Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans, Leather, and Queer Community Seasonal • Autumn 2019 free copy A NEW NIGHTMARE FROM THE MINDS OF PINKPLAYMAGS’ TEAM Them The Year of the Cinema Part Three Starring Queer Beyond Hollywood, Thom Fitzgerald and Image + Nation LGBT Film Festival Featuring PinkPlayMags LGBT Travellers (Special Pullout Supplement) Also featuring guest stars Kate Johnston, LIFT, Michael G. Williams, Event Listings, From The Heart, Horoscopes, and Looking Back Love Is Love Marry Me... With Style, Originality & Service Beyond Expectation TORONTO’S PREMIER avant garde meets Rich in History WATERFRONT EVENT luxury in this and Charm DESTINATION boutique event venue 1601 Lake Shore Blvd. W. 3125 Bayview Avenue 2700 LakeShore rd. W. Toronto, ON M6K 3C1 Toronto, On M2K 1G2 mississauga, ON L5J 1K3 416.533.3553 416.250.5893 416.533.1573 www.palaisroyale.ca www.grandluxe.ca www.hardingwaterfrontestate.ca [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] @PalaisRoyaleTO @GrandLuxe @hardingwaterfrontestate find us on From the Publisher I love movies, so you can imagine how very exciting this year of PinkPlayMags is for me. In part one of our series, I went over how that presented as scary evil creatures. He just wants love started. In part two I talked more about to go home. growing up and watching a lot of movies with one of my younger brothers. Once an adult, IV. Jaws: Come on don’t tell me you also I watched a lot of movies with my friends weren’t terrified. My uncle snuck me in to see and a lot of movies with my mother (she’s this one, because it was restricted in Kuwait awesome). Mind you, I will watch a movie (where I was born). To this day, I actually am with anyone who asks, I am easy that way (lol). spooked of being in the water and always on the look out for a shark fin swimming towards So, this time why don’t I talk about my most me. favourite movies of all time (it’s such a tall order to list all of them, so this is just a V. Planet of the Apes: ALL of them, snapshot, and in no particular order) every one of the old ones, and every incarnation thereafter. It is more than a movie, I. Star Wars: That’s the one that started it it is a cautionary tale, and funny enough I all. The day I saw it, I knew that I wanted to usually root for the apes. spend a lot of time in a dark movie theatre, with a bunch of strangers, with popcorn and VI. Pillow Talk: Actually more like all the a drink, lost in movie magic, and having a movies Doris Day did with Rock Hudson. common feeling of wonder, joy, laughter, or I crawl under the covers with one of them scares. When I first saw Star Wars, no one anytime I want to feel happy. knew it would become such a phenomenon, VII. Pretty Woman: Please don’t judge me. I and hold such a lasting spot in our pop have seen it a million times and I still laugh. culture. My cousin and I totally fell in love with it, and went on a rampage of buying all VIII. Grease: The happiest musical ever kinds of SW posters, toys, and memorabilia. made. Since then I have loved every new sequel, and IX. Singing in the Rain: The other I even love Jar Jar (damn you hatters.) happiest musical ever made. II. Superman The Movie: That’s the one X. Airplane: I once watched it on repeat I cried to my dad for two months none-stop, for the whole entire day. And please don’t call until he caved in and bought us our first VCR. me Shirley. I just had to be able to watch Christopher Reeves in tights, again, and again. And yes it Looking at the list, it seems it’s mainly popular made me believe that “a man can fly”. I have movies and block busters from the past. And, seen it, dozens of times over the years since I just noticed three of them are Spielberg then. movies. Next time I will go over the more obscure, weird, and eccentric. III. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial: I would watch this movie every day if I could. I don’t Have a fantastic autumn, and a safe think anyone with a heart can deny the charm Halloween! of this film. It’s a fantastic friendship that transcends species and distances, and it is Antoine Elhashem one of those occasions where aliens are not Publisher [email protected] CINEMA autumnplay! 2019 3 autumnplay! In this issue Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans, Leather, and Queer 7 Queer Beyond Hollywood Community Seasonal from PinkPlayMags – Jerry Schaefer Free • Autumn 2019 12 Thom Fitzgerald Publisher/Creative Director: Antoine Elhashem – Raymond Helkio Editor-in-Chief: Bryen Dunn Art Direction and Production: Mychol Scully 16 image + nation – Michael McNeely Contributors Writers: Jerry Schaefer, Raymond Helkio, Michael 21 LGBT Travellers (Pullout McNeeley, Bryen Dunn, Cat Grant, Kelly Wilk, Michael Supplement) – Bryen Dunn G. Williams, Sherry Sylvain, Mychol Scully, Julie 22 Top 5 Fall/Winter Travel Antoinette, Michael Rowe Destinations Cover Photography: Angel Torres Photography 26 Top 5 Spring/Summer Travel Destinations 29 Tips To Stay Fit While Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans, Leather, and Queer Travelling Community Seasonal • Summer 2019 free copy A NEW NIGHTMARE FROM THE MINDS OF THE PINKPLAYMAGS TEAM – Kat Com 31 Survey Says... 33 Fiction: A Fall in Autumn – Michael G. Williams Them The Year of the Cinema Regular features Part Three Starring Queer Beyond Hollywood, Thom Fitzgerald and Image + Nation LGBT Film Festival FEATURING PINKPLAYMAG’S TRAVEL SUPPLEMENT Also featuring guest stars Kate Johnston, LIFT, Michael G. Williams, Event Listings, From The Heart, Horoscopes, and Looking Back 19 Hot Artist: Kate Johnston – Cat Grant Cover Them 37 Community Cornerstone: Kero returns to the summer home where he spent LIFT – Kelly Wilk many vacations in his youth. Faced with challenges of being a person of colour and non-binary, and recalling 39 In the City – Sherry Sylvain traumatic experiences from the past, he gets increasingly 44 From the Heart worried that something is about to happen. When a stranger shows up in his driveway, the masks come – Mychol Scully off, and Kero is faced with having to fight for his true 48 Autumn Horoscopes identity, and a place in the community. – Julie Antoinette Written & Directed Antoine Elhashem Cinematography Angel Torres 50 Looking Back: Pride of Chucky Starring Kerolos Saleib – Michael Rowe Published by Websites www.inspiredmediainc.com INspired Media Inc. Operating INspiredcreative (www.inspiredcreative.ca), and www.thepinkpagesdirectory.com publishers of The Pink Pages Directory, PinkPlayMags, theBUZZ, and www.pinkplaymags.com The Local Biz Magazine. www.thebuzzmag.ca President ................................Antoine Elhashem We’d love to hear from you. Please send comments, questions or General Manager ................................Kim Dobie any other matters to [email protected] Advertising Consultants ..Carolyn Burtch, Michael Wile, Darren Stehle For advertising inquiries Counsel ................................Jerry Herszkopf Law [email protected] Notice INspired Media Inc., its divisions, publications, the editors, authors, photographers, salespersons, graphic and Mailing address production artists shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to monetary or emotional loss or damage caused, or alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly, by the information or claims contained 205-1691 Pickering Parkway, Pickering, ON L1V 5L9 in this Publication. Furthermore the opinions of the writers expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the To contact us publishers. 416.926.9588 Toronto 905.231.9722 GTA Full copyrights reserved. Any copying of material in this publication in whole or in part is prohibited and legal action will be taken, unless authorized in writing by the publishers. 4 autumnplay! 2019 CINEMA From the Editor Thanks for picking up the third issue of Also in this issue, we have our annual The Year of the Cinema retrospective, LGBT Travellers (Special Pullout where we look at queer representation Supplement) highlighting top destinations, within film over the decades, chat with safety tips, travel trends, and staying fit established and emerging individuals while on the road. Cat Grant spoke with who have contributed their works, and filmmaker Kate Johnston, who has organizations who help open the doors to garnered awards for her past feature films, those interested in pursuing their dreams in such as Tru Love, and is currently involved the industry. with three new upcoming releases. The Community Cornerstone series continues Our main feature is written by Jerry as Kelly Wilk does a spotlight on Liaison Schaefer who takes a look at queer of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto. representation through the years from an Our Fiction excerpt is from “A Fall in international perspective. Queer Beyond Autumn” the latest futuristic sci-fi novel Hollywood discovers how film can be from author Michael G. Williams. used both as a form of entertainment, and also politically in regions where being As always, we have an amazing list of queer is still considered taboo. He chatted Events compiled by Sherry Sylvain, the with Cameron Ray, from the Toronto Public intimate From The Heart column by Library, and also Matthew Toffolo, founder Mychol Scully, Horoscopes by Julie of the LGBT Toronto Film Festival. Our Antoinette, and we close out with our two other features include an exclusive Looking Back piece written by Michael interview writer Raymond Helkio did with Rowe. Canada’s Thom Fitzgerald, discussing Wishing you all a colourful fall season! his past works, The Hanging Garden, and Splinters, as well as getting the scoop on his latest upcoming feature, Stage Mother.