Destination Halifax wants you to think of its city as a queer-friendly destination.

Yesterday, the travel and tourism promoter posted a video to YouTube featuring a couple who had moved here from the UK and who speak highly of their new home.

It's adorable. And now I want a tandem bike.

Halifax Pride recently put out a press release to promote the upcoming OUTBid!, their annual auction to raise funds for Pride festivities.

Well, they pulled a pop culture doozy this time.

This year you can bid for a date with Big Brother Canada cast members Emmett Blois and Andrew Monaghan.

The event is hosted by Eureka Love, and the doors open at 6pm this Thursday down at the Harbourfront Room at Casino Nova Scotia. As well as the aforementioned dates, there are lots of other prizes available. Check out the Facebook event page for more details.

Although the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia is tomorrow, May 17, this evening will see a rally take place at Grand Parade.

This year's theme is Our Bodies, Our Health, Our Rights. Speakers at the rally, which kicks off at 6pm, include The Raging Grannies; Gabe Saulnier, from Healing Our Nations; and many more individuals and groups speaking on everything from trans rights to the gay blood ban.

For more information, check out the Facebook event page.

Keeping in the same vein, prideHealth and the Aids Coalition will present Health Impacts of Homophobia and Transphobia at the IWK Health Centre. It features a panel discussion with Jacqueline Gahagan, from Dalhousie School of Health and Human Performance; Ellen Taylor, with the Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Women's Health; Sheena Jamieson, from the YouthProject; and Chris Aucoin, with the AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia.

For more info, check out prideHealth's poster.

Rene Ross posted a heartfelt message on her Facebook wall last night. 

She will no longer operate as Stepping Stone's executive director.

She wrote:

"As many of you know, there have been significant challenges with funding that began last September and hopes for other funding did not come through. Moreover, the remaining staff are delivering critical programming that program users depend on for their health and safety. Those programs must be protected at all costs. I am hopeful that the savings the organization will accumulate by eliminating the ED position will allow the staff to carry on with their crucial work."

The news of Ross's departure was featured in this morning's radio and print media reports, including the Chronicle Herald and the CBC, the latter having reported that Ross quit, but it is unclear whether she quit or her position was eliminated due to the aforementioned budget cuts. Halifax Media Co-op's Hilary Beaumont posted a well-researched article noting that Stepping Stone has undergone major changes due to shifting and unsecured funding at the organization.  

As ED, Ross was very vocal and publicly minded, often appearing on local radio and television, as well as online, including a post for the HuffPo. In the meantime, Ross states that she "will continue to support the staff and program users and will provide any support required by the Board in this challenging time." She goes on to say, "Stepping Stone is my heart, the staff are the amongst the best I have ever worked with, and the program users have taught me more than I could ever dream of learning in a university or from a book – because those impacted by policy are the true experts for change."

In collaboration with the NSCAD Queer Collective, Halifax Pride recently put out a call for submissions as organizers are looking for the 2013 Halifax Pride visual artist. The artist's work will be exhibited during this summer’s Queer Acts Theatre Festival, be featured in the 2013 Pride Guide, as well as on tickets to various events during Halifax Pride. The deadline for submissions is May 15.

For eligibility criteria and more, check out Halifax Pride’s guidelines on their website.

As well as looking for artists, Halifax Pride is also looking for submissions for events for this year’s Pride Guide, as well as entries to the parade and booth for vendors and organizations at the Community Fair.

For more information on all this and more, check out Halifax Pride’s website.

There is a strange echo this morning.

One year ago today, I woke up to a radio telling me about a death in my city. I am not a callous person, but I am, unfortunately, somewhat used to hearing about violence. But this one unnerved me for some reason. Maybe it was because it was on a street that I frequent, that I used to live near and that my friends still live on.

And then I got up and went online and read both rumours and reports. People I knew were talking about mourning, but not saying for whom. The violence was hitting close to home.

And then I saw his name, everywhere.

Raymond.

One year later, once again, I see Raymond’s name all over my Facebook feed, in news stories, in blog posts. I hear his name on the radio once again, and on television. But this time, he is smiling.

One year later, as I write this, there are people on Gottingen Street remembering Raymond. They are trying to remember everything that happened before he died, because it’s too difficult to think of the how and the why. Because those things don’t make sense.

Right now, I would rather think of him in those ways. I would rather see Raymond’s smiling face than walk over and around where they found him. I would rather think of the good he did than the unfortunate way he died. I’d rather remember all the people who came out, the hundreds who sat silently in prayer and reflection, who spoke quietly and who sang loudly one year ago today.

I will remember good things. Because that’s what he would want.

Later that evening, hundreds of people would stand on the street where he was found, remembering who he was and what he stood for.

In light of the first anniversary of that event, Halifax Pride is asking Haligonians to remember Taavel by placing rainbow flags in their windows, an echo of last year’s happening.

“In organizing this we weren't looking to do something that was a media event, or an event at all really,” says Adam Reid, Halifax Pride's communications coordinator. “We want to give people a way to mark the day, express their grief, celebrate Raymond's life and hopefully find some comfort. People were so touched by the number of flags that sprung up around town last year following Raymond's life, we wanted to replicate that moment and the comfort it brought people.”

Reid notes that there will also be gatherings held at Menz Bar and The Company House between 5 and 7pm, “so people won't feel alone in their grief.” He expects that “many people will just want a hug and someone to talk to.”

When asked about the ongoing and much-delayed trial for Andre Denny, who stands as the accused in Taavel’s death, Reid says, “We're really just focused on celebrating and remembering the friend we lost.”

You can find out more at the Facebook event page.

Musician Ryan MacGrath may be living in Austria, but his music has a global audience. This time, it's heading down to Los Angeles, via the webseries "EastSiders."

The series tells the story of a couple dealing with infidelity and is the brainchild of Kit Williamson. Williamson went to Kickstarter for funding and found many a fan. So much so that he wrote about the immense outpouring of support at The Huffington Post.

One fan who really liked the series was MacGrath. "We contacted the writer/director to show support," he says via email. "I gave him some links to my music, and he really liked my stuff! A couple of months later, I got an email from him saying that he would like to use two songs for the show."

Kudos and congrats to MacGrath. The series is due to go live on logotv.com on April 23. 

After a fun-filled evening where a student group resurrected Halifax's queer history with a party at The Turret, the NSCAD Queer Collective is holding a roundtable discussion on safe, queer and trans spaces, as well as the challenges faced by those looking to create those spaces, from both internal and external forces. The event takes place this evening, Tuesday, April 2.

In an email to Down East, a spokesperson for the collective said, "The discussion will be a round table on the concepts of safe space, queer space and community accountability. Together we'll talk about the rhetoric of 'safe space' and what challenges we face as a community in trying to construct safer queer spaces. We have several local organizations lined up to speak about the work they do to create safer spaces for queer and trans* folk!"

An example of the internal challenges that these spaces face is represented in a historical project put on by the collective. During The Turret's heyday, local artist Rand Gaynor painted a mural, an image that certain members of the community took umbrage at, and covered it in graffiti. The NSCAD Queer Collective has brought back the mural, along with the graffiti. The mural's resurrection is also part of the Khyber's 125th anniversary.

For more information on the roundtable discussion, check out the Facebook event page. 

Halifax Pride's annual Fancy Gay Dress Party is almost here.

The event this year will feature Elizabeth Chiu as host for the evening, along with Ian Mullan and Quartet La Corde providing entertainment. The party is a fundraiser for Halifax Pride's upcoming events throughout the summer. For more info, check out the FB page.