Yesterday you read about why Kyle Kofsky started the IFFF series. Now and once again, exclusively to GayGuideToronto.com, we have the stills for one of the hotly anticipated films. Toronto-based men’s and women’s designer Zoran Dobric’s first cinematic debut which is directed by Kevin Caners the film is a fashion fantasy about two forest creatures meeting clad in nature patterns. GayGuideToronto.com has obtained the pre-screening stills for all our fashion fanatics.
Speaking with Dobric, via email I asked, “What makes this film unique among a myriad of fashion films?” He responded, “This movie is different from the other films because it is a beautifully shot, artistic, fantasy fashion video rather than a documentary. We were trying to create dream-like atmosphere and to capture the beauty of the forest, models and the clothing.”

The film premieres Wednesday, April 27th at 8:50 p.m. at 99 Sudbury.

For tickets visit: Getfat.ca
To see Zoran’s full F/W 11 men’s and women’s wear collections visit: Zorandobric.com
All Photos By: Stephen Severn

An aberration. An act to be reviled. A mortal sin punishable by death. Religious texts have not spoken well of homosexuality when they do speak of it, which—by the way—is infrequent. From Hinduism and Judaism to Islam, Buddhism and Christianity, every faith has a view of homosexuality. For the most part, the teachings and takeaways from these beliefs don’t bode well for gay men (most don’t mention Lesbians). The sacred really have it out for the profane.

Growing up gay comes with a lot of baggage: peer pressure, parental pressure and societal pressure—all on some level fueled and informed by religion. Whether someone adheres to religious doctrine in their own day-to-day living doesn’t seem to matter until the topic of homosexuality rears its head. Suddenly, everyone takes to the pulpit to share notions of homosexuality.

Invariably, the Leviticus card is played. It’s almost comic to hear someone who wouldn’t know scripture if it leapt up and bit them in the soul suddenly become an expert theologian when it comes to sacred text and homosexuality. However, most who start the verse in Leviticus that mentions homosexuality would be hard pressed to finish it in its entirety. But that’s what armchair preaching will get you.

Do queers create our own religion?

It’s no surprise that many gay people have disassociated themselves with religion altogether after years of being publicly decried and privately abused. The Pope makes no bones about taking potshots at gays when given the opportunity. Hey, we get it from the religious and secular worlds on a non-stop basis. Gays abandoning organized religion doesn’t surprise. However, gays embracing religion is a head-scratcher to many. Sort of like the Log Cabin Republicans. What’s up with that? Self-loathing? Denial? Conformity?

Why would a gay person want to belong to a religion that overtly rejects and reviles them, labels them a sinner or an evil force to be slain? What is it that gay believers get that supersedes the underlying contempt that comes from scripture, the pulpit and the flock? It seems out of step that a gay person would willingly participate in the Catholic Church, Temple or Mosque. Some gays who have not abandoned organized religion have turned to Buddhism and Hinduism to express their spirituality since these religions don’t single out and decry homosexuality in their text, per se. That’s not to say that followers and cultures built on these teachings haven’t adopted anti-gay attitudes. So, what came first, the homophobia or the homophobic?

Is homophobia nature or nurture?

For years, theologians, psychologists, sociologists and biologists have pondered and researched the question: is homosexuality nature or nurture? This has opened doors for more understanding and acceptance of queer people—it has also become fodder for those looking to fire a silver bullet at the “gay gene”. However, with many religious texts from different faiths having no mention of homosexuality, yet their followers decry homosexuality, I invert the question: Is homophobia nature or nurture?

One way that gay people—any people who don’t conform to organized religion for that matter—have managed to stay connected to the god force is by separating their spirituality from religion. The idea is: spirituality is innate; religion is a man-made manifestation of spirituality. Following that line of thought, do queers create our own religion? We created “Queer Nation” a few decades ago, why not a queer theology with its own doctrine and laws (think of the tax breaks!). Hey, if the Westboro Baptist Church can create its own violent doctrine in “God Hates Fags”, why can’t we counter that with a church that espouses “God Loves Gays”? Some say Toronto’s MCC has achieved a bit of that.

While we continue to grapple with our place in the world (depending on where we are in the world), we continue to wrestle with our spirituality and how to express it both internally and externally. Do gay people have a place in the churches, temples and mosques of the world? Can religion actually help stop homophobia? Are we destined to always run in opposition to one another? Time will tell. But one thing is sure, gay people are not without faith, belief or reverence. Some of us just pray in a different church and at a different altar.

Amen. Shalom. Namaste.

Andrew will be moderating a panel discussion about the relationship between queers and religion Tuesday, April 26 in the Village. All are welcome.

Bent Religion
7:00PM – 9:00PM
O’Grady’s Bar and Restaurant on Church
518 Church Street
Toronto, ON

Get your undies in a bunch! Priape Toronto’s new manager is our Man of the Hour this week! Sexy! Check out Michael Schelt’s TMI Questionnaire!

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He’s the “Un-Perez” of the Celebrity Bloggersphere! Will Wong takes our TMI Questionnaire.!

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“We’re making our way across Canada right now, because this is where we started!” So declared Heart lead vocalist Ann Wilson to an adoring, sold out crowd at Toronto’s Massey Hall. Heart has been on a 20-city tour across the land where it all began and they have been blowing people’s minds at every stop. The Toronto show was no different.

The band took the stage to the undulating beats of Cook With Fire, Nancy wearing a customized hockey jersey with the band’s name emblazoned across the front. When Ann walked out and took her place at centre stage, the crowd went ballistic. The band blasted through a series of hits from the 70s and 80s, including Heartless, What About Love and Straight On and a very beautifully reworked version of Dog and Butterfly, with Ann’s voice soaring and sinuously wrapping around the lyrics.

The apotheosis of the night may have been Ann’s spectacular delivery of their song, Alone

Nancy took the spotlight to sing two Heart hits, their first number one, These Dreams—beautifully done on mandolin with Ann gently strumming a black acoustic guitar behind her. She then brought out a dulcimer and performed their latest hit, Hey You, a sing-along acoustic romp with a “na-na-na-na-na” chorus, yet with deceptively melancholic lyrics. Ann took the mic for the title track from their latest album, Red Velvet Car, a song about undying love and support for a friend.

The apotheosis of the night may have been Ann’s spectacular delivery of another number one song, Alone. Stripped down from its 80s bombast and flash, the song was done with just Nancy’s acoustic guitar and Debbie Shair’s keyboards. Ann’s voice was front-and-centre as she deftly handled the changing keys until she came to the climax of the song with a passionate roar that showed she is still one of the finest, most powerful singers in music—and brought the entire audience to its feet for a thunderous ovation.

From then on it was unabashed rock: the new screed, WTF, followed by a trio of classics, Magic Man, Crazy on You and Barracuda. The band came back for two encores, Zeppelin’s What is and What Should Never Be and the Who’s Love Reign O’er Me, both showing the band’s dexterity and passion, and, of course, Ann Wilson’s remarkable pipes. After a few minutes of unbridled cheering, Heart took the stage for one last song, the title track from the album that got it all started back in 1976, Dreamboat Annie. It was a poignant and deliciously sweet end to the show.

Enjoy this clip from Toronto show (and check out Ann’s awesome boots):

Aside form going to a concert and enjoying the performance, I’ve always been in the habit of checking out who else is there. Since I like rock bands, I long ago got in the habit of having a look at who was in the crowd. I think part of it was self-preservation because I’m gay and was nervous I’d be “spotted” by possible bashers. But the other thing was to see if there were any other gay folks there. To my surprise, I started to notice more and more gay men and women at rock concerts—particularly at Heart concerts. Hey, I went to last week’s Toronto show with a few gay men, one straight woman, and we later met lots of lesbians.

“I think that a lot of gay people…appreciate the power in individuality that we represent, inside
of a restrictive culture.” – Nancy Wilson

Before Heart set off on their current Canadian tour, I asked Nancy why she thought Heart has such a large gay following. As best she can figure, it’s because “we always broke the mold, and never have conformed to the prescribed sexual agendas of typical expectations.” She went on to explain, “I think that a lot of gay people relate to us and appreciate the power in individuality that we represent, inside of a restrictive culture.”

Certainly, Ann and Nancy were outsiders in the male-dominated rock world when they got started and they wouldn’t play the game when it came to sexism and other favours that were expected from them by some people in the industry back in those days. Being a woman in rock was one thing. Being gay in rock was another. Though neither Ann nor Nancy is gay, they have lots of friends in the industry who are, including Rufus Wainwright and Elton John (both of whom sang with Ann on her recent solo album, Hope and Glory). As well, they support LGBT causes, performing at a variety of benefits.

I wondered if it has changed or gotten any easier for gays in the rock world or is it still relatively status quo. “I think it’s more appreciated than ever across the board worldwide,” Nancy opined. “But the boys club in America still drives us nuts, too.”

Over the past 35 years, Ann and Nancy Wilson have created incredible music inside Heart, as solo artists and in their “hobby band” the Lovemongers (a band that spawned the society of diehard fans called the Heartmongers). Through the years they have performed with power, passion—and dignity. They never compromised their art or their ethics. I think that’s one of the reasons fans have been so devoted and loyal to these women.

I asked Nancy that, when all is said and done, how would she like to be remembered in music history. She said, “I would like to be remembered like a romantic poet, and a one-of-a-kind-goddess.”

Hey Nancy…done and done!

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!

Toronto Pride 2010 is now in the history books; but there are still Pride celebrations happening across Canada, the United States and around the world. This weekend I got a lovely little surprise that has my heart swelling with Pride! Read the full story

Nate Knows … Why the Toronto Pride flag raising ceremony is important. I didn’t realize how important it was until I arrived at Nathan Phillips Square on Monday, June  28 and watched Councillor Kyle Rae deliver a very moving speech about how far our city has come in terms of equal rights for the LGBT community. The ceremony wasn’t just about gays raising a flag, it was about showing our respect for the community members who had fought so hard for a flag raising ceremony to even exist in the first place, let alone an entire parade! Toronto is far ahead of the rest of the world in terms of LGBT equality and that is something to be proud of. I was so inspired by the ceremony that I will be raising my own freak flag high this week! Happy Pride, everyone!

Censorship is an incredibly difficult subject to approach. Especially here in Canada where the right to free speech is trumped by the right to be free from discrimination and hatred. You can say whatever you want, so long as it isn’t considered hate speech. This is something I fully support. Hate speech is an incredibly dangerous method of attack. Words are quite possibly the most powerful thing humans have ever possessed. And being able to express ourselves verbally is what drives our culture.

The decision to censor the words “Israeli Apartheid” on the part of Pride Toronto constitutes playing with fire on their part. Nothing in the literature, slogans, or message of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid constitute hate speech, or anything remotely hateful. They are a group of like minded queers united in spreading their opinion on the State of Israel and their actions (which many people believe constitutes a form of apartheid). They aren’t spewing anti-semetic statements, they are criticizing a government and its policies. Something that Pride has been about since it’s very inception.

The argument that this groups message is not in anyway queer CAN be considered valid. I will concede that Israel isn’t on par with Uganda or Iran. Hell they even allow gays and lesbians to serve in the military (or rather they don’t care cause everyone serves time). But if the political message about disenfranchised people in The Middle East doesn’t belong in our parade (when brought to our attention by members of our own community), then there are some other people who don’t belong.

Gay people have more problems with booze then our straight counterparts. Why should we have vodka and beer companies marching in our parades? How about banks? What does low bank fees and mortgage rates have to do with gay pride? We can not play this whose message is valid game. It is arbitrary and will only devolve into splitting hairs.

And more importantly is the issue of censorship. The term Apartheid is a touchy issue to say the least. It stirs up pictures of Nelson Mandela in jail, legacies of colonialism, and institutionalized racism. Drag queens are a touchy subject for many people. Many gay people believe they set an incredibly bad example of the queer community. I have even heard them compared to minstrels. Many forms of BDSM aren’t even legal in Canada since the law states you can not consent to harm. If we allow some busy bodies to bully us into giving them their way what is next? Will drag queens be considered a legacy of negative gender conformity and latent misogyny? Will leather men and kinky dykes not be allowed to march with certain signs because they reference acts which exist in a legal grey area at best? What about TNT MEN or those Marijuana protesters?

The theme of Pride this year is YOU BELONG! We mustn’t allow a board of officials tell us that they is a little asterisk attached to that slogan. It is OUR pride. We all belong, and if we let the censors win this battle, we could loose the war.

I challenge you!!!!