Ack, they’re everywhere this month! What started out for us as disappointment at the beginning of the month soon led to several breakthroughs to big names in the entertainment scene.

Steve and I tagged along for the interview with Jann Arden that our writer Jason conducted in early February, and it was gratifying to see that she recognized us (especially Steve) from the many times we have crossed paths in the past. I first met her several years ago when we had done a food review on The Arden restaurant that used to reside along 17th Avenue. Steve, perhaps a little star struck back then, left me alone in the room with her after forgetting to introduce me...a little awkward I guess, but she is a very easy person to get along with. You can read our one-on-one interview with her on page 8.

Lily Tomlin and Carole Pope are two names from before my time. Steve had to get me up to speed, digging up a small selection of music for me to listen to. I often say that I am pop-culturally challenged – knowledge outside of math and science has never been my strong suit. Still, it didn’t take much for me to realize the important role these two outspoken gay icons played back in a time when homosexuality was deeply taboo.

On a completely different note, Steve and I just recently became Uncles (or maybe I’m the Aunt)!! While getting ready to put this magazine to press, Steve’s brother Les announced that his wife Suzanne has delivered, and it’s a girl! Suzanne was responsible for creating the original layout for GayCalgary.com Magazine more than three years ago. Cigars would be in order, except I don’t smoke and I have work still left to do!

I got the chance to visit Edmonton for the second time, this February; my first visit was during a heat wave, and this time was during a particularly bitter cold snap. Thoroughly bundled up, Steve and I trudged around town to photograph the Edmonton Vocal Minority concert, and the Team Edmonton Launch, in addition to the weekly drag shows at Buddys and the Roost. I finally got to meet many of the Edmontonians Steve had been telling me about, and experience the side-splitting banter of Edmonton’s queens on stage.

We found that the Edmonton bars were surprised to hear how smooth the smoking transition went for Calgary’s gay bars. Their experience was something quite different, and some feel their crowds have never returned to what they once were.

On a lighter note, Steve introduced me to a particularly tasty treat that is not available back at home. Apparently there is a whole array of flavours beyond the Baja Rosa and Baja Luna that we have here in Calgary. We had enjoyed drinking "Tiggers" (Baja Orange + Sambuca) at the Backlot for the short period of time that Baja Orange was available here, but inexplicably even Calgary liquor stores are unaware of the existence of grape and cherry flavours. Boots was our stop for these indulgences – Crème de Cacao and Baja Cherry made a killer combination!

We’re gong to be slammed for the next two months as events go: Powder and Pride, The Vagina Monologues, Calgary Cares, Paragraph 175, Western Cup 25, OutFest and OutRights, the ISCCA Coronation, the Wedded Bliss Ball, and the Glass Gender Bender are just a few events that I can list off the top of my head for Calgary.

Lucky enough our new Sponsored Events section is running on the GayCalgary.com website, so you don’t have to go digging if you need a quick reminder about what is up and coming. Look for it along the left side of the welcome page, right above the bar information for Calgary and Edmonton.

Steve and I missed an important anniversary back in January: that of GayCalgary. Thus far we have only been counting how long the magazine component has been running, but GayCalgary.com as an entity has existed for considerably longer. The Men for Men BBS, a dial-up gay chat room, took its roots back in January of 1992. Indeed we came across old Men for Men ads when rifling through copies of Clue Magazine in the gay archives at the Glenbow Museum. After Clue stopped publishing, Steve was involved in the one-time release of "Haven’t Got a Clue," a community information supplement to tide Calgary over. As the internet became more prevalent, Men for Men spawned GayCalgary.com in 1995. Not many can say that their business draws from a 15 year legacy of technology and media at the active forefront of Calgary’s gay community.

We have always tried to keep our magazine lean and mean, producing a minimum of waste every month. We have been dipping above and below our target of 10,000 copies depending on demand for the time of year. This month we are experiencing a pinch – in the best possible way. With our new Edmonton distribution, we are seeing our magazines flying off the racks at an alarming rate, quickly catching up to our distribution quantities here in Calgary! To meet these new demands we have grown our target to 12,000 every month.

The Calgary Eagle celebrated its 5th Anniversary this month, a big milestone for any business. Their anniversary party was packed with Calgary regulars, out-of-towners, and many new faces entirely. At 10pm it was already getting hard to move, and it stayed chocker-block as last-call hit. Steve and I did our duty taking pictures while enjoying a wonderful night full socializing, of hugging and kissing, and even occasional groping. The Calgary Eagle continues to be a place where we can relax, be a little naughty, and not worry about being judged.

You didn’t hear it from me, but apparently Lorrie Murphy’s birthday is coming up on the 10th of March. It’s not really an official event, but it is a fun reason to get out to Money Pennies that Saturday and wish her the best.

"What’s happening with the new bar?" It’s a question that has been on many people’s lips for months now, and one that has been directed to us many times.

In September of 2006, Boulevard and the Loft (intended for two different floors of the same building in their Inglewood location) launched a grand advertising campaign in our magazine to raise hype and notify the community of their imminent arrival. It caused torrents of discussion online and off, to the point where many non-profit groups already had plans to include the bar in their upcoming 2007 events. With only vague information about the bars’ intended audience and appearance (at Bearbash 2006 it was touted a future bear-bar, and after that, was frequently referred to as a 35+ dance club) many rallied behind it, imagining the potential for it to become their new ideal hangout.

The uncompleted bar generated its share of scandal, including a name- and identity-collision with BLVD, an offshoot of the NYC Ultra Lounge that is currently under construction on 18th Avenue and 4th Street in Calgary. Months afterward, the Inglewood location was abandoned and sights were set on a smaller space along 10th Avenue. With little official information available for us to publish, the rumour mill ran wild with the goings on of this project.

But after 5 months of delays, the bar has been put on hold until further notice. The owners and investors hope to revive the project when the time is right, but for now it appears that they won’t be opening a new gay bar in Calgary anytime soon.

Our article this month on page 31 investigates just how complicated it really is to open a bar. If you think it can happen over night, whoo boy, you’ve got another thing coming!

It’s a worrying trend that Steve and I are seeing more and more of in Calgary’s community – gay men who don’t like to be around women, lesbian or no.

It could have been the attitude that was cultivated for many years at the former Metro Boyztown, a private men’s club where lesbians and straight women (typically "fag hags") could only gain entry to the establishment as the guest of a male member. This practice may have resulted in a segment of our generation that has grown intolerant of women – people who feel entitled to a men-only space where such discrimination is okay. If this is the case, then it is a rift that will take many years to heal.

In speaking with several bar goers, many have admitted that they feel uncomfortable being themselves around the crowds of "straight women" that are "invading our clubs". I question whether the Boyztown generation would even know a young lesbian if they bumped into one, or if that fact would even matter to them? All I know is that a contingent of males in the gay community are crying to have Boyztown back for this exact reason.

Money Pennies Eatery and Bar has tried to remain a bastion of openness between men and women over the years. Owners Lorrie and Michele have always felt that the mingling of the two genders is a positive thing because we can learn a lot from each other. Sexism has never been an issue for the Backlot, The Calgary Eagle, or the Texas Lounge, however their clientele remains predominantly male. The Twisted Element reports that they frequently resist complaints from male customers, asking that they take action to cull the female population entering their doors. But at the same time, lesbians have complained that the club doesn’t do enough for their female customers. It seems that the bar-going male population would rather pressure for a new Boyztown than take the opportunity to become comfortable around their fellow human beings, and be better people for it.

I argue that it is even unfair to discriminate against straight people. A female friend of mine from University recently came to the realization that she would be comfortable dating women as she does men. This is something that she may not have realized if she was refused entry to a gay bar for identifying as "straight". You can never know for sure where a person lies, or can potentially lie, along the spectrum of sexuality. It shouldn’t be our place to judge. In my opinion, the only reason why gay people are still shunned is because of the void of misunderstanding – one that can be bridged by accepting straight people into our folds as we do our own.

It is a terrible step back and a huge display of hypocrisy that, after spending so long fighting homophobia, some gay men (and gay women in turn) are adamant to foster equally reprehensible forms of discrimination.