Over breakfast, I got to hear about some of the Halloweek activities that happened this past weekend, like the storefront decorating contest and pumpkin carving competition. Though the winners of the latter haven't been announced, word on the street is that a local group of gay bears made a strong showing with a pumpkin carved to look like, what else, a bear. As legend as it, one burly gay was scraping out the sloppy innards of the giant pumpkin when a fellow gay happened by and shouted out, 'Deeper! Deeper!' That's like a deleted scene from "Queer as Folk."
Speaking of which, one of the first stops on today's city tour was Church Street, or the gay village, which often doubled for Pittsburgh on "QAF." I sipped on a vanilla latte from Timothy's-tastier than Starbucks, while Deb Parent from Rainbow High Vacations (www.conxity.com) regaled our group with stories of the city's rich gay history. She still remembers that watershed night back in the early 80's when the police raided several local bathhouses and the gay community was so outraged that 3,000 of them took to the streets to protest. It was like Stonewall in terrycloth.
We meet another Deb-radio host Deb Pearce when we visit the Church St. studios of ProudFM 103.9 (www.proudfm.com) a radio station that's all gay all the time. It's heard throughout the Toronto area and all over the world via on-line streaming. Deb told us that since the station launched earlier in the year, she's received no hate mail or homophobic prank calls. "Canadians are too polite," she explained. I love that.
