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Church-Wellesley Village

Hi!

I don't go to gay-specific venues or events much but I'm curious as to where specific hangouts are for gay men outside of the village? Can someone please name a few places in the east- and west-end that have 'gay nights' or whatever it's? (I'm only talking about places outside of Church Street.)

Thanks! :)
 
Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
First of all, I absolutely detest the use of the word "queer" as an alternative to "gay". My dad once used that word and it made me wince. The word makes me think of nutty left-wing activists. I am not queer, I'm gay thank you very much.

And again, there's absolutely no truth to the idea that there's no young gays in the village. There may be fewer than in the olden days. But there's still tons of them.

As for the music at Buddies, it's great! It's pop! Music with words! That's what *I* want to hear when I go to a club.

I'm from Mississauga, and I have never been to any of the gay type places in the "west" end. I keep hearing about them, but no one I know really goes there regularly.

Personally, getting downtown is easier than getting to the west end (GO bus is an option and so is the subway). I'm not sure where these west end venues are, but if they're no on the subway, then they're probably too much trouble to get to.

But then maybe I'm just old. I'm 32 now. And I've been going to the village since I was 16. Christ, that's half my life!
Click to expand...

re: Queer and Gay


GAY

Restoration Hardware
Condo
Bespoke suits
BMW or like model
Insurance
Vacations
Nice shoes
The Pottery Barn
West Elm
Crate and Barrel
IPhone
Personal Trainer
Morton's Steak House
Castro ambivalent
Celine Dion
House Keeper
Psychotherapist
Solitary or lives with companion
Serta Perfect Sleeper
La Cornue's Grand Palais range
Marriage Equality
Oxford cloth


QUEER

Prius - if car ownership is an option
Bicycle
Vegetarian preferably Vegan
Kensington Market
NPD but preferably Marxist
Ripped jeans
Chuck Taylor
Bullet Belts
Homemade Hair Cuts
420
Occupy Movement
No insurance
Pro Castro
Pussy Riot,
Nokia
Workshops
Communal Living
Kale
Quinoa
Futon
Microwave
Marriage is a sell out
T-Shirt with spooky thought provoking graphic
 
Last edited:
Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
First of all, I absolutely detest the use of the word "queer" as an alternative to "gay". My dad once used that word and it made me wince. The word makes me think of nutty left-wing activists. I am not queer, I'm gay thank you very much.
Click to expand...

Hence the gay community taking ownership of the word. Same as fag. Fairy to a lesser extent. So if someone uses hateful, hurtful words, it doesn't hurt nearly as much because we own and use the words interchangeably. Example, two gay men shopping for a flat panel TV - Gay man #1 - "Do you think this screen is big enough?" Gay man #2 "You stupid [insert slur here], nothing can ever be big enough!".
 
CITY_LOVER said:
Hi!
I don't go to gay-specific venues or events much but I'm curious as to where specific hangouts are for gay men outside of the village? Can someone please name a few places in the east- and west-end that have 'gay nights' or whatever it's? (I'm only talking about places outside of Church Street.)
Thanks! :)
Click to expand...
East-End: The Old Nick (Danforth) and WAYLA (Leslieville)
West-End: The Beaver (West Queen West), The Hen House (Little Portugal) and The Steady (Bloorcourt)

Those would be the official ones, however much of the gay scene (particularly in the west-end) actually takes places in mixed venues or venues that have particular gay nights once a week/month. The Gladstone (West Queen West), The Boat (Kensington Market), Wrong Bar (Parkdale), Cold Tea (Kensington Market), Round (Kensington Market) are a few examples, but there are more.
 
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dt_toronto_geek said:
Hence the gay community taking ownership of the word. Same as fag. Fairy to a lesser extent. So if someone uses hateful, hurtful words, it doesn't hurt nearly as much because we own and use the words interchangeably. Example, two gay men shopping for a flat panel TV - Gay man #1 - "Do you think this screen is big enough?" Gay man #2 "You stupid [insert slur here], nothing can ever be big enough!".
Click to expand...


Sissy, fairy, fag, c--ksucker, queen, poof — I don't mind them if used by gay people. It's like the N-word: only black people can use it and only in certain context. I do hate 'queer', though. Lol.
 
Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
First of all, I absolutely detest the use of the word "queer" as an alternative to "gay". My dad once used that word and it made me wince. The word makes me think of nutty left-wing activists. I am not queer, I'm gay thank you very much.

And again, there's absolutely no truth to the idea that there's no young gays in the village. There may be fewer than in the olden days. But there's still tons of them.

As for the music at Buddies, it's great! It's pop! Music with words! That's what *I* want to hear when I go to a club.

I'm from Mississauga, and I have never been to any of the gay type places in the "west" end. I keep hearing about them, but no one I know really goes there regularly.

Personally, getting downtown is easier than getting to the west end (GO bus is an option and so is the subway). I'm not sure where these west end venues are, but if they're no on the subway, then they're probably too much trouble to get to.

But then maybe I'm just old. I'm 32 now. And I've been going to the village since I was 16. Christ, that's half my life!
Click to expand...

Sissy, fairy, fag, c--ksucker, queen, poof — I don't mind them if used by gay people. It's like the N-word: only black people can use it and only in certain context. I do hate 'queer', though. And I am very left-wing. ;)

Buddies for me is for 19-23 year olds dancing to Demi Levato, Rihananana, Britney post-Womanizer, Katy Perry, Katy Perry, Katy Perry, so I avoid it like the plague. I was going there when it was called Sissy's and they played pure pop with the show tunes and TV theme songs thrown in to make people (are you ready for this?) LAUGH! The last time I was there was a couple of years ago (birthday party) and felt like a chicken hawk. The bartendress remembered me and gave me a free drink which was really nice, but I knew then that my days at that venue with the kind of music they play was over for good. :(
 
Yeah, but it can still be pretty fun. I don't listen to any of that music, outside of dancing/singing to it drunk at Buddies 2-3 times/year.
 
Mystic Point said:
re: Queer and Gay


GAY

Restoration Hardware
Condo
Bespoke suits
BMW or like model
Insurance
Vacations
Nice shoes
The Pottery Barn
West Elm
Crate and Barrel
IPhone
Personal Trainer
Morton's Steak House
Castro ambivalent
Celine Dion
House Keeper
Psychotherapist
Solitary or lives with companion
Serta Perfect Sleeper
La Cornue's Grand Palais range
Marriage Equality
Oxford cloth


QUEER

Prius - if car ownership is an option
Bicycle
Vegetarian preferably Vegan
Kensington Market
NPD but preferably Marxist
Ripped jeans
Chuck Taylor
Bullet Belts
Homemade Hair Cuts
420
Occupy Movement
No insurance
Pro Castro
Pussy Riot,
Nokia
Workshops
Communal Living
Kale
Quinoa
Futon
Microwave
Marriage is a sell out
T-Shirt with spooky thought provoking graphic
Click to expand...

i love this! can i use this? (for personal, not professional reasons). I also think Quinoa and microwave should be removed from Queer, they have both fallen out of favour in the past little while.
 
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DTowner said:
Buddies for me is for 19-23 year olds dancing to Demi Levato, Rihananana, Britney post-Womanizer, Katy Perry, Katy Perry, Katy Perry, so I avoid it like the plague.
Click to expand...
The ironic thing is that Buddies was the Gay Village's 'alternative bar' for many years from the early 1990s to the the early 2000s. The closest comparison would be The Beaver now, but that doesn't really fit either. Anyway, it was the gay home for the goths, indie kids, ravers and whatnot. Certainly not the bubble gum pop crowd. I remember hearing Madonna there once around ~2001 and thinking "uh oh, this is about to change."
 
JasonParis said:
The ironic thing is that Buddies was the Gay Village's 'alternative bar' for many years from the early 1990s to the the early 2000s. The closest comparison would be The Beaver now, but that doesn't really fit either. Anyway, it was the gay home for the goths, indie kids, ravers and whatnot. Certainly not the bubble gum pop crowd. I remember hearing Madonna there once around ~2001 and thinking "uh oh, this is about to change."
Click to expand...

Hahaha. I remember going there (Sissy's) because they didn't play remixes but the regular version (which I've always preferred). They even played some Brit Pop (if requested) and non-single tracks — which for a gay club was pretty 'alternative'. Lol. But, tastes change and I'm glad that 'the kids' still have a place to go and dance (well, nowadays they pretty much just pose, twerk and text).

As for Fly, I only ever went there for Grapefruit. I love the venue for it's high ceilings (which makes breathing a lot easier) and places to go and just sit. To lose a venue like that in the gayrea is a loss no matter where the gays are hanging out now. But my dancing days are over (I remember the night it happened too! It was at Grapefruit — which I LOVED — and they kept on playing the kind of current pop I hate (see list above) and when a song came on that I liked, the floor cleared. Lol. I just looked at my friend and said "I'm done." Hahahaha.
 
Dandy Horse said:
i love this! can i use this? (for personal, not professional reasons). I also think Quinoa and microwave should be removed from Queer, they have both fallen out of favour in the past little while.
Click to expand...

Microwave? I don't get that one. Is having a microwave considered alternagay? Quinoa has definitely moved to 'gay' as it is more mainstream now. Lol.
 
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