someone like me.”

“I have had all sorts of guys starting underwear lines but very few actually made a go of it,” King says. “What I was really happy to see in Ryan was that he worked his ass off and made it work.”

Though he insists his interest in underwear is not a fetish, King’s passion

for his business is unmistakable as he walks around his store, enthusiastically pointing out lines and chatting about the future.

“While I plan to be personally involved until the 25-year mark, I’m actually working on something a little different, something on the internet,” he hints. “But for now I’m not saying much until I see if it pans out.”

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16

Vancouver’s gay & lesbian news

XTRA! SEPT 6, 2012

COVER STORY

The

kiss

heard across Kelowna

Okanagan Pride grows up

By Greg Armstrong-Morris Photos by Nick Schafer

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:

The Okanagan Rainbow Coalition organized Kelowna’s sixth Pride week celebrations Aug 12-19, including a “Taste the rainbow” Pride dance party on Sat, Aug 18.

Kelowna mayor Walter Gray gets a kiss from Okanagan Rainbow Coalition co-chair Oddree Mayormaynot. After

16_17_XV497_OkanaganPride.indd 16

years of refusing to sign any proclamations to avoid signing one for Pride, Gray finally relented on Aug 18.

Picnic, proclamation and pooch parade in Mission Creek Park on Sat, Aug 18.

A dog sports a rainbow mohawk at the pooch parade in the park.

N A SCORCHING SATURDAY afternoon, Kelowna mayor Walter Gray and the Okanagan Rainbow Coalition (ORC) settled a 15-year dispute with a peck on the cheek.

Flanked by representatives from all levels of government and before an audience of picnicking families and friends, the kiss was delivered by ORC co-chair Oddree Mayormaynot (aka Wilbur Turner), just moments before Gray read the proclamation of Pride Week 2012 — a proclamation similar to the one he refused to sign in 1997.

That refusal landed him before a BC Human Rights tribunal.

“The media sensationalized the story,” Gray tells me after the ceremony. “I only wanted to protect my right, as an ordinary citizen, to free speech. It had nothing to do with homophobia.”

The tribunal didn’t see it that way. It was not the mayor’s individual rights that were in question, but his role as an elected official and facilitator of public policy.

Gray’s actions were ruled discriminatory and he was given two choices: sign all proclamations that crossed the mayor’s desk, or none. He opted for the latter.

During Gray’s three consecutive terms, no proclamations were signed in the Okanagan’s largest city. When Sharon Shepherd took the office from him in 2005, one of her first orders of business was to categorically reinstate the endorsements.

During the lead-up to last year’s elections, Gray said in a CBC Daybreak interview, “I will always live with the fact that people were hurt, I regret that, and I don’t want to see them hurt again.”

Although he concluded in that inter-

view that he still would not sign proclamations, as the election grew closer, he pointed to a change in Kelowna’s social temperament and suggested that he would sign the Pride proclamation if the majority of his councillors so advised.

They did, the document was signed, and the rainbow flag flew at city hall.

During its official unveiling Aug 18, the mayor attributed the success of the proclamation to a “new breed” of Pride Week organizers, specifically citing the work of co-chair Raymond Koehler in drafting a document that underscored inclusiveness as much as diversity.

But still the mayor was clear: he was not changing his mind about the decision he made 15 years ago. “I’m not righting a wrong,” he says. “But society has come a long way. It’s more caring. Fifteen years ago, Kelowna was about as white and straight a community as you could find in BC.” One woman I spoke to in the crowd was less subtle in her reminiscing.

“The place used to be a conservative crap hole,” she deadpanned while we watched a volunteer paint a butterfly on her granddaughter’s beaming face.

The noteworthy part of that phrase is “used to be.” While Kelowna might not be an all-embracing queer haven, it has — like so many places — gotten better.

“All our neighbours know us,” says artist and long-time Kelowna resident Marc Houde. “We’ve become braver, I suppose.

I introduce my partner as my husband.

We feel comfortable. We own this area as much as anyone else.”

It wasn’t that easy in 1985. “I called the crisis line to find out where the dance was,” he recalls. “The first time, I drove around the block and went home. The

second time, I walked in and somebody said, ‘Hi Marc’ and everything changed.”

Houde speaks highly of the Okanagan Rainbow Coalition, and its previous incarnations. “It saved me. It allowed me to stay. I volunteered on the board, and DJ’ed for them — we even had the phone line in our home for a while.”

While ORC might have been more important when it was the only resource available, Houde believes it’s still critical.

“Especially to people just coming out.

The celebrations are important. We’re still part of the Bible Belt — we need to push back.”

Bob Callioux convinced his boyfriend to move to Kelowna from Edmonton 20

Fifteen years ago, Kelowna was about as white and straight a community as you could find in BC. —Mayor Walter Gray

years ago “to find something different, a challenge.” It was perhaps more of a challenge than he expected.

“It was the first time we felt discrimination walking down the street,” he says.

Six years ago, he married that same boyfriend, and today Callioux is the manager of the Kelowna Farmers’ Market, the largest in BC. He confirms a transformation in Kelowna’s character.

“There are so many gay-owned B&Bs and stores now. Pride Week has changed

12-08-31 12:43 PM

more at xtra.ca

XTRA! SEPT 6, 2012

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When I ask him the inevitable citymouse question — “Why Kelowna?” — he sweeps his arm across the blazing blue sky and exclaims, “Look at it!”

Eighteen months in the Lower Mainland convinced James Mullan to return home. Echoing the local meteorological enthusiasm, Mullan points skyward and sings out, “The sun’s here!”

But not even a gay man can live by sunshine alone.

“I’m part of the whole community here,” Mullan says.

Kelowna’s evolution is a theme repeated by more than just its queer residents.

“Times are different,” Rick the cabdriver tells me. “The mayor has to be in tune.”

“My girlfriend and I were on our way home from dancing at Kerry Park — frankly the last band wasn’t all that great — when we heard the party.”

That party was the Friday night Pride BBQ outside ORC headquarters, just a block from the beach. Rick and his girlfriend arrived in time to catch the drag competition hosted by Vancouver’s own Joan-E. “What a commotion!” Rick roars from the driver’s seat. “And you know what — the right girl won!”

Joan-E, too, proclaims Kelowna’s maturing queer status. “You people don’t need to import drag queens from Vancouver anymore. You’ve got the talent

16_17_XV497_OkanaganPride.indd 17

right here!”

When Chantal Couture left her marriage and came out six years ago, she did so, in her own words, fearlessly. “All I cared about was this joy I was feeling.”

Her family feared she was being ‘too exuberant’ and that her business would suffer. If there was a negative backlash, she didn’t see it. But then again, she didn’t really care.

“If I was going to live this life, I needed to be as out there as possible, and as honest as possible. And I appreciate that in ways it’s easier for women than men because of a double standard. We’re seen as cuter, in a really patronizing way.”

Couture is quick to point out that Kelowna is still very conservative territory.

A local pro-life organization announced just days after Pride that the city had approved its flag to fly on the same courtesy flagpole the rainbow flag so recently flew from. City council claimed no such approval was given, and unanimously decided to end the flying of “courtesy flags” at city hall, thus making the rainbow flag the last flag to enjoy that privilege.

It may not be all faeries and unicorns in the seat of Okanagan Pride, but there is a vital queer community here, a sense of belonging, and a sense of ownership.

And, despite the inevitable gnashing of teeth from the far right, diversity would seem to be Kelowna’s destiny. The city motto is, after all, “Fruitful in Unity.”

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18

Vancouver’s gay & lesbian news

XTRA! SEPT 6, 2012

The all new

Your next hookup is closer than you think.

GOT KIDS?

Pressure to be parents Ask the Expert Dr Pega Ren

Dear Dr Ren,

New West celebrates third annual Pride News & Features On xtra.ca.

My boyfriend and I got married two years ago and even at our wedding (yes, at the ceremony) people started asking about when we were going to start our family.

I have sisters who have luckily produced grandchildren for my mother, but Colin is an only child. Well, you can imagine. Every family event is peppered with thinly veiled (or not) suggestions about how full our lives would be if only…

Then there was some research that said gays made bad parents and Mumsy backed off for a while, but apparently our friends didn’t get that memo.

Look, we’re happy we’ve won the right to marry, and to adopt, and to have access to surrogates, etc, but the pressure is getting to be a bit much. Even our gay friends are sorting themselves into parent and non-parent groups. It’s all just so … heterosexual!

I don’t expect you to solve a whole social issue, Dr Ren, but could you at least help us with something to say to end the questions, or maybe how to feel a little less …

Under Pressure

Dear Under Pressure, I wondered how long it would take for a question like this to arrive. If you talk to some older grooms, they’ll get all pensive, recalling the years of struggle for any recognition at all of gay rights. And they may be impatient with you for complaining about a problem they could never have imagined being within their grasp when they were young enough to parent.

We have now won sufficient equality (at least in this area) that we must endure the discomfort of heteronormative expectations of marriage. You know: first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Colin with a baby carriage. We didn’t like it when we didn’t have the choice, and it isn’t a whole lot more comfortable when choice is taken away on the other side!

I’m right behind you, UP. Just as we cheer that we can be like everybody else, everybody else expects us to be just like they are. Phooey.

As to that study that got you off the hook with Colin’s mum, it was done by Mark Regnerus from the University of Texas, a researcher in the areas of sexual behavior, religion, and family.

It hit the headlines because it upended all previous findings that kids with gay parents were actually a little better adjusted, especially regarding independent thinking and trusting they could talk openly with their parents. And guess what? Upon closer inspection, the research was severely flawed, his bias transparent, and Regnerus soon went down in academic flames. But

YOU KNOW: FIRST COMES LOVE, THEN COMES MARRIAGE, THEN COMES COLIN WITH A BABY CARRIAGE. you needn’t tell Mum. Perhaps it would be helpful to consider the psychology behind why folks are so enthusiastic about you doing what they are doing, in this case becoming parents.

We all crave acceptance and inclusion. That’s why we root for our school/ team/country/lifestyle. It’s why family, and team spirit and even patriotism works. In its simplest form, it’s a good thing.

So when other gay newlyweds step bravely into parenting, they want and need supportive comrades. They want your vote of approval, to hear you say, “That’s such a grand idea that we’re considering it, too.” And when your straight family members are pushing you to have babies “just like them,” well, consider it their way of recognizing you as part of their group, not different. It’s really a paradigm shift for many of them, and they deserve our gratitude for this inclusion, annoying as it can sometimes be.

Taking this into account, it’s easier to bristle less when pressed with the

well-intentioned, if irritating, kids question. You can always say, ”Oh, we’ve just gotten married. We want to honeymoon for a while before we start thinking about what comes next,” and deliver it with a saucy wink. When that one wears out, you can simply answer that you’ve considered parenting and decided against it. Period. You really needn’t explain your life choices to anyone.

Colin’s mother, however, deserves and requires some special regard.

She longs for grandchildren to love and depends upon her only child to supply them. She needs to understand this is one problem Colin can’t fix for her. They’ll need to forgive each other for their mutual and individual disappointments. An honest and heartfelt conversation (or two), devoid of blame and guilt, would go far to resolving this unfinished business. A family counsellor may be helpful with this process.

It’s pretty fantastic that people who want to have children, regardless of orientation, can do so now. If only those people who don’t want to have children would stop doing so ... but that’s a column for a different audience.

At least we don’t have that burden!

We want, deserve, and are winning the rights to marry and form families.

With those rights comes the whole package of social mores, traditions and expectations. We get it all, bothersome bits included. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Focus on the big picture, on all the barriers we’ve downed and the opportunities now available to us. Cheer the choice we do have and go give your husband a kiss.

Got a question for Dr Ren? asktheexpert@xtra.ca

more at xtra.ca

XTRA! SEPT 6, 2012

19

arts › entertainment › leisure

Out City IN THE

IF HOW YOU LOOK IS TOO STRAIGHT, THEN YOU CAN BE PERCEIVED AS AN OUTSIDER. The Femme Project ›21

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

LIFE AFTER TEEN OUTING

“The moral world of young people is as complicated and fraught as the moral world of adults,” says author Michael Harris.

“Wrapping things up in a neat narrative is doing a disservice to how we all grew up.”

JAMES LORIMER & COMPANY

Coming of age in Michael Harris’ Homo Greg Armstrong-Morris THE SUMMER PARTIES AT CULTUS Lake are over, and it’s the first day of school at Chilliwack’s Spencer High.

For Grade 12 student Will Johnson, the day begins inauspiciously when his best friend Julie informs him, with pitch-perfect teenage ambivalence, that he’s been cyber-outed.

‘By the way,’ she said, ‘I know you’re not on Facebook, so you might wanna know that you being gay is sort of all over it … It wasn’t me. It was just, you know, the internet.’

For her part, Julie’s still pissed that Will told his parents before he told her. Although, as Will tries to explain, ‘technically it was a porn site that I’d left on my computer that told them.’

So, in Michael Harris’s Homo — which I expected to be a coming out story — the actual coming out is over by page 11.

“That was something I told the publishers early on,” Harris explains. “I didn’t want to do a coming out novel. I wanted to explore coming of age… dealing with the aftermath of coming out.”

In exploring that aftermath, Harris renders a candid portrait of a flawed protagonist who’s not always likeable.

In fact, at times, Will Johnson’s an asshole.

The Canadian publishing house, Lorimer & Company, wanted something queer to add to SideStreets, its issue-based young adult fiction series.

After reading excerpts from Harris’ Campus Chronicles — which first ran in Xtra from 2002 to 2005, and is now available as an ebook from Amazon — Lorimer approached Harris.

The resulting young adult novel, Harris’ first, is sort of a prequel to Campus Chronicles.

With other titles addressing eating disorders, schizophrenia, and addiction, Lorimer doesn’t seem interested in tales of wicked vampires or virtuous wizards-in-training. Harris’ refusal to make Will’s story a morality tale, and his surprising frankness, would seem

to be a perfect match.

“That amoralistic stance came out of my own distaste for the majority of YA fiction that’s created,” he says. “If I was going to do this, I wanted to step outside that fairytale world on two fronts.

“First, the moral world of young people is as complicated and fraught as the moral world of adults — wrapping things up in a neat narrative is doing a disservice to how we all grew up.

“But also in the actual subject matter… as far as I know there’s no other YA novel in North America that deals with HIV.” Being the first at something is always difficult. Being the first at something aimed at a teen audience is difficult and weighted heavily with a sense of accountability.

“There’s an inherent responsibility — whether you like it or not — when there is such a dearth of queer YA content.

One percent has any queer characters.

So every queer YA novel that comes out is making an appreciable difference in the size of the canon for a 16-year-old that likes to read. But you can’t think about that when you’re writing.”

Harris committed himself further to the role of groundbreaker by recognizing that queer 17-year-olds are probably having sex. HIV wouldn’t just be something Will Johnson reads about in a pamphlet.

“HIV for a lot of young queer people feels like an historical artifact. They don’t get that it’s still part of who we are and that you can’t outrun history and that it informs every part of our culture,” Harris says. “In a way, it was necessary for him to have that thrown in his face.”

I was confronted by this frankness in Homo. I was uncomfortable. But, if I remember correctly, there is a lot about being a 17-year-old that is uncomfortable. Harris’ unflinching candor gives his novel credibility, substance and even the power to potentially change lives. I don’t think the same can be said of Twilight.

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Bounce!

The Queen Diva of sissy bounce (a sub-genre of the popular, very sexual, New Orleans rap music called bounce) is coming to Vancouver on Sept 15.

“Bounce music is part of us. It’s our heart; it’s where we come from and it won’t change,” says Big Freedia, who remembers her first sissy bounce shows as “very terrifying.”

“It was something new to the public,” she says. “People were like, oh my god, this is a gay guy in rap.

“It was very rough in the beginning in certain places but for the most part, the girls made us feel very welcome. They accepted us everywhere we went, and that’s what got us to where we at now.”

Check out our video interview with Big Freedia on xtra.ca

the deets BIG FREEDIA Sept 15, 8pm doors The Rickshaw Theatre, 254 E Hastings St LiveatRickshaw.com WINDISHAGENCY.COM

20

Vancouver’s gay & lesbian news

XTRA! SEPT 6, 2012

The all new

Gay in the ‘Burbs’?

Can’t ďŹ nd Xtra?

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Suggest a local business as a pickup spot for Xtra and we’ll add them to our distribution route.

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listings › PARTIES Bearracuda: Sunset Dance DJ HIFI Sean makes his BC debut so Bearracuda has moved to a venue with a kick-your-furry-ass sound system.

Sun, Sept 16, 6pm-midnight. Fortune Sound Club, 147 E Pender St. $15 advance, $25 door. bearracuda.com

Queer Salsa

For more listings, go to xtra.ca

West End Cleanup Help get the West End spi, polished and litter-free in advance of the West End Festival. Sat, Sept 8, 8:55amnoon. Corner of Comox and Cardero Sts. westendcleanup.com

PERFORMANCES & FESTIVALS BOLDFest

Lesson at 9pm, groovin’ and socializing for the rest of the night.

No experience or partner necessary, just a willingness to shake it. Fri, Sept 14, 8pm-midnight. Rhizome CafĂŠ, 317 E Broadway. $5-10 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. rhizomecafe.ca

The theme of this year’s Bold Old(er) Lesbians & Dykes (BOLD)’s festival is Bold Voices: Speak Up & Speak Out. Thurs, Sept 6–Sun, Sept 9. Based at the Coast Plaza Hotel, 1763 Comox St. $12-700 depending on event choices. boldfest.com

Scotiabank Dance Centre Open House

Celebrating eight years of Pride with parties, a parade, cabarets, discussions, picnics, music and more.

Fri, Sept 7–Sun, Sept 9. Various times and locales on Salt Spring Island. glossi.org

A chance to sample a multitude of dance styles from ballet to Butoh to contemporary aboriginal through open classes, performances, ďŹ lm and workshops. Sat, Sept 15, 10:30am7pm. Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie St. Free. thedancecentre.ca

MEETINGS & GROUPS Paige Frewer (aka Ponyboy) The drag king and activist speaks on nightlife, community events and anything else to do with the queer women’s community. Presented by Qmunity’s Dear John, I Love Jane discussion group. Tues, Sept 11.

7-9pm. #610-1033 Davie St. Free but RSVP at 604-684-5307 as space is limited. qmunity.ca

Salt Spring Pride

West End Festival Stroll, shop and play as the street shuts down and entertainers — including Really Rod, Nina Mendoza, MY!GAY!HUSBAND! and MCs Joan-E and Ryan Steele — compete with a dodge ball tournament, heritage walking tours, a charity roll ball game, a roller disco and much more. Sat, Sept 8, noon-7pm. Davie St from Burrard to Denman Sts. Free. westendbia.com

The Missing Piece What happens when two friends start to realize there is something more between them? Daniel M Bergeron and Charlie Black star. Thurs, Sept 6–Sun, Sept 16, 9pm. Picnic Pavillion,

1398 Cartwright St, Granville Island. $10-15. vancouverfringe.com

Heroes Three cantankerous WWI veterans plan an escape from a military hospital in Tom Stoppard’s Olivier awardwinning comedy. Michael Dobbins stars in this inaugural production from FOG Theatre. Thurs, Sept 6-Sun, Sept 30. PAL Studio Theatre, 581 Cardero St. $25. palvancouver.org

ODDessay114 Paras Terezakis’ Kinesis Dance explores his memories of being drafted into the Greek army. The black box theatre becomes the site of extreme physicality and charged emotions. Thurs, Sept 6-Sun, Sept 9. Roundhouse Community Centre, 181 Roundhouse Mews. $22-28. roundhouse.ca

LEISURE & PLEASURE Julia in Paris Ten of the region’s top chefs cook and 100 guests dine to raise funds for Les Dames d’EscoďŹƒer International Julia Child Foundation Legacy Awards. Sat, Sept 8, 5pm. Outdoor Rooftop Garden Poolside, Four Seasons Hotel, 791 W Georgia St. $300. lesdames.ca

Mount Strachan Hike Dress for the weather (and to be in the company of other athletic gay men), pack a lunch and water, and trek through old-growth forest, a sub-alpine meadow then up a “slightly challenging� slope for a 360 degree view from the mountain top. Sat, Sept 8, 9am. RSVP info@oavancouver.org.

Free. oavancouver.org

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PHOTOGRAPHY

The Femme Project Toni Latour’s new exhibit counters femme invisibility Shauna Lewis P HOTO G R AP H E R TON I L ATOU R hopes her new exhibit, The Femme Project, will pull queer femmes out of the shadows and into the community spotlight where they rightfully belong.

“The impetus of The Femme Project was really born out of a sense of invisibility for me in the queer community,” Latour says, remembering the smiles and nods her butch partner would receive from other community members on the street, while she generally got nothing.

It was isolating being ignored, she says. “It made me angry.”

“If how you look is too straight, then you can be perceived as an outsider, or perceived as not necessarily believing you are really queer,” she continues.

She began to wonder what other femmes were experiencing and whether they, too, shared “a common experience

the deets THE FEMME PROJECT Artbank, 1897 Powell St Sept 8-29 Opening reception: Sat, Sept 8, 7-11pm; Capilano University Studio Art Gallery, 2055 Purcell Way, North Vancouver Sept 4-28 Opening reception: Wed, Sept 12, 6-9pm

of invisibility.”

The resulting exhibit, four years in the making and opening in two galleries this month, will showcase 70 photographs of 35 self-identified queer femmes.

“Some women talked about discrimination, and about going to a queer bar and being told that the straight bar was down the street. It was basically a belief that they were not legitimate queers,” she says of the experiences some of her participants shared.

“I thought this was an important subject and something I have to explore as a way to offer something to the community,” she says.

Latour initially selected only lesbian femmes for her project but, on the advice of a friend, broadened her scope to include all femmes, including those who identify as bisexual and non-cisgendered.

“There’s a broad spectrum,” she acknowledges. “The voice from participants was that they wanted the project to be more diverse and include everyone who identifies as femme within the queer community.”

Each model in Latour’s exhibit is featured in two photographs: a fullbody shot and a closer portrait. “The intent around the body shot is to get a full visual of how someone presents themselves in the world,” she explains.

“I wanted to capture that full body because the women were making very

conscious choices about every part of their bodies, from head to toe.”

“Identity has a lot to do with visual indicators and markers,” Latour notes.

How people present and express themselves physically “also becomes a signifier of what you’re interested in and who you’re attracted to.”

The Femme Project is a sister exhibit to Latour’s 2005 The Drag King Project, which featured 26 photos of local drag kings. The Portrait Gallery of Canada acquired The Drag King Project in 2008.

Latour says she hopes The Femme Project, which she received a $20,000 grant from the Canada Council to create, will break down walls of segregation in the queer community and beyond.

In a community where labels are often shunned, Latour says she has no qualms about using them. “I love labels and boxes. It’s not a very fashionable thing to say,” she admits. “But I think it’s important because I think it’s community building. It’s a way that we can relate to each other and it’s a way that we can frame a dialogue. It’s a way that we can belong.”

Feeling ignored within her own community, photographer Toni Latour (above and left) began to wonder whether other femmes shared her sense of invisibility. TONI LATOUR

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Vancouver’s gay & lesbian news

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FESTIES AND FUNNIES

Lovers, fighters and laughs Funny lady

Blitz & Shitz Raziel

T

HERE’S A LIFE-SIZE CARDboard cutout of James Dean in the window of Uptown Barbers on Main St that I notice every time I pass. He’s wearing blue jeans that fit like bark on a tree, and his face is boyish, except for the shadows under his angst-ridden eyes.

There’s something so ambiguous about his sexuality. It’s as present in his films as in a cardboard cutout in a barber’s window, which manages to be arousing, yet devastating, from across the street. Or maybe that’s just the vibration from the number 3 bus mingling with the bad breath of the homeless guy sitting next to you.

James Dean is an enigma, which is why he’s an icon. Fifty-seven years after his death, his cigarette pout remains a mystery.

The Vancouver Queer Film Festival’s presentation of Joshua Tree, 1951: A Portrait of James Dean was as poetic and elusive as James himself. The combination of filming in black and white and in colour was reflective of the darkness and light of sexuality. When James let it, his same-sex affection for a roommate took him further into the light, and closer to love, than he’d ever been before.

It takes an incredibly brave person to step on stage and say, “Laugh at me!” says Raziel, flanked by funny people Amy Wilding and Alan Pavlakovic. JAMES LOEWEN

But in black and white scenes by the poolside where, with an air of petulance and boredom James (played by James Preston) sells sex to help his Hollywood star rise, director and screenwriter Matthew Mishory captures how trapped we can become by our sexuality when we fight or misuse it.

Jobriath A.D. was my favourite film at this year’s festival. Jobriath played such an influential role in gay, and music, history.

In 1972 he was the first openly gay artist to be signed to a major label. The recording contract was the biggest in music history at the time, $500,000.

The hype surrounding his launch was extravagant and sensational. The label pulled all the stops while promoting him (massive billboard in Times Square anyone?), but record sales didn’t follow.

His fall was as blunt as his rise, and Jobriath, who died of AIDS in the early 1980s, was a victim of his time. A time where it was commercial to rip off the gay community (David Bowie, I love you), but it wasn’t okay to actually be gay. It got me thinking about how much things have changed for gays in the music industry since. Oh, wait...

The Queer Film Festival’s 2012 sea-

son “Lovers & Fighters” was a wonderful success. I’m going to miss all the pink at the movie theatres, and seeing the queue going down the street.

The final impression I’m left with this year is how strong both our love and fight are. Nowhere was this better represented than in two European films: North Sea Texas and Tomboy (from Belgium and France respectively). There is something so pure about European sense and sexuality, especially when seen through the eyes of a child. Both films heart-wrenchingly reveal that we’re not just born this way; we’re born this complicated.

So, FYI, The Amy Wilding Show is actually called The Amy Wilding Show! because it’s not real. Or something like that. Showgirl Amy Wilding made a point of telling me. I’ll have to get back to you on whether every time it’s said aloud quotation mark gestures should be made with your hands. And by get back to you, I of course mean, ‘get back to you.’

I’m so glad my jokes are made on a computer, and my only audience is my own reflection on the screen (she always laughs). It takes an incredibly brave person to step on stage and say, “Laugh at me!” Laugh at what I say, laugh at what I do, just laugh at me.

It’s like what Amy told the audience at Café Deux Soleils while encouraging them to give it up for newcomer Helen Halburt’s standup routine: “Comedy isn’t easy, you know?”

It might not be easy, but Amy and her colourful cast of playmates certainly make it look fun. Happy first birthday to the monthly The Amy Wilding Show!

She may still shit in diapers, but at least she’s old enough for solids.

PS Miss the sexy dance madness known as Spit? Co-organizer Quinn Peters (Junita Werk) has launched a new monthly East Van party featuring Spit DJ Jay Douglas. The dirty house and dirty drag queens are back at home at The Cobalt!

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CELEBRITIES NIGHT CLUB 1022 DAVIE ST, VANCOUVER 604-681-6180 celebritiesnightclub.com WEDNESDAYS Bingo 8pm-10:30pm; The Dollhouse Show 11:00pm.

Ticket Price: $3 after 10pm (100% proceeds benefit the DMS Charities) Music Style: Top 40 remixes THURSDAYS Hard Candy $4.50 Highballs. A night where the boys bare it all! Indulge yourself where HOT boys strip down to nothing and heat you up, while the crowd packs the dance floor with DJs Drew and DJ Mattilda Ho. spinning Hot & Sexy Top 40 remixes.

FRIDAYS Stereotype – Blueprint Events – Hot DJ’s spinning all night SATURDAYS B You Saturdays with DJ Drew and Zach Shore TUESDAYS Vancouver’s Original Musical Shit Mix is the city’s busiest weekly party. Year-round, Tuesdays are packed with a “too-young-to-die, too-fastto-live� w/ DarylO & Johnny Jover

FOUNTAINHEAD PUB 1011 DAVIE ST, VANCOU VER 604-687-2222 WEDNESDAYS Red Truck pints; Beefeater gin highballs.

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FRIDAYS Polar Ice vodka highballs; Kokanee pints; Naughty Shots.

SATURDAYS Smirnoff Ice coolers; Granville Island pints; Naughty Shots.

SUNDAYS Caesars; OK Spring pints.

MONDAYS Labatt’s Blue pints; Jackson Triggs wines.

TUESDAYS Smirnoff Twisted coolers; Russell pints.

RICKSHAW THEATRE 254 East Hastings Street 604-681-8915 SEP 6 Redd Kross with Dante vs. Zombies and Random Cuts, Doors: 8pm 19+ SEP 7The Growlers with special guests Hallow Moon, Cosmonauts and Johnny de Courcy, Doors: 8pm 19+ SEP 13 The Crackling, Corbin Murdoch & The Nautical Miles, plus guests, Doors: 8pm 19+ SEP 14 Kool Keith, Friends With The Help, Doors: 8pm 19+ SEP 15 Big Freedia and The Divas with guest Peach Cobblah, Doors: 8pm 19+ OCT 7 Thee Oh Sees with Sic Alps and The Highway Kind, Doors: 8pm 19+ OCT 20 Calexico with special guests The Dodos, Doors: 8pm 19+ OCT 22 The Whigs with special guests The Record Company, Doors: 8pm 19+

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XPOSED

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Photos by James Loewen

2

AIDS Walk for Life Kickoff T-Dance DJs Adam Dreaddy and Nick Bertossi kept the rhythms flowing at the Roundhouse Aug 26. “We’re here supporting a good cause,” attendee Leon Hanson says. Proceeds benefit Positive Living BC. 1.Michael Connidis, Zoran Stjepanovic and Roy Parrish. 2. Michael Roth and Benoit Girard.

Flannigan. 3. Joey Sanghara, Jimmy Chu, Jason Hutchison and Felipe Caputo. 4. Leon Hanson and Rob Dean. 5. Greg, Brian Kiener, Craig and Stephen. 6. John Kozachenko, Hugo A Go-Go and Roland 7. Scott Bolton and Mark Kenna.

4

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A World of Gay Adventure XTRA! SEPT 6, 2012

25

Tel Aviv Clubs to culture, beaches to architecture — something for everyone

T

Michael Luongo

EL AVIV MIGHT NOT HAVE THE religious significance of Jerusalem, but that’s kind of the point. The secular nature of this Israeli city is what makes it one of the Middle East’s most exciting gay travel destinations. Its Mediterranean beachside location is another plus.

In 2011, Tel Aviv made news when it was voted the world’s best gay city by readers of gay travel website gaycities. com, putting it in the ranks of San Francisco, New York, London and Toronto.

Gadi Tunes, CEO and co-founder of gay apartment search website gay-ville. com, lives in Tel Aviv and says the city is “is so gay friendly because it a very liberal city to begin with. There is a high concentration of gays in the city, and as it is by the beach, gay tourists love it.”

Tel Aviv’s gay pride is in early June.

Next year’s Pride will be held on Fri, June 7. “[This year’s] gay pride was amazing. Every year it is bigger. It’s a non-stop party, from one club to the other, a down-to-earth parade with an open beach party at its end,” says Gadi.

Even if you’re not visiting for gay Pride, Tel Aviv’s nightlife is famous.

Whether you make a stop at gay lounge Evita, (31 Yavne Street), with its images of the iconic first lady and its sexy and uproarious Eurovision shows, or gay dance clubs like Apolo (46 Allenby Street), there’s something to do every night of the week. There are also roving weekend parties, something to look into before your visit – or you can ask locals on arrival. About every six weeks there’s also the Palestinian Queer Party, sponsored by Al Qaws (alqaws.org), the Jerusalem-based gay Palestinian group. It’s held in Yaffa, the ancient port city and a suburb of Tel Aviv. Yaffa is a fantastic mix of Muslim, Christian and Jewish influences: a fun, sexy take on what peace in the Middle East could look like with gays in charge.

Remember that the Middle East weekend starts on Thursday night – Friday and Saturday is the weekend for Jewish Israelis. If you’re heading to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem, about 45 minutes away, be aware that public transport between the two cities, as well as other parts of the country, doesn’t operate from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, which is the Jewish Sabbath, or Shabbat.

Exploring Bauhaus Tel Aviv I’ve been coming to Tel Aviv for years.

Beyond the liberal atmosphere, museums and stores, the city’s architecture has long been a draw. A young city in an ancient land, Tel Aviv, which means Spring Hill in Hebrew, celebrated its centennial in 2009. It has the greatest collection of Bauhaus architecture in the world, more than 4,000 structures.

During the 1930’s, the city grew as refugees streamed in from Germany after Hitler came into power and began persecuting Jews and intellectuals, including those of the Bauhaus school. Tel Aviv was designated a UNESCO world heritage site because of this unique architectural collection, though many of the buildings are in terrible repair. Pay a visit to the Bauhaus Center (99 Dizengoff Street) near Dizengoff Circle, itself considered the world’s only purely Bauhaus square. I usually stay on the Circle at the reasonable Center Chic Hotel (2 Zamenhoff Street) – itself a renovated Bauhaus structure – putting me in walking distance to the beach, shopping and gay nightlife. › continued on next page

Clockwise from top: Old Jaffa seen in background of Tel Aviv’s beaches. łĮĤĶĤı; A colourful character at Tel Aviv Pride. MIKE LUONGO; Panorama of Tel Aviv skyline. YNHOCKEY.

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Guidemag.com A World of Gay Adventure

XTRA! SEPT 6, 2012

Black&Blue Montreal’s kickass circuit party enters its third decade

Green landscapes and Mount Pico are both emblematic of the Azores. BJORN EHRLICH

INAUGURAL AZORES PRIDE PARADE Nine gorgeous, lush islands make up the Azores archipelago, situated in the North Atlantic Ocean approximately 1,500 kilometres west of Lisbon.

The capital, Ponta Delgada, is on São Miguel, the largest of the islands and home to the international airport. It is also where the Azores’ first Pride parade was held, on Sept 1.

São Miguel, commonly known as the “green island,” offers breathtaking views. The main attraction is Lagoa das Sete Cidades (aka Lagoon of the Seven Cities). Best viewed from the Vista do Rei lookout, these twin lakes — one green and the other blue — are situated in the crater of a dormant volcano.

The charming and quaint towns of São Miguel, especially in Nordeste,

the northeast part of the island, offer some of the best views on the island.

Another must-visit is the town of Furnas, known for its thermal springs.

The islands are best travelled by car, which allows tourists to stop often to visit small towns and villages, meet locals and, perhaps, savour the delicacies of a home-cooked Portuguese meal.

— Armando Mendonça

on the web For information on flights, tours and accommodation: Visit Azores ›visitazores.com Sata Express ›sata.pt Visit Portugal ›visitportugal.com

VISITING OTTAWA?

As October draws near, circuit queens have reason to rejoice. The Black & Blue, Montreal’s epic circuit party, widely regarded as one of the best in the world, is back — and raunchier than ever.

The theme for the 22nd annual party is Evolution (it must be the Cirque du Soleil influence, as Black & Blue themes often seem kind of new age).

There will be a slew of celebrated DJs, including David Morales, Tom Stephan, Stephan Grondin, Paskal Daze, Raneem, Oren D and Paul Random, as well as a leather ball, a fetish ball, a tea dance, an all-night jock party (with nude dancers!) and a grand tribute to drag (to be held at Cabaret Mado).

This year there’s even an event fêting Alternative Talents, which sounds like the queer-party equivalent of a great big surprise package.

The Black & Blue, which is run by the Bad Boy Club Montreal (BBCM), has had its bumps and scrapes over the years. Some have criticized what they see as a thinly veiled promotion of drug culture and accompanying lapses in safer-sex practices. But the BBCM has worked hard to distribute condoms and safe-sex education, and BBCM founder and president Robert Vezina says their event is one of the safest on the entire circuit. At the main event — the overnight dance

FROM

party — medical staff are on site in case of any overdoses. And public sex is not permitted on the premises.

The BBCM has had its run-ins with police, who once threatened to shut down the Black & Blue a few hours before the doors were to open (after careful negotiation, the crisis was averted). “We’re at a very good point right now,” Vezina says. “We have strong relations with police, and the public know that we throw a great party.”

Vezina adds that attracting new talent is now not a problem. “DJs who have never spun with us are eager to get here, because they’ve heard how great our crowd is, how good our lighting is, how strong our choreography is. And the DJs who have already been with us are happy to come back. Years of hard work and putting together a quality event has paid off.”

Vezina says criticisms of the Black & Blue — and circuit parties in general — have faded in recent years.

“I don’t think circuit parties cause bad behaviour. That’s too simplistic an argument. We are about throwing a really great series of parties and bringing people together. I’m so proud of the fact that we have a very diverse crowd coming to our events.

We’ve had a great time and raised a lot of money for community charities while doing so.”

— Matthew Hays For more info on programming and tickets, visit bbcm.org.

the deets THE BLACK & BLUE FESTIVAL Wed, Oct 3 – Tues, Oct 9 main event on Sun, Oct 7 www.bbcm.org

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Tel Aviv

sues are promoted in order to mask bigger political and human rights concerns within the region. Lord wants visitors to keep an open mind on their visit to Israel, considering the country a gateway to the region. For clients who have more time, he often pairs trips to Tel Aviv with visits to the Palestinian West Bank and neighboring Jordan and Egypt. His goal is for visitors to have fun, yet still see everything and be able to come to their own unďŹ ltered conclusion about the region’s issues.

› continued from previous page

I came across the hotel through Russell Lord of Kenes Tours, one of the most awarded gay travel experts in Israel. The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association recently honoured Lord for his pioneering work putting Israel onto the LGBT travel radar. Born in Brooklyn, he moved to Israel decades ago. “Tel Aviv is without a doubt the gayest city on the Mediterranean,� says Lord. “We’ve got great bars, amazing restaurants, hot clubs, hotter beaches and even hotter guys. The perfect components for a great holiday. For a cultural break, we’re about an hour away from Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, and the sites of the Galilee.�

Lord knows visiting Israel can be a potentially controversial topic for some travelers. Many readers and Pride-goers are likely familiar with the concept of Pinkwashing – the idea that LGBT is-

Madonna Sightings and Men with Leather Straps If you time your Tel Aviv trip right, staying on Dizengoff Square (sometimes called Dizengoff Circle) might even allow you to catch a casual glimpse of Madonna, though you’re better off shouting “Esther,� her Jewish name, to get her

attention. The Kabbalah Center (14 Dizengoff Square) is just off the square in an ocean liner shaped Bauhuas structure that Madonna is known for popping into on Tel Aviv visits. Though practitioners don’t call it Jewish mysticism, that’s a phrase often used to describe this form of Judaism. Look for people with red string bracelets, often a sign one is a follower, or just pop into the Center.

Everyone speaks English.

If you’re in the square on Friday afternoons before sunset you’ll often ďŹ nd young bearded men in black. They’ll be looking more Jerusalem than Tel Aviv and begging to tie you up in black leather. It might sound kinky, but they’re not daddies in training. They’re offering passersby tefellin, or prayer straps.

Many are students from the nearby Yeshiva religious school, and their goal is to bring God a little closer to secular Tel Aviv. Even if you’re not Jewish, I recommend the experience. Especially when done by a well-chosen proselytizer.

Above: 1935 Bauhaus apartment building. Tel Aviv is a UNESCO heritage city renowned for its 4000 Bauhaus structures. ELEKH; Right: Tefellin, or prayer straps, near Dizengo Square, in Tel Aviv. MICHAEL LUONGO

ÂŽ

If you’ve ever been to Miami, you’ll deďŹ nitely get a dĂŠjĂ vu feeling in Tel Aviv.

It’s the architecture, the palm trees, the beachside setting. Like Miami Beach, gays have also ďŹ gured in the revitalization of downtown Tel Aviv. Before you head to Tel Aviv, check out the ďŹ lms of the dynamic duo of Israeli ďŹ lm producing, Eytan Fox and Gal Uchovsky. They are perhaps Israel’s most famous gay couple and the force behind the movie The Bubble, which examines the relationship between a gay Israeli soldier and a Palestinian hideaway. The scenes take place throughout central Tel Aviv, including in an imaginary fashionable gay-popular restaurant. The movie’s title refers to Tel Aviv’s nickname, a reference to the city’s seeming isolation from the tensions of other parts of Israel, especially Jerusalem – both the city’s blessing and bane. Their other movies include Yossi & Jagger, a ďŹ lm about gay soldiers in love. The duo was also behind the 1990’s Israeli TV show Florentin, which takes place in an architecturally signiďŹ cant neighborhood in Tel Aviv of the same name and helped mainstream gay characters in Israeli media.

Tel Aviv isn’t just a summer destination. In fact, at the recently renovated port in the north of the city, called the Namal, you’ll find seaside shopping, restaurants and a new indoor farmer’s market. The Namal even has a winter ice skating area, though it’s never really freezing in Tel Aviv. Some January days can be warm enough for shorts. So no matter the weather where you live, Tel Aviv is certainly a great option.

From clubs to culture, beaches to architecture, Tel Aviv offers something for anyone, any time of year.

Clockwise from top left: Tel Aviv Pride takes over Bugrashov Street. FLAVIO; IDF soldiers in Tel Aviv. Israel allows gay soldiers in its military. MICHAEL LUONGO; Rainbow buildings on the waterfront.

MICHAEL LUONGO; The Kabbalah Center, famous for Madonna sightings in Tel Aviv. MICHAEL LUONGO.

Trip advisor BARS & PUBS Evita Dungeon Fetish Club

HOTELS & GUESTHOUSES Shalom Hotel Pink House

RESTAURANTS & CAFÉS Onami Japanese Restaurant SoďŹ a Bulgarian Restaurant

SAUNAS Sauna City Sauna/bar Paradise Read more about Tel Aviv at guidemag.com, including more than 60 gay and lesbian venues of interest.

on the web Tel Aviv Tourism information ›visit-tlv.com Gay Tel Aviv ›gaytlvguide.com Gay-Ville ›gay-ville.com Bauhaus Center ›bauhaus-center.com Center Chic Hotel ›atlas.co.il/ center-hotel-tel-aviv Kenes Tours ›kenestours.com Kabbalah Center ›kabbalah.co.il The Namal ›namal.co.il/en/default.aspx

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Columbus on the web

Who knew there were so many gay people here?

I

Matt Mills

T’S NOT DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE that after the chain flew off the US economy in 2008 untold thousands of young gay people in their 20s and 30s, working early in their careers in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, lost their jobs or were otherwise marginalized in their work.

Full of creative energy and set back but not defeated, many left their chosen metropolises for smaller US cities where the living is less expensive and the pace a bit more relaxed. But also places they could see more social and economic potential.

If you look out as you fly into Columbus, Ohio, the city seems like an island jutting from a checkerboard sea of agricultural land. America’s breadbasket, as it’s called, stretches past the horizon in all directions, leaving the city appearing, from that vantage point at least, a bit isolated. But once on the ground, the city feels full of youthful vigour.

Have you always wanted to open your own art gallery, antique shop, or craft brewery? Retail spaces in Columbus were, at least until recently, large and relatively inexpensive. With its proximity to the breadbasket, raw materials for artisanal pursuits are plentiful and fresh. It all makes for dining and shopping experiences that gay travellers simply won’t get in larger cities.

And Columbus is very gay, too. It’s home to enough gay people to earn it a score among the top 20 US cities on the Gay Index, as developed by demographer Gary Gates and made

famous by urban theorist Richard Florida. There are more than 20 gay bars, clubs and restaurants in this city of almost 800,000. Gay people are important enough here that Mayor Michael Coleman spent an evening at a special cocktail party held for the ragtag group of gay journalists invited to visit Columbus.

Short North The Short North neighbourhood, home to many of the city’s gay and gay-friendly businesses and its midJune Pride Parade, may be the coolest part of town. Earning its name from its past reputation as the other side of the tracks, Short North has emerged in recent years as the place to be and be seen in Columbus. Much more relaxed than major metropolitan hot spots, it stretches along North High St, almost 15 blocks from Nationwide Blvd past West Fifth St just a few blocks south of Ohio State University. The people are Midwest-friendly. There is a great mix of age ranges among them, from students to old-timers, and they not only seem to fit together nicely but there is something for everyone.

On summer evenings, the first Saturday of every month, thousands converge on the neighbourhood for the monthly Gallery Hop. More than 40 businesses, including almost 20 art galleries, showcase some of Ohio’s best artists and craftspeople. Street performers abound and each event attracts thousands of visitors. It is not to be missed, so plan ahead.

There are at least nine hotels and B&Bs in the area, but I stayed comfortably at the Hampton Inn. It’s conveniently located at the south end of Short North and an easy walk to the action. Visit North Market, right next to the hotel, to sample delicious pastries, meats and other tasty treats. If you’re feeling adventurous tour the city centre the fun way, via Segway.

Antique and second-hand bric-a-brac stores here, like Flower Child, are stuffed with you-just-can’t-get-theseanymore treasures at reasonable prices. Eat dinner at Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse. The place is huge and the food and cocktails are delicious. Stop for drinks at the swanky Level Dining Lounge, then head over to Axis Nightclub for dancing, drag and, on some nights, more than 1,000 gay men.

Sojourn There is also much of interest to gay travellers off Short North. For nightlife check out Wallstreet nightclub and Club Divercity. Eat at Milestone 229.

Take a walk around German Village.

Have a decadent brownie or blondie at Sugar Daddy’s. Bibliophiles could lose themselves for days at Book Loft. The craft beer and sprit makers in Columbus are amazing. Middle West Sprits is a distiller of vodka and whiskey in very small batches. Proprietors Brady and Ryan offer tours and tastings on Friday evenings and Gallery Hop nights. Be sure to stop by Brothers Drake Meadery to finally taste mead – a boozy honey-fermented drink. You’ll love it.

Clockwise from top: The Book Loft in German Village is one of the largest independent booksellers in the US; Performer Nina West is a Columbus institution. Find her at Superdragqueen.com; Columbus skyline at night; Ever wonder how they make whiskey? Head distiller Ryan Lang can show you at Middle West Spirits. EXPERIENCE COLUMBUS

Experience Columbus ›experiencecolumbus.com American Airlines ›aa.com/homePage.do Outlook Columbus Magazine ›outlookcolumbus.com North Market ›northmarket.com Segway ›segawaytoursofcolumbus.com Flower Child ›flowerchildvintage.com Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse ›hydeparkrestaurants.com Level Dining Lounge ›levelcolumbus.com Axis Nightclub ›columbusnightlife.com Wallstreet nightclub ›wallstreetnightclub.com Club Divercity ›clubdiversity.biz Milestone 229 ›milestone229.com German Village ›germanvillage.com Sugar Daddy’s ›sugardaddys.com Book Loft ›bookloft.com Middle West Sprits ›middlewestspirits.com Brothers Drake Meadery ›brothersdrake.com Read more about Columbus at guidemag.com, including more than 80 gay and lesbian venues of interest.

28

Guidemag.com A World of Gay Adventure

XTRA! SEPT 6, 2012

BLACK&BLUE

Green landscapes and Mount Pico are both emblematic of the Azores. BJORN EHRLICH

Montreal’s kickass circuit party enters its third decade Matthew Hays

Inaugural Azores Pride parade Nine gorgeous and lush islands make up the archipelago of the Azores, situated in the North Atlantic Ocean approximately 1,500km west of Lisbon.

The capital, Ponta Delgada, is on Sao Miguel, the largest of the islands, and home to both the international airport.

It is also where the Azores’ first Pride parade was held on Sep 1.

Sao Miguel, commonly known as the “green island,” offers breathtaking views. The main attraction is Lagoa das Sete Cidades (aka Lagoon of the Seven Cities). Best viewed from the Vista do Rei lookout, these twin lakes — one green and the other blue — are situated in the crater of a dormant volcano.

The charming and quaint towns of Sao Miguel, especially in Nordeste,

the northeast part of the island, offer some of the best views on the island.

Another must visit is the town of Furnas, known for its thermal springs.

The islands are best travelled by car, which allows tourists to stop often to visit small towns and villages, meet locals and, perhaps, savour the delicacies of a home-cooked Portuguese meal.

— Armando Mendonça

on the web For information on flights, tours and accommodation, visit Visit Azores ›visitazores.com Sata Express ›sata.pt Visit Portugal ›visitportugal.com

As October draws near, circuit queens have reason to rejoice. The Black & Blue, Montreal’s epic circuit party, widely regarded as one of the best in the world, is back — and raunchier than ever.

The theme for the 22nd annual party lapses in safer-sex practices. But the is “Evolution” (It must be the Cirque BBCM has worked hard to distribute du Soleil influence, as Black & Blue condoms and safe-sex education, themes often seem kind of new age). and BBCM founder and president There will be a slew of celebrated DJs, including David Morales, Tom Stephan, Robert Vezina says their event is one of the safest on the entire circuit. At Stephan Grondin, Paskal Daze, the main event — the overnight dance Raneem, Oren D and Paul Random, party — medical staff are on site in as well as a leather ball, a fetish ball, T-dance, an all-night jock party (with case of any overdoses. And public sex is not permitted on the premises. nude dancers!) and a grand tribute The BBCM has had its run-ins with to drag (to be held at Mado Cabaret). police, who once threatened to shut This year there’s even an event down the Black & Blue feting “Alternative a few hours before Talents,” which The Black & Blue the doors were to sounds like the festival open (after careful Wed, Oct 3 – Tues, Oct 9 queer-party main event on Sun, Oct 7 negotiation, the crisis equivalent of a www.bbcm.org was averted). “We’re great big surprise at a very good point package. right now,” Vezina says. “We have The Black & Blue, which is run by strong relations with police and the the Bad Boy Club Montreal (BBCM), public know that we throw a great has had its bumps and scrapes over party.” the years. Some have criticized what Vezina adds that attracting new they see as a thinly veiled promotion talent is now not a problem. “DJs of drug culture and accompanying

BOB HENDRIKS

who have never spun with us are eager to get here, because they’ve heard how great our crowd is, how good our lighting is, how strong our choreography is. And the DJs who have already been with us are happy to come back. Years of hard work and putting together a quality event has paid off.”

And Vezina says criticisms of the Black & Blue — and circuit parties in general — have faded in recent years.

“I don’t think circuit parties cause bad behaviour. That’s too simplistic an argument. We are about throwing a really great series of parties, and bringing people together. I’m so proud of the fact that we have a very diverse crowd coming to our events.

We’ve had a great time and raised a lot of money for community charities while doing so.”

THE GOOD LIFE. Is there a place where couples stroll on a beach? Float away in 5 steamy hot pools and a healing spa?

Dine in elegance and dance the night away? Yes. There is such a place. It’s here, where the good life begins.

Call 866.797.5305 www.harrisonresort.com Hospitality by Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts. ©2012 Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa, Corp.

For more info on programming and tickets visit www.bbcm.org

more at xtra.ca

XTRA! SEPT 6, 2012

indexdirectory.ca Vancouver’s online directory of

indexdirectory.ca ACCOMMODATIONS - BRITISH COLUMBIA Bluff View Cottage 250-539-3475 Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa 1-866-626-8960 The Eagle’s Nest B&B 1-866-766-9350

BICYCLES

ACCOUNTANTS 604-374-1424 604-215-8872 604-721-7537

ADDICTIONS Orchard Recovery

604-947-0420

ADULT 1-800-361-9929

AIDS/HIV RESOURCES A Loving Spoonful 604-682-6325 AIDS Vancouver 604-893-2201 AIDS Vancouver Island 250-384-2366 ANKORS, Kootenay/Boundary HIV/ AIDS Network, Outreach & Support 1-800-421-2437 Dr Peter AIDS Foundation 604-331-5086 HIM - Health Initiative for Men 604-488-1001 Positive Living Society of BC 604-893-2200 Youth Community Outreach AIDS Society 604-688-1441

AIRLINES Harbour Air Seaplanes 604-274-1277 Simdy’s Fashion Alterations

604-633-0828

ALTERNATIVE HEALTH Access Healing Centre 604-568-4663 Alternative Health Choices Unlimited for Health & Wellness 604-465-7998 Dr Anita Komonski 604-568-7655 Ingite Smoke Shop 778-786-0977 Medicinal Cannabis Dispensary 604-255-1844 Med Pot Now Society 604-569-2119 MyCannaMeds mycm.ca

CATERING

Flygirl Productions

Mail Box Plus

604-683-1433

BUTCHERS Tango’s Gourmet Meats 604-681-2121

Emelle’s Catering 604-875-6551 Out To Lunch Catering 604-681-7177

CLEANING & MAID SERVICES Clean Sweep Ensuite Paul 604-685-7422 Gary 604-875-1413 The Maids Home Services 604-987-8181

CLINIC Travel Clinic

604-736-9244

CLOTHING - DESIGNER Astor & Black Mr Mz Boutique

604-785-0002 604-558-2005

Original Leather Factory Walk This Sway Designs

604-298-3770 604-418-6328

CLOTHING - VINTAGE Deluxe Junk Co

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COMMUNITY GROUPS & SERVICES Community Based Research Centre QMUNITY West End Seniors’ Network Society

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Mac Station Vancouver WhiteWay IT Solutions Ltd

APARTMENTS

CONSTRUCTION

ARTISTS 604-844-3810

AUTOMOTIVE REPAIRS Axle Alley Dueck Downtown George & Berny’s Repairs Ltd Jim Pattison Hyundai Northshore Jim Pattison Toyota Downtown

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AUTOMOTIVE SALES & LEASING Dueck Downtown Jim Pattison Cars Unlimited Jim Pattison Hyundai Northshore Jim Pattison Toyota Downtown

604-675-7900 604-924-4542 604-985-0055 604-682-8881

BANKING RBC Royal Bank

royalbank.com

macstation.com 778-384-1210

AaronR Construction 604-318-4390 maison d’etre design-build inc 604-484-4030

COSMETIC SERVICES Carruthers Dermatology Centre Inc 604-714-0222

COUNSELLING ah-ha! Counselling & Consulting 604-537-0130 Bill Coleman 778-320-4850 Bekar Counselling 778-990-1825 Counselling BC counsellingBC.com Dragonstone Counselling 604-738-7557 Integral Counselling 778-227-9423 Lehmann Counselling Service 604-614-8121 Preece & Associates Psychological Consulting 604-685-5968 Tricia Antoniuk 778-378-2633 Vilayvanh Sengsouvanh 778-866-5017 Willow Tree Counselling 604-521-3404

COURIERS

Steamworks Vancouver 604-974-0602

Mail Box Plus

BATHROOM

Aarm Dental Group 604-647-0006 Dr Dean Wershler Inc 604-688-4080 Dr Langston Raymond 604-687-1008 Dr Sam Daher 604-662-3290 Redtree Dental 604-873-3337 Yaletown Laser 604-70-SMILE

604-879-6999

BEAUTY CARE David Blue Hair Design

604-688-2583

BEDDING Bernstein & Gold Interiors Mr Mattress Simmons Mattress Gallery

604-687-1535 604-255-2113 604-733-0166

FARMERS’ MARKETS

604-683-1433

DENTAL SERVICES

PAINTING 604-484-4030

Wallmount Tronics

778-960-4447

JEWELLERY Benée Rubin Jewellery Design Gurvin Jewellers Saatchi & Saatchi Fine Jewellery

604-278-8456 604-736-5956 604-685-5625

KITCHENS Coast Wholesale Appliances coastappliances.com Klondike Contracting Corporation 604-708-3337 Red Door Discount Warehouse 604-569-3232 Ripples Kitchen & Bath 604-879-6999

LAUNDRY SERVICES Laundry Valet

604-568-2020

FESTIVALS & FAIRS

LAWYERS

Out On Screen 604-844-1615 Queer Arts Festival queerartsfestival.com

Bell Alliance 604-873-8723 Dahl & Connors 604-687-8752 Ganapathi & Company 604-689-9222 Harrop, Phillips, Powell & Gray 604-688-8211 Holness Law Group 604-633-4878 Island IP Law 778-886-8626 Law Office of barbara findlay 604-251-4356 Rob Hughes 604-683-4176

FINANCIAL SERVICES 604-468-0888

FIREPLACES Vancouver Gas Fireplaces

604-732-3470

FITNESS & EXERCISE Hot Stone Massage Therapy

604-366-4386

FLORISTS

LEATHER LIFE

Coal Harbour Florist + Green Design 604-669-5678 Hanamo Florist 604-685-3649

East Side Re-Rides Original Leather Factory

FUNERAL SERVICES

LIFE COACH

Walkey & Company Funeral Directors 24hrs: 604-738-0006

Nextstep Communication

FURNITURE

MASSAGE

Bernstein & Gold Interiors 604-687-1535 Carriage House 604-245-0187 Instant Bedrooms Manufacturing Inc Yaletown 604-669-2337 Richmond 604-271-4121 Jordans Interiors 604-733-1174

Hot Stone Massage Therapy Metropolitan Relaxation Studio Relaxation Massage Vancouver Skyclad Naked Yoga & Massage

GRAPHIC DESIGN SERVICES

BATHHOUSES

Ripples Kitchen & Bath

604-839-9819

Vancouver Farmers’ Markets 604-879-3276

Jennifer Maier

Coast Wholesale Appliances coastappliances.com Red Door Discount Warehouse 604-569-3232

Emily Carr

HOME THEATRE INSTILLATIONS

EVENT PLANNING & PROMOTIONS

BUSINESS SUPPLIES & SERVICES

COMPUTER SALES & SERVICES

caprent.com

ENTERTAINMENT

Triangle Recreation Camp camptrc.org

Waterway House Boats 1-877-WATERWAY

APPLIANCES

CAPREIT

maison d’etre design-build inc

CAMPGROUNDS & CAMPS

604-263-0050

CLOTHING - GENERAL

ALTERATIONS

Vancouver Photo Walks 604-318-1277 ActorWorks Vancouver 604-723-1776 Ballet British Columbia 604-732-5003 DanceHouse 604-801-6225 Museum of Vancouver 604-736-4431 Playland 604-253-2311 Scotiabank Dance Centre 604-606-6400 Sounds & Furies Productions 604-253-7189 Vancouver Symphony Orchestra 604-876-3434

BLINDS BOAT CRUISES & CHARTERS

Accounting+ Best Books Inc Felicity Webb

Wega Video

gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses

Bernstein & Gold Interiors 604-687-1535 Jett Grrl Bike Studio 604-255-5097 Budget Blinds

29

east van graphics Spread Media Inc

604-568-1206 604-440-8792

GROCERY Safeway

Davie St: 604-669-8313 Robson St: 604-683-6155

HEALTH Hospital Employees’ Union heu.org The Vancouver Health Show 1-888-999-1761

HEALTH - MEN’S Community Based Research Centre 604-568-7478 Integrative Healing Arts 604-738-1012

HEALTH & PERSONAL CARE Carruthers Dermatology Centre Inc 604-714-0222 Sinclair Wellness 604-629-1120 Vancouver Lipo Laser 604-904-0888 Yaletown Laser 604-70-SMILE

HEALTHCARE SERVICES Orchard Recovery Vancouver Coastal Health

604-947-0420 604-736-2033

604-366-4386 778-997-9642 604-789-0857 250-813-2939

MASSAGE - EROTIC

MEN’S GROOMING MASC

604-688-4555

MEN’S SERVICES BC Society for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse (BCSMSSA) 604-682-6482 Men’s Bereavement & Support Group 604-684-5307 xt 112 Chris Cornborough

604-765-4823

MOTORCYCLES & SCOOTERS East Side Re-Rides

604-327-7433

NATUROPATHY Dr Anita Komonski

604-568-7655

OPTICAL SERVICES

EDUCATION & INSTRUCTION

HOME IMPROVEMENT & REPAIRS

bruce eyewear 604-662-8300 English Bay Eyeworx 604-685-7001

Emily Carr 604-844-3810 Vancouver Elementary School Teachers’ Association 604-873-8378

Crown Roofing & Drainage 1-877-628-5010 Klondike Contracting Corporation 604-708-3337

ORGANIC FOOD & MARKETS Vancouver Farmer’s Market

604-715-0985 778-995-1665

PET CARE City-Dog.ca Pet Services 604-608-6959 Hemlock Animal Hospital 604-558-1400 Kitty Kare 604-813-4239 Latisha’s Pet Care 778-385-7313 The Vancouver Pet Expo 1-800-626-1538

PET STORES Bow Wow Haus Broadway Korna Natural Pet Supplies Ltd Pet Habitat Tisol Yaletown Bosley’s Pet Food Plus

604-568-8959 604-904-2008 604-433-2913 tisol.ca 604-566-9974

PHOTOGRAPHERS Feeling Photography sweet earth photographics The Shooting Gallery Vancouver Photo Walks

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604-879-3276

maison d’etre design-build inc

Adesso Bistro 604-568-9975 Ciao Bella 604-688-5771 Domino’s Pizza dominos.ca Gallery Café & Catering 604-688-2233 Joe’s Grill joesgrill.ca Lift Bar Grill View 604-689-5438 Out To Lunch Catering 604-681-7177 The Park & Bayside Lounge 604-682-1831 Vancouver Alpen Club 604-874-3811

ROOFING Crown Roofing & Drainage

West End Seniors’ Network Society

Priape 604-630-2330 The TABOO Naughty but Nice Show 1-800-626-1538

SHOPPING

Integrative Healing Arts

PLUMBING

Rack n Hitch

Hillcrest Plumbing & Heating

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PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS Baker Street Agency

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PSYCHICS Opal Professional Intuitive

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Dragonstone Counselling 604-738-7557

REAL ESTATE AGENTS Adriaan Schipper 604-818-8265 Amalia Liapis 604-618-7000 Annette Thomas 604-805-5572 Becci Dewinetz 604-230-1044 Charlotte Mauricio 604-312-2644 Chris Wendland 778-232-8319 Connie Buna 778-689-7653 David Gering 778-822-0775 David Tung 604-266-1364 Fuller Service Realty 604-724-7964 Ian Eggleton 604-773-1443 Ian Holt 604-506-4264 Jason Luke 778-834-6873 Ken Chalmers 604-803-4966 Kim Monk 604-740-6615 Klaus Rode 604-760-5856 Linda Shaw 604-787-2062 Lyn Hart 604-724-4278 Michael Chiu 604-992-2052 Phil Warren 604-684-6155 Steve Jamieson 604-307-9167 Susan Cameron 604-720-1214 Tim Hiltz 604-789-1133 Tyler Barrs 604-602-1111 Wayne Blackburn 604-209-4775 West Side Real Estate / Coldwell Banker Premier Realty 604-817-4856

RELIGIOUS GROUPS & SERVICES Christ Alive Community Church 604-739-7959 Renaissance Christian Church 604-636-4276 St Andrew’s Wesley United Church 604-683-4574 Trinity United Church 604-732-3075

RENOVATIONS & RESTORATIONS Mr Build 604-732-8453 Klondike Contracting Corporation 604-708-3337

604-669-5051

SEX

Andrea Martens 604-669-8233 Burrard Physiotherapy 604-684-1640 Eric Hoppe 604-669-8233

604-879-1415

1-877-628-5010

SENIORS GROUPS & SERVICES

Denman Place Mall

PRINTING

604-484-4030

RESTAURANTS & CAFÉS

PHYSIOTHERAPY & REHAB

PSYCOTHERAPY

A1 Massage 778-828-4683 handsomehands.ca handsomehands.ca Masculine/Muscled/Mature Erotic Massage/Escort 604-719-3433 Sequoia Thom, MA 778-822-4408

Isagenix® LGBT Vancouver 604-340-9837/ 778-855-9957 mygoodness! gluten free 604-876-8878

604-738-1012 778-786-3677

next-step.ca

Brian Mount RMT 604-254-4272 Burrard Health Centre Massage Therapy 604-816-0210 Coastal Winds Massage Therapy 604-568-2480 Linda Duncan RMT 604-630-0101 Rick Girardeau RMT 604-345-0248 Sharon Jackson RMT 778-320-5561 Sinclair Wellness 604-629-1120

MORTGAGE

HOLISTIC HEALTH

604-298-3770

MASSAGE CERTIFIED/REGISTERED

HEALTH FOODS & NUTRITION

Integrative Healing Arts Sequoia Thom MA

604-327-7433

Pro Works Painting TLS Painting

604-684-9254

SKIN CARE 604-738-1012

SPORTING GOODS 604-233-0057

The Vancouver Snow Show 1-800-626-1538 University Golf Club 604-224-7799 The Cutting Edges Gay Men’s Hockey Club cuttingedges.com

STORAGE Freeway Mini-Storage/ U-Haul 604-251-2017 The Storeroom 604-685-5304

STUDIO SPACE The Dance Centre

604-606-6400

TATTOO & BODY PIERCING Adorned Precision Body Arts

604-254-5111

THEATRE ActorWorks Vancouver Bard on the Beach

604-723-1776 604-737-0625

TICKET SALES ShowTimeTickets.com 604-688-5000/1-800-480-7469

TRANSPORTATION Helijet International 1-800-665-4354

TRAVEL AGENCIES GayTrip.ca

gaytrip.ca

TRAVEL BRITISH COLUMBIA Black Rock Oceanfront Resort 877-762-5011 Harbour Air Seaplanes 604-274-1277

VETERINARIANS Urban Animal Hospital

604-684-2632

WEBSITES Guidemag.com Squirt.org Xtra.ca

guidemag.com squirt.org xtra.ca

WEDDINGS Umbrella Events

604-315-4302

WEIGHT CONTROL Isagenix® LGBT Vancouver Integrative Healing Arts

604-340-9837 604-738-1012

WINE & SPIRIT The Grape Escape Wineworks

604-254-1200

YOGA SpiRe Wellness 604-569-0963 YoGuy Men’s Yoga 778-995-1970 Skyclad Naked Yoga & Massage 250-813-2939

30

XTRA! SEPT 6, 2012

Vancouver’s gay & lesbian news

ADVERTISING FEATURE

Real Estate Real Estate

West Coast Realty

GLOSSARY

Timothy James Moreau

604-831-9130

Xtra’s guide to the lucrative gay & lesbian housing market.

TO ADVERTISE CALL 604-684-9696

Real Estate

Closed Mortgage:

A mortgage loan that has a locked-in-payment schedule and can not be prepaid or renegotiated before the term’s end (unless included in the terms.)

PROFILE

timothym@sutton.com www.timothyjamesmoreau.ca

#1102 1188 Howe St Vancouver

Susan Cameron Bringing you home ... with pride!

7 YEARS IN A ROW!

..

$280,000 AMENITIES GALORE! Great entry level or investment suite at 1188 Howe.

Building amenities include pool, hot tub, sauna and gym. Recent upgrades include a renovated lobby and hallways. The suite was used as a furnished rental suite, and all furnishings are negotiable. Rentals and 1 pet allowed, 1 parking stall and locker included. Vacant and easy to show.

susancameronrealtor.com

NEW

PRI

CE

Klaus Rode 604.760.5856

P R E M I E R

Helpful Hints Characteristics of a good Realtor

)Y\JL >HYK 9LHS[` 3[K

R E A L T Y

www.klausrode.ca

Recently Sold 2615 Dundas St. $788,000 Beautiful craftsman style home with plenty of curb appeal.

Fully landscaped front garden, fenced yard, inviting front porch & back deck (off kitchen) w mountain & partial water views.

2803 1199 Seymour St. $321,900 Spectacular FOREVER 180 degree views of the North Shore Mtns, City and False Creek.

408-1345 Comox St. $575,000 Rarely available! 2 level, 2 bedroom, top floor, corner suite on beautifully tree-lined street in the West End!

1809-108 Cordova St. $665,000 Completely unobstructed 270 degree views of the Burrard Inlet, North Shore Mountains and city from every room of the only 2 bedroom plan at Woodward’s 32.

q is eager to help you find

the right home q is willing to do the homework and will offer to find you the information you need and get back to you with a sense of urgency q is a good communicator q will explain the entire process of purchasing a home q will be your advocate throughout and after the negotiation process and contract completion q will listen to your comments and concerns and address them in a constructive and informative fashion q will be professional and all about service, service, service!

English. French. Cantonese. Mandarin.

Square Footage. I speak your language.

Anthea Poon RE/MAX Select Realty 4806 Main St. Vancouver, BC V5V 3R8

# 1207 1205 HOWE ST ASKING $439,000 SOLD FOR $420,000 Welcome to ALTO by Anthem Properties. This gorgeous CORNER 1BR suite has luxurious features including 10ft ceilings, Stainless Steel Electrolux appliances with builtin fridge with wood paneling, polish chrome stone countertop and custom cabinets, African zebra hardwood flooring, floor to ceiling windows, spa-like bathroom & heated limestone floors.

Great central location that is just minutes to restaurants, fitness centre, shopping & entertainment. 2-5-10 Home Warranty in place. A place you can call home for years to come.

Parking & Storage locker included.

m 604.719.6103 o 604.678.3333 f 1.888.830.6110 w antheapoon.com

Top 10% of Vancouver Realtors®

Select Realty

Michael Chiu 604-992-2052 www.michaelchiu.net

more at xtra.ca

ADVERTISING FEATURE

XTRA! AUG 23, 2012

31

Ask a

REALTOR P rofessional

My boyfriend and I are thinking of buying a home together. It’s a big decision – what things should we be aware of?

According to a 2012 survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate of 1,000 men and women, we rely on how we feel and how our lifestyle fits into a home when looking for a place to live.

The survey found that 28 percent of women and 25 percent of men put more emphasis on their feelings about places they look at than they do on the layout, square footage or even price. But despite our differences, there’s at least one thing we agree on — most women (62 percent) and men (61 percent) know within the first visit if the home is the right one.

For couples entering the home-buying process, here are some tips for harmonious househunting: q Each person should come up with their own list of a few things that are most important to them in a home. Then, they should come together as a couple to narrow it down to three to five key characteristics. q Communication is key.

Consider designating a point person for different aspects of the home-buying process, so information is not delayed or communicated to just one half of the couple. q Don’t get too many people involved; typically, more people means more stress.

What is most important is that both people are happy with the decisions being made. q Remember that this home will be a place to build memories and a life together.

Following these simple guidelines will help you keep the home-buying process fun!

Susan Cameron 604.720.1214 susancameronrealtor.com Coldwell Banker

R esponsive

Michael Chiu

VOTED BEST REALTOR Xtra! Reader’s Poll

I n Touch

Top 10% of all Lower Mainland Realtors - 16 years

D ependable

Former Gay & Lesbian Business Association Board Director Donates 5% of commissions to your favourite charity upon purchase of a new home

E thical

“Finding Your Dreams A Home!”

Award-winning service to the Gay and Lesbian Community for over 19 years

Cell: 604-992-2052 www.michaelchiu.net

DAVID TUNG

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

XTRA! AUG 23, 2012

31

Ask a

REALTOR P rofessional

My boyfriend and I are thinking of buying a home together. It’s a big decision – what things should we be aware of?

According to a 2012 survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate of 1,000 men and women, we rely on how we feel and how our lifestyle fits into a home when looking for a place to live.

The survey found that 28 percent of women and 25 percent of men put more emphasis on their feelings about places they look at than they do on the layout, square footage or even price. But despite our differences, there’s at least one thing we agree on — most women (62 percent) and men (61 percent) know within the first visit if the home is the right one.

For couples entering the home-buying process, here are some tips for harmonious househunting: q Each person should come up with their own list of a few things that are most important to them in a home. Then, they should come together as a couple to narrow it down to three to five key characteristics. q Communication is key.

Consider designating a point person for different aspects of the home-buying process, so information is not delayed or communicated to just one half of the couple. q Don’t get too many people involved; typically, more people means more stress.

What is most important is that both people are happy with the decisions being made. q Remember that this home will be a place to build memories and a life together.

Following these simple guidelines will help you keep the home-buying process fun!

Susan Cameron 604.720.1214 susancameronrealtor.com Coldwell Banker

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Is it cheaper to buy a home in New Westminster? YES! P R E M I E R

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Selling Homes In Our Community for Over 20 Years

604.266.1364 | WWW.DAVIDTUNG.COM

NEW LISTING!

#4 58 Richmond St. LARGE 2,500ft townhouse, 4 bath, 3 bed, den, dbl garage, skytrain, greenbelt, heated floors, pets ok, family room. $568,800 OBO

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Re/MAX advantage

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IANEGGLETON Prime Yaletown, “The Bentley” #505-1001 Homer St, $549,000 2 bed/2 bath and 2 balconies

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Real Estate CONTACT US TODAY! 604.684.9696 xt. 124 or realestate.vancouver@xtra.ca

ian@ianeggleton.com Re/Max Clara Hartree PROUDLY SELLING VANCOUVER AND THE NORTH SHORE

WHY ADVERTISE?

» Our gay & lesbian readers want to work with professional, gay-friendly realtors » Gay & lesbian readers live, work and play in Vancouver & surrounding areas. Advertising your listings to them makes sense! » Book a display ad for your listing and receive FREE open house listings until it’s SOLD! » Book a display ad for your listing and write in our Ask a Realtor column!

32

Vancouver’s gay & lesbian news

XTRA! SEPT 6, 2012

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Upcoming deadlines for Xtra 498, Sept 20, 2012 Display Advertising booking deadline: Wed, Sept 12 at 4pm Display Classified booking deadline: Wed, Sept 12 at 4pm Line Classified booking deadline: Mon, Sept 17 at noon ANNOUNCEMENTS ›

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HE LIFE OF A GAY PORN COLUMNIST is full of contrasts: endless manila envelopes from porn companies and nary a single online reader comment, red-carpet adult film premieres and latenight hours alone in front of my laptop.

Seeking plurality of opinion, I asked my best friend to assist me with this monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s column, speciďŹ cally on the topic of William Higginsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gonzo line of videos. In the videos, an unseen cameraman randomly approaches people under the guise of conducting a survey, then offers them â&#x20AC;&#x153;a moneyâ&#x20AC;? for varying levels of participation in a street hunting scene featuring European Mirek Hodbod.

We sought resolution to the question, â&#x20AC;&#x153;What the fuck is going on here?â&#x20AC;?

ANDREW: What is going on here appears to be an early-20s, Czech plant in a park waiting to have his ass pounded.

GRAEME: Whoa, whoa, whoa. First of all, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s racist. I agree, he was a plant.

ANDREW: The ďŹ rst encounters add credibility to the scene, given the lukewarm reactions of the solicited pedestrians.

GRAEME: The reactions were like you might expect â&#x20AC;&#x201D; indifferent to irritated.

ANDREW: Until a slender, brown-haired, survey participant has his interest piqued by the initial offer of money, and later, signiďŹ cantly

ANDREW: Aesthetically, our model seemed believable though â&#x20AC;&#x201D; wearing underwear, pubic hair, didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t spring upon ďŹ rst hand-to-dick contact.

GRAEME: Though he did get hard as the MCATs later.

ANDREW: We also agree the model took the cameramanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s uncut 7â&#x20AC;? cock like a champ.

GRAEME: Like theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d met before, yes, and we agree that if a random person were pulled out of a shadowed nook under a tree, we might reasonably expect to see a little more hesitation? Not to mention a gag reďŹ&#x201A;ex?

ANDREW: Naturally, though I did enjoy the inherent masculinity of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;sword fightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; struggle. The victor prevailed, In William Higginsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gonzo line of videos, an unseen and the vanquished ended up cameraman randomly approaches people, offering money on all fours. in exchange for their participation in a street hunting scene. WILLIAMHIGGINS.COM GRAEME: I mean, it was enjoyable. I enjoyed it. more than just his interest.

ANDREW: Given we have little awareness of GRAEME: Yes, I believe he got his ass piqued. the meaning of their Czech dialogue, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (Raised eyebrow) And here, for me, is where no need to ascertain much about the scene I stopped believing. This Hodbod fellow was beyond the simple enjoyment of witnessing just a littleâ&#x20AC;Ś how do I phrase this? a ďŹ t dude offering himself ass-up in a pile of ANDREW: A little more receptive than one horse feed. might expect?

GRAEME: What more can, or need, be said GRAEME: Evidently, Hodbod means eager about hay-cushioned sodomy, really? in Czech.

ANDREW: Nary a thing.

12-08-31 6:43 PM

34

Vancouver’s gay & lesbian news

XTRA! SEPT 6, 2012

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