Where’s the PARTY?
SCARLET WINTERBERG CATCHES UP WITH HER BFF IN TORONTO, WHERE THE GIRLS STAY OUT LATE
PHOTOS LUKE TRUMAN
My BFF, Jess, is from Toronto. She introduced me to Canadian feminist art-rock covers-band Vag Halen when she was living in London, and we went to see them play live at a sweatbox of an underground bar, knocking back shots and moshing at the front so we could get a good view of Vanessa Dunn when she got naked on stage. At the end, when the music exploded into a riotous crescendo of AC/DC, Jess crowdsurfed. It was pretty much the best night ever. And I had the bruises to prove it.
Six months later, Jess moves back to TO, and I go out to visit her. Her city, she tells me, is super queer. “We LOVE Pride,” she says. This summer, the 35th annual event – complete with Dyke March – took place at the end of June, attracting more than a million people in spite of heavy rain. There’s also the nonprofit Inside Out LGBT film festival in May, and although there are no dedicated lesbian bars in the city, Jess says that there are loads of ladies’ nights both in and outside of the Village on Church and Wellesley.