We all wear our identities in various ways to show the world what tribe we belong to. Go to Toronto and you will see the Bay Street brokers in their slick-cut suits; go to Vancouver and you can tell the granolas by their hippie, back-to-the-land attire. Sexual-orientation-wise, it is usually just as easy to spot …
Since the Oscars are less than a month old, I decided this week’s column should be about movies and, in particular, about movies that are well known in the gay as well as the straight world. One of the most famous is called Desert Hearts. It is derived from the 1964 novel by Jane Rule …
Gay Themes From Hollywood: Lesbians and mobsters and flicks, oh my! Read More »
This is my first column for What’s Up Yukon and I am excited to be able to write about what is happening in the Yukon’s gay community. We are an organized group that meets the first Friday of every month at the Backwater for an informal gathering; non-members are always welcome at these gatherings. Our …
After a two-year hiatus, the Rainbow column has returned. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA), without an active board to keep it running, had gone into a one-year dormancy period; however, GALA is once again an active group and has some interesting projects underway. By the time this column goes to print, the GALA AGM …
I recently attended the Gay and Lesbian Alliance AGM. It was the first meeting in a year. The turnout was really promising and a new board was formed made up of 11 enthusiastic people, the majority of which are male. It should be an interesting board as it has never had a male majority before. …
In the GLBTQ community, a “late bloomer” refers to individuals who come out later in life. They have often had heterosexual relationships, sometimes long-term, but have come to accept their true reality and have made the decision to embrace it. Some late bloomers never pursue a heterosexual relationship but instead choose celibacy until they come …
I saw a recent posting online that used statistics to dispel myths about the gay community. It was an interesting collection of data. OKTrends compiles data from OKCupid, an online dating site. This gives OKTrends a huge database from which to gather data on sexuality and dating. In their own words, they state their reason …
The dictionary defines “comfort” as being at ease … so “uncomfortable” is a lack of ease. That doesn’t sound too bad. There are worse things to feel, I suspect, than a lack of ease. Why am I boring you with this? Because the school in Mississippi that is denying Constance McMillen the right to take …
Kate Reid is on a house tour of the Yukon. Reid, a self-described dyke folk artist, is on this grass roots concert tour put on by Home Routes, an organization that books performers to do concerts in people’s homes throughout the communities. The host provides accommodation and an audience for the performer. Reid has tour …
I have been voraciously reading David Sedaris’ books for a few weeks now. There are few writers who can make me laugh so hard that the tears stream down my face. He has such a quirky worldview. Sedaris is Greek, he is also gay; either of those could contribute to his quirkiness. I first bought …
In the queer community, gays and lesbians fall along a spectrum that makes them “identifiable” as a gay person. Lesbians can be anything from very feminine to extremely masculine, as can gay men. Very effeminate gay men are flamers and really masculine women are butch. These people exist on the extreme of the spectrum and …
The fast-paced world we live in means that not only do we have online banking and shopping, but we also have online dating. The old traditional ways of meeting people obviously still exist, but because the Internet has connected us in such profound ways it was inevitable that the potential to meet a mate would …
What is it about humankind that we have this need to pair up? We all seek out relationships and it is a driving force in our lives to do so. When we are younger it often has to do with having a family. As we age, the need becomes more of wanting to have a …
Vacation planning has been on my mind lately; mainly how to escape from the Yukon this winter to warmer climes. I have been inspired by the stories from friends who are abroad. One in particular is the filmmaker I profiled recently who is travelling all over Europe and attending the many Pride celebrations there. Vacation …
When the time comes and your relationship with your “soul mate” tanks, you need to assess the damage and then act wisely to avoid becoming bitter, vengeful or stalker-ish. The following is a list of things you should do and things you should avoid in this eventuality. THE DON’T LIST Do not put your ex’s …
I have been having Facebook discussions with several people lately over the whole bi-curious issue, if we can in fact call it an issue. In the community, the bi-curious are those individuals who are questioning their sexuality and exploring it. This discussion began when I put a flippant comment up on my profile about bi-curious …
The queer community in the Yukon is full of creative and innovative people doing interesting projects in the areas of the arts and business. One of our local lesbians is a filmmaker named Heidy Enka, who has written and directed a film called Trauma Queens. Her film has been chosen to be screened at Entzaubert, …
There has been a lot of emphasis among gay advocates lately to show that gay families are healthy and normal and that children raised in gay/lesbian households are as happy and well-adjusted as any other kids. Of course, it is not unlike ethnic minorities who have to show no weakness, or else that weakness will …
I was watching All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise a while back – a documentary about Rosie O’Donnell’s gay family cruises. In the film they interviewed various people, including the mother of a woman who had accompanied her daughter on this cruise in a show of support. The mother was saying how her husband had refused …
Summer is finally upon us. We come out of our houses blinking at the increased daylight like a bunch of groundhogs. Whitehorse feels more vibrant. People are leisurely walking around amazed that it stays light past 5 o’clock. Soon the streets will be teeming with tourists, especially on Tuesday and Thursday when the Condor flights …
As I write this column, my partner has been a recent victim of homophobic slurs in her work place. As well, there is a furor in the media over recent tragic suicides by young gay teens. Homophobia has reared its ugly head into our lives once again. In the midst of all of this, I …
Let’s see What’s Up in the gay community. The GALA Pub nights have moved to Foxy’s Cabaret. The first Saturday of every month, between 4 and 8pm, we are gathering with the irrepressible Peggy Hanifan for drinks and music and mingling. Peggy has been hosting Whitewater Wednesdays for 13 years and is a fixture in …
Plans are under way for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA) annual general meeting in early January. I will post the time and place on our website when the information becomes available. Some of the old board members are stepping aside to do other things, so there is a great need for people to step …
Gay Pride is an annual event that happens in cities across the world, usually in the month of June. It celebrates, as its name evokes, pride in being queer. Its historical genesis has generally been attributed to the Stonewall riots that took place in Greenwich Village in New York City in 1969. At that time, …
Gayle Haggard published a book about her experience as the straight spouse of a homosexual partner who was outed by a male prostitute.
The definition of genderqueer is people who do not fit within the traditional two-gender role of male or female. This may be someone who feels they have some of both genders, or someone who feels they have no gender. That’s a starting point, but it is actually a fairly simplified definition. More broadly, genderqueer is …
There has been a YouTube video going around lately with Ellen DeGeneres pleading to end intolerance after a spate of young gay people committed suicide. Even in this day and age of greater tolerance towards all minorities, and even after 40-plus years of the gay rights movement, gay youth still experience bullying and are still …
I received feedback recently on an article I wrote about lesbian breakups. I knew that it was going to touch some nerves … and it did. Gay marriage is very new and it was a hard-fought battle to gain that right. By criticizing lesbian relationships, I am giving ammo to those who say that we …
The whole idea of what is “natural” or “as nature intended” is an argument often used to oppose homosexuality. Even good, well-meaning people will say things like, “I don’t mind gay people, but really, it just isn’t natural.” I do understand this way of thinking. I spent enough years of my life with internalized homophobic …
In Canada, the number of people over the age of 65 has doubled since 1951. Our life expectancy has increased dramatically and now sits at an average of 80 years. Given these statistics, resources for our ageing population has become an issue of importance to the medical community and social support services. One area of …
