They may have little money for LGBTQ celebrations, but small towns' parties are still booming
Allison Baker
“Hey hey, ho ho, corporate Pride has got to go!” “We’re here, we’re queer, we’re fabulous, don’t fuck with us!” The chants pierced the hot night air of June 24, 2013, accompanied by tambourines and drums—including a makeshift drum, made from a red frying pan with a wooden spoon for a drumstick. A crowd of […] More »
At Toronto's vigil for the victims of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur
This Magazine
On February 4, members of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities gathered at the Metropolitan Community Church, in the city’s LGBTQ Village, in search of solace and comfort. Just a month prior, police made public their arrest of Bruce McArthur, the 66-year-old alleged serial killer who has been charged with eight counts of first-degree murder. The news came […] More »
The Syrian-Canadian author talks refugee life, his writing, and more
Taylor Pace
Like the protagonist in his book, The Clothesline Swing, Ahmad Danny Ramadan is a hakawati, a storyteller, at heart. He has listened to countless tales of hardship and love, and has carefully crafted his own novel—and life—around them. From his house in war-torn Damascus to the pride parade in Vancouver, he has dedicated much of his […] More »
It’s 1:30 a.m., and I’m in my family’s living room giggling and staring at my laptop screen. I’ve been online for 10 hours in a chatroom with a rotating cast of friends. We have members from every time zone, scattered across the globe; the Australians are just coming online while some of the Americans are logging off. […] More »
A Queer Love Story, a new release from UBC Press, chronicles 15 years of correspondence between gay novelist Jane Rule and The Body Politic editor Rick Bébout. Below is an excerpt from the book, a back-and-forth between Jane and Rick as the pair work on an essay for The Body Politic as the HIV/AIDS crisis was bubbling in Toronto. […] More »
Growing up in an Ismaili Muslim community in Toronto, there was no explicit acceptance of queer folks, says Thawer. “I simply did not know where to look to find other people like myself.” At the age of 23, Thawer finally found his people at Salaam Canada, a social network and support group for those who […] More »
MAY 1969 “There’s no place for the State in the bedrooms of the Nation.” Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s Bill C-150 is passed, amending the Criminal Code to decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults (but only in private, mind you). AUGUST 1, 1971 Toronto holds its first Pride celebration with a picnic on the Toronto Islands. The […] More »
Two years since the country's first transitional home for LGBTQ youth opened, there's still plenty of work to be done to tackle queer and trans homelessness
Toronto’s Sprott House. Photo by Amy van den Berg. On any given night in Toronto, there are 1,000 to 2,000 homeless youth sleeping on streets or in shelters. Across Canada about 40,000 young people experience homelessness. Among them, approximately 25 to 40 percent self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer. These are dangerously high numbers […] More »
June is Pride Month in several cities across Canada, and this weekend marks the 37th annual Pride parade in This Magazine’s home base of Toronto. In recognition of the yearly celebration, This has accumulated some of our favourite stories tackling LGBTQ issues from our 50-year archive. Some remind of us the sad realities that many queer and trans Canadians […] More »
“We don’t know why a person turns out gay,” Alfonzo told me when we were alone in his private office after my most recent group confession. “In your case you’ve obviously misplaced your maternal needs. You would never have sought homosexual love if you’d received the love of your mother as a child. But then […] More »