#538 APRIL 10–23, 2014
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Less than half of BC’s school districts have passed homophobia policies. Fewer still have implemented them well. E13
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VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
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Brandon Matheson
#538 APRIL 10–23, 2014
THE EMPRESS OF CANADA FOUNDATION
Roundup
XTRA VANCOUVER’S GAY& LESBIAN NEWS
PROUD LIFE
Queen of the Silver Dollar Gay rights pioneer ted northe dies at 76 E 9 Editorial Patchwork of progress By Robin Perelle E4 Feedback E4 Xcetera E5
Upfront MLA lying, accused alleges Chandra Herbert says debate belongs in court E7 Gender-neutral parks and rec centres E8 Our City of Colours confident E8 Still QQ Use of ‘queer’ split largely by age By Erin Flegg E10 More community programming Gay villagers suggest ways to enliven Bute Street plaza E11
on dailyxtra.com E Google executive leaves
World Vision over anti-gay hiring policy E India: Court to consider petition against upholding of anti-gay Section 377 E Uganda: Police raid US-
funded program that offers AIDS services MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM
Cover story Making the grade Almost half of BC’s school districts have passed homophobia policies, but some are stronger than others E13
Out in the City Back to boy form The Gay Agenda steps away from drag E17
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Beyond the gender binary Rae Spoon and Ivan Coyote turn Gender Failure into book E18 Blitz & Shitz Toonie tramps & sailor sluts By Raziel Reid E19 Real Estate E19 What’s On E20 Xposed Cutting Edges skating party By Andrew Gilmore E20
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THE COLLEGE OF MONARCHS MOTHER COURT OF CANADA VANCOUVER, BC
Anal censorship I am glad that Ms Stevenson is not changing the sign [“Mothers Demand ‘Anal Bleaching’ Sign Be Censored on the Drive,” dailyxtra.com,
[RE: MOTHERS DEMAND ‘ANAL BLEACHING’ SIGN BE CENSORED ON THE DRIVE]
Community with a ‘c’ VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
‘ANAL BLEACHING’ SIGN ANGERS E7
GROWING OLD E9
#537 MARCH 27–APRIL 9, 2014
It is with a heavy heart that the College of Monarchs of the Mother Court of Canada announces the passing of our founder, the Empress of Canada, Mr ted northe. Her Majesty passed peacefully on March 30, following a brave and lengthy battle with cancer. A pioneer and some would even say trailblazer in Vancouver’s gay community, ted was an activist for gay rights and founded the Imperial Empire of Canada in 1964, of which ted became the Empress of Canada. This organization would later become the Dogwood Monarchist Society in Vancouver. Ted’s legacy saw the formation of at least 13 court chapters in Canada, and countless other organizations grew from those courts, including countless Mr, Ms and Miss Gay organizations, as well as the West End Slo-Pitch Association. Ted also recently formed the Empress of Canada Foundation to further accomplish his goals. In recognition of his life’s work, ted received many honours, including the Canadian Red Cross Humanitarian and Distinguished Citizen Award, a Governor General’s Award, the inaugural Jose Honor Award, a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award, the inaugural Royal Canadian Order of the Maple Leaf, and an induction into the Q Hall of Fame in 2009. Well loved and respected by many, ted’s passing will certainly leave a void in the lives of many people. We are terribly saddened by his passing and hope that we may all rise to the privilege and challenge of honouring his memory and legacy. His grace and smile will certainly be missed. The Dogwood Monarchist Society keeps ted’s family, loved ones and friends in our thoughts, well wishes and prayers during this very difficult time. As information becomes available to us regarding funeral arrangements, we will provide it on our website and Facebook group. May you rest in peace, Your Majesty.
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Ten years ago, it was a patchwork of bigotry. That’s how James Chamberlain described the map of BC’s school districts and the districts’ unwillingness to address the homophobia that pervaded their classrooms. Of the 60 districts in the province, only two had passed anti-homophobia policy by the end of 2004. Fast-forward a decade: we’re up to 29 — nearly half the districts have signed on. That may not sound like a huge change, but it is. “In the past five years in particular, there’s been a groundswell of change,” says Chamberlain, who has been there since the beginning. It was Chamberlain who challenged the Surrey school board to add gayfriendly books to their classrooms in 1997. Even before that, he was working with the Gay and Lesbian Educators of BC to push the BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) to develop its own program to help local teachers address homophobia in schools. Convincing the BCTF was key. The teachers’ union has been instrumental in the cross-province push to develop antihomophobia policy in the last few years. Unlike most teachers’ unions, the BCTF has dedicated staff working on social-justice issues to develop resources for teachers on topics such as racism, homophobia, women’s rights, poverty, environmental issues, and peace and global education. In other words, they’re working to help teachers broaden our culture, one classroom at a time. It’s certainly paying off on the gay front. Having planted the seed, the BCTF offers interested local teachers resources to support policy development and implementation in their own districts. Twenty-two policies passed in the last four years alone. The momentum is gathering speed. It’s part of the public discourse now, Chamberlain says. “I think in the next couple of years, we’ll pass a tipping point: more boards with policies than without.” Interestingly, the foundation for all
this change was laid, and the momentum built, by the (mainly queer) teachers themselves, working together and with students, parents and straight allies to push for change — without government direction. “The government has been silent on this issue since the mid-’90s,” Chamberlain says, pointing first to the NDP government, then to the Liberals. Both have had opportunity to take the lead and direct BC’s school districts to address homophobia; to date, neither has. (Though Premier Christy Clark says we need to “change our culture” and “erase bullying,” her much-touted $2 million program does nothing to directly challenge homophobia beyond prohibiting it, along with other forms of discrimination already prohibited by the BC Human Rights Code.) “I’m not waiting for a government to act,” Chamberlain says. At this point, the policies passed at the district level are stronger and more comprehensive than anything a government is likely to pass anyway, he adds. There are definite advantages to building together from the ground up rather than waiting for an order to be issued, then demanding it be followed no matter how grudgingly. “A top-down approach mandates things on boards and on teachers,” Chamberlain says. “If the teachers are moving forward on something because of a change in their hearts and their minds, that’s much more powerful.” Granted, that leaves 31 districts still without policies — a glass half empty, depending how you look at it. But Chamberlain is optimistic. And tenacious. Asked which district he’d like to see pass a policy next, he looks to his conservative hometown of Abbotsford. “That would be the pièce de résistance,” he says with a laugh. “That would be a personal triumph.” Is it likely? “We never thought Chilliwack would have a policy, or Surrey,” he points out. “Any district is possible if you have the right combination of people working on it.”
The anus is a body part, just like an arm or a leg.
MAN UP TURNS SIX E11
Daddy dearest
I wholeheartedly agree with Robin Perelle’s editorial [“What About OUR Spaces?” Xtra #537, March 27]. We all need a multipurpose community centre, rather than a single-purpose Qmunity centre. FRASER DOKE VANCOUVER, BC
Our City of Colours
Zee Zee Theatre’s new play weighs the May/December equation E12
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March 19]. The arguments with which she’s been presented are ridiculous and say more about the neuroses of the mothers than any fear inflicted upon the kids. The anus is a body part, just like an arm or a leg. We’ve all met the people who use proper nouns for each body part unless it’s “down there.” Those are affixed with the cutesy labels otherwise found only in Hello Kitty. I suspect the daily school walk for these moms takes them by magazines or messages about losing weight, wrinkles and myriad other things that are wrong with us. If they genuinely have such a concern, the talk needs to be about self-confidence and media in general. I would think they’d be more concerned with having to explain the true horrors of the world. CAELAN (DAILYXTRA.COM)
I do not know how anyone can misunderstand Mo Kazerooni this badly [“Our City of Colours Chair Resigns,” dailyxtra.com, March 21]. He is one of the nicest people I have ever met. He cares deeply about inclusion, safe spaces and social acceptance. Why is an organization that is intended to be about accepting and supporting one another and addressing intersectionality on all levels even concerned with Mo’s religion, his viewpoints? He was neutral in conveying that his points are not the stance of OCC. Might I add that we cannot address our discrimination if we are belittling that of others, because saying your discrimination is worse than another is feeding into what you are fighting. OCC needs to revisit its purpose and recognize that white people should be at the table as well, in order to listen and understand, as you cannot alienate people and get them to listen simultaneously. Religions and politics need to be accepted and celebrated, especially in a multicultural, multi-religious, multi-linguistic and multiracial group.
How is this exploiting children? They do not offer the service to anyone under 18. Tanya Van, just admit you’re a prude, already, and don’t like the word anal because it refers to a “private part.” “How do I explain it to them?” Ummm, I’d tell them the truth and they’ll probably go “ewwww” — or lie to them and let them figure it out on their own. Like you would with every other question. How is it logical that a salon owner is responsible for your discomfort answering your child’s question? That is your problem to deal with. How do you ever hope to explain “the birds and the bees”? Won’t somebody please think of the children?
Look at the title of the article [“New Our City of Colours Directors Confident About Group’s Future,” dailyxtra. com, March 28]. New board elected for OCC. New board. They have a very diverse board. Let the board do its work. They are open to ideas and suggestions (unlike Mo’s leadership style), so if you want them to publicly affirm they have no affiliation with QuAIA or to accept Judaism is a culture they should also portray, then say that and I’m sure they would listen.
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COURTING COUPLE
Luck of the Irish With the onset of breeding season, gentoo penguins Missy and Penelope began bowing to each other — which means “I like you” in penguin-ese.The lesbian couple is one of five couples that have paired off for mating in their Dingle Oceanworld colony, in County Kerry, Ireland.
ROCKS IN HIS HEAD
‘I’m here for a stoning’ Lesbian Jennifer Louise Lopez decided to call the bluff of Harlem pastor James David Manning, who posted that “Jesus would stone homos” on the sign outside his Atlah Worldwide Missionary Church. A church employee told Lopez the day she showed up that Manning was not around to administer the punishment. Lopez asked if the employee would play substitute stoner; he told her he had no stones and told her to come back the next day. MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM
XTRA! APRIL 10–23, 2014 5
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VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
Upfront
We’re going to get the drag queens to run for Empress of Vancouver and have a big party at the Commodore, and everyone will go crazy for this. ted northe E9
Accused denies MLA office attack Chandra Herbert says debate belongs in court
It was not in my mind to express hatred or demand he do anything.
GAYBASHING JEREMY HAINSWORTH
The man accused of assault in an alleged attack against Vancouver West End MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert’s office and assistant says the politician is conducting a media trial against him. “Mr Chandra Herbert has seized upon this as an opportunity to garnish sympathy and portray himself as a heroic victim of homophobic violence,” Michael Melvin Williams says in a two-page letter dropped off at Xtra’s Davie Street office April 2. Williams alleges that Chandra Herbert didn’t see the altercation yet tells the story with many details that “get more grotesque with each bold new version.” “To put it simply, he is lying,” he alleges in the letter. Williams, 53, is charged with assault and mischief under $5,000. He made his first appearance on the charges in Vancouver Provincial Court April 4. The court heard that Williams does not yet have a lawyer; it is not known whether he qualifies for legal aid, and he has not yet entered a plea. Williams told Xtra outside the courtroom that it’s his first time dealing with the courts. Chandra Herbert alleges a man entered his Denman Street office Feb 21, expressed his hatred for the rainbow flag flying in the window and at the Vancouver Public Library branch across the street, punched the office door, then punched Chandra Herbert’s assistant in the face while still uttering homophobic statements. “He was screaming about ‘faggot flags,’” Chandra Herbert told Xtra at the time. “We called the police and he was arrested.” Sergeant Randy Fincham, of the Vancouver Police Department (VPD), said at the time that a 53-year-old intoxicated man was arrested. He said they found a man standing on the sidewalk down the street from the office and arrested him without incident and took him to jail. Because of the nature of the allegations, Fincham said, the incident is being investigated by the VPD hate-crimes unit. Williams, in his letter, disputes Chandra Herbert’s version of the story. “It’s true I had a pet peeve about a rainbow flag located on the Public Library,” he writes. “It’s been there for years and occupies the place next to the MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM
MICHAEL MELVIN WILLIAMS
Michael Melvin Williams, charged in connection with an alleged attack against Spencer Chandra Herbert’s office and assistant, contacted Xtra to dispute the MLA’s version of events. JEREMY HAINSWORTH
federal and provincial flags in the spot where our municipal government flag would normally be.” Williams asks what would happen if a public institution took down a government flag and flew one of “some religious sect that started preferential hiring policy and using the public library system as a platform for promoting their views.” Williams says he just wanted to discuss the issue with his MLA. “It was not in my mind to express hatred or demand he do anything,” he writes. But, he says, Chandra Herbert’s assistant wouldn’t let
him speak to the MLA. When Williams asked to speak to Chandra Herbert about the library flag’s appropriateness, the assistant, Williams alleges, told him the MLA wasn’t in. “I knew this was a lie,” Williams writes, adding that he sensed hostility and offered to wait. He alleges the assistant then called him homophobic, asked him to leave and said he would call the police. Williams writes he then saw Chandra Herbert and wagged his finger at the assistant, saying, “Pants on fire, pants on fire.” He alleges the assistant became flustered, came around the counter to the front area of the office and “lunged at me, grabbing my upper left arm with both hands, and tried to swing me to the ground.” Williams says he shouted at the assistant to let go. “He was so violent in his yanking action that I had bruises all over my upper left arm which my doctor has duly noted,” he writes. “This was not a gentle attempt to ‘shoo’ me out the door but a violent ‘take down.’” Williams admits a “physical struggle ensues during which we both swung a couple times at each other.” He says he has a vague recollection of being knocked into a wall, then running out the door with the assistant behind him “in a flash” and Chandra Herbert telling him “to stay put.” Chandra Herbert tells Xtra he stands by his earlier statements. “This debate should take place in the courts. There’s a reason Williams was charged with assault. I heard what I heard, and I don’t have any further comment.” Vancouver lawyer Mark Jetté has been appointed by the government as an independent special prosecutor in the case, given Chandra Herbert’s status as an MLA. Jetté’s mandate includes reviewing the charges and the investigative report done by the VPD and deciding what charges are appropriate; advising the police should further investigation be necessary; reporting the results of his review to the assistant deputy attorney general; and, if warranted, continuing the prosecution and subsequent appeals. Williams will make his next appearance in court on April 25. XTRA! APRIL 10–23, 2014 7
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Gender-neutral spaces needed Parks board’s trans working group releases draft proposal If it were up to Drew Dennis, the future would look like Hillcrest Community Centre. According to a list of recommendations drafted by Dennis and a committee of trans people and allies for the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, released March 25, Hillcrest should be a model for recreation all over Vancouver — and Canada. The draft proposal aims to make Vancouver the most transfriendly jurisdiction in the world. Built as a curling arena for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Hillcrest features plenty of gender-neutral changing space. In between the traditional male and female change rooms leading into the pool is a large “family” space, including individual stalls for any gender. When Dennis visited the centre to research the committee’s proposals, the need for gender-neutral space was obvious. “The multi-gender change rooms are busy, busy, busy. You didn’t see anyone coming out of the men’s or women’s change room saying, ‘Wow, that was full.’ But for the neutral space, there were sometimes five-minute waits.” Change rooms, however, are just the beginning. The Trans and Gender-Variant Working Group, of which Dennis
The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation’s Trans and Gender-Variant Working Group (above) will present its final recommendations on April 28. COURTESY OF THE TRANS AND GENDER-VARIANT WORKING GROUP
is one of eight members, also recommended changing signs to be more inclusive, adding lockers and showers to pool decks for those who want to skip change rooms altogether, and increasing recreation programs aimed at trans people. The committee’s recommendations come from nearly a year of consultation with trans people, parks workers and other people who use parks facilities such as pools, gyms and ice rinks. One of the most important new measures, according to Dennis, is already underway: teaching staff to be more sensitive and aware of trans patrons. During the consultation process, Dennis helped train 500 Vancouver parks aquatic staff on how to handle the needs of trans people more smoothly. Morgane Oger, secretary of the Van-
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Our City of Colours confident Approximately 40 people attended Our City of Colours’ March 26 annual general meeting, at which a new executive and slate of directors were elected following the sudden resignation of chair Mo Kazerooni. Newly elected director-at-large Behshid Foadi read the board’s response to Kazerooni’s March 11 letter of resignation, in which Kazerooni says he felt bullied by some members over his personal, political and religious beliefs. “The board of Our City of Colours would like to acknowledge the resignation of its former chair and thank him for his contributions to the organization. We wish him all the best in his future endeavours,” the statement says. “The previous year has been a learn-
The new chair of Our City of Colours, Simon Lam, wants to engage with members, develop new projects and connect with more communities across BC. NATASHA BARSOTTI
ing experience for us all, and we extend our thanks to our devoted and engaged membership. With your continued
couver Trans Alliance, agrees that staff training is key. “Our position is also that there are huge gains to be made for inclusivity just through training, education, and performance standards,” she wrote to Xtra. Both Oger and Dennis agree that the new proposal pushes Vancouver in the right direction. “With new facilities, we are dealing with a blank canvas,” Dennis says. “This is our opportunity. The trans kids of the future are not going to have to deal with these systemic problems.” The final recommendations will be presented to the Vancouver parks board on April 28. — Niko Bell Read more on this story on dailyxtra.com.
support, and the support from our community, we are looking forward to ushering in a new chapter of Our City of Colours,” it concludes. Jen Sung, now in her second term as director-at-large, told the meeting that tensions had been ongoing internally for about a year and led to the resignation of a number of directors, which left the organization “scrambling.” Speaking to Xtra after the meeting, several members, including new chair Simon Lam, expressed confidence in the group of people who have stepped up to lead the organization for queer people of colour and their allies. “It was a great crowd of people; there were a lot of engaged people,” Foadi agrees. “I’m really looking forward to what the organization’s going to do from this point on.” — Natasha Barsotti Read the full story at dailyxtra.com. VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
Queen of the Silver Dollar Gay rights pioneer ted northe dead at 76 STILL QQ KEVIN DALE MCKEOWN
She arrives in all her splendour every night at nine o’clock And her chariot is a cross-town bus that stops right down the block The ol’ piano minstrel plays a song as she walks in And the queen of the Silver Dollar, she’s home again She’s the queen of the Silver Dollar, and she rules this smoky kingdom And her sceptre is a wine glass and a barstool is her throne And the jesters ock around her and ďŹ ght to win her favours And see which one will take the queen of the Silver Dollar home. It was a typical 1970s night at the August Club on Richards Street when I arrived early for the evening’s drag show, probably looking forward to reigning drag diva and co-owner ted northe delivering his signature number, Dr Hook’s “Queen of the Silver Dollar.â€? I was early enough that ted wasn’t yet in the dressing room, and so we sat at the bar together and bought each other a drink. “QQ,â€? ted announced, “I’ve got exciting news for your column next week. I was in Portland last weekend for the Queen of Hearts Ball, and we’re going to do the same thing here, only bigger and better and bitchier! We’re going to get the drag queens to run for Empress of Vancouver and have a big party at the Commodore, and everyone will go crazy for this. All the queens will want to be Empress!â€?
There was a new buzz-phrase making the rounds that year, and decades later ted and I both remembered me trying it on, patting his arm and saying, “Oh, ted, this is going to end badly!â€? According to friends who were with ted in the days before his passing, early in the morning of March 30 at age 76, ted recalled that conversation and concluded, “The bitch really got that one wrong, didn’t she?â€? Yup, I sure got that one wrong! And by the way, “bitchâ€? was always a term of endearment from ted. Four decades later, gay communities from Victoria to Halifax elect an annual emperor and empress to preside over celebratory and charity fundraising activities. That election of the ďŹ rst Empress of Vancouver in 1971 was the beginning of an institution that would spread to a dozen Canadian cities, while ted retained his title as Empress of Canada until his stepping down from the role earlier this year. While ted is best remembered as the founder of the Canadian court system, he was a gay-rights activist long before they coined the word “activist.â€? Born in small-town Alberta and raised in the Fraser Valley, ted began his activism in 1958 when he and a handful of friends took to the steps of the Vancouver courthouse to demand full rights for homosexuals, who at the time were legally deďŹ ned as “deviants.â€? His public debut in drag was recorded for posterity in a snide note by Vancouver Sun columnist Jack Wasserman, who referred to ted and his friends as “The Lavender Hill Mob.â€? A decade later, ted was in the forefront of a national campaign in support of the ďŹ rst attempt at a bill legalizing homosexuality in Canada. This brought him to the attention of soon-to-be prime
The election of the first Empress of Vancouver in 1971 was the beginning of an institution that would spread to a dozen Canadian cities, thanks to ted northe. THE EMPRESS OF CANADA FOUNDATION
minister Pierre Trudeau, with whom he worked closely on pushing to get the ďŹ nal version of celebrated “omnibusâ€? Bill C-150 passed on May 14, 1969. Through the years, the Dogwood Monarchist Society, as Vancouver’s Empress court is known, has been a vital hub of gay community activity. The society and its empresses and emperors, under ted’s guidance and mentorship, played a key role in community solidarity during the AIDS crisis and continue to raise funds for numerous important causes. The tradition begun by ted and his early “courtiersâ€? continues today, with the coronation in March of Empress XLIII Kiki Lawhore
and Emperor JJ Nation. The Empress Ball, set for June 14 at the Vancouver Art Gallery and intended to pay tribute to ted and to crown his successor as Empress of Canada, will take place as planned. I have to feel a bit sorry for Avaughna Sanoir, Empress of Regina and Empress Elect of Canada. Her coronation celebration will undoubtedly be overwhelmingly a celebration of the life of ted northe — who will steal the show one more time! I was privileged to spend a wonderful half-hour with ted about a week before he died, and his good spirits and wicked sense of humour prevailed to the end. He was surrounded by loved ones and
family and a constant stream of devoted friends and fans who, for a couple of weeks in March, turned the 10th oor of St Paul’s into the Silver Dollar, where the Empress of our Hearts reigned. Thank you, dear friend. The Empress Ball will celebrate ted northe’s life on June 14 and elect a new Empress of Canada. For more information, visit empressball.org. Kevin Dale McKeown was Vancouver’s first out gay columnist, penning QQ Writes Page 69 for the Georgia Straight through the early 1970s. Contact him at stillqq@dailyxtra.com.
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By far the youngest member of the group, Jen Sung (left, with Kevin Dale McKeown) was also the only member to consistently use “queer” as her primary identifier. ERIN FLEGG
Use of ‘queer’ split largely by age Older members of discussion group still see it as slur COMMUNITY ERIN FLEGG
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Eight people recently gathered in downtown Vancouver to discuss the future of the word queer and how best to describe our increasingly diverse community. Born of talks between friends, the meeting was the first of several broader discussions that are expected to lead to a public forum in June. The original group consisted of Xtra columnist Kevin Dale McKeown; senior drag performer Reg Manning, Vancouver’s Empress II; black leatherdyke and self-described queer disorganizer Kona; trans performance poet Antonette Rea; retired teacher Pamela Leaman, whose 1969 transition may have been Canada’s first; and Gay Liberation Front co-founder Gordon Hardy. New additions to the table were Pat Hogan, who organizes numerous events primarily within the lesbian community, and Out in Schools program coordinator Jen Sung. The group was diverse in some respects, though it was short on representation from the under-35 set. One of the few things upon which the group agreed was the need to remedy this going forward.
The two new additions opened the meeting with their perspectives on “queer.” Hogan said that, while she has more often identified with the lesbian and dyke communities, she also uses “queer” under the right circumstances and doesn’t find it to be offensive. Sung, who, at 27, was the youngest member of the group by a fair margin, was the only one in the room who uses “queer” as her primary identifier. She said the word queer had played a huge role in her coming out and in her continuing process of self-definition. She challenged the group members to think critically about words that make them uneasy. “I have my own triggers and words that make me uncomfortable, and I have to ask myself why am I uncomfortable, and perhaps that basic challenge and discomfort is the place where learning can take place most.” Manning compared the community’s younger generation to the children of a family, deliberately defying and offending their elders by using the word queer. Hearing the word queer is “like nails on the chalkboard,” he said. “It’s the ugliest fucking word imaginable.” He thinks people who use it should consider it just as rude as swearing in
front of their elders. “All I ask is that the younger folks realize that when they come into the company of older people.” While age was the most prominent factor separating those who use “queer” from those who don’t, the question of personal politics may also play a part. Hardy believes the use of the word queer is a deliberate and politicized rejection of mainstream values. McKeown wondered whether trans people consider themselves queer. Leaman said unequivocally no, since she is attracted to straight men and doesn’t identify as gay at all. However, she said, she has lost jobs and faced discrimination for being seen as queer. “Every time I heard the word queer I just shivered. Seeing it more commonly in this generation, it just bothers me so much.” It’s important to understand the word’s negative history, Rea acknowledged, but it’s also important to recognize the progression of language and to respect individuals’ right to self-identify. The older members of the group said they could never see the word queer as anything but a slur. By the end of the meeting, it seemed the group would never agree to use queer as an umbrella term, and indeed may never be able to settle on any term that would satisfy all parties. But everyone believed in the value of an inclusive community that supports everyone under the rainbow, and all agreed to push forward with the discussion. VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
The Bute Street plaza needs gay-focused programming, says Fountainhead Pub manager Randy Newburg. SHAUNA LEWIS
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More community programming Gay villagers suggest ways to enliven Bute Street plaza GAY VILLAGE SHAUNA LEWIS
What could be the heart of the Davie Village is languishing because of insufficient attention and poor communication, gay business owners and community members says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great space,â&#x20AC;? says Hamburger Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s manager, Maddison Schmitt, whose diner sits adjacent to the Bute Street plaza. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I would love to use it to host a beer garden for Pride.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;It should be the iconic spot in the West End,â&#x20AC;? says Little Sisterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bookstore co-owner Jim Deva, but right now itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;not very flattering.â&#x20AC;? Deva thinks the plaza needs better lighting and a community directory that identiďŹ es groups, businesses and landmarks in the West End. He would like to see its programming taken out of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hands and placed jointly with corporate sponsors and community groups. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It has to be vibrant,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It needs to become a centre where community and business meet.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to see more use of the space by neighbouring business and community groups,â&#x20AC;? Schmitt agrees. Schmitt thinks thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a â&#x20AC;&#x153;communication breakdownâ&#x20AC;? between the city and local businesses and residents about how best to use the area. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They [the city] could be a little bit more proactive,â&#x20AC;? he suggests. Four months after Vancouver City MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM
Council approved a new community plan for the West End, city staff are working with design students to implement the planâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s suggestions for the plaza. But despite a handful of city-hosted events, on-site discussions and rainbowcoloured picnic tables, community members say more must be done with the space they were promised. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to look exclusively gay,â&#x20AC;? Deva says, acknowledging the sexual and ethnic diversity of the West End. But â&#x20AC;&#x153;if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to represent the West End, it certainly is going to have to represent the LGBT community.â&#x20AC;? Fountainhead Pub manager Randy Newburg agrees. Any programming for the area must be gay-focused, he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re losing more and more of the heart of the Village,â&#x20AC;? he says, pointing to closing gay businesses and the removal of the larger rainbow banners that once ďŹ&#x201A;anked Davie Street. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We had ďŹ&#x201A;ags here before, and now we have little bits of the rainbow ďŹ&#x201A;ag included in the banners. It seems to me like weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re losing our Village,â&#x20AC;? he says. One community member who regularly uses the plaza says itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s become a safe haven at night where people can meet before heading off to bars and restaurants. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the â&#x20AC;&#x153;meeting centre of the Village,â&#x20AC;? Dex Franks says, adding that it needs better lighting.
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VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
COVER STORY
g n i k a m e d a r g the Almost half of BC’s school districts have now passed homophobia policies, but some are stronger than others NATHANIEL CHRISTOPHER
ILLUSTRATIONS BY PAUL DOTEY
K
ika Mueller was in Grade 1 when Victoria’s school board made history in 2003 as the first in BC to adopt a policy to address homophobia and support its gay students and staff. The policy may have looked good on paper, and been introduced with good intentions, but Mueller didn’t know it existed until she started high school eight years later. “When I was in middle school, we didn’t have a GSA [gay-straight alliance], and I got homophobic comments from classmates and people I didn’t even know,” she recalls. “The teachers wouldn’t do anything if they overheard.” Life improved when she began classes at Esquimalt High, where 30 to 40 students belong to a GSA that now offers anti-homophobia workshops to some of the district’s middle schools. The group is prominently advertised, Mueller says, and teachers post anti-homophobia posters on their walls, hold students accountable for their homophobic remarks, and include queer content in the curriculum. There’s even a teacher-librarian who stocks a “rainbow reading section” and creates queerthemed displays throughout the year, she says. Of BC’s 60 school boards, 29 have, like Victoria, passed some sort of policy to address homophobia in the last decade. But how effective are these policies, and what separates a good policy from words going nowhere on paper? Victoria’s associate superintendent, Dave Pitre, says each policy is only as effective as the local administrators and teachers who decide to implement it.
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“Truthfully, it will be a ragged front dependent upon the leadership of adults in individual schools,” he says. “The effort is to try to continuously stress the intent and purpose of what this policy is about. And I’ll be the first to admit we have things we need to do. One of them would be to ensure complete involvement across the district.” “For me it goes this way: if you’re going to have a group in the school that is working towards something like this,” he says, “it really does need some adult support.” Districts can encourage but not order teachers to implement the policy in full, he notes.
J
ames Chamberlain sued the Surrey school board to add gay-friendly books to its classrooms in 1997. For a policy to be effective, he says, it should include provisions to add gay content to the curriculum; professional development for school counsellors, teachers and administrators; and a district-wide committee that will monitor the policy’s implementation and seek community feedback. “A good policy sends a strong message to the school community and district as to what is acceptable and unacceptable,” he says. Curriculum additions are essential to changing school cultures, he says, to foster environments that welcome and value gay people. “Because if you just pass a policy and it sits there in a board office or binder and you don’t breathe life into it and make it real for students, it’s a policy on the books but does not have systemic impact.” When asked about the weakest approaches in
the province, Chamberlain points to North Vancouver’s homophobia policy, which he describes as “very poor.” North Vancouver was court-ordered to address homophobia proactively in 2005, following a nineyear legal battle with a former student who filed a complaint with the BC Human Rights Tribunal after years of unsuccessfully protesting homophobic harassment from classmates who regularly punched, spat at him and called him a “faggot” while district officials did little to intervene. Victoria Miles, the district’s communications manager, says the policy, with the school codes of conduct, “assists in addressing incidents where disrespect or discrimination might have occurred.” She says a “great deal of progress” has been made since the policy’s implementation and points to several gay guest speakers who have addressed students in the last eight years. However, students and at least one GSA teachersponsor in the district were not even aware the policy existed, Xtra discovered last January. “Your policy is only as good as the work that comes afterwards,” says Comox Valley superintendent Sherry Elwood, who describes her district’s policy as a “living and breathing event.” Elwood says a committee meets throughout the year to ensure that teachers, administrators and support staff receive updated resource materials and training opportunities. One of her favourite teaching tools is a play written and performed by Courtenay students about the homophobia they hear in the hallways, woven together with stories continued next page E
XTRA! APRIL 10–23, 2014 13
E continued from previous page
from the late Jamie Hubley, a gay Ottawa teen who killed himself in 2011. She says curriculum has been developed around the play, which has been used in staff and teacher training, including an especially poignant production attended by all the district employees, as well as Hubley’s parents, Allan Hubley and Wendy Barber. “When I introduced them to the audience of employees, I had men and women who may have been groundskeepers or mechanics later come up to me and say, ‘Oh my god, Sherry. I hadn’t thought about this really.’ That was a teachable moment.”
“These aren’t people who are against what’s happening in any way. They are just unsure how to proceed.” Since Quesnel’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity policy was implemented in 2012, Hawkins-Bogle says, teachers have been more comfortable using inclusive language, and district principals report a decrease in what he describes as the “that’s so gay” culture.
U
nlike Quesnel, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows decided against a stand-alone policy that specifically names and focuses on homophobia, choosing instead to merge it with a broader conduct policy. aving studied all the anti-homophobia poliThe merged policy nonetheless includes district cies in the province, the vice-president of and school codes of conduct; a section on safety the BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) points and security within schools; a glossary of terms, to Vancouver’s as the strongest. half of which are specific to sexual orientation or “Ten years ago, the VSB [Vancouver gender identity; and implementation guidelines School Board] adopted a policy that hit all the specific to sexual orientation and gender identity. right notes,” Glen Hansman says. “It wasn’t just Last fall, the district also formed an LGBT about students, but the whole school community. implementation committee to build an action plan There was a commitment to resources, supporting to ensure the policy is implemented and applied peoples’ choices to come out, and an action plan consistently throughout the area’s schools. attached to it that was implemented immediately.” Presentations about the policy have since been “Money was budgeted to support the implemade to schools, administrators and parent advimentation — and there still is,” sory councils. The committee has he continues. “They train people also developed a presentation for — key people — to buy and puradministrators to share with their chase resources for school librarstaff on an annual basis. ies. They make sure teachers in “The focus of this presentation is schools have at their disposal multifaceted: it introduces our dislesson-plan ideas and created a trict policy, shares the many unique position at district level so there challenges our LGBTQ community is a go-to person.” faces, and outlines our district expecThe policy mandates that gay tations and future implementation content be included in the curaction plan,” says Sherri Skerratt, riculum and that staff receive the district’s counsellor of safe and ongoing anti-homophobia educaring schools. cation. All elementary and secThe committee plans to incorondary school libraries include porate professional development LGBT books, students receive at every district-based professional DENNIS HAWKINSLGBT-specific sexual education, development day and to examine BOGLE, PRINCIPAL there are LGBT safe contacts in the K-12 curriculum to make it more every school, and there is a GSA inclusive of LGBT topics. “We are in every high school. looking to districts that are ahead of But a strong and well-implemented us in this process who have very strong, thrivpolicy is not the exclusive domain of ing school communities in which our students large urban centres. and employees who identify as LGBTIQQ feel the Chamberlain notes that in smaller safety, care and belonging necessary to thrive in our towns a small group of people with a high degree community,” Skerratt says. of credibility can be the impetus for significant Hawkins-Bogle lauds the efforts of Maple Ridge change. He points to the Quesnel school district, and notes that a good implementation strategy is where Dennis Hawkins-Bogle and his husband, the key to an effective policy. Stephen Hawkins-Bogle, serve as principals. He does, however, express concern about the “We’re not in the closet, so we’re able to talk policy’s ambiguous title. about our lives in front of students, staff or par“Right off the bat, the name of the policy is critients,” Dennis Hawkins-Bogle explains. “I think cal,” he says. ‘If your policy is called ‘safe and caring that having people like myself or Stephen is really schools’ or ‘school behaviour code’ or something critical because people are really eager to talk and along these lines, it certainly is not going to have want to know things and are not sure how to ask the presence as one called ‘sexual orientation and because they are worried they might offend you. gender identity.’ I think that’s more effective, as it So when you are out of the closet, it eases that allows people who are perusing the policy manual apprehension a little more.” to see that there’s really strong value in words on He remembers an instance when a teacher a page, and when the title is ‘sexual orientation wasn’t sure how to approach the topic of sameand gender identity,’ to me that speaks volumes. sex families in a kindergarten class. “That’s a case It shows a stronger commitment.” of apprehension and the unknown, so when the But it’s no guarantee of a strong policy. Fort person was given language skills and confidence Nelson adopted a stand-alone Sexual Orientation to approach that the first time, they will be able (LGBTQ) policy in 2009 that focuses primarily on to do it every time after that,” he says. enhancing broad anti-bullying initiatives.
H
Progress report
Passed a policy that includes teacher training and curriculum resources to address homophobia. Passed a sexual-orientationspecific policy without any teacher training or curriculum resources to back it up.
These aren’t people who are against what’s happening in any way. They are just unsure how to proceed.
14 APRIL 10–23, 2014 XTRA!
Anti-homophobia policies across BC
Passed a broad antidiscrimination or anti-bullying policy that includes no teacher training or curriculum resources to address homophobia. Has no policy to address homophobia in its schools.
Greater Victoria passed BC’s first antihomophobia policy in 2003. Though it provides for teacher training and classroom resources, implementation across the district is incomplete.
BUILDING BLOCKS Anti-bullying/homophobia policy passage, by year 2003 Greater Victoria
2004 Vancouver
2005
2006 Southeast Kootenay
2007
2008
Gulf Islands Prince Rupert
North Vancouver
VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
North Vancouver passed a policy after it was court-ordered to address homophobia more proactively, after a student successfully sued the district for failing to protect him from his homophobic tormenters. The district now brings in occasional gay guest speakers.
Maple Ridge passed a broad Safe, Caring and Healthy Schools policy that nonetheless pays specific attention to homophobia and includes annual staff training. An LGBT implementation committee presents the policy to schools, administrators and parent advisory councils, and the curriculum is being reviewed with an eye to adding gay content.
Surrey passed a broad anti-discrimination policy that nonetheless pays specific attention to homophobia and mandates teacher training and curriculum resources, more than a decade after losing its lengthy legal battle to ban gay-friendly books from its classrooms.
Vancouver leads BC’s districts, with its antihomophobia policy that mandates ongoing teacher training and the inclusion of gay content in the curriculum (including its sex ed classes), and provides teachers and students with LGBT resources, elementary- and highschool-level library books, lesson plans, a resource person to consult, and a gaystraight alliance in every high school.
2009
2010
Fort Nelson
Haida Gwaii
2011
2012
2013
2014
Gold Trail
Maple Ridge
Alberni
Cariboo-Chilcotin
Peace River South
West Vancouver
Bulkley Valley
Prince George
Comox Valley
Burnaby
Sunshine Coast
NanaimoLadysmith
Sooke
Saanich
Okanagan Similkameen
Quesnel
Fraser-Cascade
Chilliwack
Delta Surrey New Westminster
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“The schools really treat it as part of the antibullying and anti-discrimination process,” says superintendent Diana Samchuck, who describes the policy as “present and alive” in the district. “Students are encouraged to come forward if they are bullied or harassed, and incidents are always investigated. We put steps in place that students feel safe.” She says the small population of her district makes it more efficient to incorporate discussions about anti-homophobia into overarching bullying discussions. But she has yet to meet a single openly gay or trans student in her more than 30 years working in the district. “With that being said, there aren’t many students who really state their sexuality until after they leave town,” she says. “I’m sure that’s for a wide range of reasons. Perhaps it is partly because this is a resource-based community. The oil and gas industry are kind of macho, and so they could be afraid of not being accepted.” Haida Gwaii superintendent Angus Wilson describes his district, which adopted its Sexual Orientation policy in 2010, as a fairly progressive community that is generally supportive of LGBT people. “Kids who have come out that I know are welcome and supported by their friends, and some of the parents have been really terrific,” he says. “Overall, the communities are more welcoming to lesbians than gay men, though.” He says the challenges in his district — which employs openly gay and lesbian teachers and counsellors — have more to do with size than social pressures. He says coming out can be complicated by the general lack of anonymity in small communities. He says also that his district, which has fewer students than a typical Vancouver high school, does not have the numbers to support dedicated LGBT groups. “When you talk about GSAs, that’s not a district club or association; that would be just a part of the student council — and even having a student council can be a challenge because George Dawson Secondary has 98 kids and Queen Charlotte Secondary has only 142.” Hansman maintains that all LGBT students and district employees should feel comfortable coming out, regardless of where they live in the province. “That shouldn’t be dependent on how close they are to an urban centre, where they were born or where they have a job,” he says. “The province needs to take the lead so there aren’t any gaps. If an individual school district wants to supplement the provincial standards by having something superior, then great. But there has to be a baseline that says, ‘This is important, we recognize this and we are all doing it.’” Hansman says the excuse used by some districts, that the materials are not available or there are not enough tools to provide LGBT education, is not applicable in British Columbia. “The resources and people are there, and all that is required now is the will to do it,” he says. “The BCTF has trained facilitators who provide three or four workshops on homophobia in particular, and we make them available free of charge to any district in the province. As long as we get a group of at least 15 people, we will put it on. Teachers pay their union dues and this is what it goes towards.”
W
ithout leadership from the provincial government, Chamberlain says the fight will continue to be a piecemeal approach of “hashing it out district by district.” But, he says, it’s only a matter of time before all school boards adopt policies. “I think we will get better results community by community,” he notes. “If you look at those people in Haida Gwaii, Fort Nelson, Cranbrook, Quesnel or Comox having these conversations — good, bad or otherwise — it’s important. And each local community is going to come up with something that’s going to be positive out of this, I believe. There’s no way they couldn’t come up with something positive in this day and age. If we left it up to the provincial government, we’d get some watered-down diluted thing that’s not substantial enough.” In 2012, Premier Christy Clark launched a $2 million Erase Bullying program, which is described in a government fact sheet as a 10-point “comprehensive prevention and intervention strategy designed to address bullying and harmful behaviours in schools.” In its overarching approach, it does nothing to address homophobia specifically, beyond prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Education Minister Peter Fassbender explains that his government does not want to single out “any one group,” opting instead for an integrated approach that covers all protected classes in the BC Human Rights Code. “It protects every student regardless of lifestyle choice, ethnic background and all those things,” Fassbender tells Xtra. “We operate under the BC Human Rights Code, and we encourage school districts and support those districts that have enhanced those codes of conduct. “From my perspective, and the government’s perspective, we are supporting and making sure there is not bullying and discrimination in schools. Through the Erase Bullying strategy, we have safeschools coordinators in every district in the province,” he says. Hawkins-Bogle worries that umbrella policies do not highlight the importance of LGBT issues. “I can’t speculate what it will look like down the road in 10 years,” he says. “I think the more that educators, principals, vice-principals and superintendents lead on this, the more potential there is for systemic change. It’s about educational leaders leading by example. “We’re not just simply doing something different; we’re actually correcting an error, and there’s a difference between the two things,” he continues. “When you are correcting something done historically wrong, you need some justification — people want to see why this is important to us. There’s some data, here’s some history, this is what kids are experiencing today, and this is why we have to do things.” Chamberlain says it should no longer be a scary thing for boards to adopt anti-homophobia policy. “School trustees in every district should lead on this now because it falls on the right side of human rights,” he says. “It falls on the right side of equality and safety for every student, and it falls on the right side of the law in 2014.” For more on BC’s education policies, go to dailyxtra.com. XTRA! APRIL 10–23, 2014 15
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VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
Out in the City
The challenge was to represent the live element of the work on the page. Ivan Coyote E18
Back to boy form The Gay Agenda steps away from drag PARTIES STEVEN SCHELLING
Five years ago, Dave Mackenzie Deveau and Brandon Gaukel took an underused Main Street bar and turned it into a gay ground zero for the East Side. While venues disappeared along Davie Street and the gaybourhood ghetto lost its appeal for many 20-somethings, The Cobalt presented an entirely new, ultra-campy scene that packed in the homo hipsters nearly every weekend. What began with the Queer Bash dress-up parties led to Apocalypstick’s Sunday night drag series. Then came Hustla, a monthly hip-hop happening and the 1990s/MuchMusic-inspired Electric Circus dance parties, which just celebrated their first anniversary. Last month, a new event was added: Gay Agenda. But, unlike all the others, the inaugural Gay Agenda party on March 15 was a drag-free zone. It was all boys, all the time, with amateur boylesque performances instead of lip-synched show tunes. It’s not that Deveau is against drag. Far from it. He is, after all, the man behind the one and only Peach Cobblah. His husband, Cameron Mackenzie Deveau, is none other than the Queen of East Van, Isolde N Barron. Together, they’ve got enough wigs, gowns and heels to give Cher’s latest farewell tour a run for its money. “I’m reticent to even say this,” Deveau says somewhat sheepishly, “but it’s the honest truth of why this event exists: every gay guy in the city has become a drag queen overnight.” He pauses and smiles. “Sorry. Let me rephrase that: has become a boy in a dress overnight.” He points to the breakout popularity of RuPaul’s Drag Race as a catalyst that has heightened awareness of drag culture and made it cool again. It wasn’t too long ago that an annual Pride Week event dropped its traditional drag performance at the urging of its ticket holders. No such request was made last year. Two years ago, Vancouver’s Next Drag Superstar competition had trouble rounding up two interested contestants. This year, there were 20 queens competing for the title and the top prize: VIP access to the RuPaul’s Drag Race premiere in New York City. “If you’re a drag queen at, say, 1181 or The Cobalt, people come and talk to you,” Deveau explains. “They want to meet you. They’re buying you a MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM
The Gay Agenda, Dave Mackenzie Deveau’s new party at The Cobalt, celebrates all forms of gay masculinity, except drag. DANNY GRAY FOX
drink. They tip you onstage. Why wouldn’t you want to put on a dress in order to get that adoration? So, for Gay Agenda, I thought why not cut out the middle man of bad drag and just create a space where the guests themselves can be the stars of the party?” “It’s about reclaiming all forms of masculinity,” Deveau says. “We don’t need to be ‘masc bros’ to still be masculine and sexy.” Requests for performers went out through social media and the grapevine. Before last month’s event, Deveau had seven confirmed acts and was already getting calls to reserve stage time at the second party, scheduled for Saturday, May 17. One of those first-night booty-shakers was Julian Pradinuk. A regular at many of The Cobalt’s gay parties, Pradinuk says he’s done drag “maaaaybe twice”
but was eager to get up and perform his striptease alter ego] Peach and me to become something, so number to Drake’s “Hold On, We’re Going Home.” let Peach and me help them become something.” “It was super fun,” he says. “I didn’t show any full With a stage full of glittering go-go boys, it’s easy frontal. Maybe I will at a later date, but you can’t to confuse the atmosphere at Gay Agenda as only give them everything right off the bat.” for gym bunnies and CrossFit aficionados. That Pradinuk says what he enjoyed most was the couldn’t be further from the truth, Deveau says. ability to just be himself and “rock Like all of his events, the atmosphere his body” for an appreciative audihe hopes to create is for everyone. GAY AGENDA Sat, May 17, 9pm–2am ence. Asked if he was ever nervous, “This is not a big six-pack circuit The Cobalt, 917 Main St he says not at all. “I like the attenparty. This is the antithesis of that. tion and I love dancing. The only Me and my love handles will be in a thing I was worried about was if my dick popped wrestling singlet. It’s weird on my shape, but I’m out. That did cross my mind.” gonna wear it!” Deveau says that feeling of liberation was the For Deveau, Gay Agenda is a return to the heady motivation for his party. “Gay Agenda is my thank- days of the early Queer Bash parties, “where you you to these people who are always there when I wear something weird or you wear very little and do something,” he says. “They’ve allowed [my drag just have a fuck of a gay time.” XTRA! APRIL 10–23, 2014 17
Beyond the gender binary
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to share my experiences when I realized that by writing and performing these stories live, I could control my words and how they were delivered. And then, with the book, I knew from many years of working with Arsenal
Part small-town/big-city memoir, part Intro to Gender Identity, Rae Spoon and Ivan Coyote’s latest collaboration, Gender Failure, offers another look, this time in portable form, into the lives of two people who never quite fit into the boxes set out for them. In the book adaptation of their live show, the two trade off stories and, for those familiar with each performer’s style, the book is no great departure. Spoon (who uses the gender-neutral pronoun “they”) draws the thread through their career, from country singer to electronic artist to something in between, all while navigating through (and then altogether away from) the stark divide between man and woman and gay and straight. Gender Failure co-authors In one story, “YouTube Rae Spoon and Ivan Coyote. Gender,” Spoon learns about ARSENAL PULP PRESS YouTube while living in Germany and posts an acoustic version of a new song. Viewers’ posted Pulp Press that I would have complete comments range from “boy or girl? :)” creative control over my work in the to “nice voice but what’s up with your Gender Failure manuscript,” Coyote hair?” to “HOLY SHIT DUDE YOU’RE says. “So far, the response has been A CHICK!!!!” and “WHAT GENDER 100-percent positive and supportive.” ARE YOU?!?!?!?!” It’s the positive response the pair Spoon appreciates the opportunity got touring their live show of Gender the book offered to reflect on these Failure that prompted them to turn experiences. “It was nice to be able to it into a book. address something that I deal with on “The challenge was to represent the a regular basis in my career.” live element of the work on the page,” Coyote goes back to the very begin- Coyote notes. ning to recount the shift from happy “I hope to reach other gender failtomboy to confused teen ures,” Coyote says, “and to GENDER FAILURE to gender outsider, beuse the book to continue BOOK LAUNCH & fore settling into a more the discussions and to LIVE SHOW Wed, April 9, 8pm recent story: the decision learn from the folks who Rio Theatre to undergo top surgery. read it, as well, about their 1660 East Broadway Coyote shares the own experiences with$20 advance, $25 door versesfestival.ca decades-long thought in or out of the gender process that led to that binary.” decision, the hoop-jumping required Spoon and Coyote will launch the to get approved for health coverage, book in Vancouver on April 9 at the Rio and the courage to publicly discuss Theatre as part of the Verses Festival such a private process now. “I decided of Words. VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
Toonie tramps & sailor sluts Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight
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Good news for all you toonie tramps (oh wait, is that just me?). You can spend your hard-earned change at Toonie Tuesday, a new weekly event at Heaven’s Door with cheap drinks and even cheaper drag queens. I was thoroughly impressed by how fucked up everyone was for a Tuesday night in the Village. Cheap drinks means more money for drugs! Toonie Tuesday is actually $2.75 Tuesday, including highballs and appetizers. Since everyone else was indulging, I had my drug of choice — grease. The menu is satisfactory for a bar and for the price, but skip the onion rings. Later in the night, they had Lady Jem spewing from both ends like the last time she was spit-roasted. Stop me if you’ve heard this before: three straight, highly intoxicated boys from France walk into a gay bar and find themselves competing in a wet and wild contest . . . The winner received a $150 cash prize, and since les garçons were obviously planning on splitting the money between them (that’s 54 drinks at $2.75 each), they didn’t seem to care who won, not that that stopped them from giving it their all. One by one they danced in their undies and got sprayed with water by the rowdy crowd. They didn’t have to get naked, but maybe that was lost in translation, because they did anyway. They were all uncut and one appeared to be growing a tail, in case you were wondering. The Parisians couldn’t speak English, so before they went onstage Jem translated “I hope your penis is big” on her phone (J’espère que votre bite est grand) and dared me to show one of them. He barely glanced at the screen before petulantly pushing away my hand. I went back to my table with my tail, not his, between my legs like I had hoped. But who needs a Frenchman when you have a big plate full of freedom fries, anyway?
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Raziel hobnobs with the Sailor Moon cast. From left: Kitty, Ponyboy, Valynne Vile, Shanda Leer, Jane Smoker and Raye Sunshine. ASH MCGREGOR
Sailor Jupiter — when I wasn’t being Baby Spice, obviously. Sailor Moon at the Rio Theatre was a night of vaudeville anime. Peter Breeze knows nostalgia and has used the Rio to fulfill 1990s gay boys’ dreams, first with the Spice Girls shadow cast (the girls are touring Texas this month!) and then by bringing club kid James St James to town for a special screening of Party Monster. The Rio was sold out for his latest blast from the past, the Sailor Moon double feature brought to life by drag Sailor Scouts. Anime aficionado Raye Sunshine was at the helm of picking the cast, and all the performers got their favourite roles. Kitty was Sailor Moon, Raye Sunshine was Sailor Mars, Valynne Vile was Sailor Jupiter, Jane Smoker was Sailor Venus, Shanda Leer was Sailor Mercury and the inimitable king, Ponyboy, was Tuxedo Mask. The Sailor Scouts became Sailor Sluts during the opening number, which was to the Pussycat Dolls’ “Don’t Cha Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me.” The schoolgirl sexiness was turned up, fitting for all the Sailor Moon porn you can find on the internet. Now that
The Fox has transitioned into a bar, I was just waiting for the cartoon enthusiasts to turn the Rio into the city’s new adult cinematheque . . .
LMFAO poetry The humour issue of Poetry Is Dead launched with a variety show at Performance Works on Granville Island (aka a really annoying maze with no good restaurants). The show was hosted by Daniel Zomparelli and Dina Del Bucchia and, with poems inspired by beauty pageants and seeing your landlord’s penis, proved that nothing can make you laugh as hard as when poetry tickles your soul. Eleven poets and four comedians took the stage, and all were hilarious. Comic Charles Demers said he and his wife considered naming their daughter Vancouver “because she’s half-white, half-Asian, and we can’t really afford her.” Each member of the crowd went home with a copy of the Poetry Is Dead humour issue; reading it is like watching a standup comedy routine, each turn of the page a beat to a welltimed joke.
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WHAT'S ON
Fri, April 18 The Ff Finale The final night of the trilogy features DJs Adam Dreaddy, Quest, Sollors and Blondtron. 9pm. Lux Lounge, 1180 Howe St. $15 at eventbrite.ca. Terminal City Re-Wired Artist Peter Ridgway’s exhibit opens tonight and runs until Mon, April 21. Chinatown Experiment PopUp Gallery, 434 Columbia St, New Westminster. No cover.
FOR MORE EVENTS, GO TO DAILYXTRA.COM
Wed, April 9 Gay & Grey: Dignity House Session This week’s discussion group for senior gay men will host an info session on a proposed seniors’ residence for LGBT people and allies. 7pm. Roundhouse Community Centre, 181 Roundhouse Mews. ahbbl@shaw.ca
Thurs, April 10 Gay and Bi Guys in the Fraser Valley
The Health Initiative for Men, in partnership with Fraser Health, is hosting a series of groups to discuss expanding gay services into the Valley. 6–8pm. Learning Centre, Room Fraser 1, Abbotsford Regional Hospital, 32900 Marshall Rd, Abbotsford. RSVP to sam@checkhimout.ca. Rainbow Support Group BC’s Alzheimer Society offers a support group for LGBT caregivers and those caring for an LGBT person with dementia. Call 604-675-5153 or email kturner@alzheimerbc.org. Queen Bee Empire World premiere of the raunchy and campy DIY film about the sexcapades of friends Tracey, Stacey, Lacey, Kacey and Macey over 24 hours during a hot and sweaty summer. Doors 6:30pm, show 7pm. Rio Theatre, 1660 East Broadway. $8–12 sliding scale. riotheatre.ca PCAN Party The Pacific Canadian Association of Nudists hosts a party for gay and bisexual men of all (legal) ages and body types. 8pm–2am. Club 8x6, 1775 Haro St. $15 entry includes locker. 8x6.ca Show Tunes 1181 hosts a showtunes night, featuring video clips from your favourite musicals. 6–9pm. 1181, 1181 Davie St. No cover. facebook.com/ showtunesyvr Friday Yoga Drop-In The Health Initiative for Men offers yoga sessions every Friday night. Bring your own yoga mat, a towel and lots of energy. 7–8:15pm. Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie St. Free, but donations gratefully accepted. checkhimout.ca
Sat, April 12 Vegas Live Drag artist Bobby Drake joins local performers for a fundraiser for the Royal City Pride Society. 7pm. The Columbia Theatre, 530 Columbia St, New Westminster. Tickets $25 at Coming Home Café, 735 6th St, New Westminster or eventbrite.ca. Board Games Are So Gay Choose from the Heartwood’s games or bring your own.
20 APRIL 10–23, 2014 XTRA!
All ages, genders and allies welcome. 6–10pm. Heartwood Community Café, 317 E Broadway St. No cover. heartwoodcc.ca
AJ’s Café Join other HIVpositive gay men every Friday for this free social support group sponsored by Positive Living BC. 3–6pm. The Junction Pub, 1138 Davie St. positivelivingbc.org
No Wave Roboteria and Dark Eighties present new wave/ synthpop/no-wave mutant disco and more with DJs Viktor Kuhn and Taffi Louis. 9pm–2am. Heaven’s Door, 1216 Bute St. $5 before 10 pm, $10 after. heavensdoor.ca
Sat, April 19 The Vatican This new leather and fetish dance party for men takes place the third Saturday of every month. 9pm. Heaven’s Door, 1216 Bute St. $15 advance at Little Sister’s, 1238 Davie St. heavensdoor.ca
Sun, April 13 AccolAIDS 2014 Join Positive Living BC to honour the heroes of BC’s AIDS movement. 6–10pm. Vancouver Convention Centre West, 1055 Canada Place. $150 at eventbrite.ca or positivelivingbc.org/accolaids. Joan-Eleveneightyone Joan-E hosts an evening of drag fun with special guests, followed by DJ Mumbles. 10:30pm–3am. 1181, 1181 Davie St. No cover. facebook.com/1181lounge
Mon, April 14 The Bobbers The queer improv comedy troupe is back in the Davie Village with a whole new show in a whole new format. 7–9pm. Heaven’s Door, 1216 Bute St. Free. heavensdoor.ca Condom Packing Party Join the guys at the Health Initiative for Men to help package condoms and lube for distribution to gay guys. 6–9pm. HIM office, #310, 1033 Davie St. checkhimout.ca BiFocus This peer-led social and support group for bisexual and pansexual people meets the second and last Monday of every month. 7–9pm. Qmunity Generations, 1033 Davie St. Free. qmunity.ca
Tues, April 15 God Loves Uganda An exposé of the American evangelical movement’s role in Uganda, where missionaries have been credited with inspiring anti-gay laws. Doors 6:30pm, show 7pm. Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, 149 W Hastings St. $10–12 online/$13–15 door. reelcauses.org Whole Heart Yoga A beginnerfriendly, trans-positive yoga class in East Van. 6:10–7:15pm. The Dharmalab, 1814 Pandora St. $10–25 sliding scale, cash only. No one turned away for lack of funds.
Wed, April 16 Bingo for Life Joan-E hosts this weekly fundraiser for Friends for Life, with prizes, cheap drinks and snappy drag queens. 8–10pm. Celebrities,
XPOSED
PHOTOS BY ANDREW GILMORE
Lumbertwink — The Cobalt, Sun, April 20 WAYNE BUND
1022 Davie St. $10 donation at door for bingo cards. celebritiesnightclub.com
Thurs, April 17 Generations Drop-In Brainstorming Qmunity’s group for elders hosts a discussion on activities and best times for upcoming programs and how to get the word out. 1:30–3:30pm. Generations, 6101033 Davie St. generations@ qmunity.ca RUFFone Steamworks and MN Events kick off Easter weekend with hot, hairy men and DJ Brayden Marc (LA). 9pm–3am. Fanclub, 1050 Granville St. Tickets $15/$20 at Little Sister’s, 1238 Davie St; Top Drawers, 1030 Denman St; and mnevents.ca. Hershe Bar One of Vancouver’s most popular and longestrunning parties for women. 10pm–2am. Red Room Ultra Bar, 398 Richards St. $15 advance at Little Sister’s, 1238 Davie St; Kokopelli Salon, 2052 Commercial Dr; and flygirlproductions.com. Lipstick Jungle This month’s party for the “cosmopolitan lesbian” and her friends features singer Romeo. 8pm–2am. Ginger 62, 1219 Granville St. $6. ginger62.com Trans Partners Support Group This peer-facilitated group meets the third Thursday of each month. 7–9pm. Qmunity Generations, 610-1033 Davie St. transpartners@qmunity.ca The Sundown The Cobalt hosts a laid-back clubhouse-style night for queer women and their friends every Thursday. 9pm. The Cobalt, 917 Main St. $3–6. thecobalt.ca
Not So Strictly Ballroom Vancouver’s same-sex ballroom group and Latin dance association presents an Easter Bunny Hop, starting with an all-levels dance lesson at 8:45pm. 8–11:30pm. Let’s Dance Studio, 927 Granville St, 2nd floor. Tickets $12–15 at Little Sister’s, 1238 Davie St, or brownpapertickets.com. notsostrictlyballroom.ca Lez Hookup Women’s speed dating on the Drive. 8–11pm. Café Deux Soleils, 2096 Commercial Dr. $22 at lezhookup.com.
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Grab Your Basket Vancouver Jax hosts fun, sexy jack-off parties for guys who enjoy masturbating together, sharing and showing off. 2–5pm. Club 8x6, 1775 Haro St. $10 includes locker. 8x6.ca Lumbertwink Portland’s infamous night for flannel rubs and furry faces comes to Vancouver. 9pm–2am. The Cobalt, 917 Main St. $8 in plaid, $12 without. Search Lumbertwink Vancouver on Facebook.
Tues, April 22 Queer Disco DJ Nikki Nevver and guests host a one-night only queer disco. Italo-disco, ’80s, glam, late ’70s punk, divas, modern guilty pleasures and more. Costumes, wigs and outrageous clothing strongly encouraged. 8:30pm–1am. The Astoria, 769 East Hastings St. $5. Search Tonight Is Forever on Facebook. Board Games Qmunity’s elders’ group hosts a fun afternoon of board games (Scattergories, Cribbage, Taboo, Scrabble). Coffee and tea provided. 11am– 2pm. Generations, 610-1033 Davie St. Free. qmunity.ca
Submit your event listing to oitc.vancouver@dailyxtra.com. Deadline for the April 24–May 7 issue is Tues, April 15.
6
Cutting Edges Score Vancouver’s gay hockey club celebrated 20 years of community building on ice at its annual Score skating party, held at the West End Community Centre rink on March 29. 1E Cutting Edges’ (front row, from left) Brett Hagardt, John Tino, Matthew Queree and Tristan Thompson, with (back row centre) Mr Gay Canada, Christepher Wee, and friends. 2E Holding on for dear life. 3E The Jerrys (Tai and Carter) and friends. 4E Kris Mangion and Dean Nelson lace up. 5E Mark Mulvihill. 6E Charles Copeland and friend try to stay upright. VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
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XTRA! APRIL 10–23, 2014 21
A world of gay adventure
Travel
10
great island getaways
Take your pick of tropical idylls, Mediterranean gems & Atlantic escapes BY AEFA MULHOLLAND Those who seek out and explore these watery wonders will find a wealth of great LGBT hotels, bars, beaches and bookstores awaiting.
Magnetic Island, Australia With a permanent population of approximately 2,500 and many times that more courtesy of year-round visitors, Magnetic Island — or Maggie, as regulars call it — claims to be the gayest bit of Queensland. The mountainous isle is mostly national park, but the rest has beautiful beaches and an appealingly accepting air. Townsville, from which ferries leave, has an LGBT hotel, the Sovereign, and LGBT bookstore Mary Who.
Key West, Florida Bridges thread together to link the 100-plus islands and keys that make up the Florida Keys. At the end of this ribbon of highway that ties these palm and porpoise-populated spots to the mainland — and just 175 kilometres from Cuba — you’ll find quirky Key West. The focus here is more bar than beach, and many folks spend their whole holidays between their gay guesthouses and the famed Bourbon Street bar complex and its neighbours along Duval Street.
STAVROS
Ibiza, Spain Europe’s summer social centre, this party-prone Balearic hotspot has even more late-night LGBT locations than Mykonos and a popular LGBT beach, Playa es Cavallet, on the island’s southern tip. Not all spaces are as big as Privilege — with room for 10,000 partiers, it’s the world’s largest nightclub — but you’ll find LGBT venues crammed all along harbourside Calle de la Virgen and Calle Alfonso XII in the town of Ibiza. On top of all the homo antics, the 16-by-40-kilometre island can claim looming cliffs, rugged rocks and hidden coves, and there’s also an atmospheric, cobblestoned old quarter in town. AEFA MULHOLLAND
22 APRIL 10–23, 2014 XTRA!
VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
Curaçao, Caribbean
AEFA MULHOLLAND
Oahu, Hawaii When temperatures take a turn for the teens, head for Honolulu. The Hawaiian capital, and the main town on the 80-by-110-kilometre island of Oahu, it offers amazing surfing and swimming beaches, laid-back restaurants and outdoor bars, and the perfect jumping-off point for exploring Oahu. With a million residents, Honolulu and adjacent Waikiki are home to several popular LGBT bars, including Fusion, Hula’s and Wang Chung’s, and Queen’s Surf gay beach.
Curaçao is arguably the most queer-friendly Caribbean island and is certainly the most LGBTmarketed, with a clutch of great venues, incredible beaches and lovely locals. There’s an easygoing air to this isle, with its sweet mixture of liberal Dutch-Caribbean attitudes, laid-back island outlooks and quirky, calm take on life that’s singularly Curaçao. The island’s very first Pride celebration took place in September 2013, and a year-round range of other gay or lesbian events decorate this idyll’s social calendar. Many bars are warmly LGBT-welcoming. JONATHAN LUNDQVIST
Lesvos, Greece An easy ferry ride from Piraeus (just outside Athens), Lesbos, aka Lesvos or sometimes Mytilene (this lady-loved island has a whole lot of aliases), is the obvious option for an island for women. Keep in mind that some of the island is not especially Sappho-centric, so set your sights on low-key beach resort Skala Erresos for some safe, same-sex time in bars, streets, restaurants and on the beach. Make lesbian-run bar The Tenth Muse, on the central square, your first stop. Aubergine, also on the square, is the other year-round ladies’ room.
AEFA MULHOLLAND AEFA MULHOLLAND
Isla Mujeres, Mexico A popular cruise stop for both major women’s cruise companies, Olivia and Sweet, this liberal Cozumel-adjacent spot off the Yucatan peninsula was once the hideout of Ixchel, the Mayan goddess of childbirth and medicine. Today, it’s a good way to escape the mainland crowds, see endangered turtles and lounge on stunning sandy beaches. Check into the mixed (straight/LGBT), all-inclusive Isla Mujeres Palace or unpack for a luxurious stay at the gay-owned, six-room Casa Sirena. AEFA MULHOLLAND
JON MORROW
Mykonos, Greece Two all-gay hotels, a labyrinth of narrow whitewashed streets and three nude gay beaches make chic Mykonos not just the gayest island in the Mediterranean, but a contender for the title of gayest isle of them all. Spend your days sprawled on Elia, Paradise or Super Paradise gay beaches — just three of 27 beaches on the island — and overnight at The Elysium or The Geranium.
WOOLS
Galveston, Texas This cruise homeport and spring-break destination — a barrier island three kilometres off the Texas coast — also has a grown-up side. It has a delightful collection of Victorian historic districts, 50 kilometres of beach and a charmingly liberal character. With an appealing scatter of gay bars, such as the lively Pink Dolphin, some stylish gay-popular accommodations and rumours that 50 percent of the population is gay, Galveston is for those ready to graduate from Key West and gravitate round the Gulf. Once known as “the Wall Street of Texas,” Galveston has an abundance of architectural gems, from Federal-style to Folk Victorian to Greek Revival to Gothic. Island attractions include the Victorian Seawall promenade, the 242-acre Moody Gardens and the manly Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum.
Fire Island, New York A barrier island south of Long Island, in summer Fire Island sees an influx of gay men taking the train and ferry from the city to hit the sands, streets and social venues of this car-free, carefree, 50-by-1-kilometre sliver of an Atlantic isle. It’s been a gay hotspot since the 1960s, and Cherry Grove and The Pines are the prime resort towns. Drink and dance at Sip N Twirl, watch ferries and their captivating cargo dock from Cherry’s, try “low tea” at the Blue Whale and dance at the Ice Palace or Pavilion.
Access this story on dailyxtratravel.com for web links to select featured businesses and attractions.
BERNARD GAGNON
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Dahl & Connors 604-687-8752
Nesters Market 604-682-3071
barbara findlay 604-251-4356
Safeway Davie: 604-669-8313 Robson: 604-683-6155
North Shore Law LLP 604-980-8571
Urban Fare (Bute Location) 604-975-7556
Vivo Media Arts vivomediaarts.com
Hair Stylists & Barbers Enchante 604-669-9166
Health Dr Aaron VanGaver BSc ND 604-629-1120
Libraries
Liquor West End Liquor Store 604-689-3100
Marketing C&C Communications 604-664-8995
Farmers’ Markets Vancouver Farmers’ Markets 604-879-3276
East Van Graphics eastvangraphics.ca Mail Box Plus 604-683-1433 Minuteman Press 604-572-8558
Poncho’s Restaurant 604-683-7236
Dr Joachim Sehrbrock, Registered Psychologist 604-366-3112
Sex
Psychotherapy Edward Sandberg, Counsellor/Therapist 604-728-6569
Freeway Mini Storage/U-Haul 604-251-2017
Publications Pink Triangle Press 1-800-268-9872
Abasa Optical 604-687-3937
Xtra (Ottawa) 613-986-8292
Bruce Eyewear 604-662-8300
Xtra (Toronto) 416-925-6665
Pet Care
Real Estate Agents
Kitty Kare 604-813-4239
Darryl Persello 604-306-1340
Pet Stores & Supplies
Ian Eggleton, RE/MAX 604-773-1443
Dog Country 604-558-1995
Lyn Hart, Macdonald Realty Ltd 604-724-4278 Susan Cameron 604-266-1364
Mail Box Plus 604-683-1433
Theatre Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival bardonthebeach.org
Transportation Harbour Air 604-274-1277 Helijet International 800-665-4354
Travel British Columbia Black Rock Oceanfront Resort 877-762-5011 Tourism Harrison 604-796-5581
Tisol 14th & Main St: 604-873-4117 12th & Arbutus: 604-730-1768 Grandview Hwy: 604-436-3001 Gilley Ave, Burnaby: 604-434-2812
Maison D’Etre Build Inc 604-484-4030
Gallery Café & Catering 604-688-2233
2 Dears and a Queer 604-306-1340
Physiotherapy & Rehab
Joe’s Grill 1031 Davie St, Vancouver: 604-682-3683
Yoga
Andrea Martens, BScPT, CAFCI Urban Active Sport Therapy Clinic 604-669-8233
Mr Build 604-732-8453
Restaurants & Cafés
Websites squirt.org squirt.org twospiritwolf.com 604-688-6648
Weddings
YoGuy Men’s Yoga 778-995-1970
THE BEST OF GAY & LESBIAN VANCOUVER
Gastown treasures Gearing up for winter The Drive’s organic soul The heart of gay Vancouver
Joe Ramirez Integral Counselling 778-227-9423
Couriers
Scotiabank Dance Centre 604-604-6400
Renovations & Restorations
Iosono Counselling Services – Ron Paviglianiti, RPC 604-290-1445
Willow Tree Counselling 604-521-3404
Studio Space
Pets First 604-590-7387
Counselling BC counsellingbc.com
Tricia Antoniuk, MSW, RSW 778-378-2633
twospiritwolf.com 604-688-6648
Storage
Counselling
Monique Silverman, MA, RCC, CCC 778-228-8456
Shopping
C&C Communications 604-664-8995
Optical Services
Maison D’Etre Build Inc 604-484-4030
Lehmann Counselling Service 604-614-8121
squirt.org squirt.org
Public Relations
Xtra (Vancouver) 604-684-9696
Happy Pups Quality Pup Clothing 604-770-365
948 Denman St, Vancouver: 604-642-6588 2061 West 4th Ave, Vancouver: 604-736-6588 3048 Main St, Vancouver: 604-879-6586
Psychologists
NOV 2013–APR
Accounting Services
Printing
2014
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
HEALTH & FITNESS
IN MEMORIAM
FALKENBERG SANFORD “SANDY” JONATHAN October 10, 1941 — March 19, 2014
RELAXATION
RANDY TERRY “RAN-RAN” Feb. 14, 1951 — Feb.15, 2014
It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Sandy on March 19, 2014 in North Vancouver. Sandy was preceded by his father Jon Falkenberg and his mother Phyllis Falkenberg. Sandy was a gracious and kind person who showed his Christianity in his actions in helping others. He belonged to many clubs like the Prime Timers, Coming Out Group at the Community Center and Wagon Burners to mention a few. He will be missed by his cousins and many friends.
We are sad to tell everyone of the sudden passing of our dear friend. He was at home in his beautiful apartment at the time. His early years in Vancouver were spent as a fabulous waiter at The Castle and The Royal. For nearly 14 years he was a server of renown aboard the Rocky Mountaineer and will be remembered by folks from around the world. Many will remember him as the handsomest Emporer the community has ever had. There will be no service, at Randy’s request. Donations in his name can be made to a Women’s Organization of your choice. Goodbye sweet friend. cookiereimer@hotmail.com for comments.
Robert Gordon Peebles
Where did those 20 years go? Have missed you since being taken away on April 15th, 1994. Still loving you, Harvey.
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