WORD ON THE STREET

Montreal Gays Sound Off On What Makes Them Special!

Welcome to another edition of Word On The Street, in which we ask people to talk about their hometown and their lives.

This time, we spoke with stylish gay locals during Montreal‘s annual Divers/Cite party weekend. Of course, we made sure to spend time in the gay village on St. Catherine Street East at amazing drag bar Cabaret Mado, the three-level dance club and bar complex Sky (which has done away with its cover charge!), latest and greatest dance hotspot Bar Apollon, woofy bear and leather club Le Stud, and, of course, matriculated at male stripper heaven Campus. In the process, we learned a lot about Montrealers by asking:

How are Montreal gays different? What makes them special?

 

alexAlex, 32

TV Director

“We love life. Honestly, Montreal is a sleepy city in the winter but when summer comes everyone goes out, wants to drink, nobody wants to sleep, and we just enjoy life.”

 

johnJohn, 30

Student

“Laid back culture, I would say. People don’t worry too much here, I find. That’s what I like.”

 

kevin (right)

Kevin, 22 (right, with friends)

Hairdresser/ Bartender At Club Unity

“I think we’re special just because we’re trying to be ourselves. Sometimes I have gone to places where people try to be somebody else. That’s why we call it diverse city. It’s many people, we’re trying to be ourselves, and it’s about respect. People respect others and nobody cares about what you look like. You do your thing and that’s it!”

 

robbie and sasha

Robbie, 30 (left, with his boyfriend Sasha)

Sales

“I would say there’s more of a dynamic in relationships because it’s bilingual here. I’m English and he’s French and I really enjoy going back and forth with language and bouncing things off of each other. It makes things more interesting.”

 

michael

Michael, 22

HR

“Good question. I don’t know.”

 

joseph (center) and friends

Joseph, 24 (center, with friends)

Hair Salon Owner

“Their style is really good. I don’t go out much so that’s a problem. My friend says they have big cocks. But I don’t know. I haven’t done enough of a sampling, I only had one [so far].”

 

jeff & jason

Jeff, 24 & Jason, 31

Academics

Jeff: “It’s an open expression to art. There isn’t an art influence in another city as much as Montreal that I’ve seen. It stands out as something that embraces the culture in something profound.”

Jason: “Open-minded, exuberant, very loving and happy and multicultural. That’s the big difference with Canada in general – we’re open to all gays and we realize gays come from around the world so we embrace it all.”

 

Joseph nurse

Joseph, 34

Nurse

“Beautiful people. The guys are beautiful more than any other place.”

 

Martin (left)

Martin, 39 (left, with friend)

Hairstylist

“They party, they’re open minded. We have a big gay village to hang out, to be free with our friends or husbands.”

 

phong (right)

Phong, 35 (right, with friend)

Sample Dress Displays

“Everyone loves to dance!”

 

simon and danny

Simon & Danny, both 22

Hairdressers

D: “We’re fucking hot. We party fucking hard. That’s pretty much it!”

S: “They’re all bottoms!”

D: “Of course, we dress better!”

S: “We dress better!”

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