IN HER FEELINGS ::  Toronto’s Sanjina DaBish Queen left the competition on Canada’s Drag Race last week and we sat down with the eliminated queen the morning after.

Sanjina shared more about her relationship with her mother, and whether she had seen the show; if she was happy with her edit; getting emotional a lot during the competition, and details on the one-woman show she is creating.

Related: See our chat with the other eliminated queens here.

Watch:

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SHOCK EXIT :: Last week we saw Newfoundland’s Tara Nova get the chop on Canada’s Drag Race. This week we go to the other side of the country, as Vancouver’s Tiffany Ann Co sashayed away.

Tiffany shared whether all her confidence was real; feeling imposter syndrome; the shock she felt at being eliminated – and whether or not the actual Tiffany & Co. have ever called her out for appropriating their brand the way other queens in the US have been.

Related: See our chat with Tara Nova here.

Watch:

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GONE TOO SOON :: I was really rooting for Tara Nova to stay, as I told her when we chatted the day after her elimination from Canada’s Drag Race. She led with her heart, was authentic, and I wanted to see more of what she could do. Even in this conversation you can see how elevated she is from what we got to view on TV. I think she would have evolved beautifully before our very eyes.

In this interview, Tara shared what it’s like being queer and a drag queen in Newfoundland (and what she meant when she said it’s so hard to create looks there) and if she’s still being paid just $37.50 a gig – now that she’s been on TV.

Watch:

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AND NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON :: “I’m a trans feminine queer person in the US. Where one party’s whole election campaign has been about the extermination of me and my community… The successes I’ve experienced … I did not think possible. Now these things are happening, and it’s this weird dichotomy of being the talk of Broadway but to walk down the street after a show and feel like I could get murdered. It’s scary to walk to your show where you know you’re the star, and be like, ‘I am not safe on this ten block walk because there are people who are emboldened by this political party who are encouraging them to take all of their aggressions out on me and my community.’ I can’t believe the hype about me right now, because it’s dangerous for me to walk down the street confidently because I might attract the attention of the wrong person.” – Jinkx Monsoon

So began our pre-US election conversation with drag superstars Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme as they readied themselves to hit the road, touring their riotous annual holiday show, “The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show” (click here for cities and dates.) Jinkx was referring of course to the insane trajectory her career has had post winning both her RuPaul’s Drag Race seasons: A villain on Dr. Who; breaking box-office records during her time in Chicago; starring in Little Shop of Horrors; slated to appear in concert this coming Valentine’s Day at Carnagie Hall … all juxtaposed against the reality of living life as a trans person.

The conversation wasn’t all bleak, however, the pair talked about why they are boldly taking their tour to notoriously red states (“we go where we’re needed”) and how working together has made them better all round, as well as what to expect in this year’s iteration of their universally loved holiday spectacle. Watch now:

Image credit: Jacob Ritts

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Sasha Colby is feeling her power, coming up on one year since the trans star took the latest RuPaul’s Drag Race crown, “the embodiment of what they are trying to eradicate,” as she told press after her win. I’m still so happy for her, all these months in, so stopped everything while on a recent vacation to sit down with her and find out what her life has been like since stealing the show (in more ways than one: remember that hysterical head crack?) The head crack makes it into the new music video for her single, “Feel The Power,” a catchy, upbeat, anthemic track (see below) in which she is surely wearing extensions from her new line, where proceeds go to help the Maui wildfire victims. There’s also a 22-city tour coming to a venue near you, and it turns out we have something in common: vibing with the Law of Attraction; Colby shares how she gets into alignment in our chat. She also drops a truth bomb for the ages that I just love: “We are all transitioning.” Watch below.

This interview is brought to you by Gay Speed Dating, happening in Toronto February 28th at 7:30 pm ET at The Well, 487 Church St. Hosted by yours truly. If you’re single, 30+, and looking to make a connection with other likeminded men, register now – men are already signing up – it’s only $40 and you even get some appetizers for God’s sake!

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SHE’S YOUR VENUS :: Thursday night saw Denim and Nearah Nuff reach the end of their journeys on Canada’s Drag Race, leaving Aurora Matrix and Venus to battle off, each performing guest-judge Nelly Furtado‘s hit, ‘Try.’ Venus, looking old Hollywood stunning, heard Brooke Lynn Heights say her name – and has been on a high ever since. Jetting off to London immediately after to attend DragCon, Venus spent the weekend being celebrated by fans and other queens from around the world alike. She escaped from the mayhem this morning to sit down with us and spill the tea as only a newly crowned queen can. Watch our chat below.

Related :: All season long we’ve sat down with the eliminated queens the morning after they left the mainstage for final time, and you can click and watch conversations with Top 4 queens Denim, Nearah Nuff, Aurora Matrix, and Venus, plus Melinda Verga, Kiki Coe, Kitten Kaboodle, Amiee Yonce Shennel, Luna DuBois, The Girlfriend Experience, and SiSi Superstar also spill the tea.

Our interview with the winner of Canada’s Drag Race is brought to you by I-AM.health.

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THE FOUR TOPS :: Canada’s Drag Race Season 4 served drama, emotion, gag-worthy looks, unforgettable lip syncs and entertainting judges (more comfortable in the skin of their roles than ever before) making S4 arguably the best season of the Canadian version of the Drag Race franchise yet.

All season long we’ve sat down with the eliminated queens the morning after they left the mainstage for final time, and you can click and watch Melinda Verga, Kiki Coe, Kitten Kaboodle, Amiee Yonce Shennel, Luna DuBois, The Girlfriend Experience, and SiSi Superstar spill the tea.

This week, we met with the final four: Venus, Denim, Aurora Matrix, and Nearah Nuff. Venus told more about her eating disorder in an emotional share; Aurora talked further about the backstory with her parents and the letter they sent her; Denim revealed more about her transition journey, and Nearah told us where her confidence comes from (and told us more about that sexy husband of hers.) All of them were candid about their time on Canada’s Drag Race, what it was like, how they coped in such a challenging, unnatural environment, and how it grew them. Watch them all below.

Our interviews with the queens of Canada’s Drag Race have been brought to you by 
I-AM.health.

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MELINDA MELTDOWN :: This week’s Canada’s Drag Race saw the elimination of the queen who gave us such good Drag Race drama: Melinda “I Quit!” Verga. We spoke to Verga the morning after her TV elimination, who talked all about her infamous, iconic hissy fit; starting her drag career late (at 37); what the queer scene in Edmonton is like; what she learned about herself from doing Canada’s Drag Race, and what she meant when she exited, saying Drag Race had taught her to find happiness even in the toughest moments. See our conversation, below.

Watch this space Tuesday, when we bring you our conversations with the Top Four, then on Friday when we sit down with the winner of Canada’s Drag Race Season 4.

Related: We talk to Kiki Coe, Kitten Kaboodle, Amiee Yonce Shennel, Luna DuBois, The Girlfriend Experience, and SiSi Superstar.

This Eliminated Queens interview is brought to you by I-AM.health. Find out your HIV status if you don’t know already, it’s the only way to access the support and care you need.

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LET’S HAVE A KIKI :: Thursday night’s Canada’s Drag Race saw the elimination of Kiki Coe, who had been in the bottom more than once already – with no Golden Beaver to save her this time. The look queen, who served elaborate and unforgettable costumes, was joyful and gracious as she said her goodbyes, but would tell it like it is if she were ever invited back for an All-Stars series, she told us when we sat down with her the next morning. She also shared more on her sex life with her husband that didn’t make the final cut (blame it on the edit) and which was harder: the Canada’s Drag Race Werk Room, or the kitchen, from when she appeared on Chopped Canada.

Related: We talk to Kitten Kaboodle, Amiee Yonce Shennel, Luna DuBois, The Girlfriend Experience, and SiSi Superstar.

This Eliminated Queens interview is brought to you by I-AM.health. Find out your HIV status if you don’t know already, it’s the only way to access the support and care you need.

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Luna DuBois :: This queen is an Aries, which explains why she was so fiery when fellow contestant Melinda Varga had her f-bomb laden meltdown and wanted out of Canada’s Drag Race – only to get saved by the Golden Beaver. A rescued Varga THEN had the raw nerve to go on to win Thursday, while DuBois, meanwhile, found herself eliminated.

We sat down with the queen early this morning and found out why this tomfoolery was a bitter pill to swallow, and learned about her work helping BIPOC performers be treated fairly, plus: how she – clearly – has the best ass-et of the season.

Related: We talk to The Girlfriend Experience, and SiSi Superstar.

This Eliminated Queen interview is brought to you by I-AM.health. Check them out, its really good work they’re doing.

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GGN INTERVIEW :: Grammy-nominated country music superstar Ty Herndon first gained national exposure as a contestant on Star Search. But it was in 1995 that he really let the world know he had arrived, making his debut with the #1 country single, ‘What Mattered Most’; his debut album spawned three #1’s.

A string of hit albums and top-ten singles followed, and in 2014 he made headlines when he came out in People magazine as gay, the first mainstream country music singer to do so.

Behind the scenes, life wasn’t always as bright and starry. An arrest for indecent exposure (on the way to a police association event, no less; the charge was later dropped) led to the discovery of crystal meth in his possession. Rehab followed, as part of a plea deal; he was robbed at gunpoint in LA; he was in a sham marriage arranged by his record label; he relapsed into drug and alcohol addiction, which led to depression and weight gain. An attempted suicide, a second try at rehab, and a bipolar diagnosis also came into his life experience. All of it, often overshadowing his admirable soaring career.

Last July, Ty told Page Six he was “inches away” from suicide on New Year’s Eve 2020 after another crystal meth relapse, a “fistful” of Ambien in his hand. Fortunately, although he doesn’t recall doing so, he reached out to a friend, got help, and 20-plus months sober, and says it all feels so different this time around, that he’s in love with himself for the first time in his life – with no more secrets.

Here’s my recent conversation with Ty. We talk about “Medusa” – his addiction to meth; his suicide attempts; how his mother bought and paid for his coffin; and taking his pain and trauma and turning it into art, with his remarkable new album, Jacob:

• – Shaun Proulx

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POP CULTURE :: In 2005, when Canadian actor Dean McDermott told his wife, media personality Mary Jo Eustace, that he was leaving her for Tori Spelling (daughter of Aaron, the man behind mega TV hits like Dynasty, Charlie’s Angels and more) the news went international. It has remained entertainment and tabloid fodder ever since, with gossip blogs scrutinizing the state of McDermott’s marriage to Spelling as recently as this week; Eustace has been in and out of gossip rags ever since.

It’s been ugly. Divorce Sucks is the title of Eustace’s bestseller about the mortifying and painful end of her marriage. For two years, McDermott blocked her on his phone. The paps hid in Eustace’s bushes, shooting images of her taking out the garbage; during this time she was solo parent to two children. McDermott was and is seen as the a villain, a gold-digger, and a bad parent to the five children he now shares with Spelling.

But that was then, seventeen years ago. Now, the two are back together again, and sat down with GGN publisher Shaun Proulx to talk WTF: How they healed old wounds; why they are together once more; and how they want to use their new burgeoning relationship to help others in the same boat.

Note: Shortly after this interview, Mary Jo and Dean parted ways, again. Mary Jo continues to publish new episodes of Exes & Uh-Ohs, on her own. Hear them wherever you get your aural pleasure.

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Her name is Jax, and while she was in Toronto playing the The Dreamer Day Fest earlier this week, I got a chance to sit down and talk with her about the kinds of body image issues she’s faced – ones many queer people also understand all too well. (Show me another photoshopped, oiled-up, gym bod and tell me that’s the ideal gay man and I’ll throw something.)

Here’s my conversation with her. Dog alert: my new pup Léo does make an appearance:

Have a blessed day!

• Shaun Proulx
• GGN

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PODCAST :: LGBT Progress In the Canadian Armed Forces is vastly different that that of its American counterpart, where just last year President Donald Trump (gosh that’s still hard to type) tweeted he would not “accept” or “allow” transgender people from serving in the U.S. Army.

For Captain Andre P. Jean, who identifies as gay and has served in the Canadian Armed Forces since his late teens, the Canadian Army has come a long way.

In a candid conversation with GGN Publisher Shaun Proulx, Captain Jean shares the trajectory of his remarkable time In the Canadian Armed Forces. From mountainous challenges such as being soundly bullied once he came out to his army colleagues (with perhaps the worst of this coming from a female superior who sexually harassed him convinced she could “change” him) to the life-affirming experience of being responsible for D-Team, the LGBT diversity group within the army that was the driving force behind the Canadian Armed Forces’ first appearance ever in a Canadian pride parade, just last year, at Fierte/Montreal Pride – an idea suggested by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Captain Jean’s unique LGBT story of his time with the Canadian Armed Forces is a must-listen:

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After almost 20 years of hatred and violence towards gays attending drag costume balls at Halloween in Toronto, gay journal, Body Politic, published an editorial in 1980 that put its well-heeled foot down to stop the insanity:

The events of October 31 are a civic disgrace, and should be a source of shame to every citizen of the city. Every citizen, every elected official should share every gay person’s dismay at having to face, each year, a night of humiliation and hate. A night that is passed over in silence, that has drawn no criticism, no condemnation, that has not moved one single elected official to say ‘This is appalling and disgraceful. This must be stopped.’

In the 1960s and 70s, Yonge Street, on the blocks between College and Wellesley Streets, was home to two gay bars, the Parkside Tavern and the St. Charles Tavern. On Halloween night, the only socially permissible night of the year where gays could openly express themselves in costume, these queer bars drew two very different groups: drag queens and large, hostile crowds  armed with eggs and ink, fists on the ready.

“Halloween is on its way to becoming a confrontation between a large gay subculture and a city that pretends it doesn’t exist,” wrote Hugh Brewster, a Body Politic contributor at the time.

A Torontoist article by Jamie Bradburn explains that outside of Halloween back in the day, “it wasn’t unusual for men in drag to be hauled by police down to Cherry Beach and beaten up”, and this, he writes, “gave rise to costume balls on October 31 which allowed participants to publicly display their sexuality. The parties could be lavish affairs—during Halloween 1969, the August Club at 530 Yonge offered a ball with prizes, buffet, and champagne for $12.50 a head.”

Mark Henderson, an actor/model who experienced the Yonge Street scenes first-hand, explains that “back in the late 70s, it was illegal for men to be out on the streets in drag, and they were arrested. At Halloween, it was a blood bath.”

Bradburn notes that by the late 1970s, the spectacular balls continued to draw angry crowds on the streets, described by one police superintendent as “a sad-looking bunch” that stood around and threw eggs at each other, while the 300 drag queens at the St. Charles ball “were inside having a great time”.

According to BlogTO, during the 1970s, “the epicentre of the [gay] community shifted to Church [Street], as businesses found more affordable spaces on this street. During this time, more businesses became gay-owned”, and the one-block gay migration from Yonge to Church Street began. Gays and lesbians now had apartments to live in (the City Park complex was built just off of Church in the mid-1950s), and the community was finding its way in the new neighbourhood.

Then AIDS hit.

Henderson believes that it was the rise of HIV/AIDS that moved the gay community into what would become Toronto’s  gay village – now gays were feared and further marginalized by “the gay disease”. Gays tried not to be seen and kept to themselves. “There was a 20′ radius around drag queens, because presumably, they were all infected,” he says. “People felt that they could still throw things at the queens, but they wouldn’t touch them.”

He remembers the hatred, the jeering, the hurled objects, and the violence toward drag queens and gays at the time, and recalls that by the early 1990s, the spectacle of Halloween for adults was but dry tinder waiting for a spark to ignite it.

Wildfire

At least in Toronto in the very early 1990s, people didn’t go out in costume at Halloween. Henderson remembers that the thought of grown men in costumes was “creepy”. Sometimes it was okay for women to wear [sexy sexist] costumes, but for men costumes were “frowned down upon”.

One year, he, with his friend Cheyenne Lee who hatched the plan, decided one year to defy convention and go out and enjoy themselves in full Halloween disguises. Halloween was on a weekend that year and they went out three nights in a row as Dracula (Henderson) and his dead showgirl girlfriend (Lee). They went to neighbourhood haunts like the Artful Dodger pub on Isabella and ended up at Woody’s, a popular gay bar at Church and Wellesley Streets, but not much was happening there.

Out on the street, they looked across to Crews, another bar, and decided to go over. As Torontonians do, they J-walked across the road, and as they did, an oncoming car flashed its lights at them so their costumes could be better seen. The car approached slowly then stopped just in time for Lee and Henderson to lay on the hood and make scary faces into the wind shield.

“People loved it!” Henderson remembers. “A car coming south also wanted to be a part of it, so we laid on the hood and gave that car the same treatment. Cheyenne was whipping up the street. Drag queens started to notice and came out onto the street. The police were there but they didn’t shut it down. It was the perfect storm.”

The following year, the 519 Community Centre got a permit and paid for a street party and closed off several blocks for the costume parades, and it’s never been the same since. Last year, 30,000 people came out to see the spectacle of Church Street at Halloween.

“Something got unlocked and it didn’t stop,” Henderson explains. “The costume businesses on Yonge Street would never have survived if it hadn’t been for us. We all woke up when it was really dark – the colours came back.”

But the bonfire of the Church Street Halloween spirit could not have been ignited without a spark. Henderson says that Lee lived and died Halloween (indeed, she named her son, Spider), she had the ability to make things fun and clean things up.

“It wasn’t popular to have gay friends in the 80s,” Henderson says of his late friend. “She was the Kathy Griffin of the day. She got the jokes in life, she lit the fire. Cheyenne was the spark that lit the flame of the Halloween tinder.”

By Leah Morrigan, GGN Editor

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The Queen of Lincoln Road – a.k.a. Irene Williams, was a unique, one-of-a-kind, no-nonsense, intensely creative individual who lived in South Beach, Florida. This autonomous free spirit refused to live by society’s expectations of her and lived alone as an independent woman who operated her own small business as a Notary Public and stenographer/secretary into her old age. An (un)intentional early feminist.

It wasn’t just her typing skills that she was known for – when Irene left her apartment at one end of Lincoln Road and walked to the other end to get to her office, she was the centre of attention and the visual highlight of some people’s days. This tiny woman created fantastic, original, brightly-coloured clothing in outlandish fabrics and materials, and wowed everyone who saw her. Always coordinated and neat as a pin, Irene donned incredible outfits – most with matching hats – and caught the attention of Gianni Versace and Annie Leibovitz, who shot her in the late ‘90s (in exchange for her daily stenographer’s fee).

Were it not for Eric Smith, this little gem of a human being may have been forgotten forever, but fortunately for us, the New York designer and filmmaker discovered Irene in the 1990s and carried on a nine-year friendship with her. He captured Irene on video and created a short “bio pic” which gives us some insight to this interesting woman. Click to watch.

Eric, a self-proclaimed Hag Fag, now living in San Francisco, gave some insight when I interviewed him recently and told me more about who Irene was and what she stood for.

Style

Irene could create entire outfits for almost nothing and prided herself on being able to do so. She had no training in sewing or pattern-cutting but trusted her instincts. Out of necessity and with very small or no budgets, Irene’s creations were made of scraps and left-overs and other surprising materials like towels and toilet seat covers. Everything was coordinated from her hand-made hats down to her shoes. Her apartment overflowed with her creations – she made over 100 hats and almost as many coordinated outfits.

In a charming scene in the film, Eric takes Irene on two shopping trips to show her two extremes of fashion to open her eyes and show her some new things. Versace and Chanel did brightly-coloured clothing that season and Eric thought she’d enjoy seeing the collections. Not surprisingly, the high-end designer clothing was not to Irene’s taste nor her budget (she scoffed at the prices and couldn’t believe anyone would pay that much for something she could make for almost nothing!). Next, they went to Marshall’s, where she went straight to the clearance rack (“I’m drawn to it, like gravity!”) but she didn’t buy anything.

With all of these fearless sartorial achievements, there is irony at the end of this stylish little firecracker’s life: Irene, creator of dozens and dozens of coordinated outfits and hats, insisted on not wearing clothes at all.

“If I ever lose my memory,” she says in a recording with Eric, “nudist colony, here I come.” He believes she predicted the dementia that took her life at the age of 87 in 2004.

Irene’s Legacy

Irene would have celebrated her 100^th birthday this year. To Eric’s delight, Florida’s Jewish Museum displayed 33 of Irene’s hand-made hats (now in the museum’s permanent collection), historical photos, and some (well-typed) letters in an exhibition this summer. Have a look at some of the highlights here.

The response at the opening was overwhelming. Eric said that some people at the event knew her or worked with her, other people attended the exhibition from a historical fashion point of view, and still others saw her and recognized her, but never got the chance to get to know her.

“I was mesmerized to see what kind of unique individual she was inside the clothes,” Eric is quoted as saying in the Miami Herald article that covered the event. “Not a lot of people stopped to get to know her—mostly people knew her visually and superficially.”

Eric told the Herald that Irene would have been humbled and proud to have other see what she stood for.

“I think Irene’s message was trust your own instincts, find your own inner passion; everyone has a passion so we should try it. Don’t be afraid. Listen to yourself. Don’t give a lot of concern to what other people may think.

“Irene wanted to bring happiness to people.”

By Leah Morrigan, GGN Editor

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INTERVIEW :: It’s hard to believe that German-born Eric Braeden, 75, has now been playing complex, egomaniacal, nine-times-married Victor Newman on The Young & The Restless for almost half his life.

As Victor himself would say: “I’ll be damned.”

The TV billionaire’s catchphrase is also the clever title of Braden’s candid memoir new memoir, a vivid, frequently vulnerable chronicling of the drama of Braeden’s self-made real life, which began in a hospital basement as World War II bombs thundered, and saw him grow up impoverished he’d gather bits of wool left on barbed wire fences after sheep had grazed up against them – from which his mother would then make him underwear (to this day he refuses to wear the scratchy fabric against his bare skin.)

Of course, Braden also writes on his passion of politics, a still misunderstood Germany, social equality, and the highs and lows of playing one of  longest running, globally renowned characters in TV history.  I spoke with him recently about his remarkable life.

Shaun Proulx: Why do we pay so much attention to problems, injustices, and mistakes than we do people in places like your home country, Germany, as they continue to right societal wrongs.

Eric Braeden: The offence to humanity during the 12 year period was so horrendous; it takes you a long time to really put your head around that. Look, there’s racism everywhere, there’s anti-Semitism everywhere, there’s anti-this and anti-that everywhere. But it reached it’s apex, arguably, between 1933 and 1945. No two ways of getting around it. I think that for some time there has been a re-doubled effort on the part of the German people to rectify something that cannot be rectified but at least they are attempting to do so, and they’ve done so openly and have stood by all the horrible revelations about that, and have promised to never let it happen again. And part of that never letting it happen again is to be very open about it. To talk about it. And no country in the world, certainly not America with its, you know; it took until a few months ago to open a museum for African Americans. That’s horrendous, considering, the total discrimination for 3 to 400 years. But none of it was as an egregious affront to humanity as what happened in the Holocaust. Period.

Shaun Proulx: Your book comes out, I think, at a key time.  A lot of people think we are living in scarier times. When they think about the state of the world today, we’ve got Donald Trump in power, his immigration ban, globalization, terrorism… are we humans ever destined to learn from our past?

Eric Braeden: The thing with Trump, first of all he is a rather humorous figure and not to be taken seriously. I don’t think he believes a damn thing that he does. It is the Steve Bannons of this world and the Steve Millers of this world who stand behind him and whisper bullshit into his ear. Those are the ones who are dangerous; he is just… a nassisistic whore. Who wants to have people talk about him. The guy, I don’t think,  believe one word he says. Because he is more sensible than that. So is his daughter, I’m sure, so is his wife, I’m sure. He said years ago: If I run for political office, I run on the right. Because it’s easier. And he has, because it fulfills his enormous need for attention. But I think the silver lining in all of this is that the opposition is galvanizing and will really be an opposition. 

Shaun Proulx: On that note, I’ve been pointing out from my different platforms that someone like him has caused millions of people to reach a little deeper into our personal wells of empathy, of kindness, and to act up – the women, millions around the world, marching. Call it spin, but there’s a lot of positives that come out when you have a “narcissistic whore” in power.  You described your arrival in America as “arriving in a strange land, with no sense of direction and no idea” what you wanted to do with your life, and as a high school drop out myself, who has never taken a course or had training in anything he’s doing now, I want to ask you: Do you think this kind of beginning can make for a good recipe for the kind of success and happiness the likes of which you’ve found?

Eric Braeden: Let me put it this way: I would not want to romanticize poverty or deprivation. I am the last one to romanticize that. You either go under, cynical and bitter, or hopeless, or you find the strength somehow to go against it. But to be frank with you, I envy kids who got to go to school. I was always intellectually very curious, and never had enough money to sustain years of study. I just never did. I regret that enormously. I think often one tends to romanticize the few examples of people who make it out of poverty, because most people do not. Are those examples encouraging? Yes. But you’re fighting enormous odds. One needs to then examine more closely what makes someone successful.

Shaun Proulx: In no way should we romanticize humble beginnings, difficult beginnings, tragic beginnings, and how difficult it is to overcome, but I understood a lot of your points of view. Like you, my father passed away when I was very young. You were twelve, mine passed in front of me when was around 17. And I can now look back at this trauma – you called your father’s death “the defining emotional traumatic event of your life.” Ditto. It made me. It changed me forever. I also understood what you meant when you said you have no patience and can get quite filled with rage when someone doesn’t respect you, or others, especially if the disrespectful person has no credibility to back them up. That is a very specific trait you have but you describe something very specific to me, too, and I have never known anyone who said they felt that way too, and that began when my dad died. We had different relationships with our fathers, but those kinds of experiences, they do make or break you. And that’s not romanticizing, I do believe they form the measure of a man, they can make the man.

Eric Braeden: Yes, if you have a tendency to reflect upon yourself and your life, yes it can. Many people though become so enveloped in whatever religion or ideology they follow that they put blinders on. When I talked about Democrats galvanizing to the Trumpian – or the Bannonian – kind of philosophy… we have a tendency to starkly divide. I respect women, for example, who are against abortion. But I also respect women who want a choice. Life is not as stark or divisive as these effing political parties make it out to be. 

Shaun Proulx: We say it is black and white and there is no room for grey.

Eric Braeden: Yes, and it is that black and white version of the world that gets us into huge problems. The world is far more nebulous, you have to make decisions on an ad hoc basis and come with strict moral guidelines and I say Whoa whoa whoa, slow down a minute. I understand women who don’t want abortion and I understand women who do and it’s not your right as a man to determine. Do I understand the notion that the child forms in the womb? I understand that, I honour that, but I also honour the vision a woman who says what will this child be born into. A world of suffering, a world of poverty? Should I do that, is it responsible or not. ?

Shaun Proulx: There is less right and wrong than we say there is. You can’t put yourself in other people’s shoes. You can’t know another person’s perspective, bearing in mind that each one of us have perspectives on issues that are 100% unique to us based on how we have interpreted or are interpreting the world around us.

Eric Braeden: ** I always as the very fundamental question that none of us ever really ask: Have you or I chosen our parents? No. Think about that. 

Shaun Proulx: That is my favourite part of your book.

Eric Braeden: Who has chosen his parents? Her parents? You know? When you ask that fundamental question, you just can’t possibly be prejudiced any more. You can only respect all people. All colours, all ethnic backgrounds, all religions, and you disrespect those who are assholes. And there are some amongst (all groups of people.) Period. I don’t want romanticize that either. But as long as you ask yourself that fundamental question, and the of course if you somehow as long as you abide by the dictates that all religions have in common, that is, the notion of universality, then you are okay. 

Shaun Proulx: I’m not going to get away with interviewing you without of course talking about your main claim to fame: playing Victor Newman for over 35 years on The Young & The Restless. We’ve been talking about the Presidency of the United States – what kind of President would Victor Newman make?

Eric Braeden: Oh boy.

Shaun Proulx: Oh boy. (Pause.)  Ain’t gonna happen!

Eric Braeden: Chuckles. Well… Chuckles. That is a very good question. Look. Campaigns, unfortunately, lead to an oversimplification of very difficult problems, and they lead to promises they simply can’t keep. When you come for example here in America into the White House you suddenly realize and say Holy Shit there is congress, there the judiciary, there is public opinion and there is the free press, etc etc and they simply will not go along with you as those who voted for you. And it’s a shocking realization most Presidents face. Would I want that? No. On the other hand there are moments when I say “Yeah, I’d be a pretty damn fair person, I think.” My leanings basically I would say are liberal, and I would obviously maintain the social system. And by that I mean social security, medicare medicaid. I certainly would spend a lot of money rebuilding America’s infrastructure which would go back into the economy. I have never understood, I have never really understood the Republican notion that public money spent is misspent and should be stopped. Why? That money goes right back into the economy. The poorer, the poorer amongst us will spend that money on consumption, immediately. This “trickle down” bullshit, it doesn’t trickle down, it goes to bank accounts in Panama and the Caymen Islands, do you understand? It’s nonsense. You can only buy so many goodies and that is how much goes back into the economy. Where as welfare and all that, that goes right back into the economy.

Shaun Proulx: There is a lack of respect for the intelligence of people. And their dignity. And when you afront someone’s dignity and intelligence, that causes a lot of the energetic catastrophe that is springing out from all of this, as well. Do Victor and Eric ever merge? You are one of those rare actors who has played a character for over three decades – do you mix the two people up?

Eric Braeden: Very good question, I would say, no. Well, yes and no. Ones emotional proclivities, one’s proclivity to react to certain things, that stays with you. Would I chose to make a lot of enemies within my family? No. Would I want to pit one child against another? No.  Am I as interested in business as Victor Newman is? No. It’s so hard to say. There’s certain things I certain things I wouldn’t do (begins laughing) I wouldn’t go and marry the same woman five times, or whatever it’s been. 

Shaun Proulx: Learn the lesson! She’s not for you!

Eric Braeden: Oh I love working with Melody. I love working with her, and we fight well together.

Shaun Proulx: Well you’re both Aries.

Eric Braeden: Say what?

Shaun Proulx: You’re both Aries.

Eric Braeden: I guess she is, isn’t she. 

Shaun Proulx: Yes. I looked that up decades ago because the chemistry between you two is so strong I wanted to know what your signs were to lock horns as you do. Now you know.

Eric Braeden: How interesting.

Shaun Proulx: I’m that kind of freak. Thank you very much for your time and for all the years of entertainment you’ve given us. I wish you nothing but more joy.

Eric Braeden: This interview I enjoyed very much, Shaun. Job well done. I wish the same good things for you.

Shaun Proulx hosts The Shaun Proulx Show on SiriusXM Canada Talks channel 167. He is the publisher of TheGayGuideNetwork.com and leads a #ThoughtRevolution about busting through limits on ShaunProulx.com.

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UPDATE :: Rev. Brent Hawkes was found not guilty of indecent assault and gross indecency in a Kentville, N.S. court on Tuesday January 31 by Judge Alan Tufts, who said he found inconsistencies in the testimony of the witnesses.

April, 2016 :: Earlier this month, Reverend Dr. Brent Hawkes pleaded not-guilty to decades-old sex-crime allegations. None of the allegations have been proven in court; Hawkes trial is set to begin November 1 in Nova Scotia.  A fund to support Brent Hawkes has been established.

Here is our never-before published  2014 conversation with the LGBTQ icon:

Shaun Proulx: You’re a hero of mine, for your work in your church, your work outside of the church as a leader of the Human Rights movement here in Canada, and around the world. Do you step into a role like that, or does the role like that step into you?

BH: I think it’s an evolving situation. Certainly in the early days, MCC Toronto had to be one of the leading institutions dealing with human rights because a religious attack requires a religious response. One of the things our church has done very effectively every time the religious right attacks any gay rights movement or legislation – God versus gays; whenever they’re successful at that, we lose – has been to under-cut that argument, and to be up-front as a religious institution.  Calling in other faith leaders from other traditions, doing press conferences and petitions so that they can’t say it’s God versus gays. I happen to be a stubborn Maritimer, who was raised with “you don’t mess with my family you don’t mess with my friends.” So you bring the best of that small town mentality of really caring about other people.

SP:  I can’t help smile when I see you. I was at a restaurant months ago and you came over to my table to say hello, and I said, “Please come on my show”, but it’s so hard to get you. The pace you maintain would make a man in his early twenties drop.

BH: When you’re excited about what you do, you’re ready to put more into it, you put up with a lot. I get a lot of speaking engagements, the church is a large church, there’s a lot of administrative work around the church, so it’s a busy place.

SP: Has it always been easy to make MCC welcoming to everyone?

BH: It was easy to be welcoming to the gay and lesbian community in the early days because there were so few places where gay and lesbian people could worship, be spiritual, be sexual, and celebrate who they are, so that part was, I think, relatively easy, creating a safe space.

Over time we had to learn what it was like when more and more heterosexual people came to the church, and really loved what they saw, and wanted to be a part of the church.  I think today, the shift now is more about inclusiveness around different faith perspectives. More recently, one of the main beliefs of our church is that there are many paths to God, and Christianity is one of those paths. So we see more and more folks coming to the church who have no church background, who would call themselves a skeptic or an atheist, or who would be from other religious traditions that either can’t find a place there that they like, or more often, can’t find one that’s exciting. We call ourselves a VIP church, vibrant and inclusive and progressive.

SP: What do you make of what I call spirituality, which, to me, has an absence of “a being” and more of “an energy”. Is that something that you explore, accept, encourage?

BH: Yes, absolutely! Some of the most recent research has shown that there’s a huge shift away from religion that is not toward atheism or secularism. It’s toward spirituality. So in the old days, people would say they’re religious, then they said they were more religious than spiritual, now their apt to say they’re more spiritual. But when people define that, they define spirituality as a sense that there’s something more, I don’t know what it is, but a sense that there’s something more, as a sense of awe and wonder and gratitude, and they define religion, in its best forms, as community and tradition. So I like to put those two things together. People can say they can practise their spirituality anywhere, and my response is, “but do you?” 

SP: I have forever seared in my memory the same-sex wedding that you performed wearing a bulletproof vest, in defiance almost of the messy laws going on in Canada, taking advantage of the fact that we were in Ontario, and causing things to happen that lead to a guy like me to be able to get married. What do you make of the Human Rights movement now, compared to where it was then?

BH: It’s unbelievable. I became the pastor of our church in 1977. People were routinely kicked out of their jobs just for the rumor that they were gay. People were kicked out of their apartment buildings by their landlords if the landlord found out that they were gay. People were denied public services; people couldn’t get into the hospital emergency rooms to see their partner, if their partner was dying, because hospitals defined family. So it was a pretty scary situation. We’ve seen dramatic changes in that direction, in North America, in Canada in particular, and we have lead the way. However, and I always do the “however”, there’s still a lot more that needs to be done.

SP: When you have done the work you’ve done, it’s not possible for you to have escaped witnessing a lot of pain in a lot of people who are, I hate the word “victim”, but victims of the hate that goes on out there. I ask this when I interview nurses or people who are on the front lines, and you’re on the front lines. How have you handled the burden of watching how destructive homophobia can be when you’ve seen it , of the AIDS crisis as well, how have you managed to keep breathing?

BH: I think when that happens, you have a choice. You can either let that really demoralize you, and you can get paralyzed by the pain or you can be determined to make it motivational, to work even harder. I think that’s maybe where the stubborn piece comes in. So when I’ve seen  the damage that religious institutions have done to people – when you think about the ex-gay movement and the number of people who have been driven into suicide or depression by the ex-gay movement – you can be determined to make sure that there’s an alternative, and that people have a positive alternative to choose.

SP: Do you feel like you’ve done enough? I know you’ve done more than ten people’s fair share.

BH: There are moments, like being the Grand Marshall of the Pride parade, it was an amazing honor at World Pride, and receiving the Order of Canada was unbelievable, but when I look around the world and realize there’s sixty-something countries in the world where a gathering of gay and lesbian people and their family and friends at a birthday party would be arrested and put in prison, everyone. In ten of those countries I would be executed simply for being gay. So yes I can say we’ve done a lot and we’re pleased with what we’ve accomplished, but there’s so much more that needs to be done. Legislation has been before the Senate of this country for four years, passed by Parliament twice to give transgender people protection, and Senate hasn’t even voted on it yet, and that’s an outrage! 

SP: What is the intersection between sex and spirituality?

BH: Huge! A theological friend of mine said that the very act of sexual relationships, in particular, orgasm, is the closest we’ll ever find to a deep, deep spiritual experience. It’s not a coincidence that “Oh God!” is found exclaimed in the church and in the bedroom. I think sexuality is an amazing gift, and it’s a gift that needs to be exercised responsibly, I think there is a lot of creativity, a lot of fun and a lot of options that people have there. I see it as one of the wonderful gifts that God gives us.

SP: I said at the top of our talk that you’re one of my heroes. What’s the importance of heroes to you? Who is your hero? 

BH: That average gay person who comes out to their family and risks rejection by their family; comes out to the pastor of their church and risks rejection by their church. Because coming out is the most powerful thing that people can do. It is more transformative than what any leader would ever do.

SP: I love the work you do, Brent, thank you so much.

– Shaun Proulx is the publisher of GGN. Join his #ThoughtRevolution on Facebook, Twitter  and Instagram  and hear him every weekend on SiriusXMCanadaTalks 167 or online here. If you’re in the Greater Toronto Area, read his weekly column, Spirit & The City in 24 Hours each Thursday.

– This interview was condensed and edited.

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EXCLUSIVE :: GGN publisher Shaun Proulx was in New York City earlier this year to meet up with Salim “Slam” Gauwloos, best known from dancing in Madonna’s Blonde Ambition tour and Truth Or Dare, the documentary.

It is in Truth Or Dare that we saw Madonna crusade for more HIV/AIDS awareness following the death of her close friend Keith Haring of the dis-ease. This year, in the documentary Strike A Pose, which brings us up-to-date with the Blonde Ambition dancers, we learn that Gauwloos knew back then that he himself was HIV-positive. His revelation in Strike A Pose is the first time he has publicly disclosed such personal information.

Hear the intimate one-hour conversation they taped for SiriusXM’s The Shaun Proulx Show below, and learn how saying ‘yes’ to life has allowed Gauwloos to manifest love, success and happiness.

The post INTERVIEW :: Salim ‘Slam’ Gauwloos appeared first on TheGayGuideNetwork.com.

EXCLUSIVE :: GGN publisher Shaun Proulx was in New York City earlier this year to meet up with one of the biggest and fastest rising porn stars in the adult film industry, Boomer Banks. Hear the intimate one-hour conversation they taped for SiriusXM’s The Shaun Proulx Show below, and learn how saying ‘yes’ to life has allowed Banks to manifest love, success and happiness.

* If you enjoyed this episode of The Shaun Proulx Show, buy your All-Access pass to all three seasons of the infamous chatfest here for only $19.99.

– Image Credits: Boomer Banks: RJ Sebastian / Boomer Banks & Shaun Proulx: Polo Izquierdo

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