It’s been more than a year since Halifax’s last bar dedicated to the 2SLGBTQ+ community, Menz & Mollyz, announced its doors were closing for good. The north end gem took to its Facebook page last April to publicize its shuttering, and Halifax has been lacking in queer-centered spaces ever since. For 15 years, Menz & […]
2SLGBTQ+
Posted inNews + Opinion
The Youth Project is offering free gender-affirming garments to young Nova Scotians
Thanks to the effects of COVID-19, queer youth in Nova Scotia are more isolated than ever before, potentially cut off from support systems or school friends and forced to spend more time with families who aren’t always accepting. But thankfully, there are still people working to provide 2SLGBTQ+ youth with support, education and resources. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
A first-of-its-kind queer STEM conference is in Halifax this weekend
B eing a trans engineering student at Dalhousie’s Sexton campus hasn’t been an easy experience for Maxxim Vigneau. “It was scary to come out in engineering. To have that environment of predominantly straight, cis, white males was very intimidating,” says the 20-year-old. “I was scared that I was going to be ridiculed or judged.” While […]
Posted inArts + Music
Dolly Parton’s house
It all started when Richie Wilcox asked his musician pals to cover some Rufus Wainwright tunes at The Music Room on an empty Monday night during Pride. What once felt like a way to fill time during the festival quickly took root as an important tradition, with Heist’s annual Pride tribute—then called the Angels & […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
What 2SLGBTQ+ youth want
According to a new report, 70 percent of transgender youth in Canada have experienced sexual harassment. More than one-third of trans youth ages 14 to 18 have been physically threatened or injured in the past year. Twenty to 40 percent of homeless youth identify as 2SLGBTQ+. This comes from a recent report by Halifax group […]
Posted inArts + Music
Halifax, meet Hedwig
Just in time for Pride, Halifax audiences will have a chance to wig out and enjoy what Rolling Stone has dubbed “the best rock musical ever.” The Tony Award-winning Hedwig and the Angry Inch, written by John Cameron Mitchell with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask, follows the story of Hedwig Robinson, a genderqueer singer […]
Posted inArts + Music
Chanty Marostica’s uniting comedy
Chanty Marostica at Ha!ifax Comedy Fest LGBTQLMFAO w/Hal Sparks, Kyle Brownrigg, Andrew Johnston and more Friday, April 26, 8pm Casino Nova Scotia, 1983 Upper Water Street $30 The Nasty Show w/Drew Behm, Adam Delorey, Sophie Buddle and more Saturday, April 27, 8pm Casino Nova Scotia, 1983 Upper Water Street $35 Blending impressions with physical comedy, turning social […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Before the Parade to chronicle early LGBTQ+ activism in Halifax
An often overlooked chapter of Halifax’s history will be published next fall. Journalist Rebecca Rose is documenting the “narrative history of the foundations of Halifax’s queer community” in Before the Parade: Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Halifax from Nimbus Publishing. The book will focus on the city’s first generation of out lesbian, gay and bisexual elders, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Raymond Taavel to be memorialized with city park
A small park at the corner of Barrington and Inglis Streets is set to be renamed after Raymond Taavel, six years after the celebrated LGBTQ+ activist’s tragic death. Taavel was one of the city’s most prominent voices for gay rights—instrumental in bringing about HRM’s first public proclamation of Pride Week, raising the rainbow flag at […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Harassment complaint against Youth Project executive director unfounded, investigation concludes
A workplace harassment complaint made against Youth Project executive director Kate Shewan has been found by a third-party investigator to be without merit. The complaint was made against Shewan sometime in September, at which point the LGBTQ+ non-profit says it contracted lawyer Rebecca Saturley with Stewart McKelvey to look into the matter. A statement provided […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Gender reveal redux
Professionally, I never came out when I came out. I just disappeared. I couldn’t deal with it. For most of my career, coming out in any way would have demanded doing so very publicly. I held those kinds of jobs—advocate for people with disabilities, legislative researcher, assistant to a provincial cabinet minister, communications person for […]
Posted inArts + Music
Film review: Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Marielle Heller made one of the most striking debuts in recent memory with 2015’s The Diary of a Teenage Girl, the real and unflinching coming-of-age story of a California teen. It was tough, tender, funny and poignant—all qualities found here in her follow-up, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, though it’s toughness that dominates long before […]