Feeling tremendously grateful to be a part of the second season of CBC/HBO Max’s hit series Sort Of. It is very rare to write on a show where multiple aspects of your identity are folded into the lived experiences of the characters, so to have the opportunity to bring some of that into incredible universe…
Category: lgbt
Toronto Star: “On Nina Arsenault.”
I wrote a piece for The Star on playwright, performance artist, journalist, and local LGBTQ+ legend Nina Arsenault — and how she is transforming the recent social media rumours of her death into art. “Artist Nina Arsenault says she learned of her own death second hand. “Oh, I heard it was a beautiful funeral,” she laughs….
Toronto Star: “Alone in the Crowd.”
One of the chief pleasures of pre-pandemic life was the ability to move through urban space — freely and with a certain degree of anonymity. Oh, to go into any old dive bar, take a seat at a table, and just watch the rhythms of life occur around you. It was a simple thing, but one…
Toronto Star: “On Losing Queer Spaces.”
Losing The Beaver has been hard for so many of us in Toronto’s LGBTQ+ community, as it was a space that really helped redefine what it means to be queer in the city beyond any one specific neighbourhood. I have countless memories of sweaty nights, dancing on the cramped dance floor, and meeting new friends…
Toronto Star: “Pride and the Impact of COVID-19.”
I wrote a piece for today’s Toronto Star on the annual Pride celebrations and the impact of COVID-19 on the city’s LGBTQ+ community. I appreciate Dean Odorico (of popular bar Woody’s) and Jaymie Sampa of The 519 taking the time to discuss the Church-Wellesley community, the challenges the neighbourhood is currently navigating, and some of…
TPL Panel: “Art & Artists During COVID-19.”
Next week! I’ll be participating in a panel for Toronto Public Library as part of their virtual Pride programming, talking about queerness, community, and art with fellow screenwriter writer Sarah Dollard (Dr. Who, A Discovery of Witches, Being Human, Bridgerton) and moderated by Nancy-Anne Davies. I’ll be donating my honorarium to Supporting Our Youth, an organization doing incredible work…
Toronto Star: “The Legacy of the Bruce McArthur Case.”
I wrote a piece in today’s The Toronto Star on the Bruce McArthur serial killer case, and the impact it had on the city’s LGBTQ+ communities, as well as systemic and grass-roots programs that have since been implemented in the hopes of addressing a legacy of neglect by those in power. You can read it…
Toronto Star: “Meet Me Under the Clock!”
Inspired by a film project I’ve been working on the last little while, I wrote a piece for The Toronto Star on the old clock tower on Yonge Street, and its (rather infamous) role in local queer history. This has been a subject very close to my heart! You can find the article here.
Melodrama as Revolution
This past May, I saw the Broadway production of Mart Crowley’s seminal queer classic The Boys in the Band at Booth Theater in New York City. And then, this June, I saw FX’s Pose, a new drama series about NYC ball culture in the eighties. You’re probably wondering why I’ve mentioned these two seemingly unrelated things in close…
Huffington Post: “Society Made Queer Men of Colour a White Killer’s Prey.”
As I’ve mentioned before on the blog, the Bruce McArthur case is one that has hit fairly close to home for me. As a queer man of colour, and one who fits the profile of some of his alleged victims, I have found myself angered by the way the case has been handled by both…
JP Larocque 