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Paving the way for same-sex adoption in Colombia Ana Leiderman and Verónica Botero refused to take no for an answer •8

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“Suffering. In my profession, there is no chance of unemployment,� veteran reporter Marie Colvin wrote in a 2001 piece in The Sunday Times, more than a decade before she was killed covering the miasma that is Syria’s civil war. “The real difficulty is having enough faith in humanity to believe someone will care.�

As 2014 wound down, the hostage standoff at a Sydney, Australia, cafĂŠ guaranteed an uptick in anti-Muslim sentiment. But then there was this: a train passenger named Rachael Jacobs sees a fellow passenger removing her hijab as the drama unfolds, runs after her after she disembarks, urges her to put it back on, and offers to walk with her — a spontaneously simple act of compassion that in turn sparked the #illridewithyou hashtag that moved other Aussie commuters to offer to travel with Muslims fearful of backlash. “I was going to drive to work tomorrow but seeing the outpouring of support changed my mind,â€? tweeted one woman who usually wears a hijab. “Thank you. See you on the train!â€?

As challenging as Jacobs’s empathetic outreach is to our learned prejudices,

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

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

Natasha Barsotti is the staff reporter at Xtra Vancouver.

#556 DEC 18–31, 2014

The activists who fought Trinity Western are our newsmakers of the year 8

The BC Ministry of Health, by not validating Qmunity’s recommendations to improve care for LGBT seniors (“BC Won’t Improve Intake Policies for LGBT Seniors Entering Care,� dailyxtra.com, Dec 11), violates my rights. They should get into the 21st century. I refuse to go back into the closet and be put into an institution where I would possibly face harm. More people should be actively involved in this issue.

GARTH CARON DAILYXTRA.COM

Election losses The fact that Jane Bouey was not returned to the school board is unfortunate for LGBT students and teachers, but it was also unfortunate for many others [“Bumper Crop of LGBT Candidates in Lower Mainland Civic Elections,� dailyxtra.com, Nov 29].

Jane has been an outstanding spokesperson for LGBT persons and a strong advocate for students with special needs, neighbourhoods that need better schools and for the rights of teachers. Jane only lost the election, but the people she served in two previous terms on the board lost a great deal more.

WAYNE M DAILYXTRA.COM

It wasn’t just out queer candidates who weren’t elected. Neither were the two aboriginal candidates, including incumbent Ken Clement. The board is far less diverse than it was before, with the loss of Clement, Cherie Payne and (forgive me for mentioning it) Sophia Woo. The school board is also now made

@dailyxtra

spite of. “Bravery is not being afraid to be afraid,� Colvin noted upon receiving an award for her work in Sri Lanka, where she lost an eye from grenadescattered shrapnel and took to wearing a signature black patch.

In any given year, there are mediamagnet events. But there are also small gestures that indicate that we all aren’t resigned to anger or fear — of the next pandemic, the next beheading, the next mass shooting. Still, there are years when I’ve felt more hopeful about a new year. Like 2011, when the Arab Spring ignited and swept away the dictatorial likes of Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi, while the people in the Middle East emptied into the streets and thousands of Occupiers around the world did the same.

That fighting activist spirit infused seeds of change that continue to grow through movements like Idle No More; anti-pipeline protests; renewed rage against the trenchant, institutional racism that plagues American and other societies; and revitalized discussion about entrenched harassment and violence against women.

On the cusp of 2015, I can’t say I feel that buzz of optimism I had at the end of 2011. I struggle to find the forest of hope through the trees of relentless turmoil, which is often the incubator of change, even progress. #LookingForwardToBreathing in 2015.

HEROES&VILLAINS

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responses like hers are necessary if we are to continue to have faith — in our neighbours, co-workers, people with whom we share cities, countries and, ultimately, the world, which on many a day in 2014 seemed to be spinning out of control.

Nine months after it vanished off the radar, presumably plunging into the waters off Australia’s west coast, Malaysia flight 370 and its 239 passengers cannot be found. Since then, we’ve borne witness to a seemingly endless list of events known by one and two-word titles or their Twitter tags — threats or crises that were awakened from a dormant or invisible state, tipped the balance in favour of public rage, or took on a new façade.

Ebola. Boko Haram. ISIS/ISIL/IS. Ukraine. Ferguson. #BlackLivesMatter. #ICantBreathe. Climate change.

Gender-based violence . . .

And then there were the stories that ignited sparks of qualified hope: The long overdue American outreach to Cuba. Ugandans, who celebrated their Constitutional Court’s ruling against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in August, only to see a harsher bill resurface a few months later. Michael Sam, whose inspiring path to the NFL draft has yet to translate into a spot on a team and a prime-time moment on the field. We are called to be brave . . . in

Supporting our seniors

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EDITORIAL NATASHA BARSOTTI

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up of folk overwhelmingly from the wealthier West Side of Vancouver. Only Allan Wong (Vision) and Stacy Robertson (NPA) are East Siders. Janet Fraser (Green) is from the West Side. I think the results may also reflect the larger voter turnout on the West Side and indicate systemic racism, classism and homophobia.

JANE BOUEY DAILYXTRA.COM

Mischa Oak worked day and night to get elected to the school board and promoted a message of inclusivity. Yet when the results came in, he received only 48,539 votes. By comparison, Janet Fraser (the other Green Party candidate) was elected with 59,218 votes. If there were no fundamental differences between Fraser and Oak on policy, why was there such a large differential in the result (10,000-plus votes)? Did intolerance have anything to do with it?

The polls reveal a lot about Vancouverites. In polls where Ken Denike and Sophia Woo did well, Oak did not fare as well. Perhaps this is a wakeup call to the LGBT community that there’s still much work to be done.

Candidates like Mischa Oak are an inspiration to us all.

ANDREW L DAILYXTRA.COM

#news #arts #travel #events Everything gay, every day.

4 JAN 1–14, 2015 XTRA!

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XCETERA

Check out our columnists and bloggers on dailyxtra.com A sex worker’s tale

Trading a blowjob for 20 bucks and a half pack of cigarettes had brought me to a new level of debauchery.

Courtney Love would have been proud.

CUE THE BOO-HOO

DARYL IS . . .

STRAIGHT

Adventures in gay parenting

Hopes that The Walking Dead’s crossbow-toting Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) would play gay in the zombie romp were dashed by show creator Robert Kirkman.

The good news? Kirkman confirms that a “very prominent gay character” will be part of the series.

It’s not that I don’t like Hot Wheels or Thomas the Tank Engine, but I can’t quite figure out my son’s predilection toward traditionally masculine pursuits.

2015 THE CHARM? THINKSTOCK.COM

What a difference a year makes

18

Number of US states that signed on to gay marriage in 2014

35 15 Number of states where gay couples can now say “I do.”

History Boys

The Wonder Woman comics from the 1940s are rife with BDSM. On almost every page there’s kidnap, slavery or bondage.

more to go . . .

COMING IN JANUARY

PROUD PUPILS

ROCK ON, MR R

Even though you’re gay, I will always treat you the same way as I do now . . . You don’t have to feel scared because I know that everyone in the class feels the same way as I do.

— a nine-year-old British girl in a letter to her teacher, who came out during a lesson about homophobia MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM

RAINBOW RUN

3,500

Hooking up in public

When I find myself exploring a dungeon party on a Sunday afternoon, I know why I’m there. I’m on a journey searching for those connections.

=

Number of participants, sporting rainbow scarves, who took to the streets of Taipei, Taiwan, in December for a 15-kilometre run in support of gay marriage and to increase awareness about gender diversity, discrimination and equal rights.

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VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

Upfront

It’s true I had a pet peeve about the rainbow flag at the library.

Michael Melvin Williams • 10

Nova Scotia court hears TWU case Matter is of ‘fundamental importance’ to legal system, judge says LAW NIKO BELL

Trinity Western University headed to court Dec 16 to 19 in an attempt to stop the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society from blocking its future law graduates from articling in Nova Scotia.

The case raises questions — about how religious and gay rights will be balanced and whether gay people are less protected than other minorities — that could define how Canadian law treats LGBT rights.

“This is not just a matter between two parties,” said Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Jamie Campbell, “but a matter that is of fundamental importance to our legal system.”

At the heart of the case is TWU’s community covenant, a document all students must sign that forbids sex outside of heterosexual marriage. The Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society (NSBS) decided in April it would ban TWU students from its bar admission program unless the BC university dropped or changed the covenant. The university took the society to court, arguing the ban amounts to religious discrimination.

After four days of arguments from lawyers representing NSBS and TWU, as well as from Christian and human rights groups, Justice Campbell said he would return a judgment sometime in January or February.

TWU attorney Brian Casey told the court that the NSBS decision was an overreach and that it violated the university’s right to religious freedom. Whether a group of Christians can form a law school upholding their own values in British Columbia, he said, should not be decided by a council of lawyers in Nova Scotia. As for the covenant, he said it did not qualify as illegal discrimination.

“Trinity Western welcomes gays,” Casey said.

“It welcomes people in the LGBTQ community.

They just require them to abide by the covenant.”

He also noted nobody has been expelled from the university because of the covenant. “It’s not like we have cameras in the bedrooms to see what’s happening.”

“I might want to reduce poverty as much as I can, but I can’t use someone else’s money to do that,” Casey continued. “I might want to protect sexual minority interests in Canada, but I can’t use someone else’s rights to do that.”

Casey’s strongest asset was the Trinity Western University v British Columbia College of Teachers

I DON’T THINK WE’D BE HERE IF THE ISSUE WAS ‘I WANT TO HAVE AN ALL-WHITE LAW SCHOOL.’ NOBODY WOULD BE ASKING THE BAR SOCIETY TO APPROVE THAT.

TRINITY WESTERN WELCOMES GAYS . . .

IT’S NOT LIKE WE HAVE CAMERAS IN THE BEDROOMS TO SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING.

NSBS lawyer Jane O’Neill

TWU lawyer Brian Casey, noting that nobody has been expelled because of the covenant

case, in which a judge decided there was no proof that teachers produced by TWU would be bigoted or cause harm in the classroom. This precedent could effectively shut down the argument that TWU lawyers would be unsuitable because of their beliefs. Casey, backed up by briefs from the federal Ministry of Justice, said the Nova Scotia case was no different.

Casey was on the defensive, however, when it came to the frequent comparisons between TWU’s covenant and the spectre of all-white segregated schools in the United States. If this were a case about discrimination between black and white students, Justice Campbell pointed out, “we wouldn’t be here. We wouldn’t even be talking about this.”

Casey resonded that TWU has a constitutional right to believe that sexual intimacy should be reserved for a married opposite-sex couple. “There’s no similar protection for racism,” Casey said.

NSBS lawyers, however, argued that gay people deserve as much protection as other minorities.

“My friend said that the evangelical belief that homosexual behaviour is immoral is a protected belief. We agree,” NSBS lawyer Jane O’Neill told the court. “But it’s no different than the belief in the superiority of the white race. I don’t think we’d be here if the issue was ‘I want to have an all-white law school,’” she said. “Nobody would be asking the bar society to approve that . . . It’s something that the bar society cannot and will not do.”

NSBS lawyers said they had a responsibility under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms not to endorse TWU’s covenant. “If even one LGB person is denied the opportunity to enter the profession because of the mandatory nature of the covenant, that’s a very serious issue,” lawyer Peter Rogers argued.

Justice Campbell was keenly engaged in the case, questioning both sides’ arguments robustly.

He called TWU’s covenant “odd” and “repugnant” and summed up the university’s claim as the right to “a law-school student being able to look at his neighbour in torts class and say, ‘Well, at least I know he’s not having gay sex.’”

Campbell was also rough on the NSBS claim that the society has jurisdiction to penalize a BC law school. “Who in Nova Scotia is being discriminated against?” he asked. “How is taking a student from TWU and allowing them to be an article clerk in Nova Scotia discrimination against all those people who have never thought of coming to Nova Scotia, let alone practising here? It seems convoluted because it is,” he said.

Whether the Nova Scotia decision matters in practice hinges on TWU’s accreditation as a law school in BC. Earlier in December, Amrik Virk, BC’s former minister of advanced education, pulled his approval of the law school after a vote by the Law Society of British Columbia. TWU announced Dec 18 that it is suing the society over that decision.

With files from Jeremy Hainsworth For more on this story, go to dailyxtra.com.

SCREEN CAPTURES FROM COURTS.NS.CA MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM XTRA! JAN 1–14, 2015 7

Paving the way for same-sex adoption in Colombia

Ana Leiderman and Verónica Botero wouldn’t take no for answer

ADOPTION RIGHTS JANE GERSTER

O

nly months after gays and lesbians in her native Colombia won their first legal rights — allowing common-law spouses to split and inherit property as straight people do — Ana Leiderman prepared to move home with her spouse, Verónica Botero. It was June 2007, and they had been living together in Germany for more than two years.

The backlash to the legal victory at home was swift and angry. “They are erasing the difference between men and women,” some powerful institutions said. Others had a warning: “It opens the door for them to be able to adopt.”

Leiderman was newly pregnant. It was not an ideal time for the family to make their return. If Leiderman’s baby — conceived through artificial insemination — were born in Germany, then Botero could legally adopt it. But if the child was born in Colombia? Leiderman didn’t know.

Yet their return couldn’t be avoided or delayed: Botero’s sponsorship to work at the local university was expiring and they had to leave Germany.

We’ll just manage, Leiderman thought. They always had.

Childhood friends in Medellín, the duo had gone their separate ways after high school graduation — Leiderman to Germany, Botero to the United States — before reuniting on a European trip in 2004. They had sex one night, Leiderman’s first same-sex encounter, and within a year Botero had transferred to Germany. They registered a civil partnership in 2005.

It was Botero, having always identified as a lesbian, who paid attention to

the details. She knew being a lesbian in Colombia meant being vulnerable and facing discrimination. In 2006 and 2007, 67 LGBT deaths, including 29 homicides, four in Medellín alone, were documented by Colombia Diversa, an advocacy group for LGBT people. The more openly a gay person expressed their sexuality, the report noted, the more likely they were to suffer “aggressive acts.”

But Botero also knew what rights they were afforded. When a notary in Bogota tried to tell them that kind of union wasn’t possible, it was Botero who became exasperated and Leiderman who chuckled at her frustration.

They settled in Guarne, a town in the lush mountains near Medellín.

There, as Leiderman’s belly grew and she socialized with other same-sex couples, she first found herself engaged in conversations about what rights her child would and wouldn’t have. “We’ll just manage” gave way to questions: Will our baby have access to Botero’s health insurance? Will Botero be able to make important medical decisions for our child? And above all: What will happen to our child if I die?

In February 2008, Leiderman gave birth to Raquel. For a while, simply being a mother took precedence over worrying about these questions.

That March, a notary in Medellín granted Leiderman and Botero their Colombian civil union. Whereas the notary in Bogota had said no, this one, a gay man, had said yes — proof, to Leiderman, that “there is a law, but the application depends on who is on the other side of the desk.”

Ten months later, when they went to register Raquel’s birth, they were not so fortunate. There was no space on the birth certificate to identify a second mother. The old worries returned.

Leiderman began to research adop-

tion rules online. “It says the permanent partner or spouse can adopt the child of the other,” she told Botero. “It doesn’t say the partner or spouse has to be of the opposite gender, so we are going to try to do this. I want to try.”

Leiderman had their papers in order — including proof she and Botero had been in a civil union for longer than the stipulated minimum — but the social worker who received their file seemed perplexed. I’m so sorry, she told them, but the forms here say husband and wife. We’ll call you.

N

obody called. A month later, around Raquel’s first birthday, the official response came in a three-page letter from the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (CIFW). It said Leiderman and Botero hadn’t been in a civil union long enough to be considered; their existence as a couple in Germany had been ignored. The letter, signed by a CIFW family advocate, went on to say that “without a doubt, Colombian society is not ready culturally or socially for situations like gay marriage or samesex adoption.”

Leiderman fumed. To her, the letter was an insulting denial of service: “You do not have the right to adopt, you are not a family, and even though you have a lot of rights, this is not a right that you have.”

She scanned the letter and emailed it to Colombia Diversa. They told her she might have a case because the job of the CIFW is not to interpret the law, but to make sure children are safe.

“Let’s get a lawyer,” Leiderman said.

Germán Humberto Rincón Perfetti was recommended. From his very first conversation with Leiderman, Rincón Perfetti was direct. “Think about what you’re considering,” he advised her. “The

chances of winning this case are very slim; the chances of losing are very high.”

Leiderman spoke with Botero, and the couple came back with questions. If they lost, could the CIFW take Raquel away from them? Rincón Perfetti assured them: to take Raquel from Leiderman, her biological mother, the CIFW would have to prove damage.

Leiderman and Botero thought about alternatives. They were surrounded by supportive family members and friends and they enjoyed a good income — by Colombian standards, they were wealthy. Emboldened by these realizations, Leiderman began to think a new thought: if any gay couple is going to attempt to change the law, why not us?

That summer, they girded for battle: they solicited letters of recommendation from friends and family, and they underwent a psychiatric assessment to establish they were good parents. At the assessment, Raquel — now a busy, chatty, 18-month-old toddler — broke a toy and coloured on the walls. The psychiatrist signed off: they were, she wrote, a normal family, and Raquel was a regular toddler.

In late October 2009, Rincón Perfetti submitted a tutela to the regional court in Rionegro on the family’s behalf. A tutela is a Colombian legal petition wherein a citizen who feels his or her human rights have been infringed seeks immediate help. Courts are required to rule on a tutela within 10 days of its submission.

On Nov 5, a hot and humid Thursday, Leiderman and Botero got the call while driving. The caller, a lawyer from the local court office, said the judge had found in the women’s favour; they could pick up the written verdict at the court office.

The call had been brief and the tone casual, but the news was precedentsetting. Leiderman was baffled: “We actually won.”

Verónica Botero (left) hugs Raquel as Ana Leiderman holds Ari in front of Peñón de Guatapé, a famous landmark in Antioquia, Colombia.

COURTESY OF ANA LEIDERMAN

8 JAN 1–14, 2015 XTRA! VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

Leiderman and Botero continued to focus their legal arguments on children’s rights: specifically, Raquel’s right to protection should Leiderman fall ill or die.

Raquel’s rights prevailed. In a written decision dated Jan 20, 2010, the court in Antioquia upheld the verdict. Once more, Leiderman and Botero enjoyed a brief celebration before the media besieged them. Botero didn’t give interviews. Leiderman did a few but often asked that their names be kept private.

If reporters asked for photos, Leiderman would give them only if they agreed to obscure the women’s faces. She and Botero wanted legal equality, not to have their personal lives disclosed in every newspaper.

Raquel’s adoption still did not go through. By law, all tutela decisions must go to Colombia’s Constitutional Court for possible review. Within days of the Superior Court’s decision, the Constitutional Court elected to review Leiderman and Botero’s case. The adoption would wait. Baby Ari was born in April 2010. He rolled over, he sat up, he crawled and walked and talked. The review was not swift.

Every week, Leiderman would check the court website for updates, watching their case go up and down the priority list, always being rescheduled.

Later, she subscribed for email alerts to receive automatic updates. When rumours circulated that the case would be decided in one week and reporters began to call, Leiderman would tell them, “Don’t ruin my day, okay? Just call me when something happens.”

I I

t didn’t take long before the news hit the media. Reporters across the country wanted to come to Leiderman and Botero’s home, to talk at length about what this meant for gay rights and for Colombia. They wanted to take pictures and videos of the lesbian mamas who had won this victory in a society supposedly, per the CIFW, “not ready culturally or socially for situations like gay marriage or same-sex adoption.”

Leiderman’s mind went to Raquel — her happy, busy toddler — but her hand

went to her belly, to the new baby she was now carrying. She looked to Botero.

We aren’t ready for this, she thought.

Reporters at our home? Leiderman felt afraid.

The CIFW responded by filing an appeal to the Superior Tribunal of Antioquia. It argued that to process the adoption it would have to look first to the Colombian Constitution and the law, in which, the CIFW claimed, marriage — and, by extension, a family — is clearly created by the union of “a man and a woman.”

t took Chandler Burr, an American journalist who came to Colombia to adopt two orphaned boys, for Leiderman to shed her last vestiges of privacy and tackle Colombian homophobia in the public sphere.

In March 2011, the day before Burr was set to fly his new family of three home and after his adoption had been formalized, his boys were taken from him after he mentioned to a CIFW official that he was gay. The case made international news, and in December 2011, Burr’s sons were returned to him, a decision upheld months later by the Constitutional Court.

Leiderman watched with mixed emotions as Burr accomplished in nine months what she and Botero, after three years, had yet to achieve. The conservative backlash to Burr’s victory was swift and predictable, yet Leiderman could not help but be angrier than before — at the church, at the attorney general, at the years of her own life that had passed without any legal resolution and now, at the homophobic comments spewed out across the country.

Juan Vicente Cordoba, one of the country’s leading bishops, told El Tiempo newspaper, “I do not know him [Burr]

and I am not accusing him of anything, but one thing is clear and that is that he has homosexual tendencies and he is going to receive a boy of 10 years old and an adolescent of 13 and between them there won’t be a father-son relationship.”

They’re talking about us without knowing us, Leiderman thought.

If you are going to give a homosexual a son, Cordoba went on, “it has to be a person who has control over their tendencies, their instincts, and their passion very well internalized. It’s like if I had diabetes and they sent me to live in a candy store, it would be very difficult not to fall for it.”

For Leiderman, this was one aspersion too many. Leiderman talked to Botero about going public. They would do interviews, talk about their children and show they really were a family, even if legally they weren’t. Mauricio Albarracín, the director of Colombia Diversa, supported this decision, and Rincón Perfetti did, too. They had written documents advising how to get the press to

the child’s biological parent. But the court did not grant Botero’s adoption of Raquel or Ari outright, nor did it open the door for gay couples to adopt non-biological children.

Faced with criticism that the court had fallen short, its president, Luis Ernesto Vargas, told reporters, “You can’t force society to take a giant leap.”

But Leiderman felt society had already moved forward of its own volition, was still moving. Their story made international headlines; local papers had written editorials in support of the family.

The very same day the Constitutional Court ruled in their favour, a Colombian cabinet minister spoke on the radio about her own same-sex relationship with a fellow cabinet minister. And even though the Senate voted down a gay-marriage bill in 2013, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos had recently declared same-sex marriage “perfectly acceptable.”

“Whether this union is called marriage or not for me is secondary,” he

The media wanted to take pictures and videos of the lesbian mamas who had won this victory in a society supposedly “not ready culturally or socially for situations like gay marriage or same-sex adoption.” speak concretely about the case, how to focus on Raquel’s rights. This was difficult when Raquel’s parents were an unidentified lesbian couple, known publicly in many cases simply as “mujer” or “woman.”

In August 2012, Leiderman, Botero, Raquel and Ari appeared in The Washington Post and on NPR. “We have a really, really common life; very normal, non-interesting life,” Botero, who had only recently begun to give interviews alongside Leiderman, said on the radio.

Photos showed them eating breakfast and going to the grocery store.

Talking about the normalcy of her family became a regular activity for Leiderman. She believed Colombia Diversa spoke mostly to the gay community and she wanted more. The real change, she thought, after years of waiting for a day in court, might happen in the court of public opinion. After all, “there’s no law that can force people to respect us.”

O

n Aug 28, 2014, the Constitutional Court ruled six to three that Leiderman and Botero had been discriminated against and that sexual orientation cannot be the basis for refusing an adoption request when one of the partners is

said during a Google Hangout last May with El Tiempo during his successful reelection campaign. “For me, what is important is that they have their rights.”

Although Leiderman still doubts whether she’ll ever see a Colombian document declaring Botero to be Raquel and Ari’s legal mother, this worries her less. As Leiderman changed people’s minds, she herself had changed.

“Poco a poco” — little by little — Rincón Perfetti watched her “come out of the closet” to the Colombian people.

She had been asked to join the board of Colombia Diversa. She had become, in Albarracín’s words, her own “powerful organization,” responsible for a “baby boom” of gay couples seeking help to do what Leiderman and Botero had done first.

Adoption rights had seemed almost too far ahead of the organization’s mission when Leiderman and Botero first approached Colombia Diversa in 2007; now, the Constitutional Court is reviewing more cases about legal guardianship claims, and advocates hope the results will steer the country toward complete equality. “[Colombians] no longer talk about sexuality within the realms of psychology or reproductive rights,” Rincón Perfetti says, “but rather within human rights.”

MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM XTRA! JAN 1–14, 2015 9

Trial wraps up in attack on MLA Chandra Herbert’s office Accused allegedly was upset about ‘fucking faggot flags’ IN COURT JEREMY HAINSWORTH

Michael Melvin Williams admits he had “a pet peeve about the rainbow flag at the library” but denies he referred to “fucking faggot flags” when he visited the office of MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert to complain.

Williams, 54, faces charges of assault and mischief under $5,000 stemming from an incident in which Chandra Herbert’s constituency assistant says he was attacked.

In a two-day trial that wrapped up Dec 19, Murray Bilida testified that a man, whom he identified in court as Williams, entered the reception area of Chandra Herbert’s Denman Street office Feb 21 smelling of alcohol and slurring his words, wanting to speak to “the Chandra.” Bilida said he told the man the MLA was not in, but later said Chandra Herbert was in the back of the office.

Bilida told the court the man asked what he thought about “this fucking flag across the street” on the community centre. “I asked, ‘What do you mean?’

He said, ‘Those fucking faggot flags on my library across the street.’”

Bilida said that he told the man he didn’t know what flags on the library had to do with the MLA’s office but that the man then noticed a Pride flag in the office. “He said, ‘You have a fucking flag right here,’” said Bilida, who got up from his desk and pushed an automatic door opener as an invitation to the man to leave.

“He took a swing at me and missed,” Bilida testified, but the man “took another swing at me, and he connected his punch with my mouth. I went down; I collapsed onto the floor.” He said his lip became swollen and his jaw hurt

Murray Bilida alleges that Michael Melvin Williams, pictured, assaulted him in the office of MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert on Feb 21, leaving him with a swollen lip from a punch to the face. JEREMY HAINSWORTH

for several days.

Chandra Herbert testified that he found the man outside on the street smoking a cigarette and that he told him to stay where he was as the police were coming. He says he heard the man

He took another swing at me, and he connected his punch with my mouth. I went down; I collapsed onto the floor.

MURRAY BILIDA

talking to another about “fag flags.”

Williams denies using this term. “It’s true I had a pet peeve about the rainbow flag at the library,” he said. He told the court that he had spoken to Chandra Herbert several months earlier about having a municipal flag at the community centre. He said he had gone into the MLA’s office to tell him he had learned there was a city flag and to talk to him about why a municipal flag was not on the community centre.

Williams, who lives on Davie Street, testified that he is bisexual and that he interacts with gay friends and neighbours often. He also told the court he had consumed 15 cans of Budweiser the

night of Feb 20 but didn’t have much of a hangover the following day.

Williams said that he was irritated

by Bilida’s “high and mighty attitude,” adding that he knew the MLA was in the office even though Bilida initially said he wasn’t. “I caught a glimpse,” he testified. “I looked at Murray and said, ‘Pants on fire, pants on fire.’”

Williams said Bilida responded with “Okay, let’s go,” and came out into the foyer. He said Bilida grabbed his left arm with both hands, aggravating a shoulder injury. “All I could think of was getting him to let go. I threw a punch. It missed him and hit the door,” he said, adding that he didn’t know how

Bilida came to have a swollen lip.

Crown prosecutor Mark Jetté submitted that Williams was obsessed with the Pride flag at the West End Community Centre and wouldn’t let the issue go. When Williams was not allowed to speak to the MLA, violence resulted, Jetté told Judge David St Pierre. That Williams remained on the street outside the office and continued to talk about flags was indicative of his obsession, said Jetté, who asked Williams if he thought the flag represented a special interest group. “If it was the Hells Angels or Jehovah’s Witnesses or the United Shoe Workers of Taiwan, it would be the same problem,” Williams said.

Vancouver Police Department Constable Thomas Hall said he arrested Williams when he arrived at the scene as Chandra Herbert flagged him down.

Hall testified that Williams gave his name but when asked for his date of birth, he responded, “Why is there a gay flag on my library? You’re Chandra Herbert’s boy.”

“It’s my recollection I said, ‘You’re Chandra Herbert’s dog,’” Williams said.

Defence lawyer Terry La Liberté suggested the entire situation had been blown out of proportion in a bid to make examples of those accused of homophobic actions. In closing arguments, he said there was no evidence to corroborate Bilida’s testimony alleging Williams had said “fucking flag across the street” at the West End Community Centre or “those fucking faggot flags on my library across the street.” La Liberté claimed Williams had referred only to “rainbow flags,” a suggestion both Bilida and Chandra Herbert denied.

La Liberté also suggested that Chandra Herbert’s and Bilida’s past activism on queer-rights issues caused them to see the situation as a way to advance their agenda, a notion Chandra Herbert said he found “insulting.”

Long before the trial began, Williams disputed Chandra Herbert’s version of events, writing in a letter to Xtra that “it was not in my mind to express hatred or demand he do anything.”

Williams will return to Vancouver Provincial Court Jan 15 to hear a judge’s decision on the charges he faces.

10 JAN 1–14, 2015 XTRA! VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

Crisis line for trans people Real Estate expands to Canada XTRA’S GUIDE TO THE LUCRATIVE GAY & LESBIAN HOUSING MARKET

US toll-free line first of its kind

Mortgage advice Mortgage you can trust.advice you can trust.

TRANS ISSUES HG WATSON

A crisis line for trans people that has been making waves in the United States is now available toll-free across Canada.

The Trans Lifeline, a San Franciscobased organization staffed by trans people, added a Canada-specific tollfree line on Dec 12, after Toronto photographer Sophia Banks suggested that Greta Gustava Martela, one of Lifeline’s founders, consider expanding.

Trans Lifeline launched in the United States on Nov 20, the Trans Day of Remembrance, with coverage appearing in Time and The Advocate, as the first national trans crisis line. While there are local lines that cater to lesbian, gay and bisexual people and the trans community specifically, this is the first with a national — and now international — network.

Banks was inspired to ask for a Canadian line after she heard of the death of a trans woman in Vancouver and began to think about how hard it is to see other trans people talking about suicide on Twitter.

According to her, traditional suicide lines, while doing great work, don’t understand the challenges faced by trans people. “If a trans person is in crisis and they have to call and that

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or those who had experienced past trauma, the risk increases.

It was Martela’s own experience that motivated her to organize the crisis line. Before starting her transition process, she had called the national suicide-prevention hotline in the United States. “I got a man on the phone, and he did the normal suicide-hotline thing of asking me what’s going on,” Martela says. “So I had to explain to this dude what it means to be transgender, and it was so clear that it made him really uncomfortable.”

Later, as she was transitioning, Martela volunteered at TransGender

We’re not getting the kinds of calls that suicide hotlines for the general population would get. Trans people’s calls are very specific; their needs are very concrete.

GRETA GUSTAVA MARTELA, TRANS LIFELINE FOUNDER

person has no familiarity with trans people and they have to do trans 101, it’s not only unhelpful, but it could potentially aggravate the situation even more.”

The service is undoubtedly needed.

The Canadian Mental Health Association notes that an Ontario survey found that 77 percent of trans people have considered suicide, and 45 percent had attempted it. For trans youth,

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Trans Lifeline launched in the United States on Nov 20, the Trans Day of Remembrance. THINKSTOCK

San Francisco, a social organization for trans people. They had a toll-free number that, while not a crisis line, frequently received calls from trans people who needed help. The experience made Martela realize that there was a need for a crisis line that could specifically help trans people.

She and her partner, both software engineers, started the Trans Lifeline with just $250, leaping in with the

Registered of The Bank of Nova Scotia. expectation they would adjust astrademark need dictated. After their official launch in November, the number of calls started increasing, as did the number of volunteers — they now average about 40 to 60 calls a day and have a team of 40 operators, with approximately 380 more volunteers waiting for training.

P rofessional “We’re not getting the kinds of calls VOTED BEST REALTOR that suicide hotlines for the general Xtra! Reader’s Poll R esponsive population would get,” Martela says.

Top 10% of all Lower Mainland “Trans people’s calls are very specific; Realtors - 18 years I n Touch their needs are very concrete.”

Former Gay & Lesbian Business “They are encountering resistance D ependable Association Board Director in their community — a resistance in their society — and that’s what Donates 5% of commissions to E thical is causing them their crises,” she adds. your favourite charity upon purchase Funding is now Martela’s main conof a new home cern. As the need has grown, so has the Award-winning service to the Gay and need for paid staff and grant writers.

The addition of the Canadian hotline Lesbian Community for over 20 years also means that Martela faces a larger telephone bill. Banks is promoting Re/Max Real Estate Services a GoFundMe page to help cover the 604.506.4264 • ian@ianholt.com costs of the new Canadian number.

She is also using her large socialmedia presence to spread the message about the phone number.

“It’s really important to get this sort of thing out, especially around the holidays, when a lot of people are kind of rejected from their families,” Be seen by our affluent and loyal readers.

Banks says. ®

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If you are in crisis or need assistance, you can call the Trans Lifeline toll-free in Canada at 1-877-330-6366, in the United States at 1-877-565-8860, or contact them at translifeline.org.

Contact Corey Giles 604-684-9696 x2131 | corey.giles@dailyxtra.com

MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM XTRA! JAN 1–14, 2015 11

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12 JAN 1–14, 2015 XTRA! VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

OutintheCity

That’s right, folks: we are officially as basic as straight people. Blitz & Shitz 16

SEX&SURVIVAL New Sarah Waters novel is a thrilling tale of class struggle, lesbian love and murder

pretensions — who move into the Wrays’ house as lodgers. Despite a few early class-based missteps, within a matter of weeks, Frances and Lilian Britain between the world wars have fallen into a scorching, clandestine affair, was an unsettled place: the social complete with mash notes, midnight grapplings order was topsy-turvy, hundreds of thousands in the kitchen and plots to run away together. were dead from battle and the Spanish flu, and the But before the romance-drunk couple can come government was grappling with mass unemploy- to anything approaching their senses, they are ment and inflation. In The Paying Guests, novelist involved in a murder and are pulled into its tense Sarah Waters delves into the era’s complexities investigation and aftermath. and contradictions by narrowing in on one parIf any writer can pull off a story that combines ticular household in suburban London, which in elements of historical literary fiction, social its own peculiar way stands in for the chaos and realism, courtroom drama and lesbian pulp, it’s upheaval of the country as a whole.

Waters. Her 1998 debut, Tipping the Velvet, was a The upper-class Wrays have fallen on hard confident and sexy page-turner about a Victoriantimes. The two sons have been killed in the war and era genderbending lesbian theatre artist — its title the father has died, too, leaving behind a collection was a reference to old-time slang for cunnilingus. of bad investments and overdue debts. The survi- Her subsequent novels — all doorstopper-thick vors are Frances, a 26-year-old spinster, and her historical dramas — are Dickensian in character sensitive, ineffectual mother. To economize, the and plotting, high in emotion (whether lust or servants have been let go, lamps suspense or both) and infused with are left unlit, and cheap cuts of a gothic sensibility. She renders her meat have replaced lavish dinners. settings in bewitching detail, often These are not Frances’s only depicting the lives of marginalized sacrifices. When she was younger, figures at moments of social tumult she had been a suffragette and and transformation. Fingersmith involved in the war effort; she had told the story of a clan of Victorian also had a love affair with a female pickpockets, for instance, while friend. That independence and The Little Stranger was a shivery romantic pleasure have long since ghost story set in a crumbling post– been abandoned, in order for her WWII manor house. to struggle to keep up appearances With The Paying Guests, Waters and maintain the family home. skillfully uses the central lesbian And yet even as Frances unaffair as complicating spoiler to complainingly scrubs floors, cooks dig at the general mood of social dreary meals and empties chamber change and unease. Lilian’s huspots, she is aware that her step band, Len, comes across as a boor THE PAYING GUESTS down in life makes others uneasy. at times but also as bright and

By Sarah Waters Neighbours, tradesmen and her ambitious, eager to take advantage Penguin Random mother’s friends, she observes, of loosening class structure to get House Canada sarahwaters.com “had got themselves through the ahead. He’s a rival to Frances roworst war in history yet seemed mantically, but he also represents unable for some reason to cope with the sight the demise of the former privileges of her class. of a well-bred woman doing the work of a char.” Meanwhile, a posh young man whom Frances is Frances’s meagre rewards are occasional trips to set up with proves to be unattractive to her, not the cinema with her mother, bittersweet visits to only because he is a man, but because the war has her ex-girlfriend, who has moved on with a new left him languid and disillusioned (and possibly, woman, and a solitary nightly cigarette. through the lens of a modern perspective, sufferEnter Len and Lilian Barber, a somewhat ing from depression and post-traumatic stress tacky young couple from the striving working disorder). As he tells her about his experiences class — he’s a cocky insurance clerk, she’s a sweet- since the armistice — he’s bored, aimless and tempered bohemian housewife with artistic unemployed — Frances is “struck by the absolute RACHEL GIESE IN PRINT

MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM

If any writer can pull off a story that combines elements of historical literary fiction, social realism, courtroom drama and lesbian pulp, it’s Sarah Waters.

lack of rancour in his manner; by the absence of any sort of passion in him.”

But, even as she uses the lesbian affair for these expositionary ends, Waters does not for a moment short-change her readers on the sexual front. The build of the growing attraction between Frances and Lilian is an act of seduction in itself. At first, Frances finds Lilian a little silly and vulgar but then takes notice of her prettiness and sensuality.

Lilian “was all colour and curve,” thinks Frances.

“How well she filled her own skin! She might have been poured generously into it, like treacle.” An erotic game of Snakes and Ladders between Lilian, Len and Frances could be its own separate novella: it’s a masterful set piece that is at once sexy and menacing, ugly and ridiculous. When Frances and Lilian finally do consummate their attraction, Waters paints in every part, without blushing or coy hesitation.

She spares no details, either, when it comes to

the gruesome. A painful, prolonged abortion is graphically, bloodily horrifying. And the violent death that provides the novel’s turn from romance to murder mystery is equally grisly. Frances and Lilian’s forbidden relationship carries its own undercurrent of the sinister: its star-crossed quality fuels its passion and its sense of doom. Waters gives the affair a sense of being a little unhinged, which makes a far more complicated union than if it were purely idealized or romanticized. As compelling and rich as the storytelling is, at more than 500 pages, fatigue sets in at points. This is a palpably physical and closely observed story, and it can make for a claustrophobic reading experience — Waters spares no minutiae, no passing thought, no small piece setting or passing emotion. And yet, when she finds her momentum, she is unmatchable. She breathes, cries, exults, lusts and fears right alongside her characters, just as she compels her reader to do so, too.

XTRA! JAN 1–14, 2015 13

Right o

The ballerinas of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo return to Vancouver for a one-night-only performance on Jan 24.

LES BALLETS TROCKADERO

14 JAN 1–14, 2015 XTRA!

VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

on pointe

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Les Ballets Trockadero is a mashup of traditional dance, humour and drag DANCE SAMANTHA LEGO

With their tutus, delicate pointe shoes and copious tufts of chest hair, the ballerinas of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo have been charming audiences around the world for 40 years.

On Jan 24, the Trockadero troupe — lovingly known as the Trocks by their legions of fans — will be in Vancouver for a one-night-only performance at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. It is the first time since 1985 that the internationally renowned all-male drag ballet company has visited the city.

Parodying classic ballets, the professionally trained dancers combine technical skills with a wicked sense of humour to engage the audience and affectionately critique the structure of gender stereotypes in conservative dance. It’s ballet, with a twist.

“What we do is take these Russian choreographies and we do them as males en pointe for comedy,” explains Tory Dobrin, the artistic director of Les Ballets Trockadero. “People walk away with the sense that it’s a fun show and it’s good dancing.”

The company traces its roots back to the early gay liberation movement and the Stonewall riots in New York in 1969. The Trockadero emerged five years after Stonewall, at a time when drag was prominent in downtown NYC clubs and in off-off-Broadway performances. Coincidentally, North American culture was also witnessing an explosion in the popularity of ballet. Mikhail Baryshnikov had just defected from the Soviet Union and dance was in the forefront of theatre.

According to Dobrin, the Trocks were playing around with dance conventions at the time to achieve their mission, which has remained unchanged since its inception four decades ago.

Using drag as a tool to specifically represent ballerinas rather than women more generally, the Trocks set out to expose the traditional roles and eccentricities of classical ballet from a different perspective.

It’s about dancing the fine line between high art and high camp, Dobrin LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE says, not to mention sharing their MONTE CARLO enthusiasm for dance with the widest Sat, Jan 24, 8pm possible audience. At the end of the day, Queen Elizabeth Theatre 649 Cambie St that’s “the most important element of $29–105 at ticketstonight.ca it,” Dobrin says. showoneproductions.ca Raffaele Morra has been dancing with the Trocks since 2001. Crossdressing in traditional ballet is mainly used for two purposes, he explains: a girl dressed as a man MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM

is used to portray a child, and a man dressed as a woman is meant to enhance the comedic aspect — like Cinderella’s ugly stepsister — or make a character appear more evil or grotesque.

“With the Trocks, each dancer has the opportunity to break those limitations as we portray a pretty princess or delicate swan or an ethereal sylph,” Morra says.

Morra has been dancing professionally for 20 years in both Italy and the United States. When he joined the Trocks 14 years ago, he was looking to get away from what he considers the darker elements of traditional ballet that make it difficult for audiences to enjoy or understand a show.

“I wanted to do something lighter and something more entertaining,” he says. “I saw a performance of the Trocks and knew that this was it. This was classical ballet that I always loved, a lot of comedy and a lot of interaction between the dancers and the audience.”

Morra was more than happy to portray both female and male roles, as he believes that art has no gender. While onstage, he dances as Pepe Dufka or Lariska Dumbchenko. Although the names and biographies are assigned, he says that after so many years the dancers and their characters begin to blend together.

“I recognize myself in Lariska Dumbchenko,” he says. “It’s not only the makeup; you also really feel that you’re becoming someone else. You become the ballerina that is onstage.”

Merging professional dancing, comedy and a healthy exchange between the performers and the audience, Morra says the Trocks’ spin on old ballet makes it interesting for modern spectators.

“They can actually enjoy ballet, laugh at ballet with us,” he says.

Show One Productions is the company responsible for bringing Les Ballets Trockadero to Vancouver. President Svetlana Dvoretsky stresses that although the show does parody classical ballet, it’s not a group of people fooling around onstage.

The Trocks are the “utmost professionals,” she says, attributing their success to their accessibility to all levels of audiences. “Ballet connoisseurs and dance connoisseurs, they will find what they like there, and for people who just happen to be in the audience for the first time, they will enjoy it equally as much,” she says. “No one will leave disappointed.”

The two-hour Vancouver show will feature several ballets, including Swan Lake, Act 2, one of the troupe’s signature works, and three shorter performances, including Go for Barocco, The Dying Swan and Paquita.

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XTRA! JAN 1–14, 2015 15

Blitz roundup 2014

“If you were to break up with them or if they were to die, it doesn’t prevent your sexuality from existing. It doesn’t really work like that.”

And one for the record books: Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox became the first trans woman to appear on the cover of Time.

Pioneers, buttplugs and the end of gay Country went gay

BLITZ & SHITZ RAZIEL REID The gay agenda moved forward in 2014 with help from powerful jocks, even more powerful ladies, out-and-proud country music stars and — who would have guessed it? — Tide detergent.

Harry Styles pioneered a new style of sexuality

Country legends Ty Herndon and Billy Gilman both came out of the closet in 2014. “I have an awesome relationship that I’ve been in for a good number of years. [I] love him very much and he loves me,” Herndon told People magazine. The country crooner overcame drug addiction and the fear of losing his fan base to reveal his sexual identity.

The jocks ruled

The gay rumours have surrounded One Direction since they landed on the pop landscape, and this year, one of the boy band’s members finally responded in a sexy and modern way — by conceding that gender “isn’t that important” in love. Harry Styles revealed his open mind when he told bandmate Niall Horan, “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it” when an interviewer suggested Horan hook up with a dude.

Michael Sam became the first out gay player to be drafted by the National Football League (NFL) but has yet to take the field as part of a franchise. Still, his coming out, which included a viral photo of him kissing his boyfriend, was one for the ages.

Robbie Rogers signed on as the star player of LA Galaxy, and the Warwick Rowing Club finally went full frontal in their charity calendar, which fights homophobia in sport.

Buttplugs became art

The ladies ruled harder

WHAT'S ON

Polar Bear Swim — English Bay, Thurs, Jan 1 CACTUSCLUBCAFE.COM

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Thurs, Jan 1 English Bay 95th Annual Polar Bear Swim Brrrr-ing in the New Year by plunging into English Bay’s chilly waters. Costumes encouraged.

2:30pm. Same-day registration, 12:30–2:30pm at the English Bay Bathhouse, bottom of Beach Avenue, near Davie and Denman streets. Free.

Lights Out This weekly event sees the lights turned low as the men go into overdrive. 4pm–4am.

Steamworks Baths, 123 W Pender St. $6 and up; lockers $8 and up. steamworksbaths.ca Avenue Q The curtain comes down Sat, Jan 3 on this Broadway musical based on Sesame Street characters.

Thursday to Saturday, 8pm; Saturday matinee, 2 pm. Granville Island Stage, 1585 Johnston St. $29 and up at 604–687–1644 or artsclub.com.

Fri, Jan 2 AJ’s Café Gather with other HIVpositive gay men every Friday for this free group sponsored

by Positive Living BC. 3–6pm.

16 JAN 1–14, 2015 XTRA!

Leather Den for Men Deck out in your sexiest/sluttiest gear or no gear at all. 9pm. Club 8x6, 1775 Haro St. VML members $10; memberships available at door. meninleather.homestead.com

Hominum This group for gay, bisexual and questioning men meets every Monday to discuss the challenges of marriage, separation or single life. 7:30–9:30pm. For info on meeting places and to register, visit hominum.ca.

Wed, Jan 7 Gab Youth Drop-In A fun, inclusive drop-in group for LGBT youth and their allies. Meets Wednesdays at 4pm and Fridays at 7pm. Qmunity, 1170 Bute St. gabyyouth@qmunity.ca

Sat, Jan 3

Mindfulness Meditation The aim of this practice is to focus on the present moment. 6:45-8:30pm.

Qmunity, Room 1, 1170 Bute St. Free. wovenland.ca/meditation

Puppy Mosh Join the pups and handlers of VAN-PAH and ring in 2015 at their regular monthly mosh.

2–4pm. PumpJack Pub, 1167 Davie St. No cover. pumpjackpub.com

Brain Candy This science-fiction dance rave, drag show and costume contest is tailor-made for your inner club kid. First Saturday of every month. Hosted by Shanda Leer, Anna Propriette and Junita Werk, featuring Peach Cobblah and Valynne Vile. 10:30pm–2am.

The Fox Cabaret, 2321 Main St. $10. foxcabaret.com

7:30–9pm. Club 8x6, 1775 Haro St. $15 per class. Also runs Saturdays, 10–11:30am. 8x6.ca

Queer Prov Start your week off right with a little improv comedy.

8–9:30pm. 1181, 1181 Davie St. No cover. 1181.ca

The Junction Pub, 1138 Davie St. positivelivingbc.org

The Junk Yard A no-holes-barred sex party on the first, second and third Saturday of the month. 8pm– 3am. Club 8x6, 1775 Haro St. $10; two for one before midnight. 8x6.ca

American artist Paul McCarthy’s sculpture Tree, which was erected in the Place Vendôme in Paris, caused controversy for its similarity to a certain sex toy. McCarthy was attacked on the street over the design, and his 24-metre art piece was deflated after an “unidentified group” cut the cords that kept it standing. The incident caused Mayor Anne Hidalgo to release a statement in support of the artist and his work: “Paris will not succumb to the threats of those who, by attacking an artist or a

Ellen Page came out on Valentine’s Day at the Thrive Conference for LGBT youth in Las Vegas. In an emotional and humorous speech that had the Canadian actress and Academy Award nominee’s voice trembling and eyes welling with tears, Page said she is “tired of lying by omission” about her sexuality.

Another notable woman of the year was Anna Paquin, who schooled Larry King on bisexuality when King asked if Paquin is a “nonpractising” bisexual because of her marriage to fellow True Blood star Stephen MoyEllen Page ditched er. Paquin the closet. responded,

Absolutely Dragulous Carlotta Gurl and her guests regale audiences every Saturday night with drag, live numbers, contests and more. 11pm. The Junction, 1138 Davie St. $5. junctionpub.com

Sun, Jan 4 Sunday Service Fall on your knees and make it your weekly religion.

On tap are Vancouver’s best DJs. 4–8 pm. Steamworks, 123 W Pender St. $6; $8 locker rental. steamworksbaths.com

The Drag Show Join Miz Adrien and her special guests for an evening of glamour and laughter, with a dash of naughtiness on the side. Door prizes and raffle.

Doors 6:30pm; show 7:30pm. The Heritage Grill, 447 Columbia St, New Westminster. $10 before 9pm, $5 after. heritagegrill.com

Mon, Jan 5 Naked Yoga Nude Dude Yoga hosts a weekly class to help men develop greater awareness of their bodies.

Bingo for Life A weekly extravaganza filled with brilliant prizes, cheap drinks and snappy drag queens. 8–10:30pm.

Celebrities, 1022 Davie St. $10 donation at door for bingo cards. celebritiesnightclub.com

benefits A Loving Spoonful. timberlinedance.org

Fri, Jan 9 Showtunes Night: Best Of Sing along, scream at the screen and ring in the new year. 6–9pm. 1181, 1181 Davie St. No cover. facebook.com/ showtunesyvr 4Play Friday Lux presents a weekly lesbian event, with host Symone and a cadre of DJs. 9pm–2am.

Lux Lounge, 1180 Howe St. $10. luxlounge.ca VML Social The Vancouver Men in Leather host a monthly social for everyone from the curious to the serious. 9pm until late. PumpJack Pub, 1167 Davie St. No cover. meninleather.homestead.com Flashback Indulge your nostalgia for the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s and their signature soundtracks.

9–11pm. Heaven’s Door, 1216 Bute St. No cover. facebook.com/ heavensdoorevents Meatrack Rule the dancefloor with the guidance of DJs Ammonia Moss and Maxwell Maxwell and host Junita Werk. 11pm–2am. Heaven’s Door, 1216 Bute St. No cover. facebook.com/heavensdoorevents

Sat, Jan 10

Thurs, Jan 8 Timberline Dance There’s always a partner available and a lesson included. 7–9:30pm. St Paul’s Anglican Church Rec Hall, 1140 Jervis St. A portion of donations at the door (PWYC; $10 recommended)

The Junk Yard 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 Introduction of Candidates for Gay Surrey 2015 The first Empire

VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

The Warwick University rowing club bared all.

Online at xtralivingvancouver.com

Hearing Aids

Printing

Sound Hearing Clinic 604-687-1488

Minuteman Press 604-572-8558

Holistic

Publications

Sequoia Thom GrowingHealthier.org

Pink Triangle Press 1-800-268-9872

Home Furnishings

Xtra (Vancouver) 604-684-9696

Mr Mattress 604-255-2113

Vya Living 604-583-2212

Entertainment

Wall Mount Tronics 778-960-4447

Real Estate Agents

Ballet BC 604-732-5003

Interior Design

Darryl Persello 604-306-1340

Playland Amusement Park 604-253-2311

RodRozen Designs 604-558-4443

Susan Cameron 604-266-1364

Lawyers

Restaurants & Cafés

Beechinor Baker Hall 604-714-5150

Ciao Bella Restaurant 604-688-5771

Dahl & Connors 604-687-8752

Gallery Café & Catering 604-688-2233

barbara findlay 604-251-4356

Lear Faye 604-484-9371

Massage – Certified/Registered

Seniors

Best Western Plus Chateau Granville Hotel & Suites & Conference Centre 604-669-7070

The Maids 604-987-5651

Accounting Services Felicity Webb 604-721-7537

work, are attacking artistic freedom. Art has its place in our streets and nobody will be able to chase it away.”

Gay culture was officially destroyed

It’s the end of homosexuality as we know it: a Tide detergent commercial aired in Canada featuring a gay couple bickering about laundry. In 20 seconds, our once subversive, innovative and trailblazing culture was shattered.

That’s right, folks: we are officially as basic as straight people. Progress!

Looking forward to a new year

All in all, 2014 was a memorable year for gay culture. But 2015 is really going to introduce a new era — by bringing back an old one. Hologram USA has announced that Liberace is set for a stage comeback, with a world tour kicking off in Vegas in the new year. That means that for the very first time Liberace will perform in front of an audience that knows he’s gay! The future glitters.

Addictions Orchard Recovery 866-233-2299

WE Arts 604-683-2554

Community Based Research 604-568-7478

West End Seniors’ Network 604-669-5051

Dr Peter AIDS Foundation 604-608-1874

Community Organizations

Health Initiative for Men 604-488-1001 Positive LIving 604-893-2200

Airlines

BiFocus This peer-led group helps bisexual and pansexual people cope with the challenges of biphobia and heterosexism. The second and last Monday of every month, 7–9pm.

Qmunity Generations, 1033 Davie St. Free. qmunity.ca

Philosophers’ Cafey Meet fellow thinkers the second Tuesday of each month to explore your perception of life and the universe. 6:30– 7:30pm. 310-1033 Davie St. Free. checkhimout.ca Dear John, I Love Jane Queer and questioning women meet the second and fourth Tuesday of every month. 7–9pm. Qmunity, 610-1033 Davie St. qmunity.ca

Submit your event listing to oitc.vancouver@dailyxtra.com.

Deadline for the Jan 15 issue is Wed, Jan 7.

WE Arts 604-683-2554

Framing & Posters Framagraphic Custom Picture Framing 604-738-0017

Funeral Services Martin Brothers Funeral 778-330-7799 Richmond Funeral Home 604-273-3748 Valley View Funeral Home 604-596-8866 Valley View Memorial Gardens 604-596-7196

Furniture Instant Bedrooms Manufacturing Inc 604-669-BEDS(2337)

Cosmetic Services

Antiques

Daher Orthostyle – Dr Sam Daher 604-662-3290

Health & Wellness

Art Galleries

Tues, Jan 13

Positive Living Society of BC 604-893-2200

Vancouver Farmers’ Market 604-879-3276

Grocery Stores

Capreit caprent.com

SHIMON KARMEL

Community Based Research 604-568-7478

Farmers’ Markets

West End Seniors’ Network 604-669-5051

Apartments

Timberline Dance — St Paul’s, Thurs, Jan 8

BC Society for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse (BCSMSSA) 604-682-6482

The Dance Centre 604-606-6412

Raphaella’s Dressmaking and Alterations 604-314-9515 21st Century Promotions 604-980-3159

Mon, Jan 12

ANKORS 800-421-AIDS

ANKORS 800-421-AIDS

Alterations

The Teabag Sessions DJ Taffi Louis presents this weekly tea-dance in Gastown. 4–8pm. 303 Columbia, 303 Columbia St. No cover.

303columbia.ca

Community Groups & Services

AIDS/HIV Resources

Helijet International 800-665-4354

Sun, Jan 11

Travel Clinic 604-736-9244

Community Based Research 604-568-7478

Harbour Air Seaplanes 604-274-1277 of the Peace Arch Monarchist Association event for 2015, featuring former titleholders, the Imperial Family of Reign X and guests.

8–11pm. Olympia Pizza, 10257 King George Hwy, Surrey. No cover. epama.ca

Clinics

Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art 604-682-3455 Museum of Vancouver 604-736-4431

Audio Visual Equipment Wall Mount Tronics 778-960-4447

Automotive Sales & Leasing

Counselling

Nesters Market 604-682-3071 The Health Shows 888-999-1761

Health – Men’s

Counselling BC 604-729-6059

Community Based Research 604-568-7478

Joe Ramirez Integral Counselling 778-227-9423

Health Initiative for Men 604-488-1001

Lehmann Counselling Service 604-614-8121

Healthcare Services

Willow Tree Counselling 604-521-3404

Currency Exchange Vancouver Bullion & Currency Exchange 604-685-1016

Andrea Martens, BScPT, CAFCI Urban Active Sport Therapy Clinic 604-669-8233 Health Initiative for Men 604-488-1001

Pacific Coast Massage Therapy – Christopher Robins RMT 604-687-4078

Transportation Harbour Air 604-274-1277 Helijet International Inc 800-665-4354

Travel – BC

Integrative Healing Arts 604-738-1012

Best Western Plus Chateau Granville Hotel & Suites & Conference Centre 604-669-7070

Pet Stores & Supplies Tisol 14th & Main: 604-873-4117 12th & Arbutus: 604-730-1768 Grandview Hwy: 604-436-3001 Gilley Ave, Bby: 604-434-2812 Market Crossing, Bby: 604-431-8458 #3 Rd, Richmond: 604-276-2254 Richlea Sq, #3 Rd, Rmd: 604-241-7586 Langley Bypass, Langley: 604-276-2254 152nd St, Surrey: 604-536-2330

Tourism Harrison 604-796-5581 Waterway Houseboats waterwayhouseboats.com

Travel – General Travel Clinic 604-736-9244

Websites Daily Xtra 416-925-6665 Squirt.org squirt.org

Weddings 2DQ Weddings 604-306-1340

Physiotherapy & Rehab

Boat Cruises & Charters

Daher Orthostyle – Dr Sam Daher 604-662-3290

Health Initiative for Men 604-488-1001

Burrard Physiotherapy 604-684-1640

iRepair 778-987-2571

Wall Mount Tronics 778-960-4447

Dr Reuben Dinsmore, ND 604-568-7655

Andrea Martens 604-669-8233

Device Repair

Television Installation

Naturopathy

Health – General

Gastown Business Improvement Society 604-683-5650

The Dance Centre 604-606-6400

Health Initiative for Men 604-488-1001

Aarm Dental Group 604-647-0006

Redtree Dental 604-873-3337

Studio Space

BCSMSSA 604-682-6482

Sound Hearing Clinic 604-687-1488

Dr Langston Raymond 604-687-1008

Squirt.org squirt.org

Men’s Services

Dental Services

Business & Professional Organizations

Sex

Rick Girardeau, RMT rickgrmt.com

OpenRoad Infiniti Langley 604-532-888

Waterway Houseboats 877-928-3792

West End Seniors’ Network 604-669-5051

Linda Duncan RMT 604-630-0101

AY 2015

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THE BEST OF GAY & LESBIAN VANCOUVER Accommodations – BC

Real Estate

Home Theatre Installations

Bang-up breakfasts Winter hotspots Burger joints

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XTRA! JAN 1–14, 2015 17 2014-10-31

6:53 PM

A world of gay adventure

Travel

Sin City’s

soft side Skip the casinos and indulge in a luxurious weekend of pampering in Vegas

BRANDON MATHESON

Infamous for its reputation as a gambling, boozing and “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” party mecca, Sin City has been showing a softer side of late that each year gains in popularity with gay and lesbian travellers: that of upscale, luxury getaway.

Nestled among the more raucous entertainment palaces are enclaves of serenity and indulgence for mind and body. A hot-massage stone’s throw off Las Vegas Boulevard — aka The Strip — I checked into the eco-friendly Vdara Hotel and Spa, part of the Aria Resort and Casino. Nestled beside the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas and Bellagio, the Forbes four-star-award hotel is a smoke-free, no-casino oasis. The vibe and décor are

meticulous, contemporary elegance.

My spacious suite offered a comfortable living area separated from the bedroom by a console housing back-toback flat-screen TVs. A spacious marble bathroom had both freestanding walkin shower and Roman tub for two. With a kitchenette and quaint dining area for two, the accommodation reads more designer apartment than hotel room.

Vdara is attracting enough LGBT visitors to register on the company’s radar, according to David Gonzalez, public relations manager for MGM Resorts International, which operates Vdara. Of course, it’s difficult to track who’s gay, but some customers self-identify and the number of same-sex pairs requesting one bed has increased, according to Gonzalez.

Steak and sides at Jean Georges Steakhouse.

BIONDO PRODUCTIONS

Perfect pampering Is there any better way to adjust to a new time zone than with a luxurious spa treatment? Entering Espa at Vdara at 8:30am, I perused a menu of signature treatments that included specialties for both guys and girls. I opted for an 80-minute personalized treatment: traditional Swedish massage, aromatic oils, hot stone massage and full-body salt scrub. Final destination: Heaven.

On. Earth.

Rejuvenation continued in the men’s wet spa area, with tea with lavenderinfused honey, servings of nuts and fruit, lots of water and invigorating rounds between the steam room, whirlpool and dry sauna.

If your first-day goal is to relax and unwind, start with the spa and then spend the afternoon with a good book and great cocktails at Vdara’s spacious pool and lounge-chair area.

Vdara is among a small group of hotels that have eschewed the “party pool” for a more serene setting. It’s social, but relaxation and sun worship trump the Weekend at Bernie’s vibe found at some hotels. The pool deck affords views of surrounding modern glass architecture set against a clear blue desert sky, or you can opt for more private retreats or spa cabanas with semi-private plunge pools.

Alternately, head to The Shops at Crystals, the largest collection of luxury brands in Las Vegas, featuring a shopping list of world-class designer boutiques: Tom Ford, Jimmy Choo, Tiffany’s, Hermès, Paul Smith,

Louis Vuitton and Versace. Crystals is a comfortable walk, or the BellagioCityCenter-Monte Carlo tram, which stops at Vdara, will whisk you there in just minutes.

A treatment at Espa includes sameday reentry privileges to the wet area, perfect for a refreshing hot tub or sauna after an afternoon poolside or shopping.

Start your evening at Aria, with cocktails at Sage, specializing in rare beers and spirits. Craig Schoettler, Aria’s first “property mixologist,” set out to break the boundaries of modern mixology and crafted a menu of sublime cocktails infused with puréed fruit, homemade bitters and boutique liquors. I fell in love with An Elusive Spring (Buffalo Trace Aria Select bourbon, blackberry syrup, lemon juice, mint bouquet).

For dinner, head upstairs to Jean Georges Steakhouse, a world-class steak and seafood eatery with a menu of eyewidening delicacies. Jump into the starters with Wagyu beef carpaccio with black-truffle fritters and lime salt or

caramelized foie gras with black-olive seasoning, lychee and brioche. From the wood-burning grill, mains include certified Kobe beef from Japan, an Australian six-ounce Wagyu filet mignon and a challenging 36-ounce porterhouse; be sure to sample the accompanying house-made flavoured salts, mustards and steak sauces. Jean Georges is renowned for its Australian tomahawk chop — a thick, marbled steak roughly the size of an adult’s face with a footlong protruding bone handle, it’s easily shared. Broiled bone marrow with parsley-lemon gremolata and blacktruffle mac and cheese are wonderful side additions. Surf the turf by adding a North Australian lobster tail; colder Aussie waters produce a flavour similar to Maine or Atlantic Canada lobster.

As the midnight hour approaches, head for the gay nightclubs. Liaison at Bally’s is the first gay nightclub housed inside a casino on The Strip. DJs in two separate rooms spin an eclectic mix of hip hop, rap and top 40. Liaison has

18 JAN 1–14, 2015 XTRA! VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

SCOTT FRANCES

booth-style seating, multiple bars and a stage with surprise live performances.

Not far off The Strip is Share, with a stylish modern nightclub on the first floor and a luxurious and private ultralounge/bar vibe on the second floor.

On Friday nights, a large bizarre clown head signals it’s time for Stripper Circus, a sexy show of gyrating go-go dancers that leave little to the imagination.

Nature & glamour After sleeping in late, latte and rental car keys in hand, head just outside the city limits to experience the serenity and calm of the desert (minimalists will love it). The majestic Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is 29 kilometres from The Strip, an easy 25-minute drive. En route you’ll get a feel for life in Las Vegas’s neighbourhoods (where liquor stores, drug stores and shopping are less expensive than The Strip). Once at the park, a 32-kilometre scenic loop showcases the rugged

beauty of Nevada’s desert terrain and geological formations. At designated stopping points, you’ll find nature lovers and city slickers scampering along easy walking trails, exploring endless gullies and crevices or hiking more strenuous trails to vantage points with spectacular sightlines. Near the park entrance is a discovery centre that provides history and insight and a gift shop. At $7 per carload (good all day for reentry), the second most popular tourist site in the Las Vegas area is a bargain.

After a few hours communing with nature, plan a swanky evening of refined dining and breathtaking entertainment at the Wynn and Encore, spectacles in design and opulence. Combined, they hold more Forbes five-star awards than any other casino resort in the world, and they even boast an “LGBT concierge” to provide guests specialized information.

Reserve a 7pm table at Andrea’s at Encore, the glamorous Asian-inspired restaurant hotelier Steve Wynn named for his wife — and purchase tickets

AL POWERS

Above left, Temptation Sundays at the Luxor’s fantastic pool. Top, the tranquil whirlpool area at Espa at Vdara. Above, high-end shopping at Crystals.

to the 9:30pm show of Le Rêve (The Dream).

Chef Joseph Elevado’s modern Asian cuisine complements Andrea’s hip, high-energy dining experience that is integrated with the Surrender nightclub. Perfect for sharing are table plates of crispy pork korokke, Wagyu beef tartare and seared foie gras bao, or choose from five sashimi dishes. There are no wrong choices on the list of mouthwatering mains: Saikyo Miso black cod, five-spice garlic lobster tempura, spicy adobo shrimp and Jidori chicken breast all delight.

Wynn’s stunningly beautiful waterbased Le Rêve blends mystery and romance with gravity-defying acrobatics.

Theatre-in-the-round creates an intimate experience where The Dreamer pulls audiences into the world of the show, especially if you opt for less expensive front-row seating. Three times a guest and I have braved the “splash zone” seating and left dry.

If a jaunt to the desert isn’t in the cards, daytime attractions from fun to fascinating abound. Head north to old Vegas, where the Neon Museum and Container Park are must-visits; on the strip, The Linq Promenade and High Roller observation wheel make for great fun in the sun. Quirky but interesting is the Atomic Testing Museum to glimpse the impact atomic-age mushroom clouds had on Vegas — and the camp of the Miss Atomic Bomb beauty pageant. continued next page •

MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM XTRA! JAN 1–14, 2015 19

• continued from previous page

Saturday excess Commit to a Saturday night out on the town Vegas-style: experience cocktails, dining and entertainment at the upscale Cosmopolitan Las Vegas. To prep, make three reservations: tickets to the headliner at CLV’s Chelsea theatre; pre-show dinner reservations at Rose Rabbit Lie; and a seat at RRL’s free midnight show Breakfast at Piffany’s.

Reinventing the social club, Rose Rabbit Lie blurs the lines between restaurant, bar, cabaret and high-energy dance club. The various club rooms (some hidden and worth searching out) have a seductive cocktail-culture vibe that shifts from relaxed to raucous; throughout, casual elegance is enforced by a reasonable dress code (consult RRL’s website before you get there).

Start the evening at Rose Rabbit Lie, allowing time for pre-dinner cocktails in the intimate, manor-like Library, then migrate — cocktail in hand — to your table in the upbeat dining room, with its boisterous live entertainment. For a starter, try the snow-pea salad, caviar flatbread or crispy oysters Rockefeller.

The Berkshire pork belly, rabbit fricassee and slow-roasted octopus are all perfect plates for sharing. For mains, duck-confit pasta or short-rib Stroganoff are highlights among an array of tantalizing offerings.

With show tickets in hand, head upstairs to The Chelsea theatre, a 40,000-square-foot black-box theatre with unobstructed views and sharp acoustics. We caught Chelsea Handler’s Uganda Be Kidding Me tour; upcoming shows include Billy Idol (Feb 21) and Amy Schumer (April 24).

After The Chelsea, return to the Library at Rose Rabbit Lie for another round of cocktails and an intimate midnight show with one of Las Vegas’s most quirky performers. Clad in a kitschy dragon onesie, Piff the Magic Dragon (“Maybe you’ve heard of my brother, Puff?”) is infamous for stumping Penn and Teller with his magic on the British TV show Fool Us. Piff performs with Mr Piffles, the “world’s first magic performing chihuahua” — and, if you think magic is for dorks, Piff opened for Mumford & Sons on their 17-date UK tour.

Diva Sunday Brunch fans head to Simon at The Palms to enjoy chef Kerry Simon’s signature approach to American comfort food.

The vast offerings include a buffet and made-to-order fare: French toast, omelets, sushi rolls, salads and carving stations. Simon’s must-try dish is meatloaf, made from a secret family recipe, served with mashed potatoes and succotash. A restaurant staple is the whimsical “junk food platter”: Hostess cupcakes, Sno Balls, cookies, Rice Krispies squares,

RYAN FORBES/AVABLU

Above, Yusho’s bright modern vibe. Left, a cabaret performance at Rose Rabbit Lie. Below, Rose Rabbit Lie’s duck confit. Bottom, signature French toast at Simon.

KABIK/RETNA DIGITAL

PATRICK TREGENZA

Froot Loops treats, brownies and cotton candy, and more. Consider enjoying Chef’s food poolside: a private cabana at The Palms’ chic, Hollywood-vibe pool comes with a $150 minimum food and beverage purchase, so if you start with brunch, you’ll be well on your way.

If you’re in the mood for a pool-party vibe, in season (Sundays, May through September, 1–7pm) head to Temptation Sundays at the Luxor hotel, Las Vegas’s longest-running gay pool party. Hosted

by JSon of Naked Boy News, Temptation is a sexy social scene around an expansive pool area. With a vibe more modern nightclub than “boom boom” circuit party, it’s easy to chat with new friends to a soundtrack of high-energy music by resident DJ Matt Lucio and special guest DJs. The crowd is a good mix of locals ($10 admission) and tourists ($20 admission), with occasional

sightings of headliners from The Strip.

Full-day rentals of elite deluxe cabanas complete with LCD TVs and refrigerators start at $300. Lounge in luxury in plush daybeds starting at $150. Bottle service starts at $100.

After a day at the pool, head to Yusho, the Japanese-inspired grill and noodle house at the Monte Carlo. With décor informed by vintage industrial spaces, anime and Japanese ramen shacks, the feeling is airy, bright and casual.

Inspired by his travels throughout Japan, Singapore and mainland China, renowned Chicago chef Matthias Merges crafted his interpretation of traditional Japanese street food in a menu broken into five categories: pickles and relish, noodles, grilled/fried, steam buns and sweets. Meats and veggies are grilled over an open fire; order the duck breast with shiitake marmalade and Xinjiang lamb with cucumber and cumin. Traditional steam buns arrive open-face; crispy cod and pork shoulder deserve inclusion in your choices for the three-bun sampler.

Complement your selections with a side of Yusho’s house pickles or assorted kimchi, and don’t shy away from the tasty rooster-ball ramen soup — it requires less commitment than the name implies.

Japanese beer and a large sake selection complete the Yusho experience. Ask your waiter for advice on customized pairings of sake with each dish.

To complete the weekend, head to the Colosseum at Caesars Palace for a nighttime concert. For gay and lesbian fans, Caesars has in recent years firmly entrenched itself as the Vegas home of the one-name diva-queen residencies: Bette, Cher, Celine, Shania — and Elton.

Late January through March, John will perform five decades of hits in his Million Dollar Piano show. Rod Stewart has dates scattered throughout January and February. For country fans, Reba McEntire joins Brooks and Dunn for summer 2015 dates.

For the perfect final night in Vegas, head to Celine Dion’s concert (she’s on hiatus but will return) at the Colosseum.

The show uses modern high-tech effects not expected alongside a large orchestra — from Celine performing inside a massive circular rainstorm to a mesmerizing optical effect in which she performs a duet with herself in holographic form.

Celine’s sophisticated show, the elegant orchestra and the luxury of the Caesars showroom evokes vintage Vegas: the era of atomic cocktails, dapper suits and smart evening dresses.

Las Vegas remains the perfect destination for a wild weekend of boozing and gambling, but when you deserve a long weekend of luxury and pampering, you can #DoVegasDifferently.

For the most up-to-date travel information on gay Las Vegas, see our city, listings, events and activities guides at dailyxtratravel.com.

20 JAN 1–14, 2015 XTRA! VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS

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Gay Las Vegas Headliners on The Strip have long dished out camp culture and a queer sensibility BRANDON MATHESON

A gay sensibility rests comfortably in plain sight behind the monstrosity of glitz and glam that is Las Vegas. Queerness is lost completely on many (most?) tourists doing The Strip. Others are confused about whether they’re witnessing gay “that way” — or just the bevy of theatrical oddballs they’d expect to find in Sin City.

For decades, the blue-rinse set thought Liberace was just theatrical.

They lapped up his frequent proclamations of heterosexuality, devoutly watching a pianist dripping in diamonds and pink feathers. “And doesn’t his handsome chauffeur, Scott, look like a wholesome Midwestern boy?”

Wearing red, white and blue sequined hot pants and jacket patterned after the Stars and Stripes along with white majorette boots, Liberace marched past the double entendre of “pianist” and an attempt by gossip rag Confidential to out him in 1957 to become, during the height of his fame, the highest-paid entertainer in the world.

Liberace defined “absolutely fabulous.” A curious oddity of prissy gayness, he laughed all the way to the bank on ticket sales to old Republican women and their begrudging husbands. Long before the sadness of his life story leaked into the tabloids and was dramatized in the film Behind the Candelabra, Liberace was the original Vegas gay diva.

He died of AIDS in 1987 but denied his gayness to the grave.

While the Liberace Museum closed in 2010, many of his costumes are on display at The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas. A foundation formed in 2013 to resurrect the museum but within a year announced that the effort had failed.

In conversation at Toronto’s Massey Hall a few years back, an audience member asked Penn Jillette how he and his silent partner, Teller, who have performed in Vegas since 1993, rose to become Sin City’s leading magic act.

“After a tiger bit the head off a gay guy,” Jillette quipped.

He was referring to a tragic incident in 2003 when, during a Siegfried & MORE AT DAILYXTRA.COM

CAROL M HIGHSMITH

Clockwise from above: Roy Horn (left) and Siegfried Fischbacher with their white lion; Liberace — the original Las Vegas diva; Frank Marino as Joan Rivers.

Roy show, Roy Horn stumbled midperformance and was dragged offstage by a white tiger named Montecore, which clutched Roy in his jaws like a kitten. The cat’s powerful grasp punctured Roy’s neck. He suffered major blood loss and the ravages of a major stroke.

Don’t mistake Penn’s comment for homophobia; it’s comedy closer to catty and cutting drag humour, though Penn is the avowed heterosexual in Penn & Teller. Both rushed to hospital after their show to join other entertainers gathered to support Siegfried Fischbacher as he awaited Roy’s prognosis.

There is a queer sensibility to Penn & Teller’s stage show, now in its 13th year at the Rio. It’s cleverly laden with social commentary (they’re both libertarians, atheists and skeptics), wrapped in mesmerizing artistry and Penn’s witty narration. They skewer government interference in our lives, touching on issues from gun control and religion to the theatrics of airport security in a post-9/11 world. Much glides by the first-time tourist; after seeing them perform eight times, I find them clever and entertaining.

The Siegfried & Roy show at the Mirage closed immediately after the accident. The performing and life partners didn’t officially retire from show

business until 2010 and remain firmly entrenched as magic and entertainment royalty in Vegas history. But no magician can lay claim to being the gayest show in Sin City.

It might surprise some to learn that the longest-running Vegas headliner is a drag queen. In 2015, Frank Marino will celebrate his 30th year performing on The Strip — and as “the Queen of Vegas” (his social media moniker). His current show, Divas, is a high-end Vegas showroom production at The Linq.

On two occasions while attending Marino’s show, we’ve shared a classic showroom banquet with elderly couples in their 60s and 70s who were huge fans of Marino; we shared stories of his early days, about seeing him back in the mid-1990s at the Riviera. These weren’t fans in denial like Liberace’s — Marino is gay, gay, gay, and his legions of small-town fans — young, old, straight or gay — love him.

Situated in front of Caesars Palace in a large circus tent is Absinthe, the critically acclaimed “acro-cabaret” show by Spiegelworld. You’ll endure bum-numbing folding wooden chairs, jammed cheek-by-jowl with your neighbour, but every minute is worth it.

Absinthe, one imagines, is akin to a Weimar-era German cabaret morphed

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with world-class circus arts. But some of the show’s oddball characters were likely delinquents at circus school — out back in an alley smoking, drinking and trying to one-up each other in cursing.

The sexual language and banter is for neither the prudish nor the faint of heart. Absinthe’s greasy emcee delivers vulgarities and offensive quips that would make insult comic Lisa Lampanelli blush.

Some straight girls are crazy for the gay guys. Attending a late-night performance of the Chippendales is an energetic and interesting experience.

Six gay men clustered at cocktail tables in row two stood out in a sea of raucous women (many clad in bridal tiaras or sashes) whose frantic energy and deafening screams outpace anything seen in a gay or straight men’s strip club.

To thunderous applause, the buffed male beauties danced (far better than I was expecting) routine after rou-

tine, easily ripping and tossing their way through 100 skimpy white tanks.

Curiously, the star who provoked the largest response from the women in the crowd was openly gay Jaymes Vaughan, of Amazing Race fame. And surprisingly, whether from the stage or in aisles interacting with the audience, many Chippendales acknowledged their gay fans with friendly winks and nods.

Any dancer who arrived with anti-gay machismo, apparently, had checked it at the stage door.

I was in Las Vegas in August 2014 the day Joan Rivers died. I immediately bought tickets to Frank Marino’s show that night, anticipating a sweet tribute.

Marino is famous for his portrayal of Rivers, who was a close friend, and performs a “Can we talk?” segment each show in character. It was clearly a difficult night for him, but he was brilliant.

At one point between numbers, Marino pokes fun at Elton John’s gayness, claiming the extravagant gown he is wearing was a hand-me-down from John. In another showroom, illusionist Jan Rouven tells stories of his friendship with Siegfried & Roy and also pokes fun at John’s gayness. The German-born magician pulls comedy from his “English as a second language,” referring to John as “her” and feigning innocence at the audience response.

There’s no note of cruelty or belittlement — Marino’s and Rouven’s banter is gay camp humour at its finest — and a kinship emerges that makes gay audience members feel welcome.

A queer sensibility abounds in Las Vegas shows. Perhaps many entertainers, like gay people, convey the experience of being outsiders in a “normal” world.

Though Vegas is far from normal.

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