Dear readers, guess what? This is my last column for Xtra West. I’ve had so much fun here over the past three years. What could be better than having a public forum for my various ponderings, rants, opinions and even, I admit it, some whining? How luxurious, how decadent. But the time has come to focus my time and energy on new endeavours. More…
Category: Xtra
A Penchant for the Fruity, Xtra West, July 16, 2008
I’m finishing this column on the screened-in porch of my aunt Anne’s house in New York while the crickets chirp and the fireflies flash on and off. My girlfriend and I have spent the past two weeks visiting family. When I’m not having little fits of rage or moments of gooey love, and I’m not busy drinking wine or eating chocolate, I’ve been trying to take advantage of this excellent opportunity for increasing self —understanding. (I’m not even being sarcastic, that’s how introspective I have become here among the crickets.) More…
Thinking About Breasts, Xtra West, June 19, 2008
This spring my sister-in-law – my girlfriend’s sister – found a lump in her breast. Within weeks she had had an ultrasound, a specialist’s appointment and a mastectomy. As the family tries to absorb this news, I can’t stop thinking about breasts – having them, not having them, what it all means. More…
Help available for queers in abusive relationships, Xtra West, May 22, 2008
Acknowledging our history gives us a richer sense of community. It shows respect for the work of the people who came before us. It saves the younger ones from reinventing the wheel. It can also make us safer, in very concrete ways. For example, last issue this newspaper ran a cover story on queer domestic violence, with minimal acknowledgement of the activism on the issue that has been happening right here in Vancouver for the past 15 years at least. Read the rest on the Xtra site.
Can you fuck men and still call yourself a dyke?, Xtra West, April 23, 2008
Lately I’ve been wondering what it means when dykes have sex with men. Everybody seems to have an opinion about it — women who are doing it, women who have never done it, women like me who haven’t done it for a long time and think they probably won’t but you never know. Read the rest on the Xtra site.
Posse of Exes, Xtra West, March 27, 2008
It’s been almost 15 years since I came out. God, that seems like such a long time. You’d think I’d be at the Master’s Level in dykiness or something by now. But the truth is that I still lack quite a few lezzie credentials. For example, I do not have what a friend of mine calls “the posse of exes” — you know, the gang of ex-lovers who are now your best friends.
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When the Marginalized Marginalize, Xtra West #379, February 28, 2008
Last month I sent an email to all my friends about an upcoming queer event. One wrote back, “I would love to come but I can’t get my wheelchair up the stairs.”
Read the rest on the Xtra site…
PS: Check out the post on Elizabeth McClung’s blog that I mention in the column.
Pink: A Post-Sexist Love Affair, Xtra West #377, January 30, 2008
So yes, I love pink. But every day I am confronted with a new reason to question my devotion. Who knew that a love affair with a colour could be so complicated?
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[NB: I did not make up the title, OK?]
Her Own Person, Xtra West #375, January 2, 2008
The night I arrived in New York, my dad and his sisters had gone through a bottle and a half of wine and still hadn’t thought of anything to say about Grandma at her 90th birthday party the next day. My aunts had elected Dad to give the speech and they had agreed to help write it. “But to be honest,” one of them said, “I can’t think of anything very complimentary.” More…
Making the Happy Holidays Even Happier, Xtra West #373, December 6, 2007
Here it is, your exclusive preview of the soon-to-be-bestseller: How to Welcome Your Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender/Whatever-They’re-Calling-
Themselves-Now Family Member Home for the Holidays (and Make Them Wonder Why They Ever Left)! Read it on the Xtra site…