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The Inside Story newspaper online since 1996. Did you know out of town visitors can plan an entire trip to Queer Toronto using using the Inside Story? We’re not just an online e-newspaper; we’re a complete resource guide, with detailed listings for: Hotels, B&B, Hostels · Restaurents, Bars, Clubs and other places to hang out · Shopping · Daily, Weekly, and Monthly events, Local and National News. We are a top search result, on most major search engines when using key words such as ‘ queer Toronto’, with a growing number of affiliate links with key websites around the world. The Inside Story enewspaper is committed to promoting the excellence within the Queer West Village arts and culture community, with over 500 listings, which are not exclusively gay or lesbian. Don Quixote, editor: insidestory_toronto@yahoo.ca | Parcel Post & Letters: Box 204, Station C - West Toronto ON M6J 3M9. Phone: 9 am to 9 pm.(7x) 416-551-1709 Subscribe to E-Mail Edition

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Inside Story Newspaper - Archives:
Older Stories | Aug-Sept 2007 | Oct-Nov 2007 | Dec 2007-Jan 2008 | Feb 2008-Mar 2008

Tuesday May 6, 2008, Inside Story Toronto, Don Quixote reports. —- Ecuador considers enshrining a woman's right to sexual happiness. Maria Soledad Vela, of Ecuador's governing party, has proposed that her country's law protect a woman's right to enjoy sex. Women, who have traditionally been regarded in Ecuador as no more than sex objects or child bearers, should have the right to make informed, responsible decisions about their sex lives.

— Canada raises age of sexual consent by two years. Like Britain, Australia and most American states, Canada's legal age for the onset of intercourse has been changed from 14- to 16-years-old. Not meant to criminalize teen sex, the change in legislation was explained as an effort to combat older internet predators who hit on young people.

— Gay dating services flourishing. Research from the LOGO Channel shows that 48 percent of gay men are looking for "love" online. With looks and hooking up often of more concern than compatibility, Web sites for gay men are helping like-minded males attain what has been regarded as "the easy out" in sexual pursuits.

— Canadian activists have convinced Canadian music retailers Archambault and Apple's iTunes to remove some anti-gay dancehall songs from their catalogues. Earlier this month, Stop Murder Music Canada (SMMC) and Canada's Ottawa-based national gay civil rights group Egale convinced iTunes to stop selling notorious anti-gay songs by T.O.K. (Chi-Chi Man), Elephant Man (Log On) and Buju Banton (Boom Bye Bye). And beginning May 5, those same recordings will no longer be sold at Archambault. "Boom bye bye inna batty bwoy head/ Rude bwoy no promote no nasty man/ Dem haffi dead..." Banton sings in Boom Bye Bye. "Send fi di matic an di Uzi instead."

— Meanwhile, Egale executive director Helen Kennedy told the Inside Story last week, "We're really pleased - the only hold-out at this point is HMV and we hope they will join us soon." Gay activists have been protesting several dancehall performers for almost two decades, charging their anti-gay lyrics advocate violence against gay people and fuel anti-gay hate crimes throughout the Caribbean.

This past winter Canadian activists convinced venue owners to cancel Canadian concerts by Sizzla, Elephant Man, Capleton, Baby Cham and Beenie Man. Montreal's Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations also convinced the CBC to pull songs by Sizzla from their Galaxy radio station.

— A study this month by the International Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (which by the way, labelled the Province of Quebec a Country in their report) confirmed what savvy brands have known for years -- the gay community has major wallet clout and represents vast potential growth for marketers. The study estimates that the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) population is two-million strong in Canada, representing total spending power of $100-billion a year.

The chamber of commerce report says the "pink money" market segment has great purchasing power, consumers faithful to their favourite brands and a higher discretionary income than the general population.

"There is a great deal of multinational support for GLBT diversity in Canada from companies such as IBM, Xerox and Delta Hotels, along with strong support from major international banks like [Toronto-Dominion], ING and Desjardins as well as service industries like Air Canada and VIA Rail," the report notes.

It also says Canada, which legalized same-sex marriage in 2005, has a high level of acceptance for gays relative to other countries, particularly in its large cities.

Visible spending, or that which can be linked directly to a specific market segment, has grown in the GLBT community "as [gay] people are living more publicly, relationships have become more secure and Canada has been more accepting and more 'out,' " said Laurence Bernstein, author of the research and president of Toronto marketing consultancy BC3 Strategies.

Marketers who target the niche are tapping into a rich demographic. A vast 2007 study conducted by Community Marketing Inc. and sponsored by Absolut vodka pegged the median annual household income for gay men at US $83,000.

Friday April 18, 2008, Toronto Columnist Bryen Dunn www.bryendunn.com

If the snow is gone, it must mean it’s film festival time again in Toronto. The 10th annual Hot Docs Festival opens up Friday April 18th for yet another two-week run, presenting an amazing array of documentaries.

Expect to find the traditional educational pieces, others exploring issues of global awareness, and some to give insight in things you likely have no clue about. This is what the Festival has accomplished in the past, and when the two weeks are over, it will most definitely do once again.

With close to 200 different screenings, part of the challenge is deciding what to see. You can start by visiting the website, which is actually quite helpful with detailed information on all the films being shown, plus the when, where and why you want to go. Here are a few that caught my eye as possibilities, in no particular order.

Bloody Cartoons
Remember the controversy around those Danish folks publishing not-so-nice cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad? Well, here’s your chance to get behind the scenes and learn more about those nasty Danes and the religious types they pissed off. You got to love the title in itself.

Second Skin
This one looks at the online world of gaming. Most likely of interest to those who spend time in front of the computer actually playing, but not sure this audience can pull themselves away long enough to catch this flick. For others, it could give insight into that “puter potato” that’s taking up space at your place.

Planet B-Boy
As the title implies, this is for Hip Hop Heads and their allies. Get behind the scenes of this musical genre and see what the boyz and girlz get up to, and how important is it to reach, and win, the world championships. It’s an interesting perspective on several artists who have not yet hit the mainstream audiences.

S&M: Short and Male
Here’s another clever title about little guys with gutso. You think you have it rough, watch as these pint-sized dudes maneuver through day-to-day issues with a feeling of being traumatized. Really?

The English Surgeon
I just read that Nick Cave is on the soundtrack so I think that makes it awesome on its own. Combine that with dying patients and frustrated doctors and you’ve got yourself a darn depressing time ahead.

Air India 182
Anyone alive during the 80’s will recall the downing of this flight over Scotland that had a bunch of fateful Canadians aboard. The inquest went on for years and for the first time, all the media coverage comes together in one neat little package. Interesting for those into plane crashes.

All Together Now
Here’s another Canadian connection with our famous Cirque du Soleil. It’s not just like going to one of their stellar performances, it’s likely getting into the dressing room, the boardroom and the bedrooms of everyone involved that makes this happen. Visit www.hotdocs.ca, choose your poison, and get away from the computer and television.

Thursday April 3, 2008, Inside Story Toronto Don Quixote reports.

1: Ready, set, go—there’s nearly no difference in the amount of time it takes healthy men and women to reach peak sexual arousal: roughly 10 minutes.

2: One per cent of adults have zero interest in sex and have never felt sexually attracted to anyone at all. Asexuality may be an under-the-radar sexual orientation, but researchers have only just begun to study it. On the other end of the rainbow, an estimated 3 to 6 per cent of the population have some form of sex addiction.

3: Straight, gay or flexible? Recent research suggests women may be “intrinsically bisexual,” and the higher their libido, the more they desire both sexes. In another study, the female subjects—whether they considered themselves straight or gay—were physically aroused by erotic films of both men and women. In contrast, the straight men were excited just by women, and the gay men only by men.

4: Canadian men have, on average, 23 sexual partners in total (notably more than the global average of 13), according to one recent worldwide survey. Their female counterparts reportedly have 10. The hitch? Number crunchers say the finding that men have substantially more bedmates on average than women is mathematically impossible.

5: Beyond its unsexy smell and taste, smoking appears to double a man’s risk of moderate or complete erectile dysfunction.

6: Once upon a time, doctors treated women suffering from “hysteria” by stimulating them to orgasm—a service dubbed “medical massage.” By the 1930s, it was abandoned in favour of psychotherapy.

7: Why do I bed thee? Let me count the ways. U.S. researchers who set out to catalogue all the reasons why humans have sex came up with 237 distinct ones. Among the top 10 motives, women and men had eight in common. A notable exception: “I realized I was in love” came in at number nine for women, but at number 17 for men.

8: Having sex regularly—at least once a week—may promote fertility in women by regulating hormones and menstrual patterns.

9: Male sweat contains androstadienone, a compound that enhances mood and sexual arousal in women and men. Alas, it also boosts levels of stress hormones. The chemical has been used as an ingredient in men’s fragrances.

10: What’s love got to do with it? Sexual arousal and romantic love activate quite distinct areas of the brain—and love is clearly the more powerful. The latter turns on dopamine-rich regions linked with motivation, and falling in love is not unlike the rush of taking cocaine, hence the addictiveness of a new crush, and the withdrawal-like symptoms of love lost.

Inside Story Newspaper - Archives:
Older Stories | Aug-Sept 2007 | Oct-Nov 2007 | Dec 2007-Jan 2008 | Feb 2008-Mar 2008