I’m really surprised when my gay world and mainstream world collide.

In our October 2010 edition, we featured an article on "Movember", a fundraising and awareness campaign for prostate cancer where men are encouraged to grow a moustache. To be honest I didn’t really give it a second thought until I noticed numerous people at my day job who had shaved their beards down to just their "mo’s". Someone I knew who had done this, mentioned "Movember", which dredged up my memory of the article. He encouraged me, simply for fun, to do the moustache thing too.

I thought about it for a few days and when it came time for me to shave, I decided to go for it. My original plan was just to shave my chin so that my moustache would blend into the chin strap; however I forget that toying with new styles of facial hair comes with a risk of botching the job. In trying to get it symmetrical, I cut progressively further outward until I realized I had messed up the sides. So I had little choice but to shave it all off, save for the damn ‘stache.

The situation reminded me of the day my dad turned 40 and he decided to shave off his own beard, which he had possessed for the whole time my mom had known him. My mom, having never before seen his bare face underneath, could not stop laughing every time she looked at him for the next several days. It’s strange how much that facial hair can affect how people perceive you – in fact, there aren’t many people that I would find attractive without at least a 5 o’clock shadow.

In my case, I have not seen my chin bare since I turned 21 and finally had my parents’ blessing to grow a goatee. So it was really weird for me, and even weirder for Steve, to have only a moustache. It reminded him of the high school yearbook photos where I had my uber-dweeby fledgling moustache, and so he had his reservations about kissing me. Then when I made duck-lips at him, he got so embarrassed that he couldn’t even look at me.

Indeed, after taking a long look at myself, I realized how much I resembled some kind of cheesy 1970’s porn star. On the other hand, I bore a vague resemblance to my mom’s brother Günther. Argh, I felt like I had made a big mistake, and I missed my beard already. No offense to anyone that wears a moustache, but there are certain styles of facial hair that work well for certain people, and this one does not work for me.

Of course in my snap decision to do this, I hadn’t considered the timing. That weekend we had the Taboo Sex Show in Calgary, where I would be in front of hundreds if not thousands of people. I like to make a good, non-stereotype-affirming appearance for the straight people there who may be forming their first impressions of the LGBT community from our booth. I could already imagine people seeing me as some creepy gay douche-bag with a molester moustache. I discovered that was not the case, at least with the straight women...go figure.

The Taboo show went from Thursday through to Sunday. I had Thursday off work for the Remembrance Day holiday, and I decided to take the Friday off as well. Similar to what we did in Edmonton for the ISCWR back in October, we offered the ISCCA the opportunity to fundraise at our booth by a method of their choice, and by doing our souvenir photograph-with-a-drag-queen idea that had been quite a hit.

Makayla and Electronica were around for a good part of Thursday and Friday, and Malibu was in for Saturday and briefly on Sunday (there were two other ISCCA events that she had to tend to). They were well received by the show patrons, and to our delight, even persuaded a few straight guys to take their shirts off for the photos. Otherwise, with our help at times, the ISCCA sold sampler boxes of Purdy’s chocolates, which was a good option for those show-goers too shy to get in front of the camera.

We had hoped to recruit a few leather boys as alternative "props" for the photos, since LJ and his boyfriend Michael were hot ticket items at Edmonton’s show. On Thursday, Arnaud, who we frequently see at the Eagle, was checking out the show and was kind enough to offer his help if he was needed. We gladly accepted, and arranged for him to join us for the rest of the weekend. Arnaud turned out to be our secret weapon – he was incredibly outgoing and made sure to engage people in the aisle as they walked by, who might have otherwise been too shy to approach. At some points during the night, he was reeling people in so fast that I almost asked him to slow down, to let us get caught up. Meanwhile our writer Evan was kind enough to volunteer his time to help us man the booth and make sure people were still finding out about the magazine - a great help while both Steve and I were occupied with photos.

Arnaud couldn’t join us for most of Saturday because of prior engagements, and without drag queens during the day (yes, they have lives), we were worried that we might be losing some good opportunities to sell photos. I joked that I should run home and put on my leather harness to be the "leather boy" for the day. Me and my big mouth.

So half an hour later, I was back and wearing my harness (which I have otherwise only worn twice in the past 3 or 4 years that I’ve owned it), and putting myself forward for people to get their photos with me. I was ready for disappointment, but surprisingly a good number of straight girls (and occasionally their boyfriends too) were happy to get their photos with me. As I mentioned, the girls definitely liked the moustache. I was quick to make excuses that I looked much better with my full beard, but they didn’t seem to mind. I guess to a stranger who doesn’t know what I’m supposed to look like, this seemed perfectly natural – in fact, "hot" according to some. One girl even asked me to grab her breast for the photo, which I did reluctantly. I’ve tested many a drag queen boob, but I’m fairly certain this was my first real one since...well...infancy.

I was relieved when Arnaud joined us again Saturday evening because I thought it meant I could retire from being leather boy. But no, thanks to peer pressure I decided to continue going for the remainder of Saturday and all of Sunday. So in the photo albums of random households across Calgary, I am now immortalized posing beside these people, half naked, in a leather harness that was attached by a strap to my junk, with my cheesy 1970’s porn star moustache. The things we do for charity.

The final total for the weekend was just over $1000 raised, with over 200 boxes of chocolates sold, and close to 150 photos taken. That is certainly nothing to turn your "mo" up at.

And speaking of mo’s, now that Movember is officially over, I’ll be gladly growing my beard back!

A long time ago, the cover of our May 2004 edition featured a picture of (now-Emperor) Fred Udey, and Terri Stevens, who was putting on a fabulous impersonation of Cher. In fact it was so compelling that several people thought it actually was the legend herself on our cover, and we had to exercise modesty by bursting their bubbles.

I never thought we would see the day when we’d actually have Cher on our cover for a legitimate reason, but this month we’re proud to say that she indeed is! You can read the interview on page 7.

A year ago at the Taboo Sex Show, we launched an advertising campaign for GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine using our own creation: the phrase, "Reading it won’t make you gay." While we’ve tweaked the design somewhat from the original appearance, and added a hilarious list of possible side effects, we continue to use this ad and slogan on posters and flyers to great acclaim for its cleverness. Last month we even had a marketing student who encountered our ad in the Diana Ross programme guide, write an analysis on the ad for a class project. Getting to read her final report was quite fascinating for me because it outlined many of the clever nuances that made it work – a few I hadn’t realized or even thought about. Not bad for an idea that came to me on the spot when it was time to design cards for the Taboo show.

Look for our annual Holiday Gift Guide returning this issue; however, we’re doing things a little bit differently this year. The article on page 54 shows only a few gift ideas to get you started, however we encourage you to continue reading it online where additional ideas are being added throughout the month.

Furthermore, you will notice that we have started adding a whole shwack of online articles that are additional versions of columns that you often see published, such as Creep of the Week, Book Marks, Deep Inside Holleywood, Editorial Cartoons, and Cocktail Chatter. Check the website regularly throughout the month to read these bonus articles as they become available.

We will also be adding something to the GayCalgary.com website that will greatly streamline how visitors view images. Currently we show image thumbnails in articles, directory listings, and events that when you click on them, a pop-up window appears with a larger version for you to view. Mucking around with a separate window can be a bother, so we’re happy to introduce a new system whereby clicking on the image thumbnail brings up the full version, front and centre, without ever having to leave the page. Try it for yourself, I’m sure that you will find it a vast improvement!

It has been a while since we last conducted our own online reader survey, so we are eager to get feedback from you, our readers, about how we are doing and what we can improve upon for the upcoming year.

The electronic survey will be coming online later this month, and run until the end of January. It can be accessed by a link under the latest magazine bulletin on the home page of www.gaycalgary.com.

Of course we will be giving away some fabulous prizes to the pool of individuals who participate in this survey (unless you decide to opt out of the draws) - everything from music, DVDs, books, and GayCalgary memerobilia to the grand prize of a $150 gift certificate for Chinook Centre.

Check back frequently, or become a member of our website to be notified exactly when the survey is ready.

There is no shortage of Christmas-related activities to keep you busy in the LGBT community this month. However, if you’re fortunate enough to visit with family, I say don’t pass up this opportunity to appreciate having them, even if they do drive you crazy.

I say this because I know there are a number in the LGBT community that don’t have such liberties, for any number of reasons. Take note that some of the gay bars (especially in Edmonton) are remaining open on Christmas Eve offering food, or even free turkey dinner! If you celebrate Christmas and can’t be with your family, this is a chance to spend it with friends, and even make some new ones.