What's on: in Queer Toronto today?

One of Gay Toronto's leading media publications, with the hottest happenings in the coolest places

The Bent Expressions eNewspaper since 1996 A Social Enterprise of QueerWest.org (Formerly The Inside Story). Your complete resource guide to Queer West Village, Toronto ON: Accommodation, Businesses, and Restaurants, Bars and Night Clubs. Gaybourhoods (Street Map ) We cover: Music - Art - Films - Theatre - Politics - Community Events. We tear up Queer Toronto, finding cool stuff, we think you'll enjoy. Click around and have some fun! Copyrighted 2010. All Rights Reserved. Masthead Listings Editor bentexpressions@gmail.com Try Our Free 2x monthly Bent eBlast Hey! Get Social join us on Twitter or Facebook

Spotlight Events

HIP HOP HERSTORY and PRIDE RAP

Thursday March 11- Hip hop culture: Dalton Higgins @ Toronto Women's Book Store. Why have women’s stories become obscure, rarely mentioned footnotes in rap lore? And why do a few select rap temptresses get all the glory? Is hip hop the last bastion of heterosexuality in the music industry? And does LGBT living exist on a separate island from hip hop?

Hip hop culture journalist Dalton Higgins explores these and other questions, taking his analysis beyond North American parameters to consider the social and political uses of hip hop around the globe. Featuring an a cappella performance by local female hip hop artist. 73 harbord street. We regret our washroom is not wheelchair accessible. all our events and courses are trans inclusive. ph: 416-922-8744/ 800-861-8233 info@womensbookstore.com www.womensbookstore.com

Edgy Women Festival (Montreal)

The EDGY WOMEN FESTIVAL is in its 17th EDITION running March 17-28th in Montreal. Edgy Women is presented by Studio 303 in Montréal. The event is a full-blown international festival, featuring a plethora of neophyte and experienced artists in a diverse programme of cutting edge work which is both experimental AND entertaining - www.edgywomen.ca.

MARCH - EVENT LISTINGS - SHOTGUN REVIEWS - HOT PARTIES, HOT SHOWS and HOT SPOTS IN QUEER TORONTO See Also | Films, Festivals and Art | Theatre Events | Weekly & Monthly Events | Queer West Bent Events

Tuesday March 9 - Art Bar Poetry Maureen Hynes, Brian Day and Yogi plus an open mic. 8 pm. Free (donation appreciated). Clinton's, 690 Bloor W. -artbar.org.

Tuesday March 9 - Exploring Your Inner Showboat Six-week introductory course on burlesque dancing with CoCo La Crème. 6:30-9 pm. $69. Toronto Women's Bookstore, 73 Harbord. Pre-register 416-922-8744.

Tuesday March 9 - Picturing Genital Embryogenesis: Accurate Discriminations And Adequate Frames Talk by artist Jack Butler. www.fatemaps.ca 3 pm. Free. U of T Art Centre, 15 King's College Circle. Pre-register 416-978-1838.

Wednesday March 10 - DJs Wes and Roozbeh @ The Beaver Think You Got What I Need every Wednesday as they spin the very best in golden soul and soulful gold. 11pm. The Beaver, 1192 Queen St W. No cover. beavertoronto.com 416.537.2768

Wednesday March 10 - Pivot Readings David Derry, Angela Rawlings and Zach Wells. 8 pm. Pwyc. Press Club, 850 Dundas W. pivotreadings.wordpress.com.

Thursday March 11- The Trans Inclusion Group hosts the next in a series of free screening of trans films Trans Film Event: “All About My Mother”

Film Overview: About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre) is a 1999 Spanish drama film directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The screenplay deals with complex issues such as AIDS, trans lives, sex work, family, faith, and existentialism.

The Details: 6pm-8pm FREE and snacks at The Centre for Women and Trans People at U of T, North Borden Building rm. 100. Wheelchair accessible entrance. 563 Spadina Ave.womenscentre.sa.utoronto.ca 416.978.8201

Thursday March 11 - Advanced Anal Pleasure Workshop @ Come As You Are At the Advanced Anal Pleasure Workshop with Tristan Taormino, come with a friend, four hands are better then two, and everyone leaves with a smile 7:30-9:30pm. Come As You Are, 701 Queen St W. $35 (sliding scale).comeasyouare.com 416.504.7934

Thursday March 11 - Steers and Queers Springs into Action @ The Dakota Tavern. "Premiere/only queer honky tonk presents the finest drag, burlesque, live music and dj's from the bowels of the Dakota Tavern. Starring Miss Fluffy Souffle, The Pining, Shane McKinnon and a real live Jolene. DJ's Sigourney Beaver & Joe Blow. Don't see Preacher man Lex Vaughan on the Ticket, he's never missed a show. Doors at 9:00, Place is jammed by 11:00 get there early. $5. he Dakota Tavern (Dundas & Ossington) 9 pm to 2 am

Friday, March 12 - Film Showing - El Colombian Dream @ Tinto Coffee House. A psychedelic multiple-storyline narrative happens around a disco called "El Colombian Dream" (a metaphor of a territory). A group of young slackers ( a twin couple and their girl-friend) steal a large shipment of hallucinogenic pills and try to cash in on it. Wide-angle and fish-eye lenses, acid color and over-exposures contributes to the disorienting, spaced-out visual style, while the bizarre voice-over narration from an aborted baby (the narrator), speaking omnisciently as an adult, serves mostly to clarify an increasingly convoluted plot. Writer-director Felipe Aljure mentioned in an iterview that Colombia was driven to a war against drugs in which for every one hundred people dead ninety nine die due to that war and one dies of an overdose. So what is worse - asks Aljure - addiction to money or addiction to drugs?

El Colombian Dream es una película colombiana escrita y dirigida por Felipe Aljure. Se estrenó el 27 de octubre de 2006 y fue rodada en locaciones de Girardot, ciudad natal del director. La película hace una reflexión sobre los valores y antivalores de la sociedad colombiana en la actualidad. Relata la historia de unos jóvenes que se van de vacaciones con el propósito de ganar plata fácil. Comienzan vendiendo pastillas alucinógenas y pirateando CDS entre sus clientes. Un hombre interesado en esconder una "mercancía" para sacar ventaja a sus socios, les entrega gran cantidad de pepas a los jóvenes y estos acceden ante la perspectiva de ganarse dinero extra. El sujeto muere de una sobredosis en el momento en que ellos están guardando las pepas, dejándolos ante una gran encrucijada. Los engañados socios del muerto, empiezan una búsqueda desesperada por recuperar su mercancía. Los jóvenes intentan esconderse enredándose en situaciones clandestinas, involucrando paulatinamente a todos sus conocidos y miembros de su familia.www.e-fagia.org

The Details: El Colombian Dream, Written and directed by Felipe Aljure., Colour. Spanish, 120 min, 2006. Screening Friday, March 12, 2010 @ 7 pm. Free of charge. Tinto Coffee House, 89 Roncesvalles Avenue. www.tinto.ca

Friday March 12 - New Movements and Markets in Pornography is a Conference presented by the Sexual Diversity Studies Student Union. The event will feature Tristan Taormino, Bruce LaBruce, Sherrie Quinn & Brenda Cossman. It all takes place at the Medical Sciences Building 1 King's College Circle. Admission $25 includes after-party. from 7-10pm, www.sdssu.com

Saturday March 13 - ShOUT Queer Youth Interviewed on 89.5 CIUT FM. Queer Youth Program Jaclyn Isen Shout Program Manager, was to interview live by host John Pressick on Sex City on Saturday March 13. CANCELLED March 4. M. Pare QW President, had good reason to beleive the interview would have been biased. No interviews planned now or in the future with CIUT.

Saturday March 13 - Sex, Breath and the Pelvic Floor Workshop @ Come As You who's steings up to the plate for Sex, Breath and the Pelvic Floor Workshop with Angela Barsotti is a great for two or a four person team. 7:30-9pm. 701 Queen St W. $30 (sliding scale). .comeasyouare.com 416.504.7934

Monday March 15 - “The Joy of Gender”: @ The Centre for Women and Trans People. "The Joy of Gender", a provocative and gorgeous slide show, identifies trans experience as an ordinary, if ‘unusual’, aspect of human diversity. Chapters include: "Disrupting gender: the Opposite Sex is Neither." "Policing Gender: who does it?" "Trans communities here and now: we're fabulous, get used to us!" Thought-provoking experiential exercises, film clips and plenty of time for Q&A make for a lively and interactive workshop readily adaptable for a broad range of audiences from trans activists and academics to cisgendered people seeking answers to the most basic questions.

The event will also be an opportunity to learn about – and complicate – the current politics around the DSM (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and the University’s problematic ties. Let’s educate, activate and mobilize around the issues together!

The Details: Light dinner (an array of vegan magnificence) and fair trade coffee provided. The Centre for Women and Trans People @ The University of Toronto 563 Spadina Ave, Room 100 North Borden Building, wheelchair accessible Toronto, Ontario, Phone: 416.978.8201 Email: womens.centre@utoronto.caWebsite: womenscentre.sa.utoronto.ca

Wednesday March 17 to 21 - Toronto Sportsmen's Show Fishing seminars, a dog show and more. Today, tomorrow, Mar 19 and 20, 10 am-8 pm; Mar 21, 10 am-6 pm. $17, stu/srs $11, children free. Metro Convention Centre, 255 Front W. torontosportshow.ca.

Thursday March 18 to 23 - International Home And Garden Show Exhibits, demos, celebrity chefs and more. Today, tomorrow and Mar 20, 10 am-8 pm; Mar 23, 10 am-6 pm. $14, stu/srs $10, under 8 free. International Centre, 6900 Airport. internationalhomeshow.ca

Thursday March 18 - Book Ends (Toronto Public Library programs) Sale of donated books and withdrawn library materials. Today 10 am-8 pm; tomorrow 9:30 am-5 pm; Mar 20, 9 am-5 pm. Free (books $0.50). Reference Library, 789 Yonge. 416-397-5948.

Thursday March 18 - The Feathertale Review Cabaret A fake podcast taping launches the new issue of short humorous writing. 7:30 pm. $5. Supermarket, 268 Augusta. Tinars.ca.

Saturday March 20 - Maple Syrup Harvesting Collect sap in pails and make syrup on a wood-fired evaporator. 10 am and 1 pm. $6.83. Humber Arboretum, Finch and hwy 27. 416-675-5009.

Wednesday March 24 to 26 - Rainbow Health Ontario is hosting a provincial conference to address the health and wellness isssues of LGBT communities in Ontario. The event runs March 24th - 26th at the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre Hotel. Registration is now open, visit www.rainbowhealthontario.ca/conference for full details.

Friday March 26 - SWAGGER Productions Presents... SPRING SWAGGER put a little extra spring in your step with SWAGGER… Come thaw out to the tunes of DJ D-Styles bringing the hottest hip hop, RnB, soul and house + a raffle with proceeds going to the Toronto QPOC Bathhouse for Women and Trans People sponsored by Foxy Originals, Balisi shoes & DaLish Cosmetics Location: Samovar. 51A Winchester Street, Toronto Date: Friday March 26, 2010 Time: 10pm- 2am Cover: FREE! More info available at lovinyourSWAGGER.com. * a QPOC event. All allies welcome! What is SWAGGER all about? SWAGGER, Toronto's Premiere Production Company specifically for urban queers is all about having a good time while also giving back to the community RSVP on facebook here: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=341408052746&ref=ts

Friday March 26 - Cultures Of Sexuality & Gay Black Men's Health Conference for African, Caribbean and black gay and bisexual men, transmen and queer men. To Mar 28. Free. Ramada Plaza Hotel, 300 Jarvis. Accho.ca.