The Flags of Pride
Our office celebrates Toronto Pride Weekend in a big way. Here are the flags hung this year in the office, each representing their segment of the alphabet soup letters (LGBTQIA+) of our community:
Gay stuff
You Can’t Pray the Gay Away
By Laura Bell Bundy Amen, sister!!
St. Joseph Street
I love walking down St. Joseph Street in downtown Toronto. The street consists mostly of 1940s-era Art Deco and/or brownstone apartments. Much of the original architecture is still in place and, thankfully, the street has not been totally overrun with towering condos. Yes, there are some condos on this street, but they have been kept low (not counting FIVE St. Joseph near the corner of Yonge Street) and styled to…
Toronto Pride 2022
Well, it finally happened – we got our Toronto Pride Weekend back after two long years of waiting! The weather was hot and everyone was ready to party. It was a record year for attendance, exceeding something like 1.9 million people invading the downtown core! On Church Street Drag Ball 2022 I didn’t take as many pictures of the Church Street antics this year as I was at Yonge-Dundas Square…
Why the Return of In-Person Pride Festivals Is So Important to the LGBTQ2S+ Community
With Pride happening next weekend in Toronto – after a two year absence due to COVID-19 – I thought it quite appropriate to repost this article by Gordon Bowness from the everythingzoomer.com website. So much of the article sums up my feelings about this special time of year. Happy Pride! I know how to do Pride well. I can run a mile in a cork wedgie — and have, repeatedly,…
Apology to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Two Spirit, Plus Community in the Diocese of Toronto from Bishop Andrew Asbil
Bishop Andrew Asbil apologized to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Two-Spirit Plus community in the Diocese of Toronto on June 25 at St. James Cathedral. Here is the text of the apology. The apology can also be viewed on the Diocese’s YouTube channel. Preface You are home, this is your home. You are sisters, brothers and siblings in Christ, fully in this community. I spoke these words to the…
Toronto Pride 2021
Well, here we are. One year later and still no physical Pride events, here or elsewhere for that matter, thanks to COVID-19 and the state of the world these days <boo, hiss….>. Regardless, I’ve been thinking about how I could mark this year’s non-event. I could pout and rage (which I feel like doing), but it would be more productive and positive to put together some little tribute to Pride…
Harvey Milk’s “Hope” Speech
As someone with a keen interest in 1970s pop/gay San Francisco culture, one of the characters I admire from that era is Harvey Milk. He is one of my heroes and has inspired me in so many ways. As a gay man living in the 21st century, many of the unprecedented gay rights I now enjoy can be linked back, directly or indirectly, to the work and struggle of Harvey…
Halloween On Church Street: A Look Back
Yet again, COVID-19 has squatted over something near and dear to my little heart and taken a huge dump: No Halloween street party on Church Street this year – BOO, HISS!!! To add insult to injury, Halloween falls on a Saturday night this year <ggrrrrr…> So, in lieu of the real thing this Halloween – as with our cancelled Pride Weekend earlier this year – I now present to you…
Toronto Pride: A Look Back
Virtual Pride: June 26-28, 2020… say what???!!! As we all know, COVID-19 has squatted over Toronto Pride this summer of 2020 and taken a huge dump. When it was announced that all large events – or any event for that matter – in the City of Toronto would be cancelled this year, including my beloved Pride, I was crushed beyond measure. Toronto Pride will be celebrated this year with “Virtual…
“Last Man Dancing”
I’ve had this article on my hard drive for many years. I can’t recall exactly where or when I found the essay but I do know who the author is – it’s written by a man named Patrick Runkle. I couldn’t find too much about him on the Internet, other than he is a music producer/composer from the U.S. and is a founder of Cohaagen Music. He is also a…
“Dancer From The Dance”
First published in 1978, Dancer From The Dance is Andrew Holleran’s highly acclaimed first novel. The title is taken from the last few lines of W.B. Yeats’s Among School Children: O chestnut-tree, great-rooted blossomer,Are you the leaf, the blossom or the bole?O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,How can we know the dancer from the dance? Widely considered a gay classic and must-read, it’s been reissued yet again, this…
“Dear Mama”
One of the most moving moments in Armistead Maupin’s brilliant Tales of the City, is when one of the main characters, Michael, comes out to his mother in a letter. His coming out at this point in the narrative is prompted by the news that his mother has joined Anita Bryant’s hateful and anti-gay “Save The Children” campaign, which was launched in the late 1970s. This is an incredibly moving…
On PrEP
For much of this year I’d been seeing posters in the subway platforms and cars depicting a healthy-looking, hot guy (or guys) staring dreamily into the camera with captions reading I’m on PrEP, or Ask your doctor about PrEP or some such verbiage involving something called “PrEP”. I had no idea exactly what PrEP is, other than it obviously being a product strategically aimed at a gay male audience, so a little Googling was in order. I found out…
“Vicious”
By way of Matt Baume’s fascinating YouTube channel, where he takes a light-hearted look at issues affecting and involving the LGBT community, we recently discovered the British TV comedy series Vicious. The primary stars of Vicious are Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Derek Jacobi. With a core cast like that, how can you lose? There’s not a lot of characters throughout the episodes; the regular cast never goes beyond six members. There are…
Today Is World AIDS Day
Created in 1988, World AIDS Day takes place on December 1st of each year. The Day is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show support for people living with HIV, and to commemorate those who have died from an AIDS-related illness. World AIDS Day is important because it reminds the public and government that HIV has not gone away – there is still…
A Guide to the Finer Points of Every Gay Man’s Life
I recently found this 90s essay on my hard drive while browsing for inspiration and ideas for new blog posts. I’m not sure where the piece came from and it dates quite badly, but what the heck… here it is anyway. By a certain age, you should: Know the three meanings of the word “chicken”. Know something about Anita Bryant, Pierre Trudeau, Harvey Milk, and Svend Robinson. Have danced all night and shared a…
Gay Wedding Etiquette
This piece is soooooo early 90s, is stereotypical and dates badly, but is still kinda amusing:
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