Halifax Pride

Early on the morning of April 17, 2012, Raymond Taavel and a friend were leaving Menz Bar on Gottingen Street when Taavel’s friend was suddenly attacked and thrown against the building. Raymond intervened, at which point he was thrown to the sidewalk and beaten to death. He was 49. That evening, a thousand people congregated […]

Young Kaii From Providence, Rhode Island, rising hip-hop star Young Kaii is taking steps to change the rap game. As a woman in a male-dominated industry, Young Kaii says she has to work harder but doesn’t make compromises. Staying independent, Young Kaii creates art freely for herself and those who enjoy it. Inspired by east […]

Sometimes an interviewer has to work very hard to draw information from the subjects of a story. It can require the sensitivity of a therapist, the easygoing ways of a best friend and the analytical focus of a detective. Well, that’s certainly not the case for this story. It seems that when you get Hugo Dann, […]

Last month’s attack suffered by Chris Cochrane, a transgendered woman who performs as Elle Noir, has people wondering about the safety of members in the Halifax LGBTQ community. Cochrane was shot in the arm by a man who claimed to be a police officer. Several shots were fired through her apartment door while her roommate […]

Everyone loves a parade, but Halifax’s Pride co-chair Ed Savage caused some consternation over Halifax’s Pride parade when earlier this month he declared it non-threatening to conservative social mores. “That’s what we strive for, to make it less promiscuous than other prides across the country,” Savage told Metro reporter Alex Boutilier. “Our way of life […]

A swagger-filled Mz. Vicki Star-DeNight sits, casually shirtless, at his kitchen table taking puffs on a cigarette balanced between fingers with magenta-painted nails. He’s attended Halifax Pride for 21 years, witnessing the parade’s evolution from radical marches to the gilded affair it is today.    “Once upon a time, before we had our rights, a […]

Halifax Pride is the biggest queer celebration east of Montreal, rousing folks out of the woodwork to celebrate. Tina Scanlan and Ramona Westgate have been making the trek from Pictou County for several years. “It’s the only time of year that I don’t feel like a minority,” says Westgate. “I believe in and support rural […]

How seriously does official Halifax take Pride Week? Consider this: Right in the middle of last year’s Pride celebration, the Chronicle-Herald published an article outing councillor Peter Lund. The political classes were at the time caught up in a mini-scandal involving a secret memo sent to councillors by mayor Peter Kelly; the memo called out […]

When planning its fifth annual tribute show and fundraiser, Angels & Heroes Theatre Company decided that honouring a heavy-hitting female performer was way past due. But to be on par with their last four shows—which featured Rufus Wainwright, Queen, Elton and Bowie—she had to be a lady of the fiercest kind; someone who had not […]

In 1955, Mike Mills’ parents were married in a church in San Francisco, blocks away from where Allen Ginsberg was writing Howl. They were married for 44 years until his mother passed away. Following her death, Mills’ father came out as a gay man. If you’ve seen the trailer for his new film, Beginners, you’ll […]

Halifax may be hilly, but Evalyn Parry definitely plans to explore the city on a bicycle when she brings her show SPIN from Toronto to The Queer Acts Festival next week. The actor and singer is passionate about two-wheeling, and her multimedia show is a kind of ode to the history and culture of the […]