Gay Life in Canadian Cities

[SaskScraper]

Saskatoon Pride 2018 occurred over the last couple weeks and the culminating weekend was this last Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Pride Parade on Saturday had over a hundred entries and more than 5000 people marched in the parade.



Saskatoon Pride organization had various events planned each day throughout the festival, finishing with the final event, Detox roof top pool party at Hilton Garden Inn on Sunday.

http://thestarphoenix.com/news/local...at-not-to-miss

Saskatoon's Gay bars each planned their own events for the celebrations and included:

Diva's Night Club, which flies the 2nd Largest Rainbow Flag in the World, had The White and Fire & Ice Parties.


https://www.facebook.com/Divas.Nightclub.Saskatoon/

Pink Gay Bar had Foam Party earlier this month & on Saturday had their annual Pride Block Street Party.


https://www.facebook.com/302lounge/

Drift Cafe & Vista Lounge and roof top bar held Overboard - THE official after party of the annual Pride Riverboat Cruise plus Gurls! Ladies' Night Pride Party
on the Saturday.


https://www.facebook.com/driftsidewalkcafe/

Broadway Theatre in Saskatoon is venue for the Trixie Mattel Moving Parts North American Tour .
Looks like she's going to all the main States & Provinces in her extensive, all four corners & almost everywhere in-between, North America Tour.

I'd imagine Trixie Mattel is probably the most sought after Ru Paul's Drag Race personality since she is the most recent/current drag race all-star winner... & she beats her face the best (except for Kim Chi of course).



https://www.trixiemattel.com/

I haven't really followed Ru Paul's Drag Race over the past decade, maybe seeing only a couple/few episodes per season at most, but tagging along with friends I've probably met/seen drag contestants in all of the seasons, some of the contestants before they had even been on the show.

I met Peppermint at Therapy in NYC 10 years ago before her trans-transitioning. Latrice Royale I met with a San Francisco gay circuit-party organization during a 7 day cruise (her pianist partner is so knees-weakening gorgeous & both are sweet hearts). I've done shots with Bianca Del Rio at her home club. Courtney Act (Shane) we met & spent one afternoon on the slopes together in Whistler, BC (and subsequently visited him in hospital later that evening).

Shannel and Coco Montrese I've seen during trips to Vegas.
I know some of the promoters that bring drag performers to Saskatchewan and have heard of the crazy/fun antics of performers like Jinx Monsoon, Shangela & really fish performers like Willam during Regina's Queen City Pride.

With Saskatoon's two main gay-bar complexes competing for entertainment, I've probably seen more than Saskatoon's fair share of Ru Paul's Drag race performers that have come, such as Nina Flowers, Jujubee, Manila Luzon, Rhea Litré, Morgan McMichaels, Kimora Blac, Yara Sofia, Katya, Derrick Barry, Sharon Needles, Chad Michaels and Club Kid stars such as Amanda Lepore, and of course touring gay porn stars...such as Moose Jaw's Brent Everett for example.

[SignalHillHiker]

Basically all the other Prides in Canada and even in Newfoundland are over, but St. John's is always late. Mostly for weather reasons. Shut up. We want it to be hot! So, for us, that requires mid-July at the earliest.

Anyhow, the tentative schedule is now released. It's, of course, the biggest pride on the island - but not by much. Labrador City-Wabush, Springdale, Corner Brook, etc. They all have pretty decent events.

Springdale high school students who protested for rainbow crosswalks in their Pentecostal town (Pentecostals are NL's southern Baptists in the U.S. There's a whole belt of them across the centre of the island who are basically American in terms of anti-abortion, pro-rapture, etc. Anyhow, THEIR KIDS are our Pride parade marshalls. lol Justice.



Those are the official events that St. John's Pride Inc. supports. There are probably a greater number of unofficial events that businesses and other organizations put off during Pride Week. I.E. Valhalla, the heavy metal bar, is doing its weekly drag show, Grapevine will hold a social, there will be sales and free whatever (mani/pedi, massage, etc.) everywhere.

Bonfire is always my fave.

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And we have a Rad Pride. A couple of years ago, our Pride board was dominated by radicals and they banned police. Participation and corporate sponsorship of Pride nosedived. That board was replaced. They weren't happy, so they started a rad Pride. But they're not actually rad, it's literally completely normal things, just with passionate banning of the police. So these things are also going on if you're into it...

The trans stuff, no matter the politics, is awesome. Supportive, fun, etc. If you are trans in St. John's, PLEASE go, you will be very, very glad that you did. Just don't hate the entire world afterwards. We're actually on the same side despite what the organizers will tell you. They're abusing the luxury of being so successful that they can in-fight instead of continuing the broader battle.

[1overcosc]

There's still some things up in the air, but it looks like we're gonna get another country on the marriage equality list, and a regional first too! First post-communist state and first Slavic state!

Czech government backs bill on same-sex marriage

PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech government gave its backing on Friday to a bill which would make the country the first in formerly communist Europe to allow same-sex marriage.

The Czech Republic has been allowing gay and lesbian couples to enter registered partnerships since 2006. A group of 46 lawmakers across the floor drafted the marriage bill, arguing that gay couples deserved the option of full marital status.

...

Unlike neighboring Poland and Slovakia, the Czech Republic is one of Europe’s most secular societies and religious groups have a relatively weak voice.

In a poll conducted in May, 50 percent of respondents supported gay marriage. Seventy-four percent approved of the existing registered partnership option.

Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Friday his government backed the legislation to introduce same-sex marriage. But it is uncertain when the parliament may get to a vote on the rival bills as the parties have been struggling to create a full-fledged administration since last October’s election.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-c...-idUSKBN1JI1H6

[zahav]

Vancouver's pride isn't until August, and is a pretty significant one nationally

[SignalHillHiker]

[kwoldtimer]

Wait! So people aren't crazy, they're "neurodiverse"? And who called who "crazy"? Makes me want to hide under my neurodiverse quilt ...

[ssiguy]

^^ Shame on you! Again kwoldtimer you have proven your neurodiversity insensitivity. I can only hope that by your name that you are retired so that your fellow workers don`t have to tolerate your reactionary neuro-ism. I think some neurodiversity training is in order.

[SaskScraper]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Basically all the other Prides in Canada and even in Newfoundland are over, but St. John's is always late. Mostly for weather reasons. Shut up. We want it to be hot! So, for us, that requires mid-July at the earliest.

Originally Posted by zahav

Vancouver's pride isn't until August, and is a pretty significant one nationally

Ya, some of Canada's largest Pride celebrations, along with Vancouver's, are in August and September (Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary) half of Saskatchewan's Prides are in Summer, not Spring...)



I think SignalHilHiker was just trying to be melodramatic judging by his haste in posting.

I've been to over a dozen Pride celebrations in North American in cities I've had boyfriends, like Boston, Austin, & San Francisco, and a lot aren't in May or June.
For example, some like Fort Lauderdale's & Phoenix are early in the year and some like Atlanta's, and Austin's (the year I went in 2011 anyway), Southern Decadence in New Orleans etc, are in September, October.
Mardi Gras and Midsumma festivals Pride-like-events in Southern Hemisphere i've been to are in their Summer months.

[SignalHillHiker]

RNC updated all is social media profile pictures/cover photos to add the trans flag to the overall Pride one.





Nicely done. We're on the forefront of trans rights in Canada, for the most part doing everything first or, at least, second. Fingers crossed it continues.

[PBruge]

Montreal’s is in August, 9-19 this year.
Always a riot and I’m not even gay!

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[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by PBruge

Montreal’s is in August, 9-19 this year.
Always a riot and I’m not even gay!

• Video Link

• Video Link

I know the event planners and they want a party vibe, without drama. In today's SJW mentality, that is an attitude I go for.

[PBruge]

Originally Posted by d_jeffrey

I know the event planners and they want a party vibe, without drama. In today's SJW mentality, that is an attitude I go for.

Tell them they have succeeded! That and St. Patrick’s are my 2 can’t miss parades. Maybe Carifiesta. Canada Day is just an ethnic costume parade and St-Jean is simply too weird.

[SignalHillHiker]

The official pride merch for St. John's Pride this year... our hideously-shaped island (so I can't buy it):



The slogan is "Here's where ya 'longs to". It's a response to a normal question in Newfoundland English, asking someone where they 'longs to (Where do you belong?) means "Where are you from?" (Or, at/to are very different here, at is action, to is a location. Always. What are ye at = what are you all doing; where ye to = where are you all?). So the slogan is, of course,"Here is where we are from, where we belong, etc."

[vid]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunde...rade-1.4745628

Fort Frances LGBTQ2 group prepares for cross-border pride march
The Passport to Pride march will take place on Saturday at Smokey Bear Park at 10 a.m.

...

"We wanted to do something fun and we wanted to do something that helps to engage our small queer community on both sides of the border," Judson said on the CBC's Superior Morning, "and we thought what better way to build that bridge than to physically walk across the bridge and bring people together."

...

He said he believes this is the first event of its kind as he has not yet heard of "any other pride marches or parades that have crossed an international boundary."

...

"Pride is not visible locally in small towns, unless we work to make it visible," Judson said, "so it was important to us because we feel strongly that pride is most needed where it is least present."

[someone123]

Some pictures from Halifax pride:


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[someone123]

A couple video links to show what the atmosphere is like (complete with ultra loud retro pop songs):

[SteelTown]

Pavement markings are down in front of City Hall in advance of painting #HamOnt's first Rainbow crosswalks with colours of the Pride & Trans flags! The intersection of Sterling/Forsyth near @McMasterU will see this as well! Painting scheduled for Aug 1, weather dependent.







https://twitter.com/cityofhamilton

[SignalHillHiker]

Shangela went to Velvet after her show at Holy Heart Theatre and got Screeched In. We've now got Manila, Bianca, Tatianna, Detox, Alyssa Edwards, Kim Chi, and I forget the rest as honourary Newfoundlanders.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlsqtswnmxM/

[SteelTown]

Fred Eisenberger
https://twitter.com/FredEisenberger

[SignalHillHiker]

This year it seems that basically all of our hundreds of municipalities have held a Pride festival. Even the smallest ones I can think of, like Port Rexton:



And they're not half-assing it - it's not like St. John's, of course, but they have trivia nights, sports tournaments, film screenings, a parade, all of that. Even in these little towns.

This is at least 35% of the town:

Port Union and Port Rexton by R C, on Flickr

There's also a brewery, a cafe, and a smattering of houses on the hills. A lesbian couple owns the brewery.