Crying at the discotheque
There's still hope for TO's nightlife.
by Adam Schwabe

While New York’s gay nightlife is fierce and Miami’s is sultry, Toronto’s is courteous yet smug. Every year, a healthy surge of twinks is delivered into the grasp of this city’s club owners, and far too many of these owners are completely oblivious to décor and originality.

Toronto’s gay scene needs a serious kick in the ass. Some promoters and DJs say changes are coming soon. Partying is going to spread itself out more across the city; social options are going to diversify. But will we ever have a big, internationally known gay scene? Do we really want one?

So far, Queen West has been the main beneficiary of growth, with queer nightlife thriving at events like Big Primpin’, and spots like CiRCA, Beaver, the Drake and the Gladstone attracting more and more gay clientele. Sitting in a coffee shop near Queen and John, reigning club kid Matt Sims tells me there’s a new rave movement happening in the west.

“It’s a renaissance of electronic music and techno,” says Sims. The movement is built on style and art. He predicts that younger gay men are going to go out more, not just for sex, but because their interest in fashion, music and art will be reflected back at them by club life that can no longer be contained on just one street. Sims, who is planning to expand his promoter presence to other Canadian centres and to the US, sees a change of attitude in other cities too.

Gentrification in Toronto has meant densification and vertical growth (i.e. high-rise living) which is changing the retail, restaurant, bar and club scenes. When you’ve got less than 500 square feet to live in, the café next door or the bar down the street might become your living room. The demand for new places to party is increasing, as gay people integrate their social lives into many different neighbourhoods. It’s great if you don’t want to commute to your nightlife but will these developments help make Toronto a gay entertainment destination?

DJ Shane Percy isn’t so sure. “Toronto is in the growing pains stage and not quite at the level of many European cities where orientation isn’t an issue whatsoever.” Percy considers Toronto to be a more conservative city than most, one that values work more than play. “Fun is to be had at very set times, and is on the quieter side for a large city,” says Percy. Club promoter Gairy Brown, who hosts big parties like Eden as well as nights at smaller venues like Straight and Byzantium, warns “it doesn’t matter how gorgeous the spaces are or how many there are. If there aren’t people there, these places are going to close. Things are happening here, and we need to start feeling proud of our city and start supporting it socially and also politically. I think we live in what is quite possibly the #1 gay city in the world in terms of lifestyle, quality of life, diversity and interplay between the varied demographic of gay men in Toronto—which is rare in most cities.”

Brown sees many niches left to fill in Toronto but not just neighbourhood-oriented experiences: successful nightlife destinations offer good design and a unique experience. For him, Toronto has what it takes to play a part on the international stage in 2008.

“Let’s face it, gay men travel to party,” says Brown. “A big part of attracting gay tourism is having a very healthy, progressive and glamorous gay scene. That is where Toronto is going.”

It’s clear that Toronto is going through some growing pains, and with that, we’ll likely a number of seemingly successful venues come and go over the next year. With growth in the alternative scene, neighbourhood-centred venues and international attention, it’s hard to imagine that the audience for club life won’t grow and evolve.

Adam Schwabe is also a regular contributor to Blogto.com.