About Magazine June 2007 Issue
(About is available in hard copy in Toronto, Buffalo and surrounding metro areas, I scoff at the idea of another gay Toronto scene magazine, thinking it would only cover the Church and Wellesley village. It has been around several months now and one of the regular columnist (Bryen Dunn) covers news and reviews from the queer west end of the city. Dunn also writes about, movies, festivals and the music industry.
In the June issue P13, under the title: A Proud Challange, freelance writer Heather O'Connor writes about Pride celebrations in Buffalo N.Y., Toronto, Hamilton, Ontario and surprisingly the Queer West Fest, which isn't a Pride event, it just happens to be taking place during Pride week in Toronto.
O'Connor says "Buffalo, the Hamilton Pride Festival and the Queer West Fest have spent the greater part of this past year planning and organizing their 2007 events. The difference is they have to work primarily without the funding and sponsorship from huge corporate donors. Whether this be by choice or by scale, it means they must face the challenge of finding their own means to pull off their events, looking to local business owners and relying mainly on volunteers. That makes them truly community affairs. Throughout the year the gay and lesbian communities in Buffalo, Hamilton and Queer West support the gay friendly businesses and establishments in each of their Respective neighbourhoods or cities. Pride allows the businesses a chance to repay the community by offering their space, services, donations and sponsorship. It is this giveand- take relationship that helps bring together the entire community as a whole."
O'Conner closes her story with a kudo to the Toronto's new west end queer community.
"Toronto has joined the list of international cities that boast more than one “gay village.” The Queen Street West area of Toronto extending between Bathurst and Roncesvalles has had a growing gay presence over the past years and it has now been dubbed Queer West Village. This year, the community is set to launch its first week-long Queer West Fest, June 15-22 - overlapping with a significant chunk of the week-long Toronto Pride event. For Queer West and Toronto, 2007 marks the debut of what will hopefully be an annual week of pride celebrations for the west end of the city."
Links: The full PDF version of Heather O'Connor About magazine June story on Page 13, is now available online
Queer West Fest:: Toronto
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