Exodus from Church?

I've noticed that Jay already blogged about this article from the Star but I just wanted to give my two cents (I promise this a different take). I want to point out some issues raised in the article:
(i) gentrification: Church and Wellesley is no longer the 'ghetto' it used to be before the victories of gay rights e.g. same-sex marriage
(ii) not a very welcoming environment for trans folks
(iii) multi-ethnic events are very rare and everything seems to be dominated by males (read: gay white men)
(iv) unfriendly bars and clubs towards lesbians
(v) businesses are largely geared towards middle-class white men
What then are the problems in the gay village that seem to be unfriendly and unwelcoming towards our brethren who potentially are 'outsiders' in the community which is supposed to be welcoming to everyone? The first problem that I could see here as the article stated is the gentrification of the village. I remember one episode of Will and Grace when Jack and Will bought a property (I think, I do not completely remember)in a small town in the middle of the woods and their presence was welcomed because they were gay and they thought that by bringing in the gays there, they will gentrify their neighbourhood.I think that this is partly true but at the same time, who gets disadvantaged with the gentrification of the village? As the article have said, the businesses are largely targetted towards middle-class gay men and by the fact that they are white and gay tells us that the racialized minority gay men and women cannot and are not able to afford living and hanging out in the village. The fact that multi-ethnic events are very rare is also not a surprise. Just hang out in the village and you will see how the village is dominated by white men. Further, as with anything concerning LGBTs, the trans folks are always left out. Where is the warm embrace and welcoming spirit that the village is supposed to offer 'us' for simply being a non-heteronormative person? It seems to me that the village has become a beacon and epitome of exclusion and hierarchy between and amongst those who identify as LGBTTI2Q. In any community afterall, eventhough we are considered to be marginalized, there is another layer of marginalization in that marginalized community. The exclusionary practices in the village shows us how these multiple layers of marginalization work within and between the LGBTQ community. How do can we address this further marginalization of racialized LGBTQ folks, womyn, trans folks and bisexuals, in addition to Jay's questions below.

I don't need a Gay Village!

This morning came TheStar's attempt at looking relevant and caring about queer issues...about 2 weeks too late.

If you're queer and semi aware of current events, you've heard that Zelda's is no longer on Church St.  In true super uber gay drama, Zelda's up and disappeared over night.  Apparently, rent was just too expensive for them. 

People cried and cheered over such an occurrence and continued with the talks of the Village dying.

Bitches, the Village has been bleeding from both ends towards a slow death for years.  It's simple.  It's old and tired and needs some major lipo to look good again.  Plus, it only appeals to a very small market.  And unlike every other writer, I'm not going to mention that it's only for middle aged middle class whities.  It's simply for those that are fine w/ rocking the gay stereotype.

I haven't been out gay clubbing in TO in close to 7 months.  Why?  a) I'm avoiding all my ex's and b) I rarely enjoy myself.

Here's our choice for a 'Church St & Area' gay night out...

1) Woody's - never been and made life long goal to never attend.  I win Best Ass every night at my place. :P

2) Zelda's - I went there twice.  One for a b-day party.  Once for drinks.  It was campy, but the food was blah.

3) Crews - This place was already way too hot and the DJs played mostly crap.  The only fun thing was going up and down the stairs hoping to catch a good song.  Then continuing to play that game all night long.

4) Buddies - They will never succeed on a Fri. night.  Saturdays were hit and miss.  If the DJ ignored crappy requests by drunken children and stuck to a current top 40 mix...it'd be tolerable.

5) Fly - HA!

6) 5ive - I miss you.  You were fun

7) Barn - HA, HA!

8) Goodhandy's - Wednesday stroke offs were fun until they kept pushing the 'good' stuff until after 12 and closer to 1am.  Some of us need to work the next day. 

9) I'm sure there's more, but is of no interest to me...

Now a lot is being said about 'do we really need a gay village?' - it's safe everywhere!  Or at least in a few more spaces within the city. 

For me, it's that the heteros have invaded the space so much that it's no longer queer.  It's just another night out.  There's nothing special about any of these clubs.  I see heteros making out with each other, brides hosting their bachelorettes, or every fag with 6-7 hags. 

Plus, can't we be a bit more creative with our programming??  House music and go go boys...COME NOW!  Dance music and a drag queen with go go boys...COME NOW!!!  Seriously??  The nights are all failing..why don't we try something a little different?  Perhaps, a rock night.  Imagine that??  A night where we dance up a storm to some solid rock...or even rock pop...if we must start somewhere.  Or even *gasps* a 25 and older club night.  How many of us have simply stopped clubbing because we're tired of the baby gays upstaging us or simply being SOOO annoyingly stupid and drunk and high?

Instead of blaming increased rent spaces for shoo-ing the queer establishments out of their spaces???  Why don't we look at some alternatives measures to what to do to attract queers back to Church?