Taking stock of our fading gay villages E10

Transcription

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#549 SEPT 11–24, 2014
VANCOUVER’S
NCOUVER’S
NCO
N
COUVER’S
OUVER
UVER’S
S GAY & LESB
LESBIAN
SB
NEWS
Gaybourhood watch
Taking stock of our fading gay villages E10
2 SEPT 11–24, 2014 XTRA!
VANCOUVER’S GAY & LESBIAN NEWS
Published by Pink Triangle Press
PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Brandon Matheson
#549 SEPT 11–24, 2014
N MAXWELL LANDER
Roundup
XTRA
VANCOUVER’S
GAY& LESBIAN
NEWS
EDITORIAL
MANAGING EDITOR Robin Perelle
STAFF REPORTER Natasha Barsotti
COPY EDITOR Lesley Fraser
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EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE
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Tyler Dorchester, Paul Dotey, Danny Gray Fox,
Jeremy Hainsworth, Aefa Mulholland, Raziel
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Editorial
Uganda’s endless loop
By Natasha Barsotti E4
Feedback E4
Xcetera E5
Upfront
VPS to consult businesses
about Davie Street party
More open concept urged
for 2015 E7
New HIM series tells firstperson stories about gay sex E8
BOLD festival turns 10 E8
Ask the Expert
Desperately seeking older,
horny lesbians
by Dr Pega Ren E9
ondailyxtra.com
Cover story
Dwindling gaybourhoods
Author Amin Ghaziani looks into
the future of North American
gay villages E10
Out in the City
Founded 1971
DIRECTORS Jim Bartley, Gerald Hannon,
Glenn Kauth, Didier Pomerleau, Ken Popert,
Gillian Rodgerson
HONORARY DIRECTOR Colin Brownlee
PRESIDENT & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Ken Popert
CEO, DIGITAL MEDIA David Walberg
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Andrew Chang
1181 owner takes over
Heaven’s Door E14
Blitz & Shitz
To the moon and back
by Raziel Reid E14
What’s On E15
Xposed
Brain Candy By Tallulah E16
Daily Xtra Travel
from TIFF
E LGBT groups seek
intervenor status in
Trinity Western case
Sun, sin and sequins
A guide to the Sydney Gay
and Lesbian Mardi Gras E20
E Reflecting whole
community is Salt Spring
Pride’s focus
The Brotherhood
By Tyler Dorchester E21
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Second season underway E13
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Down Under’s largest state
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COVER ILLUSTRATION
PAUL DOTEY
XTRA! SEPT 11–24, 2014 3
Comment
Uganda’s endless loop
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EDITORIAL
NATASHA
BARSOTTI
Uganda’s LGBT community is seemingly in for some déjà
vu all over again, with reports that the
country’s lawmakers are angling to
bring back the court-nullified AntiHomosexuality Act (AHA) for a revote.
Nicholas Opiyo, one of the lawyers
representing the nine petitioners who
challenged the act’s constitutionality,
and opposition MP Fox Odoi take great
pains to stress that bringing back the
voided legislation would not stand up
to legal scrutiny. If the government is
bent on having such a measure in force,
it will have to start from scratch — and
that means jumping through all the
parliamentary procedural hoops, including getting leave to bring forward
a new anti-gay bill.
If done by the book, it’s a process
that could take at least two years, Odoi
estimates. “That is the law; there is no
shortcut.”
It’s a law that many determined
legislators seem eager to overlook. According to Odoi, “well in excess” of 200
Ugandan MPs have signed a petition
calling for a revote on the legislation.
“The attempt by MPs to ‘retable’ the
AHA without starting de novo is an illegality dat will be challenged. There’s no
bill in de hse 2 retable,” Opiyo recently
posted on Twitter.
“They think it’s fashionable to be
homophobic,” Odoi says.
With or without a bill on the table,
the homophobia that fuelled MP David
Bahati’s 2009 private member’s bill
remains pervasive — and persistent.
When President Yoweri Museveni
signed Bahati’s now-nullified bill into
law in February, he played Janus with
the issue: one side of his face telling the
Ugandan electorate, the potent Pentecostal movement and their American
evangelical supporters the anti-gay
rhetoric they wanted to hear, while
the other attempted to appease donor
countries and organizations like the
Robert F Kennedy Center for Justice
and Human Rights — stalling tactics, as
it turns out, to give the false impression
that he was showing good leadership,
restraint and some modicum of reason.
In January, for the consumption of
RFK Center delegates and the rest of
the international community, Museveni
called the bill “fascist.” A month later,
he was scrawling his signature on the
document that would be invoked to further discriminate against the country’s
already-besieged LGBT population.
Looking at the crowds that turned
out for a five-hour rally to thank him
for “saving the future of Uganda,” Museveni made the right opportunistic
call as the 2016 elections approach.
Whether the AHA is resurrected
through illegal means in the short term
or through a drawn-out process in the
long term, Opiyo and Odoi argue that
surrendering to the status quo is not
an option.
And it bears repeating — not so much
to the damaged, corrupt and dissentintolerant Museveni regime, but to
those who intend to challenge his almost three-decade hold on power.
“We must engage the homophobes
every day,” Odoi insists. “We must
make sure they know they are as wrong
as apartheid South Africa was; they are
as wrong as the people who engaged in
the slave trade.”
Natasha Barsotti is Xtra Vancouver’s
staff reporter.
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.
FEEDBACK
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4 SEPT 11–24, 2014 XTRA!
As I’ve said to many straight friends
while in the gaybourhood, if you get
hit on, it is a massive compliment
[“BC Judge Says Gay-Panic Defence
No Longer Valid,” dailyxtra.com, Aug
13]. Only a complete dumbass would
react badly to a person saying that
they’re hot. What I don’t understand
with some straight guys is if a gay guy
finds them attractive, chances are that
most women would share that ideal.
CHRIS TETREAU
FACEBOOK
VQFF & pro-Israel ad
The efforts by Queers Against Israeli
Apartheid are nothing more than an
attempt to bully the Vancouver Queer
Film Festival into censoring a local
group of Jewish supporters [“Queer
Film Festival Criticized for Pro-Israel
Program Ad,” dailyxtra.com, Aug 14].
Congratulations to Drew Dennis and
her colleagues for refusing to be bullied. As Drew says, “The mandate of
the organization is to bring communi-
ties together to provide a platform for
safe, open and respectful dialogue and
a diversity of viewpoints.” Let’s keep
it that way.
GORDON HARDY
DAILYXTRA.COM
The ongoing issues in the Middle East
have nothing to do with the gay community any more than it does with any
other community. Continued attempts
to involve our community in this issue
detract from our own issues. After all,
the hatred both sides spew at each
other as they have for most of my life
has reached the point where I couldn’t
care less.
GARY WOODROFFE
FACEBOOK
Calling Suzanne Anton
I have tried, without any success, to
speak with my MLA for VancouverFraserview regarding the current dispute between the government and
teachers. Admittedly, I am a teacher
and no expert on Suzanne Anton, my
MLA since I moved into the riding in
June 2014. I know she is the current
justice minister and filed the appeal
for government against the BCTF. Is
that why she won’t respond to me or
meet with me? I have left two or three
voice mails with her constituency
office, sent a postcard and emailed
numerous times. Granted, I was invited to Ms Anton’s picnic with a few
hundred of her closest Liberal friends
— not really conducive to solving the
current strike.
Maybe I am spoiled, having left
Spencer Chandra Herbert’s West End
riding and always getting a response
when I needed one. Or is this a failure
of our democracy? Aren’t cabinet ministers our representatives, too? Should
they not be accountable to their constituents? Where is the government
leadership while public education
collapses on itself? Surely we deserve
more as voters and taxpayers.
Hey, Suzanne, I can meet you. You
have my number, so call me. Maybe?
JAMES SANYSHYN
VANCOUVER, BC
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WIKIPEDIA.ORG
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OOPS!
Wanted: Copy editor
The recent unveiling of San
Francisco’s Castro Street Rainbow
Honor Walk, featuring 20 LGBT
heroes, produced a blush fest
among its organizers, thanks to a
less-than-diligent vetting of the
text etched on plaques cemented
in the sidewalk. Can you spot the
mistakes?
PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM?
I look forward to putting my helmet
and pads on every day to work my
hardest to help bring a sixth Super
Bowl championship to Dallas!
STANDARD.NET
SCI-FI SEXUALITY
FACEBOOK.COM
Michael Sam, who was cut by the St Louis Rams after being
drafted in May but then signed by the Dallas Cowboys and
assigned to the team’s practice squad. With the signing, Sam
could still become the first active out football player to take
the field in the NFL’s regular season this fall.
DANIEL DISOWNED
VIRAL VIDEO
JUSTICE
$90,000+
Donations sent to gay teen Daniel
Pierce after a video of his family
disparaging him and throwing him
out of his home went viral.
LEAPING LESBIAN LIZARDS
The fears of social conservatives, who warned that accepting homosexuality was
just the first step on the slippery slope to bestiality, have become reality: in the
sci-fi series Doctor Who, Silurian lizard-woman Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh)
smooched with human wife Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart), to mixed reviews from
seven million BBC viewers.
6 million
Approximate number of times the
video was watched on YouTube.
Daniel’s response? “I’m safe and
definitely feel your love all around
me. Thank you . . . but if you would
still like to give money and help the
LGBTQ youth homeless crisis, please
visit Atlanta-based Lost-n-Found
Youth website at lost-n-found.org.”
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XTRA! SEPT 11–24, 2014 5
ENTER TO WIN!
Xtra and IDSwest bring you a chance to win
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Sept 25, winners will enjoy a dinner at Tableau
at the Loden Hotel ($120 value), four tickets to
the Party on Opening Night at IDSwest ($100
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tickets to experience the show, valid either
that Friday evening, Saturday or Sunday, at the
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6 SEPT 11–24, 2014 XTRA!
Upfront
Assimilation into the mainstream is always accompanied
by infighting within a minority group. Amin Ghaziani E10
VPS to consult businesses
about Davie Street party
Lower fences welcomed but more
open concept urged for 2015
PRIDE
NATHANIEL CHRISTOPHER
The Vancouver Pride Society (VPS)
plans to reduce fencing and increase
the participation of Davie Village businesses at next year’s Davie Street party,
general manager Ray Lam says.
“We knew the possibilities with the
new model, but we did not have enough
time to implement it this year,” he adds.
In April, the provincial government
updated special-occasion-licence policies so that events like the Davie Street
party no longer require fenced-in beer
gardens as long as there is a perimeter
barrier, such as fenced-off streets or
buildings so that people don’t take their
alcohol outside the licensed area.
Vince Marino, co-owner of the Junction and PumpJack pubs, says the
new regulations will allow for a more
community-oriented and -integrated
street party.
“We’ve always pushed for an open
street where you block off the corners,
and in the corners you place the entertainment at the various blocks and
only have the fences there to restrict
entry,” he says. “They could make entrance by donation and basically let
the businesses do their stuff inside of
the area and also allow for the free flow
of shoppers.”
In 2014, the street party included
a beer garden between Thurlow and
Burrard streets, as well as two blocks of
open space with vendor tables, carnival
games and an all-ages dancefloor at
Davie and Bute.
“The comments from most people in
this area, including ourselves, is that the
2014 event was more open than it’s ever
been,” Marino says. “I’ve heard the same
comments at the lower end as well, but
there were still problems.”
Andrew Parker, owner of The Dish,
says the fences on his block have had a
negative impact on businesses that do
not serve alcohol.
“Businesswise it kills us, even the
lower fences, because it blocks people
from being able to walk freely,” he says.
“Also, they have a stage at Davie and
Thurlow, which bottlenecks people near
Starbucks and Denny’s. You have 300
people on one sidewalk. It was just ridiculous and, as far as I was concerned,
a security nightmare.”
Marino says he would like to receive
more notice from the VPS in order to
adequately prepare for the street party.
“We got a letter from the Pride board
maybe two and a half weeks prior to the
Friday night that the beer garden was
going to be,” he says. “The letter said
that our part of the street was open
and offered us an opportunity to set
something up in front of our establishment before they opened it up to other
vendors. It’s a good process, but two,
three or even four weeks to do anything
and us being a licensed establishment
makes it impossible.”
Lam says that the VPS is working
with the West End Business Improvement Association to offer free vendor
spaces to businesses that are affected
by the event.
“In a couple of weeks, we will have
meetings with businesses along the
street and interested stakeholders to
ensure they have their say in what 2015
looks like,” he says. “We want to make
sure that businesses benefit from our
presence and that we are not just another visitor passing through.”
New West Pride president Ian Gould
says the open-street model of their
Columbia Street festival, which took
place Aug 16, was a huge success for
area merchants.
“I was told by one of the venues that
they had the best day in three years
We want to
make sure that
businesses benefit
from our presence
and that we are not
just another visitor
passing through.
VPS GENERAL
MANAGER RAY LAM
After last-minute negotiations with the city, the Vancouver Pride Society
dropped its usual six-foot-tall barricades this year in favour of four-foot fences
around the Davie Street party’s beer garden. DANNY GRAY FOX
since the new owners had purchased
the establishment,” he says. “New West
Pride itself just hosted the street festival
but not the beer gardens; all the business was held by the business owners
themselves. We did not make a penny
from the liquor-licence extensions at
any of the venues, but it gave us an opportunity to bring the festival to the
community.”
Lam says the VPS is unlikely to forgo
the revenue from ticket and alcohol
sales, which supports many Pride events.
“I don’t know what New West Pride’s
model was or [how] they were able to do
it, but our expenses are very high with
regards to this event,” he says. “We rely
on fundraisers to make the events work,
and almost all of these are free and open
to the public.”
Councillor Tim Stevenson says the
city will work to ensure that everybody’s interests are understood and
maximized.
“The important thing is what’s best
for the community — the overall GLBT
community in Vancouver — and how do
we bring that about and how do we meet
all the competing interests,” he says.
“Obviously, the Pride Society would be
concerned about losing money if the
liquor outlets get all the profits. So how
would that money be made up? Somehow if the Pride Society is not getting
those revenues, they have to get those
revenues somewhere else.”
XTRA! SEPT 11–24, 2014 7
First-person stories about gay sex
New web series raises awareness
of issues around gay male sexuality
MEN’S HEALTH
The Health Initiative for Men (HIM)
aims to foster dialogue about gay men’s
health with a new web series that explores gay male sexuality in a “positive
and explicit” manner.
“My Fucking Life is a collection of
stories told in the first person from
the actual guys who experienced those
stories,” HIM program manager Jody
Jollimore explains. “To make it more
interesting than a talking head, we recreated the scenes with volunteers from
the community in bathhouses, at house
parties and various venues.”
The third episode of the series is
narrated by a bathhouse enthusiast and
shot on site at Steamworks bathhouse.
HIM wanted to engage as many
people as possible in a fun, sexy and
interesting web-based media project
that would increase traffic to their
new website and expand awareness of
the organization’s services and clinics.
“We did sort of a casting call where we
asked for guys to come out and tell us
some stories, and we assured them their
privacy because we wanted to make
sure they gave us the most intimate
details,” Jollimore says.
The series, which was produced in
collaboration with Pull Focus Film
School, targets guys who engage in adventurous sex but also addresses other
BOLD conference turns 10
SENIORS
LAYLA CAMERON
In a conference room at the Coast Plaza
Hotel on Sept 6, a group of excited lesbians, mainly in their 70s, share their
experiences with several queer women
under 30.
It’s the third day of the 10th annual
BOLD Old(er) Lesbian and Dykes Conference in Vancouver, and these women
have come together for an intergenerational dialogue.
“Women are invisible, lesbians are
My Fucking Life targets internetsavvy gay men and guys who
go to bathhouses or engage in
adventurous sex, says HIM program
manager Jody Jollimore.
invisible, older people are invisible,
and I wasn’t ready for that,” one participant says.
Some of the older women in the
workshop express concern about the
apparent loss of women-only spaces,
such as the Michigan Womyn’s Festival,
lamenting that younger lesbians and
queer women don’t seem to think such
spaces are important.
For many of the older women, being a
lesbian is an extremely important part
of their identity, especially since many
of them came out during the women’s
topics of gay life.
“Whether that be isolation, sexual
health or substance use, we hear about
that in the web series,” Jollimore says.
“We don’t condone or condemn any of
the behaviour in the series. We present
them in a really non-judgmental way
in hopes that we can create a dialogue
about what are the joys, benefits and
also challenges to their lives.”
The first episode of the series was
released Sept 2. The remaining episodes
will be released every Tuesday for five
weeks.
movement in the 1960s and ’70s. The
conversation pauses every so often to
discuss new terms and how the younger
women define the word queer.
Participants of all ages agree that
both lesbian and queer identities can
be synonymous with being a “process
junkie” and that both sexualities tend
to produce a “processing wonderland.”
Another kind of wonderland is offered a few rooms up, where a private
workshop explores the art of seduction.
“Margaret Mann did a wonderful workshop on sex and older women. She did a
wonderful job of getting women to talk
about very personal issues,” first-time
BOLDFest attendee Catherine Carter
later tells Xtra.
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BOLD co-organizers Pat Hogan and
Claire Robson celebrated the festival’s
10th birthday Sept 4 to 7. LAYLA CAMERON
To mark its 10th anniversary, BOLDFest featured a variety of workshops
(including one on writing your own
obituary), a reception, a dance, some
dragon boating, film screenings, a concert and a retrospective of the festival’s
first decade.
Co-organizer Claire Robson says the
highlight for her this year was the woman
who came out just two weeks before the
festival and publicly shared her story. “In
front of 120 people she told her story —
how she went to Little Sister’s for the first
time, how she was married for 36 years,
how her roommate had signed her up for
the conference,” Robson says. “She told
us that she’s never felt more feminine,
more free or more bold.”
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ASK THE EXPERT
DR PEGA REN
Dear Dr Ren,
I’m in my 50s and have
been single for eight years. I’m trying
to make a decision about how I handle
dating.
My last relationship was nurturing
and exciting. My girlfriend and I were
perfectly matched sexually and I discovered how good sex can be. I learned
to communicate openly and how to
experiment sexually.
Since then I’ve been disappointed
with my lovers. They all seem sexually
timid and more interested in cuddling
than canoodling. I soon get bored and
frustrated, so I’m still single.
Once you’ve known sexual ecstasy,
can you ever be satisfied with lukewarm? Is there a way to find a good
match, or are older, horny lesbians
just a myth?
I don’t think I can stand one more
round of finding someone attractive
only to learn that she doesn’t really
like sex. I’m wondering if I should
just stop.
Thoughts?
Am I a...
—Unicorn?
Dear Unicorn,
There are many reasons lesbians so
often struggle with their sexuality.
We’re raised as heterosexual girls,
learning heterosexual rules and ethics
about dating. We’re not taught to initiate or how to handle rejection, both
necessary skills to keep a sexual pattern lively.
Then there’s all that hormonal stuff
that keeps us in flux regarding how
we feel about receptivity. Our desire
varies with our cycles. With both partners responding to hormonal cues
simultaneously, sexual activity can
become sparse.
Sex researchers posit that desire
thrives on difference. Girlfriends can
easily slip into being best friends, and
that familiarity and intimacy suffocate
eroticism.
For these reasons — and the reality
of individual sex drives and personalities — lesbians can have a hard time
finding a sex-positive match. It is sad
that you found and then lost so good
a fit. But then, lost or not, you tapped
in to sexual exploration. With that,
you gained what these lukewarm lovers have yet to find. There’s always a
chance that you can be the catalyst
for another woman, just as your lover
was for you.
Maybe you’re done. Maybe you don’t
have the energy to keep kissing frogs
and finding no princess.
If so, then take a break and join
the thousands of older women who
develop active and satisfying solo sex
lives. This is a great time for personal
growth and deep friendships, and
without that pressure to be “on the
market,” we can be expansive and
outrageous. With a solitary focus and
fewer outside demands, we can create
enviable lives.
But if you continue to long for the
besotted happiness of being in love
and experiencing great sex, then continue your search. Despite your dating
frustration, your body may well continue to crave the uncompromising
pleasure of uninhibited sex.
Keep an active profile, and be precise
about who you are and whom you seek.
A forthright and honest profile revealing your sexual aptitude may not get
you quantities of replies, but the ones
you do receive will be genuine possibilities. Fewer frogs, but a better chance at
a sexually enthusiastic princess.
Consider attending festivals targeting older women, which offer contact
and community. There you’ll find
others experiencing the same issues
— possibly even those longing, like
you, for sexual ecstasy.
I remember reading a statistic that
more women in their 70s “remarry”
compared to those in their 60s. If this
proves true for you, you two may not
be able to grow old together, but remember that once past menopause,
sex takes on a richness learned only
with time. Your later years can overflow with happiness.
The older we grow, the better we
know ourselves and what we want. You
may find another ideal mate, or maybe
not. The only real mistake would be
to close yourself off to opportunities,
however they present themselves.
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and relationships of LGBTQ individuals”
[email protected] | (604) 319-2345
WWW.ROSANNEJOHNSON.COM
Have a question for Dr Ren? Send an
email to [email protected].
XTRA! SEPT 11–24, 2014 9
PAUL DOTEY
DWINDLING GAYBOUR
COVER STORY
MATTHEW DIMERA
Four and a half years ago, Shawn Ewing
and her wife left their apartment in
Vancouver’s West End to move to the
suburbs. For the Ewings, leaving the
gaybourhood for Surrey was a question
of simple math.
“Two thousand square feet and a
yard versus a little under 700 feet in an
apartment,” she says. “Accessibility to
the party downtown wasn’t important
to us anymore. What was important
was a house and having a yard and a
garden and all of that good stuff.”
Ewing, a former president of the
Vancouver Pride Society, is now vicepresident of Surrey’s Pride organization.
She says that despite Surrey’s conservative reputation and some early fears that
they might have to “straighten up,” her
family has had no problems at all.
“We haven’t changed any of our behaviour,” she says. “I don’t have a problem holding my wife’s hand when we’re
walking down the street or giving her a
kiss in my front yard.”
“I probably got called out more living
downtown about being a dyke than I
certainly have been in Surrey,” she says.
From Vancouver’s Davie Village to
Toronto’s Church Street to Montreal’s
10 SEPT 11–24, 2014 XTRA!
Le Village, everyone has their own opinion about Canada’s gay neighbourhoods,
but few seem to disagree that they are
in decline.
Whichever name you call it — the
gaybourhood, gayvenue, gay district,
gay mecca, gay ghetto — the question
of its future isn’t limited to Canada.
Across the border in the United States,
many notable gay districts are also fading into shadows of their former selves,
from San Francisco’s Castro to Chicago’s
Boystown to Seattle’s Capitol Hill to
countless more.
In his recently released book There
Goes the Gayborhood?, Amin Ghaziani,
an associate professor of sociology at
the University of British Columbia,
examines the changing face of the gay
neighbourhood. His research is based
on census data, opinion polls, more
than 600 newspaper articles and more
than 100 interviews with gaybourhood
residents.
“I myself lived in Chicago’s Boystown
district for nearly a decade, starting
in 1999. I remember feeling uneasy
in those years as I read one headline
after another about the alleged demise
of my home and other gayborhoods
across the country. The sight of more
straight bodies on the streets became
a daily topic of conversation among my
The sight of more
straight bodies on the
streets became a daily
topic of conversation
among my friends — an
obsession to be honest.
AUTHOR AMIN GHAZIANI
friends — an obsession to be honest,”
Ghaziani writes.
“As the years went by, my friends and
I bemoaned, perhaps most of all, feeling
a little less safe holding hands with our
partners, dates, or hookups — even as we
walked down what were supposed to be
our sheltered streets. I had been called
a ‘fag’ on more occasions than I still
care to remember, and I was shocked
at the disapproving looks that I would
receive when walking hand in hand with
another man. I knew I could not escape
this menacing straight gaze altogether,
but I was so angry that I had to deal with
it in Boystown. This was supposed to be
a safe place,” he writes.
According to statistics, the days
where the gay community was drawn to
live and work in a single neighbourhood
are ending. American census data shows
that same-sex-couple households have
become “less segregated and less spatially isolated across the United States
from 2000 to 2010,” Ghaziani writes.
“This is a restlessness that clearly appears in cities across North America. To
wonder where gayborhoods are going,
debate whether they are worth saving,
or question their cultural resonance
— all of this announces to us that they
are in danger.”
Although gay bars have been around
since the start of the 1900s, gaybourhoods are a fairly recent phenomenon.
It wasn’t until after the Second World
War that they really began to flourish
in North America, buoyed first by the
thousands of men and women dishonourably discharged from the military
for their presumed homosexuality and
later by migrating single gay men and
lesbians from smaller towns in search
of a place to call home. Gaybourhoods
promised safety and freedom, as well as
places to find love and sex.
Ghaziani points to several factors
that are changing these areas today: the
increased acceptance of gay men and
lesbians by society and under the law,
allowing many people to feel safer moving to more spacious accommodations
in the suburbs; growing development
and gentrification, leading to rising
property value and rents, driving some
people out of downtown areas; and the
increased migration of straight people
back into desirable urban areas.
Ron Dutton has lived in Vancouver’s
West End for 40 years and has never
once wanted to leave. “I like the diversity of people, the sense of openness,”
he says. In his opinion, changes are
constant, and except for the rapidly increasing cost of living, he doesn’t think
the changes are negative.
HOODS
“Individual businesses come and
go, but I don’t see the neighbourhood
becoming any less welcoming,” he says.
Still, Dutton laments that many seniors
on fixed incomes have been leaving the
area against their will as rents continue
to skyrocket.
As some gay people resist the tide and
stay in gay neighbourhoods, many more
are undeniably leaving — even as North
American cities begin to recognize
their cultural and, especially, potential
financial value.
The permanent rainbow crosswalks
in Vancouver and now in Toronto and
the newly installed rainbow LED strip
lights in Vancouver are all being used to
promote these villages as destinations,
to locals and tourists alike. These efforts
at urban renewal can also contribute
to the gentrification that eventually
prices many gays and lesbians out of
these areas.
To many, especially to the younger generation, the notion of a single
gay district seems antiquated. As gay
people, men especially, increasingly
turn online to find sexual and romantic
connections, their need for gay bars
and physical places to meet and hook
up diminishes. As the world becomes
safer for some sexual minorities, the
need for the protective embrace of the
Author Amin Gha
azia
ani lo
ooks in
nto
o th
he
future of North Americ
can gay village
es
gaybourhood also begins to decline. In
the early 1990s, there were 16 gay bars
in Boston. By 2007, that number had
dropped by half.
Ghaziani references these phenomena as part of the “post-gay” era, where
gays are being accepted by society and
are choosing to assimilate into the
mainstream. He says it’s changed the
way many of us think about ourselves.
As an example, he points to statistician Nate Silver, who was named one of
Time magazine’s 100 most influential
people in 2009. In a 2012 interview
with Out magazine, Silver said that his
friends saw him as “sexually gay, but
ethnically straight.”
Ghaziani’s book defines “post-gay”
partly as an assertion that who a man
has sex with “is not necessarily related
to his self-identity or to the cultural
communities in which he participates.”
He compares this sort of sexual identity
with white ethnic identity: “optional,
episodic and situational.”
In reviewing media interviews with
various gay people — often couples —
who have chosen not to live in gaybourhoods and who say they are fitting in, he
notes that their tones are often laced
with some shame. He wonders why
the opposite of “blending in” is having
a “scarlet letter on our heads” or being
“those people?”
self-segregation was hurting the gay
“Assimilation into the mainstream movement politically.
is always accompanied by infighting
Ghaziani argues that even while many
within a minority group, especially outgrow them, gaybourhoods remain
between those who are eager to blend “culturally relevant as refuges for queer
in and those who are
youth of colour, transdetermined to hold on
gender individuals and
to what makes them difqueers who hail from
ferent,” he writes.
small towns, because
Interestingly, Ghaantigay bigotry still
ziani’s book also inaffects their everyday
cludes interviews from
life.”
some of the straight
Despite having left
people living in gaythe confines of Vancoubourhoods. He finds
ver’s gay village, Ewing
that many are “benignagrees that there will
ly indifferent” to their
always be a need for the
gay neighbours, while a
gaybourhood, but she
minority feel that they
stresses the importance
are victims of reverse
of it needing to be about
discrimination.
more than just bars. She
He found the rewould like to see more
THERE GOES THE
sponses of straight
places that include nonGAYBORHOOD?
people so repetitive
drinkers and youth.
Amin Ghaziani
and almost rehearsed
Ghaziani suggests
Princeton University Press
press.princeton.edu
that it was hard to tell
that it’s unreasonable
if they were being honto expect gaybourhoods
est about being indifferent or if they — or any neighbourhood, for that matwere just being politically correct. One ter — to remain stable and unchanged
single, straight 28-year-old in Boys- but that it’s equally unreasonable to
town told Ghaziani that he would like declare them dead.
to see the rainbow pylons and flags
Neighbourhoods often move, reform
taken down because, in his opinion, and migrate, he says. Toronto’s “Queer
West” and Vancouver’s Commercial
Drive are two such examples. Many
young queer people may want to live
in a gay area, but they settle where they
can afford the rents, even if that means
congregating in — and queering — new
neighbourhoods.
Ghaziani further theorizes that these
gay-friendly neighbourhoods could
eventually become full-fledged gay
neighbourhoods in their own right.
If the old gaybourhood was an island,
these new models are archipelagos.
These new villages may eventually supersede the older ones, or they may all
coexist.
Dutton says that while we have gained
a lot of freedom under the law, that
doesn’t negate the need for the gaybourhood. “I think there is much to be said
for an accepting environment where
people can feel free to dress unusually
or where they can express their affection for one another openly. That would
be regretful if those things were lost
over time,” he says.
“I don’t think the times have progressed to the point where we’re all just
equal,” he continues. “There is much to
be said for having a place within the city
where people can come from elsewhere
and feel that this is home — this is where
my people congregate.”
XTRA! SEPT 11–24, 2014 11
The best of gay and
lesbian Vancouver —
on your desktop and
your mobile device!
Check out the interactive
digital edition of Xtra Living at
xtralivingvancouver.com
Something Must Break (Sweden, 90 mins)
>OPSL PKLU[P[PLZ HUK NLUKLYZ HYL HSS\YPUNS` Å\PK PU ,Z[LY
Martin Bergsmark’s narrative debut, the desire for connection is unrelenting. Initially trepidatious to explore a femiUPULZPKL:LIHZ[PHUɬÔVZVTL[PTLZWYLMLYZ[VILJHSSLK
,SSPLɬMHSSZOHYKMVY(UKYLHZHZ[YHPNO[THU)\[ÔLU(UKYLHZWYV]LZHMHZ[MYPLUKI\[YLS\J[HU[SV]LY,SSPLY\ZOLZ
to the fore. Winner, Hivos Tiger Award, Rotterdam 2014.
Sat. Sep 27, 12:15 pm, Cinematheque GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY
Mon. Sep 29, 2:00 pm, Intl Village 10
Thu. Oct 9, 7:00 pm, Rio
TICKETS
Adult $13
Weekday Matinee $11
Student Post Secondary $11
Senior 65+ $11
VIFF MEMBERSHIP $2
PACKAGES
The Sun, the Moon and the Hurricane
(Indonesia, 101 mins)
Before the Last Curtain Falls
(Belgium/Germany/Canada 86, mins)
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2YPZ ÔLU [OL`»YL IV[O OPNOZJOVVS
ZLUPVYZ HUK PZ KL]HZ[H[LK ÔLU 2YPZ
abruptly goes abroad. Several years
later he gets an invitation to visit his
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sexy, seductive and emotionally intense.
Mon. Sep 29, 9:15 pm, Cinematheque
Wed. Oct 1, 12:15 pm, Cinematheque
It’s closing night for popular Belgian
cabaret Gardenia and its gay and
trans stars face reintroduction into
reality. Mixing avant-garde choreogYHWO` ^P[O JVUMLZZPVUHS PU[LY]PL^Z
;OVTHZ >HSSULY VɈLYZ ¸HU LUKLHYing recollection of life as an outsider,
a sincere exploration of queer identity, and a stunning celebration of the
JVTT\UPVU ^L HJOPL]L PU HY[¹ɬIndiewire. Winner, Special Jury Prize:
Canadian Feature, Hot Docs 2014.
Thu. Sep 25, 7:00 pm, Rio
Fri. Sep 26, 1:30 pm, Intl Village 8
Mon. Sep 29, 4:30 pm, Rio
12 SEPT 11–24, 2014 XTRA!
5 Ticket Pack $60
5 Ticket Pack Student$50
5 Ticket Pack Senior $50
12 Ticket Pack $144
20 Ticket Pack $220
30 Ticket Pack $300
PASSES
Weekday Matinee $175
Student & Senior $325
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Platinum $900
BOX OFFICE
• ONLINE at viff.org
• IN-PERSON from Sept. 13
Vancity Theatre 1181 Seymour
Street, at Davie (Noon – 7 pm)
OutintheCity
I keep joking that I’m going to wear out the rainbow on the
crosswalk. Jennifer Mickey E14
New hijinks await in Furry Creek
Second season
underway on OUTtv
TV
RAZIEL REID
If you missed the first season of The Face of Furry
Creek on OUTtv, then you don’t smoke weed or
laugh enough.
Created by comedy writer, producer and actor
Mark Kenneth Woods, the show follows the lives
of the residents of a mountain-resort community
whose tourists are leaving in droves. After deciding that what the town needs to attract visitors is
a tourism ambassador, the local news program
starts a reality-show contest to discover “the face
of Furry Creek.”
And that face is “homely and disgusting,” as
Woods describes Deb, one of his many alter egos
on the hit show and the first season’s unwitting
winner.
“I was always a big fan of Kids in the Hall,” Woods
says. “The [actors] played all the characters, so they
all played women and they weren’t exactly pretty.
They weren’t trying to be a blond bombshell; they
were playing a housewife in rural Ontario. Since
then I haven’t really seen anyone do that kind of
drag. It’s all about RuPaul and being fabulous and
fierce and looking really good,” he says. “We’re
doing the exact opposite, looking as homely and
disgusting as we possibly can — which is, of course,
much more funny than looking pretty.”
In the second season of the mockumentary train
wreck, the search is on for a new face of Furry
Creek, with some previous contestants battling
it out against Woods’s latest creations.
Apart from Woods, the cast includes Michael
Venus, Ryan Steele and Amy Goodmurphy, who
all play multiple characters. This season, Woods
has taken on a total of nine roles, ranging from a
Khloe Kardashian parody to one feisty little person to whom you do not want to owe a drug debt.
But Woods’s favourite character to play is Deb,
lover of two-percent milk and hair scrunchies and
the best friend of alcoholic and alleged prostitute
Sisi, played by Michael Venus. The characters first
debuted in Deb and Sisi — Woods’s feature film that
premiered at the Vancouver Queer Film Festival
in 2008 — and have been resurrected for The Face
of Furry Creek.
“It’s always fun to play, except I have to shave
and put on makeup,” Woods says. “I have a really
thick beard, so even when I shave there’s still a
little darkness. The makeup person has to really
We’re doing the
exact opposite,
looking as homely and
disgusting as we
possibly can — which
is, of course, much
more funny than
looking pretty.
— CREATOR MARK KENNETH WOODS
In the second season of the mockumentary
train wreck, the search is on for a new face of
Furry Creek, with some previous contestants
battling it out against Mark Kenneth Woods’s
latest creations. FACEOFFURRYCREEK.COM
cake on the makeup, so it’s a bit uncomfortable.”
It’s almost as uncomfortable as bleaching his
facial hair to play Australian Nate, one of the many
new characters popping up this season.
“I added some new characters to keep it fresh,”
Woods says. “I had more time to write this season,
so I was able to focus more on the jokes. We upped
our game in every aspect. Ryan and Amy are featured much more. They’re at the forefront with
me and Michael.”
The series is shot in Whistler because, as Woods
says, “there really is no set more beautiful than the
outdoors of British Columbia, and I don’t have to
pay for it!” The backdrop serves as the inspira-
tion for two of Woods’s characters, the French
snowboarder Guy and his “bra” Chad, played
by Michael Venus, who is so convincing as a
dumb jock that I’m totally attracted to him.
“People don’t look at them as drag characters because it’s guys playing guys, but it’s still
characterization and it arguably takes just as much
effort,” Woods says.
Season 2 sees Chad become mayor of Furry Creek
in a hilarious parody of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford,
one of Woods’s many pop-culture inspirations. This
season also features the Duck Dynasty “freedom
of speech” fiasco and a Glee-full musical episode.
“I wrote the songs and then had to record them
in multiple voices,” Woods says. “My neighbours
thought I was a complete nutcase!”
And who can blame them? Deb singing?!
You may just need to invest in a bigger bong
for Season 2 of The Face of Furry Creek, which
premiered Sept 8 on OUTtv.
XTRA! SEPT 11–24, 2014 13
1181 owner takes over Heaven’s Door
Venue open
only on weekends
for now
NIGHTLIFE
RAZIEL REID
Jennifer Mickey, or simply Jenn to her
regulars, made her debut on Davie Street
in 2011 after purchasing the 1181 lounge.
“When I knew that I was interested in
1181, I went onto my Facebook and messaged the few friends I knew were gay
who I had went to high school with and
was like, ‘Tell me about 1181,’” Mickey
recalls. She was quickly schooled, but
not by former high school friends: the
drag queens got to her first.
“The community is very loyal, so I
can understand why it took a while
to warm up to a straight girl from the
suburbs taking over their cherished
bar,” Mickey says. When they saw how
determined she was to tap into 1181’s
full potential, the queens quickly got
on board. The club now hosts two drag
nights a week: Peach Cobblah’s Shame
1181’s popularity motivated owner Jennifer Mickey to purchase Heaven’s Door, where she hopes to create a “more
adventurous” space. NATASHA BARSOTTI
Spiral on Tuesdays and Joan-E’s show
on Sundays.
1181 gets so much traffic that “it’s
bursting at the seams,” she says. Its
popularity motivated her to purchase a
second venue, Heaven’s Door, at Davie
and Bute streets.
“I’m excited to create a space similar
to 1181 but be a little more adventurous
and have a little more fun,” she says.
“The possibilities are endless.”
Mickey says Heaven’s Door needs her
attention “day in and out” but promises
she’ll still be behind the bar at 1181. “I
keep joking that I’m going to wear out
the rainbow on the crosswalk.”
Heaven’s Door was closed for Pride
weekend and delayed its opening be-
To the moon & back
East Van aliens and Joan Rivers
BLITZ & SHITZ
RAZIEL REID
Let the aliens eat cake!
There were cupcakes and
other treats at Brain Candy, The Fox’s
new monthly party by Anna Propriate,
“the dumpster cupcake of East Van.”
In a bid to leave this dimension, I took
a bite out of all the sweets because I
wasn’t sure which were laced. It worked.
My space mission had me on a dancefloor alternate-reality moonwalking to
the beats of DJs Jef Leppard and G-Luve.
The Fox has a marquee above the bar
that says, “Living the dream on Main
Street,” and you could definitely call
Brain Candy dreamlike. The “space
age synthpop new wave dance rave”
felt like you were falling through one
of the holes in your brain that you got
from doing too much molly.
I entered the void and didn’t look back.
After testing the galaxy’s waters at
The Astoria earlier this summer, Brain
Candy took a hiatus to hoard sugar and
plot how to really get their spaceship
to take off. The event is now back the
first Saturday of the month at The Fox,
14 SEPT 11–24, 2014 XTRA!
which has replaced The Astoria as Area
51. Access is unrestricted.
I’m so glad someone has finally
thrown an alien party, because I get
abducted every night anyway, and a girl
likes an ET to buy her a drink before
probing.
I’m not kidding about the abductions;
I swear my pineal gland gets gangbanged
by the greys. According to YouTube, the
greys are demonic, but since they’re the
most action I’ve been getting these days,
I’m all right with that.
Think I’m just smoking too much
weed? Well then, so is former Canadian
defence minister Paul Hellyer. In an interview on the Russian television show
SophieCo, Hellyer claimed there are
more than 80 extraterrestrial beings in
contact with our planet, some of whom
“look just like us, and they could walk
down the street and you wouldn’t know
if you walked past one.”
If you need further evidence that
aliens exist, just follow Jaden Smith
on Twitter.
Or head over to Brain Candy! The
queens were certainly otherworldly.
Anna looked like she was straight from
Raziel lifts off with Brain Candy hostess Anna Propriate. TALLULAH
Venus; Junita Werk was more spaced
out than ever, and not just from all that,
um, candy; Peach Cobblah lost one of
her heads; and Valynne Vile was truly
in a dimension of her own. She got all
dressed up and posted selfies of her
pre-game — then never showed up! A
little spaceman whispered in my ear
that Valynne allegedly got wasted (drag
queens drink?!) and passed out before
she could be transported from her home
planet to The Fox. Well, bitch is Miss
Cobalt. We should count ourselves lucky
she passed out at home instead of in a
ditch for a change.
Shanda Leer was in attendance and
took to the mic to eulogize/roast Joan
Rivers. When some people in the crowd
heckled, “Too soon!” Shanda told them,
in true Rivers fashion, to fuck off because Joan “would be loving this shit.”
And she was right. Rivers knew that
cause, upon purchase, Mickey had to
sort out licensing and permit issues
with the City of Vancouver.
“When that came to light, I wanted
my relationship with the city to be good
to go before we opened our doors,” she
says. “They wouldn’t do the transfer
of the business licence until the issues
were solved.”
A spokesperson for the City of Vancouver licensing department says
Heaven’s Door has secured all required
licensing and can be open for business.
Mickey plans to keep the venue open
on weekends but closed during weekdays
for renovations. “I didn’t want to take
the venue away from the community,
especially on high-volume nights like
Friday and Saturday where there aren’t
many places to hold an event,” she says.
“It’s still Heaven’s Door for now,” she
adds. “We’ve slapped some lipstick on
her, but I’m excited to have an official
launch when she has her full face on.”
Mickey hopes to hold that launch
“sometime in the next few months.”
For more on this story,
go to dailyxtra.com.
laughter heals and counted on the gays
to remember that.
“When the gay community starts
becoming overly sensitive and loses
its sense of humour, we’re all in deep
shit,” Rivers said. “They’re the funniest
people alive.”
Although Shanda was more of a creature than a person at Brain Candy, I’d
have to agree.
In an age where every queer-cunttranny-nigger is getting their tentacles
in a knot over what words can and cannot be used on a politically correct
Earth, we should step out of the shit
and heed Rivers’s advice to keep calm
and carry on laughing — even in the
nipped-and-tucked face of death.
Thankfully, Rivers left us with plenty
of material, like this joke about Xenu’s
power bottom:
“I hate Tom Cruise,” Rivers said. “In
TV interviews Tom laughs inappropriately and much too vociferously at
non-humorous declarative statements,
which is ironic because in real life he
can’t take a fucking joke at all. All you
have to do is make one simple, little,
harmless, innocuous aside like ‘The
Scientology spaceship was late today;
it had to stop by Fire Island to pick
up Tom Cruise,’ and he has a pack of
lawyers at your door faster than Katie
Holmes can say, ‘No, really, he loves me
in that way, I swear.’”
You’ll be missed, Joan! Enjoy your
journey through the stars.
WHAT'S ON
strip for you onstage. 9pm–2am. The
Cobalt, 917 Main St. $12; $9 if wearing
just a jock. thecobalt.ca
Cherry Pop Jane Smoker pops the
cherry of local drag virgins every
month. Featuring The Cherries in
a live strip show and special guest
Raye Sunshine. 10:30pm–2:30am.
Fox Cabaret, 2321 Main St. $12.
foxcabaret.com
FOR MORE LISTINGS, GO TO DAILYXTRA.COM
Wed, Sept 10
Vancouver Fringe Festival The
11-day festival features 89 artists
and includes such queer content as
Meat Loaf Jesus, Ludwig & Lohengrin,
The Chariot Cities, . . . didn’t see that
coming, and Roller Derby Saved My
Soul, as well as a new production
from the puppetry duo Mind of a
Snail. Festival runs until Sun, Sept
14. vancouverfringefestival.com.
Rainbow Refugee Committee
This information and support group
for LGBT people making refugee
claims meets the second Thursday
of each month. 7:30pm. Qmunity,
1170 Bute St. rainbowrefugee.ca
Fri, Sept 12
Joe Ford Tribute Lovely Linda,
Myria Le Noir and Oliv host a
tribute to Joe Ford, who, they say,
was instrumental in organizing
Vancouver’s first AIDS Walk, in 1986.
7–10pm. Lux Lounge, 1180 Howe
St. $20; includes complimentary
appetizers. eckess.com
Lost Girls Burlesque
The monthly burlesque show
returns, at a new venue with new
performances. 8pm. Fox Cabaret,
2321 Main St. Advance tickets at
brownpapertoickets.com; $15 at
door. lostgirlsburlesque.com
VML Social The Vancouver Men in
Leather host their monthly social in
the back of the PumpJack Pub, for
everyone from the curious to the
serious. 9pm until late. Pumpjack
Pub, 1167 Davie St. No cover.
meninleather.homestead.com
Sat, Sept 13
Abbotsford Drag Show Join
Anida Tythole and the Fraser Valley
Sun, Sept 21
Youth Society to support its drop-in
for LGBT youth from Abbotsford,
Mission and Chilliwack. 7pm.
Cheers Bar & Grill, 2814 Gladwin Rd,
Abbotsford. $25 includes a burger
and drink. For more information,
email [email protected].
Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life
Vancouver’s 29th annual walk
around the Stanley Park seawall
supports people living with
HIV/AIDS. 10am–1pm. Meet at
Sunset Beach, 1204 Beach Ave.
aidswalkvancouver.ca
Martina Griffiths Jazz singer
Martina Griffiths performs some of
her favourite Canadian songs. 8pm.
The Emerald Backroom Cabaret,
555 Gore St. $20 at martinagriffiths.
bpt.me.
Fraser Youth Pride The Fraser
Valley Youth Society presents
its second annual Pride march.
Gather at noon at Rotary Stadium
in Abbotsford; walk begins at
12:30pm. Rotary Stadium, 32470
Haida Dr. Free. fraseryouth.com
Hustla: Back 2 Skool, Fool Your
favourite sweaty-ass dancefloor
is back, with host Peach Cobblah
and DJs Dom Top and Jef Leppard.
9pm. The Cobalt, 917 Main St. $12.
thecobalt.ca
Sun, Sept 14
Fraser Youth Pride — Abbotsford’s Rotary Stadium, Sun, Sept 21 DAVID P BALL
Passions In the last decade, this
annual fundraiser, featuring tasting
plates from some of Vancouver's
top eateries, has raised more than
$1 million for the Dr Peter AIDS
Foundation. 6pm. The Imperial,
319 Main St. Tickets $250 and up,
available at drpeter.org.
Wed, Sept 17
Tues, Sept 16
Royal City Pride AGM Join the
organizers of New Westminster
Pride to help steer the society and
possibly join its board, then stick
around for cocktails. 6:30pm.
Galbraith Conference Centre,
131 Eighth St, New Westminster.
Membership required; $5 at
eventbrite.ca.
Shame Spiral Peach Cobblah
brings East Side drag and
debauchery to the West End.
9:30pm. 1181, 1181 Davie St.
No cover. 1181. ca
Unleash Your Inner Diva with
VMC The Vancouver Men’s
Chorus holds open rehearsals
every Wednesday in September.
Don’t be shy! 7:30pm. Vancouver
Academy of Music, 1270 Chestnut
St. vancouvermenschorus.ca
Bingo for Life Joan-E’s weekly
fundraiser for Friends for Life
features prizes, cheap drinks and
snappy drag queens. 8–10pm.
Celebrities, 1022 Davie St. $10
donation at door for bingo cards.
celebritiesnightclub.com
Faux Girls Emperor XLIII JJ Nation
and Empress XLIII Kiki Lawhore
host this monthly drag show. $3.
11pm–1am. The Junction, 1138 Davie
St. junctionpub.com
Thurs, Sept 18
NSFW Hip Hop Meets Striptease
Ponyboy, Bruce Wang, Sasparilla
JOIN US FOR BRUNCH AFTER THE
29TH ANNUAL AIDS WALK FOR LIFE
ON SEPT 21ST.
PARTIAL PROCEEDS WILL BE DONATED
TO POSITIVE LIVING BC.
Foxx and others perform at this
recurring striptease variety show set
to a rap and hip-hop soundtrack.
9pm–1am. The Cobalt, 917 Main
St. $10 before 10 pm, $12 after.
nsfwvancouver.tumblr.com
of hotties, beer bongs, burlesque,
a freshly tapped keg and games.
11pm–2am. Fox Cabaret, 2321
Main St. $12 door; $10 if dressed
as a high-school stereotype.
kaseyriot.com
Fri, Sept 19
Sat, Sept 20
AJ’s Café Join other HIV-positive
gay men every Friday for this social
gathering/support group sponsored
by Positive Living BC. 3–6pm. Free.
The Junction Pub, 1138 Davie St.
positivelivingbc.org
Monroe: Trinity This fundraiser
for the Vancouver AIDS Walk
features Trinity K Bonet from
RuPaul’s Drag Race. 9pm–2am.
Heaven’s Door, 1216 Bute St. $10 at
monroetrinity.eventbrite.com.
Queer Women’s Book Club This
monthly book club for queer women
meets the third Friday of every
month at Qmunity’s Out on the
Shelves library. 7–9pm. Qmunity,
1170 Bute St. Register at 604-6845307 x112.
The Gay Agenda: Glitter & Skin
Imagine lots of men wearing very
little, doused in glitter and ready to
TomBoy: Back to School House
Party Fox Cabaret aims to turn
itself into a giant living room full
Reset Summer Finale ME Events
and seven DJs say goodbye to
summer from a rooftop patio
overlooking downtown. 2–9pm.
Scotiabank Dance Theatre,
677 Davie St. $20 advance at
eventbrite.ca, with $5 from each
ticket going to the AIDS Walk for
Life. meeventsandmanagement.com
Show Tune Sunday Sing along to
your favourite Broadway musicals
and more at this new night at The
Junction. 3–7pm. The Junction, 1138
Davie St. Free. junctionpub.com
AGM-alypstick Zee Zee Theatre
combines its annual general
meeting with a drag show to liven
up potentially dry reports. Featuring
Isolde N Barron, Peach Cobblah,
Joan-E and more. 8pm–1am. The
Cobalt, 917 Main St. $5 gets you
the show and a Zee Zee Theatre
membership. thecobalt.ca
Submit your event listing to
[email protected]. Deadline for the
Sept 25 issue is Wed, Sept 17.
175 tables of bargains on Deluxe 20th Century Junque!
Vintage jewellery, boho chic accessories, memorabilia,
retro decor & kitsch, collectibles & much, much more...
Plus drop-in appraisals all day! Full details on Website.
Sunday s SEPT 21 s 10am-3pm
Croatian Cultural Centre
3250 Commercial Drive at 16th Avenue
Vancouver s Near Broadway Skytrain
1025 DAVIE ST. (604) 687-2222
Admission $5 at door s Free Parking s Food Services
Info s 604.980.3159 s www.21cpromotions.com
XTRA! SEPT 11–24, 2014 15
Music & Lyrics By Jonathan Larson
RENT
XPOSED
1
PHOTOS BY TALLULAH
Sing with Soul
Orpheum Annex
823 Seymour St, 2nd floor
Vancouver, BC
Show schedule
Thursday, October 9: 8pm
Friday, October 10: 8pm
Saturday, October 11: 2pm
Saturday, October 11: 8pm
BRAIN CANDY
After a brief hiatus, the “space age synthpop new
wave dance rave” Brain Candy relaunched at
The Fox Saturday, Sept 6.
+PYLJ[VY!Craig DeCarlo
4\ZPJ+PYLJ[VY!Christopher King
:[HYYPUN!Chelsea Rose Tucker,
Hal Wesley Rogers, Imelda Gaborno,
Jennifer Suratos, Matt Hume, Nathan
Houle, Theo Budd, & Tristan Pearson
-VYVMM\ZLWYVTVJVKL!
36=,9,5;6--
2
1E Junita Werk & Isolde N Barron 2E Beardoncé & Tony del
Rio 3E Paige Frewer, Rae Takei, Ryn Broz & Nadine Boulay
4E Dave Davey Decarlo & Oliv Howe 5E Marcia Gay &
Lana Del Gay 6E Pierre le Blanc & Luke Driscoll 7E Parker
McMullin & Petrus Drenters
4
Global Dance Connections series
3
5
France’s world-renowned
Ballet
Preljocaj
Empty moves
6
7
(parts I, II & III)
Photo: Jean-Claude Carbonne
A tribute to John Cage and the art of the abstract
September 25-26, 2014 • 8pm
Scotiabank Dance Centre 677 Davie Street (at Granville), Vancouver
Tickets 604.684.2787 • www.ticketstonight.ca
Info 604.606.6400 • www.thedancecentre.ca
16 SEPT 11–24, 2014 XTRA!
Online at
xtralivingvancouver.com
THE BEST OF GAY & LESBIAN VANCOUVER
Accommodations
– BC
Quality Hotel
Vancouver
604-682-0229
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604-721-7537
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866-233-2299
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604-893-2200
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778-786-0977
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604-255-1844
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604-669-5051
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604-564-4783
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604-568-7478
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604-484-4030
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604-729-6059
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604-290-1445
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778-227-9423
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Service 604-614-8121
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604-606-6412
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604-273-3748
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604-596-7196
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778-330-7799
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caprent.com
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604-682-3455
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877-928-3792
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604-662-3290
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604-687-1008
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Body Energy Club
604-697-0466
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604-685-9444
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604-987-5651
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604-732-5003
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604-253-2311
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604-687-8752
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604-630-0101
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rickgrmt.com
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handsomehands.ca
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Gaver BSc ND
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maison d’etre
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Ciao Bella Restaurant
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I n Touch
Top 10% of all Lower Mainland
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Gallery Café &
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D ependable
Former Gay & Lesbian Business
Association Board Director
Joe’s Grill
1031 Davie St:
604-682-3683
948 Denman St:
604-642-6588
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604-736-6588
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604-879-6586
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& Bar
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604-689-7800
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604-606-6400
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E thical
Donates 5% of commissions to
your favourite charity upon purchase
of a new home
Award-winning service to the Gay and
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Re/Max Real Estate Services
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DAVID TUNG
P R E M I E R
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Knowledge, experience and advice for all your real estate needs
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604-724-4278
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XTRA! SEPT 11–24, 2014 17
A world of gay adventure
Travel
Down Under’s largest state
has a character all its own
Western
Australia
AEFA MULHOLLAND
Western Australia, the largest of Australia’s eight states, will turn your expectations of Down Under upside down. This
incredible chunk of the continent has
a character all its own — or make that
multiple characters. A vast land that
covers a third of the country, Western Australia offers everything from
the sophistication of capital Perth and
chic wine region Margaret River to the
exquisite white sands, strange rock
formations and turquoise waters of
the Coral Coast; the wilderness, barren
backlands and inland sea of the rugged
North West; and the seemingly endless
expanse of the interior, the Golden
Outback.
Approximately five hours’ flight from
either Sydney or Singapore, Perth sits
on the Swan River; it’s a city of two
million with a reputation for laid-back
beaches, outdoor dining and a bevy of
pubs and breweries — it’s the perfect
bookend to a WA adventure. Spend
days exploring hip port neighbourhood Fremantle; lounge on all 19 of the
city’s beaches, including famed Rottnest
The city of Perth, viewed from Mill Point.
18 SEPT 11–24, 2014 XTRA!
Island; and picnic in the shade in the
gargantuan Botanic Gardens. Make for
the restaurants of downtown, Subiaco
and Fremantle when you fancy sampling such local flavours as Manjimup
black truffles, Ord River sweet papaya,
Broome mangoes and local venison,
berries and, of course, seafood. Liquid
delights are on tap here, too; the wine
regions of both Swan Valley and Margaret River are within easy reach, and the
state has a tasty crop of microbreweries.
Stir in an influx of compact, specialist
cocktail haunts, or “small bars,” that
have sprung up in the city’s alleys and
laneways and the city truly is a drinker’s
delight.
Less than three hours away, Margaret
River’s chardonnay, sauvignon blanc
and cabernet lure oenophiles south.
The picturesque town is crammed with
artisan stores, galleries, boutiques,
upscale dining and places to sample the
area’s wines and ports. But if you think
Australia’s South West region is all
about grapes and groves, you’ll need to
expand your palate. The area’s rugged,
rural side is a stark contrast but makes
a perfect pairing for the sophisticated
JJ HARRISON
wine scene that’s grown up between
the gum and karri forests. Kangaroos
lope about paddocks and kookaburras
scrawk like demented monkeys in the
jarrah trees. You might round a corner
and encounter a field of two dozen
kangaroos or reach a crossroads and
see two emu lope off into the dusty
distance.
Towns like Augusta feel far from
the airbrushed chic of Margaret River.
Hunkered down on the precise point
where the Indian and Southern oceans
meet, it’s a one-pelican town. Pizzas
are available on Friday and Saturday
nights between 5 and 8pm if you order a
week in advance. Sweet-and-sour kangaroo is on the menu in the August(a)
Moon Chinese Restaurant. Checkout
girls waltz with liquor-store boys in
the last fish-and-chip shop before the
Antarctic. In the town’s lone bar you’ll
find weatherbeaten fishermen in ludicrously short shorts bream-boasting
over Emu Bitters, conversations about
the price of breeding ostrich and a
jukebox that, regardless how politely
you ask it to play your selection, will
substitute AC/DC.
If you have longer to linger around
these parts, perhaps the most captivating part of Western Australia is north of
Perth. The Coral Coast stretches to the
tip of the Ningaloo Reef, almost 1,300
kilometres of turquoise waters and
dazzlingly white sands, punctuated by
SPARROW’S NEST
characterful towns and the occasional
strange rock formation. You can reach
Ningaloo via a short flight to nearby
Learmonth, but taking the ocean road
makes for an incredible trip. Just a
couple of hours outside Perth is the
lunar landscape of the Pinnacles, a
proliferation of otherworldly yellow
rock spires that jut up out of the hot, flat
desertscape of Nambung National Park,
raucous pink parrots bobbing on top.
Seeing this place where desert meets
ocean is quite something.
Continue on up the ocean highway to
surfing hotspot and lobster port Geraldton, on the Batavia Coast, where
the Moresby Range backdrops intense
sunsets and offshore the 122 Abrolhos
Islands offer unparalled fishing and
bird-watching opportunities. Farther
north again, friendly schools of bottlenose dolphins, rare burrowing frogs
and white fairy wrens are among the
hundreds of varieties of birds and beasts
SATU SURO
impossible to see all of this state in
one trip, but Western Australia will
have you boomeranging back for more.
Bars
The Northbridge area of Perth is home
to most of the city’s LGBT bars, including the drag queen haven Connections
and the mixed community hub The
Court. And 2013 saw a new addition
to the scene in the form of the lesbianowned Sparrow’s Nest café.
22, starting at 8pm. It will mark the 25th
anniversary of a protest that led to the
formation of Pride WA. Also popular is
the day-long Fairday celebration, schedule for Feb 15 in Hyde Park.
Above, the Golden Outback
wheatbelt near Centenary Hill.
Far left, the Sparrow’s Nest café.
Left, the tasting room at Howard
Park Wines, in Margaret River.
Read this story on
dailyxtratravel.com for links to
select businesses mentioned.
Accommodations
that await at Monkey Mia and Shark
Bay. Dramatic blow holes and steep
cliffs keep you on your guard in lush
Carnarvon, while inland, banana plantations stretch as far as the eye can see.
The endpoint of this antipodean
trek is the seaside town of Exmouth,
on the tip of Ningaloo Reef, home to
260 kilometres of nearly untouched
barrier reef and a wealth of wildlife.
Whatever you do, you’re sure to encounter some of its 220 species of
coral, whale sharks, humpback whales
and 500 species of tropical fish. There
are deserted islands from which to
snorkel and dive and dugongs and rare
sea turtles to view if you venture out
by sea kayak. And endless beaches to
explore in all directions. And dramatic
gorges to scale in Yardie Creek. And
open waters to sail beyond Exmouth
Gulf. And still all of the North West
and the rugged interior of the Golden
Outback of this state to explore. It’s
Small, chic and luxurious, The Outram
in Perth basks close to the tropical
Botanic Gardens and offers 22 rooms
of Parisian townhouse style.
For a homier introduction to the
city, book a room at Richard’s in Northbridge, a gay-owned bed and breakfast
close to bars and cafés and boasting
excellent breakfasts. Margaret River has
a plethora of LGBT-welcoming accommodation: try the opulent Cape Lodge,
a five-star wine-country getaway on the
water’s edge.
At the northernmost point of the
Coral Coast, book a house or apartment
to rest after your journey through the
super-friendly folks of Ningaloo Reef
Holidays.
Pride celebrations
The Pride WA (for Western Australia)
parade will take place in Perth on Nov
5030/50%08/508/$&/53&
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30 CARLTON STREET
TORONTO, ONTARIO
M5B 2E9 CANADA
Hotel Front Desk:
1-416-977-6655
www.holidayinn.com/
TorontoCentre
XTRA! SEPT 11–24, 2014 19
A world of gay adventure
Travel
Sun, sin and sequins
A first-timer’s guide to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
CHRISTIAN BAINES
In 1995, Sydney was just about the
hottest gay destination on the planet.
The sequins of Priscilla: Queen of the
Desert still shone brightly in our eyes,
same-sex activity was legal in all Australian states but one (Tasmania would
catch up two years later), and Sydney’s
Oxford Street was the envy of an emerging gay world.
Central to its fame was the Gay and
Lesbian Mardis Gras. Originally a 1978
protest march, the event soon evolved
into a full-blown cultural festival.
Loud, brash and controversial — the
giant model of a well-known Australian
homophobe’s head on a silver platter
will be forever seared into Sydney’s
memory — the parade offered a fullcolour scrapbook of what it meant
to be queer in Australia. By 1993, it
was the biggest outdoor nighttime
parade in the world, attracting more
than 600,000 spectators. Today, Mardi
Gras continues to be one of the world’s
premier LGBT events and is a must-do
for any LGBT traveller.
So where does an out-of-towner
start? If you’re going just for the parade and party, you’re going to miss a
lot. Still, a number of tour and cruise
companies offer inclusive packages
to get you there for the main event.
The parade and party are held the first
Saturday in March, bringing Mardi Gras
to a spectacular close. Expect Oxford
Street to be packed all weekend, with
cafés, bars and stores all recapturing
just a little of the ’90s glam that made
Sydney’s scene so famous.
The parade route typically follows
Oxford Street up to Taylor Square,
where the energy hits its peak before
veering onto Flinders Street and ending in Moore Park. If a three-hour
wait amid a jammed-in crowd doesn’t
bother you, grab a spot on the western
side, between Crown Street and Taylor
Square. Those wanting a bit more space
should grab a spot on the western side
of Flinders. Be ready to get wet! Every
year, Fred Nile (of silver platter fame)
and his church crew pray for rain on the
parade and frequently get their wish.
Still, if you do catch a glimpse of these
charitable souls, be sure to thank them
for doing God’s work in giving marchers
further reason to strip off.
20 SEPT 11–24, 2014 XTRA!
ANN-MARIE CALILHANNA
After the parade, most of the clubs
and bars on Oxford Street will charge
extortionate door fees for the privilege
of being squeezed in. Honestly? If
you’re paying to get into a party, splash
out on a ticket to the real thing, where
all the parade’s energy is released in
one blazing gay burst in Sydney’s Entertainment Quarter. Expect five or
six different dancefloors, plenty of
chill-out space, a sea of flesh ripped
straight from a gay-cruise brochure
and live performers in the league of
George Michael, Cyndi Lauper, Boy
George and Kylie Minogue. It’s big,
showy and varied enough to offer an
unforgettable night, even if dance parties aren’t usually your thing.
Here for a week or more? Fair Day
is your best chance to catch daytime
LGBT Sydney at play. Enjoy hot live
acts and check in with local sports and
community clubs for special Mardi
Gras events. One outdoor event not to
be missed is Harbour Party. It’s another
dance party, but how many can boast
sunset over the Sydney Opera House
ZAC
Top, festive and flamboyant Mardi
Gras parade participants. Above, a
drag queen pays homage to Priscilla,
Queen of the Desert.
and Harbour Bridge as their backdrop?
For the artsy, intellectual types,
Queer Thinking takes over the Seymour Centre for a full day of stories,
academia and controversy, while many
of the city’s theatre spaces are devoted
to queer content all through February.
Longtime allies Darlinghurst Theatre
and New Theatre present Falsettos and
Privates on Parade in 2014, while Sydney Opera House, the Seymour Centre
and many of the city’s cabaret venues host Australian and international
entertainers as diverse as Pam Ann,
Courtney Act, the always provocative
La Soirée and Jinkx Monsoon in her
Australian debut.
To get a free dose of Sydney queer
history, take a sinfully spiritual walk
through Kings Cross and Darlinghurst
with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Visit the sites of Sydney’s first gay
bars and explore the city’s deliciously
seedy historical underbelly. The Sisters
can also take you to meet other types
of animals on their annual Taronga
Zoo walk.
If you’re planning any of the popular
day trips from Sydney, there’s probably
a special Mardi Gras departure to get
you there. Hunter Valley wine tasting?
There’s a trip for that. Furry Australian
natives (not the kind you’ll meet at the
Oxford Hotel) at Featherdale Wildlife
Park? Easily done. Or trek out to the
Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves.
This is an essential first-timer’s day
trip at any time of year. But since it’s
Mardi Gras, why not make some likeminded friends along the way? Most
day trips depart from Cambridge Hotel
in the heart of the Darlinghurst gaybourhood.
The 2015 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi
Gras festival runs Friday, Feb 13, to
Sunday, March 8. The parade takes place
Saturday, March 7. For more information, visit mardigras.org.au.
Read this story on
dailyxtratravel.com for website
links to select businesses.
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Taking stock of our fading gay villages E10

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