Halifax Pride is done for the year.

There were events, discussions and round tables, parties both private and public, dancing, parades and protests and a whole lot of queers in this town.

It has been estimated that close to 100,000 people watched the parade on Saturday. Those people lined the streets to watch, they walked the streets, they partied on the Garrison Grounds.

But I'd like to talk about the unofficial guardian angel of pride: Mr Raymond Taavel.

When Raymond was alive, you would see him everywhere during Pride week. He'd ask you how you were, what you thought, all with a keen and eagre smile. This year was no different. Posters emblazoned with Taavel's face could be seen throughout the city, in shop windows, in people's homes and even on street poles. It was like Raymond never left; he was still here, smiling and beaming pride over the festivities.

It was lovely to see you, Raymond. I hope to see you soon again.

So much to see, so much to do this weekend.

Start your night off right with a dance at the Garrison Grounds; $5 at the door. Shake your shimmy under the stars.

Saturday, of course is the parade, with expectations of as many as 100,000 spectators and 111 floats in this year's event. There will also be fireworks that night at 10 o'clock, so find a good spot for watching. Maybe up on the hill?

And of course, there are multiple house parties, shindigs at the local watering holes and down at the Garrison, there is the ever-popular Wet Spot.

And as this is Friday, ie Office Dance Party day, a special something I have not been able to get out of my head for the past week. And now, with an official video! So you can kiki it up with all your friends.

Enjoy the weekend!

After a few days of Open Letters about Pride, I thought it might be nice to take a little break and give you a mini playlist of pride-filled tunes, all of which are made for dancing, and maybe a little bit of ballroom posing.

First and foremost, a little disco:

Loleatta Holloway's "Love Sensation" is probably one of the greatest records to be put out by Salsoul Records, arguably the most prolific and important disco label out there. The record is full of show-stopping shouting, but since the record's release, it has been sampled by countless house DJs, and even Marky Mark hit it up for a great sample or two. A classic, made for walking and prancing.

Up in the '80s, Malcolm McLaren put out "Deep in Vogue," the first record to really break into the whole fad of voguing.

The original video, which you can see here, featured the legendary New York ball-scene maestro Willi Ninja doing what he did best: strike a pose.

Speaking of voguing and the ball scene, there were some records that came out in the early '90s that were tailor made for it. Masters at Work's "The Ha Dance" is one of those records. Played on a big system, it challenges you NOT to duck walk across the floor.

On a more contemporary tip, queers still rule the dancefloor, but the beats are a little phatter, a little more on the R&B and hip-hop tip. Azealia Bank's "212," which was released under a year ago, is still a great record. "I guess that cunt gettin' eaten" indeed.

One of Azealia's fave records of the past year (she played it when she DJed at a Mugler fashion show and even created her own version for a mixtape) is Zebra Katz's "Ima Read," a flashback to those ballroom floor records of the '90s, only this time the 808 is punching out harder than perhaps ever before.

Strut your stuff, Halifax.

Day three of the Letters of Pride Open Letters series  

The first time I met Sylvester I was just a baby gay. A friend of mine had somehow finagled a satellite dish that broadcast a signal from a public access signal in San Francisco. The show he was fond of was called Lavender Lounge, a very queer and low-budget version of American Bandstand, with dancers and a kooky host. The particular episode he wanted to show me was a tribute to Sylvester, featuring rare concert footage and live performances from the '70s.

I had heard "Do You Wanna Funk" for the first time in Sandra Berhard's "Without You I'm Nothing" but didn't clue in to the significance of the song, let alone how much of a game changer Sylvester was in the world of disco, dance and pop music.

If you'll permit me to mythologize for a moment, I can imagine that when Sylvester came out of the womb, his wail was probably a musical one. The young man became a gospel wunderkind at a tender age, and at 16 he moved to San Francisco, a time he recalled as the true beginnings of his life. Sylvester became part of the Cockettes and performed with them at a few of their shows. But it was in the late 1970s that his career really took off with the release of Steps II, an album that featured "Dance (Disco Heat)" and the disco anthem "You Make Me Feel Mighty Real." It was also at this time that he met producer and remixer Patrick Cowley. This was a musical union made in disco heaven.

Sylvester matched his previous success with "Do You Wanna Funk," another track recorded with Cowley.

It has been argued that it was that record that sparked the commercial and artistic fire that would become hi-NRG music, a sound that has its roots in San Francisco.

I remember watching this man, stunned by the voice that came out of him and equally stunned by the fact that here was a black man in drag, on television, and that this performance had taken place in the '70s. That a man in drag could rule the charts was unbelievable to me (however much I respected and admired it). It would take 15 years for RuPaul to do the same thing in the 1990s.

And as much as Sylvester was known for his strong performances on dance and disco records, it was how strongly they were steeped in gospel tradition that made them shine. His songs were gospel revivals brought to life in a club, moments of reverential ecstasy amidst the insanity of a dancefloor. Do yourself a favour: find a copy of Steps II. Dance to the disco beats but then stop and listen to the short reprise of "You Make Me Feel" at the end of the album. It's probably one of the greatest and most subdued performances of his career, but it is also, perhaps, his most stellar.

***

If you're wondering what to do for today's Pride events, check out the Funny HaHa Funny Queer show at the Atlantica Hotel. Show starts at 8pm and is $5 at the door.

If you're looking for something a little more sensual, Hot Times is putting on an event as SeaDogs. This event is for women, transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, non-binary, genderfuck, genderfluid, bi-gender, trans women, trans men, third gender, agender and further gender expressions. See Hot Time's Wordpress for more deets.  

 

Day two of the Letters of Pride Open Letters series

Dear Beth Ditto,

Can I have a hug?

I'm not asking because I'm sad or in need of comfort. In fact, quite the opposite. I'd like to give you a hug so that maybe you can catch a glimpse of what you provide for so many people: comfort.

The comfort you provide comes from all sorts of places. It comes from your voice, when you sing, when you yell, when you pronounce everything from lyrics to slogans to quips to rabble-rousing (because that's who we are as your fans, the rabble rousers of the world) and all those things that come out of your mouth. They are comforting because they are honest. Even when you're singing someone else's songs, you make them your own and you deliver them to us, your audience, in a way we didn't think possible.

Oh, that voice. Equal parts hillbilly country, deep Southern soul, punk rock angst and pop presence, it is a thing of beauty. "Coal to Diamonds" recalls Janis Joplin's "To Love Somebody" in its absolutely harrowing desire and want. "Standing in the Way of Control" is anthemic not just because of its subject or its throbbing and driving beat but because of the absolute insane energy that drives itself out of your body, straight into ours.

You are a comfort because of the way you present yourself. We read reports of you stripping off your clothes onstage, making jokes about how it’s "too hot" to stay clothed. But you are too hot. Hot as in sexy. Sexy because you obviously love your body. You embrace it. Your confidence reads not as a reaction, but as an embrace of self-love and acceptance. It's like you eschew any possible concept that anyone could not love their bodies, themselves. You make it seem illogical to do so.

You are a comfort because of yourself. I won't assume to think that you aren't capable of having bad days, shitty moments. I won't assume that you're not hurt, offended or at the least miffed at negative criticism or snide remarks made about your art, your opinions or your person. But if I can make an assumption about you and how you deal with such things, it's that you persevere. And that is the greatest comfort of all.

So yeah, if I'd like to give you a hug, it's not because I want one for myself, but because I think you deserve one for being who you are and for giving others room to do the same.

- S.

***

Tuesday is a learning day for Pride, with two great lectures.

NSRAP presents The State of Pride: Roots & Grassroots NSRAP's annual timeOut lecture series returns. Pride celebrations across Canada in 2012 might look unrecognizable to the participants in the original Pride marches. As Pride celebrations grow in size and acceptance, are they continuing to serve our communities’ needs? A panel of activists will discuss. Location: Spring Garden Rd Memorial Library, basement meeting room at noon.

Take Pride in Art: Nudity, Heroism and Lust: The Idealised Body and the Desiring Gaze at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Join the AGNS for a lecture presentation by long-time gay activitist Robin Metcalfe, director/curator of Saint Mary's University Art Gallery, as he traces the history of how the human body has been represented. Robin dishes the dirt from 7pm until 8.

 

For the week of Halifax Pride, I will be publishing segmented posts. The first will be a selection of Open Letters to various queer and queer-friendly artists/authors/personalities that I have or do admire. I would like to reflect and thank some of the various individuals who have made their mark on me. The second part of the postings will be listing of various events happening throughout Halifax.

To Mister White.

Sitting in my outbox is a letter addressed to you. It's been sitting there for over six months: a collection of notes and reminders of things to say, personal recollections and a compliment or three.

But I recently learned that you had suffered a stroke. This spurred me on to write this open letter, to thank you.

When I was fifteen years old, I smuggled a copy of one of yours books into my house. It was a paperback edition of A Boy's Own Story and The Beautiful Room Is Empty, with a big pink triangle on the spine. I had it sent to a friend’s house so that my parents wouldn’t open my mail. This is not to say that my parents would do such thing, but teenage boys are paranoid creatures.

Edmund White

That book was the first truly “gay” thing I ever owned, and I cherished it. It was like I gave myself permission to say it outloud, even if only to myself. That book was an object of desire.

I remember looking at it on my nightstand, wondering if my parents or sister would notice it, decipher the secrets that were hinted at by the pink triangle printed on the spine.

I would pull it out at night and read it, hoping to decipher the secrets of gay male sexuality. Like you, I was a bookish kid, precocious for his age (read: pretentious) and had a tendency to seek out literary reflections. You found "Death In Venice", and I found you. You studied French, I speak it fluently. The character of you, the struggles, the angst, the beauty of it all, were characteristics I understood and - perhaps in a bit of teenage angst - admired.

That book came into my house during the early 90s. AIDS was a big, scary word, drilled into my head by scared-straight big media, high school teachers, and the death of Freddie Mercury. But those two books were written and set before the onset of the-disease-that would-be-named. Your books gave me insight into a collective past, filtered through prose.

I am now near the age that you were when you started writing "A Boys Own Story". I don't see the world in the way I used to when I first read it, and perhaps not in the way you described it. But I wouldn't have gotten to this place in my life without having been given access to your past.

I wish you a full and speedy recovery,

S.

P.S. - In 1996, a friend of mine gave me a copy of "The Farewell Symphony". He had it signed by you, to me. It is still a treasured possession. A small link to you that I am grateful for.

***

Don’t know what to do today on the first Monday of Halifax Pride?

How about Hissy Fit? It’s kind of an annual tradition where all kinds of Halifax bands get together and get dressed in drag and perform their own tunes. No lip syncing here, this is rock’n’roll drag baby. For more info, click here.

The YouthProject's Pride Week Kick-Off BBQ is open to all LGBTQ youth and their allies ages 25 and under. It's free, starts at 5:30 and it's at The Youth Project, 2281 Brunswick Street in Halifax.

As mentioned in a previous post, PrideHealth is presenting it's Let’s Talk Trans Talk! at Hugh Bell Lecture Hall, Nova Scotia Hospital. Transgender, Transsexual, Two Spirited, Gender Queer, Gender Variant, Gender Identity, Cis Gender, Gender Binary, Gender Dysphoria…what do these terms mean and how do they relate to providing person-centred health?  For more info, contact Cybelle Rieber at 473‐1433 or prideHealth@cdha.nshealth.ca. And it's free!

On the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race, Tyra Sanchez came out on top.

Now, Sanchez is the subject of a documentary, focusing on their life as a performer and father. The film, entitled Drag Dad, is currently in production and is looking for funds via Kickstarter.

There is also a website to help promote the film, and Ms Ru herself has even tweeted about it to lend her support. The film-in-progress has already raised more than $9,000 of the $16,000 needed. We here at Down East wish them all the luck in the world and can't wait to see the finished product.

Stephen Beatty, the queer transgender son of Annette Bening and Warren Beatty, is an articulate and rapid-fire speaker.

The blogger from Super Mattachine and OP was recently asked to answer a few questions for the website WeHappyTrans. When asked who some of his heroes are, he mentions Truman Capote and Marsha P Johnson. 

The video has received some attention from The Advocate and even Entertainment Tonight. If anything, I hope the video provides people with an insight into the mind of an intelligent and articulate activist. 

Check out the video below.

 

After a recent surge of interest in discussions around homosexuality (and homophobia) in hip hop -- Frank Ocean's coming out and Murs' recent video are good examples -- Nerve created a time-line of the topic, from the 1980s to today. 

- Two Halifax men had their same-sex engagement announced in a local paper. But they're not engaged, and they're not gay. CTV looks into it.

- Here in Halifax hospitals, a new sign has been popping up on gender-neutral washrooms throughout the health authority. But not everyone thinks it's a good solution to creating safe spaces for transgender individuals. The Chronicle Herald talks with prideHealth about it, the CBC gets one person to talk about their issue with it, and Open File takes a look.

Image via OpenFile Halifax

- Jenna Talackova, the transgender beauty queen who made headlines when she tried (successfully) to enter the Miss Universe Canada pageant, will be the parade marshal for this year's Vancouver Pride. 

- And last but certainly not least, Billboard reports that due to a pretty awesome, previously posted and Jake Shears-approved fan-made video for the Scissor Sisters' song "Let's Have a Kiki," sales are up for the track, even though it's technically not a single. But then again, it is a great track, and even Gawker talks about how it could be considered a gay anthem. 

Pride in Halifax isn't just a bunch of parties, although those are rather fun. It also includes public presentations, lectures and discussions about queer identity, past, present and future. Here are a few you may want to check out.

prideHealth is putting on a series of lectures and presentations during Halifax Pride Week. Cybelle Rieber, from prideHealth, believes that Pride is a perfect time to “provide opportunities for learning and discussion about the state of healthcare for our community and the needs of the community. It is important to both Capital Health and the IWK to engage with the Pride community in a number of ways, and these sessions are really about building capacity.”

The presentations include talks on such subjects as healthcare and queer women; the screening of a documentary called Gen Silent, about the issues that queer seniors face in long-term care; as well as a discussion of transgender issues and accessing healthcare. For more information, check out prideHealth's website.

NSRAP is also putting on its annual lecture series, called timeOUT. Topics range from the grassroots history of Pride in Halifax to the Canadian Charter of Rights And Freedoms' 30th anniversary.

"The lecture series is NSRAP's major contribution to the Pride events in Halifax,” says NSRAP’s Kevin Kindred. “We do it to make sure there's a good forum to learn more about the social and political issues of interest to the community -- we see Pride as a time for discussion and contemplation, as well as celebration. Every year we try to offer a variety, and this year is no exception. Our topics range from aboriginal issues, to healthcare, to the Charter, to the nature of Pride itself. We hope there's something there for everyone."

You can find out more by contacting NSRAP.