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<strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 1


PRe<br />

renown renown DJS DJs<br />

Joe Gauthreaux Gauthreaux<br />

Patrick Patrick Guay Guay<br />

2 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

Party 2011<br />

August 20 , 2011<br />

For tickets or more information, visit:<br />

Moncton, NB<br />

www.citypridece<strong>le</strong>bration.com<br />

* Must be 19 years or older.<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

.COM


Index<br />

News ...8<br />

Curative Therapies ...10<br />

Nepal Gets Gayer ...14<br />

Montréal Fierté ...18<br />

City Pride Moncton ...20<br />

Capital Pride ...24<br />

Film ...34<br />

inkedKenny @ G. Dentair e...36<br />

Changing Suits ...42<br />

Daniel Baylis in Morocco ...46<br />

Martin Douvil ...54<br />

Outdoor Sex ...56<br />

Hot Spots ...62<br />

18<br />

24<br />

10<br />

42<br />

54<br />

4 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 5


CrEDItS<br />

Publisher<br />

Editor<br />

Contributors<br />

Art Director & Photography<br />

Graphic Design<br />

Graphic Design<br />

Junior<br />

Sa<strong>le</strong>s<br />

Web<br />

Admin<br />

André Gagnon<br />

andregagnon@2bmag.com<br />

Jordan Arseneault<br />

jordan@2bmag.com<br />

Rex Wockner, Antoine Aubert,<br />

Jordan Coulombe, Mark Ambrose Harris,<br />

Danny Légaré, Tim Webber, Matthew Harris,<br />

Stéfane Campbell, Indu Vashist,<br />

César Ochoa<br />

514.439.4636<br />

publicite@communicationsetre.com<br />

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carolina@communicationsetre.com<br />

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pierre@communicationsetre.com<br />

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514.439.4737 / 1.866.521.3873<br />

luc@communicationsetre.com<br />

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sean@communicationsetre.com<br />

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arnaud@2bmag.com<br />

Michel Masse<br />

514.521.3873<br />

arturo@communicationsetre.com<br />

<strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

A division of HMX Group<br />

Vol.9 No.4<br />

Unauthorized reproduction, in who<strong>le</strong> or in part, without the written consent of the publisher is prohibited. All<br />

rights reserved. ISSN 1917-2761<br />

CovEr Photo<br />

Illustration<br />

Martin Douvil<br />

Tit<strong>le</strong><br />

(Don’t) Hurt Me<br />

Montréal Postal Address<br />

P.O. Box 222, Station C<br />

Montréal, QC H2L-4K1<br />

Montréal: 514.521.3873<br />

Ottawa: 1.866.521.3873<br />

6 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 7


Colombia<br />

to have same-sex unions<br />

by Rex Wockner<br />

Colombia’s Constitutional Court on July 26 gave Congress two years to<br />

extend the rights of marriage to same-sex coup<strong>le</strong>s and said that if it doesn’t,<br />

then same-sex civil unions will become <strong>le</strong>gal anyway.<br />

The ruling was unanimous.<br />

“The court curiously delayed the date its ruling takes effect, on the<br />

ground that the Congress must <strong>le</strong>gislate on the matter,” said <strong>le</strong>ading activist<br />

Germán Rincón-Perfetti. “In six attempts, Congress has shelved bills on<br />

homosexual issues because of prob<strong>le</strong>ms of religious contamination. For<br />

the seventh time, the process will begin and if there is not a favorab<strong>le</strong><br />

decision, then the court’s ruling will enter into force.”<br />

The court also said that although the nation’s constitution defines<br />

marriage as between aman and woman, that doesn’t exclude other<br />

definitions.<br />

It further ru<strong>le</strong>d that, <strong>le</strong>gally speaking, same-sex families are families, which<br />

has the effect of opening up various avenues of equal treatment for samesex<br />

coup<strong>le</strong>s.<br />

Uganda ‘kill the <strong>gay</strong>s’<br />

bill to return<br />

Uganda’s ‘kill the <strong>gay</strong>s’ bill is to be reintroduced in Parliament, the U.S.based<br />

Center for Constitutional Rights said July 21.<br />

The bill -- which was stymied last year via an international outcry --<br />

imposed the death penalty for a second conviction of engaging in <strong>gay</strong> sex,<br />

and required family members, medical personnel, c<strong>le</strong>rgy and others to<br />

report peop<strong>le</strong> they suspect of being <strong>gay</strong> or face prison time.<br />

According to CCR: “A new version of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill will<br />

appear to have removed the death penalty in order to avoid international<br />

outcry. In reality, it appears that provisions of the bill will link to other laws<br />

that will trigger the death penalty.” The bill had been shelved previously in<br />

May, 2011 before obtaining parliamentary approval.<br />

LGBt orgs in Uganda targeted<br />

The LBTI group Freedom & Roam Uganda reported Aug. 1 that its<br />

offices were burglarized and sensitive information was sto<strong>le</strong>n.<br />

Taken were computers, printers, a server, te<strong>le</strong>phones, a microwave oven<br />

and documents -- including the database of the group’s members. No<br />

members were in the building during the weekend break-in.<br />

“The mood is very low; members are fil<strong>le</strong>d with trauma and worries,” the<br />

group said in a statement.<br />

Police found fingerprints at the scene and told FARUG there is a good<br />

chance of tracking the perpetrators because a rare kind of acid was used<br />

during the break-in, apparently to damage locks.<br />

FARUG said it wonders if the robbery was random or targeted. The<br />

group said that four days earlier, the offices of the LGBT organization<br />

Sexual Minorities Uganda also were broken into. FARUG said it needs<br />

help “financially, technically and emotionally.”<br />

A spokesperson said the group needs to hire a security guard, install<br />

security cameras with battery backup, replace equipment, and reinstall<br />

the Internet.<br />

“The strugg<strong>le</strong> continues,” the group<br />

said. “These kinds of things are just one<br />

way of distracting us. We shall not give in<br />

to them.”<br />

vancouver 2011<br />

outgames human rights Conference:<br />

Youth, Sports, and Eurovision<br />

8 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 9<br />

By Jeremy Dias<br />

© Clint Trahan of Shutterdreams<br />

Greg Larocque smi<strong>le</strong>s with a knowing sense that he succeeded at pulling<br />

off a chal<strong>le</strong>nge of a lifetime. The conference co-chair, Larocque has been<br />

working tire<strong>le</strong>ssly for over a year on the project, organizing hundreds of<br />

speakers and dozens of workshops to create an international conference<br />

with a broad range of topics that included intersectional topics on youth,<br />

seniors, health, law, workplace, spiritualty, and sport.<br />

The conference is presented by GLISA, the international association<br />

of LGBT sports organizations from around the world. The organization<br />

presents the World OutGames and Continental OutGames. The Games<br />

include friendly sports competition, cultural ce<strong>le</strong>brations, and a human<br />

rights conference. The first World OutGames took place in Montréal in<br />

2006, and its conference <strong>le</strong>d to the creation of the Montréal Declaration<br />

was a summary of demands international LGBT movement in the c<strong>le</strong>arest<br />

and broadest term possib<strong>le</strong>.<br />

Conference participants have come from every continent, and represent<br />

business, the academic world, community organizations and the labour<br />

community. The event also boasts special guests including current and<br />

former Canadian Members of Parliament: Libby Davies, Hedy Fry, and<br />

Bill Siksay; BC <strong>le</strong>gislative member Spencer Hebert; and Vancouver Mayor<br />

Gregor Robertson.<br />

“There are over 250 conference participants,” Larocque says proudly.<br />

“The highlight for me for me however the youth sessions. We are proud<br />

to have over a dozen sessions that explore all kinds of youth issues, and<br />

engage that community in continuing the human rights batt<strong>le</strong> started over<br />

forty years ago”.<br />

To open the conference, Larocque also arranged a provincial declaration.<br />

BC Sport, the province’s umbrella sporting organization, as well as six<br />

member organizations, committed to ending discrimination based on<br />

sexual orientation and gender identity.<br />

“It’s a major commitment,” said Larocque. “Now funding will be<br />

dependent on sporting organizations creating a culture of respect. It will<br />

truly make a difference.”<br />

Jerko Bozilovic, from Antwerp, Belgium, also attended the event to<br />

promote his city hosting the Outgames in August 2013.<br />

“We are so excited that [Eurovision star] Kate Ryan is our first<br />

Ambassador and will write the song for our event,” said Bozilovic.<br />

Bozilovic said that their human rights conference would continue the<br />

dialogue about inclusivity in sports, and supporting youth, and also add<br />

new focuses. Their new focus will reach out to African countries with<br />

historical links to Belgium, and create a declaration of human rights for<br />

the European Union.<br />

Jeremy Dias is the Founder and Executive Director of Jer’s Vision:<br />

Canada’s Youth Diversity Initiative; he is also the Executive Director of the<br />

international Day of Pink.<br />

For more information see: www.jersvision.org<br />

© Jer Dias


Editor’s <strong>Le</strong>tter<br />

the Curative Curse:<br />

Shining a Light the “Ex-Gay” Movement<br />

By Jordan Arseneault<br />

In the wake of New York State’s long-awaited<br />

<strong>gay</strong> marriage victory and the reversal of Don’t Ask<br />

Don’t Tell (DADT) in the US, there is a troubling<br />

counter-theme that has emerged in literature and<br />

the mainstream media this year. As if showing the<br />

photo-negative of these homo triumphs, media<br />

attention has been intensely focused on “curative<br />

therapy”, otherwise known as “reparative therapy,”<br />

is a discredited form of pseudo-psychology based<br />

on the notion of homosexuality is a curab<strong>le</strong> disease.<br />

Dozens (some say hundreds) of clinics and<br />

therapists across the world, from Latin America<br />

to the UK, base their practice on religious doctrines<br />

that view homosexuality as unnatural, and<br />

goes a step further claiming that they are ab<strong>le</strong> to<br />

“cure” children, teens and adults of the aberration<br />

that is same-sex desire. From Anderson Cooper’s<br />

3-part investigation into the “’Sissy Boy’ Experi-<br />

ment” which aired in June, to Guardian journalist<br />

Patrick Strudwick’s undercover work to expose<br />

state-sanctioned curative therapy in the UK (“She<br />

tried to make me pray away the <strong>gay</strong>,” May 2011),<br />

the preva<strong>le</strong>nce of reparative therapists who continue<br />

the practice has become a hot topic this year,<br />

harkening back to darker eras before homosexuality<br />

was decriminalized in (much of) the West.<br />

Those familiar with queer history are reminded by<br />

these stories that the threat of being thrown into<br />

the asylum was once second only to the threat of<br />

prison as a form of social control and punishment<br />

for <strong>gay</strong>, <strong>le</strong>sbian and transgender peop<strong>le</strong>.<br />

hidden<br />

A catalyst for much of the recent coverage<br />

was Lambda-nominated author Tomas Mournian,<br />

whose teen runaway novel Hidden tells the<br />

story of youth who <strong>sur</strong>vive kidnapping, torture,<br />

forced medicalization and home<strong>le</strong>ssness. Hidden<br />

is based on interviews with youth living in safe<br />

houses in California after escaping covert “hospitals”<br />

where <strong>gay</strong>s teens were brought by their<br />

family against their will to be turned straight.<br />

Mournian’s research revea<strong>le</strong>d the frightening<br />

conditions and family complicity in these stories<br />

of teens undergoing genital torture, solitary<br />

confinement, and constant doses of Thorazine,<br />

a control<strong>le</strong>d drug referred to as a “chemical lobotomy,”<br />

normally used on disturbed patients.<br />

Mournian was commissioned by none other than<br />

<strong>gay</strong> idol George Michael to make the short video<br />

Hiding Out, where the reality of <strong>gay</strong> runaways is<br />

Actual pamph<strong>le</strong>t from www.pfox.org<br />

told with heart-breaking honesty: how they were<br />

kidnapped by their own parents and brought<br />

to these “hospitals,” and how ineffectual social<br />

services and LGBT organizations are in helping<br />

them. “I asked for help, I went everywhere I could<br />

think of. Social services can’t help us because we<br />

have to have our parents’ consent… and <strong>gay</strong> and<br />

<strong>le</strong>sbian organizations are scared to touch the issue<br />

of what to do with an underage kid,” recounts<br />

one of the <strong>sur</strong>vivors in the video. Mournian’s novel<br />

fictionalizes the story by focusing on one character,<br />

Ahmed, but is based on the true stories of<br />

constant fear, police raids, and vulnerability that<br />

define the lives of conversion therapy runaways.<br />

“Feelings Change”<br />

Like many of the anti-<strong>gay</strong> arguments that paral<strong>le</strong><strong>le</strong>d<br />

the growing <strong>gay</strong> rights movement from<br />

the 50’s to the 1973, when homosexuality was<br />

finally struck from the DSM-II, reparative therapists<br />

use fear tactics that associate <strong>gay</strong> behaviour<br />

with pathological urges, pedophilia, social alienation,<br />

and punishment in the afterlife. One major<br />

group, the National Association of Research and<br />

Therapy of Homosexuality, or NARTH claims<br />

to “offer hope to those who strugg<strong>le</strong> with unwanted<br />

homosexuality,” i.e. since social stigma<br />

causes peop<strong>le</strong> to want to turn straight, then it’s<br />

their ro<strong>le</strong> to provide that therapy. NARTH promotes<br />

“research” on conversion practices, as<br />

well as religious-inspired literature on the topic<br />

with tit<strong>le</strong>s like Growing Up Straight, Light in the<br />

Closet: Torah, Homosexuality and the Power to<br />

Change, Pure as He is Pure, and A Parent’s <strong>Guide</strong><br />

to Preventing Homosexuality. Whi<strong>le</strong> their clinical<br />

practice may differ, a similar outlook is to be<br />

found in influential anti-<strong>gay</strong> organizations like<br />

Exodus International, which preaches “Freedom<br />

from homosexuality through the power of Jesus<br />

Christ” and JONAH, Jews Offering New Alternatives<br />

to Homosexuality. And, as if sprung from<br />

an alternate satirical universe, there is PFOG, a<br />

prominent organization for Parents and Friends<br />

of ExGays. PFOX scarily echoes certain queer<br />

theorists in claiming that “No one should identify<br />

themselves based on sexual feelings alone; there<br />

is more to your identity than your sexual attractions,”<br />

as if making shame about same-sex attraction<br />

a positive fact that their approach should<br />

build on. Their <strong>sur</strong>real youth-directed pamph<strong>le</strong>t<br />

is entit<strong>le</strong>d “Feelings Change: They are Only One<br />

Part of You!”<br />

Watching CNN’s “’Sissy Boy Experiment’”<br />

exposé of so-cal<strong>le</strong>d therapists associated with<br />

NARTH, many <strong>gay</strong> activists’ assumptions about<br />

these groups become c<strong>le</strong>ar: many conversion<br />

therapists are closeted <strong>gay</strong>s themselves, whose internalized<br />

homophobia has fuel<strong>le</strong>d their commitment<br />

to the movement. George Rekers, once one<br />

of the most influential conversion therapists in the<br />

US, would later be dismissed from NARTH—of<br />

which he was a founder— after a scandal where<br />

he was caught traveling to Europe with a young<br />

ma<strong>le</strong> escort whom he’d hired to “help carry his<br />

luggage.” (The escort claimed he had given Rekers<br />

sexual massages on the trip.) Reker’s curative experiments<br />

<strong>le</strong>ft one of his patients so emotionally<br />

damaged that he later committed suicide. In one<br />

10 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 11


highly publicized case form this year, Iowa expastor<br />

Brent Girouex faced 60 charges of sexual<br />

assault against teens for trying to help them “gain<br />

sexual purity” by praying and ejaculating whi<strong>le</strong><br />

he mo<strong>le</strong>sted them. This case was an echo of the<br />

2010 downfall of University of Calgary psychiatrist<br />

Dr. Aubrey <strong>Le</strong>vin, a.k.a. “Dr. Shock,” a conversion<br />

therapist who was charged with sexually<br />

assaulting a 36 year-old ma<strong>le</strong> patient. Facts would<br />

emerge about <strong>Le</strong>vin’s history of using shock therapy<br />

in trying to “cure” South African soldiers of<br />

homosexuality during the apartheid era, raising<br />

questions of how the man was ab<strong>le</strong> to obtain his<br />

position and keep it for so long up to that point.<br />

Cures that Kill<br />

Internationally, the IDAHO-<strong>le</strong>d group Cures<br />

that Kill / Curas Que Matan (dayagainsthomophobia.org)<br />

is trying to bring attention to<br />

the ongoing pathologizing of homosexuality in<br />

China and Latin America, where medical associations<br />

are not as influential in preventing<br />

these “therapists” from being seen as <strong>le</strong>gitimate.<br />

Cures that Kill came out against social services<br />

in Hong Kong for hiring Hong Kwai-Wah, who<br />

specialises in “treating unwanted homosexuality,”<br />

this past June. Hong is chairman of the New<br />

Creation Association, whose mission is “to help<br />

peop<strong>le</strong> struggling with homosexuality and diffuse<br />

their inner di<strong>le</strong>mmas, rewire their mental<br />

state as well as propagate the belief that homosexuals<br />

can change.” Here at home, the 2010<br />

NFB documentary Cure for Love by Canadian<br />

filmmakers Christina Willings and Francine Pel<strong>le</strong>tier<br />

followed several fundamentalist Christian<br />

“ex-<strong>gay</strong>s” who claimed to have been rescued<br />

from the <strong>gay</strong> lifesty<strong>le</strong>, revealing the uncertainty<br />

and anguish behind their choices. Willings believes<br />

there to be ex-<strong>gay</strong> ministries operating in<br />

every province across Canada, and that “mainly<br />

they’re found in litt<strong>le</strong> non-descript strip malls,”<br />

where their practices are entirely unregulated.<br />

Luckily for public perception, the overwhelming<br />

opinion of recognized medical and social scientists<br />

is that reparative therapies do more harm<br />

than good. Even groups that support a religious<br />

therapeutic approach caution that “There exists<br />

considerab<strong>le</strong> anecdotal evidence of extreme depression…<br />

and suicide following such therapies,”<br />

(religiousto<strong>le</strong>rance.org) an opinion shared by the<br />

Canadian, American and Royal (British) Col<strong>le</strong>ges<br />

of Physicians. Meanwhi<strong>le</strong>, LGBT groups across<br />

the globe continue to fight the abuse, manipulation,<br />

and misinformation perpetrated by conversion<br />

therapy supporters. Groups like BeyondEx-<br />

Gay, Ex Gay Watch, and Truth Wins Out use You-<br />

tube videos, petitions, and critical media out<strong>le</strong>ts<br />

like the Guardian and The Nation to sound the<br />

alarm. In yet another damning undercover report<br />

by Truth Wins Out that emerged this July, the<br />

husband of US Republican presidential hopeful<br />

Miche<strong>le</strong> Bachmann was revea<strong>le</strong>d to be running a<br />

clinic, Bachmann & Ass., that “endorses and practices<br />

reparative therapy aimed at changing a <strong>gay</strong><br />

person’s sexual orientation.” The desire to punish<br />

and change peop<strong>le</strong> for their sexuality continues<br />

to be at odds with the countermovement, which<br />

seeks to change societal attitudes so that shame<br />

has <strong>le</strong>ss control over LGBT peop<strong>le</strong>’s lives. The<br />

debate goes on, but what we have seen from the<br />

mountain of coverage this year gives us hope that<br />

truth may indeed win out.<br />

You can view Francine Pel<strong>le</strong>tier & Christina<br />

Willings’ Cure for Love for free on the NFB<br />

web<strong>site</strong> at www.nfb.ca/film/cure_for_love<br />

You can sign the Cures that Kill petition at<br />

www.dayagainsthomophobia.org/Signthe-Petition,513<br />

12 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 13


GAY AnD trAnS rEvoLUtIon<br />

In nEPAL<br />

Special report with<br />

parliamentarian Sunil<br />

By Indu Vashist<br />

In the west, when <strong>gay</strong> peop<strong>le</strong> fight for their rights, it is usually to scrap<br />

or change existing laws. But what if we had the opportunity to hit reset<br />

on the who<strong>le</strong> system? Would <strong>gay</strong> rights look substantially different if we<br />

were to start from scratch? What would laws look like if we could write<br />

them without the baggage of sodomy laws, or marriage as defined as a<br />

contract that occurs between a man and a woman? Nepal, a small, idyllic<br />

country nest<strong>le</strong>d in the midst of the Himalayas, got a chance to do exactly<br />

that. It was the first country to <strong>le</strong>gally recognise trans peop<strong>le</strong>, at the same<br />

time as <strong>le</strong>galising homosexuality and <strong>gay</strong> marriage. Until 2001, it did not<br />

have a sing<strong>le</strong> <strong>gay</strong> organisation, but 6 years later in the midst of political<br />

unrest, the LGBT community and other disenfranchised groups received<br />

some of the most progressive <strong>le</strong>gislation and soon-to-be constitutional<br />

rights in the world.<br />

The journey started when Sunil Babu Pant returned to his native Nepal<br />

after stints in Belarus, Japan and Hong Kong where he came to terms with<br />

his own sexuality after encountering <strong>gay</strong> culture there. In Nepal, he saw<br />

that there was a vibrant cruising culture that was being targeted by the<br />

security forces. “Blackmail and extortion by police was common in those<br />

days,” explains Pant. It was the death of a transperson that inspired him to<br />

set up the Blue Diamond Society (BDS) as place that provided training,<br />

support and resources for the community. Like many places with nascent<br />

<strong>gay</strong> rights movements, BDS worked under the guise of health and human<br />

rights, in reality, their work was not just confined to HIV/AIDS related<br />

14 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

work, instead BDS started chronicling cases of homo- and trans- phobic<br />

vio<strong>le</strong>nce committed by the security forces and rest of society.<br />

The political background of Nepal during the early 2000s was that there<br />

was an in<strong>sur</strong>gency against the monarchy and the government that was<br />

acting as the puppet of the monarchy. When the King declared a state<br />

of emergency, the attacks against LGBT peop<strong>le</strong> by the security forces<br />

increased. At this time, the BDS with Sunil Pant at its helm were working<br />

with the pro-democracy popular movement. Pant explains the rationa<strong>le</strong> of<br />

the LGBT movement’s participation in the popular uprising, “All human<br />

rights workers were working together. We advocated democracy for<br />

everyone. We [as LGBT peop<strong>le</strong>] are credib<strong>le</strong> and concerned citizens, we<br />

wanted to play a critical ro<strong>le</strong> for the nation as citizens.”<br />

In 2006, the King agreed to reinstate parliament following weeks of<br />

vio<strong>le</strong>nt strikes and protests against direct royal ru<strong>le</strong>. Parliament voted<br />

unanimously to curtail the king’s political powers. In 2007, the LGBT<br />

community approached the interim parliament to enshrine their rights<br />

along with others in the constitution; however, at that time their demands<br />

were not met. They ended up taking their case to the Supreme Court of<br />

Nepal. In December of 2007, the apex court rendered its decision, “<strong>Le</strong>sbian,<br />

<strong>gay</strong>, bisexual, transsexual and intersex are natural persons irrespective of<br />

their masculine and feminine gender and they have the right to exercise<br />

their rights and live an independent life in society.» This phenomenal<br />

judgment declared that LGBTI peop<strong>le</strong> have the same rights as any other<br />

person living in Nepal, which meant not only marriage, but also property<br />

rights, adoption rights, the non-discrimination clauses, social security,<br />

pay and pension rights, etc.<br />

The Supreme Court ordered the government to issue citizenship IDs<br />

to the trans peop<strong>le</strong> (known as third gender) according to their gender<br />

identity and to amend or scrap discriminatory law policies against<br />

LGBTIs. Additionally, the bench also issued a <strong>le</strong>gal note to the Constituent<br />

Assembly to recognize LGBTI rights whi<strong>le</strong> drafting the new constitution.<br />

After the Supreme Court decision, when the Interim Constitution<br />

was formulated, the suggestions were not even tab<strong>le</strong>d. Pant describes,<br />

“Imp<strong>le</strong>mentation is a process. The ideas can be there, but peop<strong>le</strong> have to<br />

understand them to act on them.”<br />

LGBTI groups started educating the political parties to en<strong>sur</strong>e that<br />

their issues are understood and heard by them. At the last minute,<br />

CPN (United), a small communist party asked peop<strong>le</strong> from the LGBTI<br />

community to run under their banner. Sunil Pant put himself forward and<br />

won the e<strong>le</strong>ction, gaining a seat in the Parliament. From there, the LGBTI<br />

activists had the opportunity to sensitize the entire Constituent Assembly<br />

and Parliament on sexual minority rights issues, whi<strong>le</strong> Pant participated<br />

in writing the draft constitution. Within the draft constitution, Pant made<br />

<strong>sur</strong>e that LGBTI rights are enshrined in every section. The constitution is<br />

slated to be promulgated by August 28, 2011.<br />

Since the Supreme Court decision many changes have taken place<br />

within Nepal. The first pride parade was held last year. This year, in its<br />

census, Central Bureau of Statistics officially recognized a third gender in<br />

addition to ma<strong>le</strong> and fema<strong>le</strong>. Peop<strong>le</strong> from all over the world go to Nepal<br />

to get married. Nepal has been ab<strong>le</strong> to market itself as a haven for the<br />

<strong>gay</strong> tourist who does not want to participate in a segregated <strong>gay</strong> culture.<br />

Pant has decided to contribute more time to the Blue Diamond Society.<br />

When asked where he sees the LGBTI community in Nepal is headed, he<br />

replies, “I do not want to segregate ourselves from society. I don’t want<br />

<strong>gay</strong> neighbourhoods, <strong>gay</strong> discos, <strong>gay</strong> stores... I want equality because that<br />

is better in the long run. I want LGBT peop<strong>le</strong> to contribute and take part<br />

in society.”<br />

Rights for sexual minorities across the world follow different<br />

trajectories. In the west, we are battling to change existing laws. There<br />

is social upheaval and regime changes sweeping across, this could usher<br />

in a new era for the rights of many oppressed peop<strong>le</strong>s. Nepal remains<br />

an inspiration and a wonderful story to ponder on of LGBT rights in a<br />

small country in South Asia that took form in the midst of no <strong>le</strong>ss than a<br />

revolution.<br />

For more info on the IGLA award-winning Blue Diamond Society,<br />

check out http://www.bds.org.np/<br />

<strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 15


Fierté:<br />

At It Again<br />

By Tom McGraw<br />

As Montrea<strong>le</strong>rs and tourists alike reel in shock and amazement from<br />

this year’s festival frenzy, it’s hard to imagine that there is still so much <strong>le</strong>ft<br />

to look forward to this summer. From August 9th-14th Montréal Pride<br />

Ce<strong>le</strong>brations will be holding their annual rainbow-clad events, but this year,<br />

with a vengeance. 2011 marks the 5th anniversary of the Fierté Montréal<br />

ce<strong>le</strong>brations. From the original mandate of a pride parade and community<br />

day the festival has grown to span six days of culture, ce<strong>le</strong>bration and<br />

general merry-making. Although Fierté Montréal President Éric Pineault<br />

is quick to thank their sponsors, there’s more to this Pride than all the logos<br />

on the programme. Co-sponsored by a certain Canadian chartered bank<br />

and a certain impotence pill, one glance at the programme and you might<br />

think this is just another <strong>gay</strong> party week (with the essentials of money<br />

and, uh, mojo, at the forefront). In spite of this year’s seemingly apolitical<br />

“Space Odyssey” theme, Fierté Montréal’s 2011 edition promises to be the<br />

“the most extensive, diverse and comp<strong>le</strong>te program ever.”<br />

Looking over the schedu<strong>le</strong>, there is lot going on, even though the<br />

ce<strong>le</strong>bratory aspect seems to override any possib<strong>le</strong> social statement for<br />

LGBT rights and causes. Montréal was late to the Pride tradition, which<br />

started here only in the mid 90’s, and has undergone a few famous<br />

structural shifts since Divers/cite gave up on the parade 6 years ago. Is it<br />

possib<strong>le</strong> that Québec’s progressive sexual politics has castrated our Pride<br />

ce<strong>le</strong>brations in that its organizers feel there is nothing more to demand of<br />

their governments and the powers that be? Unlike NYC, we have no recent<br />

major political gain to ce<strong>le</strong>brate, and unlike Toronto, no homophobic<br />

conservative mayor to rail against. Montréal Fierté’s 2011 slogan “Share<br />

the Pride” even seems to suggest that LGBT rights are now a commodity to<br />

export elsewhere, since the work is essentially done at home. But is it? And<br />

even if it is, what’s with the Space Odyssey theme? Anyway!<br />

Though the classics remain— Parade, T-Dance and community day—<br />

many new events are making their way into the annual festivities. The 2011<br />

edition presents a series of diverse arts and cultural activities from Photo<br />

exhibitions to contemporary dance shows the program really has it all. For<br />

the art lover in all of us exhibitions of photography and mixed media art<br />

are availab<strong>le</strong> at a variety of venues. The Blanc de Memoire photography<br />

exhibit on HIV/AIDS related personalities will run throughout at the<br />

Écomusée du fier monde. In front of Place Émilie-Gamelin, from the 11th<br />

until the 14th will be a photo exhibit presented by Fondation Émergence<br />

entit<strong>le</strong>d From Apollo to DeGeneres which will feature photos of 50 LGBTA<br />

ce<strong>le</strong>brities and their lovers, a reshowing works presented this year for the<br />

International Day against Homophobia. The iconic Berri square will also<br />

play host from the 11th-14th to the Café des arts, which will feature the<br />

works of seven artists who have made a difference for LGBT rights, their<br />

works will be on sa<strong>le</strong> within the café section.<br />

One of the many Headliners of the festival is the theatre performance<br />

of <strong>Le</strong>s Anciennes Odeurs by Michel Tremblay. Performances will be held<br />

at the Studio-theatre of Place des arts from the 9th until the 13th tickets<br />

are 25$. One of the more off the beaten track events this year will be the<br />

Megasession of yoga hosted by POP<strong>gay</strong>oga on Saturday the 13th from<br />

3-5pm. POP<strong>gay</strong>oga boasts that the event will be the largest of its kind in<br />

Canada and will include movements, music and meditation, so it might be<br />

a good place to stop and c<strong>le</strong>ar your head before delving into the insanity<br />

that will be Sunday the 14th. These cultural events not only class up the<br />

festival, but will also help to enlarge the overall appeal of the Montreal<br />

Pride Ce<strong>le</strong>brations.<br />

The theme Share the Pride is meant to help all of this year’s festival-goers<br />

feel included in the festivities, but beyond that, it invites them to feel proud<br />

of what we have achieved here. Creating awareness at home, and also for<br />

the many parts of the world that still strugg<strong>le</strong> for the freedoms Canadians<br />

ce<strong>le</strong>brate and enjoy.<br />

As for the main events, this year’s parade promises to be just as wild as<br />

ever with the added bonus of inspired competition. Prizes will be awarded<br />

for the most crowd p<strong>le</strong>asing float, best choreography by a group, best<br />

costume and make-up, best community group float, and best corporate<br />

float. Competition for these awards can only mean that parade participants<br />

will be kicking things a notch in a aim to outdo each other, which is always<br />

better for us spectators. Community day (August 13) will see St. Catherine<br />

east between St-Hubert and Papineau transformed into a giant meet and<br />

greet for an enormous se<strong>le</strong>ction of the LGBT community’s organizations,<br />

groups and sports teams, so feel free to come out and see what Montréal<br />

has to offer. Who knows, you might even find the sports organization or<br />

line dancing group that your life has been missing. The Mega T-Dance<br />

will take place between Sunday august 14th from 2-11pm in place Emilie-<br />

Gamelin, with three DJs Char<strong>le</strong>s Poulin (Québec), DJ Erez Bi (Tel Aviv) and<br />

Montréal’s own Stéphan Grondin to set the mood. It promises to be quite<br />

the sweaty way to finish off your weekend. In short the 2011 Montréal<br />

pride ce<strong>le</strong>brations offer up some class, some glittery ass (as always) and<br />

many different ways to express your sense of pride so get out there and live<br />

it up because the festival season never really ends in Montréal.<br />

For all the info:<br />

www.fiertemontrealpride.com<br />

16 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 17


18 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

homo away from home:<br />

the Gladstone hotel<br />

by Matthew Harris<br />

It has continuously operated in Toronto for over 120 years. Its renovation<br />

helped spur the redevelopment of a neighbourhood. But for years,<br />

the Gladstone Hotel was falling apart in Toronto’s formerly dodgy west<br />

end neighbourhood, slowly decaying among the empty lots and car<br />

washes. Many of Toronto’s other Victorian grand hotels – like the recently<br />

destroyed Empress Hotel – have been lost. Without intervention,<br />

the Gladstone Hotel would have soon been one of them.<br />

Enter Christina Zeid<strong>le</strong>r. Christina is an openly queer, award-winning<br />

filmmaker. Owning the Gladstone was never really part of the plan; she<br />

has said she became “an accidental hotelier.” Her family brought the<br />

property in 2003, and she was inspired by its potential. “Every town has<br />

an old hotel like this that you think, if I could just get my hands on it, it<br />

could be so cool,” she has said. “Well, I got my wish, and I had the chance<br />

to turn this place around.”<br />

Whi<strong>le</strong> it had been decaying, the Gladstone still had some architecturally<br />

beautiful features <strong>le</strong>ft. This included its hand-operated e<strong>le</strong>vator: only<br />

two of which remain in Toronto. From these good bones, Zeid<strong>le</strong>r added<br />

an ec<strong>le</strong>ctic touch by bringing in thirty-seven different local artists to individually<br />

decorate each of the hotel’s rooms. In 2005, the hotel reopened<br />

to general acclaim. Since then, it and the nearby Drake Hotel have become<br />

the centrepieces of the transformation of Toronto’s West End from<br />

industrial wasteland to cultural hotspot.<br />

But whi<strong>le</strong> the Drake became a sort of see-and-be-seen place among<br />

the glitterati, the Gladstone has consistently maintained a much stronger<br />

community orientation. In the process, it has become a central meeting<br />

place for Toronto’s West End Queer community. The Gladstone regularly<br />

throws events ranging from Granny Boots – a queer cabaret night/curated<br />

performance event – to art exhibitions such as artist Sho<strong>le</strong>m Krishtalka’s<br />

Pride 2011 That’s So Gay exhibition. The hotel also hosted the memorial<br />

for Will Munro, one of Toronto’s biggest queer community builders. And it<br />

has become a local favourite for same-sex wedding receptions.<br />

Its location is smack dab in the centre of the Queer West community: it<br />

is two doors down from Queen West’s other major queer bar/restaurant,<br />

the Beaver. And it’s a short jaunt down the street from the West End’s <strong>le</strong>sbian<br />

bar, the Hen House. Aside from the owner, many of the Gladstone’s<br />

employees are queer, including the Gladstone’s creative director, Jeremy<br />

Vandermeij, and bartender, unofficial “mayor” of Queer West, and allaround<br />

nice person, Sandy De Almeida. Jeremy says Queen West’s Queer<br />

scene and the Gladstone offer something unique for the queer visitor or<br />

resident: “a community of creative peop<strong>le</strong> who often have very diverse<br />

politics, beliefs, gender identities and sexualities.” As Christina herself has<br />

said, “It is ‘for real’ <strong>gay</strong> here. We do not have just a policy of acceptance,<br />

but one of true diversity, where staff is openly <strong>gay</strong> if they want to be and<br />

interact in an authentic way with guests.”<br />

For those looking to visit, it should be noted that the Melody Bar is being<br />

spruced up this summer. Some events may be cancel<strong>le</strong>d, or not running<br />

regularly. Vandermeij says that they should – depending on the situation<br />

with the contractors – be fully open in September, with a fresh batch of<br />

queer event programming. But if you are thinking of visiting, you are advised<br />

to phone ahead to make <strong>sur</strong>e you are aware of the renovation situation<br />

at this jewel of a <strong>gay</strong>-friendly hotel.<br />

Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West, Toronto 416.531.4635<br />

www.gladstonehotel.com


Moncton :<br />

Small city with fierce pride<br />

Joël<strong>le</strong> Girard<br />

From August 17-21, the city of Moncton, New<br />

Brunswick will play host to the largest Pride<br />

ce<strong>le</strong>brations ever seen in the Atlantic Provinces.<br />

A huge parade, five nights of festivities, six<br />

different <strong>site</strong>s, a dozen DJs, several thousand<br />

peop<strong>le</strong> set to attend, and yes, even Shangela<br />

from RuPaul’s Drag Race will be there. Not bad<br />

for a city of only 120,000.<br />

The volunteer team of River of Pride, the nonprofit<br />

organisation that coordinates the official<br />

Pride ce<strong>le</strong>brations for the cities of Moncton,<br />

Dieppe, and Riverview, has been working for<br />

over ten years to commemorate and ce<strong>le</strong>brate<br />

the diversity of New Brunswick.<br />

As tradition dictates, River of Pride will begin<br />

its 12th edition starting with the raising of the<br />

rainbow flag at City Hall, followed by a Pride<br />

parade and ensuing ce<strong>le</strong>brations. “Every year,<br />

more peop<strong>le</strong> take part in our activities,” affirms<br />

Paul <strong>Le</strong>Blanc, committee president. This year,<br />

however, organisers are particularly optimistic,<br />

and with good reason, because they will benefit<br />

from another LGBT festival, the City Pride<br />

Ce<strong>le</strong>bration that will be held on the same dates,<br />

from August 17-21.<br />

A<strong>le</strong>x Roberts, president of Modern Vision<br />

Events, the private company behind City Pride<br />

Ce<strong>le</strong>bration, promises an extraordinary first<br />

edition. “We want to make Moncton Pride one<br />

of the largest in Canada!” One recent addition<br />

to their sexy and exciting programme includes<br />

Montréal DJ favourites Patrick Guay and Paskal<br />

& Vesselinov spinning a Black & Blue-sponsored<br />

event August 19 at Casino New Brunswick,<br />

followed Saturday night Aug 20 with the<br />

Superbia Party headlined by Pierre Fitch and Joe<br />

Gauthreaux. What we have here is some circuit<br />

party sexiness coming to the Hub City!<br />

Steve Foster & Hector Gomez<br />

hector Fonseca, tony Moran, Shangela<br />

Roberts has brought some big name DJs who<br />

have recently acquired international standing,<br />

like Pierre Fitch, Tony Moran, and the everfamous<br />

Hector Fonesca. Not to mention that<br />

Shangela from RuPaul’s Drag Race will be<br />

there. Even OUT TV, the popular Canadian<br />

<strong>gay</strong> channel, will be part of the ce<strong>le</strong>brations<br />

following the parade. “It’s the first time they<br />

will come to the Maritimes,” declares Roberts<br />

enthusiastically.<br />

However, one question remains: Seeing as the<br />

city has a population of only 120,000 peop<strong>le</strong>,<br />

why Moncton? What is driving the organisers<br />

of Moncton Pride to want to become one of the<br />

largest in the country?<br />

According to Roberts, he himself from New<br />

Brunswick, the main advantage of Moncton<br />

is its central location. Located in the heart of<br />

the Maritimes, it is the destination of choice<br />

for big events, concerts or festivals that stop in<br />

the Atlantic Provinces. “We wanted to reunite<br />

peop<strong>le</strong> from all over the Maritimes, not only<br />

from the city itself,” he explains, adding that if the<br />

venture is a success, he will repeat the experience<br />

again and again.<br />

Change in mentalities<br />

For his part, Paul <strong>Le</strong>Blanc of River of Pride<br />

answered our question by pointing out the<br />

financial support and the media visibility that<br />

has been offered to organisers by municipal<br />

officials, current and potential sponsors, and<br />

the Moncton media. According to <strong>Le</strong>Blanc, the<br />

inhabitants of New Brunswick are very openminded.<br />

The River of Pride committee has been<br />

very well received in the community.<br />

From the point of view of financing, the<br />

positive economic impacts are undeniab<strong>le</strong>.<br />

“Peop<strong>le</strong> know ‘the brand’ and call us to offer us<br />

sponsorship whereas before we had to take the<br />

first steps,” declares <strong>Le</strong>Blanc.<br />

At 62 years old, Paul <strong>Le</strong>Blanc is a regular at<br />

LBGT festivities. Throughout the years, he has<br />

observed a real change of mentality in terms of<br />

support, be it financial or social. “I’ve been part<br />

20 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 21<br />

© Steffen Downes


of the Pride committee for a long time and it’s<br />

very encouraging to see the positive evolution<br />

of attitudes towards the cause,” he notes, adding<br />

that after the pride ce<strong>le</strong>brations this year, he will<br />

be retiring from community organising.<br />

Giving back to the LGBt Community<br />

Recently, the president of River of Pride has<br />

noticed that there is a certain willingness to<br />

create community partnerships on the part<br />

of businesses that already offered financial<br />

support to Moncton Pride. For instance, the<br />

Development Bank of Canada, sponsor of the<br />

LGBT festivities, approached the committee<br />

to organise discussions with employees about<br />

sexual diversity.<br />

“More and more, companies want not only<br />

to <strong>le</strong>nd financial support, but also want to take<br />

something away from this collaboration,” he<br />

explains. “It shows an openness and certainly<br />

gives rise to a feeling of pride amongst <strong>gay</strong><br />

and <strong>le</strong>sbian employees who work for these<br />

businesses.”<br />

22 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

© pierrefitch.com<br />

Thanks to partnerships with EGALE Canada<br />

and the organisation 1n10, River of Pride is<br />

also set to imp<strong>le</strong>ment the program “Report<br />

Homophobic Vio<strong>le</strong>nce, Period” (RHVP) with<br />

the Moncton City Police. Another of the<br />

organisation’s success stories is the creation of<br />

several <strong>gay</strong>-straight alliances in New Brunswick<br />

high schools.<br />

If all goes well, A<strong>le</strong>x Roberts – who is already<br />

a proud sponsor of River of Pride – intends to<br />

give part of the profits to different organisations.<br />

All this depends, of course, on the profits<br />

that his venture will make. Among the cited<br />

organisations are the CARA Helpline, Paul<br />

<strong>Le</strong>blanc’s organisation, and groups that fight<br />

against all forms of harassment.<br />

For more information on Moncton Pride:<br />

http://www.fiertemonctonpride.ca/<br />

For more info on City Pride Ce<strong>le</strong>bration,<br />

its program and to buy tickets:<br />

http://www.citypridece<strong>le</strong>bration.com/<br />

© shangela.com<br />

<strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 23


CAPItAL PrIDE:<br />

KEEPIn’ It rEAL<br />

By Boísin Murphy<br />

When it comes to LGBT Pride ce<strong>le</strong>brations in the mid-sized cities of<br />

the world, it’s hard to reinvent the wheel. You have community stuff, the<br />

parade, lots of outdoor events, and ideally, a few sexy parties that aren’t<br />

too expensive. What Capital Pride has managed to do for its socially savvy<br />

26th edition is to make a pride week that is truly representative of Ottawa’s<br />

LGBT community, but still has enough glamour to attract some out-oftown<br />

attention. That means you’ll get a BDSM cabaret, a family picnic,<br />

some <strong>le</strong>sbian stand-up, and over 65 events that are <strong>sur</strong>e to make the trip to<br />

Ottawa worth your whi<strong>le</strong>.<br />

As the director of Capital Pride, Doug Saunders-Riggins understands<br />

the importance of striking a balance between events that appeal to the<br />

rainbow-flagging locals whi<strong>le</strong> keeping the sex appeal of a Pride festival in<br />

a larger urban centre. “We’re a large festival but at the same time we’re<br />

still very grass roots,” says Saunders-Riggins, pointing to the fact that it is<br />

entirely volunteer run, with a board e<strong>le</strong>cted by members of the community.<br />

An annual highlight for this stalwart Pride director is Tuesday’s Picnic<br />

in the Park, co-hosted by Ottawa Family Services, which brought out<br />

over 200 hungry kids and parents last year, showing the festival’s true<br />

“community feel” colours. Five years ago, organizers tried to go big, closing<br />

off Bank Street and inviting cash-sucking outta town DJs, and they’re still<br />

digging themselves out of that deficit. But looking at the programme and<br />

mission for the 2011 edition, Capital Pride ain’t hurting. After a rough start<br />

with Ottawa City Major Jim Watssson almost kicking them out of their<br />

cherished Marion Dewar Plaza, there’s nothing stopping them this year:<br />

Canada’s capital is ready to get their <strong>gay</strong> on.<br />

Glancing at the programme, you’ll see a lot of e<strong>le</strong>ments that give<br />

Capital Pride the big city sca<strong>le</strong> with a small town feel. As if lifted from the<br />

ca<strong>le</strong>ndar of off-pride fests like Pervers/cité, Club SAW’s “ref<strong>le</strong>ctive talk and<br />

discussion” with Toronto Pride boardie and activist bad-boy Roy Mitchell<br />

“will cover such topics as Toronto Pride 2010, the G20, Raelians, City<br />

Hall, Heterophobia, Funding and Beer Gardens.” Like bigger Prides (and<br />

unlike Montréal’s), Ottawa boasts a lusciously well-attended Dyke March<br />

(Sat. Aug. 27, 1:30pm), which <strong>le</strong>aves from the über-central Human Rights<br />

Monument and stops at nothing to make the city’s hefty <strong>le</strong>sbian presence<br />

known to one and all. That evening, pride crowd-p<strong>le</strong>aser Lucas Silveira’s<br />

band The Clicks will rev up the main stage before local live act Disco<br />

Inferno at Marion Dewar Plaza for a modest $5. Following their decadeold<br />

Laugh Out Proud tradition, Ottawa’s comedy embassy Yuk Yuk’s will<br />

be hosting three belly-aching nights of stand-up with El<strong>le</strong>n Degeneres<br />

veteran Thea Vida<strong>le</strong> and the honestly very funny Jessica Solomon.<br />

Keeping it beautifully political, Capital Pride will be unveiling their<br />

“We Demand” mural on Friday night at the corner of Bank and Gilmour<br />

Streets, commemorating Canada’s first LGBT public protest, followed<br />

by a dinner-screening of Stand Together, a documentary on the Ontario<br />

queer rights movement at Shanghai Restaurant (651 Somerset W). And<br />

one of the things you’ll love about Capital Pride is that although it’s grass<br />

roots, she ain’t no prude! Smack-dab in the midd<strong>le</strong> of the programme is<br />

the “Fetishini Kinky Cabaret 3” at Breath<strong>le</strong>ss (318 Lisgar Street), a venue<br />

heretofore unknown to us, which also hosts the “Play As You Like It Night”<br />

immediately afterwards. And as if that weren’t enough, Ottawa’s youth<br />

NGO Pink Triang<strong>le</strong> Services and non-profit trollop Jer’s Vision is hosting<br />

their Pride Prom that same night at the Falldown Gal<strong>le</strong>ry, (288 Bank<br />

Street), which is FREE for youth 14-25, but also open to us chicken hawks.<br />

I’m already counting how many Red Bulls I’ll need to make it to the POP<br />

UNDERWEAR PARTY at <strong>2B</strong>mag’s favourite Ottawa haunt, The Flamingo<br />

Nightclub (380 Elgin), which promises “sexy peop<strong>le</strong> in their underwear<br />

drinking champagne and fierce drag performances.” Event magic-maker<br />

Sébastien Provost is <strong>sur</strong>e to deliver a night you’ll want to end up at (whi<strong>le</strong><br />

en<strong>sur</strong>ing the appropriate <strong>le</strong>vel of exhaustion for the next day).<br />

Starting at the Garden of the Provinces and Territories on Sparks and<br />

Bronson on Sunday, the Capital Pride Parade will be the culmination<br />

of the festival’s community and splashier sides with floats by Flamingo<br />

Nightclub and Stroked Ego alongside a myriad of Ottawa-Gatineau’s<br />

LGBT social organizations. And, <strong>le</strong>st we forget to mention, <strong>2B</strong>mag and<br />

new sister mag Entre El<strong>le</strong>s launch their Capital Pride editions at Venus<br />

Envy on Wednesday, Aug. 24! The launch will ce<strong>le</strong>brate the new revamped<br />

<strong>le</strong>sbian francophone magazine Entre El<strong>le</strong>s and give Pride-goers a chance<br />

to see what the mags are made of. Featuring a photo exhibit by Rah Illa<br />

and Nathan Hoo, free tasty treats and a cash bar to benefit the Venus Envy<br />

bursary fund: 320 Lisgar St, Ottawa, 8-10pm. www.venusenvy.ca<br />

For the full programme, check out: www.capitalpride.ca<br />

24 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 25


orgasmic tech Support:<br />

venus Envy will boost your sexual IQ<br />

By Mark Ambrose Harris<br />

There’s a certain charm to the classic s<strong>le</strong>azy sex shop. Who can deny<br />

the allure of penis straws, cheap blow-up dolls, and end<strong>le</strong>ss troughs of<br />

discount porn? However, if you aren’t hosting a bachelorette party and<br />

need quality adult fare, be thankful for establishments like Venus Envy.<br />

This bastion of sex-positivity first opened its doors in Halifax in 1998.<br />

Conceived of by Shel<strong>le</strong>y Taylor, the business soon expanded, with Taylor<br />

opening up a second location in Ottawa in 2001, where she’s been stationed<br />

ever since.<br />

Though VE began as a store for women and the folks who love them,<br />

Taylor soon recognized the diversity of the cliente<strong>le</strong> who appreciated the<br />

store’s upbeat vibe, and she broadened the sexual spectrum of VE’s mandate.<br />

Now, aside from being a place where know<strong>le</strong>dgeab<strong>le</strong> staff can help<br />

you choose anything from masturbation s<strong>le</strong>eves to nipp<strong>le</strong> clamps, VE is<br />

community oriented. In addition to offering a bursary to women and trans<br />

peop<strong>le</strong> in need who wish to further their studies, Taylor and her team work<br />

tire<strong>le</strong>ssly to bring sexual know-how to the masses. Taylor explains:<br />

“Our goal is to offer sex education in everything we do; one-on-one in<br />

the shop, out in the community, through social media and during our instore<br />

seminar series.”<br />

With sex ed falling off the school curriculum, VE’s ro<strong>le</strong> as educator and<br />

bookstore becomes all the more pertinent.<br />

“As far as I can tell from talking to hundreds of first-year university and col<strong>le</strong>ge<br />

students every year, almost nobody is getting decent sex ed in high school.”<br />

Take a peak at the VE web<strong>site</strong>, and one phrase pops out as a crucial<br />

aspect of their mission statement, that “sex should be dirty in a good way,<br />

© Jessica Ruano<br />

not a shameful one.” I asked Taylor how she and her co-workers assist<br />

clients who are negotiating shame.<br />

“Often we’re preaching to the converted, because peop<strong>le</strong> who are comfortab<strong>le</strong><br />

coming into the store are pretty comfortab<strong>le</strong> with sex. But every<br />

day we meet peop<strong>le</strong> at VE who have never been to a sex shop, or who are<br />

experiencing some kind of sexual pain or difficulty, and they’ve come in as<br />

a last ditch attempt to feel better or work things out. I think it helps that<br />

we’re just normal about sex and toys. We can acknow<strong>le</strong>dge that someone<br />

is uncomfortab<strong>le</strong> but present the material in a way that normalizes things<br />

for them.”<br />

Since Taylor has been with VE since the start, I was curious if throughout<br />

the years she’s seen blurring between sexual practices and identity categories.<br />

“Yes, most peop<strong>le</strong> we meet here aren’t too hung up on what parts should<br />

go where. It’s still pretty common for us to show a dude the cock-ring section,<br />

which is attached to the butt toy section, and have them tell us c<strong>le</strong>arly<br />

that that isn’t for them. On the other hand, we see a lot of straight identified<br />

men buying anal toys. When we first opened, anal toys were bought<br />

primarily by queers, harnesses were only bought by <strong>le</strong>sbians, and straight<br />

women always wanted a vibrator. Thankfully, much has changed.”<br />

Join us for the launch of <strong>2B</strong>mag’s Capital Pride edition and new <strong>le</strong>sbian<br />

monthly Entre El<strong>le</strong>s<br />

Wednesday, August 24, 8-10pm<br />

Featuring photo exhibit by Rah Illa and Nathan Hoo<br />

Venus Envy<br />

320 Lisgar St, Ottawa<br />

613-789-4646<br />

www.venusenvy.ca<br />

26 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 27


Ottawa Outings<br />

F.C Estrella<br />

A resounding question is echoed through Internet forums and whispered<br />

behind hands in chance meetings at trendy free trade cafes: “Where<br />

are all the dykes at in Ottawa?”<br />

Women looking to pick up, hang out, and get to know other women<br />

seem to rely on the queer house party/potluck via Facebook invite to lure<br />

more L-Word into their lives. But what about the ladies who want to bust a<br />

move on dance floors, with breakdancing butches and fashionista femmes?<br />

Where can a fresh-faced baby dyke or new-<strong>le</strong>sbian-in-town go to ming<strong>le</strong><br />

with the Sapphic masses?<br />

It’s slim pickings in this government town. We’ve got two week nights<br />

specifically for queer women: Wednesday and Friday.<br />

Wednesdays at Mercury Lounge (and Bar 56 directly below it) have the<br />

late-night events charmingly cal<strong>le</strong>d “HUMP” and “Fresh Beaver”. Doors<br />

open at 9pm and everyone hits the pavement by 3am, with a drag show<br />

squeezed in around midnight. The beats are always fresh and the decor is<br />

full of long red drapes and avant-garde gal<strong>le</strong>ry calibre paintings.<br />

The Friday Fixxx at The Lookout (“Ottawa’s Favourite Gay Bar!”) with<br />

DJ Isabel<strong>le</strong> is the Ladies Social, an evening that goes on till 2am. The bar is<br />

smal<strong>le</strong>r and <strong>le</strong>ss posh than the Wednesday night venues. Also, the music<br />

is uninterrupted as The Lookout drag shows usually happen on Saturday<br />

nights. The Lookout’s also added the “Pre-Fixxx” Ladies Cocktail Hour<br />

from 8-10pm, where you can watch L-Word on the big screen, have $5<br />

cocktails, and not have to pay cover for the dance party later in the night.<br />

Venus Envy’s Shel<strong>le</strong>y Taylor throws an event every season or so for the<br />

Venus Envy Bursary Fund. Certain Sort is usually bil<strong>le</strong>d as a “A dance party<br />

for all kinds of queers”. An upcoming Certain Sort for Ottawa Pride is happening<br />

at Club SAW for August 27 with drink specials and a trio of musical<br />

disc-jockeying by DJ Bratface (Montreal), DJ Y’alla! Y’alla! (Ottawa), and<br />

CPI (Ottawa - thetastates.com). Cover is $5-15 sliding sca<strong>le</strong>.<br />

Move over Lookout, Swizz<strong>le</strong>s, and Edge! There’s a new hot pink bar in<br />

town-- Flamingo! And they’ve been making sporadic Ladies Nights since<br />

their inception last winter in late January. Ladies Nights at Flamingo tend<br />

to be a month apart at the <strong>le</strong>ast, with out-of-town queer women DJs, gogo<br />

dancers, bur<strong>le</strong>sque shows and drag shows.<br />

Ottawa has always had to deal with being the midd<strong>le</strong> child between Toronto<br />

and Montreal, vying for attention among two historic <strong>gay</strong> villages<br />

renowned for their parties. However, there are at <strong>le</strong>ast two other kinds of<br />

events in town that can offer refuge to queer women and dykes if they’re<br />

not the party-all-night and drink-till-you-drop kind.<br />

Divergence Movie Nights (DMN) tend to predominantly attract a fema<strong>le</strong><br />

queer crowd, though ma<strong>le</strong>-centered movies prove to be the exception.<br />

These are monthly events at licensed establishments (Shanghai Restaurant<br />

and Raw Sugar Cafe) that screen rare LGBTQ films. A special Pride edition<br />

of DMN is slated for August 26 at Shanghai Restaurant, where they’ll be<br />

screening “Stand Together”, a documentary on the Ontario <strong>gay</strong> liberation<br />

movement. DMN is one of those great events where you can show up for<br />

the movie and then get cozy with someone either physically or intel<strong>le</strong>ctually<br />

with topics ranging from activism to kink.<br />

Speaking of kink, there are seasonal events that the women and trans<br />

folk queer kink community look forward to, organized not just by Ottawa<br />

folk. The biggest and most notab<strong>le</strong> is An Unholy Harvest (UnholyHarvest.<br />

Ca), “Canada’s only annual weekend event for <strong>le</strong>atherdykes, trans folks and<br />

kinky gals of all bent persuasions”. If you’re a kinky dyke and haven’t gone<br />

to this event yet, it’s time to strap on your <strong>le</strong>athers or corsets and party in<br />

collars or whips! Unholy Harvest is in its 5th year, and falls from October<br />

7-11. This 2011 kinkfest is circus-themed with prizes given out to the best<br />

costumes.<br />

Sure, O-Town doesn’t have the constant stream of parties as the neighbouring<br />

big cities, projecting its stereotype of a straight-laced civil servant<br />

that <strong>gay</strong>s it up only once in awhi<strong>le</strong>, but if you know where to look (and have<br />

the right friends on Facebook) you can start finding dyke places and queer<br />

spaces to hang out and have fun-- no matter what your interests are.<br />

The Buzz Bar & Restaurant<br />

374 Bank St.<br />

TheBuzzRestaurant.ca<br />

Shanghai Restaurant<br />

651 Somerset St. W.<br />

ShanghaiOttawa.com<br />

The Lookout Bar<br />

41 York St.<br />

TheLookoutBar.Com<br />

Kent Sanderson<br />

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312 500 $<br />

$380,000<br />

SOLD<br />

Stéphane Costa<br />

Real Estate Broker<br />

514 770 6620<br />

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Beautiful condo with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths,<br />

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A strong Canadian dollar coup<strong>le</strong>d with the continued weak US housing market make investing in a second home in Florida<br />

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<strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 29 71


Finally, a Queer Bar in the Mi<strong>le</strong>-End:<br />

Welcome to<br />

the royal Phoenix<br />

By Joël<strong>le</strong> Girard<br />

The Royal Phoenix Bar, located on the corner of Saint-Laurent and<br />

Bernard, is the new hotspot for the queer community north of Mont-Royal.<br />

For the regulars of Faggity Ass Fridays, fans of the Rol<strong>le</strong>r Derby <strong>le</strong>ague,<br />

looky loos and certainly for those who love a certain artsy ec<strong>le</strong>cticism, the<br />

Royal Phoenix is the new party location for the hors-village community.<br />

The project was born when a friend of Val Desjardins, champion of<br />

Montreal nightlife, told her, “I want to open a queer bar in Mi<strong>le</strong>-end and I<br />

won’t do it without you.” Passionate about organising events, Val jumped<br />

at the chance to join in the venture and become the artistic director of<br />

the establishment, comp<strong>le</strong>tely revamping the former Klinik in <strong>le</strong>ss than a<br />

month. And this past June 17, the bar was insanely packed for its inaugural<br />

Friday night.<br />

Visibly satisfied about the success of the first night, Desjardins sees a<br />

lot of possibilities in for the bar’s future. “We wanted to open the fastest<br />

possib<strong>le</strong> now that it’s done, we’re entering phase 2. We are opening the<br />

kitchen in a few days – La Cantine Roya<strong>le</strong> with chef Hugo Desforges – and<br />

in two to three weeks, we’ll have a stage to welcome bands.”<br />

open “Minds”<br />

The philosophy of the Royal Phoenix Bar – a name that is a cross<br />

between the mystic bird and the Royal Sous-marins, the <strong>le</strong>gendary<br />

restaurant from next door – is meant to imply openness to diversity and<br />

peop<strong>le</strong> of all genders and orientations. Val Desjardins insists, “Peop<strong>le</strong> are<br />

queer, but it’s not that that unites us. It’s more art, love of art, love of<br />

creative expression.” And effectively, there was a litt<strong>le</strong> bit of everything<br />

on opening night: <strong>gay</strong>s, <strong>le</strong>sbians, heteros, queers, curious, arty partiers,<br />

yuppies and the beer-can crowd.<br />

The event-promoter powerhouse as<strong>sur</strong>es us that the programming will<br />

also be very diverse. “I’ve been in the business for 10 years. I know who I<br />

want to work with,” she says. Between Gay Bash nights, the Queer Slow<br />

Dance, and Hipster Karaoke, there is also room for projections of all sorts,<br />

rock night and various partnerships with some of the city’s most popular<br />

festivals. The Royal Phoenix will also be the loca<strong>le</strong> for a much-anticipated<br />

Open Mic night August 9 for the rad young things of Pervers/cite, hosted<br />

by Sister An T Horné<br />

We’ll be seeing you at the Royal Phoenix,<br />

5788 Bou<strong>le</strong>vard Saint-Laurent. Check out “Royal Phoenix Bar” on<br />

Facebook.<br />

30 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 31


Mind your manners:<br />

Steve Petrow has advice<br />

for every occasion<br />

By Mark Ambrose Harris<br />

Even the most reputab<strong>le</strong> and referenced<br />

etiquette guides tiptoe around anything queer.<br />

These omissions are odd, because <strong>le</strong>t’s face it,<br />

artful napkin folding has to be the <strong>gay</strong>est thing<br />

this side of Gaga. To remedy the situation, author<br />

Steven Petrow compi<strong>le</strong>d a wealth of advice<br />

for Steven Petrow’s Comp<strong>le</strong>te Gay & <strong>Le</strong>sbian<br />

Manners: The Definitive <strong>Guide</strong> to LGBT Life.<br />

The book addresses an ec<strong>le</strong>ctic col<strong>le</strong>ction of<br />

exclusively queer issues, such as coming out or<br />

<strong>le</strong>sbian motherhood, to more standard etiquette<br />

fare, such as place settings. Thrown into the mix<br />

are formal conundrums with a bent twist, like<br />

verifying if a wedding venue is friendly towards<br />

genderqueer brides and grooms, or brides and<br />

brides, or… well, you get the idea. There are two<br />

reoccurring Q&A segments in the book cul<strong>le</strong>d<br />

from Petrow’s web<strong>site</strong>, www.<strong>gay</strong>manners.com.<br />

Queery features questions from queer folks,<br />

whereas Straight Talk contains di<strong>le</strong>mmas from<br />

allies. When asked what subject peop<strong>le</strong> needed<br />

the most help with, Petrow divulges that weddings<br />

are high on the list.<br />

“All of these questions come up because there<br />

are no other sources to turn to; we’re invisib<strong>le</strong><br />

in mainstream etiquette books. Add to that the<br />

fact that we’re undergoing a seismic shift right<br />

now when it comes to <strong>gay</strong> weddings. I hope that<br />

folks who are planning their ceremonies will<br />

understand that they’re the first generation to<br />

be doing so and that their choices are setting the<br />

foundation of tradition and etiquette to come.<br />

It’s both a lot of responsibility and a great way to<br />

express our love and commitment to each other.”<br />

It’s safe to say that most etiquette guides don’t<br />

include hanky codes. Whereas more traditional<br />

tomes on decorum ignore sex altogether, Petrow<br />

doesn’t shy away from carnal delights. He<br />

writes about public sex guidelines, bathhouse<br />

behaviour, and one-night manners. And though<br />

weddings are dandy, Petrow also talks about <strong>le</strong>ss<br />

conventional forms of coup<strong>le</strong>dom, from how to<br />

broach the subject of kink, to opening up the<br />

relationship and polyamory.<br />

Though the book’s subtit<strong>le</strong> includes the<br />

acronym LGBT, the main tit<strong>le</strong>, writ large, is<br />

Gay & <strong>Le</strong>sbian. Nonethe<strong>le</strong>ss, Petrow addresses<br />

early on the variances of identities that are<br />

possib<strong>le</strong>, especially under the rubric of queer.<br />

Furthermore, the guide also hand<strong>le</strong>s trans<br />

matters. Petrow explains that throughout the<br />

development of the book, he received guidance<br />

and feedback from peop<strong>le</strong> working in trans<br />

issues, including Shannon Minter of NCLR.<br />

Petrow illustrates just how much societal<br />

mores have shifted. For instance, the chapter<br />

on being out at work explains that many<br />

organizations now actively seek out queer<br />

candidates for their teams. And yet, there will<br />

always be someone reluctant to budge. When<br />

asked if his guide might incite some stick<strong>le</strong>rs to<br />

bend their ru<strong>le</strong>s to the bent side, he isn’t so <strong>sur</strong>e.<br />

“I actually think these authors don’t understand<br />

how much they’ve <strong>le</strong>ft out of twenty-first century<br />

manners. Beside LGBT matters, think about<br />

Facebook, Twitter, GPS dating apps, texting and<br />

how these new technologies apply to dating,<br />

sexual etiquette, relationships, weddings and so<br />

much more. I think Emily Post needs to get an<br />

iPad and download some new apps.”<br />

Steven Petrow’s Comp<strong>le</strong>te Gay & <strong>Le</strong>sbian Manners:<br />

The Definitive <strong>Guide</strong> to LGBT Life<br />

Steven Petrow with Sally Chew<br />

Workman Publishing, 2011<br />

417 pages, $21.95<br />

32 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 33


teen troub<strong>le</strong> in Flanders:<br />

Bavo Defurne’s North Sea, Texas at the FFM<br />

By Jordan Arseneault<br />

A coming of age ta<strong>le</strong> set in a s<strong>le</strong>epy seaside town involving a clue<strong>le</strong>ss<br />

mother and an impossibly sexy teenage neighbour: no, it’s not a new feature<br />

by Thom Fitzgerald or a play by Québec’s Michel-Marc Bouchard.<br />

Whi<strong>le</strong> North Sea, Texas has all the hallmarks of a Canadian art-house<br />

drama, it hails from Belgium, and will get its North American première at<br />

this year’s Festival des films du monde, Aug. 18-28.<br />

Director Bavo Defurne has been making a name for himself on the<br />

international festival circuit with such crowd-and-critic p<strong>le</strong>asing shorts<br />

as Campfire (2000) about Boy Scout love. When it came to making a feature,<br />

he knew what his backers and potential audience wanted to see. The<br />

coming of age ta<strong>le</strong> “is a theme that touches me a lot,” Defurne says, “and<br />

one that is very important in peop<strong>le</strong>’s lives. A lot of peop<strong>le</strong> who see it have<br />

that reminiscence,” he adds, revealing his attraction to universal emotions.<br />

“You remember your first love more than your seventeenth,” he says factually—<br />

making me wonder, who was my seventeenth love? His Campfire is<br />

still shown in schools and hai<strong>le</strong>d for showing “the beauty of creation,” even<br />

by a certain Catholic priest admirer.<br />

Reached by phone on a break from shooting in the North Sea town of<br />

Oostende, Defurne is <strong>sur</strong>prisingly cheerful about the hopeful potential for<br />

a story about same-sex teen love, which he admits, rarely ends well. In<br />

North Sea, Texas, lonely teenage queer Pim, played by blonde freck<strong>le</strong>d bal<strong>le</strong>t<br />

dancer Jel<strong>le</strong> Florizoone, is in love with his scruffy dark-haired neighbor<br />

Gino (Mathias Vergels), who luckily turned 18 during the shooting, which<br />

makes lusting after him feel a litt<strong>le</strong> <strong>le</strong>ss taboo. Set in a kind of 1960s Neverland<br />

of indeterminate chronology, “before May 1968, in a world where<br />

the word <strong>gay</strong> wasn’t used so often,” Bavo clarifies, the camera follows the<br />

characters threw summers of lust, love, and disappointment, until one day,<br />

a stranger comes to town...<br />

34 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

Melancholy and Belgian cinema go hand-in-hand—just look at any of<br />

the Dardennes brothers’ films—and Defurne is no exception. “It can be<br />

very hard to grow up <strong>gay</strong>, there’s a lot of homophobia and teen suicide. In<br />

a way every film that has a sad message and a sad ending is very true [to reality].”<br />

Without giving away any of the film’s scant plot e<strong>le</strong>ments, Defurne<br />

suggests that things might not work out the way we want them to for litt<strong>le</strong><br />

Pim. But, he insists “I’m really not into realism; I’m more into memories<br />

and the inner world, the things you see when you close your eyes,” muses<br />

Defurne, whose setting for the film transcends time and nationality, but<br />

recalls the post-WWII Belgian obsession with all things American, which<br />

is to say, with dreams. The “Texas” of the tit<strong>le</strong> is not the state, but a village<br />

pub where Pim’s self-obsessed mother brings him to hang out with adults.<br />

“Pim’s mother dreams of exotic countries and a better life. Everybody in<br />

the film has a vague sense of longing for a better life in a better time.” The<br />

question he wishes to pose with North Sea, Texas, is Will we be strong<br />

enough to follow our dreams? It’s a theme that’s <strong>sur</strong>e to strike a chord with<br />

Canadian viewers, especially for those of us who grew up in similar noplaces<br />

with similar yearnings.<br />

But, he admits, it’s important to show that there is hope. “Belgium is one<br />

of the few countries in Europe where <strong>gay</strong>s can <strong>le</strong>gally marry,” says the director,<br />

making the very current link between <strong>le</strong>gal rights and psycho-social<br />

integration of which <strong>gay</strong> marriage activists are so fond. Still, Bavo had to<br />

cope with the casting “hell” of having 220 boys audition for the <strong>le</strong>ad ro<strong>le</strong>s,<br />

dealing with the homophobic parents who forbade their sons from attending<br />

call-backs to act in a <strong>gay</strong> film. Happily though, young Jel<strong>le</strong>’s parents were<br />

more than supportive, even allowing him to travel to Montréal for its muchanticipated<br />

première this month. Bravo, Bavo! See you at the FFM.<br />

For the schedu<strong>le</strong>, check out www.ffm-montreal.org<br />

www.northseatexas.com<br />

Crocodi<strong>le</strong> tears:<br />

Jacob tierney’s Good Neighbours<br />

out on DvD<br />

By Mark Ambrose Harris<br />

In populating a b<strong>le</strong>ak Montreal winter with vacant hearts, and mixing<br />

the tenuous political climate of a province on the cusp of a referendum<br />

with few nods to Hitchcock, Jacob Tierney infuses local flavour into film<br />

noir with Good Neighbours. The home-grown director/writer/actor/allaround-gem<br />

is perhaps best known for his politico high school comedy The<br />

Trotsky. However, fans of Tierney’s earlier film Twist, a sombre Dickensian<br />

vision of hust<strong>le</strong>r culture, know the filmmaker is no stranger to the sinister<br />

(and homo) e<strong>le</strong>ments of the human condition. With Good Neighbours,<br />

based on a Chrystine Brouil<strong>le</strong>t novel, Tierney explores the relationships<br />

between tenants in an NDG apartment building as a serial kil<strong>le</strong>r haunts the<br />

pre-referendum West-end borough. The trio, perma-smi<strong>le</strong> Spencer (Scott<br />

Speedman), feline inclined Louise (Emily Hampshire) and new tenant<br />

Victor (Jay Baruchel), debate over bott<strong>le</strong>s of wine whi<strong>le</strong> contending with<br />

resident crazy kétaine alcoholic neighbour Valérie (a brilliant performance<br />

from Anne-Marie Cadieux).<br />

Tierney makes a cameo as Victor’s brother, who visits along with his<br />

boyfriend played by Xavier Dolan. As Tierney points out in interviews, the<br />

queer coup<strong>le</strong> provides a sort of comedic ro<strong>le</strong> reversal. Whi<strong>le</strong> Tierney and<br />

Dolan enact a more traditional relationship model, with Dolan calling out<br />

repeatedly asking where his grey socks are, the straight protagonists’ litany<br />

of neuroses annuls any chance of meaningful human interactions.<br />

What’s fun about Good Neighbours is that Tierney provides a plot “reveal”<br />

early on in the film. However, this only heightens the plot’s intrigue, and the<br />

suspense becomes driven by a question: exactly what depth of amorality will<br />

the characters reach? Though Spencer is reticent to speak about his past and<br />

Louise cares more about cats than peop<strong>le</strong>, even the adorab<strong>le</strong> Victor has a<br />

penchant for bending the truth. But these litt<strong>le</strong> quirks are only the tip of the<br />

sociopathic iceberg. In combining the macabre and the hilarious alongside<br />

Tierney’s A-game directorial skills, Good Neighbours will no doubt become<br />

one of dark humour’s finest moments.<br />

Good Neighbours by Jacob Tierney is out on DVD July, 2011.<br />

© paperblog.fr<br />

Beginners:<br />

homage to Father<br />

J. Girard<br />

© lostinreview.com<br />

With Beginners, director Mike Mills has made a both personal and<br />

universal film about himself and his father Hal (played by Christopher<br />

Plummer), who came out of the closet at 75 years old. Part drama and part<br />

romantic comedy, the film manages to treat some of life’s most difficult<br />

moments with humour, authenticity and insight.<br />

After 45 years of marriage, the death of his wife allows Hal to finally<br />

come out of the closet and live his homosexuality openly. A veritab<strong>le</strong><br />

rebirth takes place as Hal explores the <strong>gay</strong> world, gains a sense of pride<br />

and rediscovers love, sex and ce<strong>le</strong>bration, all in front of his son Oliver<br />

(played by Ewan McGregor). For five years, Hal lives life to the ful<strong>le</strong>st with<br />

a newfound sense of freedom and adventure, before dying of cancer.<br />

Fast forward to few months after his father’s death, and Oliver gets his<br />

turn at love when he meets Anna (Mélanie Laurent), a charming French<br />

actress passing through Los Ange<strong>le</strong>s. The new relationship plunges<br />

him back into his past. Between a childhood marked by a heterosexual,<br />

yet absent father and a young adulthood punctuated by a <strong>sur</strong>prisingly<br />

emotionally accessib<strong>le</strong> and enthusiastic “newly” <strong>gay</strong> father, Oliver <strong>le</strong>arns to<br />

come to terms with his own cynicism in regards to love.<br />

Director Mike Mills wanted to preserve the spontaneity of the actors,<br />

from rehearsals to set. “None of my conversations with Christopher and<br />

Ewan had the tenor of ‘Here’s how we did things,’ or ‘Here’s how it was,”<br />

clarifies Mills. “It was more like, ‘Here are these verbs and actions that my<br />

Dad and I experienced. Go live them out now in a way that’s real for you,<br />

so it will be real for an audience. Take away all the proper nouns and <strong>le</strong>t it<br />

be your thing.”<br />

His discreet but effective direction allows the plot, and the characters,<br />

to take on a life of their own. The natural feel of Beginners is what sets it<br />

apart from a simp<strong>le</strong> romantic comedy or typical drama – an authentic film,<br />

through and through.<br />

<strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 35


Well rounded Pieces:<br />

inkedKenny at Ga<strong>le</strong>rie Dentaire<br />

By Boísin Murphy<br />

Tattoos, hair, sweat, beards, smokin’ and tough-looking men are this<br />

photographer’s stock in trade. Based in Toronto, with frequent trips to<br />

NYC where he is the art director for martial arts clothing company X-gear,<br />

Inked Kenny has carved out a niche as one of the hottest homo imagemakers<br />

in Canada. Readers may recall seeing a coup<strong>le</strong> of inkedKenny’s<br />

sexy beasts in the February issue of <strong>2B</strong>mag, but now he’s back in full force.<br />

For his first solo show in Montréal, Kenny will be including a few lovely<br />

ladies for the first time, as well as showing off a s<strong>le</strong>w of boner-inducing<br />

dudes that populate his textured, sexually charged works. Although<br />

the show’s vernissage is August 13, it technically opens on Kenny’s 44 th<br />

birthday, three days before.<br />

“It’s gonna be a nice well-rounded piece of the direction I’m going and<br />

what inspires me to photograph men,” Kenny says, reached by phone on a<br />

break from a roof-top photoshoot in Toronto. It’s only his third year shooting<br />

for a living, but this camera-toting bund<strong>le</strong> of testosterone has the eye and<br />

the ta<strong>le</strong>nt of a seasoned pro. In addition to having works in group shows like<br />

Toronto’s 10x10 and Montréal’s ARTsida, inkedKenny was recently scouted<br />

by Bruno Gmünder for their upcoming BRAVE and Turned on Tattoos<br />

anthologies. One of the models he recently shot in Montréal will be featured<br />

in the German erotic publisher’s 2012 Hair ca<strong>le</strong>ndar, which has him just one<br />

step away from getting his own book. “It’s a process but I’m getting there.<br />

You’re always your worst critic,” Kenny confides.<br />

For the vernissage, there’s a chance you will get to see a few of his models<br />

in the f<strong>le</strong>sh, something inkedKenny says adds to the feeling of the opening<br />

being more of an event. “I know quite a few peop<strong>le</strong> in Montreal, like bar<br />

tenders, who help me find peop<strong>le</strong>. In Montréal it’s a lot easier to find<br />

36<strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

peop<strong>le</strong>, whereas Toronto is more conservative and it’s the hardest place<br />

to find models,” he says, echoing a long-standing belief in the difference<br />

between the two cities. But it’s odd that models would be hesitant, since<br />

inkedKenny is adamant that his works are not as overtly pornographic as<br />

one might expect: “I don’t like to shoot guys with rock hard dicks. Better<br />

to show some bare ass, butt crack and big bulges. It’s sexier to be more<br />

suggestive,” which is part of what’s allowed inkedKenny’s work to easily<br />

be shown in bars like Toronto’s Black Eag<strong>le</strong>, as well as in gal<strong>le</strong>ries like<br />

Dentaire and the White House Studio Project for Toronto Pride, which<br />

featured Montréal artist (and tattooed Adonis), Gô.<br />

Opening during Montréal’s Pride week is a smart move, as is keeping the<br />

show up till early September so that it can be enjoyed over Fetish Weekend by<br />

new <strong>le</strong>gions of Inked Kenny fans. “Everything in the show will be very sexual,”<br />

Kenny as<strong>sur</strong>es us, promising to “push the envelope with the fetish content,”<br />

which is <strong>sur</strong>e to make gal<strong>le</strong>ry-goers happy, and perhaps, a litt<strong>le</strong> horny.<br />

Check out more of inkedKenny at www.inkedkenny.com<br />

On display at Ga<strong>le</strong>rie Dentaire, Aug 10-30 th .<br />

1239 rue Amherst, (514) 523-5535<br />

http://www.ga<strong>le</strong>riedentaire.com/<br />

<strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 37


By Jordan Arseneault<br />

38 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

© César Ochoa<br />

<strong>Le</strong>mon Cree:<br />

Fitness without the Gym<br />

I have a secret. I hate going to the gym and I always have. This has made<br />

me feel like bad <strong>gay</strong> man and has kept from doing anything other than<br />

biking and swimming for most of my life. Then, at 30, I started thinking<br />

maybe it’s time to get serious. And no sooner than the thought crossed my<br />

mind, a flyer for <strong>Le</strong>mon Cree fitness studio came across my desk, and a few<br />

days later I found myself bouncing on an exercise ball shaking my thang to<br />

Tina Turner, and wondering where this class had been all my life.<br />

In their light-fil<strong>le</strong>d studio above Saloon on Ste-Catherine Est, <strong>Le</strong>mon Cree’s<br />

owner and star instructor Theresa Ducharme teaches a kind of modified<br />

aerobics with touches of Pilates, incorporating resist-A-bands and exercise<br />

ball or resist-A-ball work, focusing on core strength and full-body fitness. Her<br />

handsome basket-ball coach son, Christopher Yee, teaches the Strength and<br />

Cardio class, which focuses on breathing and body awareness. This mother-son<br />

duo is kind of a wellness powerhouse, whether they’re teaching at their studio,<br />

or travelling around to train teachers for in First Nations communities.<br />

“We’re helping a nation get back to health and wellness,” Ducharme<br />

chimes, adding that in her classes “peop<strong>le</strong> know they can exercise, feel<br />

safe, and get in shape.” With her wide smi<strong>le</strong> and bright eyes, she has all<br />

of the charms of the kind of phys ed teacher you wish you’d had in high<br />

school. She and her son, along with her daughter, actress and stylist Jessica<br />

Yee, have made it their mission to spread their fun, low-impact approach<br />

to fitness to Native communities across Québec, including the Mohawk<br />

community in Kahnawake, where Ducharme made a documentary about<br />

her work which was aired on APTN. But their approach extends to a lot of<br />

two-spirited and queer peop<strong>le</strong> who don’t feel like they fit in at the gym or<br />

on a sports team, and that’s where I started to feel right at home.<br />

I joined Ducharme’s Bounce Fit class on a humid July evening, along with<br />

three other heat-defying participants for a generous hour and 15-minute<br />

class that involved a lot of warm-up bouncing and manipulating the<br />

exercise ball, moving on to resist-A-band and abdominal work that really<br />

stretched my limits, but with an awesome soundtrack to keep you going.<br />

“You might not know what’s in store,” she had warned me, and indeed I<br />

did not: the class was way more fun and chal<strong>le</strong>nging than I had expected,<br />

and in the end, I had a small but significant epiphany. Inspired by the<br />

Pilates approach, the class winds down after some core-burning sit-ups<br />

and ends with lying flat on your back to breathe and “meditate”. I don’t<br />

usually like this part of a yoga or Pilates class, and as if she knew what<br />

I was thinking, Theresa came over and said “Now Jordan, you have to<br />

c<strong>le</strong>ar your mind, don’t focus on anything but your breathing, just your<br />

breathing,” like she had caught me starting to think about dinner or work<br />

(which I was). As I lay there breathing, with no gym queens or fluorescent<br />

lights making me feel out of place, I realized that although looking after<br />

yourself doesn’t come naturally to many of us, it doesn’t have to be<br />

physically and aesthetically painful either. It can be fun, and make you<br />

feel who<strong>le</strong> at the same time.<br />

Check out the $15 drop-in classes or affordab<strong>le</strong> 20-class cards, valid<br />

for 6 months. Their new referral programme is another incentive: bring a<br />

friend and get a free class!<br />

Studio <strong>Le</strong>mon Cree, 1331A Sainte Catherine Est, 2nd Floor, Montréal<br />

514-567-9887, <strong>le</strong>moncree@gmail.com<br />

www.<strong>le</strong>moncree.com<br />

© César Ochoa<br />

<strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 39


no one Puts Baby<br />

in the Corner<br />

at SCrEAM Dance Academy<br />

By Boísin Murphy<br />

With her b<strong>le</strong>ach-blond locks, bright red lips,<br />

and naturally caffeinated vibe (she had a rooibos<br />

tea whi<strong>le</strong> I chugged a coffee), the first impression<br />

you get of Lynsey Billing is here’s a girl I’d like to<br />

know. Young, beautiful, and wide-eyed, Billing has<br />

been a choreographer and dance instructor for<br />

over 14 years, teaching lyrical jazz, hip-hop fusion<br />

and that <strong>gay</strong>est of dance genres, Broadway Jazz<br />

out of studios on the Main and at Studio Bizz on<br />

av. Mont-Royal. We caught up with Billing on the<br />

threshold of opening her own studio at 6598A St-<br />

Hubert, the home of her Scream Dance Academy.<br />

If you’ve ever taken a dance class, as a teen or<br />

an adult, and been scared away by the teacher or<br />

because you weren’t getting it, then Billing has<br />

the class for you. Over the summer, she offers 16<br />

different drop-in classes from contemporary bal<strong>le</strong>t<br />

to waacking to the neo-salsa-inspired and genderliberating<br />

sti<strong>le</strong>tto ladystylin’, all of which are<br />

geared to making dance fun and accessib<strong>le</strong>. “We<br />

want to make every class special for everyone,”<br />

Billing enthuses, “every class is like a party, with<br />

lots of laughter and mutual encouragement.” In<br />

fact, Scream’s motto is NO JUDGMENT!, which<br />

sums it up, exclamation point and all.<br />

40 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

But that’s not to say you’re not gonna WERK.<br />

Billing’s academy is referred to as a studio school,<br />

with a dizzying array of drop-ins, group classes,<br />

and troupes working towards various shows<br />

throughout the year. In late summer/early fall,<br />

she auditions for her show troupes, including<br />

the mixed professional/<strong>le</strong>arner show she puts on<br />

in February cal<strong>le</strong>d STAGE, which is like a ta<strong>le</strong>nt<br />

show of what her most committed students and<br />

fellow dancers have been working on throughout<br />

the year.<br />

For a first-time dancer, Billing recommends a<br />

hip-hop fusion class, which incorporates a lot of<br />

music-video-sty<strong>le</strong> upper body movement (unlike<br />

break-dancing which is very floor-based), and<br />

the basic jazz fusion, which you’ll want to do for<br />

a few months before venturing into the more<br />

demanding Lyrical Jazz, which is her specialty.<br />

With a dozen teachers and classes going on<br />

6 days a week, Scream’s goal is really to offer<br />

something for everyone, particularly for peop<strong>le</strong><br />

who have been discouraged by <strong>le</strong>arning dance in<br />

the past.<br />

“When I started out,” Billing confides, “peop<strong>le</strong><br />

told me you’re too fat or not tall enough. All of<br />

that baggage,” she adds, is not what you’ll hear<br />

at Scream. “There are different dance schools for<br />

different peop<strong>le</strong>, but ours is for the underdog!”<br />

she proclaims. And it sounds like a lot of<br />

inspirational stories come out that approach, as<br />

was the case for Chris, one of her recent protégés<br />

who used the skills he <strong>le</strong>arned at Scream to get in<br />

touch with his inner drag queen. “She has really<br />

helped me to believe in myself,” Chris writes of<br />

his mentor. “No matter what came in my way,<br />

Lynsey would always tell me to continue to do<br />

what I love. I remember telling her that I wanted<br />

to do drag and the first thing she said was not ‘ok’<br />

or ‘That’s nice’, she said ‘ GO FOR IT!’”<br />

As a rallying cry to the inner dancer that many<br />

of us only <strong>le</strong>t out on a Friday night at the club,<br />

Billing beckons you to “<strong>Le</strong>arn ways to dance and<br />

love it! And don’t <strong>le</strong>t anyone tell you you can’t!”<br />

For all the info on classes, auditions, schedu<strong>le</strong>s<br />

and rates, check out the web<strong>site</strong> and don’t look<br />

back (un<strong>le</strong>ss it’s part of the choreography!).<br />

Académie de Danse Scream / Scream Dance Academy<br />

NEW LOCATION 6598A St-Hubert Suite 200,<br />

514-523-4648<br />

www.academiededansescream.com<br />

<strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 41


Changing Suits<br />

In BEtWEEn MEn is a Change<br />

in the right Direction<br />

42 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 43<br />

By Trent Farber<br />

“New York passing <strong>gay</strong> marriage is just one small step,” says Jennifer Gelfer, director of the hot <strong>gay</strong><br />

web series, In Between Men. “We aim to take the next giant <strong>le</strong>ap.”<br />

At first glance, In Between Men doesn’t appear to be groundbreaking te<strong>le</strong>vision. It’s often compared<br />

to Queer as Folk. But that’s a mistake. The important difference is that the Queer as Folk boys lived in<br />

an insular <strong>gay</strong> world where they ate and breathed the LGBT community. In In Between Men, the guys<br />

integrate in the mainstream world – the ‘straight’ world. They’re <strong>gay</strong> and yes, extremely attractive, but<br />

they’re everyday guys living real lives with peop<strong>le</strong> from all walks of life. They’re how most <strong>gay</strong> men<br />

truly live - and the normalness portrayed on In between Men may just change the way the mainstream<br />

world views the <strong>gay</strong> community.<br />

Dalton is the <strong>le</strong>ad character of In Between Men. Played by Nick Mathews, Dalton is a young man<br />

at the top of his game who finds litt<strong>le</strong> in common with the superficiality of most guys in the city. He<br />

strugg<strong>le</strong>s with a lonely love life, wondering if he should sett<strong>le</strong> for Mr. Almost-Right or hold out for<br />

someone better.<br />

Benjamin Reed, played by the Adonis actor Ben Pamies, is the iconic ma<strong>le</strong> figure. He is what <strong>gay</strong> men<br />

want to be and be with. Oversexed and promiscuous but also intelligent and successful, Benjamin is<br />

a loving friend and family man whose looks outshine everything except his career ambition.<br />

The character of Dane, played by Chase Co<strong>le</strong>man, is the mirror oppo<strong>site</strong> of Reed. He is naïve in love<br />

and his pension for chasing after bad boys gets him in troub<strong>le</strong>.


“So often, <strong>gay</strong> men look outside themselves for affirmation of worth,” says Gelfer. “Gay men are<br />

not taught to love themselves. They’re told they should be something else, namely ‘straight’. Dane is a<br />

product of that. He is the American dream – blonde, handsome, and a doctor – but he doesn’t allow<br />

himself to realize what a catch he really is.”<br />

The show points to the one thing peop<strong>le</strong>, <strong>gay</strong> and straight, have in common. We all live in a perpetual<br />

state of in-between: in between jobs, in between relationships, friends, family, lovers…<br />

“Everyone is looking for a place to belong, someone to love and a fulfilling career,” continues<br />

Gelfer. “The world needs to see that <strong>gay</strong> men are more than the stereotypical camp characters media<br />

has portrayed them to be.”<br />

“They need to see that <strong>gay</strong> men are no different than everyone else.”<br />

The first season of In Between Men consists of six ten-minute shows.<br />

Watch them now at www.inbetweenmen.com.<br />

44<strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 45


traveling and other Drugs:<br />

Daniel Baylis in Marrakesh<br />

Chosen by The Advocate as one of the <strong>gay</strong> world’s “Top 40 Under 40”<br />

for his globe-trotting blog The Conversationalist, Montrea<strong>le</strong>r Daniel<br />

Baylis has been traveling the world as part of a project to discover offthe-beaten-path<br />

places, a socially engaged wayfarer bartering his skills for<br />

food and accommodation, reporting back with witty and often spiritual<br />

observations. From Marrakesh— a traditional homo hide-away for the<br />

likes of Yves Saint-Laurent and certain British authors— Daniel describes<br />

the uneasy dreamy quality of a place largely <strong>le</strong>ft out of the Arab Spring.<br />

www.danielbaylis.ca<br />

I’m standing in the midd<strong>le</strong> of plaza Jemaa El-Fna. It’s a form of ordered<br />

chaos, with snake charmers to my <strong>le</strong>ft, beggars approaching me on my<br />

right and a constant flow of motor-scooters and donkeys whizzing behind<br />

me. Every step must be taken with awareness. If I point my camera in the<br />

wrong direction, a hoard of men will approach me, demanding money. I<br />

try to keep a low profi<strong>le</strong>, but my tall-white-ma<strong>le</strong>ness makes any attempts<br />

at flying below the radar virtually impossib<strong>le</strong>.<br />

A handsome man walks past me. I lock eyes with him, not intentionally<br />

cruising, but subtly is not always my strong point. He has a beautiful Arabic<br />

comp<strong>le</strong>xion, and hazel eyes that arouse me. He sees me seeing him, and<br />

pauses. I look away nonchalantly. He approaches, throws his chin forward<br />

and asks/interrogates, “Hashish?” I’ve discovered rather quickly that, with<br />

my western-ness and alone-ness, I flaw<strong>le</strong>ssly match the demographic profi<strong>le</strong><br />

of “Dudes-wanting-drugs.”<br />

But I don’t want hashish. Or any other drug. Or even sex for that matter.<br />

As I stand here, in the cultural heart of Morocco, I’m not really <strong>sur</strong>e<br />

what I want. I’ve been on the road, backpacking, for six months. It’s been<br />

stimulating and lonely and enlightening and exhausting. Sex has not been<br />

a priority during my travels. Or so I tell myself. And it’s not. That doesn’t<br />

necessarily mean that I am without desire, but my head is such a mess of<br />

geo-spatial-cultural-confusion that I’m not <strong>sur</strong>e what I want anymore.<br />

This includes an uncertainty in determining what I desire sexually.<br />

The hypnotic-eyed drug-dea<strong>le</strong>r realizes that I am use<strong>le</strong>ss to him, and<br />

moves on.<br />

In my belly, the evening’s tajine churns. After hearing regurgitation<br />

horror stories of trave<strong>le</strong>rs eating at the food stalls, I wonder if tonight will<br />

be my date with the toi<strong>le</strong>t. If it happens, it won’t be the first time that I’ve<br />

vomited in a foreign country, alone. My stomach has an ability to c<strong>le</strong>arly<br />

tell me what it wants and doesn’t want. I wish my heart would take notes.<br />

I start walking towards a group of men hovering around a storytel<strong>le</strong>r.<br />

I have the impression that this place, Jemaa El-Fna, was once deeply<br />

mystical, but due to globalization and tourism and mobi<strong>le</strong> phones and all<br />

the other offerings of this contemporary age, it’s now a fragment of what<br />

it once was. I suppose that some things are lost, some things are gained.<br />

The storytel<strong>le</strong>r circ<strong>le</strong>s are predominantly ma<strong>le</strong> spaces. In tight circ<strong>le</strong>s,<br />

the Moroccan men watch with light flickering in their eyes. I’m captivated<br />

by the intense attention they give to the storytel<strong>le</strong>r. He speaks in animated<br />

Arabic, and I understand nothing. But for me it’s enough to simply watch<br />

the faces of the spectators. The men drape arms around each other. It’s<br />

intimate, but not specifically sexual. There is a loyalty between friends that<br />

is expressed with the holding of hands and kisses on the cheek. The explicit<br />

ma<strong>le</strong> intimacy is not to be confused with homosexuality, I am told.<br />

I am also told that Morocco is changing. The entire Arab world is starting<br />

to detonate towards democracy. The King of Morocco is supposedly set<br />

to relinquish his stronghold on the nation, thus permitting a shift towards<br />

a more egalitarian state. I wonder what this means for the queers of the<br />

country. I wonder where are the queers of the country? In the west we’ve<br />

made convenient labels for these peop<strong>le</strong>: <strong>le</strong>sbians, <strong>gay</strong>s, bisexuals, transfolk.<br />

It helps peop<strong>le</strong> understand tendencies that went label-<strong>le</strong>ss and generally<br />

unacknow<strong>le</strong>dged for most of history. What it means to be ‘<strong>gay</strong>’ in the west is<br />

an entirely nouveau construct. And that construct doesn’t apply here in Jemaa<br />

El-Fna, or in most parts of the Arab world.<br />

I take a final gaze at the men in the storytel<strong>le</strong>r’s circ<strong>le</strong>. They seem<br />

impenetrab<strong>le</strong>, but I know they are not. Hidden under their jeballas and<br />

faux designer jeans are private parts, and private stories of a sexual world<br />

that is foreign to me. And it’s a world where a visitor’s visa is difficult, if not<br />

impossib<strong>le</strong>, to attain. And I don’t have enough energy to attempt to enter. It’s<br />

not a priority. Or so I tell myself.<br />

And so I turn my back and continue walking. I have no specific destination<br />

in mind. And maybe, if I keep walking, I’ll come across something that<br />

I unambiguously desire. Perhaps I will be struck with a clarity of lust and<br />

intention and accessibility.<br />

Until then, I will wonder.<br />

S<strong>le</strong>eping:<br />

Equity Point (http://www.equity-point.com/en)- A fusion<br />

between chic boutique hotel and affordab<strong>le</strong> backpacker’s hostel,<br />

Equity Point is in the heart of the medina and features a swimming<br />

pool. Plus they host a traditional Moroccan dinner once a week.<br />

Getting there:<br />

ONCF (http://www.oncf.ma/) - Morocco has a comprehensive<br />

system of trains, and to get from Casablanca to Marrakech, the<br />

train is the best option. If you’re feeling like a princess, there’s a<br />

first-class option.<br />

Eating:<br />

Plaza Jemaa El-Fna - The heart of the medina comes alive each<br />

night with food stands offering everything from traditional tanjine<br />

and couscous dishes. If you’re feeling adventurous, try the sheep<br />

brains. If you need some western comforts (read: alcohol), Café<br />

Arabe (http://www.cafearabe.com/) is one of the few places in the<br />

medina that offers a cold beer or a cocktail.<br />

46 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 47


Museum of<br />

Experience:<br />

Christopher Paul Schul<strong>le</strong>r on<br />

Berlin’s Schwu<strong>le</strong>s Museum<br />

The Schwu<strong>le</strong>s Museum, (Gay Peop<strong>le</strong>s’ Museum) in Berlin’s Kreuzberg<br />

district houses a permanent col<strong>le</strong>ction dedicated to homo history and culture<br />

that until recently was unriva<strong>le</strong>d the world over (thank you, San Francisco).<br />

An arrestingly broad and detai<strong>le</strong>d archive of photographs, books,<br />

<strong>le</strong>tters, and publications documents the <strong>gay</strong> history of Germany from the<br />

Midd<strong>le</strong> Ages to the present day. Museum connoisseurs may find the exhibits<br />

wordy and cramped; to follow them from the barbaric persecutions<br />

of the feudal era through the underground scenes of Berlin at the dawn of<br />

modernity back through persecution again into the relative enlightenment<br />

of the turn of this century is in some ways to experience the claustrophobia<br />

that even now characterizes the lives of peop<strong>le</strong> stigmatized as “other”.<br />

The Schwu<strong>le</strong>s Museum’s archives record a hidden history: Karl von Zastow’s<br />

insistence in 1869 that he belonged to a “third gender,” neither man<br />

nor woman; Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institute for Sexual Science in 1920s Berlin;<br />

<strong>gay</strong> Holocaust victims; and <strong>le</strong>ss well-known local narratives. There are<br />

century-old porn photos (cocks, by all availab<strong>le</strong> evidence, looked weird in<br />

1890), breakfast invitations from the Prince of Prussia, and gowns from<br />

the drag queens of sequined antiquity.<br />

Where the museum shines is in the depiction of homosexuality in its<br />

societal context. The story of <strong>gay</strong> rights in Germany is a sad one of two<br />

steps forward, one step back: the Enlightenment overshadowed by Prussian<br />

pathologizing; Isherwood’s Berlin torn apart by the Holocaust; the<br />

liberating impulses of the 1960s reined in by the scourge of AIDS. Far from<br />

a schoolbook narrative of slouching toward equality, the journey through<br />

this museum is a reminder of the enduring strength of fear and hatred and<br />

that liberalism, for all its fundamental appeal, is fragi<strong>le</strong> and f<strong>le</strong>eting.<br />

Schwu<strong>le</strong>s Museum, Mehringdamm 61, www.schwu<strong>le</strong>smuseum.<br />

de (Opening hours are very Berlin: Wed-Fri. 2-6pm, Sat.<br />

2-7pm, entrance 5€)<br />

Christopher Schul<strong>le</strong>r is an arrestingly attractive and intelligent homosexual<br />

academic living and teaching in Berlin.<br />

48<strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 49


Berlin:<br />

Poor but Sexy (and rich in <strong>gay</strong>ness)<br />

By Boísin Murphy<br />

Berlin ist arm, aber sexy, “Berlin is poor, but<br />

sexy” or so declared the reunited city’s openly<br />

<strong>gay</strong> mayor Klaus Wowereit in 2004 when interviewed<br />

on the city’s tremendous reliance on federal<br />

funding and staggering unemployment rate.<br />

Even now, 22 years after reunification, Berlin is<br />

one of the <strong>le</strong>ast prosperous parts of Germany,<br />

but relishes in state supported infrastructure and<br />

culture that attracts so-cal<strong>le</strong>d “creatives” from<br />

the world over. As <strong>gay</strong> culture is concerned, Berlin<br />

has something for every flavour and stripe,<br />

from anti-capitalist queers squatting in caravans,<br />

to the trust-funded hipsters glutting the bars of<br />

Kreutzberg and Prenzlauer Berg, two respectively<br />

hip and <strong>le</strong>ss hip neighbourhoods. Indeed,<br />

Berlin is a city obsessed with its own hip-ness,<br />

and if you can get over that, you will have a very,<br />

very sexy time.<br />

For trave<strong>le</strong>rs more familiar with European<br />

capitals like Paris and Rome, you will be struck<br />

by two things when you visit Berlin: so much of<br />

it is new or reconstructed; and there are <strong>gay</strong>s<br />

everywhere. Berlin is one of the rare cities in the<br />

world where the <strong>gay</strong>s have so thoroughly infiltrated<br />

all <strong>le</strong>vels of culture and society that they<br />

no longer see the need to restrict themselves to a<br />

Village. Indeed, the very idea of restricting goes<br />

against the zeitgeist of this impossibly vibrant<br />

and culturally self-aware metropolis: the rem-<br />

nants of the demolished wall, both psychological<br />

and physical, are everywhere. Almost as soon as<br />

it fell, <strong>gay</strong>s (and their brethren artists and social<br />

radicals), spread across the city in various pockets<br />

defined by cheap rent (or no rent, as was the<br />

case for the squatters) and now, there’s no turning<br />

back.<br />

Staying at the Gay Hostel in Schöneberg was<br />

a geil way to get a feel for Berlin’s historic <strong>gay</strong><br />

village, near the Nol<strong>le</strong>ndorfplatz U-Bahn. Resembling<br />

in many ways <strong>gay</strong> villages in North<br />

America, the strip of businesses along Motzstraße<br />

includes the popular Hafen bar where you<br />

can ming<strong>le</strong> with regulars and other tourists, and<br />

the infamous Tom’s Bar, where what goes down<br />

in the dark-room stays in the dark-room. Tom’s<br />

Hotel, a well-known part of the strip, is the wellto-do<br />

daddy of the nifty, tangerine-themed Gay<br />

Hostel, which you access off a side street. With<br />

only three rooms— spacious as they may be with<br />

lockers, high ceilings, and a common room—<br />

the Gay Hostel was a relaxing lift-off point to<br />

get spiffed up, away from the prying eyes of<br />

omnipresent hipsters. And for only 22 € a night<br />

in the heart of a European capital, it’s a steal.<br />

The concierge was cute too, a Greek-born filmmaker<br />

who looked like he would have helped me<br />

with more than just directions. The night I was<br />

there, my room-mates were an excessively attractive<br />

Italian, a Costa Rican boy who spoke 4<br />

languages, and a British coup<strong>le</strong> who were there<br />

for the weekend to party. As it so happened,<br />

we were all on our way to the same club that<br />

night. Bassy, the ec<strong>le</strong>ctic and Katacombes-like<br />

venue in gentrified Prenzlauer Berg is home to<br />

a weekly Thursday performance and club night<br />

cal<strong>le</strong>d Chantal’s House of Shame, which was<br />

unanimously chosen by the tourists and insiders<br />

alike as the place to be on a Thursday (before<br />

which the young <strong>gay</strong>s and trendy-bears might be<br />

spotted pre-drinking at Kreutzberg’s green-lit<br />

watering ho<strong>le</strong> the Möbel-Olfe).<br />

To my utter shock, the cover at Bassey was a<br />

whopping 10€ (about $14), which might sound<br />

normal for Paris, but was obscenely pricey for<br />

Berlin, where cover usually hovered at 3-6€, if<br />

there was any at all. But the place delivered, with<br />

a British e<strong>le</strong>ctro vamp (think Katy Perry with a<br />

Pet Shop Boys beat) singing live with sexy projections<br />

of her new video, backed up by midd<strong>le</strong>-aged<br />

guys on lap-tops. Chantal herself was<br />

a heavy-drinking, b<strong>le</strong>ach-blonde grande dame<br />

whose German I couldn’t understand any better<br />

than my Berlin-born fag-hag for the night, Masha.<br />

Further proof that this “very <strong>gay</strong> not pervy<br />

party every Thursday” was the place to be was<br />

the trio of branché Montrea<strong>le</strong>rs who showed<br />

up just in time for the show, and stayed dancing<br />

until 6am (did we mention there is no last call<br />

in Berlin?). Bassy: expensive drinks/cover (boo),<br />

great music/show/crowd (yay).<br />

I was impressed that I had managed to stay<br />

awake that long after really making the most of<br />

my day. Starting with the requi<strong>site</strong> coffee and<br />

croissant at Goldhahn and Samson on Helmholtzplatz,<br />

I had ventured over to see the land<br />

art exhibit at the sprawling Hamburger Bahnhof,<br />

a train station which has been converted into<br />

one of the world’s foremost contemporary art<br />

museums. Whi<strong>le</strong> the installations were awesome<br />

in their own way, the magnificent col<strong>le</strong>ction of<br />

Keith Haring works in the permanent col<strong>le</strong>ction<br />

really made my <strong>gay</strong> day, along with a staggering<br />

suuply of Warhols, Rauschenbergs, Naumans,<br />

Kiefers and photos by Canadian art-star Jeff<br />

Wall. Then for comp<strong>le</strong>te contrast, my Québécoise<br />

exi<strong>le</strong> friend and I hopped the S-Bahn all<br />

the way down to Treptower Park to visit the<br />

mythical location of the alt-queer film festival<br />

known as Entzaubert. Based in a Wagenplatz,<br />

or caravan squat in a bush-shrouded stretch of<br />

green space on the outskirts of working class<br />

Neuköln, the renegade queers of the Schwartzerkanal<br />

host a mighty DIY film festival reminiscent<br />

of Radical Queer Semaine or Pervers/cité, with<br />

an extensive Canadian programme that featured<br />

Montréal’s own Jessica MacCormack, whose collaborations<br />

with musician Rae Spoon were part<br />

of the short film programme.<br />

After a day of wandering the canals of Kreutzberg<br />

with an old high school friend, I hopped<br />

the U-Bahn and returned to Prenzlauer Berg,<br />

ready to accept my fate that I had already partied<br />

enough, and thought I would just get some rest<br />

to make the most of my last day. But to my <strong>sur</strong>prize,<br />

my NGO-consultant friend got her second<br />

wind, and before I could say “Ja wol!” we were<br />

meeting up at the city’s <strong>gay</strong>est all-night all-day<br />

club: the converted power plant that is the Berghain.<br />

Famous throughout the homo universe for<br />

its Friday night LAB.oratory all-ma<strong>le</strong> sex party,<br />

from Saturday at midnight to Monday morning<br />

the Berghain is a temp<strong>le</strong> of house and e<strong>le</strong>ctro<br />

dance-mania with a crowd of beautiful, hardcore,<br />

di<strong>le</strong>ttante and unflappab<strong>le</strong> hotties, hand-<br />

picked by Markus, the dictatorial doorman who<br />

chooses who goes in and who doesn’t with a nod<br />

or shake of his slicked-back head. Tips for not<br />

getting turned away include not looking preppy,<br />

and not speaking English too loudly (it helps<br />

to go with a native speaker or tag along with<br />

one). And the reward is worth the precarious<br />

hour-plus line-up: a gigantic dance floor, with<br />

adjoining rooms for bars on 3 floors, cushioned<br />

lounging “cubes”, and an espresso/ice-cream bar<br />

(yay!), as well as a second floor dance club cal<strong>le</strong>d<br />

Panorama Bar, where opening the shutters to <strong>le</strong>t<br />

in daylight is used to crowd-rousing effect. Before<br />

the outdoor garden opens at 10am, make<br />

<strong>sur</strong>e to check out the shadowy back-room on the<br />

main dance floor, where the cutest, sexiest onesyou’d-<strong>le</strong>ast-expect<br />

hound around for sticky play.<br />

Need<strong>le</strong>ss to say, it made up for missing out on a<br />

trip to Tom’s.<br />

My last day there amounted to biking around<br />

and having one last hang-out at the alt-queer café<br />

SilverFuture (Weserstraße 206), following by a<br />

final tryst at the ab<strong>sur</strong>dly taste<strong>le</strong>ss and purely<br />

enjoyab<strong>le</strong> Ficken 3000 (Urbanstraße 70, U-Bahn<br />

Hermannplatz), where the Pork nights involve<br />

dancey beats, louche regulars, anglo twinks<br />

wearing pig snouts, and an authentic downstairs<br />

back-room where you can have one last makeout<br />

before you’re get back to reality and say auf<br />

wiedersehen, mein schwu<strong>le</strong>nfruenden! (See p.<br />

48 for more on Berlin’s <strong>gay</strong> history museum and<br />

homoerotic publishing house Bruno Gmünder.)<br />

Gay Hostel: Motzstrasse 28, 10777 Berlin, +49<br />

30 21 00 57 09.<br />

www.<strong>gay</strong>-hostel.de / www.hostelbookers.com<br />

Chantal’s House of Shame @ Bassy Club,<br />

Schönhauser Al<strong>le</strong>e 176A, U-Bahn Senefelderplatz<br />

Hamburger Bahnhof: Invalidenstraße 50-51,<br />

S-Bahn Hauptbanhof,<br />

www.hamburgerbahnhof.de<br />

Tom’s Bar: Motzstraße 19 +49 (0)30-2134570;<br />

U-Bahn: Nol<strong>le</strong>ndorfplatz<br />

www.tomsbar.de<br />

Möbel-Olfe: Reichenberger Str. 177 (entrance<br />

via Dresdener Straße), U-Bahn: Kottbusser<br />

Tor. www.moebel-olfe.de<br />

Berghain: Am Wriezener Bahnhof, S-Bahn:<br />

Ostbahnhof,<br />

www.berghain.de + www.lab-oratory.de/dates<br />

50 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 51


out with <strong>2B</strong><br />

©Divers/cité photos: Sean MacKenzie<br />

©Zoe Casino<br />

©Divers/cité photos: Sean MacKenzie<br />

©Zoe Casino<br />

©Zoe Casino<br />

Divers/cité had another big, hot crowded year with throngs of tourists and Montrea<strong>le</strong>rs coming out<br />

for the New Society and Sunset Parties.Tristan (top) and James (above) were just a coup<strong>le</strong> of smiling<br />

cuties thatpopulated July’s monthly POMPe party at Espace des arts.


Don’t hurt him:<br />

Martin Douvil comes out<br />

of hibernation<br />

54<strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 55<br />

Boísin Murphy<br />

When you look at Martin Douvil’s Boy with Black Shoes, the first thing<br />

that strikes you is the immediate sexual charge of seeing a young man’s<br />

taut body squatting in nothing but sneakers and a baseball cap. The figure<br />

looks away in a three-quarter turn, which as any painter knows is the most<br />

chal<strong>le</strong>nging pose. The carefully shaded buttocks and right knee further<br />

pronounce a claim to the third dimension, whi<strong>le</strong> the hands hang limply,<br />

painted with an almost perfect attention to detail.<br />

This 2010 work is one of the canvases being shown at his upcoming duo<br />

exhibit RENCONTRE at contemporary art space Ka Vie Art on rue Beaudry<br />

(Aug 5-21). Like many of the oil paintings in this exhibit, the work<br />

is a small-sca<strong>le</strong> (10x12”) study, the result of an almost 4-year “hibernation”<br />

to explore and fine-tune his technique. (In case you were curious, Douvil<br />

used himself as the model for Boy with Black Shoes). This will be the sexy<br />

young painter’s first show since 2007, by invitation from Ka Vie Art.<br />

“I’m accumulating ideas,” explains the bearded and smiling Douvil at<br />

Café Kg. “I’ve been more interested in doing studies in order to incorporate<br />

them into larger, more robust future works,” he adds. The studies of<br />

hands, an ear, or feet will make up part of the show’s smal<strong>le</strong>r sca<strong>le</strong> works<br />

that represent a concentrated return to the craft of painting and an excel<strong>le</strong>nt<br />

opportunity for buyers to get their hands on Douvil’s work whi<strong>le</strong> they<br />

can still afford them. (Don’t) Hurt Me, this month’s cover image, and Dans<br />

La Douche (2006) are examp<strong>le</strong>s of larger-sca<strong>le</strong> works that are more in line<br />

with the trend of contemporary oil painting, like that of Canadian art-star<br />

Attila Lukacs.<br />

Like Lukacs—whose Polaroids was featured in <strong>2B</strong>mag’s May edition—<br />

Douvil’s primary preoccupation is with the ma<strong>le</strong> form, and with finding<br />

nuanced ways to depict ma<strong>le</strong> nudes without it looking too pornographic.<br />

“I don’t want my work to look like a porn screen-shot. If I put a figure in a<br />

harness, I still want the image to be painterly,” he specifies. But that’s not<br />

to say he will hold back from packing a punch: “One of my goals is to find a<br />

way to depict the intimacy of two men in a fisting scene, without it appearing<br />

clichéd or obvious,” he explains. And without copying famous photos<br />

by Robert Mapp<strong>le</strong>thorpe. Indeed, Douvil has given himself the added chal<strong>le</strong>nge<br />

of only working from live models, or from photographs he has staged<br />

himself, in order to maintain the authenticity of the final piece.<br />

The next step after this show will be to branch out into larger works with<br />

more elaborate subjects. He also hopes to paint more from live models in<br />

studio, which is something that requires the kind of resources he has not<br />

had over the past few years. “It was a long time since I’d done a show. It’s<br />

really like breaking the ice on the last years of hibernation,” says the painter,<br />

thoughtful but somewhat giddy at the prospect. Martin Douvil will be the<br />

in attendance at the vernissage for RENCONTRE on Friday, August 12,<br />

from 3-9pm, along with mixed media and tattoo artist Yannick Bertrand.<br />

KA VIE ART, 1410 de la rue Beaudry, 514.657.3535<br />

www.kavieart.com


By Mathieu Lévesque<br />

© Dany Lapierre<br />

Not so long ago, when <strong>gay</strong> bars and saunas<br />

were scarce and the internet had not yet come<br />

to dominate human communication, many <strong>gay</strong>s<br />

partook in public sex, often out of lack of other<br />

options. Parks were one of the most common<br />

places for <strong>gay</strong>s to find sex. Today, despite all<br />

these new ways for <strong>gay</strong>s to meet up, public sex<br />

is growing in popularity and not just for <strong>gay</strong>s.<br />

Those who partake in it today do it by choice and<br />

for the thrill of it. <strong>2B</strong> takes a closer look at the<br />

phenomenon.<br />

Whether it’s in the public washrooms of<br />

a university, a movie theatre, or a shopping<br />

mall, in a parking lot, or outdoors in a park,<br />

any rarely-frequented spot is an ideal place<br />

for public sex. Coup<strong>le</strong>s and sing<strong>le</strong>s alike are<br />

becoming more and more turned on by this<br />

Sex in Public:<br />

the thrill of risky Business<br />

practice, perhaps due to its thrilling mix of<br />

voyeurism and exhibitionism.<br />

From the screen to<br />

the cruising spot<br />

Evidently, many sing<strong>le</strong> <strong>gay</strong> men and coup<strong>le</strong>s<br />

partake in public sex. According to many connoisseurs<br />

of the practice, the excitement comes<br />

from the risk of getting caught or from the fact<br />

that a voyeur might be peeking on the action.<br />

The phenomenon is far from new in the <strong>gay</strong><br />

community, but what is different now is there<br />

are so many other ways for <strong>gay</strong> men to meet<br />

other <strong>gay</strong> men for sex. Whereas before word of<br />

mouth was the primary means of finding out<br />

about popular public sex spots, there are now<br />

Internet <strong>site</strong>s devoted to mapping cruising spots<br />

© Francois Schnell<br />

and identifying what goes on there. Very popular<br />

with <strong>gay</strong>s, the <strong>site</strong> squirt.org is a perfect examp<strong>le</strong>,<br />

with a section so<strong>le</strong>ly devoted to public cruising<br />

spots for thrill-seekers.<br />

Defined by their visitors, these spots can be<br />

quite varied: whether it’s a public washroom in a<br />

university, a video store or a gym, the quiet corner<br />

of a park, train tracks to the east of Montréal,<br />

or a theatre, it’s <strong>sur</strong>prising to see the number of<br />

places already established in the city. More than a<br />

hundred cruising spots are already established in<br />

Montréal, and the number continues to rise.<br />

Most of these places have been photographed<br />

in order to allow new members to easily identify<br />

them. Visitors can comment on the accessibility<br />

of the <strong>site</strong>, its location and say what they liked<br />

56 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 57


and disliked about it. Regulars can indicate the<br />

most frequented times and can rate the spot on a<br />

sca<strong>le</strong> of one to five.<br />

Dogging<br />

The public sex phenomenon has taken a slightly<br />

different twist for heteros and even has its own<br />

terminology: dogging. Dogging, which is mostly<br />

practiced by coup<strong>le</strong>s, consists of having sex in a<br />

public place where others can view you. For examp<strong>le</strong>,<br />

a coup<strong>le</strong> will have sex in their car, <strong>le</strong>aving<br />

the windows or the doors open to allow voyeurs<br />

to watch or even to allow for a third participant<br />

to join in. Many coup<strong>le</strong>s practice dogging to spice<br />

up their sex lives, or to reignite the spark in their<br />

relationship.<br />

A happy mix of exhibitionism, voyeurism and<br />

swinging, dogging is a flat-out phenomenon in<br />

Great Britain, where it has grown rapidly in part<br />

thanks to the internet. The term dogging comes<br />

from the fact that certain men would claim that<br />

they were going out to walk their dog when they<br />

were really going out for some action.<br />

© GalaDreamCreation.com<br />

The phenomenon is now popular in the U.S.<br />

and Canada, in Germany and France and continues<br />

to grow. In Montreal, there are only two<br />

spots that are known for dogging: the parking lot<br />

at Lac aux Castors on the mountain and in the<br />

Botanical Gardens in Parc Maisonneuve.<br />

Discretion is Key<br />

Evidently, sex in public and exhibitionism are<br />

il<strong>le</strong>gal practices in Québec. It is therefore advisab<strong>le</strong><br />

to be discrete because getting caught could<br />

<strong>le</strong>ad to a fine, or even being arrested, which<br />

could be humiliating. And out of respect, it is<br />

preferab<strong>le</strong> to avoid places where there could be<br />

children for examp<strong>le</strong>.<br />

Also, this type of practice could also be very<br />

risky for the transmission of STIs. One has to be<br />

prudent and protect oneself. And evidently, in<br />

case of outdoor sex, one has to be prepared for<br />

some inconveniences such as mosquito bites or<br />

sand getting into uncomfortab<strong>le</strong> places.<br />

© Dany Lapierre<br />

© Matin Douvil, col<strong>le</strong>ction Etremag<br />

Succumb.<br />

F r e n c h b a k e d b r e a d / S a n d w i c h e s / F r e n c h p a t i s s e r i e s / G e l a t o / P i z z a s<br />

PA I L L A R D C A F É - B O U L A N G E R I E 1097, r u e S a i n t - J e a n , Vi e u x - Q u é b e c , 4 1 8 6 9 2 . 1 2 2 1<br />

R E C O M M E N D E D B Y<br />

58 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 59


60<br />

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This resort inn is set in a unique<br />

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a World Biosphere Reserve, and offering stunning<br />

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By <strong>2B</strong> Staff<br />

Everybody knows how short the summer season can be, and hot it can get in the city. We love<br />

to talk about the city’s big attractions, and be where the peop<strong>le</strong> are, but there’s nothing like<br />

a weekend or mid-week get-away to really unwind. From country inns and adventure resorts,<br />

to day-spas and charming hotels, Québec’s regions offer a wealth of choices for escaping the<br />

throngs and humidity of the city.<br />

And it’s not just for lovers of peace and quiet either. For a higher adrenaline get-away, horseback<br />

riding at Ranch 4 Saisons and zip-lining through the trees at Au Coeur de mon Verger are<br />

just the thing to get you going. Québec’s spas have become one the country’s main attractions,<br />

so we’ve helped you choose two that are the height of taste and ambiance: <strong>Le</strong> Nordik,<br />

in the Gatineau Region, and <strong>Le</strong> Montagnais, in the Eastern Townships, both perfect for day-trips<br />

outside of Ottawa or Montréal. If you’re taking a trip to Québec City on your way to Char<strong>le</strong>voix,<br />

or for a weekend trip in the Capital, you’ll be charmed by the Auberge Place d’Armes.<br />

Although mostly in the countryside, all of these establishments are proudly featured in the<br />

<strong>Guide</strong> gai du Québec 2011, an insider’s guide to <strong>gay</strong> destinations from Gatineau to Gaspé, so<br />

you know you can bring your boyfriend or girlfriend and get only the best service.<br />

Don’t <strong>le</strong>t the summer pass you by without enjoying a nature get-away in one of these superb<br />

locations!<br />

GÎte Du CHaMPaYeuR :<br />

This charming litt<strong>le</strong> inn is located in Warwick,<br />

Québec’s national fine cheese capital,<br />

just a few kilometres from Victoriavil<strong>le</strong>, in<br />

Central Québec. Whether you are just passing<br />

through, planning a cycling adventure<br />

around some of the many bike trails in the<br />

region, golfing, skiing, or visiting some of the<br />

artisanal cheese-maker to get a taste of Québec’s<br />

delicious cheeses, this inn is a delightful<br />

place to stay. Four rooms with private bath,<br />

and a lovely garden with hot tub (open year<br />

round) await you.<br />

<strong>Le</strong> Gîte du Champayeur<br />

5, rue de l’Hôtel de Vil<strong>le</strong>,<br />

Warwick, Québec<br />

819 358-9101<br />

info@champayeur.qc.ca<br />

www.champayeur.qc.ca/<br />

SPa <strong>Le</strong> MOntaGnaIS<br />

Located at nearly 650 metres above sea<strong>le</strong>vel,<br />

at the foot of Mont Métantic in Val-Racine,<br />

this Nordic spa has everything you need<br />

for a day of rest and relaxation. Comp<strong>le</strong>te with<br />

hot and cold spas, sauna and steam-room,<br />

Spa <strong>Le</strong> Montagnais also offers massage therapy<br />

as well as a wide range of spa treatments.<br />

The perfect place to escape the hust<strong>le</strong> and<br />

bust<strong>le</strong> of the city whi<strong>le</strong> enjoying the picturesque<br />

Eastern Townships.<br />

Spa <strong>Le</strong> Montagnais<br />

215, chemin de la Forêt enchantée<br />

Val-Racine (Québec) G0Y 1E0<br />

email : info@spa<strong>le</strong>montagnais.com<br />

Tél. : 819-657-4777<br />

ou sans frais 1-877-703-4777<br />

Fax. : 819-657-1065<br />

www.spa<strong>le</strong>montagnais.com/<br />

au CŒuR De MOn VeRGeR<br />

There is no better way to enjoy the natural<br />

beauty of the Montérégie by paying a visit to<br />

Au Cœur de Mon Verger. Step, climb and zip<br />

line your way through their Treego course for<br />

a fantastic and fun journey through the boreal<br />

forest from above. If you come in the fall,<br />

stay to pick your own app<strong>le</strong>s, pears, plums and<br />

strawberries from their beautiful orchards. It’s<br />

just minutes from Park Safari in Hemmingford,<br />

Arnold paintball, several camping <strong>site</strong>s and local<br />

wineries.<br />

Au Coeur de Mon verger<br />

551, chemin Covey Hill<br />

Havelock, Québec<br />

J0S 2C0<br />

(450) 247-2785<br />

aucoeurdemonverger.vpweb.ca/<br />

DOMaIne MOntÉ-BeLLO<br />

Surrounded by nature and located in the<br />

picturesque village of Montebello, the Domain<br />

Monté-Bello invites you to discover their comfortab<strong>le</strong>,<br />

warm and classic bedrooms, condo<br />

apartments, suites and magnificent cottage<br />

by the river in the Gatineau region. With over<br />

110 activities just a stone`s throw away, including<br />

river cruises, helicopter tours of the Montebello<br />

region, white water rafting, paintball,<br />

numerous golf courses, illusionist and magician<br />

The Enchanteur, and Montbello’s historic<br />

<strong>site</strong>s such as <strong>Le</strong> Manoir Papineau, The Domain<br />

Montebello is the perfect place to relax after<br />

a day of adventure.<br />

Hôtel Domaine Monté-Bello<br />

696, Notre-Dame<br />

Montebello, Québec, J0V 1L0<br />

Te<strong>le</strong>phone: (877) 420-5096<br />

toll free (819) 423-5096<br />

Email: info@domainemontebello.com<br />

www.domainemontebello.com/<br />

<strong>Le</strong> nORDIK – natuRe SPa<br />

<strong>Le</strong> Nordik – Nature Spa is a relaxation retreat<br />

located in Old Chelsea, a picturesque<br />

and friendly town bordering Gatineau Park.<br />

With its unique sty<strong>le</strong>, the Spa is dedicated to<br />

the practice of relaxation techniques from the<br />

Scandinavian countries, such as Nordic baths<br />

involving hot and cold hydrotherapy. The <strong>site</strong>’s<br />

major asset – one you can’t find in any urban<br />

spas – is its magnificent location and natural<br />

scenery in a wooded haven with a natural<br />

rock face. In every corner of the <strong>site</strong>, whether<br />

it is near the fireplace, in the Finnish sauna built<br />

entirely of cedar, or under the outdoor waterfall,<br />

guests are always <strong>sur</strong>rounded with the<br />

most primitive natural e<strong>le</strong>ments: wood, stone,<br />

water and fire.<br />

<strong>Le</strong> Nordik – Nature spa<br />

16, chemin Nordik Old Chelsea,<br />

Québec J9B 2P7<br />

Te<strong>le</strong>phone: 819 827-1111<br />

Toll free: 1 866 575-3700<br />

www.<strong>le</strong>nordik.com<br />

auBeRGe PLaCe D’aRMeS<br />

Located on the corner of Old Québec City’s<br />

only two pedestrian streets, the Inn links two<br />

historical buildings that once belonged to a<br />

19th premier of Québec and the founder of<br />

the Holt Renfrew stores respectively. With the<br />

Holy Trinity and Notre-Dame cathedrals next<br />

door, Château Frontenac and its fabulous<br />

promenade in plain sight, as well as count<strong>le</strong>ss<br />

boutiques and great restaurants nearby, this<br />

warm and inviting inn is the perfect place to<br />

discover the charm of Old Québec City. The<br />

Inn’s restaurant, Pain Béni will seduce you with<br />

delights from Chef Simon Côté-Tremblay who<br />

passionately serves dishes made from local<br />

products.<br />

Auberge Place d’Armes<br />

24, rue Sainte-Anne, Vieux Québec<br />

Québec, Canada, G1R 3X3<br />

Téléphone : 418 694-9485<br />

Sans frais/Toll Free : 1 866 333-9485<br />

www.aubergeplacedarmes.com/<br />

Arbre en arbre, au coeur de mon Verger<br />

SPA Montagnais<br />

61


hot SPotS <strong>2B</strong><br />

August 2011 / PrIDE edition<br />

Sat. Aug. 13<br />

BIG FrEEDIA<br />

@ Club Soda.<br />

Back for a 2 nd time this summer, with<br />

DJ sets by Lynn T. from <strong>Le</strong>zzies on X,<br />

MHMHMH + MINI, this insane lineup<br />

is a <strong>le</strong>sbionic tribute to the reigning<br />

Bounce diva from New Or<strong>le</strong>ans. Presa<strong>le</strong><br />

$18, $23.25 at the door. 10pm @ Club Soda<br />

1225 St-Laurent, with a sweaty afterparty<br />

at Espace des arts, 9 Ste-Catherine Est.<br />

www.clubsoda.ca / www.bigfreedia.com<br />

62 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

Aug. 14<br />

Montréal<br />

Pride Parade!<br />

Starting on the corner of Guy at 1pm,<br />

moving east on René-Lévesque through<br />

downtown, ending on Sanguinet at the Place<br />

Émilie-Gamelin (Berri) where the MEGA<br />

T-DANCE and closing show goes down.<br />

www.fiertemontrealpride.com<br />

Aug 18-28<br />

north Sea,<br />

texas at the World<br />

Film Festival.<br />

A sweet and realistically told story of<br />

Pim, who “dreams of a better life, imagining<br />

princesses and beauty queens. But when Pim<br />

turns 16 he dreams of Gino, the boy next door,<br />

instead.” Heart-breaking without too much<br />

coming-of-age sentimentality, Noordzee,<br />

Texas is <strong>sur</strong>e to be the queer favourite at this<br />

year’s FFM.<br />

www.northseatexas.com /<br />

www.ffm-montreal.org<br />

Aug. 19-21<br />

If Looks Can<br />

Kill… they<br />

Will!<br />

@ Café C<strong>le</strong>opatra<br />

Bur<strong>le</strong>sque, grotesque, and eminently<br />

queer, those masters of the inappropriate<br />

and glittery ways of underground<br />

smut known as Glam Gam Productions<br />

are back for 3 nights of murder and mayhem<br />

at 1230 St-Laurent (Café Cléopâtre),<br />

$13 with non-perishab<strong>le</strong> food donation.<br />

www.glamgam.com<br />

63 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

©Erick Contreras<br />

Sat. Aug. 20<br />

ottawa Wolves<br />

Present:<br />

Jocks and Knee high<br />

Socks<br />

If you know the rugby bears who make up<br />

the Ottawa Wolves team and produce their<br />

sexy (and silly) ca<strong>le</strong>ndar with photos by Dan<br />

Ziemkiewicz, you will know that this party<br />

is a furry-boy MUST. Advance tickets 8$,<br />

at Bode Spa + Stroked Ego, 10$ @ the door.<br />

Babylon Nightclub (317 Bank Street), Doors<br />

10pm www.ottawawolves.ca<br />

Sun. Aug. 21<br />

Piknic<br />

E<strong>le</strong>ctronik<br />

at Place de l’homme,<br />

Parc Jean-Drapeau.<br />

Whi<strong>le</strong> PE is probably already on your<br />

ca<strong>le</strong>ndar, this dog-days-of-summer edition<br />

will feature sexy sounds by Mtl’s own Black<br />

Tiger Sex Machine and LA’s Kraddy. 3-9pm,<br />

$12 at the door. www.piknice<strong>le</strong>ctronik.com<br />

Wed. Aug. 24<br />

<strong>2B</strong>mag and new sister mag Entre El<strong>le</strong>s<br />

launch their August editions for Capital Pride<br />

at Venus Envy! The launch will ce<strong>le</strong>brate the<br />

new revamped Entre El<strong>le</strong>s and give Pridegoers<br />

a chance to see what the mags are made<br />

of. Wednesday, August 24, 8-10pm Featuring<br />

photo exhibit by Rah Illa and Nathan Hoo<br />

320 Lisgar St, Ottawa. www.venusenvy.ca<br />

Sun Aug. 28<br />

Capital<br />

Pride Parade!<br />

See page 24.<br />

<strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 63


Q-6061 Montréal H, 35, 145 lb, 8’’<br />

non circoncis. Beau jeune homme.<br />

Gym 3 fois / semaine. Cherche<br />

bouche chaude & gorge profonde.<br />

C-6063 Cuba Chico sincero, honesto,<br />

me gusta la música romántica,<br />

los anima<strong>le</strong>s, la playa y paser.<br />

Busco mi media naranja, si eres<br />

mayor que yo mejor. Tengo 26 años<br />

Adrián Castellanos<br />

L-6060 London H, 33, 5’ 9’’, handsome<br />

black guy living in England.<br />

Good built body, caring, honest,<br />

seek mature Canadian man for<br />

friendship and relationship.<br />

C-6064 Cuba M, 23, 1,73 m, 85 kg,<br />

Cuban. Honest, not complicated, a<br />

true friend, romantic, passionate,<br />

sexy, 100% masc. I am Yoandy, naturally<br />

tanned skin, brown eyes, atht<strong>le</strong>tic<br />

and brawny body. I love nature and<br />

healthy entertainments. I’m not looking<br />

for a perfect physical but a spiritual<br />

person. I also seek friendships.<br />

6065 U.S.A M, 49, 5’9’’, 170 lbs, blue<br />

eye / blondish hair. Frequent visitor<br />

to Montréal. Handsome nature lover,<br />

ISO masc. alpha top. Arabs, Turks or<br />

hirsute any race, for friendship, poss.<br />

+. Photo replies only.<br />

6066 Cuba H, 47, Cubain noir.<br />

Cherche des correspondants. J’aime <strong>le</strong><br />

cinéma, la danse, <strong>le</strong> yoga, la musique<br />

et <strong>le</strong>s langues. Écrire en français, espagnol,<br />

anglais, italien, al<strong>le</strong>mand.<br />

6067 Canada H, 46, 5’8’’, masc., ch.<br />

court, beau cul, bien équipé, bronzé,<br />

sexy, rasé. Mon nom est Jean,<br />

cherche H. 30-50 sex, amitié bienvenue.<br />

6068 Cuba M, 23, Cuban. I study in<br />

university. I have open mind. P<strong>le</strong>ase<br />

send me a <strong>le</strong>tter.<br />

C-6069 M, 25, 1,73 m, 62 kg, Cuban,<br />

good looking, dark haired, bright eyes.<br />

Honest, sincere, I need a relationship<br />

30 to 75. I am versati<strong>le</strong>. Kisses, Roldy<br />

C-6070 M, 38, 1,86 m, 86 kg I’m civil<br />

enginer. I want to find a serious<br />

coup<strong>le</strong> and that he loves me. I speak<br />

Russian, French and English.<br />

Q- 6071 Montréal H, 47, 5’12’’, 125<br />

lb, 6.5’’ circoncis, look jeune, non<br />

poilu. Rocker non sadomaso tendre,<br />

affectueux, pas efféminé, instruit,<br />

fumeur, pas de drogue, ni d’alcool.<br />

Cherche H. 35-65 sérieux <strong>pour</strong> relation<br />

durab<strong>le</strong>, simp<strong>le</strong>, affectueux,<br />

franc, sens l’humour. Toutes ethnies<br />

bienvenues. Obèse, vio<strong>le</strong>nt, buveur,<br />

drogué s’abstenir.<br />

G-6072 Ghana M, 28, 5’8’’, 85 kg,<br />

dark skin, short hair, hot, warm and<br />

passionate guy, ath<strong>le</strong>tic built and<br />

TOP. I’m open minded, intelligent,<br />

great sence of humor. Looking for<br />

warm and loving long term relationship.<br />

Interested in music, sports,<br />

photographing, cooking, gardering<br />

and traveling.<br />

C-6073 Pelo oscuro, piel canela,<br />

ojos cafes, Chico de mente abierta,<br />

sincero, sencillo y romantico.30 y.o.,<br />

Espero correspondencia de chicos<br />

de entre 30-50, serios, afines a mis<br />

caracteristicas para ampliar mi circulo<br />

de amigos.<br />

6074 N.B. Canada Homme début<br />

50e, désire faire la connaissance d’un<br />

bel homme costaud, sportif, poids<br />

proportionnel, poilu de préférence,<br />

âgé entre 18 et 35 ans, non fumeur si<br />

possib<strong>le</strong>. Aimant la nature. But amitié<br />

et possibilité de relation plus profonde.<br />

Bienvenus aux haltérophi<strong>le</strong>s.<br />

6075 Ghana Sexy, handsome black,<br />

guy 30, looking for serious man to<br />

meet soon.<br />

6076 A good-looking, honest, intelligent,<br />

manly Ukrainian boy, 24<br />

y.o., H. 177 cm, 74 kg, dark-blond<br />

hair, green eyes, with university education,<br />

good health, nice body and<br />

good character. I do not smoke and<br />

do not drink alcohol. Seeks my special<br />

man, real best friend for correspondence,<br />

good meetings, holidays<br />

together, friendship, romance, love<br />

and for happy long relationship.<br />

6077 46 ans, 5’6’’, 142 Lbs, 8’’ Noncirconcis,<br />

séro+, cherche mec 40-55<br />

ans, pas bedonnant, enjoué, cochon,<br />

comme moi : pisse, odeurs naturel<strong>le</strong>s<br />

(cul, aisel<strong>le</strong>s, couil<strong>le</strong>s, sueur), tendre et<br />

versati<strong>le</strong>. Black+ Têl XXX bien venus !<br />

6078 40 y/o, 1.80cm, 82 kg, mulato.<br />

Cantante profesional, deseo contactar<br />

amigos en Canada y el mundo<br />

para correspondencia en mi club del<br />

amor y la amistad.<br />

6079 Ghana I’m Robert, sexy romantic<br />

Black guy looking for any<br />

man to be my lover and to treat him<br />

cordly, <strong>gay</strong> friends welcome too. Any<br />

age is welcome plus meeting.<br />

6080 Cuba 44 años, bisexual con<br />

preferencia por hombres, trigueno,<br />

ojos cafés, 1.70m, 65 kg, sagitario. Me<br />

gusta la playa, el cine, las discotecas.<br />

Busco amistad o relación estab<strong>le</strong> con<br />

hombre bisexual o <strong>gay</strong> comp<strong>le</strong>to (activo/pasivo)<br />

entre 19 y 50 años.<br />

6081 Cuba 26 y/o, White hair, Black<br />

eyes, c<strong>le</strong>ar skin. Gay looking for a<br />

friend. I need love and peace. I like<br />

music, cycling and chocolate. I’m<br />

simp<strong>le</strong> and comp<strong>le</strong>te.<br />

6082 Rétraité soixantaine, barbu,<br />

poilu, chevveux grisonnants, Allure<br />

véome et intello. Doux, respecteux,<br />

discret, passionné. Cherche homme<br />

mur, libre <strong>le</strong> jour en semaine, <strong>pour</strong><br />

donner libre tours à un échange de<br />

fantasmes…caresser tes rondeurs et lécher<br />

tes pieds me conduiront au 7e ciel.<br />

6083 Saguenay 2H, 48 & 52, 165 &<br />

145 lb, 6’ & 5’8 cherchent amis et<br />

coup<strong>le</strong>s semblab<strong>le</strong>s <strong>pour</strong> profiter<br />

des plaisirs à la campagne. Aimons<br />

nature, musique, art, livres, voyages.<br />

<strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 65


66 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l 67


68 l <strong>2B</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong>

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