You may not know his music, but if you follow queer news, then you have probably heard about Lil B. Why? Because the San Francisco rapper released an album called I’m Gay this summer. Subtitled I’m Happy, the rapper doesn’t identify as queer but does believe in fostering discussions about sexuality and identity within hip hop. Unfortunately, most of the dialogue around the album was focused on how Lil B received death threats because of its title.

Now, Lil B is focusing on another area that he wants people to talk about. This time it’s HIV and AIDS. He has released a new single called “I Got AIDS,” which calls to its audience to get tested. 

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This Wednesday there will be a discussion held at the Halifax infirmary discussing the results of a recent survey on gambling in the queer community. The event is put on by Out Alive. The information was culled from an online survey that took place between May 22 and August 31, as well as through in-person surveys done at Pride events in Halifax and Sydney.

You can find more information on the Facebook event page.

The relationship between hip hop and homosexuality is problematic at best. Yes, there are openly queer MCs, male, female and transgender. But it’s a lot easier to find MCs dissing “faggots.” Beefs have been had between artists who accuse each other of being queer. And let’s not even talk about certain artists who live their lives in open closets.

So it was interesting to see noted MC Fat Joe talking about gays in hip hop in a recent interview. (Although the video is listed as “Fat Joe Thinks the Gay Mafia Controls Hip Hop,” I think that’s a reductionist view of this interview.)

Joe puts it out simply by stating, “I’m pretty sure I’ve done songs with gay rappers.” He goes on to say, “Niggas is gay. There's millions of gay people in the world. Girls too . . . I'm a fan of 'Yo, I'm gay. The fuck.' Like, 2011 you gotta hide that you're gay? Like, you know what I'm saying, like, be real, like 'Yo I'm gay, what the fuck.' If you gay you gay. Like that's your preference, you know? Fuck it if the people don't like it."

Gawker posted this very quote on its website, declaring in the headline, “With One Interview, Fat Joe Makes Hip Hop Safe for Gays.” I don’t know about that, but this is definitely a step in a very interesting and enlightening direction.

 

Dear Scott,

I am writing this letter to thank you. No, we’ve never met, although I’m sure you and I are separated by less than two degrees of separation. C’mon, we’re gay and Canadian -- it can’t be that many degrees.

My thanks is for you doing what you do and saying what you say, no matter what. It takes a lot of courage (or balls) to do that. When I was a just a baby gay, living in rural Nova Scotia, I would often watch Kids in the Hall, and there you were, on television. An openly gay man doing everything from queening it up to butching it up, depending on how you were feeling. You showed me I wasn’t the only homo alone; although I wasn’t having parties -- I was voguing in my living room.

I know it hasn’t been easy, being openly gay and being unapologetic. I’m sure you’ve lost certain opportunities, or maybe didn’t get what you were promised. I recently read an interview with you, where you told bullied youth to “grow a pair.” I did grow a pair, and you were one of the reasons.

Seeing you on TV made me know that if I did, things would get better, because I made them better. The character that really made me feel okay to be gay was Buddy Cole. Although you took flak for the character, Buddy was unapologetic about who he was. I would tape episodes of KITH and rewatch Buddy as he would name off queer icons, which I would later look up to discover their secrets, looking for an identity hidden amongst all the references. My best friend and I would quote entire segments of his monologues to each other and laugh, even though we had heard the joke at least a dozen times. As a kid who knew he was gay (and was apparently rather flaming), Buddy taught me to grow a pair and tell guys to fuck off when they harassed me. So I would like to thank you for that.

Although I sincerely doubt that in the 20-some years since you were on the air no one else has said thank you for being unapologetic, I still will.

Thanks, Scott.

Your fan, Simon.

PS: I did meet Paul Bellini once in a gay bookstore in Halifax. He bought a first edition of Belle Poitrine by Patrick Dennis, a purchase I still envy him. A few years later, he sent me some of his video/film works. I guess we have one degree of seperation. Say hi to him for me, would ya?

Depending on your views, this could be a Halloween treat or nightmare.

The Advocate recently posted an article saying that 1990s comedy show In Living Color will return to television for two half-hour specials. I have to say that I was a big fan of the show. But during its original airing, one skit in particular polarized the show’s gay fans: “Men on Film,” a segment starring Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier as two gay men talking about movies, making double entendres and reviewing films with their famous “Two snaps up!”

 Although the article did not state whether the famed skit will be revived for the upcoming specials, I’m curious to know what readers think of the skits, both then and now.

If Halloween for kids is all about candy, it seems like Halloween for adults is just a reason to put on a pair of trashy fishnets, no matter if you’re queer or not.

Screenings of Rocky Horror pop up in cities all across North America, and everyone wants to be somebody else, often in the form of Frank-N-Furter, Magenta, Columbia or Rocky himself. Seems like nobody ever wants to be Riff Raff. (I always did.)

Tonight and all weekend long at Reflections Cabaret, the Dalhousie Theatre Society is putting on a live performance of the hit show/film. Performance times vary from night to night, so check out their Facebook page for more info.

If you’re looking for a screening on Friday night, University of King’s College queer student group, King’s Pride, is hosting a screening of the movie. For more info, check out their Facebook page.

For something completely different and a little less Halloween-y over the weekend, you can check out The Company House. They will be having a fundraiser for the In the Dead of Winter Festival, featuring such artists as Jenn Grant, Ryan MacGrath, Amelia Curran and more. You can buy tickets and find more info here.

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And to top it all off, a little gift for you, dear readers, as you head out toward your weekend. Jessica 6 is an electronic trio with vocalist Nomi Ruiz, formerly of Hercules and Love Affair. The track also features vocals by Antony Hegarty, whom Ruiz collaborated with on the H&LA track “You Belong.”

Have a great weekend!

Why does it always seem like everything happens on the same day? And it’s not even the weekend.

Today at Dalhousie, noted speaker and executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, Richard Elliott, will speak on the issue of criminal prosecution in cases of alleged nondisclosure of HIV status in Canada. You can find out more info here. The lecture takes place from noon until 1:30pm at the Weldon Law Building in Halifax, 6061 University Ave in Room 207. This is a topic that Xtra has covered at length, and continues to do so.

Nineteen years ago today, the Supreme Court of Canada made a decision that changed the lives of many closeted service members. It ruled that gays and lesbians have the right to serve openly in the forces, after Michelle Douglas challenged her dismissal from the forces and won. To celebrate, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic will offer free admission to its Hello Sailor exhibit and will have guest speaker Frank Letourneau on hand. Letourneau was discharged under the same regulations and will talk about his experiences.

In other news, have you read this? It’s an article about the history of Pink Triangle Press.

You really, really should.

Attention, all queens, queers and former denizens of the Continental Baths:

Bette Midler is auctioning off some of her things.

You can thank me later, or bitch me out because you are now broke.

 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

#culturalstereotypingnowfulfilled

 

It's amazing what will pop up on your dashboard.

Screen grab from The Daily Beast.

Andrew Sullivan, a noted political commentator, is often credited as being both openly gay and openly Catholic. These two adjectives may be perceived by both queer and non-queer audiences (not to mention audiences of faith and those who are without religious beliefs) as being at odds with each other. But in this video, Sullivan tries to clear the air and explain why and who he is.

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And now for something completely different:

Duck Sauce, the brains behind the über-hyped sampladelic club track "Barbra Streisand" have just come out with a new video for their latest release, "Big Bad Wolf," which gives a distinctively different context to the term "dick head."

 

Click on image to view the video.

Duck Sauce is composed of Montrealer A-Trak and Armand Van Helden. Van Helden is best known for dancefloor bangers such as "The Funk Phenomena" and remixes of work by such artists as Tori Amos and Sneaker Pimps (for which he is blamed for popularizing speed garage, a genre that died as quickly as it rose).
Enjoy this NSFW treat.

Over the weekend, I had a vision. It was dressed in glittery silver pumps, a sequined gown and a wig that was a foot high. My vision, a talented young drag performer, was getting ready to go on stage. She was well put together, her makeup flawless, her wig properly pouffed and her manners refined and rehearsed. While her drag momma was helping her put on her eyelashes (she was wearing special contacts and was having a hard time doing detailed work), I told her she looked like a young Ronnie Spector.

“Who’s that?”

My vision soon became blurred.

I asked her a series of questions: Do you know who Ethel Merman is? Dusty Springfield? Nope. No. I felt a little at odds. “Where is your sense of history,” I said. She admitted her ignorance but vindicated herself when I mentioned that Spector had sung with the Ronettes. “Didn’t they sing ‘Be My Baby,’” she asked. She joked with me when I asked her if she knew who Etta James was, saying, “Didn’t Beyoncé play her in a movie?” She winked at me.

Her momma looked at me and rolled her eyes. “I’ve tried,” she said. Her momma and I went on to talk about Carol Channing’s raspberries, Merman’s heinously bad disco record (and how we both loved it) and Stevie Nicks’s bleat-iful voice.

How could a performer not know who paved the way for her? I’ve always made a point of digging deeper, digging back, no matter what the subject. From my background in journalism and researching the history of a person or an event, to crate-digging in record stores, looking for the links from my favourite house track, to a disco backbeat, to the funk and soul records that came before it (and so on, and so on, and so on).

I shrugged it off and went back to what I was doing. I thought about my beautiful up-and-comer. There was no denying the talent that this performer has. She does a better Amy Winehouse than Winehouse could do herself. And then she came on stage, performing a ridiculously campy and fun number to a song I didn’t know.

It was then it donned on me, that maybe because I was stuck in the past, I couldn’t see the future. History is made of consecutive presents. Who am I to say who will and will not be the next gay icon? Who is to say who is and is not worthy of drag treatment? Not me. I wasn’t the one on stage, channelling heartache, camp and drama for the world to behold. She was.

So I give it up to that bejewelled and brazenly coiffed diva-in-training. I’ll make you a deal. You show me the future, and I’ll show you the past. Deal?

This week in Halifax is the Halifax Pop Explosion. There are two shows that I really want to attend, and they couldn’t be any different.

The first is a DJ set by Juan MacLean. The second is a live performance by Fucked Up.

Juan MacLean, aka The Juan MacLean, aka John MacLean, is a musician, producer, DJ and singer/songwriter who started his career in post-hardcore band Six Finger Satellite. After the group disbanded, MacLean went on to record electronic music under the moniker of Juan MacLean, his efforts released by DFA Records. MacLean’s anthemic “Happy House” is a cosmic love binge made for dancefloors.

MacLean is also well recognized as a DJ in his own right, having recently released a mix CD on connoisseur label !K7’s DJ-Kicks series. He also recently released a 12-inch via DFA under the name of Peach Melba, the track being a love song to glitzy Chicago house.

*

The other upcoming HPX 2011 performance that has me excited can be summed up in a simple image:

Fucked Up is a Toronto-based hardcore band, fronted by one Damian Abraham, aka Pink Eyes, aka Father Damian. The band is known for its aggressive tendencies, both in its music and its live performances, where Abraham is known to strip down to next to nothing and bash beer bottles on his head.

Harder-edged music hasn’t been this interesting since Iggy Pop was covering himself with broken glass.

But my admiration of Abraham is less about his music and more about his persona off the stage. Sure, I’m looking forward to the possibility of dropped trousers, but Abraham has made a name for himself as an intelligent and articulate man who has a degree in gender studies and has commented on Fox News. He’s even been known to appear with kid-friendly phenom Yo Gabba Gabba. Abraham is also the current host of MuchMusic’s The Wedge, where his honest enthusiasm for his interview subjects and “aw shucks” self-effacing quality is in large supply.

We, as a music-loving audience, are better for it.

Fucked Up performs an all-ages show at The Pavilion, as well as a 19-plus show at The Palace on Saturday, Oct 22. The Juan MacLean plays at The Palace on Friday, Oct 21.
Check out the HPX schedule for more info.