News story - Toronto's EYE weekly January 22, 2004
by Denise Benson Toronto Queer DJ
It's official: the west end is Toronto's new queer Mecca. Though this proclamation -- currently being made with great vim and vigour in straight and gay media alike -- may amuse or annoy the thousands of us who've long lived and socialized primarily in the west end of town, it is worth exploring. And contextualizing.
Recording a history of any community's nightlife is difficult at best. The culture changes as frequently as the faces involved in it. That said, we would be remiss to see the west end as a trendy new playground for us queer folks. It's long been that.
When I came out in the late '80s, most of the nightlife I was interested in -- whether explicitly queer or wonderfully ambiguous -- took place on Queen West. Artists like Fifth Column, Beverly Bratty and The Nancy Sinatras brought us to venues including The Cameron House, Rivoli and Cabana Room. Loads of west-end dance clubs -- from "alternative" bars like The Silver Crown to the beat-fuelled Twilight Zone -- were thoroughly mixed and absolutely gay-friendly.
This continued through the '90s, with queer DJs and promoters choosing venues well outside of the gay village (i.e., Church and Wellesley). There are so many examples: my Dyke Nites at The Caribou, Claremont and Boom Boom Room, and super-mixed Bent weekly at Catch 22; the hedonistic Go Go Men; the jam-packed women's Thursdays at Zoo Bar; the Bovine's rowdy mix; and many more.
The late '80s through early '90s was a blatantly sexual, political and galvanizing time in Toronto queer-club history. We have primarily west-end venues to thank for allowing us to get away with so much more -- musically, artistically and, yes, sexually -- than we would have at most traditional lesbian and gay bars.
There's no question, however, that today's concentration of quality queer events and spaces in the west end -- kick-started, after a bit of a mid-'90s drought, by Will Munro's Vazaleen monthly -- is unprecedented. In addition to Munro's Vazaleen and Peroxide monthlies, there's the long-running Here Kitty Kitty women's weekly (Sundays at Ciao Edie); Shane Percy's Grapefruit Fridays and DJ Blackcat's Stylin' Saturdays (both at the Tequila Lounge); Smooch (Thursdays at Liquids Lounge); Big Primpin' (monthly at Stone's Place); Savour (monthly at Andy Poolhall); the new gay-friendly Boa nightclub; the forthcoming Miss Moneypenny's boys' night (launching Feb. 8 at The Mod Club); Juicy (monthly, including this Saturday, Jan. 24, at the El Mocambo); and still more.
"The queer community has so many subcultures that not all of us fit into Church Street," says DJ Sue Seto. "Also, a great deal of queers live in the west end, with Parkdale long known as 'the lesbian side of town.' It only makes sense for us to start up events that are closer to home."
With DJs Kiki, Holly and Violca, Seto launched the successful women's monthly, Juicy, last June. The mix of women dancing alongside groups of gay guys and straight folks to the Juicy blend of house, hip-hop, disco, new-wave and old-school is refreshing. Seto partially attributes this to their choosing the El Mo as a venue, explaining that it's "middle ground between the east gaybourhood and the west end."
"Middle ground" seems to be a common theme, particularly with many of us trying to produce and party at gay nights and venues that are far less defined than orientation.
"When I opened Ciao Edie, I wanted a place where I didn't have to split up from my friends; they'd go to straight bars, I'd go to gay bars. I wanted a place where everybody was comfortable," says co-owner Michael Sweenie, himself a veteran of mixed punk, rock and new-wave clubs, including Voodoo, Nuts & Bolts, The Crash & Burn and Larry's Hideaway.
"That's the whole philosophy behind the opening of Ciao and now Andy Poolhall: they're not gay, they're not straight, they're for everybody. I just think we host a lot of people who live in the west end and don't tend to go to Church Street."
"Initially, I was concerned to be doing something that I perceived as being so far outside of the gay village," he says. "I'd thought my challenge was going to be pulling people away from there. Wrong. It feels like the city is waking up from something. It's so great to see all of us doing our thing in the west end. It's very healthy."
Waking up? Yes, but also growing up. We've hit another expanded, energetic stage in queer clubbing, one that further allows us to be as integrated in our socializing as we are in our lives. I, for one, like the looks of these kids.
More information on the Queer West Village and GLBTQ community in West Tronto Ontario
http://gaywest.905host.net/
by Denise Benson Toronto Queer DJ
It's official: the west end is Toronto's new queer Mecca. Though this proclamation -- currently being made with great vim and vigour in straight and gay media alike -- may amuse or annoy the thousands of us who've long lived and socialized primarily in the west end of town, it is worth exploring. And contextualizing.
Recording a history of any community's nightlife is difficult at best. The culture changes as frequently as the faces involved in it. That said, we would be remiss to see the west end as a trendy new playground for us queer folks. It's long been that.
When I came out in the late '80s, most of the nightlife I was interested in -- whether explicitly queer or wonderfully ambiguous -- took place on Queen West. Artists like Fifth Column, Beverly Bratty and The Nancy Sinatras brought us to venues including The Cameron House, Rivoli and Cabana Room. Loads of west-end dance clubs -- from "alternative" bars like The Silver Crown to the beat-fuelled Twilight Zone -- were thoroughly mixed and absolutely gay-friendly.
This continued through the '90s, with queer DJs and promoters choosing venues well outside of the gay village (i.e., Church and Wellesley). There are so many examples: my Dyke Nites at The Caribou, Claremont and Boom Boom Room, and super-mixed Bent weekly at Catch 22; the hedonistic Go Go Men; the jam-packed women's Thursdays at Zoo Bar; the Bovine's rowdy mix; and many more.
The late '80s through early '90s was a blatantly sexual, political and galvanizing time in Toronto queer-club history. We have primarily west-end venues to thank for allowing us to get away with so much more -- musically, artistically and, yes, sexually -- than we would have at most traditional lesbian and gay bars.
There's no question, however, that today's concentration of quality queer events and spaces in the west end -- kick-started, after a bit of a mid-'90s drought, by Will Munro's Vazaleen monthly -- is unprecedented. In addition to Munro's Vazaleen and Peroxide monthlies, there's the long-running Here Kitty Kitty women's weekly (Sundays at Ciao Edie); Shane Percy's Grapefruit Fridays and DJ Blackcat's Stylin' Saturdays (both at the Tequila Lounge); Smooch (Thursdays at Liquids Lounge); Big Primpin' (monthly at Stone's Place); Savour (monthly at Andy Poolhall); the new gay-friendly Boa nightclub; the forthcoming Miss Moneypenny's boys' night (launching Feb. 8 at The Mod Club); Juicy (monthly, including this Saturday, Jan. 24, at the El Mocambo); and still more.
"The queer community has so many subcultures that not all of us fit into Church Street," says DJ Sue Seto. "Also, a great deal of queers live in the west end, with Parkdale long known as 'the lesbian side of town.' It only makes sense for us to start up events that are closer to home."
With DJs Kiki, Holly and Violca, Seto launched the successful women's monthly, Juicy, last June. The mix of women dancing alongside groups of gay guys and straight folks to the Juicy blend of house, hip-hop, disco, new-wave and old-school is refreshing. Seto partially attributes this to their choosing the El Mo as a venue, explaining that it's "middle ground between the east gaybourhood and the west end."
"Middle ground" seems to be a common theme, particularly with many of us trying to produce and party at gay nights and venues that are far less defined than orientation.
"When I opened Ciao Edie, I wanted a place where I didn't have to split up from my friends; they'd go to straight bars, I'd go to gay bars. I wanted a place where everybody was comfortable," says co-owner Michael Sweenie, himself a veteran of mixed punk, rock and new-wave clubs, including Voodoo, Nuts & Bolts, The Crash & Burn and Larry's Hideaway.
"That's the whole philosophy behind the opening of Ciao and now Andy Poolhall: they're not gay, they're not straight, they're for everybody. I just think we host a lot of people who live in the west end and don't tend to go to Church Street."
"Initially, I was concerned to be doing something that I perceived as being so far outside of the gay village," he says. "I'd thought my challenge was going to be pulling people away from there. Wrong. It feels like the city is waking up from something. It's so great to see all of us doing our thing in the west end. It's very healthy."
Waking up? Yes, but also growing up. We've hit another expanded, energetic stage in queer clubbing, one that further allows us to be as integrated in our socializing as we are in our lives. I, for one, like the looks of these kids.
More information on the Queer West Village and GLBTQ community in West Tronto Ontario
http://gaywest.905host.net/
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