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It was a wild month
for Lady X. Already busy coordinating “a Jem and the
Holograms finale” for the Pride Sunday stage, the mysterious
drag performer found herself in demand by the British tabloids
after her friend’s cousin, Jeff Chevalier, outed his former
lover, “this big head honcho, Lord Browne.” As the UK press
chewed over the Oil Exec vs. the Kept Boy story, Lady X was
offered “a few thousand dollars” to dig up dirt on Browne’s
Toronto boyfriend. Chevalier, she says, was “a bit of a partier”
but lately, “nobody has heard from him.” Lady X kept her distance
from the whole mess. “I wouldn’t stand behind either of them,”
she says. “I don’t think it’s a good situation to be played
out for young gay men.” Besides, she’s facing a situation of
her own: “My day job is totally cut off,” she says. A Buffy-style
move to hop a fence backfired and Lady X broke her heels. Not
her stillettos, but the bones in her feet! Unable to work and
with casts on both legs, “I’ve had to replace myself in my own
numbers,” she says. “It’s kinda sad but...you have to stay positive.”
Lady X is now directing her Pride segment from a wheelchair:
“I’ve got a couple of strong boys lifting me.” She’s going ahead
with plans to appear on a parade float and the irony of this
year’s Pride theme isn’t lost on her: “Unstoppable Pride, unstoppable
Lady X—I love it!” |
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Now based in Australia, Canadian
writer Andy Quan still misses Toronto
in the summer: “Cyclists in their tight shorts, boys wearing
less clothes, and that slightly giddy atmosphere that comes
with the heat and sunshine,” he says. He’s featured in the appropriately-named
Mammoth Book of New Gay Erotica with a story “about
sex with your ex...its erotic heat comes from knowing someone,
from what develops with time and familiarity.” There’s “an amazing
range of gay writers for this book,” he says, “and hey, it’s
really big, if that kind of thing is important to you.” $17.50.
Carroll & Graf. |
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The NFB presents the 8th annual aluCine
Latin@ Media Festival, a week of art shows, performances
and film screenings. Many of the queer-themed short films
will be seen on Jun. 7, as Mix Brasil: Festival of
Sexual Diversity features an eclectic mix of shorts,
including Meu enamorado de Miche, a boys-in-love
story set to tunes from Blondie. Jun. 1-9.
www.alucinefestival.com |
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Get gone, Ginch Gonch. Go outback, Aussiebum.
Marc Ouest Erotic Leisurewear for Men makes the
gayest underwear ever! Founded in 1998, the Montreal-based
company has about 300 zany designs “where you can park your
junk or tarp your torso.” www.marcouest.com |
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Hyphenate hottie Troy
Brooks, artist-singer-songwriter, treated the crowd at
the recent PWA Foundation’s variety show fundraiser to material
from his Peppermint Garden CD. If you missed his singing,
you’ll have more time to check out his paintings, as Toronto’s
delightful vegetarian diner Sadie’s displays his work until
Jul. 28. 504 Adelaide West. |
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The west end of Toronto has been home to many
a queer hipster event but this year marks the first coordinated
series of pre-Pride events. Queer West
Fest kicks off with a party at the Rhino on Fri. Jun.
15, featuring a mix of DJs and bands, including trans electrolounge
singer Mackenzie MacBride. “She has this amazing
voice,” says organizer Bryen Dunn. “I always think of Klaus
Nomi!” The fest includes a community fair at the Drake Hotel,
a coffee klatch with former fab editor Steven Bereznai
at the Gladstone, a Pride bike tour and a closing retro ‘80s
party at Lot 16 on Fri. Jun. 22. Dunn says west end boys are
increasingly “comfortable” being out past Bathurst and the fest’s
events aim for inclusiveness: “We’re not targeting dykes or
muscle boys or any one group,” he says. “It’s a good mix…and
it all leads up to ‘big’ Pride!”
http://gaywest.905host.net/files/prideday.php |
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As Toronto prepares to have nearly a million
people pack the downtown core for Pride, other cities are asking,
Is Pride over? After years of infighting in Montreal
between gay village businesses and the weeklong Diver/Cité arts
festival that culminates with a Pride parade, Diver/Cité decided
to “outsource” the event. The Pride parade, however, was denied
a permit for its new date of Jun. 16 and, while Diver/Cité will
go on as always, there will be no parade. A similar fate almost
befell New York, after Heritage of Pride organizers
insisted that the city move the Pride parade from Greenwich
Village to the Chelsea district. The city refused. HoP threatened
to cancel Pride altogether but soon gave in and resumed plans
for a Pride march. Seattle too almost had their
Pride cancelled while they negotiated a massive $100,000 debt
but at least Pride concerns in North America are merely logistical.
In so many countries, gay people are imprisoned or even put
to death. The mayor of Moscow banned Pride
celebrations for the second year in a row, calling them “satanic”
this past January. Organizers vowed to rally anyway; protesters
told them “Moscow will drown in gay blood.” On May 27, 1,000
cops in riot gear broke up the march and arrested more than
70 people. The week before, 5,000 people took to the streets
in Warsaw. Pride parade organizer Tomasz Baczkowski
said, “This was the largest parade we’ve held...Polish society
has opened its eyes and they know what democracy, equality and
diversity mean.” That, Charlie Brown, is the true meaning of
Pride. |
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