From the editors of the Lambda Award-winning First Person Queer come these intelligent, sexy, true-life tales of gay men’s desire. The stories push at the parameters of queer erotic life, featuring contributors both novice and well-known; subject matter ranges from single, significant encounters to the ephemera of emotional desires that never lead to physical pleasure. Throughout, the book deals with the essential erotics of queer male life, to be used as a launching point for exploring the queer male condition: essays that delve into the diverse manifestations of desire between and among men.

I Like It Like That features smart, savvy writing about desire and sex. Unlike mainstream porn imagery that by default dominates our cultural (and therefore personal) references, contributors reach into the far reaches of memory to tell true tales about personal erotic space.

I Like It Like That
True Stories of Gay Male Desire
Edited by Richard Labonté and Lawrence Schimel
Monday, September 28th at 7 p.m.
At Casa del Popolo, 4873 St. Laurent

Check out some of this week’s talent:

Fierté 2009 Montréal
posted by Michel Beaulieu, Montreal, QC

Fierté 2009 Montréal, gai, gay, couleurs, divercité, celebration, party, fête

Watch the video:

Fierté 2009 Montréal from mikeb on Vimeo.

Check out more of Michel’s video HERE

Pride Photo
posted by Kevin Gurr, Vancouver & Ottawa

AIDS Awareness, Ottawa. View the photo

Check out more of Kevin’s photos HERE

Join the Socialize@OUTtv community and see MORE videos and pics from this year’s Pride across Canada.

Check out some of this week’s talent:

SHOW US YOUR PRIDE CONTEST 2009
posted by Michael Joseph Ianni, Toronto, ON

My entry for the Show Us Your Pride Contest 2009.

Watch the video:

Find more videos like this on OUTtv Socialize

Check out more of Michael’s video HERE

Pride Photo
posted by Mathieu Jarry, Montreal, QC

Skate Fireworks Parade. View the photo

Check out more of Mathieu’s photos HERE

Join the Socialize@OUTtv community and see MORE videos and pics from this year’s Pride across Canada.

Check out some of this week’s talent:

The Cliks – Dirty King – T.O. Pride
posted by askthegeek, Montreal, QC

At Dyke Day – June 27th 2009.

Watch the video:

Victoria Pride 2006 – 2008
posted by StephenEmery, BC

LGBT Pride events and parades from 2006 to 2008 in Victoria, BC, Canada.

Watch this video:

Join Socialize@OUTtv and see MORE videos and pics from this year’s Pride in Canada.

Featuring a multitude of events jam packed into one weekend (will it ever be on a holiday weekend for tourists?), Montréal’s pride events begin with Village Scene Productions opening of Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest at Théâtre Ste-Catherine just a click or two west of the Gay Village, alternating French-language and English-language performances. Other arts events, like the Visual Arts expo Per7eption at the Café des arts and the multi-cultural music of Zone Tropicale, will be held in Place Êmilie-Gamelin at Berri-UQAM métro station. While nightclubs pack it in for events like Pride’s Mega T-Dance and the BBCM bash Party de la fierté, the community bands together on Saturday for its annual kiosk fair (get your free condoms here from cute Trojans) while the Parade will feature a “Fiesta” theme complete vying for annual awards recognizing several categories.

This year, Pride also invites celebrated artists to join them for the Porn Flakes Show, a jam “happening” in the park where celebrities are invited to take the stage with the band. The 80s theme at Dream Académie should be enough to  put the virgin back in “Like a Virgin” (no offense Madonna) while Omegadom promises to collide soul, funk, rock and electro-fusion that should blow a few speakers and eardrums in the crowd.

Célébrations de la fierté takes place August 13 to 15, 2009. Visit http://fiertemontrealpride.com/home.htm to download the complete schedule in pdf format and listen to a few housetunes.

Or you can download it our FAB’s web site at: http://www.fabmagazine.com  - Max MacDonald Toronto Fashion Ambassador, Fashion/Style Editor at FAB Magazine and Fashion Correspondent for Rogers Channel 10 in Toronto.

- Mado au Casino
- The Sister Sledge performance (Grand Bal)
- Fritz Helder & The Phantoms (Sexgarage)

“It has been quite a hectic 48 hours,” says spokesperson Michel-Olivier Harding. “So the event actually kicks off on Monday now with our screening of LES CHANSONS D’AMOUR at the Théâtre de Verdure in Parc La Fontaine”.

This past Thursday, it was announced that DIvers/Cité, one of North America’s largest and most unique outdoor queer events of its kind, was denied about $155, 000.00 in federal funding programming aimed at tourism, despite meeting all eligibility requirements. Speculation continues the funding was denied in the wake of $400, 000 in Toronto Pride funding, which received harsh criticism by Conservative MP Brad Trost and led to junior minister Diane Ablonczy’s dismissal from the program’s file. The federal government continues to deny a connection between Ablonczy’s dismissal and the Toronto Pride controversy.

Divers/Cité takes places July 27 to August 2, 2009. For more information visit diverscite.org – DAK

It might come as no surprise that Montreal, a city of 350 festivals per year in its own right, also hit the headlines this week when one of its major queer cultural festivals was denied the same right to federal funding despite an equally profitable, municipal venture. Yet waking up to the news story that Montreal Pride was denied funding, I was shocked to discover that it was in fact DIvers/Cité, and not Montreal Pride that was the subject of the news story.

The originator of Pride activities in Montréal, Divers/Cité left Pride activities in the hands of the community only three years ago, creating two seperate entities: Divers/Cité, one of the largest queer, mostly outdoor festivals in North America and Célébrations de la Fierté, the organizers of Pride weekend including its Community Day and Pride Parade. With no affiliation between the two, the split immediately sent both parties back to square one on rebuilding statistical attendance records, and despite their success in maintaining huge economic spinoffs in tourism, the new Divers/cité is by no means any longer the “Pride” event touted on this week’s news, nor an “Arts” event made in other news claims.

As one of Divers/Cité’s biggest supporters and a participant in its earliest Pride marches, I can tell you the event is truly unique in North America’s cultural landscape. With some of the best DJs in the biz and fantastic outdoor stage events that are made free to the public, the event is worth every penny of its million-dollar annual budget for spectators, with a large tourism contigent being held on the Civic Holiday weekend in other parts of the country. Having more than met the requirements for tourism initiative spending that allocates almost 10 times as much funding to other major festivals on the Montreal Island, it’s certainly a strong contender for federal funding, as is Célébrations de la fierté being held in mid-August. And guess what Mr. Trost? There isn’t even a float of naked people at Divers/Cité!

Our fascination with nudity and traditional family values aside, there are significant questions Canadians are asking: should taxpayers fund pride events? Should we fund festivals at all? Where in the land of “artistic” does a festival like Divers/Cité fit in, exactly? Are the Conservatives making a right-wing zinger with a potential election in the air? And if Harper won’t make an appearance at a Pride Festival, when will his party acknowledge queers as part of Canada’s incredible [albeit falsely propagated] diversity?

In my opinion – for which this particular op-ed blog has been written – there are two minorities in Canada – the visible ones, and the invisible ones. Their cultures compose the essence of our particular brand of patriotism, their diversity part of our daily pride, not our annual pride. We recognize their celebrations at key festivals throughout the year and participate in those festivals to honour those cultures. Queers included. As journalists, we are responsible for getting our facts straight – Divers/Cité is not Pride – and as civil servants, we are responsible for creating and managing responsibly spent, intercultural programs that serve and honour not only our visible minorities, but our invisible ones.

As spectators, we want a good show, and yes Mr. Trosk, we also want to protect our kids. We may want to tell them that the naked guy, the one girating on the float, is trying to tell the world it’s okay to be different, because he spends the rest of the year having to hide that from the people around him. We may also want to add that the couple marching behind his float gets to hold hands on the street only one day a year. Or we may want to tell our kids that the group marching behind the couple has been fighting for recognition to protect their families from the same government that allegedly tries to protect all our families from harm on Pro-Life websites.

Just some random thoughts – what do YOU think?

If you think corporations have taken a hit in this year’s stinky economy, just imagine how non-profits and charities must feel, many largely supported by the same private corporations. The strapped budgets tighten even further for groups producing many of the country’s biggest queer events this summer, so there’s no time like the present than to get out there and give back to your own community. Thinking Pride? Think outside the box – here’s a mere sampling of some of the exciting events we have to look forward to as we tackle our recession:

June

Queer West Fest Toronto: From June 12 – 20, Queer West will present the fourth annual Queer Toronto Queer West Fest Week, featuring music, art, community events that include the second annual Queer West Film Festival and the Gay West Bicycle Club’s Pride Ride. http://queerwest.org

Sexy Pride: As usual Buddies In Bad Times will celebrate Toronto Pride with a slew of events, including the annual cabaret by Buddies’ Youth Group, PrideCab. June 12 – 28. www.artsexy.ca

Alberta Rockies Gay Rodeo: Cowtown’s now infamous Gay Rodeo takes place this year in Strathmore just east of Calgary. June 26 – 28. www.argra.org

July

Festival International Montréal en Arts (FIMA): This year’s explosive outdoor visual arts extravaganza in and around Montreal’s gay village takes place July 2 to 5 with the usual array of local and guest international artists surrounded by the terrace charm of some of Montreal’s top restos and clubs. www.festivaldesarts.org

Toto, Too: Ottawa gay and lesbian community theatre company Toto, Too kicks off 2009 with its annual fundraiser Swirl and Twirl May 28, followed by a production of Happy Birthday by Vancouver’s David Blue from July 15 to 18. www.tototoo.ca

Divers-cité: July 26 to August 2: Montreal’s “pluridisciplinary” arts festival and now one of the largest outdoor queer festivals of its kind, Divers-cité features everything from outdoor cinemas, contemporary dance and extravagant drag shows to internationally renowned DJ events. www.diverscite.org

August and Beyond

Exposure: Edmonton’s Queer Arts and Culture Festival offers up 9 glorious days of Queerdom at galleries, cafés, stages and cinemas throughout the city. November 13 to 22. www.exposurefestival.ca

Festival Black and Blue: Bad Boys Club Montreal’s biggest long weekend event of the year is more than just circuit parties, DJs and all-nighters. October 7 – 13. Visit www.bbcm.org for info on this and other long weekend events throughout the summer.

Girl Play Toronto: Calling itself “Canada’s largest all-girl party”, Girl Play brings on a week of entertainment and international participation by and for women. Sept. 3 – 7. www.girlplaytoronto.com

Harvest Festival: Each Fall, Montreal’s Village Scene Productions organizes a community-driven queer performing arts fest, featuring local and guest artist productions. Upcoming in 2009 are Suddenly Last Summer and (en français) The Importance of Being Earnest. Check the schedule at www.villagescene.com

Image et nation: One of North America’s oldest queer film fests, the 22nd edition of Image et nation takes place each Fall at various locations in Montreal. Watch for this year’s official dates at www.image-nation.org

Loud n’ Queer Cabaret: Presented last year during the Exposure Festival, Guys In Disguise presents the longest running annual queer cabaret of new work in Western Canada. Loud n’Queer is a staple of the Edmonton arts scene, or as the Edmonton Sun puts it, “a potpourri of poofterism”. www.Guysindisguise.com

Out on Screen Queer Film Festival: Vancouver’s exciting queer film fest has a huge outreach to students and independent filmmakers, as well as a fascinating queer history project on Vancouver’s queer history. August 13 – 23. www.queerfilmfestival.ca

2009 Pride Guide

According to the International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Coordinators (InterPride), the global pride theme for 2009 is “Your Rights, Our Rights, Human Rights”. The theme is an important one as America struggles to catch up with Canada in the context of gay marriage, and even more befitting when we consider the number of smaller town, start-up Prides in Canada still fighting huge battles in order to celebrate their cultural diversity.

Trekking across the country, meanwhile, here are some fab Pride events we could muster up for you under our Canuck Rainbow:

BC

Victoria Pride: June 28 – July 5. www.victoriapridesociety.org
Vancouver Pride: August 1 – 2. www.vancouverpride.ca
Alberta

Pride Calgary: September 5 and 6. www.pridecalgary.ca
Edmonton Pride Week: June 12 – 21. www.prideedmonton.org

Saskatchewan

Saskatoon Pride: June 7 – 13. www.saskatoonpride.ca
Regina Pride: June 13 – 20. www.gaycanada.com/pride-regina

Manitoba

Winnipeg Pride Festival: June 5 – 14. http://gaypridewinnipeg.com

Ontario

Windsor Pride: August 5 – 9. www.windsorpride.com
Pride London Festival: July 16 – 26. www.prideondon.ca
Halton Pride: June 6. www.haltonpride.org
Hamilton Pride Week: June 13 – 21. www.hamiltonpride.com
Pride Events Peel: July 11 and 12. www.prideventspeel.com
Tri-Pride Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo: May 31 – June 6. www.tri-pride.ca
Pride Week Toronto: June 19 – 28. www.pridetoronto.com
Capital Pride Ottawa: August 21 – 30. www.prideottawa.com

Québec

Québec City: September 4 – 6. www.glbtquebec.org
Célébrations de la Fierté de Montréal: August 13 – 16. www.fiertemontrealpride.com

New Brunswick

Port City Rainbow Pride Saint John: August 9 – 15. www.portcityrainbowpride.com.
Moncton Pride: August 15 – 23. www.fiertemonctonpride.ca.

PEI

PEI Pride: July 3 – 11. www.arcofpei.com (info site).

Nova Scotia

Halifax Pride: July 19 – 26. http://halifaxpride.org
Pride Cape Breton: August 8 – 15. www.pridecapebreton.com
Newfoundland

St. John’s Pride: July 18 – 25. (no website yet).

David Allan King is the OUTtv Ambassador for Montreal and the Artistic Director of Montreal’s queer performing arts company, OUT Productions (www.out.ca). That means he is here to update you on community events, news, shows, anything that he thinks you will be interested to know about his region.

Check out the ‘Cover Guy: Montreal,’ web page here at www.outtv.ca. This season of Cover Guy promises to be the best one yet! After three successful years in Toronto, host Mathieu Chantlois went to Montreal to find the sexiest French men. Montreal is known to have just that – some of the hottest men in the world. But only one of them will be named Canada’s ultimate male model. You have to tune in to find out who! Check out our schedule for show times and enjoy! 

I have started my tour of affiliate conferences for the fall. What are these conferences about you ask? Well, as the affiliate relations person at OUTtv, I deal with all of the cable, satellite and IPTV providers in Canada. And once and a while they put on these events to train their call center representatives (CSRs). These are the people you deal with when you call and order cable or satellite. So by attending these conferences, I can inform the CSRs about all about OUTtv. They learn about our community, programming and vision for the future.

This first conference is in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. What a beautiful place!! It’s just under 2 hrs north of Montreal and reminds me a lot of Whistler, but of course much more francais! This event is for members of the CCSA (Canadian Cable Systems Alliance) so it’s a little bit different. The CCSA is made up of all the independent cable operators in Canada. So instead of speaking to CSRs I will speaking to the representatives from these different cable companies.

You may or may not know, OUTtv is a category 1 digital television network which means we come with “must offer” rules for all the big cable, satellite and IPTV providers. But if the cable system has under 6000 subscribers then it may be exempt from these rules. Most of these able companies represented here in Mont-Tremblant are exempt.

I think we have a lot in common, us being an independent television network, and them being an independent cable provider. I hope I convince enough of them that we offer a service that is just as important to members of our community that live in rural areas. For some reason people tend to think if your queer, then you live in a major city. We all know that’s not true! Growing up gay in a small town with no connection to the lifestyle you want to be a part of, I can imagine would be very difficult. Any one want to share?

Also, tell me if OUTtv is NOT offered in your area, and I’ll do my best to meet with that provider. Hopefully after this conference I can tell you about the new areas OUTtv will be available.

Next stop – Montreal for Bell

Back on the train and I am in the comfort to which I have become most accustomed to.  While reading my magazine in preparation for departure I see an old acquaintance boarding and walking down the isle.  Have you ever happened to know someone for SO long but knew very little about them?  That was about to change in this instance.  Gina, a famous (or infamous?) personality on the club scene was sitting across the isle from me.  I was sitting alone so opened the invitation to join me and was very happy to have it excepted.  I was informed … (and told to pass along the information) that the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit was currently being shown in Montreal (May 29 – September 28, 2008 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts).  Gina, as a lot of us know, has a slight pension for fabulous hats and who does hats better than Monsieur Laurent?  NOTE:  to avoid disappointment, do not try to see the exhibit on a Monday as most museums are closed Mondays.  Guess we’ll know better for next time right?

We had the most fantastic trip home.  Talking, laughing, sharing stories and indulging in a little VIP treatment made the time go by almost too quickly.  VIA did themselves a favour by hiring Mourad …. our Senior Service Attendant.  He was a dream in more ways than one.  Not only was he handsome, personable and charming with us and all the other passengers … he never let our glasses go empty!   The attention to service and all out comfort has me hooked and I look forward to my future travels onboard!   I even came up with an advertising slogan … Pamper your self with the ONE … VIA 1!  You heard it here first people!  J

One last quick cab ride home finds me sitting with a glass of wine in hand. I cannot help but lose myself in the fond memories created during this magnificent trip.  Sexy old world charm, modern convenience, art, history, food and shopping are but a few of the wonderful things Montreal uses to romance each and every one of its visitors.  A tiny bit of my heart will always remain in the city and I look forward to going back again and again to reconnect.

Montreal Pride Celebrations are kicking off Aug.14-17 and OUTtv Ambassador Rob Logie, freshly returned from last weeks Divers/City festival, reveals the best way to enjoy Montreal and why he loves VIA so much.  This is a four part blog series so be sure to check out this blog everday for the complete story!       

Blog 1 of 4.

When approached to write an article of an experience going to and being in Montreal, I jumped at the chance … I just love Montreal.  The catch, leave my car behind and hop aboard VIA, VIA 1 specifically.   My car is my lifeline to friends, family and the exploration of near and far.  How was I to manage without my trusted companion?   I was to smile, pack, hop in a cab and go.  Downtown Toronto to downtown Montreal in around 5 hours … sounded like the simplicity I deserved AND riding in first class? Fabulous!

One quick cab ride to union station found me sitting in the Panorama Lounge, VIA 1’s exclusive lounge.  Boarding was a snap and I was tickled pink to find that I had oodles of leg room, such a rarity in most any type of public transport.  Stunning scenery, lots of cocktails and a fantastic meal found me nuzzled in first class comfort and falling into a nice deep sleep … something I would need for the remainder of the weekend. 

Another quick cab ride from the train station to the hotel, a quick turnaround shower, one minor fashion crisis and I was ready for cocktails chez naughtiness.  I always find it easy to slide into the fast pace of a weekend away with a starter drink or two at the local watering hole featuring the less than clothed type of entertainment.  I highly suggest Stock Bar on rue Sainte-Catherine (www.stockbar.ca) as a thoroughly enjoyable way to start a weekend!

With so many great bars in Montreal, the choice is not easy.  I followed a few  folks I had met previously and was told I would not regret spending some time at SKY (www.complexsky.com).   Beautiful people, one fantastic roof top patio and copious amounts of beverages led me to dancing the remainder of the night away with a couple of boys who really helped with my practice of frenching … errr, I mean speaking French. Until tomorrow….

COVERYguy season 4 will be shot this July in Montreal and auditions will be held July 5th and 6th at Club Unity 1171 St. Catherine East.

If you want to try out email info@coverguy.tv or call 1-514-762-3310 or just show up between 12 and 5 pm.

You could win a modeling contract, a role on a TV series and the front cover of several magazines.

Find the COVERguy site here www.coverguy.tv

And remember you can still catch all of the season 3 action on OUTtv. For more information and broadcast times click here