GLC Summer Premier Issue by GLC

ISSUE: #1 VOLUME #1 SUMMER 2015

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C A N A D A’ S

N AT I O N A L

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M A G A Z I N E

LO OK ING THROUGH MY LENS

TR AV E L ONTARIO

How, Where and When Gay Men are Marrying

SURFS UP GAY

LI FEST Y LE

BORDER RIDERS Meet the oldest gay motercycle club in North America.

CULTURE

MA G AZIN E

“IT’S OUR TIME”

GAYLIFESTYLECULTURE.COM

“IT’S OUR TIME”

info@glcmagazine.com GLC GAY LIFESTYLE & CULTURE MAGAZINE

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ISSUE #1 VOLUME #1 SUMMER 2015

EDITORS NOTE

YELLOW LAB PUBLICATIONS LTD. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

“IT’S OUR TIME”

Peter Robinson

Hello! I would like to introduce GLC Magazine. It is our goal to provide a magazine which contains intelligent and enjoyable information. By focusing on Lifestyle and culture, we are eager to present articles on travel, food, sport and any other topics that the Gay person is interested in as well as introduce more. Please let us know if you have any topics you feel we should include.

Continued from page 2. As summer approaches many of us are planning our summer holidays , some are wondering where to go , and where we will feel comfortable.In each issue we will have a travel section that will include many destinations. In our premier issue we have picked Ontario with loads of information for you to make your summer plans.

“Its’ our time “It’s our time to have our own magazine that will focus on our lives and how we fit in society. We need to know where we are going, how we are growing and being accepted in today’s culture. Our cover depicts a man on a slow train, metaphorically and soulfully making his way to equality . Within our pages we hope to take that trip. One article that will focus on this is an article reflecting how far we have come. The story is an expose of 2 gay men and their different experiences.

As we continue to thrive and grow in all aspects of society, it is the intention of GLC Magazine to be there to provide relevant and meaningful articles reflecting our lives and the different interests we have from each other. I recently learned about a gay surfing group who produced a documentary entitled” Out in the Line up “ I had no idea that this group existed. We have included a story about them and in each issue going forward we will include a sport section, highlight a different sport and provide information on groups and associations for our readers. We hope to take our readers on a journey, Not only for the gay reader but for others who might not see or understand the many things we all have in common . We are all looking for the same basic needs, to love and be loved.

Another topic we will discuss is Gay marriage. “Say yes to the Tux” When and where we are tying the knot, the ceremony and celebrations. Are we establishing our own traditions or recycling the marriage traditions already in place? Who would have thought 30 years ago that this would even be possible? Continued on page 2.

MORE TO READ: 4. DEAR GABBY 6. MEET THE MEDIUM

20.THE FURBALLS THAT OWNED ME 22. HOW FAR HAVE WE COME?

24.ONTARIO’S GAY OUTDOORS 36. WORD ON THE EAT (TAKE ME TO THE PUB)

GAY LIFESTYLE & CULTURE MAGAZINE

CREATIVE DIRECTOR/GRAPHIC DESIGN Philip Feder One L Communications WEB MASTER/CREATIVE Jeff Hurst Kingston Road Creative CONTRIBUTING Darryl Coote, Jeff Reynolds, Robert Salmond Keph Senett, Tyler Omichinski, Brough Perkins Daniel Cox, Gary Seward, Dillan Kopf, Charles Nonto EDITORIAL EMAIL info@glcmagazine.com ONLINE COORDINATOR Jeff Hurst

We sincerely hope that you will enjoy, learn and contribute to GLC Magazine. Please email us with any ideas or comments. This is our magazine “It’s our time” When you see an advertiser who includes our orientation in their campaign no matter where, please patronise them ! These corporate sponsors are our enforcers and we need to keep them visible. I hope you enjoy our first issue and continue to love yourself and whomever you choose. Peter

Editor-in- Cheif

Kingston Road Creative PRODUCTION MANAGER Philip Feder One L Communications For advertising and anyother comments. Please feel free to contact us at: info@glcmagazine.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without consent of the publisher. The information in this magazine is believed to be accurate, however GLC magazine cannot and will not be held liable for the content and quality or performance of goods and services provided by the advertisers in this publication.

40 QUEENS AND COWBOYS 44. A MONTH OF PRIDE AND CELEBRATION 46. SS15 TOPS AND BOTTOMS

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Advice: guidance or recommendations concerning prudent future action, typically given by someone regarded as knowledgeable or authoritative.

Dear Gabby, I'm new to town and looking to meet new people. I don't want to just meet someone to hook up with, I'm looking for a meaningful relationship and I'm concerned a hook-up won't lead there. What sort of options are there for me? Sincerely, New In Town Dear New In Town, You're right; it can be really difficult to meet new people in town, and a lot of the online places to meet people can have a meat market feel, no pun intended. It is entirely possible for a hook-up to lead to a long and meaningful relationship, but I can understand your concern. It can also be really hard to just try to go to the bar and hope that you'll be able to hit it off with a stranger. I'm guessing from your letter that you're a little shy, so if I'm wrong feel free to take my advice with a grain of salt. The best way to find people to start a relationship with is often to start with looking for new friends in town. Toronto has a number of great classes and gay friendly groups that exist for meeting new people. There's a particular writing group that I've been known to show up at from time to time that caters towards the LGBT* community. These places not only bring you to a place of like-minded people, but also people that share interests with you. The old yarn that you meet your best relationships through friends and the like remains true. If you can't find a group like this that catches your eye, Meetup and similar websites also have groups for you to go out and meet people with similar interests. I hope that helps, and good luck getting out there! Cheers, Gabby 4

DEAR GABBY

Dear Gabby, I met someone at the dog park and I'm considering asking him out. I'm concerned, though, that things going badly in the future could make it so it would be awkward going there again. Please help! Dog Lover Dear Dog Lover, It's always a challenge trying to pluck a relationship out of a place that you have to go to regularly. If you’re that worried, it does suggest that there may be a problem with your break-ups if you can't go somewhere that someone else was and act maturely. Often, it is perfectly reasonable to be able to go somewhere like the dog park after the fact. Your concern might be more based upon the group of friends and how previous situations have ended up. If this is the problem, you need to make the difficult decision of trying to balance finding a new dog park with how amazing this person seems. If you are interested in this person, realize that an opportunity to be happy is worth far more than the passing awkwardness that might come from a failed relationship. You only get one life to live and you should grab everything you can from it. Gabby

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PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL. NOT REALLY. JUST EMAIL AND ASK ABOUT ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES IN THE NEXT ISSUE.

PLEASE CONTACT info@glcmagazine.com

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Medium: an intervening agency, means, or instrument by which something is conveyed or accomplished and comunicted with.

Meet The Medium

Article By:Brough Perkins

“CAN YOU READ MY MIND?” OR “WHAT DO YOU SEE ABOUT ME?” are common questions asked at dinner parties when I tell people what I do for a living. Of course the answer is never as simple as the question... There are many preconceived notions (some good, some not so open minded) about “people like me.” Very rarely have I met someone who isn’t interested in the concept of psychic phenomenon, whether they be a y’aysayer or n’aysayer.

There are many preconceived notions (some good, some not so open minded) about “people like me.” Very rarely have I met someone who isn’t interested in the concept of psychic phenomenon, whether they be a y’aysayer or n’aysayer.

The reality is that there are great consequences to explore both personally and globally if indeed there is a life after death. Mediums can help explore this radical notion but you have to be willing to seek us out. Just to set the record straight; I do not read minds, that’s my best friend’s job (seriously, she is a natural telepath.) My partucular area of expertise seems to be in communicating with the deceased, as well as the occasional premonition or two. That is to say; I talk to your dead loved ones as well as see in to the future. Bold claims require bold evidence. In 2012 I was approached by a Criminologist working for the Government of Canada. She asked me if I’d participate in being tested and evaluated for a study she was conducting on psychics. Over the course of that year she sent people in to see me “under cover.” As far as I was concerned they were typical everyday clients of mine. The twist was that these individuals taped my readings and then proceeded to score the accuracy with the Criminologist afterwards. In order to qualify for the study my readings had to provide three levels of evidence. The first level; I’d have to produce a name or initial of the deceased loved one that the sitter was hoping to connect with. The second criteria was that I was able to identify or describe the cause of death, and the third was that I relayed a specific message that only the sitter and deceased would know. For example: “Your Grandmother Louise passed from Breast cancer, I feel pain in my chest, she loves Hibiscus.” A year after their initial scoring Donna (the Criminologist) would

conduct a follow up interview with the client to determine how their session helped the healing process and whether or not any predictions came true. I scored a 79% average for that two year study, which is a high level of accuracy for a study of this type statistically speaking. You can read about it in her book Medium7 (see: www.medium7.com) Another common question asked is: “How do you do what you do?” There are many ways to answer that, but for the purpose of this article I am going to err on the side of my genes. My beloved mother, whom predicted her own sudden death a year before it happened, seemed to carry the genetic code that unlocks psychic ability. Recently the Dr. Oz show tested famed Long Island Medium Teresa Caputo with a brain scan. It seems Psychic’s just have “different brains”, which allow us to shut out the everyday clutter. Just as each star slowly twinkles in to view as the sun sets, when us Psychic’s “tune out the material world”, we tune in to Spirit. It seems I hit the “genetic lottery”, being born both Psychic & Gay. However I think people were always more interested in my Psychic skills than my sexuality. I often say I got a “free pass” being the weird kid so I skipped out on some of the social pressures that often come with being a gay teen. That isn’t to say it’s been an easy ride, at all, in fact it hasn’t. One of the greatest gifts that psychic ability has brought to me personally has been to know that there is more to life than the shallow material world that our physical senses tells us about. And this notion has set me apart from many in a great deal of ways, such as to not sweat the small stuff so much. When you know that there is no end to life you’ll tend to become more generous with your warmth and love, and you tend to find yourself helping others along their own journeys more often. In short I believe the meaning of life is not about survival of the fittest, but more in how we survive. You can contact Brough directly via his website www.broughperkins.ca

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ARE YOU FEELING CONFUSED WITH YOUR SEXUAL ORINTATION ? ARE EMOTIONS OVERWHELMING YOUR LIFE ?

If you are grieving a loss/divorce, dealing with physical illness, anxious, or feeling low self-esteem — I can help! Over fifteen years’ experience in practical, focused and personalized counselling for individuals and couples. Sliding fee scale Rebuild your life and have better relationships Anchors Counselling Services Jeff Reynolds, psychotherapist (416) 535-9247

Surfing: 1.a surface water sport in which the wave rider, referred to as a surfer, rides on the forward or deep face of a moving wave, which is usually carrying the surfer toward the shore.

SURFS

Article By:Dan Cox

LIFESTYLE

Thomas Castets - Pulling in - Indonesia

Thomas Castets is passionate about surfing. As a gay man, he became frustrated with losing his straight counterparts to marriage and fatherhood. Castets started going on solo surfing trips and felt that they were lacking the exciting comradery that was a large part of his fascination with his hobby. In 2010, he took his passion online and started a social media site directed towards gay surfers called gaysufers.net. Once the LGBT surfing site was online, it quickly grew to 5,000 members with a similar passion and drive to surf with friends. This community was a safe place for gay and lesbian surfers to chat and plan surfing outings across the globe. What Thomas didn’t predict was that this simple idea of an online LGBT friendly surfing website would lead to an amazing project that would impact the entire gay community. 8

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David Wakefield - Off the lip- Australia

fter the launch of the website, Castets realized that most of its members were not active in the stereotypical gay community heavily portrayed in media, and that they also lived very discreet lives. These people identified themselves as either amateur or professional surfers who happened to be gay and not as “gay surfers.” The common thread Castets discovered was that surfing while being openly gay was very much taboo and unaccepted by straight suffers and sponsors. Unfortunately, this intolerance and blatant homophobia led gay men and women in the surfing community to live in fear of being rejected by peers and live closeted lives out of self-protection. Online conversations through his website led Castets to begin traveling the world to meet and surf with members of his newly formed global community of LGBT surfers. After a surfing trip to San Diego in 2011, Castets realized that surfing while gay was an issue that he wanted to further explore and bring to a larger audience. He was heavily inspired by the men and women he met, and he consequently decided to begin a passion project, a documentary, to address the existing stereotypes, bullying, and homophobia found in the surfing community.

Thanks to a Kickstarter campaign, $30,000 was raised to help Castets and director Ian Thomson create Out in the Lineup. The documentary’s primary premise was to address the LGBT community and its at-odds relationship with the surfing community and industry.

The documentary, with the generosity of the volunteerism of the key crew members, was filmed over the span of 12 months and includes footage from five different countries. At the forefront of the film, David Wakefield, an Australian surfer and gay man, leads the audience on a journey of accepting one’s identity as being gay but also as a member of the surfing community, a heavily male-dominated, macho, and straight sport. This combination of being both a surfer and gay individual completely defies the entire surfing establishment, and the film’s primary goal is to discover why this is still the case in a time in professional sports when other gay athletes have been accepted by their peers and organizations. Money and sponsorships seem to play a major role in mixing surfing with the gay community. Many very talented surfers, mostly females, who are perceived as gay but not “out” are heavily warned or even threatened to avoid hanging out with gay people because it could lead to a direct loss of a sponsorship. This stems from the concept that “sex sells” but that only means “straight sex sells,” and the organizational sponsors have no desire in promoting their product using gay sex. The perceived sexiness associated with surfing stems from idyllic males with blond hair, blue eyes, and perfectly toned torsos or petite blond women, clad in skimpy bikinis, waxing a surf board with a dusting of sand on their rear-end. These images are what the mainstream community sees as surfing perfection, and the

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Thomas Castets - Bottom turn - Indonesia

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Riley Herman -USA

Thomas Castets and Riley Herman - Australia

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ANDREWCHRISTIAN.COM

sponsors want to appeal to their largest audience. In 2015, the World Surf League’s (WSL) rulebook states that there is a zero tolerance policy for any form of discrimination, sexual harassment, or abuse in the sport of surfing. Ironically, when Thomson and Castets attempted to interview one of the leading surf organizations on camera to discuss homophobia and discrimination, they met aversion. The footage initially filmed from the company’s representative decided to withdraw his interview, and the entire segment had to be cut from the final product. This event only strengthens the idea that surfing while gay is still a major issue and one that needs to be addressed. While the film centers on the surfing community, the message that Castets and Thomson create transcends surfing and the gay community. It reaches LGBT individuals from all walks of life. People across the world live their own individual lives and rarely experience the struggles and injustices others encounter on a daily basis. We are simply unaware of the plights of others. The film addresses that we are all different human beings. We have different interests, jobs, hobbies, and lifestyles, and that is okay. Our sexual orientation is only a part of who we are as people. It does not define us. It does not establish our identity. Out in the Lineup is an inspirational tale for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider. Susie Hermandez at her break in San Diego - USA

The gay Surfers group in San Diego - USA

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ANDREWCHRISTIAN.COM

WINNER

AUDIENCE AWARD

Award Best Action Sports Film

WINNER

AUDIENCE AWARD

FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY

BEST SURF FILM

SYDNEY

(AUSTRALIA)

BEST

DOCUMENTARY

Sydney Surf

London Surf

Film Festival

2015

2014

Uncovering the Taboo of Homosexuality in Surfing

OUT NOW ON DVD

www.outinthelineup.com 16

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luc crawFord design inc. Phone 613.722.0839 Fax 613.722.8070 email luc@luccrawFord.com 101-22 antares dr, ottawa www.luccrawFord.com

film: 1.a film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still images which, when shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images due to the phi phenomenon.

CULTURE

LOOKING THROUGH MY

Article By:Robert Salmond

hen asked to write my first article for the premiere

an espresso, and eventually found myself walking around my studio

issue of GLC, I wanted to write about the exciting new

looking over my equipment as the excited filmmaker in me started

Twenty First Century film and television industry that’s

imagining all the awesome movies I want to make. Then it suddenly

opening it’s doors more than ever. This now includes

occurred to me that I will be an openly gay filmmaker, who actually has

LGBT filmmakers, actors and stories on the big and

the opportunity to build a successful career in the industry. I could make

small screen. As I sat down at my video editing station, surrounded by

any genre of motion picture that can tell any story, including realistic

screens of all sizes, my desk scattered with script ideas, current projects,

gay stories with realistic gay characters; something that has never really

business cards, cold cups of coffee and with pictures of Big Hollywood

been possible until this century. Inspired by this, I changed my direction,

filmmaking gear hung on the walls for inspiration, I pulled up a single

because here I am today, breaking all kinds of new ground in my own

tab of the World’s favorite mega search engine. Eager to write my

life, so it only made sense to find the first film and filmmaker to break

masterpiece introduction article, I just stared at the screen waiting for

ground for gay people in cinema. Expecting my research to dig up some

that starting inspiration all writing requires. I stared for awhile, then

film from the 70’s era of “Free Love”, I was shocked to find that this

finally blinked, tried clicking on the empty text box a few times hoping

first film came at the very beginning of motion pictures in 1919 and

it would pop out a suggestion. When that didn’t work, I went and made

from the most unlikely of countries: Pre-Nazi Germany.

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Classic old Cinema Signage

“Not Like The Others (Anders als die Anderen)” was a silent film directed by Richard Oswald and co-written and starring Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld of Weimar Germany in 1919. Hirschfeld was an openly gay, Jewish physician, sexologist, and advocate who fought tirelessly against Germany’s strict criminalization of homosexuality. Anders als die Anderen was banned almost immediately after it was produced, and so Hirschfeld took 40 minutes of footage from it to remake into a documentary, but even that was restricted to private viewing by physicians and lawyers . Then in 1933 with the Nazi party in control of Germany, Hirschfeld’s office was ransacked and burned, destroying most of his work including the original film, and it would be nearly a Century before it was to be seen again, when it was finally restored by the Outfest-UCLA Legacy Project using footage from the documentary and stills photographs to recreate this controversial narrative as close to the original as possible. It can very easily be found to view for free on Youtube. No film would attempt to break ground for gay rights the way Not Like The Others did for over 60 years, because it represented a realistic and positive portrayal of two gay men falling in love that was completely contrary to the popular images and stereotypes shown in all films until around the 1980’s, which always portrayed homosexuals as lonesome diseased and perverted deviants that needed to be fixed. In this story, the two men - a successful violinist and his student - meet and start a relationship shortly before being discovered by an malicious extortionist

This intimate embrace by the main characters from the 1919 German silent film, Different from the Others was controversial and groundbreaking.

who uses his knowledge to blackmail the wealthy violinist, Paul Körner, who eventually refuses to pay the man after his lover leaves him in fear of being outed and shamed As retribution, the extortionist publicly outs Körner in a German court room where he is sentenced to a week in prison by a sympathetic judge and is allowed to return home before being sent off to prison, but the once famous and sought after violinist quickly finds himself shunned by family and friends and his career ruined in a story all too familiar to gay people throughout most of the Twentieth Century. The public shame is worse than the legal punishment and Körner, alone and without his lover, tragically ends his own life with pills in his own study. In the final scene, his lover, Kurt Sivers returns to Körners bedside, heartbroken, and vows to take his own life, but Dr. Hirschfeld, a defender of homosexual normalcy stops him with a bold statement saying: “You have to keep living; live to change the prejudices by which this man has been made one of the countless victims. ... You must restore the honor of this man and bring justice to him, and all those who came before him, and all those to come after him. Justice through knowledge! Considering that Motion Picture had only just started to tell stories and explore characters in a way that would come to shape what we recognize today, Not Like The Others shows us that our fight to be seen as normal human beings has been happening since the very beginnings of Motion Picture and cinema, and it is thanks to brave pioneering men like Dr. Hirschfeld, willing to stand up to Nazis and take that first bold step so that movies like Philadelphia, Brokeback Mountain, MILK and so many more great films could finally depict real gay people in real gay stories and help shape the world we know today; a world where people like myself can be openly gay and dream of success. Remastered Feature Length: https://youtu.be/cJHlH19hbJo http://www.openculture.com/2014/10/different-from-the-others-1919-thefirst-gay-rights-movie-in-history.html http://www.hardenet.com/homocaust/hirschfeld.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Oswald http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Different_from_the_Others http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_film

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Rodeo: 1.is a competitive sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain,Mexico,and later the United States,Canada,South America,Australia and New Zealand.

LIFESTYLE

Article By:Jeff Reynolds

The Furballs That Have Owned Me

Welcome to my little corner of the world. I am many things to many people. Therapist, coach, writer, artist, and, if you want to label it such, a gay life commentator. I will be, in this and upcoming issues, pointing out cultural, social, lifestyle issues which make us the unique gay men we are. Issues both serious and humorous, thought provoking and just plain funny. The quirks we gay men have as individuals, coupled, and in extended family. Some say, to a gay man, pets are like our children. Well, I’m here to correct this misconception. We are the children. We just don’t know it yet until our animal parents put us on the right track. Pets run our damn lives. Case in point. The day Jazz decided to own me. At the Humane’s Society on River Street one Saturday morning, I sauntered around looking for that special doggie. The din in the place almost fractured my eardrums (Try being in a room with forty or so furry beings sniffing the possibility of a quite gullible homosexual entering their hunting grounds). Barks, whining, etc. chorused the ‘pick me’ illusion. As I went down the aisles, I came across Jazz. He, being much cagier than the others, mournfully laid in a furry ball against the farthest back wall of his cell. I read with interest the brief bio attached to his cage gate. They guessed the breeds mixed in him were Schnauzer (orange caterpillar eyebrows and goatee), German Sheppard (brown and black coat), and Chow (black splotched tongue) He had been on the streets for about a year and half and of course, the blurb finished with the ‘needs a good home with a caring owner’. Translation: This street kid is looking for a soft bed, chow, and a gullible human to push around. (Probably a good idea to lock up the silverware while at it). Since I have been lousy all my life with other languages, I didn’t do the above translation till much later and then too late. You see, all I wanted were big sloppy kisses and unconditional love. In other words, a great ‘mark’ for a cunning k9. During my reading his bio, Jazz had not raised his head but watched me closely under those orange eyebrows careful. Soulful deep hazel eyes, kinda like Oliver Twist. (Only later I learned the Artful Dodger a more accurate handle). When I knelt to get a better look through the chain-link fenced gate, the pooch knew he had set his hook in my mouth and time to reel me in.

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He slowly got up, stretched lazily, and then padded over to where I crouched. Then in a twinkling, a big painted tongue raped my face with long slobbery slurps. Yep, caught and landed. I had a new owner! Now we gay men are not known to do things in anything by half measure, so the next stop, Pet Smart. Bowls, bed, collar, leash, food, and just a dozen or so toys. At the checkout, wondering if I could get the limit on my credit card increased while in store, the freckled face kid on cash asked, looking down over the counter, “You want to grab the tag off that so I can scan it.” “Off what?” I asked puzzled. I followed his pointing finger to the angelical face of Jazz sitting there quite pleased with himself, a hot dog squeaky toy hanging out of his mouth. Right then and there I should have thrown the sneak thief back in the car and drove back to demand a refund. But remember I’m a naïve new puppy being trained so what the hell. Fortunately I work from home so my client (a quiet woman going through a bad divorce and a soon-to-be ex-husband pressuring her to sell home and business) hadn’t been waiting long. I settled Jazz in my study upstairs with food, water, toys and promises of playtime later. I went downstairs, explaining my new puppy and settled down to do her session. No more than five or ten minutes into the session when an almighty crash happened directly above us. Then a stream of barks and woofs. I excused myself and raced upstairs. I had not told my client the barking seemed to be coming from outside the house. I felt the breeze as I opened the study door and saw the opening where my air conditioner use to be. I watched mesmerized as a black and brown furry being bounced from one side of the upper porch to the other. I opened the porch door, stepped out, and looked down at a poor little old Chinese man shuffling quite quickly up the street. Poor guy. Hooking Jazz by the collar, I felt the quaking slam of my downstairs front door. Damn, my poor client must have been scared stiff with all this and looked down to reassure her I’d be right down. For a small woman she could move fast. She made it half way up the street, stopped, turned, and did a banshee scream to the sky which scared the crap out of me. She caught sight of me and yelled. “The f…king bastard is getting NOTHING, NADA.” And stomped out of sight. A week later, I got a package from her. Business brochure, announcement of new ownership and open house, and a business card of the sole owner, my client. But rather than a picture of a small, timid, mousy woman; the pictures were of a very chic, determined faced businesswoman. The note to me enclosed said simply— If Jazz has the guts to be free and live life to the max… So damn well do I. This began the fourteen year old relationship between myself and my doggie co-therapist. More about us next time. But maybe someone could explain how a dog could get a screwed in air conditioner out of a window to me? Cheers J.

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Toronto: city in Ontario, Canada, founded 1793 as York, renamed 1834 for a native village that appears on a 1656 map as Tarantou. the largest city in Canada.

CULTURE

How Far Have We Come ? (We Are No Longer Anonymous) Article By:Gary Seward

n our modern time being different seems to be the new normal. Guys go to their 9-5 jobs on Bay Street with almost lumberjack like beards, the colour pink can be proudly worn across all genders and being gay is not seen as sordid as it once was.

Although there are varying arrays of acceptance in all cities, towns and communities across Canada, In Toronto being a gay man walking down the street holding hands with their boyfriend is now met with the same ambivalence as their heterosexual cohorts. Gone are the days when gay men needed to flock to the Village at Church and Wellesley. Just a mere decade or two ago the Village was a hot bed of activity for closeted and out gay men to be themselves. It was the only place where being openly gay was safe. Before the days of the internet and Grindr men went to bathhouses to meet other men in order to have sex or they went to Allan Gardens with a handkerchief in their back pockets to distinguish what they were looking for. Being gay also meant you had to be anonymous. While we live in a day and age where being gay is seen as a new normal; where you can see a variety of gay men on TV and in the movies, the struggle to get to this point was a long arduous one.

Recently I spoke with Torrie who is a twenty-something actor living in Toronto who describes the Village as almost archaic and a symbol of a dying generation of “closet queens.” He goes on to tell me that when he moved to the city he never felt a sense of community; that he saw the Village as a place where you only went if you were attending the annual Pride event. When asked of the struggle of older generations and Operation Soap (Toronto’s Stonewall) he goes quiet and stares blankly at me. He’s heard of it but it’s clear by his expression that he’s scanning his brain for the significance of it. Operation Soap was a landmark occasion for gay men in Toronto, and Canada, due to the barbaric and archaic way it was handled. Until the 2010 G20 protests in Toronto, it was the day the marked the largest mass arrests in Canada, almost all of them gay men. And while the raiding of several bathhouses and viciously attacking and arresting close to 300 men is seen as a black stain on Canada’s legacy it was also the stepping stone for many gay men not to have to live their lives as if they were degenerates. It is what happened after the raids that are significant. Men, gay and straight, women, people from all races and denominations came together to denounce an authority that could be so cruel and unjust. The swift backlash from Operation Soap paved the roads of Church Street forever in rainbow.

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Torrie may not be able to recall the history of that infamous February 5, 1981 night but his own struggle is easy recollect as he tells me about what it was like growing up in a small town and moving to Toronto after high school. “I was fully out in High School and no one cared at my school but outside of it I couldn’t just be out. If I were at the mall with a boy I needed to act as if he was my best friend and sneak kisses or gropes when no one was looking. I mean, on the street of my hometown dudes would call you a ‘faggot’ just for walking funny. So, we would get in his car every weekend and drive to Toronto. We would walk down Yonge Street in full PDA mode and not give any shits. It was great and no one called us faggots.” After talking to Torrie I was shocked at his comments that he felt the Village was a dead zone for modern day urban gay men and spoke with another gay man. His name is Jack. When Jack was Torrie’s age the idea of being an out gay man was akin to being a freak, something to gawk at and openly mock. It meant that he wouldn’t be perceived as a man because men were expected to fall in love with nice quiet obedient girls and copulate in order spread their legacies onward. Being gay was not an option for him, which meant that love, real love, was no longer in the cards. Jack is a sixty something year old gay man who lived his entire life as an anonymous gay man. As often as he could he would escape the monotony of Hamilton to the Village where he would meet other gay men, usually also closeted, and live a life he dreamed of for a weekend. He longed for days like the ones Torrie has but was too afraid of being caught. “My parents were pretty homophobic. One time me, my mother and sister were watching TV and two guys kissed and my mother said ‘oh, they’re going to hell, they should go to hell’. Which prompted my sister to say ‘well, what if one of your own kids were gay?’ to which she replied ‘I’d rather go to my grave and never know.’ And we weren’t kids, this happened when I was an adult.” Jack would never fall in love; Torrie has fallen in an out of love several times already. While Torrie’s comments may seem a bit ineloquent, I certainly knew what he meant. We live in a day and age where being gay is no longer seen as being a freak, for the most part. In Toronto and other major cities across Canada, a man can marry another man and reap the same benefits as any other couple. Being a gay man means that we no longer need to be anonymous. It means that we don’t need to be segregated into one portion of a city and can branch out and create other communities, like Queer West. What should never be forgotten is the legacy of the Village at Church and Wellesley, the legacy of a great battle for human rights. We will forever live in the shadow of the great activism that came out of Operation Soap. And like Chinatown or Little Italy the Village can still represent what it once was without only catering to a niche and broken down category of people and still be a safe haven for any gay man who needs to flee from somewhere where they cannot fully be themselves.

C . N . To w e r To r o n t o O n t a r i o

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Travel: 1.Is the movement of people between relatively distant geographical locations,and can involve travel by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, airplane, or other means.

TRAVEL

Ontario’s

Gay Outdoors Article By:Keph Senett

After a long winter, there’s no pleasure more exquisite than the first no-jacket day. Vancouverites watch for cherry blossoms and Maritimers track fiddleheads, but in Ontario it’s the cottages that bloom as caretakers open them up for the season. Toronto is well-known for its cultural diversity, but the warm welcome doesn’t stop at the city limits. Here are some of your best bets for an Ontario gay getaway, all within a three–hour drive from Hogtown. Prince Edward County

The Sand Banks

This island township comprises 13 villages, which in addition to their gay-friendly reputation have also earned comparisons to the Hamptons. You can credit the burgeoning locavore movement, active artist communities, and nearby wineries for the nod, but make no mistake: the region has its own, particular charms. Outdoorsy types will love the kilometres of shoreline and sandy beaches, while solitude seekers will have no trouble finding peace and quiet. 24

Getting there Take the 401 east from Toronto, and head south on Highway 62 at Belleville. There’s ample roadside signage, or you can stop in at a Visitor Information Centre. The main office is on Main Street in Picton. Accommodations There are dozens of vacation rentals available in Prince Edward Country. Try VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) at www.vrbo.com, or Purple Roofs (www.purpleroofs.com) for explicitly gay-friendly listings. Out in the County (www.outinthecounty.com) has accommodations partners, and their site also lists general information about gay-friendly Prince Edward County. To see and do Visit Bruno and Jens at The Old Third winery (www.theoldthird.com), brave the line-up at Slickers (www.slickersicecream.com) for an old-fashioned ice cream made with local ingredients, and watch the sunset from Sandbanks Provincial Park. Best time to visit Prince Edward County is made for summertime. Nearby Belleville will be having their annual Pride in the Park celebrations (www.bellevillepride.ca) on July 4, 2015.

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Sand River Ontario Canada

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1000 Islands and Gananoque

1000 Islands

Historically referred to as a millionaire’s playground—the 1000 Islands are home to hundreds of extravagant homes, including castles—this region welcomes visitors looking to explore the ultimate in small-town living. Given the many bays and channels around the islands, it’s no surprise that the area attracts boaters, but there are plenty of things to do both on and off the water. Since 2011, Gananoque has celebrated LGBT Pride, and the rainbow stickers denoting gay-friendliness can be seen on the doors of numerous local establishments. Getting there Take the 401 east from Toronto. You can enter Gananoque starting at exit 645, just after Kingston. Accommodations There are hundreds of available beds in Gananoque and the surrounding regions; 1000 Islands Tourism (www.1000islandstourism.com) has recommendations on their site. If you’re looking to rent off the mainland, try VRBO (www.vrbo.com). Note that the 1000 Islands span Canada and the United States; if you wish to cross the border you’ll need a passport. To see and do There is no better time to book a cruise with Gananoque Boat Line (www.ganboatline.com) than this summer. In anticipation of welcoming their 11 millionth passenger, the line is giving away a prize of $11,000 and a private island for a week. Don’t miss the view from the air with 1000 Islands Helicopter Tours (www.1000islandshelicoptertours.com), and catch a show at the theatre (www.1000islandsplayhouse. com). The summer 2015 season features the world premiere of “Bed and Breakfast,” a production by local playwright Mark Crawford about “being out” in small town Ontario. Best time to visit The start of high season depends on the weather, but shows run at the Playhouse from May to October, and the helicopter tours are year-round. 1000 Islands Pride is typically in late June. 26

Muskoka Lakes Like Prince Edward County, Muskoka Lakes refers to a collection of communities—in this case, the villages and hamlets surrounding Lakes Muskoka, Joseph, and Rosseau. This is iconic “cottage country” for Ontarians (they don’t call it a Muskoka chair for nothing). In addition to being the site of classic Ontario cottage experiences, Muskoka Lakes is also exceptionally welcoming. Their Chamber of Commerce even sports a rainbow flag on their site (www.muskokalakeschamber.ca). Getting there Take Highway 400 north to the Port Carling exit, or, for a more scenic drive, pick up Highway 11 at Lake Simcoe and go through Bracebridge. Accommodations Your choice of accommodations will depend on where in the region you want to be, but Visit Muskoka (www.visitmuskoka.com) and VRBO (www.vrbo.com) are good places to start your search. To see and do Stop in at the Muskoka Lakes Winery/Johnston’s Cranberry Marsh (www.cranberry.ca) for a tour and tasting of their cranberry wines. See a live performance at the Actors’ Colony Theatre (www.actorscolonytheatre.com), book a private yacht with Sunset Cruises (www.sunsetcruises.ca/), and remember your vacation with cottage country swag from The Muskoka Store (www.themuskokastore.com). Best time to visit

Muskoka River

Muskoka Lakes is a year-round destination, with summer activities beginning around May of each year. Muskoka Pride (www.muskokapride.com) has been organizing events since 2009, and their annual Pride Week is typically in July.

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Lake Superior Shoreline Ontario Canada GAY LIFESTYLE & CULTURE MAGAZINE | “IT’S OUR TIME” | GAYLIFESTYLECULTURE.COM

Marriage: 1. also called matrimony or wedlock, is a socially or ritually recognized union or legal contract between spouses.

CULTURE

SAY YES TO THE TUX

ongrat ! C ul ng

Article By:Darryl Coote

“

A lot of people want to talk about what’s the difference between a gay wedding and a regular wedding and to be honest there is nothing actually that different,” said Rachel CrippsGervais, co-owner of An English Rose, a luxury wedding planning company located in Montreal, Quebec. “The only thing that’s different is it’s two men or two women who are marrying verses a man and a woman,” she told Gay Living Canada over the phone. This sentiment was shared in almost the same words by the other wedding planners spoken to for this article.

e to th wedd i ed

Since same sex marriage was legalized throughout Canada in 2005, there has been this notion that gay men would celebrate their union differently than opposite sex couples. However, this is mostly just a big misconception, according to wedding planners throughout Canada that specifically cater to this demographic.

only difference is [...] is instead of having a man and a woman you have two men or two women. And that’s it,” said Darryl Persello, coowner of Two Dears and A Queer, a Vancouver, British Columbia based wedding planning and consultation company. From the ceremony alone there would appear to be very little difference between gay and heterosexual weddings, aside from the obvious, but where samesex male weddings subtly diverge is in their emphasis on specifics, details and individualization. “Everything is pretty much more personalized,” said Katherine Parris, owner and wedding coordinator for Pride Weddings in Toronto, Ontario. She elaborated that it’s hard to pinpoint, but for some weddings it might be monogrammed table runners or having the couples’ initials projected on the walls. Lighting and candles have been important to some of the gay couples she’s planned for to give their weddings that sense of individuality. She made note that these are priorities for heterosexual couples as well, but that “for me, I just always see the emphasis on it.”

“Honestly, people want to know what’s the difference, and I say the 28

re now Invit ua

s Ireland Y ion o at

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A Bit of Style on the big day

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This attention to detail continues into the invitations, colour schemes and backdrops. “Both parties are always very involved in the planning and definitely knowing what they like, and I find things are very detailed and very specific,” she said. This focus on detail could potentially be the result of having smaller weddings, which seems to be common for same sex couples. “I think gay people have probably a more exclusive group of friends and family,” CrippsGervais hypothesized.“I think they’re more choosy about who they invite to their weddings, to be honest.” The extra money saved from inviting a small number of guests can then be devoted to making the ceremony more intimate and individualized. CrippsGervais said a large gay wedding would have about 80 guests (much smaller than a large hetro sexual wedding) so with a wedding of around 40 people “you tend to be able to create five course menus with wine pairings.” Gay weddings, she said, tend to be more upscale than both samesex female weddings and heterosexual weddings. “[Same sex male couples] go for the very high end weddings. They’ll take the top venues in Montreal or they’ll take a country wedding but then create a very high end menu and have more money for attention to detail,” she said. There is a traditional wedding staple, however, that is generally modified in both gay and lesbian weddings: that is walking down the aisle. What tends to happen is in same sex female weddings both fathers walk the brides. And in same sex male weddings the mothers will walk the grooms to the alter. However, what is also an option, which seems to becoming more and more common in gay weddings, is for the men to walk the path together, hand in hand. “On the big day the couples are not necessarily walked down by anyone, maybe just walked down together that I noticed a lot,” Parris said. She also added that there is less emphasis on some of the more traditional aspects of weddings, which creates a more relaxed and stress free atmosphere. When asked what trends he sees for the upcoming wedding season, Persello said that there really aren’t any and that most gay weddings

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don’t divert too far from what one sees when they think of a traditional wedding. “Some [of the weddings we’ve planned] are religious with ministers and very scripture based and some are very nondenominational and spiritual and loving but with no religious component,” he said. Since much of the rest of the world still has yet to recognize samesex marriages, all three wedding planners stated that a sizeable percent of their business came from outside of Canada. Persello said a lot of his clientele travel from abroad simply to wed in and around Vancouver. “You can make a total holiday/wedding/ honeymoon,” he said. His company organizes weddings for all over the Vancouver area, and with being so close to the ocean and to the mountains, wedding couples have an array of options. “People who are traveling here to get married, you can go to [Mt.] Whistler, you can go to the islands .. there are lots of places to go that are relatively close to Vancouver,” he said. Montreal over to the east of Canada is similarly attractive for destination weddings due to its French influences, particularly in its cuisine. “I mean we’re very spoiled,” CrippsGervais said, “because within an hour of Montreal, we’ve got downtown Montreal, which is very chic and modern and historical, but within an hour you’ve got mountains, you got lakes, you got vineyards, you’ve got farms.” There is an aspect to both gay and lesbian weddings that differ from heterosexual weddings, and which can’t be overlooked: They have only been legal in all of Canada for almost 10 years and for much of the rest of the world they are a celebration of love that goes unrecognized. “The [gay] ceremonies, I find, are more emotional and more intense,” CrippsGervais said,“because it may have taken them a long time to get to this day because a lot of my clients are coming from the US where they haven’t been allowed to be married or they are coming from Asia. CrippsGervais recalled a same sex male wedding she did awhile back. “One of them was in his 70s,” she said.“And he said he never believed he would ever see this day where he’d be able to get married.” More emotional, indeed.

The new look of a cake topper

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Motercycle Club: A motorcycle club is a group of individuals whose primary interest and activities involve motorcycles.

LIFESTYLE

Border Riders Motorcycle Club Summer Rides Article By:Dave Eckert

he Border Riders Motorcycle club is the largest and one of the oldest gay motorcycle clubs in North America. Founded in 1969 it currently has members primarily from Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. The club provides social and educational opportunities for our members and guests interested in recreational motorcycle touring. Our diverse membership is composed of both seasoned riders and beginners, and we come from all walks of life and professions.

We also accept all types of bikes. Our members ride a variety of makes and models ranging from sport to touring motorcycles, and we welcome any motorcycle capable of sustained highway speeds. This is about riding and group camaraderie rather than motorcycle brand. The commonality that binds us is the love of motorcycling and the enjoyment that comes from touring some of the best roads for motorcycling in Canada and the USA—all in a spirit of friendship and safety. In the off season, we do monthly meetings and look for social activities to keep people involved. During the summer months, we host weekend runs 32

to great places throughout the Pacific Northwest. We invite male riders to join us for the weekend runs and camping and always have a great time come rain or shine. In each local geography men also have a lot going on. Each month there is a local meet and greet to discuss both club plans as well as local rides and social events. The local rides are generally a full-day ride after breakfast and we depart with a full tank of fuel, an empty bladder, and appropriate riding gear for the day’s weather conditions. The Pacific Northwest weather is not always great in the winter and we might resort to another social event after breakfast. Our winter club meetings gather the entire group together for a social afternoon and evening that includes dinner and time to conduct club business and summer planning. Our first camp of the season is always in the same location, while the other months change from year to year. For 2015 our summer camping schedule has a variety of interesting locations:

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The Boys of Borders

Sweet Rides

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Club Members and Guests at the 2014 Victoria Day Weekend

May 15-18, 2015 The official season opener each year is our Victoria Day Run, so named because it coincides with the Canadian holiday. While we encourage this to be a motorcycle camping weekend - for this run we also allow other vehicles. We will expect a large group at the Pine Flats Campground in central Washington State where we truck in a full camp kitchen to serve high-quality food. Friday night welcomes riders with dinner and a bonfire and the joy of meeting new faces and reestablishing old friendships. Saturday will offer some spectacular motorcycle group rides; the chance to set out alone; or perhaps just hang around the camp. Following the traditional grill-your-own-steak dinner Saturday night the bonfire will be the center for club activities. About a third of the people remain until Monday to celebrate the Canadian Holiday. June 19-21 June will take us to Fossil, OR where we have rented the entire county park. Central Oregon offers outstanding day rides to places like the John Day Fossil beds. Even in June the weather is expected to be warm and dry with great riding and camping weather. As always, the campfire social afterward will give people time to re-connect. July 17-19 The warmer days of July will take us to Dry Falls near Coulee City, WA. Our day rides could include a visit to Grand Coulee Dam or other scenic areas of central Washington.

September 18-20 Kanaskat-Palmer State Park near Enumclaw, WA offers a home base for rides around Mt Rainier or a visit to Mt Saint Helens. These rides offer spectacular views of the mountains. October 19-21 Silver Falls State Park near Salem Oregon offers us a late season activity with a weekend at the Ranch – a large bunkhouse that can sleep the entire group inside, warmed by a central fireplace. If the weather is good we can explore the mountain roads toward Mt Hood or Detroit Lake. If not, we can do some easy hikes to see the spectacular waterfalls. The bunkhouse becomes the hub of social activities with videos, various board games, and all meals included. We invite guests to ride with us and to explore the club and the great Northwest area we are lucky enough to call home. For more information see our website at www.borderriders.com.

Photo captions: March Day Ride.jpg - Local Oregon riders set out for a day ride Bunkhouse.jpg - Bunkhouse Weekend in the Fall offers time to socialize BRMC.jpg - Border Riders Motorcycle Club

August 14-16 The heat of August will be tempered by the trees and water at Paul Lake near Kamloops, BC. Following this camp some people will extend the trip and tour the roads of BC for an additional week. These extended rides are a mix of camping and motels. Club Members Relaxing at The Bunk House

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Food 1.s any substance[1] consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. And contains essential nutrients, such as fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals

WORD ON THE EAT

AAr tr itci cl el e BBy y: : J e f f R e y n o l d s

hen I popped into the pub to set up the interview with Andrew Dunn, manager of the Church mouse I got warm and friendly smiles. Soon, I would discover this held the norm not the one off. This corner street, 3 story pub greeted me the same way the day of my interview. Well, add laughter. A bubbly Ashley went to search out her boss. Josh, another of the service staff, quickly noticing me as he came from the back, smiled and asked if he could get me a drink. This hospitality set the tone of my experience. As I settled on the British flag couch, Andrew, across from me, told me he had been manager since the club’s beginning ten years previous. Before the place had been a pizza joint and apartments. Last February, he decided to renovate by adding the outdoor side patio and freshening the inner spaces. “It all started because of the carpets.” Andrew smiled at me. He didn’t stop at chucking the carpet for great wooden floors. He had balanced an inviting pub of old, with new clean lines, upbeat sound, and a feeling of cozy without being closed in. I laughed when he told me that literally there had been iron bars on the windows before. (Instead, now floor to ceiling plain glass windows overlook a great view of Church Street). “Now it feels like walking into your living room.” He summed up. And I totally agree with him. Well this, and definitely Beatle’s tribute. 36

The wall across from ‘my’ couch has these guys in black silhouettes walking in bowler hats across a white wall. The pictorial quietly yells Yellow Submarine lyrics. The bar along the west wall to my right reminded me of a great pub I use to go to in Dublin but add tables with soft and wide seating for four and high café seats along the wall invites a relaxed evening of enjoying good food and drink. (To my left were two six seated booths and at the very back, old fashioned wooden table and chaired room for the boisterous groups. (One long table already had a reserve sign). Downstairs, with the long southern wall bar, large windows, booths and such, just seemed to invite laugher and good times. We decided Andrew would bring a surprise sampling of what he liked on the menu (well the deep fried pickle, I specifically asked for) but first pulled me a pint of Barking Squirrel lager to enjoy as I waited. “Got you a pint. The glasses are still warm from washing,” he said placing my beverage before me. Disappearing to put in the food order, I again liked the detail to good service. Andrew explained later why the focus on top notch serving and staff. Being in the middle of the gay village, the pub patrons were more likely to be in the food and hospitality business. “The service has to match these guys’ high standards or you’re going to hear about it.” He grinned.

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Good Eats On Church Street

The pub likes to have local micro-brewed beers on tap. Three of which are locally brewed within the city. As I’m scribbling away, I took a swig of my Squirrel and for an amber lager, my drink tasted full flavoured but light and refreshing. This brew is paired in the Sunday special, Spuds and Sauce priced for only five bucks. (Can you say patio?) This simple yet complex brew actually would herald the main theme of

Andrew brought me to sample proved to be the largest contribution. Andrew had picked the burger of the house, the fish taco, and of course, my deep fried pickle. A bowl of the soup of the day (Pea Soup with a twist) completed the offering. As I raised my prized pickle, Andrew noticed something amiss. “Hold on, you got to have the dill sauce.” And went to get some. Lordy, glad I waited. Biting into the crunchy coating, I had a hot juicy dill explosion in my mouth. I quickly dipped my prize into the sauce and had another, more intense, dill experience. My squirrel cooled and added to my taste experience. I laughed and said I could eat a bushel of these. The fish taco is a deep fried baas covered in a chipotle/lime/sour cream sauce in a soft taco shell.

A Cold One On the Patio

Again a balance of taste and textures. Crunchy fish and heat

The Churchmouse.

Sensual balance

from the sauce lead me to my Squirrel to cool things off a bit. Definably pleasantly woke up my mouth and taste buds.

As I scribbled and drank, Josh came by going off shift. He stopped and said good-bye with a smile. Match Ashley’s bubbly laugh and joking

The burger (no frozen patty here as some Church Street burger joints

downstairs with the at-bar customers, would be the first of this equation.

favor) consisted of a fresh grilled meat patty topped with Monterey Jack melted cheese, beer braised onions, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce and crisp

The next piece my excellent brew. The music playing next. But what

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bacon. Surrounded by a fresh warmed Brioche, this masterpiece has been finished off with three deep-fried onions around a Union Jack pick. Well first, even minus the onion rings, I had to get my mouth to open beyond wide for this tower. But well worth every bite. Going past me again, Andrew said my sampling made him hungry. We both laughed as he added if he ate all his favours, he’d need stretchy pants. He had started to go up to his third floor office but then muttered, “That’s going to stick, eh”. (Well Mr. Stretchypants, only if your staff read this). Chef Kumar’s pea soup matched again what I was indeed getting used to. He cooks for the senses. Not only did his soup have a nice refreshing taste but added colour with nicely soft but firm carrots to entice the eyes. But most of the menu seems to follow this pattern of rich but light. Even to my ending with the toffee pudding this applied. A hot ginger date cake with melted toffee and whipped cream. When I first read the menu, I noted the standard British pub fare. Ploughman’s Lunch, Sheppard’s Pie, etc. But then you get some creative re-inventions as well. (Like Mini Yorkies stuffed with pot roast, mashed potato, drenched in Guinness Gravy). Its things like this which makes you feel special. Andrew told me they tweak the menu annually to their customers’ likes and dislikes. Customer service is taken serious here. Glutton free menu, vegetarian meals (like black bean burgers) and a massive table of all menu items broken down to inform about nutrition values and warn of any food allergens adds to a deep feeling of a caring experience. When I left, pleasantly full and relaxed, I went the backstairs to see and thank Chef Kumar. The only thing he asked, or seemed interested in, “What did you think of the soup?” When I answered great, I got rewarded with a big grin and hand shake. No one but Andrew knew I had been reviewing the place. So I entreat you, if you want a balanced sensual pub experience, try this great place. I give The Churchmouse four out of five stars.

Prime Real Estate On The Patio

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WELLESLEY

ST. ST.

D AVE.

JARVIS ST.

CHURCH ST.

YONGE ST.

MAITLAND

HOMEWOO

CHURCHMOUSE

ous food i c i l e d p s serving u b u p e g a two ﬂoor l , l i o i v t l a a p c t o Your l ith a grea w p ! a t n so e village h t n i f & 13 beer f a t ndliest s e i r f e h t and

CARLTON ST.

ﬁrkinpubs.com/thechurchmouseandﬁrkin 475 Church St Toronto ON 416.927.1735 Conveniently located at the corner of Church and Maitland.

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Rodeo: 1.is a competitive sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain,Mexico,and later the United States,Canada,South America,Australia and New Zealand.

LIFESTYLE

Queens and Article By:Robert Salmond

Cowboys

hen you hear the word Rodeo, it’s likely that you’ll think of Bulls, Spurs, Gold Buckles and strapping heterosexual cowboys in dirty Levi jeans wearing Stetson cologne and making all the pretty ladies hot under the collar to the roar of the Sunday crowd. Since it’s first Official competition in 1869 this most masculine of sports, like most sports, has not been a welcoming place for LGBT people. However in 1976, on the fringe of society, the World’s first gay rodeo was held as a charity fundraiser in Reno, Nevada and in 1985, Fourteen Gay Rodeos later, the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) was formed and has held annual events in Canada and the US ever since.

My small town and farmyard childhood steeped me in Ranch and Rodeo culture; Garth Brooks was our Lady Gaga (at least until the churches figured out that “We Will Be Free” was a pro-gay song) and most weekends were spent checking fence or rounding up escaped cows or pigs or sheep with my step dad on horseback or in an old 40

Lime Green ‘69 Three-On-The-Tree Chevy truck. He grew up on the Canadian Prairies doing things the old fashioned way and only on horseback like a traditional cowboy and as the most influential man in my life before he passed in 2009, he left me with a deep appreciation for that life and those ways. Oftentimes I miss the life, the country fair and the rodeo; all the noise and the chatter of excited crowds and happy families and the smells coming from the hundreds of head of livestock in corrals and flaring plumes of smoke from barbeques filled with tasty burgers and steaks and the excitement of seeing rough ‘n’ tough warriors of the ranch sweat and bleed to be the best. Nevertheless, the dominant heterosexual masculinity and general church going culture of it hasn’t exactly put out a Welcome Mat for openly gay men, even if we do have roots in that same culture, so I’ve stayed clear of the country fair and the rodeo since leaving home Fourteen Years ago and it wasn’t until I watched the documentary, “Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo” that my eyes were opened to Gay Rodeo and IGRA. Continued on page 42...

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macho straight men of rodeo still reserve the opinions that “They’re not Cowboys[...]Cowboys are about Tradition” or the older audience base can only deal with the topic in responses like: “Gay cowboys!? Go stick it up your ass!”

Article By:Keph Senett

“Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo” is a Five time award winning documentary by filmmaker Matt Livadary that takes audiences deep inside a complete year of the IGRA Gay Rodeo circuit, meeting the Season’s Five main contenders along the way who recount their story of finding a place in the culture and the sport they love, including gay cowboy, Wade Earp (actual descendant of the famous Gunslinger and Lawman, Wyatt Earp). Livadary does a good job of establishing the culture of Traditional Masculine Rodeo throughout the documentary and highlights the many challenges Gay Rodeo has faced and still faces today: from low attendance numbers to venues quickly finding excuses to refuse rentals to the IRGA’s chapter-based organization. During a portion of the documentary, Livadary attends some traditional rodeos to get some traditional cowboy opinions on gay rodeo and quickly reminds us that as much as things have changed, we still have a ways to go when the

In spite of all the obstacles and lingering social aversions that still exist for LGBT people, Matt does a good job of taking on a journey behind the fences of the Gay Rodeo to show us a strong and vibrant community that is full of song, dance, and good-hearted camaraderie in an environment where gender and sexuality are a non issue and the boys can wear skirts and the girls can wear spurs to the cheers of the excited fans. Livadary also shows us that while our inherent sexual identities have given us need to create an entirely separate international organization, Gay Rodeo and IGRA isn’t steeped in Sexuality like so many other LGBT events, and by all rights, I would call it good Family Friendly Entertainment by (most of) the standards of my midwestern upbringing. I look forward to attending this year’s Gay Rodeo in Calgary Alberta from June 26th to 28th and having the chance to reconnect with with my roots in a place where I don’t have to be anyone but myself. If anyone else is thinking of attending one of IGRA’s Gay Rodeo’s, visit IGRA.com for a calendar of events and cities - even if you don’t have country roots and have never been to a Rodeo, you are bound to have way more fun than you might imagine. So, I definitely suggest taking a night and watching “Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo” for yourself or with your significant other. It can be rented or purchased on most digital platforms, including YouTube and iTunes and is available on demand from most major cable providers. For more info and to watch the trailer, check out the official website: queensandcowboys.com.

GAY LIFESTYLE & CULTURE MAGAZINE | “IT’S OUR TIME” | GAYLIFESTYLECULTURE.COM

Parade. is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons.

A Month of Pride and Celebration Article By:Dillan Kopf

With Pride Month right around the corner, cities across the North American continent are gearing up for a month of welcoming celebration.

The Birth of Pride This June will mark forty-six years since the Stonewall Rebellion, the pivotal event that inspired the birth of modern gay activism and, consequently, the tradition of Pride celebrations. Pride marches began one year after the Rebellion as a way to honor those men and women who stood up for their rights against discriminatory police practices on June 28, 1969. In the years since, the community has widened and the marches of 1970 have become grand parades and celebrations affirming our culture and just how far we’ve come.

Celebrations in Early June This year’s North American festivities commence with Disney Gay Days in Orlando, FL spanning June 2–8 as one of the earliest events of the month, graciously conflicting with relatively few celebrations (as we’ll see shortly). On the other side of the country, just as far as you can go, Honolulu, HI hosts its Gay Pride Parade on June 6. On the Eastern seaboard, Boston Pride and D.C.’s Capitol Pride share the following week (commencing on June 5 and running until June 14). Capitol Pride, in particular, had a very strong showing last year, including the first time the United States Department of Defense participated in a Pride parade. The DoD supplied a military color guard for the presentation and retiring of the colors at the event. Edmonton Pride and the Pride Winnipeg Festival share the same dates as the festivals in D.C. and Boston. Held in Edmonton, Alberta, the city nicknamed “Canada’s Festival City,” Edmonton Pride is marking its 35th year this June. Its northern competitor for your attendance, Pride Winnipeg’s “Pride of the Prairies,” is one of Canada’s biggest Pride festivals. It began in 1987 in response to the legislative victory that added sexual orientation to the Manitoba Human Rights Code. 44

Original Pride at the End of the Month The middle of the month brings us Los Angeles Pride (June 12–14), one of the very oldest Pride celebrations, which celebrates 45 years of Pride this year. This Hollywood-based event can proudly boast the very first Pride march (organized to be simultaneous with New York’s and Chicago’s), an event held in honor of the Stonewall Rebellion the year before. LA Pride and parade have been an annual tradition since. From June 19–21 is Gay Pride New Orleans, an event that seems to be gaining steam each passing year. In Canada, Toronto, Ontario is the site of Pride Week, which runs from June 19–28. Starting June 20 and running until the 28th is Chicago’s 46th annual Chicago Pride, home, once again, of the original Pride march. Down south, Mexico City Gay Pride is held on the 28th. At the end of the month, New York, site of that famous Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street, celebrates from the 26th–28th. The date of New York’s Parade clashes with Chicago’s, but both of these original Pride march cities choose to remain as near the date of the Rebellion as possible. Similarly, San Francisco, the gay capital of the USA, celebrates from the 27th–28th. Across the continent, countless similar celebrations come to a glorious close on June 28 to honor the Rebellion on Christopher Street Liberation Day. This is just a small sampling of the hundreds of Pride events across the continent this June. Be on the lookout for local events, or choose a destination among the heavy hitters for a great time out. Book your ticket and hotel room soon. It’s gonna be a blast.

GAY LIFESTYLE & CULTURE MAGAZINE | “IT’S OUR TIME” | GAYLIFESTYLECULTURE.COM

STYLE

Fashion: Fashion is a popular style or practice, especially in clothing, footwear, accessories, makeup, body piercing, or furniture

SS15 TOPS and Bottoms

Article By:Charles Nonto

You have been dreading the cold weather and waiting for all that snow to melt. You’ve watched the major spring/summer fashion shows and said goodbye to the sexy models and stars but what remains? The fashion trends for SS15 that’s what! In this very first issue we will be your insider for men’s latest fashion trends and icons. This is your classic Scoop V-Neck revamped in our super soft limited edition see-through burnout fabric featured on our Flash Scoop Neck Tee. It’s got that chest-baring scoop fit with a dark contrasting neckline and neon contrast trim to spice things up.

Andrew Christian Flash Scooped Neck Tee Available at: Out On The Street $67.00 CAD www.outonthestreet.ca 46

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It’s finally time to put away your wool knits and slim fit trousers and jump into some bright chino shorts and floral short sleeve shirts! Before your next retail therapy session, dig in your closet for some old denim, rugged shirts and printed shorts.. The look you’re going for is stylish and effortless.

Denim on denim is a classic look and will never be out of style. But this spring, mix it up with some island shirts and vintage short sleeve shirts. That’s where Lost & Found comes in. They have a wide variety of short sleeve shirts for men also available online for faster purchasing. Here are some examples of great shirts you can find at Lost & Found:

GItman Vintage Bros. Indigo Bandana Short Sleeve Shirt $198.00

All Available at Lost & Found www.shoplostfound.com

Gitman Vintage Bros. Hibiscus Blue Short Sleeve Shirt $198.00

Gitman Vintage Bros. Aloha Short Sleeve Shirt $198.00 Florals are back again. This trend came into play two years ago and has had plenty of retail success since. Whether it’s peonies or roses, having pretty flowers on your tops or bottoms will definitely turn heads. And that’s what you want! Watch out stripes, florals will take root in men’s wardrobes this summer! These button down collar shirts are 100% cotton and made in the USA.

Here’s a tip; if you’re new to florals, there are some guidelines to follow. As sexy as it is to see a man in a button up floral print shirt, it’s not so sexy when he pairs it with the wrong bottom! Plain white, grey or navy chino short are a simple and safe way to go with the Hibiscus short sleeve shirt shown above. Beige cargos or jean shorts are also a great mix.

These button down collar shirts are 100% cotton and made in the USA. GAY LIFESTYLE & CULTURE MAGAZINE | “IT’S OUR TIME” | GAYLIFESTYLECULTURE.COM

These pigment Beach Shorts are perfect for throwing on over that skimpy suit you only want to show off at the beach. They are taken off and put on easily, thanks to their neon drawstring waist, and are made with bright colored cuffs, cut high enough to show off a bit of thigh. This limited edition pair is made out of soft, but sturdy, bright multicolor print fabric. Bright neon stitching pulls together a truly classic look with a modern twist. The trick is to mix prep and street wear, this will project confidence and swagger effortlessly. Being a trendsetter means creating your own personal style and being comfortable in your own clothes. Jean and cargo shorts are simple and versatile, but it’s time to expand your wardrobe! Slip into some sweat shorts, and tribal pattern shorts. Pairing those with a plain or branded tee is the perfect outfit for summer festivals or date night. I know what you’re thinking. Sweat shorts to go out in public? Yes! These are the most comfortable pairs of shorts in the market right now. Accessories are always a must but don’t overdo it with the beaded earthy bracelets. Less is more. And remember, when it comes to choosing the fabric, remember to adjust to the season. Stick to lightweight cottons and seersucker for those hot summer days. Whether you decide to go topless or bottomless this summer, don’t forget to ask yourself… “are you ready?

Andrew Christian Pigment Beach Shorts Available at: Out On The Street $86.00 CAD www.outonthestreet.ca

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