In the latest issue of fab magazine, Matt Thomas talks with Broadway, film and television star Cheyenne Jackson about making it big in New York without keeping it straight. An excerpt from that piece:

"The way I came to know about theatre was through yard sales. I was always going to them and buying cast albums for shows like Annie. I wanted to be the first boy to play Annie, that was my dream," recalls 34-year-old triple threat Cheyenne Jackson, flashing a dashing smile. Since moving to New York eight years ago, Jackson has carved out a career that rivals those of the show business icons he grew up admiring. His classic good looks, crooner’s baritone and leading-man screen presence have made him a casting agent’s wet dream — an achievement he never dreamed possible as a choirboy in northern Idaho....

Jackson waited until he was 19 to come out to his religious family, including his brother, a preacher once featured on the 700 Club. He describes the process as "terrible" and notes it included a suggestion he enroll in an ex-gay program.

"The idea of the ex-gay movement as a philosophy is one thing, but the comedic side of me thinks 20 guys staying in cabins in the woods, all trying not to be gay…. That's a Sean Cody movie," jokes Jackson. (read the full interview at fabmagazine.com)

Look behind the scenes of the cover shoot (photographed by Mike Ruiz), and watch Jackson dish about his favourite things to do in NYC: 

Prolific artist and gay pioneer Peter Flinsch died March 30 in Montreal. He was 90.

“He marched at the Nuremberg Rally, met Hitler twice, threw a party for Jean Cocteau, co-founded the Vancouver Ballet and experienced the birth of Montreal’s gay community,” writes Toronto playwright Alistair Newton, in a profile of Flinsch in the current issue of Xtra. “He has been a theatre designer, visual artist and proud witness to gay history in the 20th century.”

Read another short bio on Flinsch and see a short video here.

 More to follow soon. 

Two women were kicked out of Waterloo's Café 1842 at the Huether Hotel on March 29. Why? They exchanged a kiss. 

A note posted on Facebook explains how university student Jenny Kirby and her girlfriend were asked to leave:

"Tonight, as we were getting ready to leave, my girlfriend and I exchanged a short kiss (no tongues I swear!) and we heard her [the café owner] exclaim "What's going on here!" and walk over to us and angrily say, "Stop that. That's enough. This is not the place for that."

"She was so loud that the whole café stopped and stared. One man was wearing a bathrobe (no pants) and actually said, "So it's ok for me to wear a bathrobe?" Of course, she had no response and quickly disappeared, but she made it clear that we (dirty lesbians) were not welcome. In the past, I have been in there with ex boyfriends and we have engaged in much more physical activity than just an innocent kiss, so I know that this is not just about people in her café kissing. It's a "gay" problem..." 

Wilfrid Laurier University's TheCord.ca spoke to the owner:

Owner of Huether Hotel Sonia Adlys saw the situation a little differently.

"I'm walking up to the café, standing beside the dessert fridge, and I see two young girls necking. I was hoping it would stop, but it didn't," said Adlys.

"We have senior people, families, we're a family restaurant. I walked up to them, yes I was maybe a little bit loud, and I said "excuse me, can you please leave?

"Whether it had been two males, a male and a female or two females, I don't want to look at that. It makes me uncomfortable," said Adlys.

"I don't care who she was with, it's not appropriate in a family restaurant." (read more at TheCord.ca)

Gay kissing! In public! Think of the seniors! THINK OF THE CHILDREN!  

In protest, more than 900 people have joined a Facebook page since it was created on Tuesday: Taking Action Against Homophobia in Waterloo Region. There are rumblings of a boycott or kiss-in.

My two cents: go with a kiss-in, rather than a boycott. One of the first stories I covered for Xtra was a similar incident in Ottawa in 2007, when two men were asked to stop kissing at a restaurant. Ottawa queers organized a kiss-in at the restaurant, and a day later, the gay couple received an apology from the owner. Watch the guys talk about what happened, and read more about the 2007 Ottawa kiss-in:

(As an aside... that Ottawa restaurant closed not long after.)

"Anti-porn feminists battle lezzie sluts before top court," we reported, 10 years ago this spring. At the time, Little Sister's, a gay Vancouver bookstore was making its case before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Little Sister's was the subject of ongoing harassment by Canada Customs (now the Canada Border Services Agency), with books regularly seized and shredded at the border.

Photo by Shawn Scallen

The case was argued by Little Sister's, it's lawyer, Joe Arvay, and interveners including Cynthia Petersen (pictured above at the Supreme Court in March of 2000) for Equality of Gays and Lesbians Everywhere, as Egale Canada was then known.

Little Sister's won, but its victory was bittersweet. Border guards continue to hold gay material, most recently three films destined for the Inside Out Film Festival.

The headline poked fun at Equality Now's Janine Benedet, who read a gay rape scene into the record during the case. Equality Now, US academic Catharine MacKinnon and others argued at the time that porn is sick and damaging, rather than a healthy, fun part of many people's sexual lives.

— Xtra staff

Read more:

• Little Sister's: 25 years of determination
  

Singer Ricky Martin came out today, in a statement posted to his website: 

A few months ago I decided to write my memoirs, a project I knew was going to bring me closer to an amazing turning point in my life. From the moment I wrote the first phrase I was sure the book was the tool that was going to help me free myself from things I was carrying within me for a long time. Things that were too heavy for me to keep inside. Writing this account of my life, I got very close to my truth. And this is something worth celebrating.

For many years, there has been only one place where I am in touch with my emotions fearlessly and that's the stage. Being on stage fills my soul in many ways, almost completely. It's my vice. The music, the lights and the roar of the audience are elements that make me feel capable of anything. This rush of adrenaline is incredibly addictive.  I don't ever want to stop feeling these emotions. But it is serenity that brings me to where I'm at right now. An amazing emotional place of comprehension, reflection and enlightenment. At this moment I'm feeling the same freedom I usually feel only on stage, without a doubt, I need to share.

Many people told me: "Ricky it's not important," "it's not worth it," "all the years you've worked and everything you've built will collapse," "many people in the world are not ready to accept your truth, your reality, your nature." Because all this advice came from people who I love dearly, I decided to move on with my life not sharing with the world my entire truth. Allowing myself to be seduced by fear and insecurity became a self-fulfilling prophecy of sabotage. Today I take full responsibility for my decisions and my actions.

If someone asked me today, "Ricky, what are you afraid of?" I would answer, "the blood that runs through the streets of countries at war... child slavery, terrorism... the cynicism of some people in positions of power, the misinterpretation of faith." But fear of my truth? Not at all! On the contrary, it fills me with strength and courage. This is just what I need especially now that I am the father of two beautiful boys that are so full of light and who with their outlook teach me new things every day. To keep living as I did up until today would be to indirectly diminish the glow that my kids were born with. Enough is enough. This has to change. This was not supposed to happen 5 or 10 years ago, it is supposed to happen now. Today is my day, this is my time, and this is my moment.

These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn't even know existed.

What will happen from now on? It doesn't matter. I can only focus on what's happening to me in this moment. The word "happiness" takes on a new meaning for me as of today. It has been a very intense process. Every word that I write in this letter is born out of love, acceptance, detachment and real contentment. Writing this is a solid step towards my inner peace and a vital part of my evolution.

I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.