The Coast Halifax Weekly

150+

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK P23

24TH ANNUAL

PRIDE GUIDE Everything you need to know about Halifax Pride 2019 festivities, with full events listings and stories including:

COMING OUT SINGING

The city’s first Gay Men’s Chorus makes its Pride debut P10

GLITTER MEETS BITTER

The Dyke and Trans March is a rally (with rainbows) P13

ROCK ’N’ ROLL ’N’ RULER JULY 18 - JULY 24, 2019

Staging queer punk musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch

R E A D H A L I FA X ’ S W E E K L Y W I T H P R I D E

•

VOLUME 27 NUMBER 8

•

P20

1-27.08.Cover.indd 1

i r o N e l l E is side of Montreal, and she’s g queen th a r d k c s, Bla ally me,“ says Halifax Pride’s t, tran unapologetic u o onfident in myself.” ly re ust now c j e on . “I’m mo m ’ h I t “ . ’s it dor She owning ambassa 9 201

2019-07-17 4:43 PM

2 • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 •

2-27.08.Ads.indd 1

The Coast

2019-07-17 3:34 PM

This week

SEEN ON INSTAGRAM

BEST OF TWITTER

Issue #1,212

Hey @smithsbakery_hfx—I’d like to thank you for all the amazing egg sandwiches, perfect sides of chips and pickles and trays, upon trays, upon trays of squares.

VOLUME 27, NUMBER 8

You will be missed.

JULY 18 - JULY 24, 2019

@gregpoirier. Posted on July 15.

On the cover: Daniel Dominic captured Elle Noir for this year’s Pride issue. This is his first cover for The Coast. See more work at danieldominic.ca.

The City Cover Story: Pride 2019 Shoptalk Voice of the City Food+Drink

4 6 18 14 22

THE NUMBER

42,711

The grand total of nominations cast for this year’s Best of Halifax Readers’ Choice Awards.

The top six in each category (plus last year’s gold winner) carry on to the next round of voting. Curious who’ll make the cut? Our final ballot launches August 1 at BESTOFHALIFAX.COM.

SUREST THING

FIN Outdoor screens The Rocky Horror Picture Show It’s an at-dusk screening of the 1975 cult hit that’ll get your pulse racing as you see Dr. Frank-N-Furter woo a vanilla couple who show up on his doorstep. Themed dress up is encouraged, so start sourcing some fishnet tights now. Halifax Public Gardens, Spring Garden Road and South Park Street, Fri Jul 19, 8pm

Arts 20 Entertainment listings 23 Love The Way We Bitch 28 The Comic 28 Free Will Astrology 29 Savage Love 30

s’all good, man @BRETONCOUSINS

Reply all Pro movie choice Katie Telford, prime minister Justin Trudeau’s chief of staff, is appalled that Cineplex is showing the anti-abortion film Unplanned at several theatres across Canada. Funny, but I wasn’t aware that Katie was being forced to watch it. Here’s a solution for you, Katie: Live and let live, while exercising your right not to see the movie.

One assumes her stance reflects that of the Trudeau Liberal government, given its attempt to reinstate Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, an oh-so-convenient way to censor conservative and libertarian voices, all in the name of abolishing “hate speech”—which is defined as speech Liberals dislike or disagree with. Section 13 is unnecessary, given existing laws against libel and threats of violence.

Censoring the internet and social media might be just the beginning. Will books be banned next? Will the government censor print, television and radio journalists who do not share Liberal insider ideology? Movies appear to be fair game.

Here’s some advice for Ms. Telford and our

The Coast welcomes your thoughts on all aspects of the paper’s performance and city life.

Deliver letters to the editor to 2309 Maynard Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3K 3T8 fax: 902-425-0013, email: letters@thecoast.ca. Post comments on any story at thecoast.ca

Liberal government. Respect the rights of others to say, read, watch and listen to whatever they please. In exchange, Liberal elites can freely exercise their rights to do likewise, and everyone should get along just fine.

—Kris Larsen, Halifax

Pipeline dreams I would like to talk about the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, a process started by Kinder Morgan in 2012 and taken over by the Trudeau government for $4.5 billion in 2018.

Now that the project is in public hands, we deserve more transparency around it, not less.

But the government won’t say how much it has already spent, what the expansion is estimated to cost or how it will be funded.

The government claims that building another pipeline will “unlock” Asian markets willing to pay premium prices for heavy crude. But most of the oil sent through the existing Trans Mountain line goes to refineries in the US. The idea that the Trans Mountain expansion will help Canadian oil produc-

ers fetch higher prices in Asia is a “fiction” according to some economists.

Kinder Morgan couldn’t raise the money to fund the expansion and walked away from a toxic investment. Will the government be able to find a buyer, or will taxpayers be left holding a stranded asset?

A few weeks ago, the government approved the expansion (that’s the second approval, after the courts overturned the first one) with the promise that revenues from it will be spent on clean energy and green tech. Funding the clean economy with a crude oil pipeline?

Trudeau should cancel Trans Mountain and end fossil fuel subsidies, and free up billions in public money to invest directly in clean energy. —Pierre-Luc Gauthier, via email Building pipelines in this day and age is very wasteful and damaging to the ecosystems of Canada, and it is time to stop and put the money into renewable resources. The government is acting like the vaccination deniers and the “we know best” conservative-type people. Do something for the country instead of taking orders from oil companies.

—Rod Ashby, Halifax

Gramtastic This “donut” is one of the best things to happen in Halifax in the 36 years I’ve lived here.

—janeeastcoast on Instagram

Responding to the photo of LF Bakery’s raspberry beignets that we posted from our June 27 “20 things to eat right now” cover.

Other users were into the beignet, too— “These look so yummy” said beckaanddani, and louisebakerfineart spoke for most of Canada with the comment “Love a good doughnut!”—but it was janeeastcoast’s use of historical and civic context that said it best. As holyrollervintage replied to the response: amen!!!!

The Coast • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 • 3

3-27.08.Letters.indd 1

2019-07-17 4:02 PM

34

EDITED BY CAORA MCKENNA / SEND TIPS TO NEWS@THECOAST.CA

The number of females on the city’s commemorative naming lists as of this week’s council meeting. It saw the Harold T. Barrett Junior High School Park Sports Court renamed to Bonnie Ryan Sports Court, and Carroll Morgan added to the waiting list.

There are 52 men in the running or already used, and 28 nonhuman names. “My god, that woman was a powerhouse. She got things done,” says councillor Lisa Blackburn of Ryan. Anyone who wishes to get something named can fill out the application form on HRM’s website.

Nelligan’s work can be found at the Halifax Common plaza at North Park and Cunard Streets. THE COAST

ART HISTORY

The making of a concrete legacy Artwork honouring the African Nova Scotian community is set in stone in the Halifax Common.

BY CAORA MCKENNA

F

rom community consultations to carving in concrete, a new art installation in the Halifax Common to honour the African Nova Scotian community is finally finished.

In 2015, Halifax set out to build three art installations around the Halifax Common park, and this week the finishing touches were painted on at the Agricola, Cunard and North Park Streets’ roundabout plaza. The hieroglyphic-styled art that circles the seating area and crosses the walking path depicts “the journey of the experience of Black people,” says artist and web designer Marven Nelligan, “not just in the north end, but throughout Nova Scotia and North America.”

The project’s own name, Concrete Legacy, was one of the main inspirations for the piece, says Nelligan.

It’s a play on words, “In the sense that, this concrete legacy, and the fact that this design is etched in stone is sort of ironic.” Ironic because “the legacy and the history of Black people, which, in a lot of ways, gets belittled and overlooked.

“It really speaks to the struggles and the triumphs of the community, and the people as well,” says Nelligan.

4 • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 •

4-27.08.City1NEW.indd 1

LaMeia Reddick says that ensuring the art represents what the community wanted to see was the main part of community consultations. She was on the council advisory board for the project.

“There was all this stuff that about family and love and roots and last names,” she says, “and this really beautiful stuff coming out about who the African Nova Scotian community was.”

Working with the project over the years to see it to completion, “to see what the community said and to see if reflected in stone now,” says Reddick, “it’s amazing.”

At the unveiling on Thursday, July 17, there will be a legend of sorts to explain some of the images, but Nelligan says it’s intentionally not obvious. He wants to keep the literal translation and meaning to himself, so that people taking in the piece are forced to “try to figure out what it’s saying and look at the words and try to decipher it, and try to come up with something like in their own mind what they think it means.”

In putting the work in stone, he’s also hoping people recognize that this art, depicting an important history takes up this space.

“We’re going to talk about it, we’re going to make it be known,” he says, “and you’re going to recognize it, you know, for everything that it is.”

The importance of accurate representation and being able to make an art piece that people could engage with in a real way was important to Nelligan. Being intentional and accurate in these types of instillations to represent and honour a community matters.

Reddick agrees.

“Being Black in Halifax is like hearing our music, but not seeing our faces represented,” she says. “It’s all good to put the art up or to play the music...that is our art. But if you don’t have spaces that are safe and reflective of us, then it’s like, what’s the point? It’s that you get to enjoy our culture without us being there. In the end of it, we can be proud that it’s done. And it’s going to be there for a long time now.”

The project took so long because of discussions over proposed repairs to the concrete, says HRM and the total cost of the three plaza installations—the third, honouring the 2SLGBTQ+ community, is expected to be completed this fall—will be $105,000. a

The Coast

2019-07-17 4:06 PM

June 18 is Autistic Pride day SUBMITTED

ACCESSIBILITY

Pride, gently All the glitter, less of the noise. BY CAORA MCKENNA

M

aking space for marginalized groups is what Pride has always been about. And this year, it’s continuing to do the extra work to push that space even further.

The Pride parade’s low-sensory viewing area returns for its second year at the festival. The space gives an elevated view of the parade and ensures reduced noise, lighting and crowding, making it a safe space for people on the autism spectrum and with other neurodiversity needs to enjoy the parade.

Hayden O’Malley, the accessibility coordinator for Halifax Pride, says Pride’s accessibility committee identified that the community had a large number of people on the autism spectrum.

“It’s super-important,” says O’Malley, “because obviously, not everyone can necessarily tolerate the loud music and large crowds of the festival, but still want to enjoy the parade.”

Cynthia Carroll, the executive director of Autism Nova Scotia, says, “There’s a higher prevalence of gender diversity among autistic individuals,” citing a study that says significantly more adolescents—6.5 percent—and adults—11.4 percent—on the autism spectrum wish to present differently on the gender spectrum, compared to the general population at three to five percent. “It’s almost like a double minority, if you’re on the autism spectrum, and your LGBTQ, it can be complex.”

O’Malley says while the space was originally created with people on the autism spectrum in mind, it has become a much bigger thing. “People who have other neurodiversity, such as ADHD, who just need a place with less distractions and less sensory overload than other areas” use the area, even nursing mothers who want a quiet space, and Carroll adds that older populations or people with brain injuries appreciate the space as well.

While making accessible spaces is expensive and a lot of work, for O’Malley, it’s important and worth it to be able to give participants the opportunity to have “an experience and have a good time, despite boundaries that may have existed in the past.”

As well as the low-sensory viewing zone for the Pride parade, there are ASL interpreters available at many events for members of the deaf and hard of hearing community. a The Coast • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 • 5

5-27.08.City2.indd 1

2019-07-17 3:48 PM

e u g o v PRIDE GUIDE

From “gay limbo” to

Chris Cochrane AKA Elle Noir on taking and making space as a trans drag queen.

BY JULIA-SIMONE RUTGERS PHOTO DANIEL DOMINIC

6 • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 •

6-7,9-27.08. FeatureNEW.starter.elle.indd 1

The Coast

2019-07-17 3:50 PM

PRIDE GUIDE

E

ducator, drag queen, aesthetician, actor, consultant: Halifax’s 2019 Pride ambassador commands the spotlight everywhere she goes. Now in her 14th year as a performer, Chris Cochrane—Halifamous for her drag persona Elle Noir—is finding balance and breaking boundaries as a dazzling new era brings drag into vogue.

Strangers linger in a bustling Hydrostone coffee shop, shooting shy smiles as they overhear a gracefully confident Cochrane ruminate on her experiences growing, learning and performing in eastern Canada’s drag scene.

“I’m more unapologetically me, and I used to be afraid, I didn’t want to speak about my accolades,” says Cochrane. “I’m just now confident in myself.”

She’s the only out, trans, Black drag queen this side of Montreal, she says, and has racked up plenty of pageant titles and competition wins in her more than a decade of performing. But that’s not all: In the last several years she’s taken on teaching positions and acting and educational speaking roles all while building careers as a corporate consultant and an aesthetician.

Her success to this point is dizzying, as is her schedule. But as someone who hails from the small community of Glace Bay in Cape Breton, Cochrane works hard to keep a level head.

“Remember where you came from and remember where you’re at,” she says. “That’s what has to keep me grounded.”

Elle Noir first stepped onto the scene in 2005. Then, the 19-year-old Cochrane was in the navy. Her first time in drag was a dare—a friend thought it would be funny of Cochrane to show up to superstar RuPaul’s Halifax show in drag.

Then there was Five Minutes of Fame, a mish-mash talent show hosted at Reflections Cabaret, where Cochrane first performed as Elle Lenore, her name a play on the star character of Legally Blonde. Two weeks later, Elle Noir found herself in the lineup for her first-ever pageant. It was only her third time in drag, and she placed third out of 11 performers.

Cochrane continued to perform on stages around the world while travelling with the navy. Eventually, she says, she realized she

There is always that struggle of am I doing the right thing or am I just making noise for no reason? Taking up space is a big thing...and I want to make sure that I take up enough space, but I want to have that space so that when I leave, that space is still there for somebody else.

was more comfortable in drag than out of it.

“Elle Noir is my security blanket,” says Cochrane. “She was a way for me to hide in plain sight, so she’s a way for me to be myself without being myself, and through that I found that I was more outgoing and a lot less afraid of the world as Elle Noir.”

Cochrane left the navy in 2007 and spent a year living in Toronto. There she found both community and opportunity as she continued to perform and started meeting out trans women.

“We had a few in Halifax but I didn’t really know them and I didn’t want to ask them questions because I didn’t want to be rude,” she says. “But there I was able to talk and deal with it on more of a one-to-one.”

Cochrane moved back to Halifax in 2008, and began transitioning a year later. Now, as an out trans woman in the drag world, Cochrane is pushing back against misconceptions about the place of trans people in drag.

“It’s still very nuanced,” says Cochrane. “If you go to Toronto or Vancouver or down to New York, there’s competitions called Miss Continental, and it’s trans women that are drag queens...but here in Halifax they don’t see it, so they don’t know it.”

Elle Noir’s popularity has brought countless opportunities to Cochrane, but being both trans and Black in the public eye has invited its fair share of challenges, too.

In the summer of 2011 Cochrane was shot by attackers shouting homohobic and transphobic slurs at her in her Fairview apartment.

Police debated over labelling it a hate crime, saying at the time they doubted the claim.

Cochrane says she herself felt like a suspect while the investigation was going on.

“The worst has already been done to me,” Cochrane says. “I’ve been shot before, I’ve been called down to the lowest, I’ve been publicly humiliated, so you know there’s really nothing they can throw at me now.”

Cochrane says it’s the people who look up to her, or who are inspired by her, that give her strength to keep rising. She’s aware of the platform she’s built for herself, and makes it a priority to always leave the stage set for someone new.

This year, she’s hosting Halifax Pride’s first-ever BIPOC drag show, where all of the performers and all of the songs they perform will amplify the queer and trans BIPOC community.

“There is always that struggle of am I doing the right thing or am I just making noise for no reason?” says Cochrane. “Taking up space is a big thing...and I want to make sure that I take up enough space, but I want to have that space so that when I leave, that space is still there for somebody else.”

On top of her role as ambassador, Cochrane has also been a consultant on the pride board for this year’s celebration, helping to push for more equitable representation at Halifax’s pride festivities.

“I think this year, with the help of me, and because of the help of our community, it’s going to be so much more diverse,” she says of the advocacy work she’s been able to do.

“There’s not going to be a stage or a performance where there isn’t going to be a person of colour this year.”

Over the past 14 years, Cochrane has watched drag evolve from what she calls “gay limbo” to an almost-mainstream phenomena. The explosive popularity of RuPaul’s CONT ON P9 >

The Coast • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 • 7

6-7,9-27.08. FeatureNEW.starter.elle.indd 2

2019-07-17 3:43 PM

8 • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 •

8-27.08.Ads.indd 1

The Coast

2019-07-17 3:47 PM

PRIDE GUIDE

Elle Noir performing at The Bump. EMMA PAULSON

< CONT FROM P7

Drag Race, a reality TV drag competition, has opened up space for drag queens to begin breaking boundaries across genres.

To Cochrane, drag has always been about a balance of past and future; it requires a knowledge of the history, and a willingness to always stay on the cutting edge.

“Drag was always a way of pushing boundaries, you know, flipping socialism on its head and giving it that sparkly edge that it needed,” says Cochrane. “That’s what I hope for, is that we keep pushing boundaries so much so that we end up having no boundaries.”

As drag has become more and more mainstream, Cochrane says she is consistently inspired by the queens she sees taking drag beyond its limits.

“The ones that I like are the ones that are taking drag more than what is done,” she says.

“I think there’s always going to be a faction of drag, like Genderfuck, and gender non-conforming people, that are going to help keep that grounded, they’re the ones that are keeping it in the true fashion of what drag really is: The Leigh Bowerys and the Divines.”

Ultimately, Cochrane says, drag is about authenticity and self-expression. Elle Noir

has undergone countless reinventions over the years, from performances to makeup to costumes, but Cochrane feels she’s now come into her own both as Elle, the showgirl, and as Chris, the educator and thinker.

“I would say there’s a lot of Chris in Elle and a lot of Elle in Chris,” she says. “To be honest I would say probably in the last year it’s only been that I’ve worked to have that balance.”

The weeks to come will be a whirlwind for Elle Noir, whose role as Pride ambassador includes 11 events scheduled in the first 72 hours of Pride. She’s unbelievably busy, but the Halifax drag star is feeling motivated by her accomplishments.

“Especially this year with the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, we have to think about our past,” she says. “It’s kind of a moment for me because of being a trans Black woman 50 years later and now I’m the head of Pride... it’s showing me that I’m moving in the right direction, and everything I’ve done in the past is now validated.” a Julia-Simone Rutgers is a graduating journalism student at King’s whose work focuses on centering and amplifying marginalized voices.

The Coast • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 • 9

6-7,9-27.08. FeatureNEW.starter.elle.indd 3

2019-07-17 3:43 PM

PRIDE GUIDE

“It’s very much about acceptance and being who you are. There’s a place for everybody.” TYLER COLBOURNE

A new tune The Halifax Gay Men’s Chorus—the city’s first gay male choir— is set to make its Pride Festival debut. BY BRANDON YOUNG

T

he Halifax Gay Men’s Chorus is preparing to make its mark on the city when it introduces itself to the 2SLGBTQ+ community in a very public way at this year’s Pride Festival.

As Nova Scotia’s first gay men’s chorus, it’s an historic milestone for both its members and the communities it represents.

Nearly 10 months old, the chorus is still in its infancy, having had its first open meeting in November. However, its newbie status hasn’t slowed momentum. With more than 40 members, it’s attracted more interest than initially anticipated.

“We were hoping for 10 or 12, so it was a nice surprise,” says Tim Callahan-Cross, executive director of the Nova Scotia Choral Federation, who sings in the chorus.

Created in part to accompany the local lesbian choir The Women Next Door at the 2022 Unison Festival, the HGMC has already been warmly received by the general public. Adding two sold-out shows in June to its growing list of accomplishments, the group of men and non-binary-identifying individuals was offered a rehearsal space by First Baptist Church. “That’s something that wouldn’t have happened 15 years ago,” says Callahan-Cross.

“It felt very much like we had been welcomed by the community.”

Rehearsing on Thursday nights at the church, the group can be heard singing everything from Broadway show tunes to standard classical arrangements and folk—all within an inviting environment.

“From the first time we got together and read music together to our first concert, the level of support within the chorus has been

10 • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 •

10-27.08.Feature.mansgaychoir.indd 1

wonderful,” says Callahan-Cross. “It’s nice to be in a space where you can be yourself. We take the music seriously, but there’s a lot of fun and laughter.”

That fun spills out beyond the rehearsal space. With members ranging from 20 to over 70 years old, the chorus can be found around town grabbing a drink or bite to eat post-rehearsal. “We’ve talked a lot about community, family and providing support for those that need it,” says Callahan-Cross. “Times have changed, but there’s still that need for community and a place of belonging.”

The group of singers is gearing up to spread its message with Halifax Pride events that include a performance at the Garrison Grounds mainstage on Saturday, immediately following its march in the parade. Ultimately, Callahan-Cross hopes to see the HGMC resonate with anyone who has an interest in being part of the chorus, and notes open rehearsals are held every few months. “It’s very much about acceptance and being who you are,” he says.

“There’s a place for everybody.”

As for the future of the choir, CallahanCross hopes it can survive and thrive well beyond 20 years. However, for now, he’s focused on keeping the “fledgling” group on its upward trajectory as it prepares for the 2022 Unison Festival—which brings together Canadian LGBTQ choruses—to be hosted in Halifax.

“Our goal is that we’ll be an extremely wellestablished chorus by then,” he says. “And that the idea of having a gay choral festival in Halifax will seem second-nature, and that we’ll have a great reception.” a

The Coast

2019-07-17 3:46 PM

The Coast • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 • 11

11-27.08.Ads.indd 1

2019-07-17 3:46 PM

PRIDE GUIDE

Fucking angry, super proud Halifax’s Dyke and Trans March is a community-organized alternative to corporate Pride. BY REBECCA DINGWELL

P

ride month in Halifax is made up of more than just parties in colourful packages—and the Dyke and Trans March is one of several events that prove it.

Frank Heimpel, the outreach coordinator at South House Sexual and Gender Resource Centre, hopes the Dyke and Trans March will provide space for folks to be “fucking angry,” “super proud,” or somewhere in between. “If they just want to see all their exes in one spot, they can do that,” they add, laughing.

In the past, individuals and collectives such as Rad Pride—known for organizing and promoting alternative, 2SLGBTQ+focused events—have taken the reins in organizing past incarnations of the Dyke and Trans March. This year, Heimpel explains, Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group (NSPIRG) and South House are coming together to make the march more community-led and supported. “It isn’t owned by any one person or organizing group.”

The idea to for this year’s march came from NSPIRG’s summer student hire, ven cain, who used to be involved with Rad Pride. Heimpel says when there was discussion that it should continue, there was still an apparent want—and need—for such a march in Halifax.

It’s important “not to just see Pride season as the celebration,” says Heimpel, “but also to remember the context of ‘life’s still hard for a lot of folks’ and what are we doing to address that?”

While folks of all orientations are welcome to join in, the Dyke and Trans March aims to prioritize the voices of queer women and trans people of all genders, looking at the ways in which they experience different forms of harassment and marginalization.

First, participants will rally and listen to speakers in front of the Halifax Central Library. They will then begin the march, making their way from Spring Garden to the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre on Gottingen Street. The Facebook event describes it as “equal parts bitter and glitter.” A protest-celebration hybrid.

Events such as the Dyke and Trans March go beyond (as Heimpel puts it) “capitalism with a fun rainbow.”

Heimpel points to other community-led events happening in the city, including a Dolly Parton karaoke fundraiser and Queer Arabs of Halifax’s annual dance party.

“If we want to celebrate Pride then we have to celebrate all aspects of Pride and support, tangibly, people of colour and trans people,” says Heimpel. a

12 • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 •

12-13-27.08.FeatureNEW.indd 1

The Coast

2019-07-17 4:08 PM

PRIDE GUIDE

What 2SLGBTQ+ youth want Canadian youth want respectfu health care, safe housing and better social services. BY JESSICA R. DURLING

A

ccording to a new report, 70 percent of transgender youth in Canada have experienced sexual harassment. More than onethird of trans youth ages 14 to 18 have been physically threatened or injured in the past year. Twenty to 40 percent of homeless youth identify as 2SLGBTQ+.

This comes from a recent report by Halifax group Wisdom2Action, a social enterprise committed to connecting the gaps between organizations and advocates. This report, funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada, highlights the experiences of more than 500 2SLGBTQ+ youth across Canada: How they are affected by gender-based violence, what they want done about it and their top priorities for action.

According to Wisdom2Action, the first of the three priorities youth addressed was greater education for the public, service providers and families.

“I spend a lot of my time working with LGBTQ2+ young folks and a thing I keep hearing is that service providers just don’t have the ability all too often to provide affirming and inclusive care,” says Fae Johnstone, affiliate and project manager with Wisdom2Action.

Johnstone is a 23-year-old non-binary individual living in Ottawa.

“A lot of the time when young folks are accessing services, like going to their doctor’s office, they have to spend a lot of time advocating for themselves and their basic rights.”

Like assuming pronouns or the person’s body type or the gender of people they may be involved with. “Often there is a link drawn between someone being trans and accessing health care and just the idea that it’s connected to a mental health problem,” she says.

“A lot of the folks claim they have to advocate for themselves. And the fact, no they’re not here struggling with mental health problems because they’re trans. These are two separate issues.”

The second priority was action to ad-

dress housing and homelessness for 2SLGBTQ+youth.

Johnstone says the statistic, showing 20 to 40 percent of homeless youth identify as 2SLGBTQ+, means that a significant number of young folk who come out to their families don’t feel safe in their homes or aren’t allowed to stay.

“We’ve come a long way in so many different ways, but a lot of trans folk don’t have the best experiences accessing housing and homelessness services, just because they may not feel safe in those experiences as trans or LGBTQ2+ folks,” she says. “A trans woman might not be welcomed in a women’s shelter.

“I hear anecdotally even from the communities I’m involved with—a lot of folks are very worried about making ends meet and paying rent that month,” Johnstone says. “And they know if they do become street-involved, the risk of violence targeted at them just skyrockets.”

The third priority was an effort to improve inclusivity within health and social services.

“A lot of folks don’t feel their physicians, their service providers have as much knowledge as they need when it comes to supporting trans and gender diverse young folks as well as LGBTQ2+ youth,” says Johnstone.

For example, in most provinces it is the responsibility of the family physician to handle hormone programs. This is so that patients who are transgender and require hormone replacement therapy can access them. “But most don’t feel comfortable doing that, so it puts a significant barrier,” she says. “Especially for young folks who are not in urban settings, to find access to what can be life-changing and lifesaving services.”

To ensure youth feel heard and seen at Pride, there are 23 events with a youth focus, from support and discussion meetings, swagmaking parties and costume parties run with help from organizations like The Youth Project and PFlag. See page 16 for the full list. a The Coast • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 • 13

12-13-27.08.FeatureNEW.indd 2

2019-07-17 4:08 PM

PRIDE GUIDE

Voice of The City

“Creagen’s Chastity Belt” (2019) uses humour to discuss sexual health, sex and consent. SUBMITTED

Wide open spaces Finding a place and a voice as a queer POC artist.

BY SARAH MIHARA CREAGEN

I

am a white-passing Japanese Canadian queer cis-woman born and raised in the north end. However, I haven’t gotten to live there as a queer adult yet—I left Halifax almost immediately after coming out at 20, during my first year of my BFA at NSCAD. I often feel this leaving as a kind of loss. Yet the skills I learned from growing up in a close-knit community are the ones I often pay tribute to.

Finding a queer POC community of artist weirdos like myself to make my home has been an intentional search. One of my cherished early queer experiences was being a part of The Gladstone’s That’s So Gay exhibition in Toronto in 2013. There, I showed my work among other gay artists for the first time, and it made me consider what communities I wanted my artwork to speak to.

Recently, my latest projects in New York have shown bodies of work that use humour to discuss sexual health, sex and consent. Part of this work is researching chastity belts and their role in medieval history, North American history and their appearance within BDSM culture. In “Chastity Belt,” Sara Jones, my alter ego, is wearing a chastity belt come alive, teeth and little legs spilling out from the belted structure, with rolling eyes planted firm in the centre. The release key is around her wrist.

I feel so fortunate to be finding an audience and peers through my exhibitions and through my participation with queer art.

However, this has definitely not always been the case.

In art institutions and commercial spaces,

14 • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 •

14-27.08.Feature.voice.indd 1

we still see mainly white (and often cis male) artists—work that is considered easy to sell. I am becoming more comfortable and excited to find my place as a more non-commercial artist and learning through the experiences that will come with this place in the art world.

When I was invited to curate a show in an alternative art space in Brooklyn, my goal was to invite queer artists whose work discussed their experiences in the medical industry. I sent the proposal with artist links and when I went to visit the space, he immediately let me know that hosting a show of queer art like ours was too offensive.

In response, myself and some of my fellow “offensive” artists curated a show we titled Let Us Be Gay. Creating confrontational and vulnerable artwork that describes my queer and mixedrace identities and experiences that are confrontational and vulnerable are priorities for me, because I’ve experienced how seeing someone else be brave allows room for the next person to do the same. It’s strengthened my commitment to support and give space to queer artists when I can. The experience of being excluded because my work was deemed “offensive” clarified to me the importance of considering how to use my art as a tool to continue conversations around sex, consent and sexual health. a Born in Nova Scotia, Sarah Mihara Creagen is a white-passing mixed-race queer artist based between Brooklyn and Toronto.

The Coast

2019-07-17 3:45 PM

The Coast • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 • 15

15-27.08.Ads.indd 1

2019-07-17 3:57 PM

PRIDE GUIDE

E

SEE MOR

PRIDE TS EVEN NE AT

ONLI T.CA THECOAS

STOO METZ

Sure Thing

THE GRIND DJ Sandy Duperval (pictured) headlines this epic, outdoor dance party that’s the cherry on top of a very Pride-filled Saturday, following the parade and its afterparty. Garrison Grounds, Citadel Hill, Sat Jul 20, 9pm-2am, $5

Plan your Pride Make the most of week one of the festival with these listings.

COMPILED BY MORGAN MULLIN

Thursday July 18

Friday July 19

BIPOC PERFORMERS PRIDE SHOW Drag, spoken word and more. Menz, 2182 Gottingen Street, 9pm-12am, $10

THE BUMP A host of local drag royalty—and RuPaul’s Drag Race star Kennedy Davenport. Garrison Grounds, Citadel Hill, 9pm-2am

DROP-IN DANCE CLASS Eights Dance Co., 1678 Barrington Street, 12-4:30pm, free

DRAG QUEENS AGAINST HUMANITY Menz, 2182 Gottingen Street, 7-10pm

HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH Menz, 2182 Gottingen Street, 7pm

FLAG-RAISING Grand Parade Square, Barrington at George Streets, 5-5:30pm

KING & QUEEN OF PRIDE Menz, 10pm-12am

NIGHTSHADE: KINKY COLOURS BLACK LIGHT PARTY Menz, 10pm

TAKE IT OFF! UNDERWEAR PARTY PRIDE LEATHER EDITION Menz, 11pm-2:30am

RECOVERY MEETING Museum of Natural History, 1747 Summer Street, 7pm

YOUTH PRIDE BARBECUE AND FLOAT-BUILDING The Youth Project, 2281 Brunswick Street, 3pm

TORPEDO LEATHER BEAR NIGHT Torpedo Sauna & Spa, 2199 Gottingen Street, 9pm-3am

HALIFAX PRIDE COMEDY NIGHT 2019 Spatz Theatre, 1855 Trollope Street, 7:30pm HALIFAX PROPRIDE The Prince George Hotel, 1725 Market Street, 5:30-8:30pm HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH Read more on page 20. Menz, 2182 Gottingen Street, 7-8:30pm PRIDE BLOCK PARTY Argyle Street, 5:30-8pm PRIDE IN HOMEOWNERSHIP WORKSHOP Halifax Central Library, room 301, 5440 Spring Garden Road, 6-7:30pm PRIDE SWAG-MAKING PARTY Halifax Central Library, 5-7pm PRIDE YOUTH DANCE Garrison Grounds, Citadel Hill, 8-10:30pm ROLL INTO PRIDE An evening of role-playing games that feature queer content. Halifax North Memorial Public Library, 2285 Gottingen Street, 11am-8:30pm

16 • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 •

16-17-27.08.FeatureListings02.indd 1

Saturday July 20 2019 HALIFAX PRIDE PARADE This year’s parade ambassador is the dripping-in-finesse, Best of Halifax Readers’ Choice Awardwinning drag queen Elle Noir—profiled on page 6. Peep the parade along Sackville Street, Spring Garden Road or South Park Street as it winds toward the Garrison Grounds. 1-3pm FULL COLOUR DANCE PARTY Menz & Mollyz’s biggest dance party this Pride. Menz, 2182 Gottingen Street, 11:30pm-2:30am GENDER FUCK Menz, 2182 Gottingen Street, 9-11pm

THE GRIND See photo.

Garrison Grounds, Citadel Hill, 9pm-2am HALIFAX PRIDE PARADE AFTER-PARTY Follow the floats to the Garrison Grounds for this wild afternoon of fun featuring a performance by the Halifax Gay Men’s Chorus and more. Garrison Grounds, Citadel Hill, 3-6pm

WOMEN’S DANCE Atlantica Hotel Halifax, 1980 Robie Street, 8pm-1:30am, $20 YOUTH PROJECT PARADE FLOAT The Youth Project, 2281 Brunswick Street, noon, free

Sunday July 21 COMMUNITY SPIRITUAL FAIR Northwood Community Centre, 2615 Northwood Terrace, 6-9pm CONSTELLATE: OUTSPOKEN Read more on page 21. Good Robot, 2736 Robie Street, 10pm INCLUSIVE WORSHIP SERVICE First Baptist Church, 1300 Oxford Street, 10:30-11:45am

The Coast

2019-07-17 3:59 PM

PRIDE GUIDE INTERFAITH PRIDE SERVICE Northwood Community Centre, 2615 Northwood Terrace, 6-9pm MAR-PAH PET AND PUP NIGHT A Pride edition of the pet play group.

Society of Bastet, 1-327 Windmill Road, Dartmouth, 8-10pm MODERN FAMILY BARBECUE Timber Lounge, 2712 Agricola Street, 1-4pm

GET YOUR DRAG ON: PRIDE EDITION An open stage.

Menz, 2182 Gottingen Street, 9:30-11:30pm JEREMY DUTCHER: INDIGENOUS AND 2-SPIRIT EXCELLENCE See photo. Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, 7pm

PHILLIP PIKE: THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF COMMUNITY Documentarist Phillip Pike shows his latest, Our Dance of Revolution, which traces stories of the Toronto Black 2SLGBTQ+ community, followed by a Q&A. Halifax Central Library, 6-8:30pm

LAKECITY WORKS OPEN HOUSE AND TOUR 386 Windmill Road, 10am-1pm

PRIDE IN OUR RECOVERY: A 2SLGBTQ+ NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS MEETING YMCA Gottingen, 2269 Gottingen Street, 7-8pm

NAUGHTY BY NATURE A BIPOCcentred evening of dance and kink.

Local Council of Women House, 989 Young Avenue, 10pm-2am

LIVE AND LET LIVE: A 2SLGBTQ+ AA MEETING St. Matthew’s, 1479 Barrington Street, 8-9pm

RAINBOW CRAFTERNOON Keshen Goodman Public Library, 330 Lacewood Drive, 2:30-3:30pm

PET & HANDLER 101: AN INTRODUCTION TO ANIMAL ROLEPLAY 327 Windmill Road, 2-4pm

TREATY INFORMED COMMUNITY BUILDING Halifax Central Library, noon

VOGUE: A NIGHT OF DANCE Menz, 2182 Gottingen Street, 9:30pm-2am

PUPPER’S PRIDE PARADE Shubie Park, 54 Locks Road, Darmouth

QUEER PIONEERS HISTORY SALON A retelling of the city’s queer history by those who lived it.

Universalist Unitarian Church, 5500 Inglis Street, 3-7pm

SEA BEYOND BINARY’ KIDS COSTUME SHOW Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, 1055 Marginal Road, 2-4pm SUNDAY PRIDE SERVICE Universalist Unitarian Church, 5500 Inglis Street, 10:30-11:30am TASTE THE RAINBOW Menz, 9:30-11:3pm

Monday July 22 GENDER CREATIVE KIDS HANGOUT The Youth Project, 2281 Brunswick Street, 6-7pm

RAYMOND TAAVEL PARK DEDICATION AND CANDLELIGHT VIGIL 1004 Barrington Street, 9pm WHOSE VOICES ARE HEARD? A panel discussion by the Rainbow Refugee Association of Nova Scotia.

Halifax Central Library, 6:30pm YOUTH DRAG SHOWCASE Woodlawn Public Library, 31 Eisener Boulevard, Dartmouth, 6:30pm

Tuesday July 23 EXTRAMURAL SPORTS: BASKETBALL Citadel High School, 1855 Trollope Street, 6-7:30pm NON-BINARY MEET-UP For folx 25 and under. The Youth Project, 2281 Brunswick Street, 6-8pm HEALTH CARE RESOURCES FOR NOVA SCOTIANS Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, noon

Wednesday July 24 THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT SCREENING Woodlawn Public Library, 31 Eisener Boulevard, Dartmouth, 6pm EXTRAMURAL SPORTS: SOCCER Citadel High School, 1855 Trollope Street, 6-7:30pm FLAGGING VELVET ARTIST TALK AND DISCUSSION In Flagging Velvet, artists Maddie Alexander, Dana Buzzee and Wren Morris subvert the heteronormative gaze with documentation of queer sex and desire that’s empowered and celebratory. Here, two of the three artists share a frank, open discussion on queer sexuality.

Anna Leonowens Gallery, Granville Square, 1891 Granville Street, 5pm NOVA SCOTIA AT THE TIME OF STONEWALL AND PARTIAL DECRIMINALIZATION Halifax Central Library, noon THE STALLION A bunch of drag newbies give it a go, getting live makeovers from Halifax drag kings.

The Seahorse, 2037 Gottingen Street, 9pm SWING OUT! Pride-themed swing dancing. Canadian Museum of Immigration, 1055 Marginal Road, 6:30-10pm TRANS YOUTH PANEL Halifax Central Library, 3-4pm

VANESSA HEINS

Sure Thing

JEREMY DUTCHER: INDIGENOUS AND 2-SPIRIT EXCELLENCE Former Halifax poet laureate Rebecca Thomas sits down with Polaris Prize-winning artist Jeremy Dutcher to discuss the intersection of identity and art—in particular, how Dutcher’s Indigenous and 2-Spirit identities have played a role in both his music and activism. Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, Mon Jul 22, 7-8:30pm, free

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REALLY SAY ABOUT QUEER SPIRITUALITY? First Baptist Church, 1300 Oxford Street, 6-7pm

The Coast • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 • 17

16-17-27.08.FeatureListings02.indd 2

2019-07-17 3:53 PM

ShopTalk

IAN SELIG

S M A L L B U S I N E S S N E W S C O M P I L E D BY ALLISON SAUNDERS Send tips to shoptalk@thecoast.ca

This must be the space Leah Inman aims to fill a void with Safer Space Massage, catering to all bodies and identities. BY VICTORIA WALTON Safer Space Massage Therapy @saferspacemassage

S

ix months ago, Leah Inman dove into a business idea by starting a massage clinic run out of their Fairview home.

“I’ve always been very entrepreneurial,” Inman says. “I love working for myself, making my own hours. And it just made sense for me to try and break into my own massage business.”

Inman is a Registered Massage Therapist who identifies as queer and sometimes uses gender-neutral pronouns.

“It’s queer-focused therapeutic massage. I really try and cater to folks that maybe don’t feel as comfortable in a traditional medical setting,” she explains.

In massage school, Inman says some classmates would voice their annoyance with and lack of understanding of the needs of clients in the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

“Being a queer person, it was really hard to see how people talk about queer people.

I was sad to see my colleagues or my classmates complain about it or make it seem like it wasn’t OK,” Inman says.

Upon graduation, Inman began working at Massage Addict in downtown Halifax. But this past February she also opened Safer Space Massage Therapy.

“I just wanted to create a space where I myself would feel comfortable, along with my friends, my queer community,” she says.

When she first started Safer Space Massage, Inman reached out to consult people in the local queer community on how to make the practice welcoming for everyone.

“As a feminine-presenting white person I wanted to make sure that my space was as comfortable as it could be,” she says. Clients

18 • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 •

18-27.08.Shoptalk.saferspaces.indd 1

“know that when they come here, they’re going to be comfortable, their pronouns are going to be correct, their names are going to be correct.”

Inman says about 95 percent of her clients identify somewhere on the 2SLGBTQ+ spectrum, and about 60 percent are trans.

“There’s really nothing in the Maritimes that specifically caters to queer folks. There are lots of queer-friendly places but I think having a queer-centred business makes it even more comfortable for people,” Inman says.

While she’s tried to learn as much as they can, Inman says she’s always open to improving.

“I’ve learned and gotten education on how to treat specific injuries, or any dysfunction associated with things like wearing a binder or chest surgery,” she says. “Any way that I can make this more comfortable for people, I want to know.”

Safer Space Massage sees eight to 10 clients each week, and is gaining new customers every month. Massages at Safer Space are priced on a sliding pay scale—$65 for an hour for first-time clients, with direct billing options available.

“I was expecting to have maybe three or four clients, but even in my first month I had 15,” Inman says. “By the end of the year, I want to be just focused here.”

Later this month, Safer Space will be partnering with Halifax Pride by offering free massages at the Community Market. Eventually, Inman hopes Safer Space can offer a whole range of wellness needs.

“Physio, chiro, I even have friends who are hairdressers. I think we can really create safer spaces in all different ways,” she says. “But for now I’m very happy just seeing where my massage business goes.” a

The Coast

2019-07-17 4:07 PM

ShopTalk OPENING

With might and mane

Halifax hairstylist Steph McNair locks down a location for her downtown non-binary salon, Maneland. BY ALLISON SAUNDERS

Maneland 1528 Queen Street “That’s my goal,” says McNair. “To just let people be.” RACHEL MCGRATH

G

etting entangled in the world of hair was something of a surprise for Steph McNair.

While making a living working in art galleries and as a carpenter, the visual artist—inspired by a good friend’s at-home salon—applied to go to hair school on a whim, and got in.

“I never went to salons. I was cutting my own hair and my cuts were like kitchen cuts, and sort of very intuitive,” she says. “And people liked it so I thought, maybe I could do this as a career.

“I really liked the art or the craft of it— I’m still obsessed with getting technically better—but another part of getting into it was that I didn’t feel like there was a place for me per se, or at least that I didn’t feel comfortable. I would go in looking for a men’s cut and they would maybe do some version of that, but always at the end would be feminizing it in a way.”

That was 10 years ago. Since then, McNair’s been an educator at Calgary’s Aveda Institute, made a name for herself and her cuts at local salons and now is gearing up to move forward by opening a place of her own: Maneland Non-Binary Beauty. Taking over one of Vintage Row’s colourful saltbox houses—the green one—McNair, who’s currently in renovation mode, will offer a sneak peek of what’s to come with a soft opening from July 18 to 28.

“It’s a place for people who are non-binary or don’t feel bound to one beauty standard,” says McNair of the space, where acceptance and accessibility (including price point) are high priority. “Hopefully they’ll be able to feel it’s coming from that perspective first, instead of walking into somewhere and being like,

‘OK I have to navigate through the cis world.’”

McNair wanted to open Maneland not just to create a space where her clients were seen and understood, but fellow folks working in the industry as well. She hopes to be able to offer apprenticeships and mentorships to upand-comers who might feel like they don’t fit into the mainstream beauty world.

“Not to say there’s anything wrong with salons, but getting into the industry was challenging and still is challenging 10 years later,” she says. “Even that word ‘beautiful,’ or ‘beauty,’ I used that word because it’s sort of loaded.

In some ways it’s very feminine, but I wanted it to be like—no, you can feel like a beautiful person in your truest sense. That’s my goal, to just let people be...and listen to them.”

After the soft stint in July, Maneland will go on pause while McNair heads to New York, where she’ll link up with inspiring stylists doing similar work at gender-neutral barbershops Hairari and Manetamed. She expects the salon to be back in action and in full swing on Queen Street by late summer.

“I think it’s an honour to have somebody give over their trust to you. I like being able to take someone’s often verbal descriptions and maybe a couple of pictures of what they like or don’t like, and just creating a growing sculpture,” she says. “Just like in art there are principles of design in haircutting, that was one of the first things that was like, ‘Oh this is an art,’ that made me think, this is my medium. I never finished art school in part because I was always searching for the right medium—I liked mixed media—and I think this is a good one.” a The Coast • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 • 19

19-27.08.Shoptalk2.indd 1

2019-07-17 3:44 PM

MUSIC AND ARTS NEWS EDITED BY TARA THORNE SEND TIPS TO ARTS@THECOAST.CA FUNDRAISER THEATRE

Halifax, meet Hedwig

Help kick off Pride with a production of the queer punk-rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. BY SARA CONNORS

20-21-27.08.Arts.indd 1

Heist’s annual Pride celebration goes big-haired with a salute to Dolly Parton.

BY MORGAN MULLIN

Hedwig and the Angry Inch Thursday, July 18 and Saturday, July 20, 7pm Menz and Mollyz, 2182 Gottingen Street $25 hedwighfx.bpt.me

Heist presents: A Dolly Parton Pride tribute

J

I

ust in time for Pride, Halifax audiences will have a chance to wig out and enjoy what Rolling Stone has dubbed “the best rock musical ever.”

The Tony Award-winning Hedwig and the Angry Inch, written by John Cameron Mitchell with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask, follows the story of Hedwig Robinson, a genderqueer singer who escapes from communist East Berlin to a trailer park in Kansas.

Directed by Margot Begin and starring Andrew Morrisey as Hedwig—they’re both from Truro—Hedwig touches on themes of identity, gender and acceptance, while also giving audiences dramatic rock performances and raunchy punk humour.

Now based in New York, Morrisey originally played Hedwig in a Montreal production of the musical last year, produced by Noelle Hannibal, who also co-starred as Yitzhak. The pair reprise their roles in a new production and will tour three Canadian cities this summer, with Halifax being the first stop.

Morrisey is “beyond thrilled” to return to Nova Scotia and debut Hedwig to an east coast audience. “This show is so near and dear to my heart, and I’m so excited to bring it to Nova Scotia specifically,” he says.

Last fall, the online Montreal Theatre Hub*commended Morrisey on his performance, writing that he “commands the space and exudes the necessary charisma for the sassy songstress,” hailing the show as a “triumph in poignant genderqueer production.”

Begin, who previously worked with Morrisey for a touring children’s production, is “beyond confident” in Morrisey’s and Hannibal’s performances. After preparing for the show remotely since late last year, the trio spent six days together in intense rehearsals in Montreal last week. “These are complex characters,” says Begin. “Not all of it is pretty.

There’s some rough stuff that happens. The actors have been so open and wanting to find their own voice within who these characters are. I love being part of that process and having actors who trust me and are willing to truly explore.”

Morrisey says while Hedwig is his favourite character he’s played to date, she’s also been the most challenging. “It’s the most singing I’ve ever had to do in a musical. Preparing for that is extensive. I studied with an acting teacher in New York, and we went through the whole script,” he says. “It’s so dense and there’s so much happening. Its stretched me as a singer, an actor and as a human.”

A glam-punk love story that’s sure to leave

20 • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 •

Dolly’s house

Monday, July 22, 8pm The Seahorse Tavern, 2037 Gottingen Street $25

Morissey as Hedwig: “It stretched me as a singer, an actor and as a human.” SUBMITTED

you laughing, crying and most definitely singing along, Begin says it’s the ultimate message in Hedwig—to love and accept yourself and others—that speaks perfectly to Pride.

“It’s incredibly poignant and at times a very painful...but so beautiful and so necessary.

It’s going to engage people around some really challenging conversations around gender and identity.”

An outrageous and hilarious tale of freedom, true love and survival, Hedwig certainly isn’t for the faint of heart, but Morrisey says it’s a story many can relate to.

“There’s something about playing Hedwig’s journey during the show that makes me feel like I’m hopping on a train that’s moving at full speed,” he says. “Even though Hedwig might seem far from the norm, her journey is universally understood.” a

t all started when Richie Wilcox asked his musician pals to cover some Rufus Wainwright tunes at The Music Room on an empty Monday night during Pride.

What once felt like a way to fill time during the festival quickly took root as an important tradition, with Heist’s annual Pride tribute—then called the Angels & Heroes annual Pride tribute—returning with a new gay icon’s songbook each summer.

“Back then at Pride, there wasn’t much on a Monday night. We moved from The Company House to The Seahorse, the Pride Guide got thicker,” says Wilcox, Heist’s co-artistic director with Aaron Collier. “But now, Heist’s queer mandate means it makes sense more than ever. It’s still just us asking friends to sing a cover.”

This year, the show—which includes the likes of T. Thomason, Stewart Legere and Arsoniste—tips a rhinestone-studded hat to Dolly Parton, while raising funds for future live art bound to be in the same glittery vein as Heist’s anime-and-dragfilled hit play The Princess Show.

“Many of the past icons we’ve chosen— Elton John, Queen—are part of the queer community; or David Bowie or Annie Lennox, who’ve helped break down conceptions of gender and sexuality in the mainstream. We’ve also done tributes to bands like Nirvana, who used to say ‘If you’re a homophobe, don’t listen to to our music,’” Wilcox explains. “We tend to choose less mainstream tributes—you can go to a drag show all the time and see Madonna or Cher. We hope to challenge the musicians a bit with a new artist.”

While Wilcox’s favourite Parton tune is the slow-burning “Down From Dover”, he’s most excited to hear Arsoniste’s fresh take on “Jolene” as the Seahorse show gets underway on Monday night.

Parton proves a timely pick, with movies like Dumplin’ reminding mainstream audiences what queer culture never forgot: She remains the queen of both country and camp, as well as an outspoken supporter of gay marriage.

“Dolly is so performative in her femininity and loves drag,” says Wilcox. “Did you hear the story of the time she entered a Dolly look-alike contest and lost to a drag queen? And her lyrics—they’re so heartbreaking and smart and worth paying tribute to.” a

The Coast

2019-07-17 3:37 PM

Get Out of Town!

The Coast’s guide to hitting the road this summer

Support the advertisers that support us “People really get into it and feel it with the storyteller,” says Sylvester, here hosting a past event.

KEVIN PRINOWSKI

LITERARY

Group dynamics The reading series Constellate wants to create and support community. BY TARA THORNE Constellate: OUTspoken Sunday, July 21, 8pm Good Robot Brewing Co., 2736 Robie Street suggested donation $7.50 eventbrite.ca

C

onstellate: “Form or cause to form into a cluster or group; gather together.” Or, in the case of the local storytelling series of the same name, “to provide a space and opportunity for people who wouldn’t normally have their voices heard,” says Greg Puncher, one of its cofounders.

For the past six months, Puncher and partner Emma Sylvester have put together nights of stories on a theme. They’ve included Self-Love (February), “pro- but also kind of anti-Valentine’s Day,” says Sylvester; In Our Nature (April) for Earth Day and At Odds (March): “That one was all about people being at odds with themselves, or a family member, or society,” says Puncher. “That one wasn’t as cheery as others.” “We like to choose themes that can be interpreted in different ways,” says Sylvester, “that lend themselves to different kinds of stories.”

Inspired by the likes of The Moth in New York, the couple began Constellate because they love storytelling, but also “we’re both community-oriented people,” says Puncher, “so we were looking around for ways in which we can contribute to community and local charities.”

All proceeds from the shows, which have regularly sold out Good Robot’s back room, go to a designated charity each month. This month’s Pride-themed lineup OUTspoken supports The Youth Project, and will happen for the first time on the turf outside to increase accessibility (and capacity). The shows are recorded and will be presented in podcast form beginning in 2020.

“For some people they’re telling some very vulnerable stories,” says Puncher.

“I think that the medium of storytelling really lends itself to a pretty intense level of empathy,” says Sylvester. “People really get into it and feel it with the storyteller.

The main takeaway, I feel, is that there are a multitude of experiences and a multitude of lives are lived, and we want to create a space for people.” a The Coast • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 • 21

20-21-27.08.Arts.indd 2

2019-07-17 3:37 PM

EDITED BY ALLISON SAUNDERS SEND TIPS TO ALLISONS@THECOAST.CA

SUBMITTED

OPENINGS

Paving the way to G-Street Childhood friends Moe Alhaj and Paul Jebailey had home on their minds when they dreamt up G-Street Pizza. The pair, who grew up in Dartmouth and have spent most of their adult lives living away—Jebailey on the west coast until recently; Alhaj lives in Dubai—and wanted to make a mark on their community, together. And pizza was the answer.

“We wanted to bring different ingredients and put a little more thought into the process of it all,” says Alhaj of the concept. The restaurant’s design came courtesy of Attica Furnishings. “We wanted to put effort into the design, decor and atmosphere. You’re leaving home and not eating lunch or dinner at home for a reason. We want to give that full experience to people.”

G-Street Pizza, which will make its debut CLOSINGS

at 2302 Gottingen Street (in the Velo building) next week, brings a tight menu of pizzas, burgers, salads, apps—and donairs, obviously— to the table, zeroing in on consistency. Alhaj and Jebailey brought over chefs from Italy to help create and test the perfect dough, sauce and pizzas of their dreams. “We got it down to a science. We had about two-and-a-half months of practice—cooking food, testing food, inviting family and friends to try it,” says Alhaj. A little menu of beer, cider and wine will complement the quarterly-changing food lineup, which will include halal, glutenfriendly and vegan options.

“It’s simple and creative, that way we can perfect everything we have on our menu,” says Alhaj. “Everything is the way it should be, and the way we would want to eat it.” —AS DENNIS EVANS

Smith’s Bakery signs off Smith’s Bakery & Cafe (2525 Agricola Street) has been bringing fresh bread, major cakes and a top-notch lineup of squares to Haligonians since 1932.

Let that sink in for a second.

On Tuesday, the north end institution and Halifax’s oldest indie bakery took to its social media accounts to let the world know that as of August 10 it would be losing its current location and therefore closing.

“It’s basically just a leasing issue, that’s the nuts and bolts of it. We can’t stay here and we don’t have the money to move,” says Dennis Evans, who’s been part of the business for the last 15 years. He took over as co-owner with his wife Tara Fleming when the bakery’s former owner (his father) retired about five years ago.

The decision to close became a reality after the building’s sale was made official last Friday. Evans says the going rate for similar square footage in the neighbourhood is upwards of double what he currently pays.

“When I started here 15 years ago, you could pretty much give places away—the neighbourhood is a victim of its own success in a way.”

The best-case scenario, he says, is if the 22 • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 •

22-27.08.Food1.indd 1

bakery sells. For anyone interested, Evans is offering a “highly discounted” rate for the business, trade name, beloved recipes and equipment. All that and the rights to the city’s best breakfast sandwich.

“Instead of buying a crappy franchise, you could buy a place with 87 years of history,” he says. “It’s sad, I feel sad for the longtime customers, but it’s not something we really wanted to do.”

Smith’s will remain open as normal and baking old favourites until August 10. —AS

The Coast

2019-07-17 4:05 PM

Entertainment Listings

SUBMITTED

Music You’re here!

Events P24 On Stage P25 Visual Arts P27

› ENTERTAINMENT AND EVENTS PICKS WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY MORGAN MULLIN

Send event listings to listings@thecoast.ca. Print deadline Thursday, 5pm SURE THINGS

Thursday July 18 Big Ticket Shows WANNABE See photo.

Neptune Theatre Scotiabank Stage, 1593 Argyle Street, $30-$59, 7:30pm

DJ + Dancing ‘90S NIGHT Toothy Moose AUDIO THERAPY Reflections DJ IV W/DJ OKAY TK Vinyl Lounge DJ RANDY Monte’s, Free, 10pm THIRSTDAYZ Menz, 10pm

Live Music ANDREW MACKELVIE & CASEY THOMPSON Compass Distillers, free, 7:30-10:30pm ALEXANDER AND THE GREAT ONES W/PAT LEPOIDEVIN, JEFF GAY The Carleton, 9pm-12am EMILY STUART Le Bistro, 6-9pm THE LEGENDARY GOLDBLOOMS Sniggily Wiggily’s, 7pm THE MELLOTONES Bearly’s, 10pm SPIRIT OF THE WILDFIRE W/SKELETON CLUB, THE FLAKES, NOTHING PERSONAL Gus’, $8, 9pm-12am THE JEFFY Staggers, 9pm ROOTABAGGA Acadia Park, 7pm

Friday July 19 Big Ticket Shows FOR ALL MANKIND: A MUSIC & VIDEO TRIBUTE TO APOLLO 11 The Bedford Brass Quintet invites you to relive humankind’s giant leap with this

Music

sonic tribute to the moon landing that features pop hits from the 1960s, music from The Right Stuff and Oliver Stone’s JFK, excerpts from Gustav Holst’s The Planets and more. A blend of historical footage of the space mission rounds out this 50th anniversary celebration. Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, 1675 Lower Water Street, $25/$30, 8pm TRUNK 7 MUSIC FESTIVAL Musquodoboit Harbour’s celebration of the season—and sweet summer tuneage—returns with a lineup so fire it’s hard to believe the fest is only four years old. Held in the community’s Peace Park, Trunk 7 2019 sees T. Thomason lay down synth-laced, textured rock, Keonté Beals deliver early 2000sinfused R&B that’ll make you move and Makayla Lynn bring early-Taylor Swift vibes to the stage—and that’s just the top of the bill.

Musquodoboit Harbour Peace Park, Park Road, Musquodoboit, Jul 1921, trunk7musicfestival.com WANNABE See photo. Neptune Theatre Scotiabank Stage, 1593 Argyle Street, $30-$59, 7:30pm

DJ + Dancing DJ BATTLE RailBirds Billiards DJ RANDY Monte’s, free, 10pm DJ SAVORY Toothy Moose, $10 DJ TONY HAZE The Bitter End SAFE HOUSE FEAT DJ HENRY T, DJ KVZI, DJ CEDRO The Daily Grind, 9pm-2am

Live Music FM BERLIN W/THE SUMMER RABBIT The Carleton, 10pm KIDS LOSING SLEEP W/LITTLE CITIES, MATT STEELE AND THE CORVETTE SUNSETS The Seahorse, 10pm-2am TEN MILE HOUSE Sniggily Wiggily’s, $5, 8pm TYLER MULLENDORE The Carleton, 6-9pm WARSICK W/EXISTENCH, SNARLER Gus’ Pub, 10pm-1am

Saturday July 20

Sure Thing

WANNABE Toronto’s Spice Girls tribute act has travelled the world, making sold-out audiences from Halifax to Dubai go zig-a-zig-ah. Now, the dedicated four-piece—who plots original choreography and sings instead of lip synching—returns to our city by the sea to light up July with some serious girl power. Neptune Theatre Scotiabank Stage, 1593 Argyle Street, $30-$59, Jul 18-20, 7:30pm and Jul 21, 2pm

Big Ticket Shows BROADWAY OUR WAY Participants from the 15th annual Halifax Summer Opera Festival take a break from their usual repertoire to sing their favourite Broadway hits.

Lilian Piercey Concert Hall, 6199 Chebucto Road, $15/$20, 7:30pm TRUNK 7 MUSIC FESTIVAL Musquodoboit Harbour Peace Park, Park Road, Musquodoboit, Jul 1921, trunk7musicfestival.com WANNABE See photo. Neptune Scotiabank Stage, 1593 Argyle Street, $30-$59, 7:30pm

DJ + Dancing DJ FROST AND XS 7 Red Stag Tavern, 10pm-1am DJ RANDY Monte’s, Free, 10pm THE JAM The Seahorse, 10pm SEEK SATURDAYS W/DJ HENRY T, DJ KVZI Hide & Seek, 9pm

Live Music BURGERFRIESPOP W/HATCHET LAKE, SCOOP OUTS Gus’, $6, 10pm-2am THE CONQUERALLS The Carleton, $5, 10pm-1am DANCE NIGHTS Newfoundland Social Club, $6, 8-11:30pm DAZOR W/SPRIT OF THE WILDFIRE Menz, 10pm-1am JESUS MURPHY SUMMER BASH Clay West Bar & Grill, $10/$15, 8pm JOE MURPHY & THE WATER STREET BLUES BAND Your Father’s Moustache, 4-8pm MARK RAVEN AND GUESTS Staggers, free, 4-7pm RUSTY JAMES The Carleton, 6-9pm

SIGNAL HILL SUNDAYS Lower Deck TEN MILE HOUSE Sniggily Wiggily’s, $5, 8pm

Sunday July 21 Big Ticket Shows TRUNK 7 MUSIC FESTIVAL Musquodoboit Harbour Peace Park, Park Road, Musquodoboit, trunk7musicfestival.com WANNABE See photo. Neptune Theatre Scotiabank Stage, 1593 Argyle Street, $30-$59, 2pm

Monday July 22 Big Ticket Shows A DOLLY PARTON PRIDE TRIBUTE Live art company Heist delivers this celebration of the beloved and bedazzled 2SLGBTQ+ ally. Read more on page 20. The Seahorse, 2037 Gottingen Street, $25/$35, 8pm

DJ TONY HAZE The Bitter End MOOSE MONDAYS Toothy Moose

Live Music

DJ MIKE G AND GUESTS Toothy Moose, Free DREAM SUNDAYS WITH DJ HENRY T & GUESTS The Daily Grind, 2-7pm

DAVE MACISAAC & LOUIS BENOIT Old Triangle, 7-10pm ONE MAN SHOW Halifax Alehouse

JEFF GOODSPEED AND HIS ULTIMATE BAND OF SUPER HEROES Stayner’s Wharf, free, 5-9pm THE MIKE COWIE VIBE TRIO W/RON HYNES, DAVE STAPLES Morris East, Bedford West, 5:30pm SKIN & JONES The Perfect Pour Pub & Grill, 4-7pm THEM OTHER JOHNS The Local, 4-8pm For more listings, see thecoast.ca.

Wednesday July 24 Big Ticket Shows

DJ + Dancing

DJ + Dancing

Live Music

LEITH FLEMING-SMITH The Carleton, 6-9pm NEW MUSIC TUESDAYS Sniggily Wiggily’s, 8:30pm POMES W/MINGJIA, KURTIS EUGENE Radstorm, 7-11pm TYLER AND SCOTT Durty Nelly’s, free, 10pm

Tuesday July 23 DJ + Dancing AMATEUR DJ NIGHT W/DJ MASTER Menz

Live Music GARRETT MASON Bearly’s GOTTIJAM Menz, $3, 10:30pm

THORGY AND THE THORCHESTRA After selling out the Cohn last year as she paired with Symphony Nova Scotia and tackling all your classical favourites in true OTT style, Thorgy is back—with a brand new show filled with song, dance and costume changes. Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, 6101 University Avenue, 7:30pm

Live Music ACOUSTIC WEDNESDAYS Gahan House, 8pm BLUES NIGHT The Loose Canno THE LEGENDARY GOLDBLOOMS Sniggily Wiggily’s, 7pm LEITH FLEMING-SMITH The Carleton, 6-9pm WEDNESDAY NIGHT JAZZ The Local, Free, 9pm-12am DODGE LEVATTE Durty Nelly’s SOUND DROWN W/THE CYRUS R.O. QUARTET Menz, 10pm-1am WILLEM PAYNTER AND FRIENDS Obladee, free, 8-10pm

The Coast • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 • 23

23-27.08.Listings.Music1.indd 1

2019-07-17 3:36 PM

Events

SEE PAGE 16 FOR OUR

MICHELLE RAINE

DE PRIIN GS LIST

Sure Thing

THE WIZARD OF OZ This year’s non-Bard-based work by Shakespeare By The Sea is the famous tale of Dorothy and her doggo on a grand misadventure. Here, the seasonal theatre troupe promises “an all-new adaptation, perfect for audiences of all ages, featuring original music by Garry Williams” that’ll make your heart soar all the way to Emerald City. Park Place Theatre, bottom parking lot of Point Pleasant Park, To Aug 31, $20/PWYC

Thursday July 18 HFX PRO-AM Head to Oakfield Golf & Country Club, 6055 Highway #2, Enfield, for the inaugural gold competition that sees 128 Mackenzie Tour professionals and 64 amateurs perfecting their swing. Jul 15-21, $15-$100

NOVA MULTIFEST A crosscultural sampler pack, with dance, performance and song served up on a single stage. Alderney Landing, 2 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth, Jul 19-21, free

Friday July 19

Saturday July 20

2019 AFRIFEST The annual celebration of African arts and culture returns with master drummers from Burkina Faso, Guinea, The Ivory Coast and Senegal bringing the noise while traditional dances round out the scene. Food, art and craft vendors add to the good times.

Sackville Landing, 1655 Lower Water Street, To Jul 21, 12-11pm

100 WILD ISLANDS PADDLE AND HIKE The Nova Scotia Nature Trust and Costal Adventures partner to deliver this epic outdoor session that sees you paddle to the 100 Wild Islands—the nature sanctuary off the coast of Halifax. For more details, call 902-425-5263 or email events@nsnt.ca. $15

FIN OUTDOOR SCREENS THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW An at-dusk screening of the 1975 cult hit that’ll get your pulse racing as you see Dr. Frank-N-Furter woo a vanilla couple who show up on his doorstep.

Halifax Public Gardens, Spring Garden Road and South Park Street, 8pm HFX PRO-AM Oakfield Golf & Country Club, 6055 Highway #2, Enfield Jul 15-21, $15-$100 MENTAL HEALTH ACADEMY An intensive workshop aiming to further education in mental health. Spatz Theatre, 1855 Trollope Street MOONRISE MOVIES A totally twee and also free outdoor movie watching mecca in the heart of

24 • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 •

24-25-27.08.Listings.Events1.indd 1

Spryfield arrives just in time for summer! This week: The sustainable food doc 6 Primrose on Friday and Endless Summer, a 1966 surfer classic, Sunday. Spryfield Urban Farm, (across the street from 75 Rockingstone Road) 9pm

2019 AFRIFEST Sackville Landing, 1655 Lower Water Street, Jul 19-21, 12-11pm DRAWING WORKSHOP W/CARRIE ALLISON In tangent with her current MSVU Art Gallery exhibit clearing, mixed-media Indigenous artist Carrie Allison hosts a drawing workshop focusing on photosensitive techniques. The all-levels session kick off with a walk through a nearby clearcut site, which acts as inspiration for he group’s sketches.

Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery, 166 Bedford Highway, 1pm FAMILY OVER FAME DAY An outdoor community celebration that sees R&B royalty JRDN taking the stage—along with free haircuts, face painting and other fun on deck. Held in Uniacke Square. 12-4pm

HFX PRO-AM Oakfield Golf & Country Club, 6055 Highway #2, Enfield Jul 15-21, $15-$100 MARATHON OF SPORT HALIFAX This all-day event is described by organizers as “an inclusive day of sport, fun, and community giving where groups of friends, family and colleagues team up with local Special Olympics athletes and play a variety of sports such as soccer, football, basketball, road hockey, kickball, ultimate frisbee and more!”

The Emera Oval, 5775 Cogswell Street, 9am-4pm, motionball.com NOVA MULTIFEST Alderney Landing, 2 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth, Jul 19-21, free

Sunday July 21 2019 AFRIFEST Sackville Landing, 1655 Lower Water Street, Jul 19-21, 12-11pm GUIDED TOURS OF MCNABS ISLAND Departing from Eastern Passage (87 Government Wharf Road), this sweet, summery voyage sees you hike along the storied isle. info@mcnabsisland.ca, Continues through Aug 25, $20/$25 HFX PRO-AM Head to Oakfield Golf & Country Club, 6055 Highway #2, Enfield, for the inaugural gold competition that sees 128 Mackenzie Tour professionals and 64 amateurs perfecting their swing.

Jul 15-21, $15-$100 MOONRISE MOVIES A totally twee and also free outdoor movie watching mecca in the heart of Spryfield arrives just in time for summer!

Tonight: The 1966 surf classic The Endless Summer. Spryfield Urban Farm, (across the street from 75 Rockingstone Road), 9pm

The Coast

2019-07-17 4:03 PM

Events NOVA MULTIFEST A three-day fest held outside Alderney Landing, MultiFest is a cross-cultural sampler pack, with dance, performance and song served up on a single stage. Alderney Landing, 2 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth, Jul 19-21, free

Wednesday July 24 ROBIESCOPE SCREENS THE BIRDCAGE A gay cabaret owner (Robin Williams) and his drag queen companion (Nathan Lane) pretend to be just buds so their son’s in-laws will approve of him in this 1996 flick.

Good Robot Brewing Co., 2736 Robie Street, 8pm, free WOMEN COMPOSERS OF OPERA As part of the Halifax Summer Opera Festival, Jane Gordon unpacks why, despite there being many women composers in western tradition, there are relatively few in the world of opera. This lecture sees Gordon shining a light on the life and music of women opera composers, like Ethel Smyth and Hildegarde von Bingen, while musicians from the Opera Fest back her up. Halifax Central Public Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, 7pm, free

ON STAGE

Drag LATRICE ROYALE: HERE’S TO LIFE! The Rupaul’s Drag Race: All Stars alum arrives in Halifax as part of a tour that’s taken her across North America and the UK with her cabaret-soaked drag style that’s filled with stories and song. Spatz Theatre, 1855 Trollope Street, Sun Jul 21, 8pm, $35-$65

Theatre THE ARGYLE STREET KITCHEN PARTY Neptune Theatre is havin’ a time this summer with its annual warm-weather showcase that stages the east coast kitchen party experience with awardwinning musician Ian Sherwood and a rotating collection of local talent delivering song and dance fuelled fun. Neptune Theatre Scotiabank Stage, 1593 Argyle Street, Jul 23-Aug 25 CINDERELLA Neptune’s take on the classic tale of a girl on her way to a party with nothing to wear was so popular when it showed this past winter that it’s coming back—with the same British pantomime treatment audiences loved last time around. Filled with all-ages humour and of-the-moment hit songs, expect the theatre equivalent of a cone of cotton candy ice cream as Cinderella and Prince Charming try to outrun the clock. Neptune Theatre, 1593 Argyle Street, Jul 24-Aug 18 HENRY THE FIFTH For the first time ever, Shakespeare By The Sea brings this tale of the English-French 100 year war to the Cambridge Battery stage, dishing up relevant-as-ever themes on power, patriotism and propaganda in a sweet, outdoor setting. Cambridge Battery, Point Pleasant Park, 5718 Point Pleasant Drive, To Aug 29, $25/PWYC THE WIZARD OF OZ See photo, left.

Park Place Theatre, bottom parking lot of Point Pleasant Park, To Aug 31, $20/PWYC

Submit your own listings online at thecoast.ca or email listings@thecoast.ca Deadline is Thursday at 5pm.

The Coast • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 • 25

24-25-27.08.Listings.Events1.indd 2

2019-07-17 4:03 PM

26 • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 •

26-27.08.Ads.indd 1

The Coast

2019-07-17 3:35 PM

E MORE

SE GALLERY LISTINGS

Visual Arts

ONLINE AT T.CA THECOAS

MADDIE ALEXANDER

GALLERY NINETEEN NINETEEN Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-5pm, 6025 Stanley Street The In Betweens Kristen Herrington, described by the gallery as a “fluid artist,” displays a collection of paintings. To Aug 2

Sure Thing

Flagging Velvet Maddie Alexander, Dana Buzzee and Wren Morris present this documentation of queer sexualities, honouring leather dyke culture and empowered BDSM with community-based pornography. The aim? “Offering audiences a view of self-determined representation of queer and trans sex.”

Anna Leonowens Gallery, Jul 23-27

Galleries 14 BELLS FINE ART GALLERY Tue-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 12-4pm, 5523 Young Street Collection of the artist: Peter Gough To Jul 19 ANNA LEONOWENS GALLERY Tue-Fri 11am-5pm, Sat 12-4pm Granville Square, 1891 Granville Street Not Place Heather Murray’s paintings, sculptures and audio works explore, as the gallery puts it, “the ecstatic flight of ideas that occurs during extreme mood states.“ To Jul 20 Ocean Treasures: Anthropocene Artifacts The Anna sums this showcase up: “Artist-researcher Jennifer MacLatchy combs shorelines in Nova Scotia, searching for and collecting marine debris.”

To Jul 20 Preparation Suites Celeste Cares and Alex Sutcliffe deliver collections of canvases that explore getting ready. To Jul 20 Flagging Velvet See artwork, above. Jul 23-27 Lobster Spirits Patrick Cruz, a visiting artist, explores the metaphor-ripe lobster. Jul 23-Aug 3

Splitt: The Art of Drag Brandt Eisner presents a collection of wearable art that creates a narrative about modern drag. Jul 24-Aug 10

TWO DOGS AND A CAT EVERYDAY FOR A YEAR Harold Pearse presents a series of drawings of yup, you got it, two dogs and a cat.

Jul 23-Aug 3 ART 1274 HOLLIS Daily 10am6pm, 1274 Hollis Street Moving Denise Soper unpacks the inertia of life itself. To Aug 7 ART GALLERY OF NOVA SCOTIA Tue-Sun 10am-5pm, Thurs 10am9pm, 1723 Hollis Street Halifax Harbour 1918 To Sep 2 Here We Are Here: Black Canadian Contemporary Art An exploration of Blackness in Canada. To Oct 27 Worn Inward A collection of works by eight Indigenous artists, acting as a response to Jordan Bennett’s exhibition Ketu’elmita’jik. To Oct 13

HERMES Sat-Sun 12-6pm, 5682 North Street Still/Life Ian McKinnon arrives at Hermes with a collection of over 100 drawings. To Jul 28 MARY E. BLACK GALLERY Tue-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat-Sun 11am4pm, 1061 Marginal Road Patterns of Growth Toni Losey’s earthenware is like nothing you’ve ever seen. To Aug 25 Woven Woods It’s hard not to think of the trees in a Van Gogh painting when your eyes drink in the detail of a Loraine Roy work.

To Aug 25 MOUNT SAINT VINCENT UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY Tue-Fri 10am-4pm, Sat-Sun 124pm, 166 Bedford Highway Carrie Allison: clearing Lauded Indigenous artist Carrie Allison continues unpacking themes surrounding the commodification of land with this showcase.

To Sep 8 First You Dream: Celebrating 75 Years of the Nova Scotia Talent Trust To Jul 28

CORRIDOR GALLERY Mon-Fri 9:30am–5pm, 1113 Marginal Road One of One Prints by Dave Power.

To Jul 30

NOVA SCOTIA CENTRE FOR CRAFT AND DESIGN 1096 Marginal Road Craft LAIR: Tyshan Wright The Centre for Craft’s latest Local Artist In Residence, Tyshan Wright, is a “traditional maker of Jamaican Maroon cultural objects,” the gallery says. To Aug 25

CRAIG GALLERY Tue-Fri 12-5:30pm, Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 11am-3pm, Alderney Landing, 2 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth group effort The annual Visual Arts Nova Scotia Mentorship Program Exhibition returns.

To Jul 21

SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY Loyola Building, 5865 Gorsebrook Avenue Jaime Angelopoulos: Oblique Choreography A collection of colourful sculptures by critically adored artist Jaime Angelopoulos. To Aug 4

The Coast • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 • 27

27-27.08.Listings.VisArts.indd 1

2019-07-17 4:04 PM

LOVE THE WAY WE BITCH / LOVE 2309 Maynard Street, Halifax, NS B3K 3T8 Phone: 902-422-6278, Fax: 902-425-0013 Email: coast@thecoast.ca EDITORIAL Editor Kyle Shaw (editor@thecoast.ca) Arts Editor & Copy Chief Tara Thorne (arts@thecoast.ca) Deputy Editor Allison Saunders (allisons@thecoast.ca) Listings Editor Morgan Mullin (listings@thecoast.ca) City Editor Caora McKenna (copychief@thecoast.ca) Senior Features Writer Stephen Kimber (stephenk@thecoast.ca) Contributing Writers Chris Benjamin, Jane Kansas, Carsten Knox, Brennan McCracken Contributing Editors Melissa Buote, Lezlie Lowe, Stephanie Johns Contributing Photographers Meghan Tansey Whitton, Lenny Mullins, Alexa Cude, Riley Smith Contributing Illustrators Paul Hammond, Tim Carpenter, Mollie Cronin, Jordyn Bochon Housing Reporter Sandra C. Hannebohm

❤ Music and consent Hey, girl from the Common show.

I would have called it sexual assault.

There’s no consent in a power imbalance like that.

Hopefully you interpreted it differently.

—Me Too looks could kill ! IfReally, former employer, do I intimidate you that much? I saw a former employer around town a year after they fired me. I kindly said “Hi.” What I got in return is an eye roll and the dirtiest look I’ve ever seen someone give.

—Kill Them Bitches With Kindness Slower traffic keep to the right Just because you are doing 120 and the right-hand lane is doing 105 does not entitle you to stay in the left lane. I flew up to your bumper at 160! You need to get the hell over. I am faster, therefore you are slower.

—Pissed Off

ACTIVE MARKETING PROFESSIONALS Director of Sales and Marketing Christa Harrie (christah@thecoast.ca) Account Executive Kate Spurr (kate@thecoast.ca) Account Executive Haley Clarke (haley@thecoast.ca)

!

PRODUCTION & ONLINE Production Manager Pam Nicoll (pamn@thecoast.ca) Production Designer Jess Hartjes Imaging Consultant Kevin Cunningham

THE COMIC

OPERATIONS Office Manager Audra McKenna (audram@thecoast.ca) Distribution Team David MacPhee, Bob Mitchell, Steve Amero Front Desk Enforcer Kyla Derry (kylad@thecoast.ca) Publisher Christine Oreskovich (christineo@thecoast.ca)

The Coast is Halifax’s weekly newspaper, published every Thursday

by Coast Publishing Limited. The Coast’s goal is to be provocative, entertaining and truthful. Coast Publishing Limited takes absolutely no responsibility for the weekend’s feels-like temps. Drink water, paradegoers! The Coast is printed locally on recycled stock with 23,000 copies distributed throughout Halifax, Dartmouth and Bedford. Mailed under Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40027554.

Return undeliverable addresses to the Distribution Department, 2309 Maynard Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K 3T8 (email distribution@thecoast.ca). Staff and management of The Coast neither advocate nor encourage the use of products or services advertised herein for illegal purposes. All rights reserved. © 2019. Independent and locally owned, founded in 1993.

sound all around ! Bad To Halifax’s favourite bar: Something has to be done about the sound quality and PA system currently in place—or perhaps those mixing the sound themselves—because I believe yours has become one of the worst live music venues in the city for actually hearing anything. I’ve attended many live music events in this bar, and I’m almost always disappointed with the volume of the vocals and the projection of the sound in the space in general.

But after a recent concert where the acts were vocally inaudible, both from terrible sound mixing and quality but also the volume

of disinterested patrons, I will no longer be attending live music in this space—at least until something is done. It also seems ridiculous that big festivals in town don’t hold a venue accountable for quality when they are paying for world-class acts to perform. It’s disrespectful to the artists and the patrons, and reveals the lack of consideration for your audience. —Musicians Who Care

❤ All smiles despite the heat

I’d like to give a shout out to everyone working this past week in customer service and food service who rocked their jobs in this sweltering weather! I see you! You’re all working so hard and still manage to be so pleasant, air conditioner or not, and I appreciate that. PS: Don’t forget to tip minimum-wage earners! —Sweaty Backs Unite!

❤ Apologies for the sad tip I’ve always tipped well for every service in Halifax because I know what it’s like out here in the hospitality industry—but my hanger got the best of me at a certain pizza place on Saturday, where I angrily put in a $0 tip because my pickup order had

!

❤

been delayed for an hour due to a glitch in the online order. You didn’t deserve that. I’ll return for more ’za soon and, this time, leave and doubly good tip.

—Hangry, Now Regretful, Gal Skunky skunk Hey neighbour! Why don’t you smoke that skunky skunk in your house? What’s that? Your wife doesn’t want you stinking up your house? Clearly, it comes as no surprise that my wife doesn’t want you stinking up my house! I have a solution: Go ahead and smoke your pot in your yard, but have the decency to do it on the other side of your house where there are no neighbours. —Wafted Wife Wants Me To Throat-Punch You

!

What do we want to do this week?

Dance with somebody Feel the heat with somebody

Re: Panhandler bitches Was absolutely disgusted to read the bitch bemoaning panhandlers on Spring Garden Road last week. If you’re more uncomfortable by people standing/sitting in one place with a Tim Horton’s cup asking you for change than people living in your city falling into such extreme impoverishment, you really need some serious reorganizing of your values. I have lived here for 20-plus years I have never once been chased down, screamed at, or verbally abused by a panhandler when I couldn’t fulfill a request for change. Instead, I was often met with “Have a nice day.” I really hope you never find yourself in circumstances where you have to choose between panhandling and going hungry. —Maybe Re-evaluate What ‘Harassment’ Is

!

More bitching Go online to post your rant at thecoast.ca/bitch

28 • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 •

28-27.08.Comics.indd 1

The Coast

2019-07-17 3:34 PM

Free Will Astrology

Be candid and bold, Capricorn, says ROB BREZSNY Cancer

(Jun 21-Jul 22)

What would you say if I asked you to tell me who you truly are? I wouldn’t want to hear so much about your titles and awards. I’d be curious about your sacred mysteries, not your literal history. I’d want to know the treasured secrets you talk about with yourself before you fall asleep. I’d ask you to sing the songs you love and describe the allies who make you feel real. I’d urge you to riff on the future possibilities that both scare you and thrill you. What else? What are some other ways you might show me core truths about your irrepressible soul? Now is a good time to meditate on these riddles.

This week’s birthdays: Colin Crowell, Tara Doyle, Kate Inglis, Priya Shukla bday@thecoast.ca

Leo

(Jul 23-Aug 22)

Isaac Asimov wrote a science fiction story about a physicist who masters time travel and summons William Shakespeare into the present time.

The Bard enrolls in a night school class about his own plays—and proceeds to flunk the course. Modern ideas and modes of discourse are simply too disorienting to him.

He is unable to grasp the theories that centuries’ worth of critics have developed about his work. With this as a cautionary tale, I invite you to time-travel not four centuries into the future, but just 10 years. From that vantage point, look back at the life you’re living now. How would you evaluate and understand it? Do you have any constructive criticism to offer? Any insights that could help you plan better for your long-term future?

Virgo

(Aug 23-Sep 22)

The coming weeks will be a favourable time for you to buy yourself toys, change your image for no rational reason and indulge in an interesting pleasure that you have been denying yourself for no good reason. In addition, I hope you will engage in at least two heart-to-heart talks with yourself, preferably using funny voices and comical body language. You could also align yourself gracefully with cosmic rhythms by dancing more than usual, and by goofing off more than usual and by wandering in the wilderness and seeking to recapture your lost innocence more than usual.

Libra

(Sep 23-Oct 22)

Although you’ll never find an advertisement for Toyota or Coca-Cola or Apple within my horoscope column, you will find hype for spiritual commodities like creativity, love and freedom. Like everyone else, I’m a huckster. My flackery may be more ethical and uplifting than others’, but the fact is that I still try to persuade you to “buy” my ideas. The moral of the story: Everyone, even the Dalai

Lama and Desmond Tutu, is selling something. I hope that what I’m saying here purges any reluctance you might have about presenting yourself and your ideas in the most favourable light. It’s high time for you to hone your sales pitch; to explain why your approach to life is so wise; to be a forceful spokesperson and role model for the values you hold dear.

Scorpio

(Oct 23-Nov 21)

You are growing almost too fast, but that won’t necessarily be a problem—as long as you don’t expect everyone around you to grow as fast as you. I suspect that you also know almost too much—but I don’t anticipate that will spawn envy and resistance as long as you cultivate a bit of humility. I have an additional duty to report that you’re on the verge of being too attractive for your own good—although you have not yet actually reached the tipping point, so maybe your hyperattractiveness will serve you rather than undermine you. In conclusion, Scorpio, I invite you to celebrate your abundance, but don’t flaunt it.

Sagittarius

(Nov 22-Dec 21)

The snow leopards of Central Asia crave a lot of room to wander.

Zoologists say that each male prefers its territory to be about 84 square miles, and each female likes to have 44 square miles. I don’t think you’ll require quite that vast a turf in the coming weeks, Sagittarius.

But on the other hand, it will be important not to underestimate the spaciousness you’ll need in order to thrive. Give yourself permission to be expansive.

Capricorn

(Dec 22-Jan 19)

“I want to do things so wild with you that I don’t know how to say them.”

Author Anaïs Nin wrote that in a letter to her Capricorn lover Henry Miller. Is there anyone you could or should or want to say something like that? If your answer is yes, now is a good time to be so candid and bold. If the answer is no, now would be a good time to scout around for a person to whom you could or should or want to say such a thing. And if you’d like to throw in a bit more enticement, here’s another seductive lyric from Anaïs: “Only the united beat of sex and heart together can create ecstasy.”

Aquarius

(Jan 20-Feb 18)

Did you hear the story about the California mom who started a series of forest fires so as to boost her son’s career as a firefighter? She is an apt role model for behaviour you should diligently avoid in the coming weeks. It’s unwise and unprofitable for you and yours to stir up a certain kind of trouble simply because it’s trouble that you and yours have become skilled at solving. So how should you use your problem-solving energy, which I suspect will be at a peak? I suggest you go hunting for some very interesting and potentially productive trouble that you haven’t wrangled with before—some rousing challenge that will make you even smarter than you already are.

Pisces

(Feb 19-Mar 20)

The heroine of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass is curious, adventurous and brave.

First she follows a well-dressed rabbit down a rabbit hole into an alternate universe. Later she slips through a mirror into yet another parallel reality. Both times, with great composure, she navigates her way through many odd, paranormal and unpredictable events. She enjoys herself immensely as she deals with a series of unusual characters and unfamiliar situations.

I’m going to speculate that Alice is a Pisces. Are you ready for your very own Alice-in-Wonderland phase?

Here it comes!

Aries

(Mar 21-Apr 19)

An Aries reader sent me a boisterous email. “I was afraid I was getting too bogged down by my duties,” he said, “too hypnotized by routine, too serious about my problems.

So I took drastic action.” He then described the ways he broke out of his slump. Here’s an excerpt: “I gave laughing lessons to a cat. I ate a spider. I conducted a sneezing contest. I smashed an alarm clock with a hammer. Whenever an elderly woman walked by, I called out ’Hail to the Queen!’ and did a backflip. I gave names to my spoon (Hortense), the table (Beatrice), a fly that was buzzing around (Fallon) and a toothpick (Arturo).” According to my analysis of the astrological omens, Aries, you’d be wise to stage a comparable uprising.

Taurus

(Apr 20-May 20)

Welcome home, homegirls and homeboys. After observing all your homesteading in homes away from home, I’m pleased to see you getting curious about the real home brew again. I wonder how many times I’ll say the word “home” before you register the message that it’s high time for you to home in on some homemade, homegrown homework?

Now here’s a special note to any of you who may be feeling psychologically homeless or exiled from your spiritual home: the coming weeks will be a favourable time to address that ache and remedy that problem.

Gemini

(May 21-Jun 20)

The world is full of eternally restless people who seethe with confused desires they don’t understand.

Fuelled by such unfathomable urges, they are driven in unknown directions to accomplish fuzzy goals. They may be obsessed in ways that make them appear to be highly focused, but the objects of their obsession are impossible to attain or unite with. Those objects don’t truly exist! I have described this phenomenon in detail, Gemini, because the coming months will offer you all the help and support you could ever need to make sure you’re forever free of any inclination to be like that. a

Go to freewillastrology.com for Rob Brezsny’s EXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO and DAILY TEXT MESSAGE HOROSCOPES. The audio horoscopes are also available at 877-873-4888.

The Coast • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 • 29

29-27.08.Astro.indd 1

2019-07-17 4:02 PM

Savage Love SEX ADVICE FROM DAN SAVAGE mail@savagelove.net

Cuckold tales Why do I get off on hearing my wife’s past sex stories?

Plus: My partner stopped indulging my fantasies after the kids. am a bi married man—35 years old and Q Iliving in a big Midwestern city. I’d like to

know what’s going on in my psyche—from a sex-research perspective. I’ve been hung up on cuckold fantasies with my female partner for years now. I’m a creative person and I’m especially fond of creative fantasizing in bed, and my partner enjoys this as well. But nine times out of 10, I’m spinning a yarn about her fucking other men, whether it’s a threesome, cuckolding with me watching or her going out on dates and coming home a delicious mess.

These fantasies took an unexpected turn when I asked her to share stories about people she fucked in the past. She obliged—and holy shit, was I turned on. I feel no shame whatsoever about these fantasies or how turned on her memories make us. I’m just curious as to why it turns me on so much. It seems so antithetical to the heteronormative expectations of what I should be turned on by. Any ideas?

—Fantasies Reliably Enhance Every Dalliance

A

“‘Why am I like this?’ questions are always rabbit holes,” says David Ley, a clinical psychologist, author and sex researcher.

“We create rich, satisfying stories that are really just a form of mental masturbation—no bust on masturbation—when the truth is, at least at this point, we really have no clear idea why people have any of the unique sexual fantasies they do.” (Ley literally wrote the book on cuckolding: Insatiable Wives: Women Who Stray and the Men Who Love Them.)

One popular explanation for why being cuckolded might turn a man on—why knowing his wife or girlfriend had fucked someone else (or was fucking someone else in front of him) might turn a guy on—was the “sperm competition” theory: A man who suspects his female partner recently had sex with another male—and whose reptile brain believes the other man’s semen might be “present” inside her—will have a more powerful and voluminous orgasm when he next mates with his female partner in an effort to “flood out” his competitor’s semen. For a time, many sex researchers theorized that male swingers and cuckolds were subconsciously inducing “sperm competition” reactions—they were in it for the more powerful orgasms.

“Unfortunately, much of the research into sperm competition is now suspect, due to a failure to replicate many of these findings,” says Ley. “So to a degree, we’re now saying, ‘You know, it’s complicated, everyone is different and there are no simple answers.’”

And now that we’ve said that, FREED, Ley, who has worked with many cuckold couples, has noticed patterns and he’s willing to put out some alternative theories of his own.

“Many cuckolds have a desire to engage bisexually with other men, using their wife’s body as a sort of proxy,” says Ley. “Given that FREED is a bi male in a heterosexual relationship, these cuckold fantasies might be a way for him to express his bisexuality while including his wife. Additionally, vicarious erotic fulfillment is often a central component in many cuckold fantasies. This goes beyond simple voyeurism—and FREED’s comment about his wife’s regret at not having enough sexual experiences to share offers us a clue in this direction. Many cuckolds celebrate their

30 • JULY 18 – JULY 24, 2019 •

30-27.08.Savage.indd 1

partners being sexually unrestrained. FREED might just be turned on by the idea of his wife cutting loose and sharing that supercharged erotic energy with other partners—past, present and future.” a married man with two beautiful Q I’m small children. I knew I was a cuckold

before I met my wife. As soon as things got serious, I made this very clear, as I had learned repeatedly that my desire for a cuckold relationship almost certainly spelled doom. While we were dating, she cuckolded me multiple times and seemed very accepting of the idea.

I finally felt accepted for me. I remember very clearly on the day of our elopement discussing that this was more than a kink for me—it was central to my sexuality and I needed her buyin before committing for life.

We played a time or two after we got married, but my wife’s interest in the lifestyle greatly decreased. After we had children (first child four years ago), her interest in cuckolding evaporated. I accepted this for some time.

When I broached the subject recently, she expressed legitimate concerns around STIs, pregnancy and being “found out” by friends/ family. But this is something I need, as I made clear before we married. It’s not just a “kink” for me. I love my wife and I don’t want to pressure her into having sex with others, but I’m hurt and frustrated. I can’t help but feel like I had a bait and switch pulled on me. What do I do? I’m lost, hurt, confused and angry.

—Cuckold Has Understandable Regrets Now

A

Cuckolding may be something you need, CHURN, but it’s something you’re asking the wife to do. And the doing presents more risks for her—STIs and pregnancy, as she pointed out. And if people were to find out (or suspect) she was sleeping around, the “shame” and potential social ostracism would fall entirely on her, too. Even if you were to tell anyone who found out that it was consensual and/or that you were a cuckold, it’s not like she wouldn’t still be shamed or ostracized.

Judgmental family and friends would just heap equal portions of shame on you, too.

To your credit, CHURN, you acknowledged the legitimacy of your wife’s concerns. And I’m going to acknowledge the legitimacy of your frustrations: You told her before you eloped that you needed this to be happy, and she didn’t just agree to it, she was (or seemed) enthused about it. I might be inclined to see this as a bait and switch myself if you didn’t have children. Even the most adventurous people—sexual or otherwise—tend to become risk-averse when their children are young, and I imagine your wife is currently some combo of highly risk-averse and completely overwhelmed. (Are you doing your fair share of the housework and child care?) Instead of threatening to divorce her (which would amount to pressuring her), I would encourage you to find a sex-positive counsellor who can help you two talk about what your sex life can look like once your children are a little older.

My hunch is your wife can see cuckolding you again once your kids are older. a Listen to Dan Savage’s Weekly Lovecast at thecoast .ca/savage

The Coast

2019-07-17 3:52 PM

31-27.08.Ads.indd 1

2019-07-17 3:52 PM

32-27.08.Ads.indd 1

2019-07-17 4:06 PM