Yesterday I got together with Matt Sims to chat about his party happening at The Barn tonight (Saturday, November 13, 2010)! The conversation went a little of course when I felt the need to clear the air about an “incident” that occurred during Halloween weekend’s ThereGoesTheNeighborhood.

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Well, it’s been a long time coming. For decades Toronto has been a destination for gays throughout the world. They flock to our little village year after year to celebrate Pride, walk hand in hand with their loved ones and to, well, you know. But the one thing about our world famous gay village that’s always annoyed me is how “un gay” our street is! Year after year, through tourist after tourist, our beloved village has has been the least gay thing about the LGBT community! Drab building after drab building have lined our gay strip, keeping the makers of monotonic paint hues farting through silk. Our dark buildings have always been overshadowed by less gay neighbourhoods, like Newfoundland’s multicoloured Jelly Bean Row for instance: every colour in the proverbial rainbow is slapped on houses in St. John’s and yet Church Street has remain dark and drab for years…until now! Enter the Rainbow! Thanks to the recent appearance of Pizzaiolo and their bright red facade their neighbour, the newest club on the strip – Flash followed suit with passionate purple! Not to be out done, the venerable Sailors gave themselves a much needed facelift as well! Okay, a new coat of paint but it’s bright blue and gorgeous! Finally colour on the gayest strip in Canada! Hopefully the rest of the businesses will follow suit. Rainbow it up people!

Last Friday was the huge kick off party to PRIDE WEEK TORONTO 2010 at Woody’s on Church Street.  Food, booze, friends, performances and skin! Miss Conceptions doing Lady Gaga and my fiance Shaun Proulx being interviewed by The National Post!

This year marks PRIDE TORONTO’S 30th year of celebrations, and I was there to catch it all!

Now that I have your attention. As Toronto Pride (http://www.pridetoronto.com) thunders into weiry and beligured post-G20 Toronto, the events star pouring out daily. You know, like MAC body pigment from the clear tube. One of the more popular street events, other than actual parade is Cafe California’s Underwear show. The annual boypalooza, sponsored by The Bay (http://www.thebay.com) promises hot, muscular boys in well…underwear. As the boys circulated and gyrated to thundering dance music the crowd, which always spews onto the street, gawks and cheers for friends in the show or their favourite model. So without further delay, here’s a sample of what went down the runway. Oh yes the clothes were nice too.

It’s the calm after the Olympic storm that saw Canada’s athletes achieve record-breaking accomplishments, making a country proud! Not so much on the world stage last week was also Bent Village, a two-night discussion about the state of the Church/Wellesley Village.

When it comes to the future of the Village—people care passionately

The first night at the Gladstone Art Bar was standing-room-only. Attendees came prepared with amazing questions, concerns and comments about the Village and our four panelists (two from the Church/Wellesley Business Improvement Area and two distinguished queer activists) handled the lively conversation beautifully. So, what did we learn? Read the full story

Depending on whom you listen to, the Village (Church & Wellesley) is either dead, on life support or just going through a renaissance period of rebirth and reinvention. While die-hards stand by the venerable Village steadfastly, many on the Street and in the media are sounding the death knell as bars and businesses shut shop for good or for lower rents in other areas. Is Church Street dead or merely resting? Read the full story

I really wanted cha cha heels er I mean motorcycle boots for X-Mas!

I have been a busy title holder, and as such have not been blogging as much as I would like. So I will attempt a sort of title holder update before getting into the point of this post.

Firstly, we have decided upon our charity for MLT for 2010. We will be raising funds for the LGBT Youthline. This was my first choice, because I think investing time and energy into young people who are just entering or have yet to enter the queer community is something that is incredibly important. By teaching young people self worth and helping them build confidence and creating postive experiences for them regarding the queer community, we make them stronger members. We create the kind of young people who will be volunteers and community leaders. I look forward to what will surely be an amazing partnership over the comming year.

AND (another shameless plug): MLT will be having our first fundraiser of the year on the 2nd of January. We will be holding a Bottle Drive outside the Church St Beer Store just south of Wellsley. We will be collecting bottles and donations all proceeds going towards Youthline. So round up all your empties from New Years and bring em down for a good cause! Special thanks to Devin Thompson Mr Leather Fellowship 2010 who spear headed this iniative.  And as an added bonus there will be complimentary hot chocolate gratiously provided by Northbound Leather!

And now a quick musing on the closet. I have been home since monday for the Christmas holidays. And let me just say its been an incredibly strange experience. I love getting to see so many people I don’t get a chance to see very often. But at the same time I hate having to lie about so much. My extended family doesn’t know I’m a total homo, or atleast we don’t discuss it. And as such all things that stem from me being a total mo have to be covered up. So as far as they know I work in a video store…. (not a complete out and out lie). BUT they don’t know pretty much anything about my writing or MLT and such. When I worked at the tubs I was a bus boy as far as they were concerned. So much of my accomplishments can not be discussed. And even if they knew that I am gay, they still wouldn’t be able to handle the level of my faggotry. So I sit there while they give me sad eyes because they think my life has gone to nothing, and wonder if the city chewed me up and is about to spit me out. I just smile and nod. Such an odd experience to say the least. But tonight I head back to Toronto and those 2 days of extended family don’t return until next Christmas….

The MLT Bottle Drive : A Fundraiser for Youthline will take place on January 2nd all day outside the Church Street Beerstore across from the 519.

Okay, first of all I’m sorry for my absence. Secondly, What’s happening to Church Street?

It’s the straight elephant in the gay room, Church Street’s a changin’. High rents and a shitty economy has had a hand in the closings of such businesses as Crews/Tango, Zelda’s, Il Fornello and now Statler’s And in light of this, gays have quietly been moving out of The Village as well. Is The Village becoming a gay ghost town? Will some gay historians investigate the ruins in future years only to find me (let’s face it, I’ve got enough body fat to outlive you all!) in my shitty bachelor pad, watching Drew Barrymore movies? Will they?!
Sorry.
Anyway, is the economy killing Church Street? No. I blame gay rights. We now live in a world where it’s illegal to prejudice someone because they’re a homosexual. We don’t need The Village to protect us anymore. Now, ironically the government does. And it’s been slapping us in the face ever since! Now corporate straighties are seeking out our gay dollars by stamping their brand over all our rainbows. TV and movies are lousy with dykes and fags. We’re no longer something to be feared. We’re good for one dinner invite and a few decorating/renovating tips at least.
I long for the days when it was wrong to be in a gay bar. The excitement that cops could bust in at any moment. Back door entrances (you heard me) and dirty looks if you got off the subway anywhere near Wellesley Station! Magazines with all the good stuff edited out. Being able to cruise Allen Gardens before the City got wise and cut down all the bushes. Those were the days. There were strength in numbers because we knew it felt good to be bad. And The Village was born.
I mean, don’t get me wrong. If it weren’t for gay rights, I wouldn’t be working at 103.9 Proud FM; a GAY radio station. But think about it…without gay rights, we’d be roving the city broadcasting our pirate signal and avoiding the law. HOT!

Europe somehow conjures up pictures of a gay utopian society for many.  A place where nelly men, butch women and everything in between walk down the golden streets arm in arm.  An advanced civilization where equal rights abound for all!  Well I’m here to tell you how fuckin’ fantastic we have it here in Canada.  Don’t get me wrong.  Loved London!!  Loooooved it!!!!  I’m a bit of a history nerd, and that city has it in spades.  But when it came down to gay life…

First off, the gay clubs are the same you’d find anywhere.  Some disco tunes, a couple go go boys and free flowing booze.  It’s a combo that’s tried, tested and true, but lacks creativity.

Next, the feeling of community you find on Church or on Ste. Catherine in Montreal wasn’t there.  I think because it is such a crowded and international destination that London lacked a cohesiveness and sense of belonging.

One of the first things I noticed when I returned to Toronto was the presence the gay community has in our city.  From rainbow flags, to the reach of the free gay rags and even popping up on TV and in commercials.  None of that was to be found in London.  Oh sure, one club was called GAY, but neary did I see a flag, and the feeling was more of ‘we have decided this area is the gay area of London and the businesses in this area would be smart to call themselves things like GAY to attract that clientele that will spend $$$ in their establishment’

Long story short.  There is NO gay place, like THIS gay home!!!

But now I’m back and it’s business as usual.  And by business I mean finding out that pictures that were taken 3 years ago are still being used to push magazines!  I guess I should shut up and be flattered, but since I don’t see any residual money from it… I get to complain… at least a little.

La La La, La La La La La

La La La, La La La La La

Ok, so we’ve all been at those concerts where you’ve come with your friends, you’ve paid the big bucks, you’re unimpressed with what is going on on stage, but you force yourself to sway back and forth, gyrate around a bit and hum along to avoid being the stick in the mud… right?  Am I alone in this? Read the full story