Jan. 05, 2011 - Issue #794 : Year in Review 2010

Queermonton

2010: A queer year

2010 was a year of unexpected news to hit Edmonton's queer community. To start it off, Edmonton Capitals field manager Brent Bowers called openly gay umpire Billy Van Raaphorst "a fucking faggot." Bowers was suspended, fined and resigned. Both the baseball organization and the league responded quickly to denounce Bowers' actions, a surprisingly strong stance against homophobia.

Constance McMillen carried herself with incredible poise and strength following her school's decision to ban her from taking her girlfriend to prom or graduating in a tuxedo. The Mississippi school may have organized a secret prom without her but they lost out in the end, with a court ruling awarding her money and widespread ridicule of the school's decision. Eventually McMillen was invited to celebrity parties, marshalled pride parades, won a scholarship, appeared on Ellen's talk show and had honorary proms in her honour.

Edmonton Police Services' big screw up over the Shannon Barry incident has been left unresolved and many of Edmonton's minority communities have lost trust in EPS' ability to protect to us. Barry was brutally assaulted while assailants shouted anti-gay slurs and the officer responding never bothered to contact the EPS Hate Crime Unit—he didn't even log the report at all. Chief Boyd decided the officer's private remorse was enough and EPS ruled the attack to be not hate motivated. Our cops have spent years cultivating a strong relationship with LGBTQ people in our city and I can only hope they choose to repair what's been lost.

A handful of stars including Ricky Martin, Chely Wright, Amber Heard, Anna Paquin, Sean Hayes and Jennifer Knapp all proudly announced they were something other than heterosexual this year. Knapp may be the most interesting among them. A not particularly high-profile singer, she made headlines for coming out as lesbian while being a Christian music artist. Her discussions with King, Ted Haggard and anti-gay pastor Bob Botsford made a fantastic argument for being both proudly queer and Christian. (Knapp on Larry King Live here)

Locally, it was another banner year for Edmonton’s incredibly unique and creative queer community. Queers Never Die launched, offering a party for alternative queers. Housed at New City, this event is all about dressing up, dancing and being utterly fabulous. Attendees often arrive in drag or costumes and spotlighted performances have included theatre sneak-peaks, burlesque, drag numbers, DJ parties and musicians. Look for QND on the last Sunday of every month, at New City's new Whyte Ave location.
Two new gay bars opened and one closed. While Play Nightclub rests in peace, Junction Bar & Eatery evokes the mood from some of Edmonton's older gay bars, concentrating on bringing all communities together.

The third year of the Exposure Festival continueed to stimulate the mind with incredible guests and events, while bringing so many talented arty homos together with their audience. What else to say about this event that continues to redefine gender, art and orientation in ways that most thought would simply never be possible in Edmonton? Perhaps only that that this year it also hosted an incredible family event with the Arty Carnival, a day co-sponsored by the Jubilee that brought together a ton of great activities for variant families and made them the ecstatic majority in the room.

It's hard to imagine that our town would become one where art, activism and community are fostered so well inside so many DIY events and celebrations, where queer culture amounts to so much more than a parade and clubbing. V

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