Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans, Leather, and Queer Community Seasonal • Winter 2020 free copy BEING... Bisexual/Pansexual/Asexual Ecosexuality Also: Apanaki Temitayo Minerve, Toronto Police Services, Fiction, Event Listings, From The Heart, Horoscopes, and a special Matrimony Supplement From the Publisher your own gender, and to people with gender(s) really loved our 2020 theme different than your own. “BEING”. I like representation Pansexual: In comparison to bisexuality, pansexuality, composed with the prefix pan- is the of our community to include sexual attraction to a person of any sex or gender. I Using these definitions, pansexuality is defined everyone, and I believe with differently, by explicitly including people who are intersex or outside the gender binary. So I gather each new edition along the way this term is broader and more inclusive. that we learned a good deal Asexual: The web says that research and academic work dealing with the history of the asexual about the different identities community is presently lacking. Although a few private sites for people with little or no sexual in our community; being desire existed on the Internet in the 1990s, scholars state that a community of self-identified gay, lesbian, trans, 2-Spirit, asexuals coalesced in the early 21st century. But generally speaking, an asexual person might not non-conforming, non-binary, experience sexual attraction, but they might still experience romantic attraction. An asexual person bisexual, pansexual, and could be romantically attracted to people of the same gender, people of another gender, or people asexual. of multiple genders. Many asexual people want, and have, romantic relationships. In this wrap up of the year edition we explore bisexual, pansexual, and asexual members of our The web is never lacking resources to help us community. For me personally, it’s important to understand others. understand the different identities, and it’s also Other than the above, it is the season to get in respectful. So I looked up the web’s definition of some relaxing and rejuvenating, so make sure to bisexuality, pansexuality, and asexuality, as part take some time for yourself. of putting this edition together. Here is what I gathered: Happy Holidays! Bisxual: To some it means attraction to the opposite sex, male or female. To some that definition is exclusionary, and it excludes Antoine Elhashem nonbinary genders, or even erases transgender Publisher people altogether. To others, bisexuality definition [email protected] is broader, and it reflects attraction to people of 2 winterplay! 2020 Being... Being... winterplay! 2020 3 winterplay! In this issue From the Editor Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans, Leather, and Queer Community Seasonal from PinkPlayMags 07 Matrimony Supplement - Free • Winter 2020 Getting Hitched During a Pandemic - Bryen Dunn Publisher/Creative Director: Antoine Elhashem Editor-in-Chief: Bryen Dunn 10 Being... Art Direction and Production: Mychol Scully Bisexual, Pansexual and Asexual – S.E. Fleenor Contributors Writers: S.E Fleenor, Annie Sprinkle and Beth 14 Ecosexuality Stephens, Bee Dee, Jon Pressick, Kelly Wilk, Sherry – Beth Stephens & Annie Sprinkle Sylvain, Mychol Scully, Julie Antoinette, Bryen Dunn 18 City of Toronto’s Welcome T.O. Winter Parks Plan – Bryen Dunn 23 Fiction: Punk – Bee Dee Regular features Greetings and salutations, is with Apanaki Temitayo Minerve, a 21 Hot Artist: bisexual multi-disciplinary artist, author, Apanaki Temitayo Minerve spoken word poet, actor, teacher and – Jon Pressick his is the final instalment in mother of three. With Community 25 Community Cornerstone: Cornerstone, we take a look at the work Danielle Bottineau – Kelly Wilk our series of features on the of the LGBTQ Community Liaison for Toronto Police Services, Danielle Bottineau. 27 In the City – Sherry Sylvain topic of “Being...”, with this Our Fiction piece is written by Bee Dee, 29 From the Heart with a short story titled, . Cover BEING... Bisexual, Pansexual and Asexual T Punk – Mychol Scully issue spotlighting Pansexuality, Concept & Creative Direction Antoine Elhashem As always, we have our quarterly Photography Shawn McGowan-Leaver 32 Autumn Horoscopes horoscopes, and the inspiring Representing our community – Julie Antoinette Bisexuality and Asexuality. From The In the middle: Heart column written by Mychol Scully, Alia Carrerra – Bisexual The main feature article is wonderfully our Creative Director, who also designs Amy Vaughan-Dolson – Asexual written by S.E Fleenor, who gives insight this publication for us. Our event listings Marisa Cimadamore – Pansexual Rest of the group from left to right: into their own personal stories, as well remain virtual, which our Events Editor, Mary Sue Robinet - 2Spirit as input from a few other interesting Sherry Sylvain, takes great pride in Dan Bowen aka Brad Puddin aka Maya Naise - Non- individuals who offer their own compiling for us. conforming interpretations on how and why they Finally, be sure to check out our special Marisa Rosa Grant – Lesbian choose to identify their sexuality. Robyn DeCradle – Non-Binary Matrimony Supplement that provides Ryan Bince – Gay The second feature is co-written by partners some great tips on how to prepare if you’re Jeanette Jabier AKA Jeanette Dupree - Transsexual Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens, the planning on getting married during a pioneering duo bringing light to to world pandemic. Published by Websites of Ecosexuality. The premise being that our Thanks for being here with us throughout www.inspiredmediainc.com love for the earth can be far stronger than INspired Media Inc. this challenging year of 2020. We’re Operating INspiredcreative (www.inspiredcreative.ca), and www.thepinkpagesdirectory.com we realize, and they offer some tips on how looking forward to bringing more positive publishers of The Pink Pages Directory, PinkPlayMags, theBUZZ, and www.pinkplaymags.com to embrace your inner ecosexual being. The Local Biz Magazine. www.thebuzzmag.ca inspiration to you next year. President ................................Antoine Elhashem We’d love to hear from you. Please send comments, questions or In our Travel feature, we take a look at any other matters to [email protected] Enjoy the read! General Manager ................................Kim Dobie what activities are available to participate Advertising Consultants ............ Carolyn Burtch, Darren Stehle For advertising inquiries in this winter here in the city of Toronto, Counsel ................................Jerry Herszkopf Law [email protected] Bryen Dunn Mailing address Notice INspired Media Inc., its divisions, publications, the editors, authors, photographers, salespersons, graphic and along with some suggestions for socially- production artists shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to monetary or Editor-in-Chief 205-1691 Pickering Parkway, Pickering, ON L1V 5L9 emotional loss or damage caused, or alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly, by the information or claims contained distanced holiday events that are planned in this Publication. [email protected] Furthermore the opinions of the writers expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the around the GTA. Our Hot Artist feature 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 winterplay! 2020 Being... Being... winterplay! 2020 5 Getting Hitched During a Pandemic By Bryen Dunn o you want to get married? During a For all other non-vehicle focused outdoor events, careful consideration must be given to pandemic? Well, that’s okay, because planning, specifically around seating and catering there’s an app for that! arrangements. This is where a wedding planner S and accommodating vendors will be your best Like many businesses, the wedding industry has friend. There are also companies who have created been going through some turmoil during 2020, wristbands of varying colours that indicate your and like others they are learning to adapt and personal comfort level with regard to your safety move forward. If you had plans to wed, and felt and distancing comfort levels. Don’t forget to get the only option was to postpone until a later date, those designer masks ordered as part of the arrival you may want to reconsider, as there are plenty package for each guest. of ways you can still have a wonderful wedding If you decide it’s not worth the risk of even doing a day. Albeit in a more modern, less traditional socially-distanced in person event, there are many environment. options to still go forward with your wedding Social gatherings are all but eliminated, except for virtually. The first thing to remember is that just perhaps the smallest of groups, such as immediate because you’re not having a traditional wedding, it family members. However, there are still ways to doesn’t mean it will be any easier planning. You’ll hold an outdoor socially-distanced affair (weather still need to work with all the usual vendors, from permitting), or choose to go totally virtual, which design and decor, to catering, entertainment, and isn’t as difficult or as distancing as it may seem. gifting. For those opting for some sort of in-person event, There are a lot of great, free live-streaming or you may want to consider a drive-through, or even video conferencing services out there. Consider a drive-in option. Set up a stage for the wedding platforms like Zoom, Facebook Live, or YouTube couple, and have all guests stay safely distanced in Live, and make sure you create a private event for their own vehicles. Or giddy-it-up with a tailgate invited guests only. As with traditional wedding shindig. Guests will be able to scream, whistle, crashers, virtual ones are unwelcome as well. Live and honk the day away. Remember to appoint a streaming enables guests to view and chat with designated driver. others through the chat feature, whereas video conferencing allows everyone to see and speak 6 winterplay! 2020 Being..