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VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS #553 NOV 6–19, 2014
HONOURING OUR GAY SOLDIERS8 E
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JORDAN TANNAHILL’S LATE COMPANY17
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GREGOR’S VISION Mayor Robertson and Vision Vancouver have granted the gay community unprecedented access to city hall E12
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The agony of suicide Kerry Sandomirsky and Michael Kopsa play tormented parents in Jordan Tannahill’s Late Company, opening at The Cultch Nov 21 E17
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Upfront Summit calls for greater health literacy Gay men’s health needs are poorly understood E 7 In memory of gay soldiers Councillor Tim Stevenson will lay LGBT wreath on Remembrance Day E 8
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Cover story Poll position Are Vision Vancouver’s queerfriendly accomplishments merely cosmetic? E 12 North Van mayoral candidate challenged on 2009 email Kerry Morris says he regrets homophobic language E 15
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BC Law Society rejects Trinity Western law school Directors uphold referendum refusing accreditation E 10
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CAELAN DAILYXTRA.COM
I suspect that the causes of suicide in middle age are existential in nature and ones that we share with our single straight counterparts: isolation and meaninglessness. RE: STUDY FINDS MORE GAY MEN DIE OF SUICIDE THAN HIV
TWU GRAD COMPLAINS E7 VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS #552 OCT 23–NOV 5, 2014
Thanks for the article and this concise timeline [“‘We’re Not Going to Live in Shame:’ The Legacy of Jim Deva,” Xtra #551, Oct 9]. I attended a fundraiser for the Little Sister’s court battle in which passages were read from a number of books once deemed obscene or subject to seizure. The titles ranged from Lolita to American Psycho. The venue was packed and brought home the point that the interpretation of prurient interest should not exist within the hands of a few. Nothing good ever comes from the granting of big power to small minds.
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In addition to homophobia, there are other factors that may explain why too many (depressed) gay men end their own lives: singlehood; lack of traditional supports like spouses, in-laws; lack of community connectedness; gay neighbourhoods declining; alienation/ isolation; alcoholism; ageism; HIV paranoia; unhealthy social connections (BB parties, et cetera); unfriendly gay spaces (real and online); technology replacing traditional forms of communication like flirting; chronic poverty (work in service industry, stuck in the “renter’s trap,” et cetera); pressure to be rich, sexy, fabulous; antipathy toward one another . . . Obviously suicide is more complex than just one or two things, but I do believe we would have less suicide in our community if we
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Report on gay men and suicide More die from suicide, but I still think that HIV is the larger health problem for the gay community in particular [“Study Finds More Gay Men Now Die of Suicide than HIV,” dailyxtra.com, Sept 17]. HIV robs its victims of a life without pills, doctors, testing, et cetera. I can only imagine that for those who are HIV-positive, it must always mentally lurk in the background, stealing some of life’s joy. On the other hand, I can’t catch suicide from a sexual partner on a Saturday night. I suspect that the causes of suicide in middle age are existential in nature and ones that we share with our single straight counterparts: isolation and meaninglessness.
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It should come as no surprise that I’m voting for Vision Vancouver on Nov 15. Since the party’s election six years ago, Mayor Gregor Robertson and his caucus have welcomed the gay community and given us not only unprecedented access to city hall, but numerous opportunities to shape policy direction. Take the West End community plan. Unanimously supported by Vision councillors last November, it contains so much recognition of the gay community’s presence and its historical and cultural connection to the Davie Village that it’s almost embarrassing. Just six lines into its contextual introduction, the plan acknowledges the Davie Village as “traditionally a hub for the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community.” References to the Village as a gay hub and promises to enhance and strengthen its “unique community identity” and “vitality” are sprinkled liberally throughout the plan, including its policy sections. The contrast between the new plan and its predecessor — which never even mentioned the word gay — is remarkable. What a difference a quarter century, a stronger political voice and a seat at a sympathetic decision-making table can make. Less than a year into its first term, Vision created an LGBTQ advisory committee specifically dedicated to our issues, to ensure that our voices would be heard in the corridors of power. Since then, Vancouver’s city council has granted our Pride parade civic status, promised to find and help fund (through community amenity contributions) a space for a new queer community centre, raised the rainbow flag each year, and officially launched Pride Week on the steps of city hall, while the Vision-led school and parks boards have each passed policies to make their jurisdictions significantly more welcoming to trans people. It can be easy to criticize a party that’s
Jim Deva fought well
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EDITORIAL ROBIN PERELLE
been in power for two terms, and it’s our duty to question policy when problems such as affordability continue to pose staggering challenges to our city and many of our lives. But it would be a grave error to take for granted the new level of access and support we’ve received in the last six years under Vision. Let’s not forget that — despite mayoral candidate Kirk LaPointe’s baffling claim to the contrary — the previously dominant Non-Partisan Association (NPA) was generally unresponsive to our community’s needs and ignored our requests for an advisory committee to help communicate those needs. To be fair, I know very little about LaPointe. He, too, says he would be inclusive and celebrate diversity. He, too, says he would champion dedicated community space and Davie Village improvements. But he also maintains that some of Vision’s queer accomplishments “happened under NPA recognition,” which doesn’t match my recollection of the municipal progress I’ve studied and covered for the last 13 years. It’s not that I think any one party should dominate without dissent and healthy opposition. I don’t need a Vision sweep, but I would certainly celebrate a significant win. That’s why I’m voting for Mayor Gregor Robertson, Councillor Tim Stevenson — who has been a consistent voice for the gay community since he first ran for political office as an openly gay man in 1996 — queer parks commissioner Trevor Loke and all their Vision colleagues for council, school and parks boards this election. In addition to Vision’s seven schoolboard candidates, I’m voting for Jane Bouey, who was instrumental in passing the board’s groundbreaking antihomophobia policy in 2004 and has been a strong advocate ever since, and Green Party candidate Mischa Oak, who I believe will bring a fresh voice to changing school culture to genuinely embrace diversity, rather than simply squashing homophobic behaviour without presenting positive alternatives. Whether you support my choices or emphatically disagree, I hope you’ll vote on Nov 15.
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learned to have more compassion for ourselves and each other. RYAN DAILYXTRA.COM
The study claims that gay and bi men are “four times more likely” to commit suicide. The problem with this claim is there is just no way to know how many gay or bi men there are in Canada, making it impossible to make such a claim. Let’s look at the overall suicide rates in Canada. The overall suicide rate is roughly 18 per 100,000 citizens. In a country of 37 million, that means that about 6,660 people commit suicide each year in Canada! Of this number, according to this study, 157 were gay or bi? It would seem to me that if anything, gay and bi men are less likely to commit suicide based on this data. If we go by the one-in-10 rule of thumb to gauge the size of the gay population, I would expect about 600 suicide deaths per year among the gay and bi population and yet is only 157 (based on latest data)?
by this study [“Helping LGBT Seniors Make End-of-Life Preparations,” dailyxtra.com, Oct 22]. It was a good, useful discussion of what the participants saw as the needs of seniors and the kind of information needed to reach that goal. However, at no point was there a discussion of “end of life” in terms of assisted suicide. I don’t know what the statistics are for Canada, but a recent study in the USA indicated that more than 75 percent of LGBT folks interviewed said they had no problem with the question of assisted suicide. I think in Canada members of the LGBT community need to have an opportunity to discuss this issue. I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in the focus group but challenge the organizers to include assisted suicide as part of the discussion in their research. ROBERT NELDER DAILYXTRA.COM
TWU grad denied job The gay community gets more intolerant every day [“Minorities Should Be Protected, Says TWU Grad Denied Job,” dailyxtra.com, Oct 9]. If you believe in diversity, if you believe in free speech, if you believe in the values of a liberal democracy, then you have to accept that others have differing opinions. And they have the right to hold them as much as you hold yours. The intolerance that is being shown against Christians these days is dangerous to the very core principles of our society — as it would be against any other group. And no, I’m not a Christian; I’m an atheist.
KEVIN BROWN DAILYXTRA.COM
THATBEARGUY DAILYXTRA.COM
Assisted suicide
The Christian church is not exactly a minority.
I recently participated in a focus group of senior gay men that was organized
M LAWR DAILYXTRA.COM
VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
Apple CEO Tim Cook
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COOK-Y RUSSIA
After Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote that he was “proud to be gay,” at least one Russian businessman and a couple of politicians decided to come out, too . . . as conspiracy theorists.
Amount a Kazakhstan court ordered an ad agency to pay music students whose moral values were offended by the sight of a poster showing a kiss between 19th-century Kazakh composer Kurmangazy Sagyrbayuly and Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.
HETERO HALLOWEEN
ZEFS PRESS SERVICE
ELLEN PLAYS IT STRAIGHT “I’m Amal, the luckiest woman in the world, Mrs George Clooney,” talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres told her studio audience as she escorted a life-size dummy of her grinning groom onstage.
TWITTER.COM
iPhones are more dangerous than cigarettes or drugs. — Maxim Dolgopolov, whose company ZEFS dismantled an iPhone sculpture, above, of Apple founder Steve Jobs after Cook’s revelation
THEATRE DORK
Often perceived as gay, Two and a Half Men’s Jon Cryer says he’s just “an effeminate heterosexual dork” with an “encyclopedic knowledge of show tunes” and no record of being hit on by gay men.Still, Cryer says, kissing co-star Ashton Kutcher is “awesome!” MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM
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Upfront
These guys, unlike girlfriends and wives, would never be recognized and could not openly weep or mourn. Tim Stevenson E8
Summit calls for greater health literacy Gay men’s health needs poorly understood HEALTH NATHANIEL CHRISTOPHER
The long-term health and well-being of gay men rests not only on the availability of healthcare services, but also on the capacity of professionals to understand and effectively communicate the ever-increasing torrent of health information. The 10th annual Gay Men’s Health Summit, organized by the CommunityBased Research Centre (CBRC) in collaboration with the BC Centre for Disease Control and the Health Initiative for Men, focused on gay men’s health literacy. Health literacy is defined by the Public Health Agency of Canada as “the ability to access, comprehend, evaluate and communicate information as a way to promote, maintain and improve health in a variety of settings” throughout life. The summit, which took place at Simon Fraser University Harbour Centre from Oct 29 to 31, was the largest to date, with more than 200 attendees and more than 50 presentations, workshops and performances. Irving Rootman, a leading Canadian researcher in health literacy, who delivered the keynote address, said health literacy improves navigation of the healthcare system. It boosts the ability to share information with providers, enhances self-management, decisionmaking and advocacy, and helps reduce health risks while improving health outcomes and longevity. In a panel discussion on the future of gay health literacy, CBRC’s Terry Trussler called on all gay health organizations to increase health literacy, suggesting it may be time to establish an institute on health communication for gay men’s health. “We’ve talked a lot about literacy, the level of literacy and types of literacy, but we haven’t talked about raising literacy, and that’s the one kind of key MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM
Terry Trussler (centre), of the Community-Based Research Centre, with Irving Rootman (left) and Paul Flowers, called on all gay health organizations to increase health literacy, saying it may be time to establish an institute on health communication for gay men’s health. NATHANIEL CHRISTOPHER
thing that the CBRC has done,” he said. “This summit, when we developed it 10 years ago, was our model of raising the literacy of agencies in doing their work. We’ve been getting better and better at it.” Paul Flowers, a professor of sexual health psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland, said that researchers need to ensure that health literacy is accessible to as many gay men as possible. “I think we’re all committed to a kind of research-based or some kind of evidence-based thinking,” he noted but added it’s critical to find out who is not able to participate in the research because of literacy or other communication issues. “We have to be mindful of trying to think in interviews and research about how to address our research methods so they include a much
wider group of people.” In addition to the overarching themes of health literacy, presenters addressed developments in HIV testing, suicide among gay and bisexual men, the impact of racism on the sexual health of South Asian communities, and for the first time held an expert panel workshop on cancer prevention for gay men. Stacey Berisavac, of the Canadian Cancer Society, spoke about its Get Screened program, which strives to increase breast, cervical and colon cancer screening rates among LGBT people in Hamilton, Ottawa and Toronto. “We know that regular screening for cancer is effective for the prevention of cancer and detecting it in the earlier stages, which increases the odds of a positive outcome,” she said. “What we also know about screening is that it is
lower amongst LGBTQ [people].” Evidence from cancer screening is limited, she noted, but many researchers suggest that LGBT people in Canada face significant barriers in achieving good health because their needs are poorly understood and because healthcare institutions may not be inclusive or welcoming to them. Carolyn Gotay, the Canadian Cancer Society chair in primary prevention at the University of British Columbia, pointed out that it’s difficult to gauge cancer rates in gay men because of the absence of sexual-orientation data in demographic studies such as the census. She said the best estimates on gay men’s health come from such surveys as the 2011 California Health Interview Survey, which found that gay men have higher rates of various forms of preventable cancer. She also cited a 2012
Toronto-area study that suggests gay men have an increased risk of developing lung cancer. The Toronto Rainbow Tobacco Survey found that 33 percent of gay men were smokers compared to 21 percent of straight men. Gotay noted that research also shows that gay men are less likely to be obese and more likely to exercise. “Gay men do have better indicators in some areas [like] muscle strengthening and weight control, so it’s not all a negative picture,” she told the conference. “At least some of the cancers people experience are potentially preventable if people know there are things they can do that increase their chances of staying healthy. That’s the message I’d like to get across.” For more information, visit cancerprevent.ca. XTRA! NOV 6–19, 2014 7
Paying tribute Tim Stevenson will lay wreath to honour gay soldiers
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For those who never had the chance to fall in love. For those who watched a lover die on the battlefield. For those who were silenced in their grief. Vancouver Councillor Tim Stevenson says that this Remembrance Day, when he lays a wreath in memory of gay soldiers who fought and died in the wars, he’ll be “giving voice to that which dared not speak its name.” This may be the first time that gay soldiers are officially commemorated in Vancouver, “and it’s about time,” says Stevenson, who has been attending Remembrance Day ceremonies at the cenotaph here for 18 years, first as a member of the BC legislature and then as a city councillor. “I was seeing people laying wreaths for one group or another but none for LGBT soldiers. They were the silent ones.” The idea to lay a wreath for gay soldiers started percolating after he read an obituary in The Vancouver Sun three years ago for a soldier who died at Juno Beach. The obituary, which is simply signed “Bob,” reads, “Fond memories of my pal Private Harry Ebdon, East Lancs Regt Killed in Action, Normandy July 16, 1944. Age 22 years.” “I have no idea if this was from his gay lover, but I thought it was a good possibility that it wasn’t from a brother or a cousin or a friend,” Stevenson says. “It struck me how much he must have suffered all these years.” After visiting Juno Beach a couple of summers ago and noting the monument to aboriginal soldiers, “I thought, ‘Why not?’” Stevenson says. “If, like any other segment of the population, 10 percent of the [more than 110,000 Canadians who died in the two world wars] were gay, it means many of these young men at 19, 20, 25 might’ve died before they could’ve had a lover or even come out. And, of course, some men might’ve met and fallen in love in the army and then witnessed their lovers blown to bits on the battlefields. Others might’ve left lovers right here in Canada. “These guys, unlike girlfriends and wives, would never be recognized and
Vancouver Pride Society president Tim Richards (left) will join Councillor Tim Stevenson to lay a wreath in memory of gay soldiers on Nov 11. GRACE CAMERON
could not openly weep or mourn,” Stevenson notes. Homosexuality in the military was banned until 1992, when Corporal Derrick Dwyer took the military to court and won. Dwyer’s lawyer, Rob Hughes, recalls that his client was proud of serving and refused to quietly slink away when he was outed to his superior officers. “The soldiers in his unit were aware he was gay and had no problem,” says Hughes, who filed the suit in 1988, taking on the Justice Department. “This was a milestone because Derrick was the first person to launch a challenge.” Before then, gay soldiers were at various times labelled “anti-social psychopaths” or “psychopathic personalities” with “abnormal sexuality” and discharged. In the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s era of McCarthyism and the Cold War in the United States, homosexuals in the Canadian military were deemed a threat to national security. They were stalked day and night to be rooted out, the thinking being that hiding what they were made gays easy targets for blackmail and therefore a risk. Cameron Cathcart, chair of the Vancouver Remembrance Day Committee, says this is the first he knows of a wreath being laid for gay soldiers.
This year, close to 55 wreaths are being laid in memory of those who gave their lives in conflict in the past 100 years. “Regardless of who they are, regardless of orientation, we treat every one of those wreaths in an equal way. It’s the honourable thing to do,” says Cathcart, who will lead the ceremonies at Vancouver’s Victory Square for the 12th year in a row. Stevenson has invited Tim Richards, head of the Vancouver Pride Society, to join him in placing the wreath. Richards also believes that it’s important for society to recognize LGBT members who wouldn’t have been able to live authentically. “Remembrance Day is another opportunity to reflect and pay tribute to all the men and women who served for our freedom,” says Richards, who recalls as a little boy visiting the cenotaph in Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia, with his grandfather Malcolm Richards, a veteran of both world wars. For Stevenson, the son of a Second World War veteran who grew up hearing stories about the war, laying this wreath is about the men who faced the horrors of war in the trenches of Belgium and France and for the gay soldiers and their lovers who suffered in silence. VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
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Law Society of British Columbia upholds referendum results EDUCATION JEREMY HAINSWORTH
The directors of the Law Society of British Columbia voted 25 to one on Oct 31 to deny accreditation to Trinity Western University’s (TWU) law school. At the centre of the controversy that has played out at the law society for much of the past year is TWU’s community covenant. For admission to TWU, students must sign a covenant
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TWU law school rejected in vote joyed at the commitment of the legal profession to the pursuit of equality and their willingness to insist to the benchers that the benchers live up to their leadership obligations,” findlay says. The society’s directors — known as benchers — had initially agreed to accredit the graduates in April, but a membership petition forced a special general meeting in June to reconsider the matter. At that meeting, lawyers overwhelmingly urged the society’s
Trinity Western University president Bob Kuhn calls the Oct 31 vote a “sad day for religious freedom and the rule of law.” JEREMY HAINSWORTH
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agreeing to uphold Christian biblical teachings, including no premarital sex and no homosexuality. Failure to uphold these commitments, according to the student handbook, could result in discipline, dismissal or a refusal to readmit a student to the university. The vote came the day after the society released the results of a binding referendum of the province’s 13,530 practising, non-practising and retired lawyers. That vote was 74 percent against the school being approved. “The university is disappointed with this vote,” TWU spokesperson Guy Saffold said Oct 30. “Trinity Western believes in diversity and the rights of all Canadians to their personal beliefs and values. A person’s ability to study and practise the law should not be restricted by their faith.” Lawyer barbara findlay tells Xtra the Oct 31 directors’ vote was no surprise, as they had already voted to be bound by the referendum result. “I am over-
board of directors to rescind its earlier approval and vote again. TWU president Bob Kuhn says the university could opt to seek a judicial review of the law society decision through the province’s courts, but he says that, in any event, the situation is headed for the Supreme Court of Canada. And findlay agrees. She says the university could have a good court case in arguing that the society “fettered its discretion” in deciding what it would do with the referendum results before the result arrived. “They are bound to observe the rules of natural justice, and one of those rules is not to fetter that discretion,” she says. “TWU in my opinion has a good argument.” “I am confident that court will take judicial notice of the views of the profession in the votes that have been held,” she adds. For more on this story, go to dailyxtra.com. VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
Why I’m voting Green Neither Vision nor NPA addresses housing and affordability GUEST COLUMN PUSSY LIQUOR
Judging by the lawn signs in my neighbourhood and casual conversations with, well, just about everyone, it looks like Gregor Robertson and Team Vision are poised to dominate city hall again. Like many Vancouverites, I’m planning to vote based on issues of housing and affordability on Nov 15; unlike many Vancouverites, I don’t think developer-friendly Vision is the right slate to vote for. Sure, they’ve done good things (LGBTQ advisory committee, Greenest City 2020 Action Plan, bike lanes), but the city’s skyrocketing housing prices are pushing average Vancouverites — including the city’s LGBT communities — out of the city and toward the suburbs, slowly transforming Vancouver into an emptying upscale playground for the ultra-rich. One major contributing factor to
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increased housing costs is the trend of foreign investors buying Vancouver properties only to let them sit vacant. In 2013, Andy Yan, with BTAworks (Bing Thom Architects), found that approximately one in four Coal Harbour condos and 15 percent of all downtown condos are unoccupied. The Tumblr blog Beautiful Empty Homes of Vancouver has highlighted the growing number of houses on Vancouver’s west side (including one that reportedly became inhabited by coyotes) that sit empty and decaying while foreign owners wait for value to build on their investments. The NPA’s Kirk LaPointe has stated, laughably, that the NPA would enforce the maintenance and upkeep of these properties. LaPointe’s approach does little for me, my friends and my communities who are finding ourselves priced out while investors contribute to escalating real estate and rental prices. Well-maintained empty properties do little for full-time Vancouverities be-
sides giving us something nice to look at as we commute home to the outskirts after working or playing in the city’s core. What speaks to me, and to others who don’t own property, are candidates like the Green Party’s Pete Fry, whose profile states, “I don’t want to see any more of my friends squeezed out of the city because they can no longer afford to live here.” I hear that — with queer bubbles and communities cropping up along the Kingsway corridor, in South Vancouver, and increasingly in New West and Surrey, I can see that queers are going where rents are cheap. I’m in favour of a vacant-property tax to be levied on property owners who allow their spaces to sit empty, an idea endorsed by COPE and the Green Party. This tax would motivate owners to open up their spaces to the rental market. This is an idea that reflects the real issues facing Vancouverites and especially the realities faced by the dispersing queer community. Developer-supported Vision, which presumably raised a chunk of campaign money at “Condo King” Bob Rennie’s $25,000-per-person fundraiser
The Green Party’s Pete Fry states, “I don’t want to see any more of my friends squeezed out of the city because they can no longer afford to live here.” VANGREENS.CA
in March, has nothing to say about the vacancy tax idea. Vision may be working to create additional housing (a small portion of which is referred to as “affordable”), but its reluctance to endorse the vacant-property tax implies sympathy for absent investors and a disconnect from the struggle that regular Vancouverites are facing. The Green Party’s affordability platform comes across as most realistic and with a more cooperative slant. The Green Party proposes a down-to-earth strategy to tackle the city’s affordability crisis that includes adopting the definition of affordability used by provincial
and federal governments and basing rents on renters’ incomes; protecting renters from “renovictions”; supporting housing co-ops; examining the “tiny house” movement; and several other realistic, creative and Vancouveritecentric solutions. These are the kinds of fresh, innovative solutions that Vancouver needs, and that’s why this election I’m eagerly giving my vote for city council to Green Party candidates Adriane Carr, Cleta Brown and Pete Fry. Pussy Liquor is the founder and lead organizer of Genderfest and Man Up’s Buddy System. She rents in East Van.
XTRA! NOV 6–19, 2014 11
COVER STORY
Vision Vancouver has proven itself queer-friendly, but some LGBT voters say its accomplishments are merely cosmetic
POLL POSITION BY NATASHA BARSOTTI PHOTOS BY SHIMON KARMEL
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n the face of it, Vancouver’s queer community appears to have done well by Vision Vancouver’s six-year municipal tenure. Less than a year into its first term in office, Vision created an advisory committee specifically dedicated to LGBT issues in July 2009, and the community has had the government’s ear ever since. Four years later, the Vision-dominated city council granted Vancouver’s Pride parade civic event status, offering long-sought recognition and waiving costly parade-staging fees in the process. Since Vision came to power in 2008, city hall has officially kicked off Pride Week in Vancouver each year, raising the rainbow flag at 12th Avenue and Cambie Street to proclaim Pride and inviting community members to take over city councillors’ seats for a session to share their life experiences. City council also officially acknowledged the Davie Village as the historical and cultural hub of Vancouver’s gay community, a recognition now embedded in the West End community plan that council approved in November 2013. In keeping with the West End plan, city staff painted permanent rainbow crosswalks at the intersection of Bute and Davie streets in the heart of the gay village, and staff are now considering options to memorialize Jim Deva, the late co-owner of Little Sister’s bookstore who died in September.
12 NOV 6–19, 2014 XTRA!
Vancouver’s Vision-led school and parks boards each passed queer-friendly policies in 2014 as well, despite significant opposition from some parents to the school-board policy. The school board now once again leads BC’s 60 districts in anti-homophobia policy, this time amending its own groundbreaking policy to make it more explicitly supportive of trans students. The parks board, meanwhile, accepted the recommendations of its Trans and Gender-Variant Inclusion Working Group and passed its own groundbreaking policy in April, intended to make Vancouver parks, pools and recreation centres more welcoming to trans people. As mayor, Gregor Robertson has also been responsive to policing issues around gaybashing and supported, with the rest of Vision’s caucus, Councillor Tim Stevenson’s mission to Sochi, Russia, to lobby the International Olympic Committee during the 2014 Winter Games for more gay-friendly host-city policies. “Vision’s been very responsive and tuned in to the needs of the queer community,” Robertson says. “We’ve had a big focus for six years on supporting the community, advocating vigorously both locally and globally, ensuring the LGBTT community is valued and vibrant.” Nor has Vision been deterred by adversity, he says, citing, for example, the contentious debate that emerged around the school-board policy. “The school board did incredible work fighting against the homophobic attacks of two NPA trustees that participated in US homophobic attack
ads and went after the school board’s LGBTTQ inclusion policy,” says Robertson, referring to former Non-Partisan Association (NPA) trustees Ken Denike and Sophia Woo, who were expelled from the party’s caucus in June. If reelected, Robertson says he and Vision intend to maintain and continue the work done so far. He cites the search for space to house a queer community centre — for which $7 million in community-amenity contribution funds has already been allocated — as a work in progress. “All the pieces are coming together now, so I’m hopeful we’re within a few years of that opening.”
obertson’s main challenger for the mayor’s seat is the NPA’s Kirk LaPointe, who describes himself as “reasonably familiar” with the LGBT community and a careful observer of social justice issues in a media career that spans more than 30 years, including managing editor of The Vancouver Sun and a founding editor of the National Post. “I’ve watched everything from how society dealt with HIV/AIDS to how it was opening doors around same-sex unions and marriage, then financial and other rights. I don’t think there’s a single issue I haven’t intersected with or haven’t either covered or directed coverage on,” he says. LaPointe bristles slightly at an attempt, made early in this municipal election campaign, to portray him as hostile to gay people. While editor of The Hamilton Spectator 15 years ago, LaPointe
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VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
“Vision’s been very responsive and tuned in to the needs of the queer community,” says mayoral candidate Gregor Robertson, who promises to maintain that course if reelected.
We’ve had a big focus for six years on supporting the community, advocating vigorously both locally and globally, ensuring the LGBTT community is valued and vibrant. VISION VANCOUVER MAYOR GREGOR ROBERTSON
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penned a piece about the paper’s decision not to run a photo of a same-sex kiss, explaining, in part, that “the image itself would be offensive to a number of our readers.” That editorial decision was criticized in an anonymous article entitled “Does Vancouver’s Conservative Mayoral Candidate Still Find Picture of Gay Men Kissing Distasteful?” published in August by Press Progress, a Broadbent Institute project. LaPointe says that he argued in favour of publishing the photo but that the rest of the newsroom’s leadership demurred. “It was a very different era,” he notes. “At the time, the community standards were much more conservative. Hamilton is a vastly more conservative city than ours is, and I was at the vanguard of what I believed to be the requirement for us to shed greater light and to, frankly, be more inclusive. “My team and the leadership at the newspaper didn’t agree, and they were persuasive,” he continues. “They had been in the community a lot longer. They had, frankly, a better understanding of what the community standards would be like.” LaPointe considers the resuscitation of the kissing photo an attempt at fear-mongering, which he lays squarely at Vision’s doorstep. “I thought it was a mean-spirited personal attack that had no bearing and no relationship to my body of work,” he says, “and to the extent that we’re discussing it just suggests that it’s worked in stirring up fear among people who often feel vulnerable.” He says there’s no question that as mayor he would be inclusive and celebrate diversity. “Our diversity defines us here, but also our inclusiveness defines us,” he says, “so we don’t necessarily look at diversity as being differences as much as we look at diversity meaning we find common ground and celebrate.” Asked which LGBT-specific initiatives he would champion, LaPointe cites the need for dedicated community space, Davie Village improvements, stronger safety programs to further reduce gaybashings, a stronger Out in Schools program, and ensuring LGBT people have access to facilities as they age. He says that he would also like to see Pride celebrations extend into other neighbourhoods during Pride Week and that he would like Vancouver to host a large-scale conference to bolster the city’s international reputation for leadership on human rights. Presented with a partial list of Vision’s queer portfolio actions, LaPointe contends that a lot of them “happened under NPA recognition.” He says the NPA has a long history of being “intelligently inclusive” and ahead of its time, as evidenced in the election of Gordon Price, Vancouver’s first openly gay city councillor, who served six terms with the NPA from 1986 to 2002. Councillor Tim Stevenson balks at LaPointe’s claim that the NPA has been a friend to the queer community. “It’s totally ridiculous,” he says. Stevenson notes that it was under the 2002 to 2005 tenure of COPE and then-mayor Larry Campbell that Pride celebrations were first
held at city hall. Nothing happened when Sam Sullivan and the NPA returned to power in 2005, Stevenson says, though he credits Sean Bickerton, who ran for city council with the NPA in the 2008 and 2011 municipal elections, with being a vocal proponent for civic status for Pride. “He’s trying to remake some kind of history,” Stevenson says of LaPointe’s assertions, adding that he wonders what “intelligently inclusive” means. “I’m not going to say he or the NPA is homophobic, but they just didn’t do anything.”
evin Dale McKeown, who sits on the executive of the Green Party of Vancouver and writes a monthly nostalgia column for Xtra, is less impressed with Vision’s list of queer-friendly accomplishments. He finds them mostly cosmetic, beginning with the city’s LGBTQ advisory committee. He sees it as a select group of community members with political connections meeting in an echo chamber. “We’re not immune to cronyism,” McKeown warns. “When we see our community leaders being given this kind of access, for some reason we think we’re getting this kind of access.” He would like the community to have seats at a larger advisory table of minority and marginalized groups “so that we’re not just retelling our stories to one another, but others are hearing and we’re hearing others, and maybe some sort of real understanding can be achieved.” McKeown says he’s hard-pressed to think of any issue that he considers really important — such as housing, transparency in governance, affordability, homelessness, aging or education — that isn’t shared by everybody. He’d prefer the community work in partnership with other communities on such issues. McKeown doesn’t think the queer community has pushed Vision hard enough on the West End’s current development model or the city’s affordable-housing prospects. “As long as the community is livable for a diverse selection of age groups and income groups, the queer community will find its place in that,” he argues. “Our community is the people we live with in the area; our community is not all queer, and getting less so. There has been a queer visibility in the West End for as long as I can remember. I would rather see more common cause being made with other people we share the area with.” Filmmaker Aerlyn Weissman agrees, adding that the queer community is itself diverse, ranging from highly paid and placed people in the financial sector to senior women and recent immigrants, who are not faring as well. “We have to keep in mind, when we talk about the impact of Vision and the current policies, that it doesn’t affect our community equally,” she says. Weissman says she voted for Robertson and much of the Vision slate in 2008. In that first outing, Vision was running against an NPA council that was “heavily funded, heavily loaded” by developer interests, she recalls.
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She remembers meeting Robertson at a housing forum on community engagement and development meant to serve rather than constrain the community. Now, she says, Vision has betrayed that initial promise of being a real alternative to the NPA. “If I want to go lunch with Gregor now, I’ve got to fork up $25,000,” she quips. “And who’s at that lunch? It’s not people like me.” Asked if his party has been too friendly to developers, Robertson says Vision is focused on building a city, with an emphasis “first and foremost” on constructing rental and social housing. “We’ve got a rental-housing boom happening which was long overdue; that’s been a big focus in dealing with developers,” he says. “People are coming from all over the world to live in the world’s most livable city, so we have to keep building and doing that sensibly. It’s a delicate balance to keep up with the growth pressure and to ensure that there’s affordability coming, too.” McKeown says Vision has bought into the myth of sustainable growth, which he dubs an oxymoron. “You cannot grow forever; we have a finite amount of space. At what point do we just say we are full up; this is as dense as we can get?” Vision’s urban development philosophy is predicated on endless densification, he argues. “At the rate it’s going, the West End is going to be as full of towers as False Creek and Yaletown, and I won’t be able to afford to live there. That will really piss me off,” adds McKeown, who has lived in the area, barring brief absences, since 1969. Robertson says that the mayoral task force on housing affordability targeted households earning $21,000 to $86,000 as the ones for whom more housing was needed. If that’s the range, says Green Party Councillor Adriane Carr, “developers are going to tend to come in at the higher end of that range; they’ll make more money when it’s at that range.” Weissman calls it a cleansing of communities by income. “To the extent that there are parts of our community that are far from wealthy, that are living on government assistance and
I’m not going to say [Kirk LaPointe] or the NPA is homophobic, but they just didn’t do anything. VISION VANCOUVER COUNCILLOR TIM STEVENSON
have few options for lucrative employment, our community is being affected.” Robertson maintains that affordability and support for the LGBT community is central to the West End community plan and that a wide range of housing — “from laneway infill to taller buildings in some places” — will increase supply and ease vacancy pressure. “There’ll be some change, no doubt, but the important piece was to do an extensive community plan to ensure voices were heard and concerns 14 NOV 6–19, 2014 XTRA!
the last six years — a reply that elicited scattered hissing from the crowd. At press time, Vision Vancouver, which said it would reveal its donors’ list at the beginning of November, had not yet released its figures. The Green Party has already gone public with its donors’ list, while the NPA has promised to release its figures by Nov 7. “There’s always room for more transparency,” Robertson tells Xtra. “We’ve made progress on that since taking over in 2008, when we opened all the books on the Olympic Village mess. We’ve taken important steps with open data, reporting
If I want to go lunch with Gregor now, I’ve got to fork up $25,000. And who’s at that lunch? It’s not people like me. FILMMAKER AERLYN WEISSMAN expenses and releasing in-camera minutes. But we continue to want to achieve best practices with transparency; that’s key.” Robertson says he’s been very clear with all of his priorities and commitments since he first launched his mayoral campaign in 2008. “People know where Vision stands on issues. We’re very transparent with our priorities, and we deliver results.” Non-Partisan Association (NPA) mayoral candidate Kirk LaPointe says that, if elected, he would champion dedicated community space, Davie Village improvements, reducing gaybashings, a stronger Out in Schools program, and ensuring LGBT people have access to facilities as they age.
around affordability and rental-housing supply were addressed,” he says. Robertson adds that he continues to push both the provincial and federal governments to back affordable housing. “Their support has dwindled, so we’re not seeing co-ops and rent supplements to the level we need, and the city’s tax base isn’t big enough to do much more,” he contends. “We’re putting city land on the table in some cases for bigger projects to get more affordable rental.”
uch has been made of the level of community consultation in the West End and the 5,000 people reached during the community planning process. Weissman says consultation is a word that can be used to describe a range of feedback. She thinks the consultation process was topdown and offered participants only limited options to substantively shape the neighbourhood’s development direction. LaPointe also challenges what he sees as a lack of genuine discussion about issues under Vision, saying public hearings aren’t much more than staged evenings where citizens are essentially asked to tick a box. LaPointe has also championed the issue of transparency throughout his mayoral candidacy.
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It’s very difficult to get information out of city hall, he says, making it challenging for residents to do anything more than rubber-stamp proposals. He has repeatedly labelled city governance under Vision as secretive. “What holds today is routine withholding of information, and if you want it, you have to argue for its disclosure,” he contends. “Public servants, the respected experts in these fields, need to have the muzzle taken off them; they need to be able to first of all talk to the media, to others, in a way that furnishes their expertise and enlightens us.” LaPointe says he doesn’t fear transparency. “It is the essential form of respect for those you serve to furnish information and to have access to that information so that they can then make their decisions about their own engagement with the city in a far different way.” However, when challenged by Georgia Straight editor Charlie Smith to disclose the NPA’s donations before the Nov 15 election rather than 120 days after, LaPointe deflected the query. Valid question, LaPointe told audience members at an Oct 22 mayoral debate at Langara College, then said the question of where campaign funding originates should be aimed at Vision. If Vision discloses, the NPA will be happy to, he pledged. For his part, Robertson said Vision Vancouver is working within current laws and has been rigorous in meeting reporting requirements in
aPointe, who has spoken about growing up in poverty and being raised by a single mom, says he’s more attuned to struggle and lack of privilege than Robertson. On social justice issues, he suggests there isn’t much difference among candidates but says he will shine in managing the city’s finances while running city hall with a greater culture of openness and consultation than Vision. Meanwhile, Robertson hopes the electorate gives him and his “very experienced and stable team” a third term at city hall. “Everyone might not agree with some actions, but we’ve always said what we’ll do and followed through,” he says. “Vancouver is a city with great change, and we need to shape that change as best we can.” As for McKeown, he obviously wants a greater Green Party presence in the city’s governance but doesn’t think any one party should be so dominant as to shut out other points of view. Even if the vast majority of the population came around to the Greens’ way of thinking, McKeown says, he hopes that the party would run only enough candidates to have a solid swing-vote minority on council. “If public opinion were that clear, other parties would start drifting our way as well. We’d be in a better position to persuade them.”
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For more on Councillor Tim Stevenson and to read profiles of the other LGBT candidates running in the Nov 15 municipal elections, go to dailyxtra.com.
VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
‘Perm-headed fagot’ North Van mayoral candidate challenged on 2009 email MUNICIPAL ELECTION JEREMY HAINSWORTH
An angry, homophobic email sent by a man running for mayor in the City of North Vancouver has prompted one of his opponents to question his suitability for elected office. Kerry Morris, however, says his words five years ago came at a time of extreme business stress. Now, he tells Xtra, “I will forever be regretful.” As part of civil legal proceedings, Morris sent an email in August 2009 to lawyer Bill Perrett, where he referred to a case participant in clearly homophobic language. “Bill, to the extent that you are able, and bearing in mind that I would never tell that misserable [sic] little prick what a perm-headed fagot [sic] I truly believe him to be, tell him to fuck himself in the most polite terms you can find,” Morris wrote in the email, which was entered as a court exhibit. “You might remind him that since he embarked on my character assassination at trial last week, I feel little inclination to soften the blow to the gay little pud-knockers feelings and more like telling him the way all I know see him to be.” “My actions will be consistent with GOD in December 2007,” he continues, before wrapping up with “Ah hell with it, tell him to go fuck himself. I can’t think of anyone else who would do the job.” In a ruling in the civil case, BC Supreme Court Justice Ian Pitfield remarked on Morris’s language. “Many of the emails Mr Morris addressed or copied to Mr McEwen were intemperate. Others, which I have not reproduced, were simply rude and should not be excused,” Pitfield said in his ruling. Fellow mayoral candidate George Pringle, in an Oct 25 post to his campaign website, alleges that Kerry wrote the angry email after he blew up during his cross-examination by opposing counsel. “He sent an email to his lawyer and copied it to the opposing lawyer, who Kerry Morris had made the presumption of being gay,” Pringle says. “Kerry Morris wrote comments to this officer of the court which most people in the 21st century would call hate speech which to this day are still in the court registry,” Pringle writes. MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM
“It was obvious to me that he should not be allowed to hide this from the voters who he is asking for their trust and vote.” Morris was quick to respond to the allegations of homophobia in an Oct 25 news release of his own. He apologized for his language, saying the email “contains words and phrases that were highly inappropriate.” He tells Xtra he sent the email at a time when he was in
Kerry Morris, who is running for mayor in North Vancouver, says he regrets a 2009 email in which he referred to a participant in a court case as a “misserable little prick,” “a permheaded fagot” and a “gay little pudknocker.” KERRYMORRIS.CA
a difficult business situation in which he lost many personal assets. He says that Pringle’s team was handing out information about the email at a recent electoral debate and that it didn’t seem to faze voters. “They were not impressed with the game of mudslinging,” he says, but adds, “I should
not have used the language. It was inappropriate.” Pringle maintains that voters need to know about Morris’s email. “Since so many expressed your support for the candidacy of Kerry Morris for the Mayor of North Van, I think you should be fully aware of what and who you have supported,” he says in an email addressed to his fellow candidates. “Verbal gay-bashing and bullying is not acceptable in our business, political or private life.” As for Morris’s accusation of mudslinging, Pringle throws it back. He alleges that Morris had already been maligning other candidates in publications such as the Georgia Straight. Morris commented on Twitter Sept 11 about a council candidate’s Facebook posts, including one photo that showed the candidate aiming a gun, then questioned the candidate’s connection to the incumbent mayor. “Kerry is just getting a bit of his own medicine,” Pringle tells Xtra. Morris maintains that Pringle’s willingness to engage in mudslinging is not a mayoral trait. “The people of North Vancouver have never stooped to this degree in any election and are not stooping in this one,” he says. In his Oct 25 press release, Morris suggests that somebody worked hard to dig up his 2009 email. “[It] would have taken a skilled researcher months to find, unless told precisely where to look by a knowledgeable party; something akin to finding a needle in a haystack,” he writes. “That said, there can be no excuse for the words or phrases I employed, no matter the millions of dollars that were at stake in the action,” he reiterates in his press release. “I remain ever sorry for my indiscretion.” Morris’s behaviour was also called into question in another court case. On July 14, 2008, he was acquitted of a drunk driving charge, though North Vancouver provincial court Judge Jane Auxier found he refused to comply with a police request for a breath sample. Auxier found in the case that Morris was “belligerent, antagonistic and argumentative.”
Since so many expressed your support for the candidacy of Kerry Morris, I think you should be fully aware of what and who you have supported. MAYORAL CANDIDATE GEORGE PRINGLE XTRA! NOV 6–19, 2014 15
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VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
OutintheCity
WHO’S TO Playwright Jordan Tannahill dares to ask tough questions about suicide ONSTAGE MARK ROBINS
For playwright Jordan Tannahill, it wasn’t the story about a gay teen’s suicide that infuriated him the most. “A good place to start any project is a place of anger,” says Tannahill of his play Late Company, based loosely on the story of 15-year-old Jamie Hubley, who killed himself in Ottawa in 2011 after enduring years of homophobic torment. “The anger was first driven by Jamie’s death, but what really got under my skin was the reaction from the federal Conservatives following the suicide.” The response Tannahill took issue with came in the form of an It Gets Better video created by a group of Conservative MPs and dedicated to Hubley’s memory. “The video missed the point of Dan Savage’s campaign completely,” Tannahill maintains. “It is intended for queer adults to let LGBT youth know they, too, have experienced what they are going through, and they have come through it okay. What was really galling was the irony of the Conservative Party creating a video given their own stand on queer issues.” Tannahill used Hubley’s suicide as the jumping-off point for Late Company, but he says his play is as much an exploration of parenting in the 21st century and how we process grief as it is about politics and bullying. “The play is really about the complexity of parenting in contemporary life and the fallacy of closure in the way we attempt to expedite grief,” he says. “This idea of bullying is really a means to an end to explore these more universal themes than simply schoolyard cruelty.” The play also addresses questions around the hot-button issue of social media’s role in bullying and who needs to take what responsibility in monitoring the online activity of children. “Does that responsibility lie with the parents, or the schools, or is there a collective responsibility MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM
After years of reviewing drag shows, the sequined underworld of men in dresses finally got me. Raziel Reid E19
BLAME? Late Company, by Governor General’s Award–nominated playwright Jordan Tannahill, opens at The Cultch Nov 21.
when it comes to cyberbullying?” he asks. “Sometimes it really does take a village.” In Late Company, two sets of parents meet for dinner as part of a restorative justice exercise. On one side of the table sit the parents of Joel, a GREG WONG teen who committed suicide. Sitting across from them are the parents of one of Joel’s tormentors and their son, Curtis. Calling the process “a construct where pleasant, politically correct middle-class white families look for closure in their grief,” Tannahill insists that real life is nothing like this. “I’m personally very skeptical of these types of self-therapy and healing, and I take the piss out of it a bit in the play,” he says. “Ultimately, grief is really messy and everyone is to blame. It really isn’t about forgiving others; it is about forgiving yourself and the role both sides play in the tragedy. These two families seek closure and try to expedite that closure, but sometimes grief is endless.” It was Tannahill’s take on grief and the difficulties of finding closure that attracted Touchstone Theatre’s artistic director, Katrina Dunn, to Late Company. “It is an interesting, reflective story, exploring what happens to those that are left behind and responsible, in a large part, after the fact. They are all trying to process the role they played,” Dunn says. Not surprisingly, the atmosphere around the dinner table is initially tense and charged as the two families face each other, and each parental set takes refuge in their expected roles of protection and even vengeance. But Tannahill LATE COMPANY Fri, Nov 21–Sun, Nov 30 moves past the initial posturing The Cultch and even explores Joel’s role in 1895 Venables St his decision to take his own life. thecultch.com “In the play, Joel’s sexuality is ambiguous, and while it is the enablement of his suicide, his mental health is just as important,” Tannahill explains. “Joel is very flamboyant and very visibly ‘other,’ but he also ignites and inflames his bully’s aggressions. Joel is definitely a victim but far from being entirely blameless.” Tannahill says his goal is not to lay blame but to explore how each person contributed to Joel’s decision to kill himself. “What they end up with is a complicated truth,” he says. “There is no true villain in the play.” XTRA! NOV 6–19, 2014 17
WHAT'S ON
Sat, Nov 15 Not So Strictly Ballroom Dance Party Newcomers are always welcome at this ballroom dance group. DJ/host Gigi teaches a beginners’ jive lesson at 8:45pm. 8–11:30pm. Let’s Dance Studio, 927 Granville St. $12–15, sliding scale, at Little Sister’s, 1238 Davie St, or notsostrictlyballroom.ca.
George Takei — Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Tues, Nov 18
FOR MORE LISTINGS, GO TO DAILYXTRA.COM
VICTORIA WILL/INVISION/AP
Thurs, Nov 6 Hamlet An unorthodox production of Shakespeare’s classic will reimagine Hamlet as a young gay woman in a modern world. 7pm. The Shop Theatre, 125 E 2nd Ave. Runs until Sun, Nov 9. $20. hamletattheshop.wordpress.com
Fri, Nov 7 AJ’s Café Join other HIV-positive gay men every Friday for this free social gathering/support group sponsored by Positive Living BC. 3–6pm. The Junction Pub, 1138 Davie St. positivelivingbc.org
The Junk Yard Club 8x6 presents a no-holes-barred sex party on the first, second and third Saturday of every month. 8pm–3am. Club 8x6, 1775 Haro St. $10; two for one before midnight. 8x6.ca
Leather Den for Men Wear your sexiest/sluttiest gear or no gear at all for this play night. 9pm. Club 8x6, 1775 Haro St. VML members $10; memberships available at the door. meninleather.homestead.com
The Gay Agenda The Gay Agenda offers a sexually infused dancefloor with a make-out corner and men stripping onstage. 9pm–2am. The Cobalt, 917 Main St. $9 before 11pm, $5 wearing just a jock; $12 after 11pm, $8 jock only. thecobalt.ca
Sat, Nov 8 Healing Our Wounds A six-week closed group for guys to explore ways to heal emotionally and physically from their circumcision experiences. 10am–noon. HIM Office, 1033 Davie St. Register via email at register@checkhimout.ca or call 604-488-1001.
Yoga with HIM The Health Initiative for Men offers yoga sessions every Friday night. 7–8:15pm. Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie St. Free, but donations gratefully accepted. checkhimout.ca
Queens Care Each year some of Vancouver’s most talented drag queens donate their time to produce a lavish fundraiser; the 2014 edition commemorates Diana Rose and DJ Jules. 7pm. Celebrities Nightclub, 1022 Davie St. $20 at eventbrite.ca.
4Play Friday Lux presents a new weekly lesbian event hosted by Symone, with rotating DJs. 9pm– 2am. Lux Lounge, 1180 Howe St $10. luxlounge.ca
Train Wreck Book Launch Xtra and Arsenal Pulp Press present the Vancouver launch of Raziel Reid’s debut novel, the Governor General’s Award–nominated When Everything
Hershe Bar — Red Room Ultra Bar, Mon, Nov 10 FLYGIRLPRODUCTIONS.COM
New York Enjoy a monthly New York state of mind at a multifaceted Gastown club. 10pm–3am. Brooklyn Gastown, 91 Powell St. $10 advance at Stratosphere Hair, 1259 Granville St; $14 and up at the door.
Sun, Nov 16 features DJ MikeQ from NYC’s vogue and ballroom scene. 9pm–3am. Celebrities, 1022 Davie St. $15 at blueprint.electrostub.com.
Feels Like the Movies. 8–11pm. 303 Columbia, 303 Columbia St. No cover. 10th Annual Military Fetish Ball Sin City hosts a militarythemed party, with dancing, a play dungeon and prizes for best outfits. 9pm–3am. The Hindenburg, 23 W Cordova St. $9 before 10pm, $15 after. Strict military/fetish dress code. sincityfetishnight.com
Mon, Nov 10
Hustla Third Anniversary After three years and going strong, Hustla is messier and weirder than ever. Hosted by Peach Cobblah and Bambibot. 9pm–2am. The Cobalt, 917 Main St. $12. thecobalt.ca Babe Bang Halloween Hangover Party Vancouver’s seasonal, transinclusive, all-women play party. 9pm–5am. Club 8x6, 1775 Haro St. $15 advance at Little Sister’s, 1238 Davie St, or eventbrite.ca.
Vancouver Men in Leather VML hosts this social the second Friday of every month. 9pm. PumpJack Pub, 1167 Davie St. No cover. pumpjackpub.com Hershe Bar This popular women’s party features DJs Rocket and Riot, singles bracelets and drink specials. 10pm–2am. Red Room Ultra Bar, 398 Richards St. $15 advance at Little Sister’s, 1238 Davie St, or flygirlproductions.com.
Sun, Nov 9 Prime Timers’ Meeting This month features a DVD and book exchange and a presentation by a pharmacist. 1:30pm. West End Community Centre, 870 Denman St. primetimerscontact.wix.com Vogue Charity Ball This benefit for the Vancouver Pride Society
Bearracuda Fourth Anniversary The popular bear party turns four with special guest DJ Paul Goodyear (Sydney). 9pm. Club 560, 560 Seymour St. $20 at Little Sister’s, 1238 Davie St, and bearracuda.com.
Wed, Nov 12 Connect with HIM The Health Initiative for Men hosts weekly conversation nights open to all gay men (ESL and students of all ages welcome). Wednesdays 6:30–8pm. HIM Office, 310-1033 Davie St. checkhimout.ca
Yoga in Surrey The Health Initiative for Men now offers drop-in yoga sessions every week in Surrey. 7–8:30pm. HIM Health Centre, #220-10362 King George Hwy, Surrey. checkhimout.ca Absolutely Badminton This friendly badminton club welcomes everyone. 7pm. King George Secondary School, 1755 Barclay St. Drop-in $6; annual membership $130. absolutelybadminton. wordpress.com Bingo for Life Joan-E’s weekly fundraiser features brilliant prizes and snappy drag queens. 8–10pm. Celebrities, 1022 Davie St. $10 donation at door for bingo cards. celebritiesnightclub.com
Fri, Nov 14 Abundant Love (and Sex) A free five-week themed discussion group on the rewards and challenges of consensual non-monogamy. 6:30–8pm. #310, 1033 Davie St. checkhimout.ca
Bears in the ’Burbs Furry friends and their admirers are invited to a fun evening at the Heritage Grill. 9pm–midnight. The Heritage Grill, 447 Columbia St, New Westminster. Cover TBA. theheritagegrill.com
Tues, Nov 18 GVNCS Presents Proudly Remembered
The Native Cultural Society commemorates its elder chiefs and princesses and their supporters. 7–10pm. The Junction, 1138 Davie St. Cover by donation. junctionpub.com Dirty Talk @F212 This four-week discussion group will be filled with raunchy, kinky talk between likeminded men. 8pm. F212, 1048 Davie St. checkhimout.ca An Evening with George Takei
The gay Star Trek hero is coming to Vancouver! 8pm. Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 650 Hamilton St. $25–199 at ticketfly.com. More info at unionevents.com.
Submit your event listing to oitc.vancouver@dailyxtra.com. Deadline for the Nov 20 issue is Mon, Nov 10.
XTRA! & ARSENAL PULP PRESS
present a book launch celebration for
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Governor General’s Literary Award finalist
Doors 8:00pm, Show 9:00pm
RAZIEL REID
303 Columbia, 303 Columbia St. (at Cordova St., in Gastown), Vancouver
(Xtra’s “Blitz & Shitz” columnist)
Free admission Hosted by ISOLDE N. BARRON Featuring performers CARLOTTA GURL
19+
Book sales by Little Sister’s
and SHANDA LEER with DJ AMMONIA MOSS
18 NOV 6–19, 2014 XTRA!
VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
Satanic sacrifices and Barbie dolls
Lest we forget
Nothing screams drag debut like a decomposing Marilyn Monroe BLITZ & SHITZ
1025 DAVIE ST. (604) 687-2222
After years of reviewing drag shows, the sequined underworld of men in dresses finally got me. I dressed up in drag for the first time, but it wasn’t so that I could be East Van’s newest toonie tramp performer. It was for an occult ritual. Obviously. As an accompaniment to my debut young-adult novel, When Everything Feels Like the Movies, I’m releasing a song I wrote called “Like a Movie Star,” produced by local DJ/maestro Maxwell Maxwell. I’ve been a songwriter for as long as I’ve been any kind of writer, but “Like a Movie Star” has been collecting dust on my desktop for a couple years now because I wasn’t interested in promoting myself as a scene pop star. Unless you’re a drag queen, you’ll get no love from basic locals. Timing is everything, and so I’m glad I waited, because I feel supported by the universe as I embark on this new venture. I’ve been nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award, and whether I win or not, the confidence boost has been worth more than any prize. Since my book is cinematic and the protagonist, Jude Rothesay, thinks life is a performance piece (for which he’s up for an award — he’s up for all of them), my single will be available on iTunes, benefiting Out in Schools, which “engages youth through film in the promotion of safer and more diverse learning environments, free from homophobia, transphobia and bullying.” I filmed the video on a sheep farm in Langley in the middle of the night when it was pouring rain. The glamour was unbearable. The farm belongs to one of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Alma Bitches, and the video stars me as a decomposing Marilyn Monroe in her iconic pink “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” dress, a Baphomet mask covering my face. The concept of the video is selling your soul for fame, and I had a coven of club MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM
24th Annual
RAZIEL REID
Vancouver Health Show November 8th & 9th Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre East Facility • Hall B Sat. 10am - 6pm & Sun. 11am - 5pm
Featured Speaker Brad King Saturday 1:35-2:25 TOPIC: Dirty Diets: Exposing the Dietary Lies Keeping You from Looking and Feeling Your Best.
Raziel channels Mr Rogers while posing with RuPaul’s Drag Race queen Yara Sofia, backstage at Electric Owl on Main Street. TALLULAH
kids starring with me as elements — Joey Vanity as water, Berlin Stiller as air, Gracie Perkins as fire, and Adele Marikar as earth (until she passed out drunk in the back of the car and had to be replaced by the makeup artist). In the video, the elements and I perform a ritual and sacrifice a sheep. I borrowed the Marilyn dress I was wearing from Jaylene Tyme, and I’m scared to give it back to her. I know diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but maybe sheep shit and blood can be, too? Just kidding! I took better care of that dress than any boyfriend I’ve ever had. And no sheep were harmed in the making of my video either, although one did keep licking Joey’s face, and from experience, that poor thing is probably still tripping! I hope to see you on Nov 8, from 8 to 11pm, at 303 Columbia for the Vancouver launch of When Everything Feels Like the Movies. I can tell you all about how it feels being soulless! If you can’t make it, check out the release of “Like a Movie Star” on Nov 18, the day the Governor General’s Award winners are announced. Also at 303 is Jane Smoker’s new monthly, Jane’s Dreamhouse, which is, like, totally the cutest new party
for you and your frenemies to wear pink, take selfies, and either dance the night away or spend it gossiping about celebrities. Unfortunately, The Fox has discontinued all its gay programming, including Jane’s Cherry Pop, but it had a good six-month run, and when one door closes, well, break open a window in Barbie’s dollhouse and rave like a blond bimbo girl in a fantasy world. Words to live by, I’m telling you. Jane debuted as a DJ (of the Paris Hilton variety), and her squishy beats were almost as fantastic as life in plastic posing inside the life-sized Barbie box. We may have lost The Fox, but another Main Street venue is trying to amass a gay following. Electric Owl brought in RuPaul’s Drag Race queen Yara Sofia and threw a post-Halloween drag party, with opening performers Evita Versace and Jaylene Tyme as Mariah Carey. I posed backstage with Yara, who was dressed up as Catwoman. I look like I’m dressed up as Mr Rogers, but don’t read too much into it. It was the Sunday after Halloween, and that’s just what I look like when I’ve spent all day taking bong hoots and signing contracts for Satan.
Check out our website for full seminar schedules, speakers and topics. General Admission $12 Seniors/Students $10 Cash Admission at Door
Over 100 Exhibits displaying the latest health products, trends and services! Come Listen, Bring your Questions, Leave with Answers!
HealthShows.com
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Vision Vancouver seeks to attract voters on Grindr dailyxtra.com
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Online at xtralivingvancouver.com
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Grocery Stores Nesters Market 604-682-3071 Safeway Davie: 604-669-8313 Robson: 604-683-6155
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3
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THE HAUNTING II The Vancouver Pride Society hosted a colourful costume party at the Commodore Ballroom Oct 25 to usher in the Halloween season.
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