Bent Expressions
January to April 2010
News

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

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Livezilla coming to Queer West

We are currently configuring Livezilla Help Desk for our web site. The Live Help logo is in the top right of your screen. LiveZilla's integrated real-time visitor monitoring feature enables us to see instantly, who´s on our site. See who referred our visitors, where our visitors are from, what keywords were used to find our site and the path by which they navigate our website. Enabling us to gather valuable marketing information. Our Operators can fully customize the visitor view inside the LiveZilla Client to include critical information such as: Navigation history, Referral Information, Geo Location (Country,Region,City), Landing page, Last active time, Time on site (for each page), Number of visits, Number of pages visited, Screen resolution, Network name, ISP and more. www.livezilla.net/features/en/ Our Operators can chat with you anytime you need assistance or Queer Toronto community information and / or our events. The Help Desk contains no advertising, as we own service. We are the first LGBT organization in Canada to use Live Help 24/7

Why not unite the five distinctive queer districts in Toronto and tell the world of their uniqueness?

Thursday February 18, 2010. by Michel F. Paré, Publisher. Lets stop the crying game.

Church Street businesses are feeling the heat. In a not unheard of move, are trying to get you to think of area as just the Church and Wellesley Village. They have been dropping the references like crazy, as Heart of Toronto’s Gay Village. Hoping the bad publicity will die with it. All references have been stripped from the Church and Wellesley BIA web site. www.churchwellesleyvillage.ca

Every newspaper gay and heterosexual has written about the demise of Toronto Gay Village.

Gay strip on the block -www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=173248

Death Knell Sounds for Toronto Gay Village -www.queerwest.org/newsArchives/2009%2011%20-%2012.php

Just how long we will have to put up with this mythical name change is anyone’s guess?

They have already started in 2010

Church and Wellesley Village combines enthralling days and vibrant nights (Metro News Jan 28, 2010)
www.metronews.ca/toronto/local/article/435132--church-and-wellesley-village-combines-enthralling-days-and-vibrant-nights

Church and Wellesley village nurturing a bright future (Metro News Jan 28, 2010)
By Rafael Brusilow and which is not very accurate.

["Church and Wellesley Village is known best as the home to Toronto’s gay rights movement"] The Right’s movement happened all over Canada from Toronto to Ottawa to Montreal’s (Sex Garage a watershed moment in 1990) not only in gay Toronto.

["Brave activists who decades ago marched against prejudice down Church Street."] The demonstration reference in the article, was in 1981 after bathhouses raid and it was on Yonge St. Not Church Street.

Church Street business men are moving a queer west Toronto monthly public forum, because they are too lazy, to go to one held on the last Tuesday of the month at then Gladstone Hotel to Gladaman’s Den on Yonge St., for the following Sunday, calling it Bent Village. The message is; Gladaman’s Den Boozers and Businessmen, think they are still centre of universe in gay Toronto and the rest of new queer neigbourhoods don't exist. It's time they got over this backward thinking.

I am happy there is no longer a central gayborhood, not that there ever was, since The Village has moved around the city over the last 40 years. Any place in the city can be gay village. Now that we have four new distinctive queer districts in the City; Queer West Village, Duwest Gay Village (Dundas St. W. ), Parliament Street Gay Village and Leslieville Gay Village in the east end of the City.

Questions to think about. Will selling the idea that, Church and Wellesley is a completely new neighbourhood with a gay history or will the idea backfire? Should we let Church & Wellesley Village join the new Four City District Queer Union as the fifth district? Can Church & Wellesley Village ever give up thinking, they are centre of the universe?

There are many American cities with more than one gay village, New York and San Francisco to name two. Why not Toronto?

Why not unite the five distinctive queer districts in Toronto and tell the world of their uniqueness and stop the crying game.

Who's ready to form a special commitee of gay businessmen and community leaders, representing the five districts and make it happen today? I'm ready. How about you? Michel F. Paré, Toronto gay rights activist.

For some gay males condom size does matter

Tuesday February 16, 2010 Bent Expression A large minority of male condom users complain that ill-fitting prophylactics are liable to split and break during intercourse and be a sexual turnoff, researchers told Associated Press today.

US investigators analysed questionnaires completed by 436 men between the ages of 18 and 67 who had been recruited via ads in newspapers and a blog on the website of a condom sales company.The volunteers had used condoms for vaginal intercourse in the previous three months. A remarkable 44.7 percent of the respondents said they had experiences of condoms that were ill-fitting, the doctors found.

Poorly-fitting condoms more than doubled the risk of breakage, slippage, erection loss and difficulty in reaching an orgasm, either by the user or his partner. They were also five times likelier to cause irritation of the penis. Such problems prompted many users to remove the condom before intercourse ended -- a worrying phenomenon in the fight against unwanted pregnancies and sexually-transmitted disease. The work is reported online by the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, published by the British Medical Association (BMA).

The researchers, led by Richard Crosby and Bill Yarber at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction in Indiana, acknowledge that the study may have been limited by self-reported data. Even so, the evidence highlights some worrying problems about the use of condoms, especially as a barrier to sexual pleasure, which made using it a real deterrent for some.

It also shows the need for "public health messages" to enjoin men to get the right size of condom, they said. On this point, men -- and condom manufacturers -- will have to deal with the delicate question of penis size, say the authors.

For one thing, widespread pornography may have distorted the male self-image, making it harder for some men to accept that they have a less than gigantic member. Average penis length (flaccid/not erect): from 3.4 inches to 3.7 inches (8.6 cm to 9.3 cm)Average penis length (erect): from 5.1 inches to 5.7 inches (12.9 cm to 14.5 cm) Average penis girth (circumference when erect): from 3.5 inches to 3.9 inches (8.8 cm to 10 cm)

The packet usually gives measurements of the condoms inside. If your a gay male want smaller rubbers look out for those called ‘trim’ or ‘snug fit’ or these brands – Durex Closefit, Mates Conform, Pasante Trim. If you want wider or longer rubbers look out for those called ‘XL’ or ‘Magnum’ or these brands – Durex Comfort XL (longer and wider), Condomi XXL, Trojan Magnum XL (longer).

Gays and Lesbians Battle Discrimination in Syria

Friday February 12, 2010 This article is from the Institute for War and Peace in the the UK

Law and society treat homosexuals as criminals, outcasts or mentally ill. Alaa al-Sayed, 20, is waging a battle for acceptance not just from Syrian society but from his own family since they discovered he is gay. “It’s so difficult to feel that you are a stranger and an outcast even in your own home,” he said. When his parents found out about him after he went out with a man one night, they beat him and locked him in at home. Later, they decided to marry him off, he said.

Alaa al-Sayed, 20, is waging a battle for acceptance not just from Syrian society but from his own family since they discovered he is gay. “It’s so difficult to feel that you are a stranger and an outcast even in your own home,” he said.

When his parents found out about him after he went out with a man one night, they beat him and locked him in at home. Later, they decided to marry him off, he said.“This is the solution in their opinion. The solution is doing an injustice to a woman for whom I feel no emotional or sexual desire,” he added. Many gay men and women like Sayed lead a life on the margins of Syrian society, which generally sees them as perverts or mentally ill. They also suffer from discrimination on the part of the state that considers homosexual acts as “moral offences” punishable by up to three years in prison.

The Syrian penal code prohibits "carnal knowledge against the order of nature", which is mostly used to criminalises sodomy, so lesbians are less liable to be persecuted than gay men. In addition, unlike gay men, lesbians are less likely to go cruising in parks and on the street where they could be caught by the police.

While most gay people in Syria prefer to hide their sexual tendencies and submit to social norms or lead a double life, more and more say that they are slowly asserting their right to be different. Some say that they are not afraid to display their sexuality in bars and nightclubs in the way they dress or behave.

For many of them, especially young gay men, the internet has helped them to regroup, create a network of social support, and meet others in similar situations. “The internet brought a real change to my life,” said Nouhad Ibrahim, a 21 year-old gay man from Damascus studying economics.

“I discovered gay communities from around the world and that made me feel I was not alone in this world.” Online, Syrian homosexuals can find several dating and chatting websites where they can exchange photos and telephone numbers and sometimes fix dates to meet. But some gay men are also using the internet as a platform to demand recognition and respect. A pan-Arab Facebook site aimed at countering the negative stereotypes about homosexuality has more than 400 members including a large presence from Syrian gays.

Members of the group say that they are trying to muster support especially from international organisations to show how gay men can contribute to the development of society and do not have lower intellectual capabilities. A separate Facebook group called Syrian Gays has 170 members and is used for chatting and meeting partners rather than as a platform for discussions around homosexuality in the country.

But for most gay men, the topic of their homosexuality is still a taboo and so they prefer not to divulge their tendencies in a society that values machismo. Amir, a 24-year-old gay man who works in his father’s clothing shop in Damascus, said that he had to pretend to be very manly in the way he talked and walked during the day. Amir, who refused to give his last name, added that at night among his gay friends he felt more relaxed and able to express his “feminine side”.

Syrian gays today say that there are several cafes, bars and nightclubs where they meet in Damascus. Cruising for sexual partners also takes place in certain public squares or gardens during the night. Gay prostitution is also evident at these sites but many say that the places are monitored by the morality police. Individuals who are caught by the police engaging in homosexual acts are often rounded up and sent to court where they generally receive a sentence of few months’ imprisonment.

An official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the authorities do not recognise gay rights and homosexuality was rejected by Syrian society and culture. “For gays and lesbians not to be subjected to mistreatment or harassment, they must keep their sexuality concealed,” he said. Dr Jalal Nawfal, a Damascus-based psychiatrist, said that the authorities were only responding to the social and religious realities of Syria, where homosexuality is strongly rejected. He added, however, that the government needed to raise awareness about homosexuality.

Although homosexuality is no longer regarded as a psychological disorder in the West, many Syrian psychologists still see gays as mental patients. Some even say that sexual harassment during childhood plays an important role in determining sexual orientation during adulthood. Christian and Muslim clerics who have a strong influence over social attitudes in Syria are more severe in judging homosexuality. According to Mohamad Habash, the head of the Centre for Islamic Studies in Damascus, some Muslim clerics overtly incite the killing of homosexuals. Other less extreme opinions favour providing gays with social support to help them “overcome their illness”, he added.

The media in Syria also consolidates the negative stereotyping of homosexuals by publicising stories that link gays to criminal acts or sordid incidents. Last year, for instance, a court sentenced three men to death for killing a diplomatic employee after having sex with him. Media also reported that a young man died after throwing himself from a balcony in the city of Aleppo to escape two men who wanted to rape him. Many gays in Syria believe the spreading of similar stories harms their cause.

Toronto queer youth film festival and juried photography show 2010

Friday February 12, 2010 Toronto Ontario. Gay West Community Network Inc (Queer West) is adding a Queer Youth Film Festival their second , last one was held in 2008, August 23. They are also adding a Juried Queer Youth Photography Exhibition (Prizes for Best of Show) The Queer West Youth Film Festival will be held on Saturday August 14, 2010 there is a callout for submissions.

A Queer West ShOUTqueer youth by queer youth project that aims to explore and refelct ideas around one’s own location be it a personal, political, completely undefined or transitional space.

ShOUT Queer Youth Program and Unconferences are collaborating with Griffen Centre in North York ReachOUT Program “impressive photo portrait project” for the Queer Youth Photo Exhibition.” Festival organizer Michel Pare’ said. The photo exhibition will be held during the Queer West Arts Crawl on Saturday September 18, as Part of the Youth Festival in Parkdale. Toronto’s Queen West Art Crawl is a three-day celebration of creativity. More details to be announced soonest.

Queer West Fest 2010 – Official Events www.queerwest.org/queerwestfest_official_events.php

Queer West Film Festival 2010 – Submission forms www.queerwest.org/queerwestfilmfest_2010

This projects will be made possible by a partnership with The Queer West Arts and Cultural Centre and the Griffen Centre in North York ReachOUT Program.

July 19 is Pink Monday in Düsseldorf in 2010

A friendly takeover: The largest fair on the Rhine lasts nine days and is for everyone, but on Monday gays and lesbians rule. 50,000 of them turn the party up a notch.

Bent Expressions, Travel editor, Toronto February 8, 2010- The largest fair on the Rhine, which has more daily visitors than Munich’s Oktoberfest, is the setting for a rare example of a tradition: For 20 years now, the first Monday (2010 date: July 19) of the 9-day fair belongs to the GLBT community, a wild affair that turns the fairgrounds pink and gets more popular every year.

What does Pink Monday look like? Picture Oktoberfest with beer tents and treats, a temporary amusement park with huge and modern rides that rival those at Six Flags along with the families and regular people you’d find there, then add 50,000 homosexuals on a mission to have a good time. Loud and unruly? You bet, and it’s a blast. An old tradition as much as a glimpse of the future: everyone relaxes and just gets along.

There’s no resistance to the wave of gayness that rolls over the fairgrounds come Monday: Vendors and visitors gladly surrender and come prepared: The tents and booths, equipped for a week of family-friendly entertainment, are dressed up with pink balloons and rainbow flags. Many visitors wear pink or show up in drag, and the campy vibe mixes with modern-day tolerance and becomes just pure fun. One of the beer tents turns into a performance space, and the glamour and good energy spill out from there over the entire fair and on to the rest of the city. It’s a party that extends to the local nightlife and continues there into the wee hours. Many of the 50,000 gays and lesbians are from the local Rhine-Ruhr region, and the number of international visitors grows every year.

More interesting facts about this event: The “Largest Fair on the Rhine” (yes, that’s the official name, or “Rheinkirmes” in German) has been around for 500 years (that’s 300 more than Munich’s Oktoberfest) and takes place every third week in July (2010 dates: July 17-25). The total number of visitors is more than 4 million, and 45,000 visit Düsseldorf daily during regular fair days – that’s 6,000 more than Oktoberfest. Many who come here take advantage of the short distances to other destinations including the Rhine-Ruhr area, Cologne, Belgium, the Netherlands, all in easy reach from Düsseldorf.

Düsseldorf is only minutes away from Cologne, the site of the 2010 Gay Games, which begin later that month, July 31.

Düsseldorf International Airport, Germany’s third largest, offers several non-stop flights from US & Canadian cities (Atlanta, Chicago, Ft. Myers, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Newark, Toronto, San Francisco, Vancouver), as well as convenient connections to many European cities and beyond. Find fair week specials for hotels and air fares at www.visitduesseldorf.de and www.fly2dus.com or gaygermany.blogspot.com

For more information about Pink Monday, the Fair, and Düsseldorf , please contact: Rainer Perry, 934 8th Avenue 2b, New York, NY 10019, phone: 212 957 6653, fax: 646 419 4070, email: perry.r@duesseldorf-tourismus.de.

OUTtv Teams up with Queer West shOUT Team

Press Release. Gay West Community Network Inc (Queer West) Tuesday January 26, 2010.

Queer West Board of Directors shelved the Java Knights Forum and our Queer Peers Mentoring Program. “Looking back on the history of our first two programs, they were the Model T automobile (Tin Lizzies) of queer public forums.” said the President of Queer West, Michel F. Paré.

“Your program may be local, but your topics are of national interest to our 1.5 million (Nielsen numbers) gay and lesbian viewers across North America, we would like to partner with you. “ said David Taylor Senior Director, Broadcast Advertising OUTtv Canada’s Premier National gay and lesbian television Network, during a private meeting with Shout Innovators on Monday January 25, 2010 at OUTtv offices in Toronto ON.

The sponsorship package would include future display advertising on the main site. Several one minute spot announcements and interviews with ShOUT guest speakers on national topics of interest. OUTtv’s David Taylor, will be one of the guest speakers on a future topic for discussion: Queer Representation on TV/film. Jaclyn Isen is doing a follow up proposal for David Taylor, outlining future topics and guest speakers .

We have moved into the future of queer public forums and programming. Shout has a completely new concept, that queer television audiences and forum attendees will be excited about. OUTtv has new deals in the UK, Europe, and South America.

The Project Innovators, Michel F. Paré (Queer West’s Founder and President) and new SHOUT Program Manager and Queer West new Vice President, Jaclyn Isen, started developing the revised concept on Friday December 11, 2009. They are reinventing how gay and lesbian-focused public forums are produced and presented to the community. The long range plan is a weekly drop in program, expanded services, paid staff and volunteers.

SHOUT a public forum for Queer Youth and Young Adults. Will offer Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Intersexed, Queer, Questioning and Two-Spirited (LGBTTIQQ2) youth and their friends and allies (ages 18-27) residing in West-Central Toronto with a focus on Parkdale, an innovative series of live monthly events that aim to stimulate a needed community dialogue on a wide range of pertinent topics to them.

Thematically-relevant community leaders, scholars, activists and artists will be invited to act as panelists and performers at each unique event that will be wholly planned, promoted and facilitated by the Queer West Arts Collective. In doing so, ShOUT! will provide a safe, supportive and enriching context in which its participants can foster new knowledge, skills, and above all, meaningful relationships in their community.

Poetry Slam with a Queer Twist coming again in June 2010

Bent Expressions poetry event review Monday January 25. The Queer West Arts Collective first night of bent poetry, an evening of queer expressions on Sunday January 24 night was a terrific success.

The Press Club a bar at 850 Dundas St. W. holds 50 and 50 came. The Patio was closed, due to chilly rainy weather, it holds another 30. Some of best queer artists in city were performing Phlip Arima, Parul Pandya, Nicki Ward, Philip Cairns, Kirk DeMatas, Yehuda Fisher, Jay Stewart, David Bateman and Duncan Armstrong.

I never met any of the eight (Poets) before Sunday. They were all virtual Facebook friends. Now they are not. Philip Cairns I do know, was the MC. All the door money went to performers, enough for a few pints of beer. The artist sold few chap books; some gave a copy away to fans and admirers. I went home with three poetry books; one I paid $17.50 for, but it was worth it.

All the performers want to do Bent Expressions Poetry Night again in a couple of months, maybe in June. Most of the performers identify with Church St. gay village. Being welcomed in new queer space in the west end of the city was a pleasant surprise.

Next time we will expand the event to including musicians and more poets and spoken word artists. - Michel F. Paré, event organizer.